If it were Jaena, he would have screamed loud enough to shake the world. He would have rushed to Ban and Orma while crying profusely, complaining to look at that horrible thing.
However, Ban had more courage than expected to react that way. A scream? Well, why should he scream? Instead, Ban even frowned while continuing to observe, staring at the unidentified something hanging from the ceiling.
It looks disgusting like skin has been peeled off. What on earth is that? Is it even human? If it’s human, is it a crazy person? How can a person hang from a ceiling with nothing there? It doesn’t look like that, but their muscle strength and physical power must be tremendous…….
Of course he was flustered. Wasn’t this a situation that would only appear in ghost stories? But right now, Ban was more curious about its identity. As he held his breath and just stared quietly, he heard what seemed like very fast whispering in a very small voice from that bizarre something.
“……covertheworld indarkness andshowfaith likethedeep seapray toyourmaster ohheisthegreat lordandtheseed ofdestruction willinglythepromised futureofone thatwill destroyeverything……”
……What the hell? At the incomprehensible sound, Ban finally took a step back. At that sound, Orma, who had been quietly waiting wondering when his lord would come, also finally opened his eyes wide, sat up, and asked.
“Ban, what on earth is it?”
“That is……”
I don’t know what it is either…….
The something that he didn’t even know how to explain began to suddenly flee somewhere rapidly as soon as Orma’s voice was heard. The movement of crawling while hanging on the ceiling was at an incredible speed like a bug. At the sight of it seeming to fear Orma, Ban was dumbfounded and let out a hollow laugh.
“Ha……”
“What? Wasn’t there something hanging up there?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure if it’s a person or what……”
It was so dark, and the fact that it was hanging upside down from the ceiling was so bizarre that he was just flabbergasted. When he blinked and looked at Orma with bewildered eyes, he tilted his head diagonally, fell into thought, then slowly opened his mouth.
“Isn’t it that annoying guy we saw in the morning?”
“……Pardon?”
It was dark, but did you see something already? He was puzzled, but soon accepted it thinking Orma is darkness itself. There’s no way he couldn’t recognize something just because it’s dark.
But if it’s the annoying guy we saw in the morning…… could he mean Lev Kinsha, the son of the Kinsha Trading Company head? That bizarre thing was human? And a person who looked ordinary if anything, that we saw in the morning……?
“Well, anyway, it ran away so it won’t noisily knock on the door in the dead of night anymore. Let’s hurry and sleep again.”
Orma shrugged and said while spreading both arms. Ban hesitated then obediently closed the door and returned to Orma’s embrace. As he said, the knocking sound was no longer heard. Contrary to the expectation that sleep would have completely fled from the earlier scene, as he was held in Orma’s cozy embrace, his eyes began to close soon and he fell asleep not long after.
* * *
The next day when dawn broke and morning came with even Jaena opening his eyes, Ban immediately went to find Lev. Orma nagged asking what’s the point of going when it’s obvious he’ll play dumb if you go ask, but still Ban wanted to see him once more and confirm.
Lev, whom he carefully visited, greeted Ban with a welcoming face.
“Ah! You left like that yesterday so I thought you wouldn’t come…… If you’d come in the evening, I would have treated you to good alcohol.”
“The alcohol is fine. I’m sorry for suddenly visiting in the morning.”
“But I’m the one who said to come anytime!”
Lev smiled brightly and was pleased. Glancing around, Lev’s cabin looked much better than the cabin Ban was staying in. At a glance, there were numerous expensive valuables and decorations, and it was packed full of furniture too luxurious for a room to stay in for just about a month.
As if he’d been enjoying tea time for breakfast, a fragrant tea scent spread faintly throughout the room. At the words to come in quickly, he carefully stepped in, and a figure who looked like Lev’s servant or secretary greeted Ban with an awkward smile and a bow.
“Young Master Lev, this person is……? Hello.”
“I’m sorry for visiting early in the morning. My name is Ban.”
“Yen, what rudeness to my guest!”
Lev scolded the man called Yen then hurriedly guided Ban to the table. Lev’s face was excited saying he happened to be drinking tea so he could treat him, looking just like a thoughtless rich man’s son.
Ban, who was about to decline the offered tea, realized that he was the one who committed the rudeness of visiting suddenly from the morning and silently accepted the teacup. At least he couldn’t smell any bizarre fishy smell or anything from the steaming tea.
Could this also be tea brewed with Blue Tears……? He was slightly suspicious, but because Lev was looking at him with gently curved eyes, he eventually carefully swallowed a sip.
