Duanmu Huai hadn't found any useful clues in the ancestor's bedroom, which was perfectly normal. After all, it had been over a hundred years ago, and many people had lived there since. If there had been anything useful, it wouldn't have been left for Duanmu Huai to find. At least on the surface, there were no clues to be found here.
But Duanmu Huai didn't really care. Clues were mainly useful for improving the [Mission Evaluation], and it was fine if he found them, and fine if he didn't.
After all, he hadn't come here to look for clues in the first place.
"...You want to stay in the courtyard?"
It had to be said that when the old butler heard Duanmu Huai's request, he was completely stunned.
"Please don't do that, sir, we have more than enough guest rooms...…"
"Is this really a matter of guest rooms?"
Duanmu Huai waved his hand and cut the old butler off.
"We came here because of that demon hound. Surely you don't think the dog is going to knock on the door and then crawl its way into the house? Only by being outside will it be easy to catch. If we're inside the house, it won't be nearly as simple."
"But...…what you say is true, however...…"
The old butler couldn't help but admit that Duanmu Huai's words did make sense, but the problem was...…
"Where exactly are you planning to stay?"
"Anywhere will do. Ideally somewhere with a good view, shelter from the wind and rain, and a clear sightline over the entire courtyard."
"Well...…we do have a small cabin used by the forest wardens...…"
"That'll do."
What the old butler was referring to was a small cabin located on the hill behind Baskerville Manor. It sat partway up the slope and offered a full view of the entire estate. Originally it had been used by the forest wardens and hunters who lived there. But after everything that had happened, no one had dared to stay there anymore. For Duanmu Huai, however, it was just right.
And yet...…in the days that followed, things remained entirely peaceful.
"What in the world."
Sitting by the window and gazing out at the pitch-black forest, Duanmu Huai couldn't help but complain inwardly. He had gone to all this trouble to stir something up, and now the dog wasn't coming? Had it been frightened off before and run away? That didn't seem right...…
To be honest, Duanmu Huai hadn't been idle these past few days. He had gone out every night to wander through the forest, and not once had he encountered so much as a shadow. There had been no good news from Lorena's side either — she only reported that the lady of the house seemed to have relaxed considerably, likely because she now had company. As for the demon hound...…it certainly hadn't shown up on that end either.
I really don't want to be stuck here for a year and a half...…
He stroked the black cat and white rabbit nestled against his chest as he grumbled to himself. The Baskerville family was certainly hoping they would stay. They had money to spare, and if they could hire someone to protect the manor indefinitely, spending a little more was nothing to them. But Duanmu Huai clearly didn't have that kind of time to waste.
It's not like I can actually stay here for a year and a half.
In that case...…
"Come on, Lingnu, let's go out and take another look!"
With that thought, Duanmu Huai stood up, pushed open the cabin door once more, and walked out.
It was deep in the night. Because of the heavy cloud cover, moonlight couldn't penetrate the forest at all, and the whole woodland was shrouded in complete darkness. But for Duanmu Huai, these were obviously minor inconveniences. He held up his flashlight and strode through the trees with heavy, deliberate footsteps that rang out one after another. It was clear that Duanmu Huai was trying to lure his prey. If that demon hound was truly lurking somewhere in these woods, there was no way it would let him pass by.
That was what he thought, at least, but...…he had been walking around for several nights now, and Duanmu Huai still hadn't found so much as a single dog hair.
"This makes no sense???"
Walking through the forest, Duanmu Huai wore an expression of pure exasperation. He had been making himself this conspicuous — so why wasn't the demon hound coming out to get itself killed? Surely he wasn't going to have to mark his territory by urinating around the place. Or had the thing wandered off somewhere else entirely?
"Mrow!"
Just as Duanmu Huai was mulling this over, the black cat that had been curled up in his pocket suddenly poked her head out and called out toward the distance. Hearing Lingnu's cry, Duanmu Huai paused, then turned and looked toward the other direction.
Could it be that the thing has moved somewhere else?
...…Either way, there was only one way to find out.
"Shhhhh!!"
Hot water poured down from the showerhead, cascading over the girl's body. Mary breathed out a long sigh, then lowered herself and sank her body into the bathtub.
The guest room at Shirley's house was even larger than the apartment Mary rented in the foggy city. And the bathroom was...…well, she had gotten used to it by now. Whatever the case, being able to soak her whole body in a bathtub was still a deeply comfortable thing. Shirley seemed to be completely normal as well, recovering smoothly, and if that was so...…
"Splash."
But just then, Mary suddenly heard what seemed to be a noise coming from outside the window. It gave her a start, and she quickly lifted her head and looked toward the window.
"Who's there?"
"...…"
Outside was silence, with only the sound of the night wind passing through the forest. Could it have been a leaf brushing against the window?
