The Male Lead’s Younger Sister is Still Sad Today

Episode 24

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“Should I just run away?”

Looking at the seemingly endless summit of the mountain, I briefly considered.

The mountain where the hunting competition was to take place belonged to the Akaruth Duchy and was known as the Alras Forest. Since it was a forest, it was natural for there to be many bugs, and the darkness made it frightening, not knowing what might jump out.

Is the only comfort in this situation that the air is good in the forest?

I and two others were supposed to move together to mark the area. The names of the people in my group were Gedwick and Patrashu.

Gedwick, with neatly tied hair that had a touch of wave, was one, and Patrashu, wearing glasses, was the other.

They seemed to already know each other, exchanging glances before suddenly bursting into laughter.

For some reason, it felt like an unpleasant laughter, though I couldn’t quite put my finger on why.

Just as that thought occurred to me, Patrashu fixed her falling glasses and asked me.

“Your name is Chase, right?”

“Yes!”

“I’ve wanted to get close to you since the first time I saw you. Please take care of me today.”

With that, she smiled warmly and extended her hand to me.

…Was it my misunderstanding that they were just mocking me a moment ago? It seems like I’ve misinterpreted things.

Shaking hands with Patrashu, I spoke up.

“I’m counting on you.”

However, just as I felt my earlier thoughts might have been mistaken, Patrashu, who was holding my hand, started scratching my hand with her thumb.

I could somewhat understand up to that point. But it wasn’t until Patrashu used her nails to dig into my hand that it went too far.

‘This crazy…!’

It hurt, but more than that, it felt disgustingly dirty.

Overwhelmed by the sudden discomfort, I immediately twisted my hand out of her grip. However, the discomfort lingered on my hand.

“Oh, more sensitive than I thought.”

“…If you behave like that the first time we meet, anyone would react like me.”

Gedwick, who was standing next to Patrashu, laughed and spoke as if such behavior were no big deal.

“By the way, seeing it up close like this, it really is broad-minded.”

“…”

“Enough with the banter. Let’s get going.”

Ignoring their comments, I led the way towards the marked area.

Finishing the assigned task quickly and returning to the mansion was the best option for now.

Upon hearing my words, the two of them exchanged glances again and burst into laughter, an obvious mocking laugh.

“That’s right.”

I didn’t want to engage in conversation with Patrashu and Gedwick.

As the one leading, I naturally became responsible for lighting the torch on our backs. Although the forest was quite dark, the fortunate part was that the distance between the torches was relatively close.

Except for the buzzing sound of beetles, it wasn’t too difficult. There were no ghosts or terrifying monsters that might jump out.

Listening to the dirty conversations between the two, I even thought it might be better if ghosts or monsters appeared.

“Chase, do you have anyone you’re seeing?”

While I was lighting the torch on my back, Gedwick asked me. Ignoring his words, I didn’t respond, but he persisted from behind with a whining voice.

“Hey, can’t you hear me?”

I answered briefly, trying to avoid the annoying sound.

“No.”

“Well… Chase, the woman you’re meeting is probably not of ordinary taste.”

Then they started muttering again.

Ignoring them was the best option. While Gedwick and Patrashu continued to babble behind me, I silently carried out my task. However, I couldn’t completely close my ears.

From behind, I kept hearing comments like, “Are you really a man?” or “Shouldn’t we check?”

They were speculating on why I might not be a man in their own way.

I had faced much worse than these actions. I had heard worse rumors and dealt with people trying to confirm it. This was nothing. I could handle it.

Finally, the last torch revealed itself.

‘…Is it all over now?’

Without a clock, I couldn’t accurately check the time. All I knew was that it was later than I thought.

Gedwick, who was tying the knot under the torch, complained to me.

“You do know how to speak. I thought you couldn’t answer because you didn’t know how to talk.”

“Oh, did you say something from behind? I’m sorry… It’s just that it’s darker than I expected.”

Smiling as if nothing happened, I responded, and Gedwick crumpled his face. However, unlike him, Patrashu, with a shameless face, responded.

“It’s nothing. We were just speculating about Chase.”

Should I continue to endure their nonsense or not, I quickly began to descend the mountain. Going down was definitely more comfortable than going up.

Once back at the mansion, I decided to take a warm bath. That would surely relieve the fatigue accumulated today.

But at that moment, I heard a rustling sound from somewhere. It might have been the sound of the wind, but it felt strangely alien to be just the wind.

Could it be those two playing tricks on me? When I turned around quickly, Patrashu, who was coming down, asked me with a sly smile.

“Why? Do you want to play with us?”

I turned my head sharply with a cold and stern expression.

…Did I mishear?

It seemed like I’ve been very tired lately, hearing strange noises.

However, the rustling sound came again. Startled, I turned my head towards the direction of the sound as the temperature around my spine suddenly dropped. But in the darkness, there was nothing there.

“…What?”

But this time, I wasn’t the only one who heard the sound. Gedwick approached me, seeming to have heard it too, and stared silently in the direction of the sound.

“I heard a sound just now—”

Before Gedwick could finish his sentence, birds hiding in the trees fluttered their wings and flew into the sky, making a rustling noise. The sound of the birds flapping and their cries felt somewhat eerie.

“Surprised me.”

Gedwick, who had taken a step back, mumbled.

The sky was just black. So it was hard to gauge how many birds had spread their wings.

When the noise from the birds, which had cooled the temperature around my spine, subsided, another rustling sound came from the middle of the forest.

At first, I didn’t know what was strange about that sound, but now it seemed similar to the sound of someone walking. Considering the sound, it seemed to be a large creature rather than a human.

…Could it be approaching this way?

Terrified, I unconsciously took a step back. The thought of quickly leaving the forest filled my mind.

“Ah!”

However, I didn’t get far before an intense pain in my thigh made me grab onto my leg and sit down. It hurt so much that tears welled up. It was like a pain as if my bones were broken.

Patrashu had kicked my thigh. With a face devoid of any emotion, he lightly tapped my shoulder.

“Chase, please attract attention.”

Clutching my aching buttocks, I groaned in pain and shed a few tears.

“What is this right now…!”

However, Patrashu left me alone and quickly descended the mountain with Gedwick.

I wanted to curse them loudly for what they did, but I forced myself to swallow the words. What if some unknown creature got excited and rushed toward me? I barely managed to hold back my words.

‘Just let me go down.’

I gritted my teeth and grabbed onto the nearby tree. Whether it was a thorn from the tree or what, my palm was terribly itchy, but I couldn’t afford to care about that.

I had to hurry and get down the mountain before something big happened.

But nightmares come without warning. Crisis comes without any foreshadowing.

A thick sound covering the entire sky pierced my ears mercilessly. It devoured all the sounds of this world.

I heard the sound of an airplane.

Eeeee—.

The horrifying sound that roamed the entire sky and the painful memories were still vivid. How could I forget that?

I desperately wanted to get out of this space, but for some reason, my legs refused to move.

The terrifying sound of an airplane flying above the sky, like an omen without any explanation, came.

My completely limp legs refused to move. It was probably not easy to move them. The painful memories of that day were enough to consume me.

On that day when countless people faced a gruesome death, Abel and I had to endure the stench of blood until we vomited.

And among those who either died or survived, I, the only one who knew the future, couldn’t prevent anything.

Countless hands pulling me would probably resent me. Me, who couldn’t do anything, me who couldn’t even protect my family…

Again. The horrifying sight of the townspeople turning into lifeless corpses approached me.

Helplessly, I sat in place, unable to do anything but cover my ears.

“Enough now!”

At that moment, I heard a distant sound. Without realizing it, I raised my head, and there was someone standing in front of me.