Chapter 41
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: A Night Fitting for Scary Stories 2
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That incident in the small village seemed to wrap up just like that.
But sometime after, bizarre things started happening to the lord's family.
At first, the servants began dying off without anyone knowing why. The lord paid little mind at the outset, but as it dragged on, he couldn't ignore it any longer.
Investigations turned up nothing. There were no signs or traces on the bodies. Not even a common cause of death among them. They even suspected some kind of plague later on, but the residents outside the manor remained completely unaffected.
Then the lord's newly adopted son fell ill from some unknown disease and died before the year was out. Even the tyrannical lord lost his edge after that, like a tiger with its fangs pulled.
Year by year, the manor fell into ruin. The villagers whispered that the witch's curse had finally caught up to it.
Several years slipped by like that. The lord's family declined as far as it could go, and the lord himself became little more than a specter, unable to carry out his duties properly.
And then, amid all that, a truly shocking event occurred. The lord's daughter—the one the witch had saved at the cost of her own life—brutally murdered him.
The lord's corpse was so gruesome that even those with stout nerves could barely bring themselves to look at it. Especially the face, which was the most horribly mutilated. Unrecognizable, really.
Yet the servants who had witnessed the horror firsthand all gave the same terrified testimony.
"That was the witch. The dead witch."
"That witch had become the young lady of this house."
"Every strange incident in the manor up to now was her doing."
"She survived all this time by wearing the lady's face... and exacted her revenge."
The next day, the villagers dug up the witch's grave. Under the forest where a lone owl wailed mournfully.
They say the lord's daughter lay inside, her face melted away by acid, dressed in a pretty gown.
Even after that, tales of sightings of that witch spread among the people like legend.
Even into modern times.
Her revenge complete—she'd toppled the lord and wiped out his entire bloodline—yet driven fully mad, she still couldn't let go of her grudge. Wandering without even knowing who she was.
Unable to die, drifting endlessly.
So thoroughly insane that she's said to still be searching for her husband and son. Mistaking total strangers for her family and trying to take them away. If they resist, she mercilessly flays their faces.
But no one knows what the witch's own face even looked like.
Her real face had melted away without a trace long ago. Now she steals the faces of her victims and wears them.
By the time the story ended, the rain was falling even harder. The late autumn night was dark as a black cloth, and there weren't many other shops with open doors in the alley. The sporadic streetlights cast faint glows that only made things feel more eerie.
"Eh, nothing special. Ahaha."
"But Ibi, why are you still polishing that one glass after fifteen minutes?"
It was true. Ever since Aerin had started the story, Ibi had been rubbing and scrubbing the same glass over and over. It was less cleaning now and more like frantic flailing.
Ibi, half out of her mind as she wiped away, suddenly jolted at the sight of her own pale face reflected in the window. She made a miserable face and spoke up.
"I said from the start I didn't want to hear it!"
"If it was that scary, you should've covered your ears."
"That's rich coming from the one who forced me to hear it all!"
Scary stories were all pretty much like that, really.
Screaming how terrifying it was, but still listening to the end. Or crying through a horror movie but peeking through your fingers for every key scene. People like that were a dime a dozen.
"Fine, whatever. Just a few stairs down, there are all sorts of freaky living things—or maybe not-living—running wild. A face-stealer is no big deal..."
"Those ones are pretty much locked up, so good management keeps them in check. But that witch has been roaming free for centuries..."
"Argh, seriously, stop! You're just messing with me!"
"Still, now that I've told you, a little caution won't hurt. They say the witch steals the face of someone familiar and close when hunting prey. So if an acquaintance blows a time promise or shows up when they shouldn't... it'd be wise to suspect something once in a while."
"Tch. It's all made up anyway. How do you know it in such detail? You talk like you've been through it yourself."
Ibi's lips puffed out like she was being treated like an idiot. No guests had come in yet, but the wind chimes on the door tinkled. Must've been the strong wind.