“Does it suit your taste? This is Beitran tea that can only be obtained from Yen’s tribe.”
“Tribe……?”
Ah, because he’d been traveling with Jaena, he hadn’t thought much of it, but now that he looked, the man called Yen had horns like tree branches sprouting from his head. A deer beastman? At the sight of Yen fiddling with his horns with an embarrassed face, Ban took his gaze off him and slowly nodded toward Lev.
“I see, thank you for treating me to precious tea.”
“Haha, I’m the one who’s happy to be able to treat Ban-ssi! Come to think of it, Ban-ssi also seems to be traveling with a beastman, right? It was someone who looked like a tiger tribe member……?”
He noticed that Jaena is traveling with me? Did he see at the party?
Ban hid his flustered feelings and answered with an expressionless face.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I recognized him at a glance because he was wearing Yeru clothing! I know beastmen are older than they look, but he was a cute and lovely person.”
“Mm……”
“Ah, I talked too much about someone who’s not here. Don’t you have anything you’re curious about regarding me, Ban-ssi?”
At the innocent-looking face, Ban hesitated for a long time, moving his lips. This person knocked on the door last night and was hanging upside down from the ceiling? But no matter how much he searched his memory, it seemed like it wasn’t a person but something that roughly imitated a human form.
“Why are you like that? Feel free to ask!”
“May I…… ask what you were doing last night?”
“Last night? Let’s see…… I waited for Ban-ssi and your companion to come, but ended up falling asleep early.”
“You were sleeping?”
“Yes! Right, Yen?”
At least to Ban’s eyes, Lev didn’t seem to be lying. Asking Yen also seemed not to be asking him to prove his alibi, but just to confirm the facts.
Yen, who had been staring blankly, also nodded and answered.
“Yes, Young Master stayed in the cabin the whole last night and slept.”
“If I’d known you’d visit in the morning like this, I would have prepared more to greet you, how regrettable.”
“……N-no. I thought I saw someone similar last night…… I must have been mistaken.”
“Someone similar to me? Haha, I’m also curious about a person who resembles me enough for Ban-ssi to be mistaken.”
The words he said with curved eyes were certainly sincere. By this point, Ban’s head was filled with confusion and he couldn’t properly continue the conversation.
Orma said that unidentified something was the man in front of him. No matter how deeply it hid its body in the thick darkness, as long as it was Orma’s domain, his eyes couldn’t be blocked…….
“What’s wrong, Ban-ssi? Are you uncomfortable somewhere?”
“Ah…… I seem to have a bit of a headache, so I’m sorry but may I get up first?”
“What? This quickly?”
Lev looked at Ban with regretful eyes. That made him even more confused. Normally, Ban who would have been more polite and courteously asked for forgiveness for his rudeness ended up flustered.
Fortunately, perhaps noticing Ban’s discomfort, Lev didn’t try to hold him back once more.
“If you’re sick, it can’t be helped. It’s regrettable, but please visit again next time. Preferably with your companions.”
“My companions……?”
“Yes. That beastman…… and the person who had the hood pulled down deeply.”
Ban stared blankly at Lev without even being able to say he would do so. Previously too, Lev seemed more interested in Orma than in me.
Though he still couldn’t know Lev’s identity exactly, letting him get close to Orma’s side didn’t seem like a good idea. Orma also seemed to dislike Lev.
Ban awkwardly stood up and walked toward the door. Next time my foot, he had no intention of visiting at all. Though he didn’t answer even with empty words that he would do so, Lev just smiled brightly without any particular words.
Just as he was about to bow his head roughly in greeting and leave, Ban’s gaze inadvertently went toward Lev’s feet. The luxurious-looking shoes were dirty as if something was on them, but that was nothing compared to what was visible behind them.
‘Why is the shadow…… so long?’
Even compared to Yen standing right next to him, Lev’s shadow was strangely dark and long. The long shadow that reached all the way under the bed at the end of the spacious cabin gave a strange feeling like looking into an abyss.
Not only that. He only looked for a very brief moment, but the feeling of making eye contact with the shadow was creepy. Even though it was a very short time, he was crushed by a pressure so heavy it felt like an eternity. Ban, who barely raised his head, looked at Lev’s face without realizing it.
“What’s wrong? Is something strange?”
“……No, nothing.”
This time he could be certain. The brightly smiling face was unnatural and grotesque as if someone had forcibly imitated it. Lev asking what’s strange seemed exactly like asking ‘Is my human imitation strange?’
Ban left the room with a face that was as nonchalant as possible, but until he returned to his cabin, he felt a persistent gaze from behind.
