Ch. 63: Bravery, or Folly?

"Are you really not sure where this is?" I repeated my question to Furina in a slightly challenging tone.

Furina frowned, her face showing how annoyed she was at being underestimated by me. She then looked around while talking to herself, "Foggy... Foggy... Forest."

I caught the word "Foggy" and observed my surroundings carefully, wondering to myself what she meant by fog.

Suddenly Furina fell silent, as if she had just had a revelation!

"Erinnyes Forest!" she exclaimed a little louder.

I turned towards her. "Where is that?"

"Not far from the Court of Fontaine!" she answered quickly. Then adding, "It seems we haven't been moved too far from there. But why?"

I retorted with a mocking tone, "Not strong enough. Besides, fools don't need to think."

In my heart, I muttered to myself, mockingly, I'm actually a fool too...

Furina narrowed her eyes at me, then kicked my leg hard. "Shut up! Don't mock me!"

"If you do that, it means you accept the fact that you're stupid. Silly fool!" I joked while chuckling.

Furina grew even angrier and looked ready to kick me again, this time with more force.

"I told you not to mock me!"

With a swift motion, I placed my index finger on her lips, gesturing for her to be quiet. "Shhh... I feel like there's someone around here."

Furina swallowed hard.

Suddenly, the sound of a very loud clapping echoed through the forest.

"Well... Well... Well..."

A deep voice reverberated around us.

I immediately narrowed my eyes warily, letting the Electro vision envelop my body in purple flashes.

Furina was startled again, but this time instead of moving away, she drew closer and almost clung to me.

With my current abilities, I could control the Electro vision to avoid attacking her, who was an ally.

"Mr. Charles, and... who?" The deep voice continued speaking after a brief pause.

"Seems familiar... Well, by the way, you're not with Charlotte to interrogate me today, are you?"

He paused again for a moment, his voice continuing to echo in this silent forest. "How was my daughter's acting, was it good?"

You mean your daughter's acting pretending to be Charlotte?

At first I thought she acted pretty well. But it couldn't quite match the original... although I would still have been fooled if it wasn't for Furina.

"Oh yes, with Mr. Gloomy-Face, right? I have to say it was very good..."

I sneered, then added in a challenging tone, "Like your wife's performance that night. She really enjoyed it, you know... even showing her naked body to me. You know what I mean, don't you?"

I could hear the elderly man's voice flaring with emotion as he cursed at me with various swear words.

This is like ASMR... honestly, I like it, inevitably my lips curved upwards as I listened to this.

Even Furina was startled and disgusted by my provocative comment, although for some reason I could sense that she realized I was just baiting him, lying.

Well, so far I know he wasn't the one who shot me in the head back then. If he was the perpetrator, he should have known this was Furina.

The middle-aged man continued to hurl all kinds of vile language and hurtful insults at me.

"You disrespectful little bastard! How dare you insult my wife with that filthy mouth of yours! You're a lowly human who knows nothing! Mark this, I will kill you with my own hands!"

I only smiled mockingly in response to all his threats.

"If you can!" I challenged back.

His tone grew louder and consumed by flaring anger.

"Come here. I will kill you with my own hands," he said, coupled with angry muttering.

I chuckled softly, pleased to have successfully baited him into such a rage.

Perhaps Furina saw my body too showing how joyful and arrogant I was at having successfully provoked him in such a way.

Furina, witnessing my behavior, only murmured softly, "Which one is truly evil?"

Slowly, a long sigh could be heard from that mysterious voice.

When he spoke again, his tone was calmer. "Follow my daughter, she will take you to where I am."

He paused briefly. "There will be your grave. And for the girl beside you... heh, I know she's your girlfriend. You know what I mean."

After saying that, the strange voice disappeared completely, no longer heard.

Upon hearing the word "girlfriend", Furina shuddered in horror.

She turned towards me and shook her head repeatedly with a horrified expression on her face.

Damn, how rude! I muttered annoyedly.

It was at that moment that the figure of Charlotte appeared from behind the fog, of course the fake one. However, no matter how many times I saw her, she looked very similar to Charlotte.

She walked towards me from the front. Not saying a single word.

Very polite to welcome a VIP guest, isn't it?

Once she was near me, she immediately turned around and walked back into the thick billowing fog.

Seeing this, I promptly followed her from behind, with Furina clinging tightly to my side.

"How could you dare provoke him like that?" Furina asked in a small voice, appearing disturbed by my seemingly fearless actions.

I didn't answer, only curving a thin smile on my lips.

"What is your relationship with that person?" Furina asked again in a curious tone.

Letting out a momentary sigh, I began to tell her about all the events I experienced related to that man from my own perspective.

How Charlotte and I had snuck into his house, witnessing with our own eyes when the man shot his own daughter.

Well, I was also honest that his daughter was killed because he missed shooting me, or more precisely, I dodged before the bullet hit me. So his daughter was hit by the stray bullet.

I told her everything bluntly.

Furina looked utterly bewildered hearing my account. Her facial expressions were a mix of jumbled emotions running amok. Confusion, anxiety, fear, anger, horror, all mixed into one there.

I watched the changes in her expression for a moment before shifting my gaze ahead, following the direction of the fake Charlotte's back as she walked in front of us.

Suddenly Charlotte's steps halted, she didn't move at all anymore. I watched her movements warily and began preparing my stance.

It was at that moment that Charlotte's body was enveloped in dark shadows, until her entire form appeared jet black like the first time I met the figure of Mr. Gloomy-Face's daughter after her death.

She stood motionless with her hands slowly melting into the ground.

All of a sudden, an attack of black thorns emerged from within the ground, charging straight at me!

Furina, who was beside me, immediately drew closer and shielded herself behind me.

I just let out a long sigh. I had a feeling it would be like this.

***

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