Chapter 08……………………..
“Wow… this worked even better than I expected.”
Ellian muttered as she watched the recording crystal she had installed to observe Artis’s reaction.
“Was it that scary?”
“Not that bad.”
Laseil answered from where he was sitting nearby.
He could only say that because he had no idea how absurdly high his courage level was compared to a normal person’s.
“Oh—looks like he fainted.”
“Really? He’s more of a coward than I thought.”
For reference, it had been about a week since Artis last visited.
Two days before leaving for the Remain Marquisate, they had publicly announced the second son’s death.
Artis confessed on his own.
Rumor had it that he was plagued with nightmares every night and, desperate to escape them somehow, made that choice.
Meanwhile, something had happened in the count’s household—the one that had been trying to search for Ellian—which threw the entire family into chaos.
“…There’s no way Rue went there.”
During that time, Ellian had become quite close to Rue—the second son of the marquis household, who visited her nightly.
Apparently, once the sun set, they exchanged written conversations almost every day.
Sometimes she went to bed early and left him a note, and when she woke up, an answer would be waiting.
Thanks to a coincidence, Laseil had caught a glimpse of Rue and learned that he had grown even after becoming a ghost.
Laseil found the whole thing rather romantic, but Yujire seemed to feel… complicated.
And Irenes’s reaction was even stranger.
“Is your type… ghosts?”
“Me? No.”
“…Oh, good.”
Anyone could see something was off.
Whenever this happened, Laseil felt a bit sorry for Irenes.
You don’t need to force conversation that hard…
The fact that she had to bring up weird topics like this meant she had nothing else to say to him.
He appreciated her consideration, but sometimes it became painfully awkward.
Yujire, however, did not understand any of Laseil’s sentiment.
“You have some vacation time left, right? Sir Zaen—why don’t you show her around the territory?”
He even dumped the job of giving her the local tour onto Laseil.
Irenes’s eyes sparkled at the suggestion.
…If she likes him that much, she should just confess.
Even Laseil, dense as he was, could see how her eyes changed every time Yujire mentioned him.
And yet Yujire acted like he noticed nothing.
Well… even if she did confess, he probably wouldn’t accept.
He could take a guess at the reason for her hesitation.
After deciding enough time had passed for him to tidy his thoughts, Laseil prepared to go out with Irenes.
“Is there anywhere you’d like to see?”
“Anywhere is fine!”
“My explanations might be a little disorganized… but, well, let’s go.”
Laseil decided to start with the place that had left the strongest impression when he had first arrived in the territory.
It was a tree that had stood firm at the center of the land for hundreds of years.
Even though it was early autumn, the leaves had already turned a vivid red, making it a beautiful sight.
The wind blew strongly, scattering leaves all over the ground, creating a carpet of red.
“Pretty, right? It’s the most popular spot in the territory.”
“It really is.”
Irenes stepped on a pile of fallen leaves and jumped in surprise.
There were a lot more leaves than she expected, so the sound was quite loud.
“Um… why is that branch—”
Embarrassed by her startled squeak, Irenes quickly tried to change the subject.
Laseil’s expression shifted slightly.
He had heard the reason before, but it wasn’t something one casually brought up during small talk.
“Well… you might not want to hear it. Should we go somewhere else?”
But Irenes wasn’t about to waste any chance to talk with Laseil this long.
Even if he were persuading her to join some bizarre cult, she felt she could listen for hours—the voice alone would justify it.
“No! Ah—sorry. I’m just really curious. I like stories behind places like this.”
Flustered but determined, Irenes insisted.
Laseil’s expression became even more hesitant, but he began speaking slowly.
“A long time ago, public executions by hanging were held right here in the center of the territory.”
“…Excuse me?”
The opening line stunned Irenes, but she forced herself to focus.
She was not going to lose this precious opportunity—Laseil didn’t talk this much often.
“Sorry, it’s just… fascinating. Could you continue?”
“…? Yes.”
And with that, Laseil’s misunderstanding grew even worse.
Irenes looked like she loved this kind of ghost story.
Since she seemed that enthusiastic, he figured he might as well tell her even the parts he had planned to skip.
After gathering his thoughts, Laseil continued.
“So there used to be a lot of people hanging from this very spot.”
Up to this point, it wasn’t such a unique tale.
The problem was what happened afterward.
For some reason, every time someone died by hanging, the tree’s leaves turned redder.
Leaves that should have stayed green year-round shifted, little by little, from orange to scarlet.
People found it strange and performed an autopsy on one of the executed bodies, and…
“…all the blood in their body had been drained—are you alright?”
“Yes, yes. It’s just so interesting.”
Irenes replied, though her face had turned ghostly pale.
She had not expected the story to get this grotesque and unsettling.
Nor had she expected that Laseil’s tone while telling it would be so pleasant to listen to.
Wonderful voice. Horrifying content.
“Is that the end?”
She would’ve felt disappointed if the explanation stopped there…
…but also relieved.
She couldn’t even determine what she wanted anymore.
The real problem was that Irenes was too good at keeping a composed face—on the outside, she looked genuinely thrilled.
“Oh, there’s more.”
Completely unaware of her struggle, Laseil grew even more enthusiastic.
No one had ever listened to him with such excitement before.
Everyone else fell asleep, left in the middle, or excused themselves for tea long before he ever finished a story.
“Eventually, because the branches bent under the weight of the bodies… they changed the execution site.”
That was when the strange rumors about the tree began.
People said that whenever they passed near it at night, they heard someone groaning.
Sometimes a rope that shouldn’t exist hung from the branches, swaying gently.
In the worst cases, someone standing beneath the tree claimed they had seen a pair of feet that didn’t belong to anyone present.
The tree that had once been the pride and symbol of the territory became a place no one would—
“…Are you alright?”
Laseil paused, realizing something was wrong.
Irenes’s face was now unbelievably pale—far worse than before.
“Are you feeling sick? Should we go back and rest—”
“NoI’msuperfineit’ssointeresting.”
Irenes replied rapidly.
There was no way she was going to waste this rare opportunity to spend time alone with Laseil.
Besides, he clearly seemed happy.
It was rare to see Laseil in such a good mood.
“If you have more stories like that, I’d love to hear them!”
She had effectively dug her own grave by saying that.
Part of her regretted it, but one look at Laseil’s pleased expression and she decided it was worth it.
“Well, since we’ve seen the tree… I suppose we should check out the forest next. It’s nearby.”
Feeling proud that Irenes seemed to enjoy the tour so much, Laseil began walking.
Soon, a dark, eerie-looking forest appeared before them.
“That’s the forest. Some people even visit during the day.”
“That one…?”
Irenes asked uncertainly.
No matter how she looked at it, it did not seem like a place for a casual stroll.
The trees were so densely packed that the interior was pitch-black, with patches of absolute darkness scattered throughout.
When the wind blew, the rustling leaves sounded unnervingly like crashing waves.
Worse yet, she heard noises coming from the trees—noises that shouldn’t be possible.
It was only evening and still bright out, yet it looked like this.
She didn’t want to imagine it at night.
And honestly, even in daylight, it didn’t look much safer.
“Does… does that place have a story too?”
Irenes asked with a trembling voice.
Laseil didn’t hesitate even for a moment.
“If you go in at night, you’ll always get lost.”
Everyone’s experiences differed—because they wandered different spaces.
But two details were consistent.
“The birch trees… and the person who waves at you from far away.”
“A–ah. Wow.”
Irenes gave her best positive reaction and braced herself mentally.
She refused to get ambushed by another story like before.
“There are no birch trees in that forest to begin with.”