Only then did Ibi finally stop cleaning the glass. Her heart was starting to settle a bit.
She felt a small sense of accomplishment—at least after hundreds of rubs, the glass in front of her shone brighter than a mirror. With the darkness outside, the reflection was crystal clear. Even her own paled face.
That was when it happened.
"...Huh?"
A strange sound escaped Ibi's lips. In the reflection on the glass, she'd spotted something off. She narrowed her eyes and stared hard, then suddenly whipped her head around to look behind her.
Aerin was bent over at just that moment, her face out of sight. Shoelace come undone or something?
Ibi looked back at the glass. A faint afterimage lingered from what she'd glimpsed. No way. Must've been her imagination. She swallowed hard to calm her pounding heart.
But the more she stood there, the more stray thoughts crept in. The story about the faceless witch she'd just heard.
Stealing a familiar person's face for the hunt...
If someone you know appears when they shouldn't...
Suddenly, a wild idea flashed through Ibi's mind. Come to think of it, today was one of Aerin's days off. Every Sunday was set as Ibi's solo shift.
That's why she'd panicked about being late earlier—risking blowing the whole weekend morning opening.
But when she'd rushed in barely on time, Aerin was already there, business as usual. At a time she normally wouldn't be.
A time she normally wouldn't be...
What had she just said a moment ago?
How do you know it in such detail? You talk like you've been through it yourself.
Ibi's eyes went wide. She still hadn't looked away from the window. In the spotless glass, Aerin was reflected, bent at the waist.
Aerin straightened up, but her head remained bowed. Her long, thick hair hid her face.
Aerin shuffled slowly toward Ibi's back. For some reason, Ibi couldn't move a muscle. She just stared into the glass, rooted to the spot.
Aerin drew right up behind her and raised both hands. She slowly brushed back her hair like drawing open a curtain. Outside, a streetlight flickered on and off.
And the face that emerged from Aerin's hair had nothing on it. No eyes, no nose, no mouth.
"Where's my face?"
Just smooth, flesh-toned skin, like she'd flipped a blank mask over her head.
"Kyaaah!"
Ibi bolted in terror, shoving the faceless woman with her shoulder. Without a second thought, she bolted for the door.
Rain was still pouring outside, but that was the least of her worries. She flung the door open with enough force to break it and was about to dash out.
"......"
Her frantic footsteps halted for a split second. Through the rain, someone—three someones—were approaching. The first thing she saw was a tall man grinning ear to ear, his mouth torn wide.
The man trudged forward, ignoring how his oversized clothes clung sodden to his legs.
Ibi went sheet-white and froze. On either side of the man walked two demons whose faces couldn't be made out, like attendants.
And the next instant, the faceless woman who'd snuck up again wrapped Ibi in a tight hug from behind.
"G-Guests."
There was nowhere left to run. Surrounded front and back, Ibi felt her mind slipping away. Her whole body went limp as she fainted dead away.
"...I can't tell if this sister has no fear or too much of it."
Mina muttered as she carried the fainted Ibi inside and peeled off the Hannya mask covering her face. Beside her, Nati and Haewon were removing their own masks.
It was Halloween for once, and since the youngest two seemed bored, Nati had taken them out for a little outing. To Aerin, it looked like Nati just wanted an excuse to play himself, but whatever.
They'd been on their way back after giving up due to the downpour when, out of nowhere, Ibi came charging out with a lost-soul look on her face and promptly collapsed.
The three stared at Aerin in bewilderment, demanding an explanation. Aerin chuckled and laid out what happened, peeling off the fake skin mask glued to her face as she spoke.
"Did I go a bit overboard with the prank?"
"One more and we'd be hauling a corpse."
"Hey, it's Halloween. Trick or treat, right?"
Aerin glanced at Ibi, laid out on the sofa, and murmured low.
"Well, she won't be thinking about showing up late anymore."