It felt as if he had traveled through a gap in time and space and returned to a distant medieval village.
A continuous drizzle that looked like a milky white fog fell from the vertical and steep foothills that surrounded the village like a saw toward the narrow depression. It was like a thick curtain of air that covered the entire depression.
Ye Yuehuan and the others slowly entered the nameless village in the fog, as if they had opened the dark cream-colored curtains and entered the room.
The bridge was already quite old. As long as the six of them moved, it would make a creaking sound. Far below, there was a turbulent flow of turbid water, and white foam could be seen splashing on the rocks. A strange wind blew around him. The six of them couldn't help but quicken their pace and hurriedly cross the suspension bridge.
As soon as the six of them crossed the bridge, the drawbridge closed again. There was a stone arch inside, and above it what looked like a watchtower, where a few men were controlling the drawbridge. Her long golden hair was tied behind her back and swayed along with her arms. Night Moon fantasized about greeting them, but a strong wind blew, and the men's figures and the horseshoe-shaped arch were all hidden by the thicker fog.
He thought that perhaps the wind had blown the fog and covered his eyes, but his vision suddenly became clear, and he could even see clearly from afar. " Whoosh whoosh…" A strong wind blew, and his ears seemed to be stuffed. Apart from Victoria, everyone else covered their ears with their hands and looked around timidly.
"Hey, look!"
The bearded man Ayrlarng pointed ahead.
The fog slowly dispersed.
In front of him was a small village with rows of stone square-shaped houses. The arrangement of the moss-covered gray stones seemed to have been calculated by a mysterious advanced mathematical method. It looked like a geometric pattern, but it also made people feel that they were scattered everywhere. It formed an incredible shape.
The open wooden window creaked in the wind.
There was a big well in the middle of the small square.
…There was no one.
"Is it a ruin…"
The silent, muscular man, Raul, muttered to himself with an amazed expression. Derek nodded and said in a sharp voice,
"It's a medieval village! Look! That church…"
After the fog in the distance began to disappear, they could see a tower that looked like a stone church.
"…Rose window and steeple!"
"This is the medieval church that appears in ancient paintings!”
Ayrlarng took off his hat, and the three young men stared at the church with devout expressions.
The wind blew again, rustling, and the fog suddenly disappeared.
Ye Yuehuan and the others hurriedly stopped.
At some point, a group of men stood in front of her, holding long swords in their hands.| The spear or the longsword stared at Ye Yuehuan and the others expressionlessly.
"…Are they ghosts?"
Ayrlarng muttered something as he stroked his beard and joked.
This reaction was not strange. The village looked ancient like medieval ruins, and the villagers who appeared in front of him were all dressed in overly classical clothes.
The man was wearing a woolen jacket, a leather vest, and a pointed hat. The woman's loose skirt was puffed up behind her and decorated with buds.| The silk hat covered her hair and tucked it behind her head.
It was like a costume from a shakespeare play, completely medieval.
Moreover, everyone looked very similar. Regardless of gender, they all tied their long golden hair neatly into a bundle. He was not tall, and he reminded people of a doll carefully crafted by a craftsman. He had a dignified little face.
The villagers stared at Ye Yuehuan and the others with their dirty green eyes. Perhaps it was because of his stiff expression and dry skin, although he looked small and dignified, he looked like a group of lifeless dead people.
The villagers turned their attention to Victoria and began to whisper,
"…It's Cordelia's daughter.”
"Cordelia…?"
"It's exactly the same. Look at her appearance!
"How inauspicious…!"
A hoarse voice that sounded like withered leaves falling. The villagers raised their weapons together, and the heavy sound of iron clashing could be heard everywhere.
Ye Yuehuan stood in front of Victoria and protected him behind him.
"Shut up if you don't want to die. If I hear you idiots talking about Victoria again, don't blame me for being rude.”
" What?!"
"This person is really rude."
"Brat, do you want to…"
The villagers were infuriated by Ye Yuehuan's words. Some of them even waved their weapons and wanted to charge forward.
