131 – Dark Fantasy, Have a Deep Drink
The sky was tinged with the color of sunset, and people were heading home one by one or raising their glasses in restaurants.
“This time, I’ll be the seeker!”
“Okay!”
“Don’t sing the song too fast! Got it?”
Like children, the kids from the village and the Nest Organization quickly became friends and played until the sun set.
The children who were of a certain age were absent because they were helping their parents, so the average age of the children was 8 years old.
The child who became the seeker covered their eyes with both hands and sat down hesitantly. Then they started singing the song.
“In the mountains, a rabbit met a goblin.”
Since they didn’t know how to count, they sang the song to buy time to catch their breath. Some impatient kids sang the song quickly to provoke the others, so this child sang the song slowly.
With their faces flushed, the children started running towards their hiding places. The kids who didn’t think about a hiding place stumbled around in confusion.
Thump.
“Oops!”
A 7-year-old child who was running to hide behind a large orc barrel tripped over a rock and fell forward. In that moment, their delicate and soft face was about to be scraped against the ground.
“Oh my!”
She reached out to catch the child who had stumbled. The child looked up at the person who had caught them with wide eyes. A bright smile formed on their face as they recognized the familiar clothes.
“An installment candy!”
“hehehe, you’ve grown so much since then!”
The temple caretaker, who was responsible for the only temple in the village, laughed kindly and gently set the child down on the ground. Then, he took out a neatly folded piece of paper from his pocket.
As he unfolded the paper, several small candies were revealed. The old man took one candy and handed it to the child.
“Here, this is a gift from Grandpa. Enjoy it.”
“Wow! Thank you!”
The child clenched their fist and laughed brightly.
“What?! Pesil is eating candy!”
“Really?! Me too! Please give me some too, Grandpa!”
The children, who had noticed the sweet treat as if they were spirits, gave up hiding and rushed over, including even the tagger.
“hehehehe, you little rascals. There’s plenty of candy, so line up and receive it. Here, take this. You too.”
The old man divided the candies among the children with a gentle expression, like a kind grandfather visiting on December 25th. The number of candies he had wasn’t much and quickly ran out.
When the children who didn’t receive any candy looked at the old man with tearful eyes, he smiled wistfully and said,
“It seems there’s not enough candy. I have a little candy left at Grandpa’s house… Will you come and get that?”
“…! Yes!”
“Great!”
The village children nodded immediately, following the old man as if he were their own grandfather.
“Those who received, go home now. The sun is already setting.”
“Yes!”
After receiving the candy, several children greeted energetically and left with beaming faces. The remaining children totaled five, two from the Nest organization and three from the village.
The old man chuckled inwardly.
“Five should be enough.”
The old man rolled his eyes and looked at the hesitant Nest organization children.
“hehehehe, maybe it’s because they’re from outside the area, but they look plump and delicious.”
Despite his terrible thoughts, his expression was so kind that the children didn’t realize the danger of the situation.
“Now, let’s go before the sun sets.”
“Yes!”
“hehehehe, it’s candy. Candy!”
The children from the Nest organization erased from their minds the old man’s warning not to follow strangers. The temptation of candy was too strong.
As the old man and the children walked briskly, the villagers on their way home greeted the old man with smiles.
The effort to keep the front clean as much as possible, despite the dirtiness at the back, shone in this situation.
“Oh, if you keep spoiling them like that, they’ll develop bad habits!”
“hehehe… Well, since I discipline them strictly at home, it’s okay if they spoil them a little.”
The faces of the villagers melted at the old man’s affectionate words. That’s how they were able to bring the children to the quaint temple without any interruptions.
“Wow…”
“Amazing…”
For the children who had only lived in the Demon King’s land, the temple exuded a faint sense of holiness that was no different from another world. Enchanted by the sacred atmosphere, the children from the Nest organization cast aside any doubts or suspicions and followed behind the old man.
Creak. When they opened the door connected to the back of the temple, a long corridor welcomed the old man and the children. The old man immediately headed toward his room. As the door opened, the old man’s musty smell wafted out.
