A Lonely Night Without Anyone

"Someone! Is anyone there!?"

Yohane shouted in a panic.

There should have been not only maids and servants near the guest rooms, but also knights standing guard.

However, only his voice echoed through the corridor before fading away.

At the same time, the faint fire on the candlestick illuminating the corridor flickered out.

The pitch-black castle was cold enough to give him chills, and utterly eerie.

He couldn't tell what might be lurking in the darkness ahead.

The thought made him afraid.

He returned to the room for now. At least there was still light inside.

Returning to the room, he closed the door and locked it as a precaution.

He took a deep breath to steady himself.

"What's going on?"

He muttered to himself to mask his fear.

In the complete silence, his imagination ran wild, making him think unnecessary thoughts.

Like whether something might be hiding under the bed, behind the curtain, somewhere out of sight.

That's impossible. This is the heart of the Ambishul Empire, hegemon of the continent.

A place even Finn would have difficulty infiltrating, magically and physically more heavily guarded than the Royal Capital.

The security knights or assassins who noticed the abnormality would surely come running soon.

No, Azu and the others would probably arrive faster than that.

Thinking that, his anxiety seemed to ease somewhat.

Either way, sleeping was out of the question tonight. He should change out of his pajamas.

He changed into his usual clothes and prepared his supply bag just in case.

However, he hadn't brought any attack magic stones like those he'd used in the Constellation tower.

He had potions, a change of clothes, bandages, and gold coins in small pouches.

He also had a water bottle and preserved food.

He took out his self-defense knife and tucked it, sheath and all, into his waist.

It offered little protection, but this was the best he could manage since he couldn't wield a sword.

He then checked the candles on the candlestick.

They were about half gone, but there still seemed to be time before they burned out.

Though quite some time seemed to have passed, no one showed any sign of coming.

It was strange. He had to accept it. This was an abnormal situation, and there didn't appear to be anyone nearby to protect him.

He considered what to do.

First, should he stay in this room, or walk while there was still candlelight and try to gather information?

Both options had pros and cons for Yohane.

If he stayed in this room, at least the risk of getting caught up in new trouble was low.

But if this situation was the type that worsened over time, he could end up cornered with no options.

If he explored, there might be danger, but he might also learn something.

If only at least one of Azu and the others were here, he wouldn't have to agonize over this…

He sat on the bed and took a sip of water from his bottle.

As he bent down to put the bottle back in his bag, he heard a dripping sound.

At first he thought it was the water in the bottle sloshing, but it wasn't.

He could still hear it after putting the bottle in his bag.

The source was… outside the window.

He had left the window open to look outside. The sound was coming from around there.

Splish, splish… at intervals like footsteps.

Yohane drew his knife and held it ready as he slowly approached the window.

Then the sound stopped.

Fearfully, he grasped the window frame with his left hand and slowly began to close it.

He didn't have the courage to lean out and check outside.

Just as he was about to close it completely, something fell onto his left hand.

A slimy, viscous sensation like the mucus when grabbing a catfish.

He nearly screamed, and slammed the window shut, locking it.

It was a bolt-type lock, so it couldn't be opened from outside. That was some relief, at least.

"Ow."

Pain shot through his left hand. Some kind of semi-transparent purple liquid had gotten on it.

When he brought it close to his nose, it had a rotting and acrid smell.

There was a gradual, corroding kind of pain.

He set the knife on the desk and treated the wound.

He soaked a towel in holy water and wiped the liquid off.

The towel he'd used to wipe up the liquid was done for. He'd have to throw it away.

His left hand had turned red as if scalded by boiling water, and was bleeding in several places.

Fortunately, he was able to heal it with a small amount of potion, which was a relief.

Something pounded on the window. His body froze in surprise.

He grabbed the candlestick and thrust it toward the window.

There was something humanoid there.

But it wasn't human.

It had reddish-black skin, wore no clothing, and its four limbs were stuck to the window.

Liquid was constantly oozing from its skin.

It had a revulsion to it that couldn't quite be called a monster.

The monsters he had encountered before had been enormous or had organs that animals didn't possess, but their forms could still be called living creatures.

And yet it didn't seem to be an Undead type either.

The mysterious humanoid struck the window harder than before.

The window cracked. At this rate, it would be broken through.

Then the lock would be meaningless.

If it got into the room… he didn't need to think about what would happen next.

He sheathed the knife, grabbed his bag, and hurried out of the room.

The door closing and the window shattering happened at the same time, he thought.

Then he knocked over a shelf in the hallway and dragged it to block the door from opening.

He heard sounds like something kicking the door several times, but the shelf didn't budge.

After a while, it seemed to give up. He was relieved to have escaped the crisis.

But he could no longer return to the room.

He held up the candlestick to light the corridor, but its light wasn't enough to dispel the darkness further in.

He would have to proceed through it anyway.