Chapter 4

“Okay, let’s go there.”

“Miss!”

Kyrie shrugged. “We’re all in the same situation here, so it’d be better to try something rather than nothing.”

Above all, Kyrie had a good eye for people. It didn’t feel like the guide had any bad intentions at the very least. Besides, she was curious since it was supposedly a town that didn’t even exist on the map and had ‘no outsiders’.

Kyrie laughed after closing the carriage door. “Are you looking forward to it, Anne Marie?”

Anne Marie smiled brightly as she brushed off the snow from Kyrie’s shawl. “Anne Marie is also looking forward to it! As long as it’s fine with you, Anne Marie would like it as well!”

“Thanks.”

***

Kyrie was surprised. The entrance to the village was hidden by magic.

When the guide rubbed a stone statue at the edge of the snowy road, the forest suddenly blurred and a bridge appeared.

“A magic strong enough to hide a whole village?”

It seemed to be possessed by something.

Kyrie was once again surprised by the higher level of development within the village, which was more than she’d expected.

“How…?”

Looking at it from a window, the city was beautiful and neat.

However, Kyrie couldn’t shake off her strange mood.

The whole village was still, and it had the power to make people feel it.

Some of the people who were walking outside looked surprised when they saw the carriages, showing an alertness that one would make don towards an enemy.

Kyrie arrived at the inn without finding out the reason behind their alertness.

It was a three-story, luxurious inn.

The guide entered first, and the innkeeper’s eyes opened widely when he saw Kyrie and her group coming in.

“You…!”

“I’m sorry. I must’ve made a mistake…”

“It’s no matter!”

“I’ll stay quiet until the snow stops.”

Kyrie looked around the lobby of the inn’s first floor.

The walls were full of clumsily hung pictures of children. The only living person there was an old woman enjoying the heat of the fire within the fireplace.

“I feel like an uninvited guest.”

The guide was surprised because of Kyrie’s words and rubbed his palm.

“Oh, not at all! I’m sorry. We’re a town with so few outsiders … Hoho.”

“Whatever it is, please guide me up to the rooms. Everyone is tired and needs to rest.”

“No problem! Anderson, hurry up!”

Anderson, the owner of the inn, glared at the guide while getting up from his seat. “I’ll do it because I can’t help it, but you’d best be wary of the nobles.”

“Anderson!”

Startled, the guide looked at Kyrie, but she simply smiled leisurely. “What exactly are you warning against?”

“…”

The innkeeper, who was about to head up to the second floor, stopped midway. The height of the ceiling within the first floor was low, so only half of his face was visible. Thanks to this, Kyrie couldn’t see what kind of expression he was making.

“Just don’t make a fuss around here. If you do, it’s you who’s going to be in danger.”

“What…?”

“I will guide you.”

Valdir solemnly drew out his sword because of a sort of sense that he had, but Kyrie stopped him. Whatever his sense was, this was still an inn, and they had to stay quiet until the snow stopped. There was no need for them to make a fuss.

In addition, Kyrie heard the faint fear within the words of the guide and innkeeper.

‘What are you afraid of?’

Kyrie sighed and let the knights and servants rest, hoping the snow would stop soon.

As she entered the best room they had and sat down on a crude wooden chair, the fatigue she’d forgotten seemed to come back.

“Anne Marie, can you make me some tea?” asked Kyrie while she touched her forehead due to a migraine that was appearing once more. However, she still received no answer from Anne Marie.

“Anne Marie?”

When she turned around, Kyrie saw Anne Marie stiffen.

“Miss.”

She looked frightened. Come to think of it, it seemed as though Anne Marie had been nervous from the very moment she entered the village.

“Anne Marie, what’s wrong?”

“Miss, Anne Marie … is scared,” she whispered, shifting her eyes from side to side. Kyrie couldn’t find a single trace of her usual cheerfulness.

“There’s a big, scary thing nearby. Miss, Anne Marie is scared. Miss…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Anne Marie. Scared? Of what?”

“Something scary is asleep, Miss. Miss has to get out of here quickly. Anne Marie can tell…!”

A thought passed through Kyrie’s mind. “You smelled ‘that’, didn’t you?”

Anne Marie nodded carefully. She had a sixth sense better than those of ordinary people and was able to detect the “smell” of all kinds of magical and dangerous things.

The man who raised Anne Marie had informed them that she was of non-human lineage and that her bloodline remained strong.

She hadn’t fully believed in it, but whenever Anne Marie would say, “It smells bad, Miss,” something always happened.

Kyrie’s face hardened.

“Is it very dangerous? Do you think it’d be best for us to get out right away?”

“Not really. It’s sleeping, although I don’t know where it is. But when the world gets quieter and is covered in snow, I can hear the sound better, so you have to be careful.”

Anne Marie’s body trembled while she muttered with her pale face. Her shoulders soon drooped.

“…I’ll make you some tea, Miss! You must never come out of your room! Anne Marie will protect you!”

“Anne Marie?”

Before Kyrie could catch her, Anne Marie hurriedly left the room.

In no time, Kyrie was the only person who remained within the room.

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Perhaps because of the snow, her surroundings were strangely quiet.

“What the hell is out there…?” muttered Kyrie while she looked through the window at the pouring snow

An ominous feeling arose inside her, perhaps because of the innkeeper’s words.

She looked outside at the falling snow with anxious eyes and turned her head.

(*dun dun* This escalated to a horror story real quick X_X)
((lmfao i know right?? :shyheart: shyheart: im absolutely loving the thrill of it))

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