At this moment-
A hoarse voice came from somewhere,"
"Wait a minute!"
"But, the village…"
"Didn't you hear?"
The loud questioning made the villagers who had been arrogant put down their weapons at the same time. They naturally split into two sides and made way for the old man.
A man of about sixty in an old double-breasted, knee-length suit-
He had long blonde hair that was almost white tied tightly behind him, a long beard on his sideburns and chin, wrinkled drooping eyelids that covered half of his eye, and a large, shriveled hand holding an ebony cane.
The man walked in front of Victoria and stood still with his hands clasped like the statue of a saint. His calm eyes were filled with cold and turbid gaze as he looked down at Victoria.
"…Are you Cordelia's daughter? What's your name?"
"Victoria. de Blois."
Victoria, who was being questioned, answered in a hoarse voice that was equal to that of an old woman. The man took a deep breath.
"De. Blois…? He actually has the noble blood of this country…"
"Do you have any objections?"
"No... Your mother... where's Cordelia?”
"It's gone."
"I see. A sinner could never escape the condemnation of his conscience.”
“……！！”
Victoria bit her lip hard.
"Cordelia is not a sinner."
"It's foolish to talk back to your elders. Because you can't grow up in this village, it seems that you lack the modesty that a child should have. Even Cordelia wouldn't dare to disobey me. She could only obediently leave this place…Forget it, forget it.”
The man did not care about the anger burning in Victoria's eyes. He looked at the villagers and said,"
"The descendant who saw our message and came here is this girl, Cordelia's daughter. However, his daughter was not guilty and was not chased out of the village. Let us celebrate the Summer Solstice Festival together.”
The villagers were silent. They looked at each other, but no one spoke.
The man continued,"
"Do as I say. Don't worry, nothing bad will happen. Even if this girl's mother, Cordelia…"
The wind ruffled the man's light golden beard.
"…He's a murderer."
The man claimed to be the village chief, Sergius. The village had been here for 400 years and had been isolated from the outside world. The villagers tried their best to live here in a self-sufficient manner.
Under Sergius 'lead, the group walked into the village.
"The so-called Summer Solstice Ceremony is a ceremony to welcome the ancestral spirits who return to the village in the summer and pray for a bumper harvest. Tomorrow morning…it would start at dawn and end at night. I hope you can stay here until tomorrow night.”
Victoria muttered to herself,"
"Tomorrow night…"
Sergius continued,"
"Yes, I am. It had only been a little over a day. At the same time as the sun rises tomorrow, the palanquin will arrive at the square. We will start playing our instruments and announce the start of the ceremony to the forest. After a short rest, the ceremony would continue in the morning. The girl throwing the hazelnut was the signal for the start of the ceremony. Young men would put on costumes and perform short plays in the square. After the battle between the Summer Army and the Winter Army, if Summer won, the Winter Army's general would also be defeated. After celebrating Xia Tian's victory, they prepared to welcome their ancestors.
It was said that the ancestors would return to the square through the church, so the church had to be kept clear at this time. After nightfall, the selected villagers would wear masks and dance as their ancestors returning to the village. The ceremony ended here. Bless a year of peace and harvest…!”
On the other hand, the three young men did not care at all. They looked around the village and shouted,
"Look at this well!"
"A house made of stone with a heater and chimney! Wow! It's really an antique!"
Ayrlarng started to boast about his latest watch to the blonde young man who looked like Serges 'assistant. He was a tall and handsome young man among the villagers. He held a shotgun in one hand and secretly glanced at his watch. Then, he was shocked and stared at it.
"You haven't seen it, right?"
"…I never left the village."
"Really? Then what do you do every day?"
When he met a young man of similar age, the talkative Ayrlarng quickly approached him for a chat. After saying that, he began to show off his tortoiseshell glasses, pull on Derek's clothes, and boast about its cut...
The village chief, Sergius, had a dark expression on his face, and his long eyebrows were slightly trembling. He seemed to be unhappy.
