Chapter 97
Count Wolphaufen was reunited with something wearing the appearance of his deceased wife.
「It's been a while.」
「I thought you'd stay the same even after all this time.」
「You've become an old man.」
The count stood there with a dumbfounded expression.
'Am I dreaming…?'
Imagination is a human privilege.
The count had once been consumed by such delusions as well.
His dead wife would return to the manor one day.
And then.
He would live happily with Anemone and Ae, as if everything had been a nightmare.
Being able to spend such dreamlike days had been his long-cherished wish.
"……."
I am Anemone's husband.
I have no choice but to recognize her.
Memory, recollection, and the five senses were telling him.
That she was the real Anemone.
She spread her arms.
Returned from death, she was exactly as he remembered her.
The count stepped forward.
And slowly embraced her.
She was tangible.
Her warmth could be felt too.
The distinctive scent of Anemone tickled the tip of his nose.
"……."
Tears poured down.
His whole body trembled.
He forcibly suppressed the sound escaping from his throat.
Yes.
This was what life felt like.
In a comfort so peaceful he could fall asleep at any moment.
It was a trivial, unremarkable thing that simply made him happy.
Anemone patted his back.
As if telling him he had worked hard up to now, she enveloped the count warmly.
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He broke the embrace.
He wanted to hear Anemone's voice.
It seemed she had the same thought as the count.
She held out a note.
「I want to hear your voice too.」
「But.」
「You can't, can you?」
「Because there's a terrifying monster outside.」
「Right?」
The count blinked.
That's right.
He couldn't make a sound.
Because this was that kind of place.
What a pity.
That he couldn't hear her voice.
「It's okay.」
「Because we can still talk like this.」
「And it's not like there's no way at all.」
「Have you eaten? You haven't been starving yourself, right?」
「I knew it. Just wait a moment. I'll cook something and bring it over soon.」
「Hehe, don't be surprised, my cooking skills have improved quite a bit.」
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The count sat down on the sofa.
It was his first time here, yet it felt like his own home.
His mind was foggy.
Why did I come here again?
Tap, tap, tap-
He heard sounds coming from the kitchen.
Ingredients were being prepared on the cutting board.
The bubbling sound of water boiling.
A pleasant aroma drifted over.
Familiar, yet not quite familiar.
Had Anemone known how to cook?
Where she'd learned it, well, it didn't matter.
I'm hungry.
And my wife is cooking for me.
Nothing strange about that.
So let's just wait quietly on the sofa.
Someone came in through the open front door.
A visitor?
He shook my shoulder.
What a rude person.
I don't want to do anything right now.
Why are you disturbing my rest?
It's the kind of peace I haven't felt in a long time.
I don't know what could be so urgent, but
Next time...
"Didn't you come here to save your daughter?"
'Ah.'
When he looked at the note in front of him,
life returned to his eyes.
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The count came back to his senses.
Someone was forcibly dragging him away.
"……."
It was the Noble Slayer.
He was one of the surviving party members.
That had been close.
Thanks to his intervention, the count had been able to escape the house.
Before leaving, the count looked back over his shoulder.
There, Anemone was looking at him.
The wistful expression on her face nearly made him lose his mind for a moment.
However.
The Noble Slayer's hand was unyielding.
He pulled the count away with all his strength and dragged him out.
Thud.
The count collapsed onto the floor.
"……."
It felt like he had dreamed a sweet dream.
A dream that even left him with a sense of regret.
The Noble Slayer looked exasperated.
As if telling him to snap out of it, he shook the count's shoulders.
"You're not seriously thinking that was a normal person, are you?"
"You said yourself that it was a dungeon minion."
"……."
The count nodded.
Right.
This is Dreamland.
Not the afterlife beyond the Black Gate.
There was no way the being he had just encountered was Anemone.
It was a simple matter.
"Thank you."
The count bowed his head to the Noble Slayer.
At that, he let out a silent sigh.
"I never thought I'd live to see the day I got a thank-you from a noble."
"If I'm grateful, then I'm grateful. Thanks to you, I survived."
"So who was that woman just now?"
"My deceased wife."
"I see."
The Noble Slayer folded his arms.
And then.
"I met my dead younger sibling too."
He said he'd met someone he'd always longed for, just like the count.
"I wasn't as completely taken in as you were, but how should I put it... the more we exchanged notes, the more it felt like I was being bewitched by a fox. I'd recommend not getting too close if you can help it."
"Right."
It's truly a dangerous dungeon.
I can't believe it would show such a well-crafted illusion.
"……."
Anemone is dead.
Outside, the sick Ae is waiting for me.
I must always remember that fact.
"The others seem to be finishing their investigations too. Let's go."
"Yeah."
The Noble Slayer held out his hand.
The count took it and stood up.
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The party gathered once more in front of the well.
Thankfully, no one had died.
"Who should go first?"
"I'll go first."
They shared the information they had each discovered.
First, the count explained about the 'Silent Village residents.'
"I went inside to investigate the house. And inside, I came face to face with my dead wife."
Of course, it wasn't really my dead wife.
