Unedited
There was a long walkway between the square and the main gate, and about halfway along the walkway there was a side road, and if you meandered through it, you will eventually reach Gloween Forest, a place frequently visited during lower-grade monster science classes.
Kyle pulled out his molar to reveal that the stage for the next ‘event’ was an open space in Gloween Forest. Considering Professor Chapman’s healing skills, it would take some time before he grew a molar that doesn’t slide, make strange noises, or emit light.
Just imagining my poor friend swallowing his food without being able to chew it made my nose sting. Resolutely vowing to deliver results, I stepped into the Gloween Forest.
And before I knew it, pixies in small orbs rushed under my chin. Soon, three to four quills filled with magic ink began to move around me. I saw my image engraved at various angles on the paper in contact with the quill nib. After swinging my arm and shaking them all away, an unwelcomed face appeared.
“Ariel Mitchell Dalton?”
“Can you leave out that damn middle name?”
“Oh, sorry. It’s a name that left a huge impression on me recently.”
Fake journalist Christa Edwards’ ‘Sorry’ was the driest of all the ‘Sorry’s I’ve heard in my life. I could easily picture her, like a rat, rummaging through her mother’s bedside, checking the placards in her basket.
“This looks like it was drawn quite innocently. Do you want to keep it as a souvenir?”
Edwards looked at my portrait drawn with magic quills and held one out to me. I took it and tore it apart.
The other brown-haired girls trembled as the brown-haired girl, torn in half, let out a muffled scream. Ignoring it all, I furrowed my eyebrows and the corners of my mouth drooped as I spoke firmly.
“I won’t accept anything you give me, not even gold.”
“Oh dear, then you’ll be disappointed in the trophy I’ll give you next. I had it made of gold just for you! We commend Miss Dalton for her tireless efforts to revive the Fitzsimmons Times!”
“Haha. Really funny.”
My laughter was as dry as Edward’s sorry. Ending the day with Edwards was turning out to be an incredibly unlucky streak.
I curled my fingers inside the pocket of my coat, swore surreptitiously, and tried to pass by, but suddenly a very legitimate question struck me that made me stop on my tracks.
Ariel Dalton was a troublemaker, endorsed by Professors Humphreys and Houston. Absolutely no one would be surprised if I was found somewhere other than the dormitory after curfew.
Christa Edwards was different. Moreover, she had the supervisor of the female dormitory as her mother. When I said that, Edwards responded by pointing at the quills floating in the air. Her tone was resolute, as if she had some sort of mission.
“I’m tired of making a living by selling gossip. I will catch a big fish and become a true reporter specializing in scoops.”
“Fish?”
“The devil. I’m talking about the devil. Didn’t Maynards tell you?”
Rosemary Blossom’s best friend, Mikaela Maynard, was practically desperate to tell everyone she met about her encounter with the Devil.
If she had hated me less, she would have told me her vivid adventure stories. But that wasn’t the case, so I was stuck side-eyeing Maynard, who was fussing at Blossom throughout the Ancient Magic and Legends.
Edwards was a girl who had ears on the walls (and I mean that literally: she was disciplined for using bugging spells in several hallways during the second semester of her sophomore year, the first semester of her junior year, and the first semester of her senior year). There was no way she didn’t know what the relationship between Maynard and me was like.
Her skill at being infuriating was second to none. Shooting Christa a side glance, I received a crooked smile back.
“My goodness, how could I forget? Maynard is the best friend of your nemesis, Blossom.”
Spending more than 10 words with Christa Edwards was the best way to waste your time and ruin your mood. It was clear that now was the time to stop her from interfering with my perfect night stroll. “Let’s stop talking.” With a dismissive wave, I brushed past Edwards.
As I walked away from Edwards, who was carefully changing the arrangement of the pixie orbs and the magic quill, a sound like the howling of an animal rang out from somewhere.
“It’s here!”
Edwards shouted loudly in joy. She blindly hugged the reporting equipment that she had been handling with care—fearing that it would fly away if she blew on it or explode if she held it even slightly tight—and ran out without giving me any time to stop her.
“Hey! Edwards!”
I started running, chasing the receding back of Edwards. It was difficult to be sure that what we just heard was the sound of the ‘devil’, but it was certain that there was no way the being who made the sound would respond calmly to the interview as Edwards had hoped. Its howl was so terrifying and powerful that it sent shivers down my spine.
