Redo of a Romanceless Author’s Life Devoid of Love; Another Chance at Youth

Chapter 466.

Chapter 466. An Exciting Night with Two Girls Outside the City: The Alleged Haunted Castle. (9/10) 

Wisteria seemed just as nervous, understanding there was no time to escape. Her heart was similarly racing. I could feel it through her chest glued to my back. Whenever she exhaled out, her warm breath rolled down my back. All we could do was stick close to the wall. If they passed by us and spotted us, we knew we’d have to get the jump on them.

Without warning, their footsteps ceased, their chatter had abruptly cut off, and the light from around the corner disappeared.

Had they… noticed something off?

I held my breath and clenched my hand into a fist. What if they were silently closing in on us right now? If that was the case, we’d lost the little advantage we had and the tables had been turned. Which meant making a break for it and running was now the best option.

“Big brother, run away. I’ll… distract them and buy you some time to find an escape.” Wisteria whispered anxiously.

I shook my head and refused.

“Big brother, don’t be stubborn, just go. I’ll be fine. I’m used to dangerous situations. You’ll be a hindrance.”

I squatted down.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and go. I don’t want big brother to get hurt.”

I ignored her, picked up a pebble from the ground, and threw it down the passage directly across from us.

If they were approaching, they wouldn’t be able to see the pebble I tossed without their flashlight on. If they heard it from the opposite side they might first check that direction when they reached this junction. That small opening would give us an advantage if we had to get the jump on them.

However… a minute passed by and the duo never appeared. What the hell was going on? Were they lurking right around the corner waiting for us to check?

Since they’d been in the dark for a while now and their eyes had likely adapted to the dark, we might be able to take advantage of them waiting for us. I quietly retrieved my phone from my pocket.

I held it up to Wisteria, pointed at the flashlight button on the screen, my eyes, then around the corner. She could see my gestures thanks to the little bit of illumination from my phone’s screen.

It seemed she understood my intent as she nodded back at me.

I held up three fingers and pointed in the direction of the passage we heard the duo from. On the count of three, we flash to blind and get the jump on them. If they’re unaffected, we turn tail and make a run for it.

She nodded again.

I opened up an app I’d downloaded a while back on my phone. It could turn the flashlight on my phone into a strobe light. I’d originally downloaded it for the time with Malory thinking of using it if I found myself in a similarly dangerous situation at night. I never ended up in a position where it was needed, but I was glad I’d taken such a precaution and was thankful I hadn’t deleted it.

A strobe effect was more effective at stunning someone than a single sudden bright flash of light.

When I held three fingers up again Wisteria released me and prepared herself.

Three…

I bent my ring finger down.

Two…

My middle finger.

One…

The instant my index finger descended I rounded the corner with my phone’s flashlight flashing rapidly on the brightest setting as Wisteria took three long strides down the passage before she froze in place.

It wasn’t just her, I’d similarly locked up in shock.

Why did the two of us instantly freeze? Were guns pointed directly at our heads?

No.

There were no guns to be found.

Nor was there… anyone there at all.

It was just an empty passage.

Wisteria turned back to me as she obstructed her eyes with her right hand and asked quizzically, “Where’d they... go?”

My hand holding my phone dropped down as I was similarly dumbfounded.

Were they planning to ambush us from behind?

Panicked, I spun around in a flurry and flashed the strobe light down each passage. There wasn’t anyone.

Wisteria opened her mouth again and asked, “Do you think… everything we heard just now was a hallucination?” 

“I mean… it’s not... impossible… but…”

“What?”

“I think it’s unlikely.”

“Can you remember word for word their first exchange?”

“One clicked their tongue and said ‘What a waste of time, there wasn’t anythin in the castle.’ The other person responded back, ‘Yeah, Doc’s definitely losin it.’”

“Those are the exact words I heard too. If it was simply a few sounds we heard, we might be able to write it off as a hallucination, but for us to hear the exact same lines word for word, it’s doubtful it was a hallucination.”

“True… but if it wasn’t a hallucination, what did we hear just now? Were they maybe… uh… ghosts?” She peeked over her shoulder to check behind her and sounded strangely nervous.

“Ghosts? As if.” I rolled my eyes. I mean, I saw the two earlier in the flesh. There was no way those two were ghosts, right?

But as it stood… the way they disappeared into thin air did make it seem as if they really were ghosts.

“We shouldn’t dilly dally. We got lucky this time, but if there is a next time, who knows whether we’ll be as lucky.” I started to walk down the passage and turned the strobe effect on my flashlight off. 

If they had taken a detour around, this direction would likely be the safest and would actually be the least likely for us to bump into them. Unless… they’d forgotten something and doubled back to the castle without us hearing them.

But since they came from this direction, it meant there was likely an exit close by. It was best to move around with the flashlight off. I could still see even without it thanks to Wisteria after all. When I passed by Wisteria’s side and was about to completely turn the flashlight off, Wisteria tightly hugged my right arm.

“Uh… can’t you... just leave the flashlight on?”

“Why? If they double backed to the castle and notice a light approaching from behind them we’ll definitely be discovered.”

“Ugh… but…”

“What?”

“Isn’t it hard for you? You’re probably having a hard time moving around in the dark, right? I mean, I’m a super cool professional assassin who’s used to moving in the dark of night who’s uh... not afraid of the dark at all, AT ALL, okay? But you’re just a normal guy who isn’t a super cool professional assassin like me, so it must be like SUPER scary and hard for you to move around in the dark.”

She sounded like a little child trying to clumsily convince her parents they were the ones scared of the dark when it was really her scared.

“Wisteria.”

“W-What?”

“Despite being an assassin, are you afraid of the dark?”

“I’m... not afraid…” Her grip on my arm tightened defensively.

“Great, then there’s no need for the flashlight.”

“Y-You don’t need to hold back, I know you’re afraid, big brother, so feel free to just use the flashlight.”

I turned into her, positioned my right hand behind her waist, then placed my left hand on the back of her head and pulled her head close to my chest.

“W-What’re you doing? Were you so scared you needed to hug me?”

She was a bit too cute and I couldn’t resist the urge to tease her a little to forget about the somewhat dangerous situation we were currently in. “Yeah, I’m so afraid, but since I have my brave little sister with me who’s not afraid of the dark at all, I’m sure I can endure it if she leads the way.”

“L-Lead… the way?”

“Yeah, since I’m so afraid.”

“That’s…”

“Is there something wrong?”

“Stop… bullying me… big brother.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m… uh…”

“What?”

“Hearing... unfamiliar voices in the dark… not being able to see who it is… it’s scary…”

“I see.”

“You’re… not going to laugh or make fun of me?”

“No.”

“But I’m a failure of an assassin who’s secretly afraid of the dark... Isn’t it… pathetic?”

“Who cares? Everyone has something they’re afraid of.”

“But I’m an assassin. I don’t even fear death… yet... I’m afraid of the dark…”

“You seemed fine earlier though.”

“I’ve been trying to get used to it… for a long time…”

“I see.”

“Big brother…”

“What?”

“This isn’t fair.”

“What isn’t fair?”

“That you know what I’m afraid of and I don’t know what you’re afraid of. What are you afraid of?”

“Sorry to disappoint but I’m not afraid of anything in particular though.”

“Liar, you just said everyone has something they’re afraid of. There must be something. What is it? Or is it… you don’t trust me enough to tell your little sister?”

“Hmm… well, I suppose there is something I might be afraid of.”

“There is? What is it?”

“My adorable little sister who’s afraid of the dark suddenly dying at some time and place unknown to me when she’s out on a mission. That thought is quite scary.”