It certainly wasn't, but
"It was so identical that I almost thought, 'My dead wife has come back to life.' We could talk, I could feel her body heat... Rather than a paranormal phenomenon, she felt like a person."
The Noble Slayer also added his own account.
"I met the younger sibling I'd been separated from in childhood too. It felt like they roughly understood what kind of place this was and what situation I was in."
"The more we talked, the more it felt like I was being bewitched by a fox. Or rather, like I was losing control of my own mind."
"The 'Silent Village residents' don't harm us like those strange creatures do, but the deeper our ties with them get, the more I think a bad future is waiting for us."
In other words, we should ignore them.
They're kind and warm to us, but
If we get won over by them, we might lose sight of our goal.
That was the conclusion they reached.
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"I'm next, then."
The black magician shrugged.
"I found something that looked like a blueprint. It seems like a device used as a power source in some kind of complex facility... It's called a generator, but honestly I don't really know what it is. It was in an empty warehouse."
The black magician pointed to the location with the tip of his finger.
Among the buildings in the village, there was one that was unusually large.
That seemed to be the warehouse.
"It might be a useful clue. I'll hold onto it for now."
Everyone nodded.
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The half-ogre looked around at everyone's reactions.
"I didn't really find anything..."
"Ah..."
"Right..."
"I also searched the houses while I was exploring for the elevator, thinking there might be something useful."
"But I fell during the process. With a crash and a bang..."
"I'm a bit big, you know. It was kind of noisy."
"But seeing that I'm still alive... it seems even that much everyday noise (?) is fine after all..."
That was fairly useful information.
When the black magician gave him a double thumbs-up, the half-ogre scratched his head.
"Should I try opening my gob and see?"
"If you're going to die, die alone."
"I'm kidding. I'm kidding."
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"There's not much in the central village."
"Hmm, then that means the elevator is somewhere outside the village..."
"The east and west are forests, the north has a river, and the south is ???, so shall we start by investigating the south?"
"Sure, but let's rest a bit today. The sky's already gotten dark."
The group agreed to rest.
Since it was dangerous to come into contact with those strange phenomena, they decided to stick together in pairs.
"I'm going to sleep with this big guy."
"I snore pretty badly..."
"What does it matter? Even if you flop around and lose your mind, you won't die."
The black magician and the half-ogre paired up.
Naturally, the count and the Noble Slayer were left together.
"Let's head off and rest too."
"Yeah."
Before leaving, the count looked down into the well.
There was still a round object floating there.
'Huh?'
Something about its appearance was different from the first time he'd seen it.
There were cracks on the surface that hadn't been there before, like a broken pane of glass.
"What's wrong?"
"It's nothing."
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They found an empty house that seemed suitable.
The Noble Slayer went inside first.
The count gazed at the moon from outside.
It was obscured by the fog, so it wasn't clearly visible.
It looked exactly like the one outside.
A gentle breeze was blowing.
It was warm, unlike the cold north.
The refreshing scent of nature pricked his nose.
It was a beautiful place, except for the fact that strange creatures were here.
The count was about to go into the house.
However.
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Step, step.
Step, step.
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The sound of hurried footsteps rooted the count to the spot.
When he turned, Anemone was looking at him, biting her lip.
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"..."
"I worked hard to cook for you."
"...It'll be cold by now, but it should still taste good. The soup can be reheated..."
That's a strange phenomenon.
It's not the real Anemone.
"It's been a while since we last met."
"I wanted to talk with you tonight after such a long time..."
"Would you believe me if I said I've been waiting for this moment...?"
That's a strange phenomenon.
It's not the real Anemone.
"It's too dangerous outside..."
"Because you're not a villager."
"If that dangerous monster gets you, you'll die."
"So stay inside with me, okay?"
That's a strange phenomenon.
It's not the real Anemone.
"Kite, I don't want to be separated from you again..."
"This time, we can stay together for a long while... really."
"Trust me."
That's a strange phenomenon.
It's not the real Anemone.
"If you become a Silent Village resident..."
"Then we could talk like we used to instead of communicating by notes like this... and you wouldn't have to run from the monsters..."
That's a strange phenomenon.
It's not the real Anemone.
"……."
The count repeated it over and over.
Because he felt like he was about to lose his mind.
Anemone wore an expression on the verge of tears.
A pang of guilt ran down his spine.
It felt like he was abandoning her again.
Bitter bile rose in his throat.
'I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry.'
It was absurd to apologize to a strange phenomenon.
After apologizing to her, even if only with his lips, the count fled into the house.
"……."
Anemone burst into tears.
Though stifled sobbing could be heard from outside the window.
The count deliberately turned his head away and closed his eyes.
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Dungeon Exploration, Day 2.
The next morning dawned.
The count woke up.
The Noble Slayer was still asleep.
As he stretched, he almost made a sound unconsciously,
but he quickly realized he was inside the dungeon and clamped his mouth shut.
The count looked out the window.
The sun still hadn't fully risen.
In other words, it was morning.
The Noble Slayer was asleep.
The count went outside and looked around.
Then.
A tray covered with cloth caught his eye.
「Eat up and get your strength back.」`,`Judging from the note, it was Anemone's cooking.`,