"...…"
Remembering that Donna had warned them earlier that there might be wild animals in the mountains, Mary grew tense. She hurriedly dried her hair, changed her clothes, stepped out of the bathroom, and went to the window, peering carefully outside. The forest beyond was dim and dark, with only a few faint streetlamps near the Western-style manor below casting their dull glow over the ground nearby. But under that dim light, everything around it seemed somehow even darker by contrast.
It was probably just her imagination.
With that thought, Mary shook her head and turned to leave. But just at that moment, she suddenly heard a rapid knock at the door.
"Knock knock knock, knock knock knock."
"Who is it?"
"It's, it's me, Ashe...…"
"Ashe??"
Hearing her friend's voice, Mary was taken aback for a moment, but she still walked to the bedroom door and opened it. There stood her friend, the small and sweet Ashelica, her face drained of color, looking at Mary with anxious eyes.
"What's wrong? What happened? Ashe?"
"I...…I don't know...…"
Ashelica looked visibly shaken.
"Just now I think I saw something terrifying outside...…right outside the window, like some kind of monster...…"
"A monster??"
Hearing what Ashelica said, Mary felt a jolt in her chest. For Ashelica, this might just be her imagination, but for Mary...…this was not something she could laugh off so easily.
"Where? Take me there."
"Mm...…"
Ashelica nodded, then led Mary to her own room — it was right next to Mary's and had the same layout of a bedroom and bathroom. At least from the outside, it didn't look very different from Mary's room. Ashelica brought Mary inside, then pointed nervously at the window.
"Just, just now — Ashe had finished her bath and was about to do her homework, and then she suddenly heard a strange sound from outside, and when Ashe looked up, she saw what looked like some kind of terrifying monster jump past the window...…although Ashe also thought that she might have been mistaken...…"
"...…"
Mary held the flashlight and went to the window, looking outside. Still nothing. The dark glass reflected back only the two girls' slightly pale faces and a sliver of lamplight.
"You probably just saw wrong."
Mary examined the outside of the window carefully, then turned back to look at Ashelica and offered a small smile.
"Don't worry, Ashe, I think it was just an illusion. You might have seen the reflection of the light or something and mistaken it for...…"
"ROAAAAR—————!!"
But before Mary could finish speaking, a low, rumbling roar suddenly came from outside. It was clearly not a human sound — it was more like the furious cry of some terrifying creature. Both Mary and Ashelica were startled. Mary immediately spun around and looked back out the window — but again, there was nothing to see.
Without hesitation, she reached out, opened the window, and leaned her whole upper body outside.
"M-Mary, be careful!"
Seeing her friend make such a bold move, Ashelica was even more alarmed. She pushed past her own fear and rushed to Mary's side, reaching out to grab hold of her clothes.
"...…"
But Mary looked carefully all around the outside, and still found nothing.
"There's, there's nothing there?"
"Ugh...…I can't see anything...…"
Mary shook her head and closed the window again. Ashelica was now clutching Mary's pajamas anxiously and staring at her.
"Mary, why don't we sleep together tonight."
"Alright."
Mary wasn't surprised by Ashelica's request. After all, Ashelica was still young, and besides...…that sound from earlier really hadn't sounded like the wind by accident. She didn't know exactly what was going on, but to be safe, it was better to have Ashelica sleep with her.
The reason she didn't tell Shirley was that Shirley was still recovering, and it didn't seem right to disturb her over something so uncertain and unconfirmed.
Soon, Ashelica gathered her things and followed Mary out of the room. But just as Mary was leaving, she suddenly caught sight of a dark shadow flashing across the wall in the corner of her eye, and she froze, instinctively turning to look behind her.
But outside the window, there was still only darkness — nothing to be seen. Mary stared into the darkness outside, and for reasons she couldn't explain, she had a deep sense of unease, as though somewhere in that darkness, something was glaring at her with malicious intent, and at any moment it would leap out of the black, shatter the glass, and then...…
"...…Mary?"
Ashelica's voice reached her, pulling her back to her senses.
"What is it?"
"Nothing. Let's go."
Reining in her thoughts, Mary took one last look at the dark forest outside, then looked away and led Ashelica out of the room.
"Tch, just a step too late."
Standing deep in the forest, looking down at the Western-style manor below, Duanmu Huai clicked his tongue. He reached out and grabbed the trunk of the tree beside him — the trunk, which was several meters thick, bore what looked like deep marks torn into it by the sharp claws of some creature. Unfortunately, it seemed Duanmu Huai had arrived just a moment too late. The creature had apparently sensed him approaching and had already made its escape.
"What a hassle. This really isn't my strong suit."
Duanmu Huai knocked on the tree trunk beside him and let out a helpless sigh. Compared to tracking, he was far better at waiting for prey to come to him. He wasn't afraid of enemies coming — what he feared was enemies going out of their way to avoid him. Like this creature right now: it was clearly able to sense Duanmu Huai's presence, and so it fled before he even arrived. That was completely understandable, really — much like a tiger and a fox in the mountains, the fox would never be foolish enough to throw itself directly into the tiger's face.
