novelraw Chapter 97
Chapter 97
Chapter 97
Realizing we were mesmerized by the scenery outside, Karma-san began explaining the area as if she were a bus-tour guide.
"The large fog spreading before your eyes. This place is famous for fog forming due to the temperature difference with the lower world. However, drawn by the light visible in the fog..."
It had started as a bright tone, but it grew heavier and heavier. I could guess what kind of story was coming. Detective Chikage gave a wry "Ahaha..."
Yet one person—only Kotoha-san—was different.
"Th-that's..."
She seemed to be enjoying Kotoha-san's frightened reaction. The face of Karma-san visible in the rear-view mirror was nothing but a grin.
"In this famous fog, ghosts who committed suicide try to lure humans into the same world to steal their life force—"
"Eek!"
Kotoha-san broke into a cold sweat and plugged her ears with her hands. Letting the scary story go any further would be cruel.
I was about to open my mouth to make Karma-san stop the story.
That was when it happened.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I said I'm sorry! That's why... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm telling you I'm sorry, okay!"
It came from the front passenger seat. Charlotte-san in the passenger seat was screaming in abnormal terror. Kotoha-san clutched her chest to check whether her heart had stopped, while Karma-san nearly made a driving mistake in her panic. Detective Chikage dropped her smartphone yet again.
Karma-san immediately asked what was going on.
"Charlotte-chan... what happened? All of a sudden—"
Charlotte-san seemed to come back to herself at those words. She said "It's nothing," and pointed forward to gloss something over.
"A-are we okay up ahead? We're not lost?"
"No problem. There's a convenience store right nearby, right? Anyone need the restroom?"
Detective Chikage raised her hand. I agreed. If we still had a long way to go, I wanted to use the restroom now.
Detective Chikage, I, and everyone else in the car were hungry or thirsty, so we each bought something. Inside the store were editor Kiss-san and a blonde- and brown-haired woman talking. One of them was arguing loudly with the clerk like a complainer, so they didn't notice us.
Apparently the other car had also stopped for a restroom break. Whether that counted as a rest was doubtful.
We got back into our car and pulled away before they finished their break.
"Let's talk to them later. Let's get to the mountain villa before those people!"
Fired up to beat the other car with five passengers, Karma-san accelerated sharply. She was probably exceeding the speed limit.
When the fog lifted, we realized we were deep in the mountains.
Moved by the vastness of nature, I murmured,
"I never knew a place like this existed so close to the city."
"Nice, isn't it?" Detective Chikage agreed. Once the car entered the poorly maintained mountain road, the speed naturally dropped. If we accelerated here, we'd crash into trees or rocks. Karma-san looked a little dissatisfied, but it was for the best.
Midway, Detective Chikage started rolling down the side window.
"Whoa!"
"Detective Chikage... what are you doing?"
Wondering if the scenery had impressed her, I looked—and saw a single bear cub standing there. The smartphone camera was pointed right at it.
Charlotte-san also spotted the cub on the left. Saying "Ah," she rolled down her window and opened the snack bag she had bought at the convenience store.
Realizing what they meant to do, my blood ran cold. I tried to say something at once, but my tongue slipped and no words came out.
Charlotte-san told Detective Chikage,
"If we have snacks, maybe it'll come closer."
"R-really?"
Kotoha-san was bewildered by the situation and flustered like me. Karma-san was different. She stepped on the accelerator and yelled at Detective Chikage and Charlotte-san.
"Stop it! Wild bears are wild bears! Do you know what happens if you feed them?!"
Charlotte-san objected to her.
"B-but the one on the left is thin, so if we don't give it something to eat..."
"That cub will be fine on its own! What do you think will happen to the bears if you feed them?! They'll get used to human food and come down to populated areas. Then they'll attack people and be shot to death!"
Influenced by Karma-san's words, my mouth finally worked. I snatched Detective Chikage's smartphone and shouted,
"What do you think will happen if you scare the cub with a flash?!"
"Huh? With a flash or noise..."
"If it feels threatened, the mother bear could show up! A mother bear can run at sixty kilometers an hour even in these mountains! If the car runs out of gas, we'll be killed by bears!"
Karma-san added to my words and scolded Detective Chikage.
"Exactly. There are countless incidents of bears attacking and killing locals. Don't take reckless actions toward bears!"
After saying that, Karma-san calmed down. Detective Chikage apologized, depressed. Charlotte-san repeated "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," in tears.
Kotoha-san was so frightened by Karma-san's change that she trembled.
Once the mood had turned gloomy, even Karma-san apologized.
"I-I'm sorry. I lost my temper all of a sudden."
I decided I shouldn't blame her and protected her.
"No, no. I think you were right. Bears really are scary... after all."
"Yeah... probably, we can't walk around here. If that happened, we'd be playing tag with bears. The road is rough, so the odds of coming back alive would be low."
From there, Karma-san explained how much of a land-locked island the villa we were heading to was.
"Does that mean we'll definitely meet bears before reaching the villa?"
"No matter which way we come down the mountain... yes. Either we meet bears or fall off a cliff."
While an unpleasant air flew around the car, the smartphone signal went out of range. There was no turning back now.
All I could do was hope these four nights and five days would be fun.
After hours on the road, we finally reached our destination. Getting out of the car and stretching, I saw a magnificent mansion before us.
Like a ghost mansion hidden deep in the forest. Splendid yet terrifying—it asserted its presence to us. I stepped forward as if challenging a dungeon in a game.
Charlotte-san produced the key and led us inside, saying "Let's go in first." From the car that had arrived behind us, someone shouted in an absurdly loud voice.
"Hey! Hey! You guys! Have you seen Professor-sensei? He disappeared partway here!"