"The effect is a bit, too good compared to what I thought?"
Elian, who was watching the recording crystal ball installed to observe Atis's reaction, mumbled.
"Was it that scary?" "It's not to that extent."
Laceil, who was sitting nearby, answered. It was an answer she could give because she didn't know the fact that her courage was vastly superior to the average person.
"Ah, I guess he fainted and collapsed." "Really? He's more cowardly than I thought."
For reference, it was now about a week after Atis came to visit. The Marquis Lemain household announced the death of the second son about two days ago, and Atis admitted his crime himself. According to what they heard, it was a choice he made to escape somehow because he suffered from nightmares every day. Meanwhile, the Count's household, which tried to find Elian, also had the house turned upside down because some kind of accident occurred.
"...Rue wouldn't have gone to visit them."
In the meantime, Elian became quite close with Rue, the Marquis's second son who came to visit every night. She said they have written conversations almost every day when the sun goes down. Often when she goes to bed early, she writes a letter before sleeping, and when she wakes up in the morning, a reply has arrived. Laceil also learned the fact that Rue seemed to have grown even after becoming a ghost when she accidentally witnessed him. Laceil thought that was quite romantic, but Yujire seemed to feel somewhat strange. And Irenes's reaction was a little stranger.
"Are ghosts your type?" "Me? No." "...Ah, that's a relief."
It was an obviously strange attitude no matter who looked at it. Laceil often felt pity for Irenes whenever this happened.
'There's no need to force a conversation like this.'
It meant he had nothing to say to her to the extent that he had to bring up such a strange topic. She was grateful for his consideration, but often there were times when it was excessively awkward. However, Yujire didn't understand Laceil's feelings like this.
"You said you still have some vacation left? Sir Jaen, would you like to guide him around and come back?"
Rather, she even entrusted the territory sightseeing to Laceil. Hearing that story, Irenes's pupils sparkled.
'...If he likes it that much, it would be nice if he just confessed.'
The change in his eyes whenever he heard Yujire's words was clearly visible even to the dull Laceil's eyes. Yet, Yujire was acting as if she hadn't noticed that.
'No, even if he confesses, the Young Lady wouldn't accept it.'
She felt she could roughly guess the reason why he didn't confess. Laceil, who organized her thoughts appropriately and prepared to go out, stepped out of the mansion with Irenes.
"Is there a place you are curious about?" "Anywhere is fine!" "The guidance might be a little inconsistent, but... hmm, shall we go for now?"
Laceil decided to take him first to the place she saw most impressively when she first came to the territory. It was a tree that had firmly kept its place in the center of this territory for several hundred years already. Even though it was early autumn, the leaves were already dyed red, so it was nice to look at. Because the wind blew a lot and leaves were spread all over the ground, it even looked like a red carpet.
"It's pretty, right? It's the place where people gather the most in the territory." "It really is."
Irenes, who was blankly staring, was startled when he stepped on the fallen leaves. Because there were quite a lot of leaves piled on the ground, the sound was louder than he thought.
"By the way, why is that branch..."
Irenes, who became slightly embarrassed because he made a too surprised sound, hurriedly changed the subject. And Laceil's expression became a little strange. Although she had heard the reason, it wasn't content suitable for light small talk.
"That is, um. It might be better not to hear it. Do you want to go somewhere else?"
However, Irenes didn't miss the opportunity to exchange words with Laceil for a long time. If it was Laceil's voice, it seemed he could listen for a long time even if it was a strange religious solicitation.
"No! Ah, I'm sorry. I just became a little curious. I like listening to stories entangled in places like this."
Irenes, who wanted to hear the story somehow, finished speaking gibberish. Laceil, whose expression became a little stranger than before, slowly started the story.
"It's said that in the past, there were many hangings in the middle of the territory." "Yes?"
Irenes, who heard the introduction, asked blankly, then came to his senses again. He couldn't miss this precious opportunity where Laceil told a story for a long time.