Sergius led them to the square in the center of the village. At the other end of the square was a steep cliff and a dark forest.| Lin. Surrounded by the forest, the village seemed to be a small circle. The only thing surrounding the city wall was the cliff at the entrance. There was no city wall behind it. However, there were cliffs everywhere in the forest, and it seemed quite dangerous.
This was a small village. However, the village still maintained its ancient lifestyle, which surprised Ye Yuehuan. Instead of being surprised, it was more like " they were all stubborn and eliminated people ".
At this moment…Sergius suddenly scanned the forest.
The branches of the trees swayed in the wind.
"Ka Sha-!"
Sergius immediately grabbed the shotgun from the young assistant and raised it, pointing the muzzle at the forest.
Ayrlarng and Derek, who were chatting happily, didn't notice.
The young assistant took a deep breath.
A piercing gunshot rang out.
Ayrlarng and the other two were so frightened that they jumped up and looked at each other in surprise.
"What, what happened?"
Sergius said nonchalantly,
"There are wolves…there are wild wolves living on the nearby mountains. It was huge and quite strong. As long as they saw it, they had to scare them like this and warn them not to approach the village.”
The young man looked at each other.
"There are many cliffs that can't be seen in the forest, and there are also wild wolves, so don't wander around. The only way to enter the village safely was through the suspension bridge.”
The frightened young assistant closed his lips tightly and did not say a word.
The talkative Ayrlarng twirled his beard and said to Sergius,
"But, old man…Horovitz at the foot of the mountain said that the villagers here are gray wolves? In short, they were a very mysterious group of people. Isn't that right?"
He sought the silent Raul's approval. He shrunk his sturdy body, looked at the shotgun timidly, and nodded. The young assistant held his breath when he saw Ayrlarng calling the village chief " old man." He didn't know if he should be angry or not. He looked at Ayrlarng and Sergius 'expressions.
Sergius laughed hoarsely.
"How is that possible? We are just ordinary people. Because they lived a simple life in the mountains, it was inevitable that they would be suspected.”
"Oh…"
Ayrlarng nodded, and Derek laughed in a shrill voice. Raul was affected and also smiled.
"…It's just that our race is a little different from the others. Perhaps the people at the foot of the mountain were concerned about the differences in race. We didn't do anything to affect them.”
Sergius added a strange explanation that was superfluous, and then continued to walk forward.
The stone path stretched forward without end. The group passed through the square in the center of the village, overlooking the ancient church. Behind the church, a base shrouded in fog could be vaguely seen. For some reason, Ye Yuehuan had an ominous feeling and hurriedly turned his face away. Beyond the cemetery, a dark forest could be seen, and the branches were covered in thick fog.
The narrow path suddenly widened. Just as he thought that if he continued to walk forward, he would enter the forest…Serges stopped in his tracks.
The widened stone road extended upward with a gentle slope. The fog was like a thin curtain that covered several layers, swaying in the wind. Layers of fog danced upwards every time the wind blew. At this moment, in front of the road, there was a slightly raised, ominous black mountain.| On the hill, there was a huge object with a bent back that was curled into a ball.
The gray object had an unimaginably huge body. Midori screamed.
A huge gray animal!
Although it's curled up on the black mountain now| However, it seemed that he could slowly get up at any time, look up at this side, and kick down the mountain in the future.| Qiu launched an attack…
The body of a giant gray wolf…
The ominous rumors that Horovitz had heard at the foot of the mountain, as well as the gloomy expression of the innkeeper's fear, could not help but flash through his mind.
"Living in gray wolves-"
"Don't anger them-"
"Do not anger them-"
"They're terrifying werewolves-"
The wind blew past.
(…Eh?)
Ye Yuehuan rubbed his eyes.
Upon closer inspection, he realized that the huge object was made of stone-a cold and hard gray mineral substance. Then, he realized that this was also an illusion.
It was a flat stone building, and the tower on the left looked like an animal's head. There were exquisite round floral decorations on the porch pillars, and the decorations on the roof were also very exquisite. But the outer walls, which might have been dazzling in good weather, were now an ominous dark gray.
