Chapter 129: Fairy Tale – He Has a Little Grey Wolf (54)

"Brother, is this... is this Red Hood Town? Why is it so terrifying?"

A knight dressed in tight black armor clung closely to his companion, who wore blue. His voice trembled uncontrollably. The blue-clad knight was just as shaken.

"If this road didn't lead to the Black Forest, I would never have come here in my life!"

The two men shuffled forward, shivering. This place bore no resemblance to the Red Hood Town they had heard of. Every building in sight was draped in red cloth, meant to look festive, yet the streets were completely deserted. As they walked quickly, the sky grew increasingly dark. They had no choice but to find a house and take shelter for the night.

Most of the structures here were in ruins. Ahead, they spotted a few houses that appeared sturdier than the rest. They knocked on a door, but there was no response.

"Brother, shall we go in?"
"Fine."

The two pushed the door, and to their surprise, it gave way. The interior was desolate. Along the wall, they could see what had once been a vegetable patch, but now it was barren, littered with a pile of rotting skeletal remains.

Suddenly, a faint, fragmented sound drifted through the room.

"You deserve to die... How could you do this? My two sons were resting peacefully in the earth; why did you dig them up? What have you done to their souls!"

It was the raspy sobbing of an old woman. The two knights’ legs turned to jelly, yet curiosity compelled them to step further inside.

"Ah! A ghost!"

The two men collapsed to the ground in terror. Directly behind the door stood a colossal statue of a wolf. Its eyes glowed with a predatory light, and its bared fangs looked ready to swallow a person whole. Kneeling before the statue was an old woman. No, she was not kneeling by choice—her legs appeared to have been burned away, and she had been propped up in a kneeling position before the wolf idol.

"Who... who are you? Help me... save my sons..."

The two knights fled in a panic, gasping for air once they reached the street.

"That was terrifying! Why would a family worship a wolf idol like that?"
"Exactly! I nearly died of fright!"
"Hey, there’s another house over there. Should we knock?" the blue-clad knight asked, scanning his surroundings with dread.

The place was profoundly bizarre. Red Hood Town was supposed to be filled with knights; how could it be this sinister? It felt as if... as if they had stepped into hell itself.

"I’m not going back in there. If you want to, go yourself!"

As they argued, the door of the nearby house suddenly swung open with a gust of wind. The red silk ribbons hanging from the trees outside fluttered violently. They were a vivid, blood-red color. While such cloth was used to decorate homes for weddings throughout the continent, here in Red Hood Town, it felt grotesque.

As the door blew open, the two knights collapsed again. Inside sat a youth with silver hair and red robes. He was holding something in his lap, sitting perfectly still on the threshold. His ink-blue eyes stared straight ahead, as if looking at the dead. Surrounding him, black flames flickered incessantly.

"A—a—a Dark Mage!"

The youth suddenly began to laugh. He reached into a bag beside him, pulled out a piece of date cake, and stuffed it into the mouth of the statue he was cradling.

"Asi, open your mouth. It’s your favorite date cake."
"Why won't you eat? Let me try it."

The youth, Reide, opened his mouth and took a small bite.

"It’s so sweet. Why won't you eat it?" His expression shifted. "Ah, I know. You want meat, don't you?"

He finished his sentence with a chilling, cackling laugh. His hollow eyes turned toward the two men slumped at the doorway, and he repeated, "Eat meat."