But if it wasn't going to throw itself into Duanmu Huai's face, catching a creature like this deep in the wilderness was going to be very difficult.
Just like a moment ago — Lingnu had already given the alert, and Duanmu Huai had gotten there in the shortest time possible. But the creature had still sensed the approaching danger and turned and fled without a moment's hesitation, not even pausing for a second. That was enough to infuriate him. If it had just stayed a little longer, he would have had roast meat for dinner tonight.
From this, it seemed the thing behaved more like an animal than a magical creature. Something like a void ghost — a [The Warp] entity — would try to pick a fight even when it sensed danger, just to see what would happen. Only an animal would be so utterly lacking in pride, turning tail and running without a second thought the moment it sensed something stronger.
This creature was exactly like that. It had sensed Duanmu Huai's presence, recognized that he was powerful and beyond what it could handle, and immediately turned and ran, without the slightest sense of shame.
And that was precisely what made it such a headache for Duanmu Huai.
Still...this thing wasn't without its weaknesses. Magical creatures had their own ways of being dealt with, and animals had theirs...…after all, when humans hunted prey, they rarely charged straight at it, did they?
At least for now, he still had bait he could use.
With that thought, Duanmu Huai glanced once more at the manor below, then looked away.
For the time being, this would have to do.
Days passed one after another. For Mary and the others, that night seemed to have been nothing more than a fluke, because after that, nothing similar happened again. Christmas was drawing closer, and the festive atmosphere in the small town grew thicker by the day. It was as if the earlier uproar caused by the demon hound had never existed at all. Lanterns were lit along the streets, people hung mistletoe outside their doors and decorated their Christmas trees.
And then Shirley and the others received an unexpected invitation.
"The Baroness of Baskerville is inviting us to a Christmas dinner?"
Mary looked at the invitation in her hands, clearly quite surprised.
"Yes, I intend to go. Whatever the case, this is the Baskerville Baron's territory, and I've been looked after here — it's only right that I go and express my gratitude."
"But Shirley, your health...…"
"Don't worry, Mary."
Hearing her friend's concerned question, Shirley gave a gentle smile.
"I know my own body better than anyone. Haven't I been getting better and better lately? Besides, they said it would be a private dinner — not too many guests."
"I think going sounds perfectly fine. It'd be nice for everyone to celebrate Christmas together and have a lively time."
Ashelica raised her hand enthusiastically in agreement, and Mary glanced at her and nodded. She understood what Ashe meant. By rights, Christmas was a holiday for families to be together. But no one had come to celebrate with Shirley. Even with herself and Ashelica there, Shirley might still feel a little lonely. If they went to the Baskerville Christmas dinner, then perhaps...…hm?
Baskerville?
Come to think of it, hadn't she heard that name from Mr. Duanmu before?
She seemed to recall that just before she had left, Mr. Duanmu had taken on a commission from the Baskerville family.
Surely there wouldn't be any trouble.
"What is it? Mary?"
"Ah, nothing."
Hearing her friend's question, Mary quickly shook her head. She hadn't actually heard the details from Duanmu Huai — only that it apparently had something to do with the legend of the Baskerville demon hound...…would she perhaps see Mr. Duanmu at the baroness's gathering?
If so, then she could ask him what was going on when the time came.
Deep in the night, the blizzard grew stronger and stronger.
The lively festive atmosphere of the small town had no effect whatsoever on the cabin up on the hill. Duanmu Huai sat at the table, gnawing on a turkey leg while staring out at the howling blizzard outside. Since yesterday, the blizzard had been intensifying, wrapping the entire landscape and forest in a blanket of silver and white.
There was nothing unusual from Lorena's side, and she reported that the lady of the house had begun to make arrangements for a Christmas dinner...…well, that was somewhat understandable. After all, she was the only one left now. If she didn't liven things up a bit, she'd probably die of loneliness. But that was none of Duanmu Huai's concern. He had no intention of attending any dinner party. Besides, he had an instinct — in the next day or two, there was a good chance that creature would appear again.
"WHOOOOSH—————!!"
The blizzard surged again, and at that very moment, the black cat who had been lying nearby gnawing on her own piece of turkey suddenly flipped upright and leaped to her feet. She turned her head and fixed her gaze on the window, letting out a low, sustained cry.
"Mrowr————! Mrowr————!!"
"Hm?"
Seeing Lingnu's reaction, Duanmu Huai immediately snapped to attention. He raised his head and looked out the window — and there, beneath the howling blizzard, deep in the distant forest, a dark shadow flashed past.
Seeing this, Duanmu Huai's eyes narrowed at once.
Got you.
(End of Chapter)