episode_0021

The trees in the forest, untouched by humans for a long time, had grown thickly.

Even the high, fierce midsummer sun seems unable to penetrate the lush leaves that seem to cover the entire sky.

A forest on the outskirts of Glummarch, a quiet territory in the East March region.

It was the time when the forest was overflowing with life, but it was quiet.

There is no sound of insects in the grass, no birds fluttering from time to time, and no traces of animals like deer that usually run around in the forest.

The only eerie sound was the occasional wind blowing and shaking the leaves.

Under the shadow, a woman was walking busily.

Dressed plainly, with a bandana tied on her head, and a full basket fastened securely to her left arm.

Anyone could see that she looked like a typical country woman, and in reality, she was like that.

Sylvia, a woman from the village of Glummarch, walked along the forest path with careful steps.

Even though it was noon with the sun rising in the sky, the forest landscape was dark as sunlight did not enter properly.

That’s probably why Sylvia’s steps were cautious.

Because it is dangerous to walk at a high speed in a forest like this that has been left untouched for a long time.

However, the reason she slowed down and looked around with eyes full of fear was not just because of the darkness of the forest.

For her, who has been picking fruit and digging mushrooms in the forest for ten years, this level of darkness is no problem.

The cause of her fear lay somewhere else entirely.

‘If you go straight this way, you will find a path leading to Glummarch Castle… … .’

Glummarch Castle.

Just thinking of that name made Sylvia feel a shiver run down her spine.

From the beginning, Glummarch Castle had not been an object of fear for her like this.

To be honest, it would be more accurate to say that she had no interest in sex.

For Sylvia, who lived the life of a poor farmer and lived in the village chief’s house after losing her parents at an early age, castles and lords felt like things from another world that had nothing to do with her.

The nobles are not interested in her at all, and she does not pay attention to the nobles either.

It seemed like the so-called mutually ignoring relationship, in which they had no influence on each other, would continue forever.

Until that day comes.

A night of nightmares where loud shouts and blood-curdling screams cruelly decorated the night sky.

No one in the estate knows exactly what happened to the lord’s castle that night.

Only vague speculations abound through secret whispers and ominous whispers.

However, as if in inverse proportion to the speculations that snowballed, the implications of the speculations were relatively clear.

‘The Glummarch family has been cursed by God.’

Just as no one knew what exactly happened on Nightmare Night, no one knew what curse the Glumarch family had been subjected to.

Among the dogs, there was a relatively clear rumor that the lord’s only daughter had been cursed to become undead, but nothing was certain.

In such uncertainty, all the residents could do after losing their lord overnight was to do their best to forget about Glummarch Castle.

Is this the result of such ceaseless efforts?

Now, six months after the night of nightmares, the flow of people heading to Glummarch Castle has completely stopped.

‘Only a crazy person would want to go to Glummarch Castle at a time like this.’

As she thought about such thoughts, Sylvia found herself becoming more and more depressed.

‘I want to go back to the village.’

As I walked, that was the only thought that came to my mind.

Sylvia glanced at the basket she was carrying out of the corner of her eye.

The rather large basket was already filled with the berries and mushrooms she had collected.

‘Can we go back like this? ‘I’ve already finished everything I have to do today.’

Sylvia, who thought about such thoughts, shook her head.

She knew better than anyone else that that couldn’t be done.

Even if she went back to the village now, she would have no home to return to.

Sylvia, looking at the bluish bruises on her wrists that were revealed as her sleeves were rolled up, lowered her head as if resigned.

It is a terrible self-deception to think that you can return to the village because you have filled your basket.

She had a clear reason to visit Glummarch Castle.

‘That damned knight! ‘Why do you do such a useless thing!’

Silvia’s eyes, which had been filled with fear until now, slowly filled with anger.

Grinding her teeth, Sylvia recalled the face of the young knight who visited the village a few days ago.

He was a person who did not leave a very good impression from the beginning.

The knight who came into the village with feet of clay introduced himself as a knight who served the light.

The knight talked loudly the whole time, and most of what he said in that loud voice was empty boasting.

In a way, it was natural for such a knight to declare that he would head to Glummarch Castle.