I hated Christa Edwards so much, but I didn’t want her dead or hurt. And that too in front of me!
***
Christa Edwards was anything but accustomed to physical activity. Her awkward running posture made that obvious. I figured catching up wouldn’t be too difficult, so I allowed myself to take my time. Considering that my stamina and intelligence values, which were fluttering before my eyes, were in the sky and on the ground, respectively, I really shouldn’t have.
The forest at night was a labyrinth itself. The whispering sounds of sleepless birds and some monsters rang out from all directions. Also, the appearance and color of the densely grown trees and the smell of dirt and resin that passed the tip of the nose were all very similar.
As I was running roughly based on where I could see the moon, I ended up not being able to tell where I had just come in and where I had to exit. I lost sight of Edwards, who was staggering and running.
Anxiety quickened my pace. Sprinting and looking around for traces of Edwards left me out of breath.
I stopped at the thought that if things continued like this, I would end up becoming a lost child instead of helping Edwards. As I placed my hands on my knees to catch my breath, a long, screeching scream pierced my ears. I spit out a bunch of curses all at once and put strength into my calves again.
Fortunately, the source of the scream was not far away. After about four or five intersections that looked almost identical, an open space greeted me. Pixie orbs were running away in panic, Quill was cut in half, and Christa Edwards was lying on the floor. Judging by the slight rise and fall of her chest area, she appeared to have fainted.
After quickly checking Edwards’ condition, I confronted the creature that was looking at me from a little distance away. There was a pair of eyes in a dark place where there was no light at all, making it impossible to distinguish between trees and non-trees.
The pupils were narrow and vertically long. It had eyelids that covered the eyes from the top and bottom like most mammals, and one that was translucent and covered the eyeballs on both sides, and they blinked at different intervals, constantly reminding me that it was not a human. There was no doubt that it was the ‘devil’ who had knocked Edwards unconscious.
I approached Edwards with extremely slow and careful movements. I didn’t half believe Maynard when she fussily described the horror she felt when she encountered the devil, but when I actually came face to face with it, my shoulders shook involuntarily.
As much as I moved, the ‘devil’ also moved. Arms and legs, darker than the night sky and covered in smooth, shiny scales, gradually emerged under the moon. Its torso was clad in something resembling a tunic, and its face was black but covered in soft flesh, making it look much closer to a human than the devil I had vaguely imagined.
“Uhm, hey…”
I thought that perhaps because it resembled a human so much, I might inadvertently communicate with it. Even though I spoke in a whisper, quieter than the flapping of a pixie’s wings, the ‘devil’ responded by slightly swinging his tail. A faint cloud of dust rose, just as Maynard had described.
“Could I just take her with me?”
If this was the same ‘devil’ who saved me at the Spencer Mansion, he wouldn’t mind my request. From what I remember, it didn’t seem to have any desire to kill or eat humans. Without taking my eyes off the ‘devil’, I lowered my body and pointed at Edwards.
“Ack!”
The groveling smile or comical prostrate posture seemed to have offended the ‘devil’. The instant I noticed its pointed teeth glinting faintly between bluish lips, I was already flat on my back, pressing against the overgrown grass.
A rough touch settled near my collarbone. The ‘devil’s’ hand, which had been close to a human hand covered in scales just a moment ago, had now completely changed into a monster’s foot. Sharp claws pierced my lower neck and upper chest.
The pain was not great, but the fear was. Looming over me was its head, grotesquely transformed into something resembling a basilisk or leviathan. Its mouth was so massive that its fangs were as big as fists.
As the ‘devil’ howled against my forehead, my hair became tangled. Paralyzed with fear, I couldn’t even turn my head, and its saliva dripped down, soaking my face.
As my discomfort grew more than my fear, I gained some courage. I discreetly curled my finger and cast the only offensive spell I knew. As I mumbled the spell, the embers that came out of the magic circle burned his pants a little before burning his thick tail. Then the ‘devil’ withdrew its claws that were pressing me and hit the floor with its tail irritably.
After dirt was splashed on my damp face, our eyes met. The mysteriously colored iris glowed in green and yellow mixed with fluorescent pigments. I thought it was quite pretty. So much so that it’s suspicious. The wind, shooting from angles that defied physical logic, and the glittering particles swirling around it stirred a sense of déjà vu.
Where have I seen something like that before?
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