Everywhere the eye could see in the forest, there were layers upon layers of green.
The dark-green canopies, the emerald tangles of shrubs and vines, and the vivid green moss that carpeted the stone walls and rock faces...
The wind brushed past the leaves with a soft, rustling susurrus. Now and then a few crisp birdcalls rang out, making the forest's silence all the more pronounced.
In such a primeval forest, an ancient stone house abruptly intruded into the depths between the trees.
A pitch-black crow slipped through the thicket and finally alighted on the wooden rack before the house.
"Caw—caw—caw!!"
A dry, shriveled, chilling cry rasped from its beak.
Before long, the stone house's front door opened.
A "person" swaddled from head to toe in strips of cloth stepped out of the house.
Silently, it came to the rack and picked up the envelope the crow had carried in its beak.
In passing, it laid a few small chunks of still-bleeding meat beside the crow.