"No, I'm sorry. It's so interesting! Could you tell me more?" "...? Yes."
And Laceil's misunderstanding worsened again. It appeared that Irenes liked these ghost stories too much. If he liked it to this extent, it seemed okay to tell even the story she intended to refrain from telling a bit. Laceil, who organized the content to speak again, opened her mouth.
"So there were many people hanging in such a way in the middle of the village."
Up to here, it wasn't a particularly unusual story. The problem was what happened next. For some reason, whenever someone died by hanging, the leaves were gradually dyed red. The leaves, which should originally be green all year round, gradually changed from vermilion to red. When people who found this fact strange performed autopsies on the people who were hanged...
"...All the blood in the body had been drained, are you okay?" "Yes, yes. It's so interesting."
Irenes, whose face turned pale white, answered. He hadn't expected such a disgusting and unpleasant story to come out to this extent. And he also hadn't expected Laceil's tone when telling the story to be this good. The voice was good, but the content was terrible beyond measure.
"Is that the end?"
If he thought Laceil's explanation was ending, it was regrettable. However, relief washed over him at the fact that this story was ending. Even Irenes himself couldn't properly know what he wanted right now. The problem was the fact that Irenes managed his expression so well that outwardly he seemed quite excited.
"Ah, there is more."
Meanwhile, Laceil, who knew none of Irenes's circumstances like this, was in a state of slightly excessive enthusiasm. Because it was the first time someone listened to her explanation this interestingly to this extent. Other people all dozed off, left their seats, or went to drink tea before Laceil's story even finished.
"Anyway, because the tree branch tilted due to the weight of people... the place for hanging was changed."
It was after that that strange stories related to the tree spread. Because they said groaning sounds of people were heard whenever they passed near the tree at night. Often ropes that shouldn't exist were hanging on the tree branches and swaying. In severe cases, there were people who saw feet of someone unknown while standing under the tree. Thanks to that, the tree which was the specialty and pride of the village became a place no one visited...
"Are you okay?"
Laceil, who continued the story a bit excitedly, asked again. Irenes's face was in a state turned pale white to an extent that couldn't be compared to earlier.
"Are you feeling unwell? Going in and resting..." "NoItIsSoFun."
Irenes answered with fast words. He didn't want to blow the opportunity to go out together with Laceil after a long time in this way. Moreover, it was visible that Laceil was excited. Because the opportunity to see Laceil looking in a good mood in this way was also rare.
"If there are other stories like this, I hope you definitely let me know!"
Eventually, he even made such a remark digging his own grave. Irenes regretted it after spitting out the words, but looking at Laceil's face, he thought it didn't matter.
"Ah, then since we saw the tree... we should go to the forest side. It's close from here."
Laceil, feeling a little proud because Irenes seemed to like it quite a bit, moved her steps. Soon, a dark and cool-looking forest revealed its appearance in front of the two people.
"Over there is the forest. I heard people often go play there during the day." "Over there?"
Irenes asked. No matter how he looked at it, it didn't look like a space suitable for doing things like a picnic. Trees were lined up densely so the inside was completely dark, and there were patches of darkness where the end couldn't even be seen. It was creepy that the leaves swayed and made sounds like waves whenever the wind blew once. Even sounds that shouldn't come from trees were heard briefly. Even though it was evening, the sun was still up, but since it looked like that, he didn't even want to imagine the appearance at night. And even if it was daytime, it didn't seem like it would be a particularly normal appearance.
"Does that place also have a story entangled?"
Irenes asked with a trembling voice. An explanation returned from Laceil without a moment of hesitation.
"If you enter the forest at night, you always end up getting lost."
Since everyone wandered around different spaces, the concrete experiences were all different. However, there were exactly two common points.
"It's a story about a birch tree, and a person beckoning from far away." "Ah, wow."
Irenes, who gave a positive reaction with his best effort, prepared his heart. This time he didn't want to be helplessly subjected to the story like earlier.
"Naturally, there are no birch trees inside that forest."
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