“Wait a moment.”
The old man entered the room and opened the cabinet attached to the wall. From inside, he took out a round glass bottle. The glass bottle had a solid lid and was filled with candies of various colors.
Pop.
After opening the lid, he picked up two candies at a time and handed them to the children. The old man gently folded the wrinkles around his eyes, smiled, and stroked the head of the child whose eyes were sparkling.
“You must have had a hard time coming all the way here, so I’ll give you two candies each as a special treat.”
The old man raised his index finger to cover his lips as he spoke.
“But keep it a secret from the other kids. Got it?”
“Yes!”
“Yes, yes.”
The children’s eyes shone brightly as they put the candies into their mouths.
“Now, go back before the sun sets completely.”
Whirr.
From somewhere, the sound of buzzing insects could be heard, and a dark shadow fell over the old man’s face, standing by the window. Amidst the eerie atmosphere, the cheerful voices of the children spread.
“Yes!”
Without a single one missing, the children left the temple.
That night, several children went missing.
***
Shak, shak, shak.
A sharp sound pierced their ears and reverberated in their heads.
Shak, shak.
“What is this sound?”
In a hazy state of mind, Pia struggled to comprehend the unfamiliar sound.
Swoosh, thud, scrape.
Her mind, which had been sinking downwards, gradually floated up, and the resounding sound grew louder.
“Ah, this sound… the sound of sharpening a knife.”
Pia forced her heavy eyelids open.
Scrape, swoosh.
In her blurry vision, she could see a narrow back and white hair, along with a pungent and foul smell.
Thud.
“Ah.”
The moment a cold droplet of water fell onto her cheek, Pia fully regained her senses. Her flickering pupils began to capture the surroundings clearly.
An elderly man with a hunched back was sitting on the ground, sharpening a knife against a large grinding stone. Four partially melted candles stood beside him, emitting a cool light.
“Is this… a cave?”
The damp air, uneven floor and ceiling, and the night sky visible at the end of the long passage next to the old man. She was lying on the ground, her limbs bound in this unfamiliar cave.
From Noble mtl dot com
“Why… am I here?”
She quickly began to search her memories.
“I must have fallen asleep after praying, just like usual.”
Pia struggled to calm her dizzying mind in the midst of confusion, and continued to think calmly.
“Come to think of it, something was strange when I fell asleep.”
Recalling the memory of drifting into unconsciousness, Pia furrowed her brow.
‘That reaction… It’s a reaction that can only happen when taking medicine. Then when?’
When she was desperately searching her memory.
“Ugh…”
“…”
A child’s whimper could be heard from behind her. She quickly turned around and saw a child with hands and feet restrained by handcuffs and shackles. Seeing the child, a memory suddenly flashed in her mind.
“Candy…”
The child, who had received two sweet candies, wanted to share what they liked with someone important, so they put one in their mouth and returned to the inn. Then they shared the candy with Pia.
Pia also had a memory of eating the candy without any suspicion, trusting that it was received from the temple.
As she recalled the memory, Pia realized a new fact.
…The sound of footsteps had stopped.
“Oh no, you’ve already woken up.”
“…” “You…!”
Pia quickly turned her head at the calm voice of an old man next to her. The old man, holding a large Chinese-style sword in one hand, narrowed his eyes and looked down at Pia.
“I was trying to send you off without pain… But it seems you’ve committed many sins.”
Pia did not retort to the old man’s strange words. In the Demon King’s land, such beings like the old man were common.
“Oh… In this paradise-like land, impure beings are overflowing.”
Pia bit her lip until blood dripped, blaming her own complacent heart that was satisfied with a place no different from paradise.
Thump, thump.
When the old man saw Pia staring at him without saying a word, he passed by her and headed towards where the children had fallen.
“Where… Hm… They seem to be waking up. Although the preparations are not yet complete, they will suffer when they wake up. I must show them mercy.”
The old man raised his voice as if humming a song, lifting his chopsticks high.
Puuk!
A chilling sound pierced through the flesh and spread.