...[Scary]...
Shinji's ear-piercing scream echoed through the mountain, if not the entire island. Upon closer listening, one could discern the sound of five people screaming: a child, a middle-aged man, an old woman, and a wolf-like howl.
Shinji stopped screaming, and the other sounds ceased, but he didn't care - his only concern was escaping.
He charged toward the wall, creating a human-sized hole as he passed through. In the next room, candles lay on the ground in an orderly manner, it was the same room he ran away from.
However, Shinji's attention was drawn to a figure floating above the candles.
The figure, wearing a V for Vendetta Guy Fawkes mask, appeared to be hanging itself, but its red, translucent body seemed more like an object than a living being.
'Chains for hands?! What the hell?! I need to get out of here, now! Where did that thing even come from?!'
Ignoring the figure, Shinji closed his eyes, and charged forward, heading straight to the exit.
As he stepped outside, Shinji finally caught his breath. He recalled the villagers' words about the mountain being haunted.
'According to the villagers, the strange occurrences began a year ago when a couple discovered two buildings and a well on the mountain. They ignored the structures, but when they started kissing, they saw a third person with them. The couple rushed down the mountain, and after mentioning the word "ghost," they died. Similar cases followed, making the word "ghost" taboo among the villagers.'
However, Shinji found it peculiar that everyone he asked, including children, was willing to discuss the topic in hushed tones. He couldn't understand why no one refused to talk about it.
Shinji sighed, stretching his back as he muttered, "I'll spend the night on the mountain tomorrow and prove myself as a hero to the Daimyo, but that's only if I can uncover what she's hiding from me."
Despite his words, Shinji had no intention of returning to the mountain. Fear held him back, but his habit of lying had become so ingrained that he even lied when he was alone.
With a calm expression, Shinji descended the stairs, reciting a poem. Suddenly, a sound came from behind, and he halted his steps with an ashen expression covering his face.
Seeing nothing, he attributed the noise to his imagination. As he continued walking, he felt a presence licking the back of his neck.
Turning around, he yelled, "Who's there?!"
The area was empty, but before he could continue his journey, the creature wearing the Guy Fawkes mask suddenly materialized, whispering;
"It's me..."
Ahhh!!!
Shinji shrieked, tumbling down the stairs, and twisting his legs in the process, but he didn't care.
Luckily, when he reached the bottom of the mountain, his brown eyes saw a single-person carriage passed by, and he begged;
"Please, take me with you! I'll pay you triple the fare if you give me a ride!"
The man in a bamboo hat seemed unfazed, leaving his carriage behind. Instead of helping Shinji into the carriage, the man picked him up, holding his broken legs, and began pulling him toward the mountain.
Shinji weakly asked, "Isn't your carriage in the other direction?"
Seeing no reply, Shinji considered using his Tama on the man, but a wrinkled, pale hand reached past his chest and pulled out his nearly transparent, rose-shaped Tama from his primordial space.
Before he could scream, a sorrowful voice whispered, "Reverend Shinji... I'm deeply sorry for betraying your trust, but we had no choice."
Shinji's ashen face turned to stare at the speaker, and he gritted his teeth in rage as he saw the Daimyo, an old woman around 70 years old, shedding tears under the pink moonlight.
"You're behind this, Daimyo," Shinji muttered.
The Daimyo continued to cry, saying, "Oh, Reverend Shinji, I'm glad a young man like you came to our island. If you hadn't, we would have had to sacrifice one of our villagers, which would have been a regrettable decision."
The man carrying Shinji started ascending the stairs, and Shinji's head bled as it hit the hard surface.
He faintly listened to the Daimyo's sorrowful yet cold words.
"We never sought a hero to bestow the wish Tama upon. If we had the legendary wish Tama, wouldn't we have used it to save our village? The truth is... we just needed a sacrifice."
Shinji's face turned tranquil, but he couldn't help gritting his teeth at the Daimyo's crocodile tears, as she continues;
"My daughter and her boyfriend were the couple who came here. They indeed saw a figure wearing a mask with chains for hands on the mountain, who told them to throw a person or more into the well or the island would be cursed. When they repeated those words, they died."
The Daimyo paused, her tears increasing.
"We sealed off the mountain, but our island suffered a year-long drought. We requested help from the great continents, and when a secret organization agreed, we pretended everything was fine until you, our hero, reached the mountain peak. We planned to knock you out at midnight, and throw you into the well. However, we'll settle for this"
The Daimyo smiled, revealing her rotten teeth. "Don't feel wronged, Reverend Shinji. Sin has existed since ancient times. Even the ninth human committed patricide."
Shinji silently seethed, but he couldn't move his mouth due to his massive blood loss. The Daimyo held his bleeding head, and the villagers Shinji met during the day lifted his body, muttering in unison like zombies;
"We apologize, Reverend Shinji."
The group hastened their pace, likely fearing Shinji's impending death. Upon reaching the summit, they threw Shinji's body into an unprotected well made of mud bricks.
As Shinji sank into the water, he felt no regret about his life.
'It's good that I killed Tsukino's brother, or I'd be worried about her feelings now. It's also good that I realized Lila's doesn't love me, or I'd be concerned about who would give her the golden dragon."
Shinji slowly closed his brown eyes, gazing at the moon as the water suffocated him. His body fell to the bottom of the well, bearing a shining black star imprint.