273. Test of courage

As Shino-san said at the beach, we were now gathering at the entrance of the mountain road to do a test of courage. However, the mountain seemed to be a gentle mountain, as people often came here to do short hiking or trekking. The road seemed to be well maintained, for sure it wasn’t a road where a wild animal would suddenly jump.

Still, even so, there might still be some other danger that would only happen at night. I was a little relieved that it wasn’t some wild road, but no matter how well maintained the road was, the mountains at night had a dark and eerie atmosphere. Perhaps because I heard that ghosts actually appear, I got an even more eerie and disturbing atmosphere from it.

That said… afraid of ghosts was something that people regardless of gender might have. The girls were making noise, saying that they didn’t afraid, but their body movements said differently when they were glancing at the depths of the mountains.

The psychology of these girls in this world was kind of like men in my previous world… so, I was sure that they were trying hard not to show a pitiful appearance in front of me. 

….Well, I understand that feeling well. Everyone wants to show their cool appearance in front of someone they like… To be honest, I don’t believe in ghosts, but… wait, now that I think about it, I regained the memory of my previous life, so it wouldn’t be strange if something like spirits exist, means ghosts might exist too… But, if that’s the case, is there a difference between me and ghosts? 

I was trying to escape from reality a little, but what I was most scared of right now, was neither the dark and eerie mountains nor the ghosts that were said to appear there.

The scariest thing for me now was the exorcists that Shino-san had called. They were probably the famous people in the occult world. I immediately turned my eyes away when I saw them gathered together. But at first glance, anyone would, no, should agree that they were a bunch of dangerous people. They looked like the real deal but also scarier at the same time, than the one I ever saw in my previous life.

There was a girl dressed in a nun outfit. Well, she looked like a normal nun if looked at her long enough, but her face was warped in a black cloth. 

…… Can you still see the road? I mean, if you can’t see the thing in front of you, how can you see the ghosts? Perhaps, it’s some kind of ritual? But, can you breathe normally?

When I was worried about the nun, I saw a woman standing a little behind her. She was a beautiful woman wearing a Chinese dress. Compared to the nuns, her clothes were normal. Well, the clothes might not be suitable for climbing the mountains, but it was still common clothes… But, next to her, there was a pale-skinned woman with a bill on her forehead standing without making a slight movement. Moreover, there were five of them. Super scary. 

…A pale person with a talisman on it… Wait, I’ve seen it in a movie in my past life. That’s what they called, “Jiangshi”, right?… It’s a corpse, isn’t it?… But, seriously, in this modern age, where did you get it from?

And the last one looked the most dangerous. She was a woman in black clothes. Her hair was long, so long that you couldn’t see her face. In her hand, there was a doll and she seemed to always talk to it. 

…… What are you doing? What are you mumbling? It’s super scary, you know? Did you take some dangerous medicine or something? Are you spending your days like that? You’ve never had a problem? To be honest, being with them is more likely to be the curse itself.

“Kohaku-kun”

Shino-san talked to me as I was observing the exorcists.

“As expected, the mountains at night are a little scary, right? But, don’t worry, we won’t go deep. Take this map.”

“Thank you.”

Shino-san gave me a map with a simple illustration. I thanked her and looked down at it. Certainly, it seemed that we wouldn’t walk that long. Even considering the mountain road, it might be a round-trip course of about 30 minutes.

“At first, we all planned to go together in one go, but that would be too many people and won’t be a test anymore, so we decided to divide the people into three groups.”

“I see…”

“Later, We’ll do a lottery, a genuine one without any trick, to divide the group.”

…… Why do you emphasize that there is no trick?

I nodded for the time being.

“Okay, got it.”

“Ah, each group will be accompanied by one exorcist, so don’t worry, you don’t need to be so afraid.”

Shino-san laughed at the end.

…Wait, what’s the point of doing the test of courage then?

I heard Shino-san’s words and looked at the exorcists again.

…… A beautiful woman with a corpse, a person who seems to be taking some dangerous medicine, and a nun with a cloth covering her whole face.

They all seem to bring bad luck, whichever, no matter who.

Thinking so, I told Shino-san.

“That’s not true. I’m still super scared.”