Everything seemed to be drawn in black ink-a luxurious but colorless and incredible mansion.
The thin flower beds were arranged in strange patterns around the mansion, and unknown red flowers swayed in the wind. Only here were the brightly colored flower beds, like tangled red blood vessels, giving people an ominous dark impression.
Sergius 'hoarse voice came again."
"This is my residence."
Ye Yuehuan and the others looked at each other. Sergius continued,"
"During the Summer Solstice Festival, you can stay here.”
The mansion was rather spacious and dark.
The interior was luxuriously decorated. Every room had polished mahogany furniture and velvet curtains, which was very different from the shabby village made of stone.
As soon as they entered the spacious entrance, they saw a large staircase with a red carpet. There was also a hall with a bright crystal chandelier hanging in the depths. Climbing up the large staircase, there was a long corridor next to it, with heavy curtains hanging by the windows. The wall lamp near the ceiling flickered with orange flames.
Portraits of predecessors hung in the dark corridors-every face was straight and serious, with long blonde hair tied up. The closest portrait was the youngest, only in his early forties.
Just as Ye Yuehuan and the others were looking up at the portrait, an innocent baby voice came from somewhere."
"That's the village chief who was killed, Village Chief Dio.”
Victoria's shoulders trembled as she held Ye Yuehuan's hand tightly.
Everyone turned their heads towards the source of the voice.
There was a woman holding an oil lamp standing there. She was about 25 or 26 years old. Her thick blonde hair was braided into many small braids, neatly tied into a complicated hairstyle. Her beautiful and dignified face lacked expression, like a broken doll. His head was tilted to the side, making people feel like he would fall to the ground at any moment.
The murky green eyeballs that reminded one of jade sparkled in the darkness.
From her clothes, it could be seen that she was a maid. She was wearing the same classical clothes as the village chief, Sergius. The dress was very long and the back was bulging. Using a corset to form a slender waist, chest| The front was covered with a white lapel to avoid revealing her skin. goodjob!!
Sergius turned around."
"She's Hermione, the maid of this house.”
Hermione bent her knee and bowed slightly, then looked down at Victoria with a cold gaze.
"It's exactly like Cordelia.”
This voice was completely different from the child's voice he had heard just now. This time, his voice was as low as the man's.
Hermione continued. The voice rose and fell freely, making it impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman, an adult or a child.
"I remember Cordelia being banished very well, though I was still a child. Just twenty years ago, in this mansion…"
"Hermione."
" Cordelia was in the gold coin filled study of Village Chief Diodoro. She…"
"Hermione."
"Use a short knife…"
"Hermione!"
“……”
After she shut her mouth, she suddenly raised her left hand.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, his left index finger was extended close to the eye that was as turbid as jade. He lifted his eyelids and rubbed his eyes with his index finger.
It seemed like he was rubbing it very hard. Ayrlarng and the others gasped. He could clearly see that there were many red capillaries under the white of Hermanni's left eye. They were like fine cracks that dyed the white of her eye red.
Drip, drip, drip…
He rolled his eyes.
Drip, drip, drip…
Hermione's hand suddenly left her eyes.
He seemed to feel that the light of the oil lamp had suddenly dimmed.
"The incident happened in the old study on the first floor. No one was using it now.”
They sat around the dining table, and the simple lunch prepared by Hermione was placed on the table.
The marble fireplace was surrounded by smooth walls that emitted black light. There was an artistic glass wall lamp hanging in the corner. There were several paintings on the wall. It was clearly a luxurious room, but for some reason, it felt oppressive. Ye Yuehuan suddenly thought of the haunted house style and the neurotic maid. These days…But the people here should be used to it, right? The ceiling of the rooms and corridors were very low, and such a building gave people the feeling of being squashed... Perhaps it was because the villagers were not tall.
Sandwiches, black tea, biscuits, etc. were delivered one after another, all placed on a set of silver cutlery. Perhaps it had been continuously wiped for centuries, so although it was old, it still emitted a dim light that had been maintained for a long time.
