Chapter 5: 'The Cursed Village': An Unexpected Answer (5)

After Thomas and Bram left, the four people resumed their pending discussion. Unfortunately, they could not draw any conclusions from the clues they found. The reason is that none of the clues they got were related to the curse they were investigating.

Augus sighed and said somewhat resignedly, "Actually, there is still one way left…"

'Even though I don't want to use this, there's no other way..' Augus thought as he looked at his hands, acting cool like the main character of a movie.

Lana quickly tied up the villagers that the four of them "wanted to talk to" with ropes that they got from who knows where. Meanwhile, Augus said bluntly, "Our actions really make us look like kidnappers here."

The little fairy looked at Augus with a sharp gaze. Because Augus' honest words had made the villagers tremble with fear. Allura was really afraid that the villagers they were about to interrogate would faint from the fright because looking for other villagers to interrogate would be very troublesome.

Lana didn't seem to care, and said, "In what way should we interrogate them?"

Augus who was previously far behind Lana stepped forward and approached the villagers they kidnapped. Then, Augus whispered to Lana, "Please help me guard my back, I have a feeling that the wolf will finish me off once a chance opens."

Allura who was flying around Christopher said half-screaming, "Did you know that I could just hear you right now?"

That implicated that Christopher also heard Augus' words. Fortunately, Christopher didn't react. But his gaze on Augus also grew sharper.

Augus turned to Christopher, and gave a friendly smile, which actually looked very fake. Then, he began to approach the villagers in front of him and kneeled on one knee before the villagers. The villagers really looked scared of Augus when he was in front of them, their bodies were even shaking a lot. Luckily, the villagers didn't pee in their pants.

Augus looked the villagers in the eye, which stopped the villagers' revolt for a moment. Then, Augus' red eyes lit up slightly, and a slight frown formed on Augus' forehead. Augus seemed to be concentrating on something. However, his furrowed brow made him look aggressive and fierce, as if he wanted to fight.

Seeing Augus' actions, Christopher immediately knew what Augus wanted to do.

'I didn't think he would use "that".' Christopher thought as he watched Augus. Without realizing it, Christopher gaze at August changed slightly.

Augus continued to stare into the villagers' eyes but didn't say anything. After a few minutes, Augus backed away from the villagers while panting heavily. He looked exhausted, and out of energy. However, Augus clenched his teeth while suppressing his tiredness, and said, "What happened in this village?"

The villager, who looked hypnotized, immediately replied in panic and fear, "T-this village is cursed! We will die! We will surely die! We're going to-."

Before the villager could finish his words, Augus who was on the verge of fainting, said in an annoyed tone, "Shut up! Explain further why this village is cursed, and why you will die."

The villager opened his mouth, and said hatefully, "It's because of HER! Yes, HER! Because of HER, at least one person from this village dies every month! Because of that vengeful evil spirit!! All because of HER!!!"

Augus really wanted the villager to say it in an flat tone, however, his hypnotic abilities hadn't reached that level yet. So, he could only sigh in annoyance. After that, with August really looking like he was about to die, Lana, Allura, and Christopher tried to extract as much information as possible from the villagers.

Having finished, Augus erased the villagers' memories, freed them, and immediately returned them to their homes to rest. Fortunately, Augus didn't faint on the way back. While Augus rested, Lana, Allura and Christopher discussed the information they had just collected.

"So apparently, there used to be a woman who was forced into a marriage by her family. The woman got a very terrible husband. When he was stressed, he would torture her cruelly. In fact, it wasn't uncommon for her husband to harass or insult her in front of the villagers. However, all the villagers turned a blind eye and did not want to interfere in their domestic affairs. The woman was desperate and tried to survive, unfortunately, she died when her husband pushed her into a very deep pond in this village…" Allura summed up the story she heard from the villagers.

Then, Allura added, "What a tragic story..."

Lana didn't respond, but continued Allura's story, "But in the end, it was said that the woman became an evil spirit, and repaid her husband in the same way he treated her. Then, she began to curse this village and hunted the villagers who turned a blind eye. For appease this evil spirit, the entire village agreed to hold a festival every month, which is actually disguised as a sacrifice."

Christopher, who had been silent the whole time, nodded and said in an annoyed and angry tone, "So Thomas and that child lied by saying this festival is held every year..."

"For that child, I think that child knows nothing. Because usually children won't lie. And, I don't think it's just that, I think Thomas also thinking about sacrificing us. Huh." Allura ended her sentence with an annoyed snort.

Lana nodded in agreement.

"Honestly I thought this evil spirit would instantly massacre the entire village, why would she bother cursing, even taking them life slowly. Does she have any limits?" Allura said saying her opinion.

On the other hand, Lana said, "Perhaps to create a feeling of terror in the hearts of the villagers, so that they live in fear and restlessness. However, to be honest, I don't believe any evil spirits were involved, my instincts tell me that those rumors are just distractions. The real culprit is definitely a human."

Allura wanted to question Lana further, but the transparent screen that appeared in front of Allura made her swallow her words.

[ Mission: Investigate the Village Curse ]

[ Side Mission: Find the Man Who Killed the Villagers ]

[ Deadline: 2 Days ]

[ Progress: 67% ]

After finishing reading, Allura suddenly made a surprised face, she really didn't expect Lana's words to be true. Meanwhile, Christopher said meaningfully, "Your instincts are very impressive Lana."

Lana didn't know how to react to Christopher's compliment, so she simply replied, "Thank you."

Meanwhile, Allura, who felt this to be unreasonable, said, "Wait, wait, so there really aren't any evil spirits taking revenge!? But, just a simple human?"

Lana nodded and added, "Also, it looks like he's a resident of this village."

For a moment Lana's thoughts drifted to someone, but she couldn't be sure if her guess was right.

Augus' rest was interrupted by the appearance of the transparent screen. Augus was confused by what had happened. Then, he forced himself to go to the room where Lana, Allura, and Christopher were gathered. When Augus came, Christopher's aura, which had previously felt more friendly, died down again, even his gaze became full of hatred and wariness.

Augus ignored Christopher's razor-sharp stares and started asking what happened. Allura, who felt sorry for Augus' weak condition, briefly explained what had happened. The weak Augus nodded in understanding and was quite surprised after listening to Allura's explanation. Augus said, "So now we just have to find the killer?"

Lana nodded her head, and said, "Yes, but now we don't have to worry. He will come to us himself, so we don't have to bother looking for him."

Listening to Lana's words, Allura looked confused. Likewise, with Christopher, only Augus immediately understood what Lana meant.

"Ah, so that's why..." Augus' words made Allura and Christopher's curiosity increase even more.