Subtle encouragement and encouragement under the guise of dissuasion.

There was also a rumor that Lord Glummachi’s daughter had turned into an undead, so it would have been a good excuse for him to serve the light.

The knight left the village with a passionate attitude, proudly declaring that he would put an end to the ominous rumors floating around Glummarch Castle.

That was already a week ago.

As I forced myself to keep walking, the castle began to come into view on a hill in the distance.

The sky-high castle walls were covered with green moss and vines, making them look like sheer cliffs or rocks rather than man-made structures.

It was such an extreme change that it was hard to believe that it had occurred in just six months.

Could it be that this is also related to the curse that hit Glummarch Castle?

The hilly road leading to the castle was covered with thick bushes, so much so that it was almost indistinguishable from the forest road she had passed.

Silvia, who was climbing the road trembling with anxiety, carefully looked around.

‘Could there be any traces of the knight left?’

Sylvia felt depressed as she tried to find traces of people passing through the thick bushes.

She is not a hunter or soldier, but just an ordinary village woman.

There was no way she had the talent to find traces of people among such dense bushes.

Instead of looking for traces of the knight among the bushes, they were able to find the gate leading to the interior of the castle.

Little by little, hope began to bloom in Sylvia’s heart as she checked the gate that suddenly appeared among the leaves.

‘Isn’t the door closed by any chance?’

It was quite possible.

It would have been better for her if the door had been closed.

If the door is closed and the way inside is blocked, there is no need to go inside to check.

But her weak expectations were shattered the moment she approached the door.

The iron gate, covered in rust, had collapsed and was wrapped in vines.

It looked unnatural, as if someone with great power had kicked it with all its might.

Moreover, there were traces left underneath that could not be ignored.

The deep grooves in the dirt beneath the iron gate were footprints so clear that even a clumsy tracker like her could not ignore them.

Now that it was clear that someone had gone inside the castle, there were no options left for Sylvia.

Even if it is not the knight who visited the village a few days ago, we must check who went inside.

“I really don’t like it… … .”

Even though I was in tears, I forced myself to walk because of a sense of duty that I could not refuse.

The interior of the castle was neater than she had imagined.

Unlike the outer wall, which was covered in moss and vines and completely crumbling, there were many more structures in the inner castle that maintained their original appearance than were destroyed.

Contrary to rumors, there were no traces of dried blood on the floor or any ominous ghosts.

However, that neat appearance seemed like another fear to Sylvia.

Sylvia, who was thinking about ominous superstitions such as ‘An object with a vengeful spirit will never break or break,’ opened her mouth cautiously.

“Are you okay? … ?”

A small voice, as if crawling inside.

It was a small sound that even she couldn’t hear properly.

Suddenly, wouldn’t it be dangerous to speak out in a cursed place? I had a question.

But Sylvia tried to ignore that thought.

It seemed much safer to raise my voice than to walk around this large place on my own two feet.

“Are you there? … ?”

This time, I mustered up the greatest courage of my life and shouted in a slightly louder voice.

But very unfortunately, her courageous actions only backfired.

Although her voice was barely audible to other people’s ears, Sylvia’s voice echoed quite loudly throughout the empty castle.

Please stay… … Please stay… … Please stay… …

If it had been a normal situation, I might not have been so surprised.

The loudly echoing voice was hers, no matter who heard it.

However, for Sylvia, who was psychologically cornered, the sudden loud voice was too much of a stimulus.

At the sudden loud voice, fear appeared in Sylvia’s eyes, and her breathing gradually began to speed up.

Although she barely managed to scream, she knew she couldn’t stay in this place any longer.

I can’t stand it anymore.

It would be better to be scolded harshly.

You might get beaten up on the excuse that you didn’t listen to instructions properly, but that’s not a problem.

The most important thing for her now was to leave this cursed place.

After reaching that conclusion, Sylvia was about to rush out the door.

“Hey… … .”

“Aaagh!”

The woman’s screams echoed loudly in the empty castle.

The moment she saw the pale human form that suddenly appeared before her eyes, Sylvia fainted with foam at the mouth.