Sergius said,"
"In the evening, Village Chief Theodore locked himself in his study. At midnight, the maid, Cordelia, who was only fifteen years old at the time, had the habit of changing the water in the kettle.”
"At that time, I was the assistant of Village Chief Theodore, so I also lived in this house. When I walked along the corridor with the other men, I saw Cordelia's back as she was about to enter the study. She was holding a rough iron candlestick as usual. After knocking on the door, he reached for the doorknob. The door seemed to be locked and couldn't be opened. Although it wasn't usually locked, Village Chief Dio would occasionally lock the door when he didn't want to be disturbed. Cordelia took out her key and opened the door. We were already through the corridor. It was twelve o'clock-because I looked at my watch. Cordelia is also a very punctual person, but for some reason, the people who are with me have completely different testimonies about the time. Even now, we still can't be sure what time it is…"
The three young men wolfed down their food while complaining about the outdated ingredients. Every time Ayrlarng said something loudly, Derek would reply loudly. Although Raul remained silent, he was curious about the silverware. He kept looking at it carefully and knocking on it. The three of them didn't seem to be interested in what Serges said and didn't listen carefully at all.
Perhaps because of her hangover, Midori looked very uncomfortable and remained silent. He couldn't even eat.
Victoria pricked up her ears and listened carefully to Sergius.
"…Cordelia screamed and rushed out of the study. We hurried over to comfort the hysterical Cordelia and then entered the study…It was dark in the study. Using the candlestick to illuminate the floor, they saw the lifeless Village Chief Theodore lying on the ground. The dagger pierced through his back, the blood-stained blade pierced through his chest.| It came out from the front. And for some reason…"
Sergius paused for a moment and continued in an unbelievable tone,"
" There are many gold coins on the ground."
"…Gold coins?"
"Yes, I am. There should be close to twenty of them. However, the village did not use gold coins. Usually, they were kept by the village chief, Dio. The gold coin was soaked in the blood of the village chief, dying it red.”
“……”
" From that night onwards, Cordelia had a high fever and couldn't get up. She kept saying 'round things, there are so many round things, they're so beautiful...' like she was raving…I think she was referring to gold coins…During that period of time, we also discussed and made a decision.
Ten days later, Cordelia's fever finally subsided and she could get up. We…no, I, the next village chief, chased her out of the village.”
"Exiled from the village, a little girl!？”
Ye Yuehuan asked.
"Yes, I am. She left the village with a suitcase and a gold coin. After she left, we closed the drawbridge. After that, we don't even know if she left the mountain safely. Wild wolves, steep cliffs, streams…It was hard to imagine that a girl who had never stepped out of the village could safely reach the small town at the foot of the mountain. I still remember…holding a round object in my hand…a gold coin. My green eyes were filled with tears as I looked up at the drawbridge rising mercilessly. Cordelia was an orphan. No one had taught her how to go down the mountain, nor had she been given any cold props or food. The only protector was me, who was the assistant to the village chief at that time. It was also me who made that lonely child become the maid of the mansion. However, I punished her…She became a sinner and had just recovered from a serious illness. She spent several days alone descending the mountain and heading to the city…However, she managed to survive. That was why her daughter had returned here.”
Ye Yuehuan asked,"
"Aren't you guys being too cruel? You chased away a fifteen-year-old girl and let her wander outside alone.”
"My judgment won't be wrong."
Sergius said in a low voice,"
"After Village Chief Theodore passed away, I became the next Village Chief. No one can refute my decision.”
“……”
"Sinners can't stay in the village. They will bring disaster to the village. Protecting the village is my responsibility."
“…………”
(I told you that such a stubborn old man should be shot…)
"Cordelia is a sinner. This is the only explanation."
The stubborn Sergius kept repeating.
Victoria, who was listening quietly, suddenly said,"
"I want to go into the study to take a look."
Sergius shook his head.
"That won't do."
"Why?"
"... the guests walking around will cause us trouble.”After Serges finished speaking unhappily, he stopped talking.
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