Chapter 461.<h4><b>Chapter 461. An Exciting Night with Two Girls Outside the City: The Alleged Haunted Castle. (4/10)</b></h4>
<span style="font-weight:400">“Then where is she? If you tell us that then we’ll be able to trust you.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“<b><i>Heh… heh… heh… don’t... make meugh… little mortal… Do you think… a devil... is a fool? Once I... tell you… you n… to run… and not sign… then leave with… the information… you wanted the most.</i></b><span style="font-weight:400">”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Tsk.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Is that true Rosa?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Of course, I never had any intention to really let you sell your soul to a devil Dawn. What sort of friend would I be if I allowed that?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yuh mean yuh were willing to go as far as trying to deceive a devil… for my sake?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Duh, that’s what friends are for. If you’re not even willing to trick a devil to help a friend out then you can hardly even call yourself their friend.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“<b><i>How cute… NOT… for showing me… something so repulsive… this deal… is canceled…</i></b><span style="font-weight:400">”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Wait! Don’t go!” Rosa called out frantically.
<span style="font-weight:400">“<b><i>What… is it now... little mortal? My patience… wears thin.”</i></b>
<span style="font-weight:400">“Instead of Dawn selling her soul… let me sell my soul in ce of hers.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Rosa! What are yuh saying! Yuh can’t do that!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“<b><i>Oh? You wish… to take her ce</i></b><b>?</b><span style="font-weight:400">”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Stop!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“<b><i>Alright… if that’s what… both of you want.</i></b><span style="font-weight:400">”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’ll sell my soul. Yuh don’t have to do this Rosa. I appreciate that yuh’d go so far, I really do, but I… wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I let yuh do that.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Rx, it’s not a big deal.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“If yuh… try to sell your soul Rosa… I’ll kill myself… and everything will have been pointless,” Dawn spoke resolutely.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Kill yourself? There’s no way you’ll really go and do that.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’ve got a revolver in my car, it would be over in an instant.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Even if doing so would only make your dad sad and make him end up even lonelier?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Dawn let out a heart-wrenching groan, “Ugh… I… I’d…”
<span style="font-weight:400">“See? You wouldn’t be able to do it after all.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’d still do it.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Oh? Why would you go that far to stop me? It makes no sense. You’ve known your dad your whole life and only known me for two days.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Because… your… uh… an... important friend. There’s... Ran too. It… wouldn’t feel right. It’s my problem, and… I want to do something myself to solve it. If it means selling my soul to open up a path to achieve that, I’ll do it.” Dawn had been presented with an easy way out by Rosa, but took it upon herself. Sacrificing something of hers to get what she wanted.
<span style="font-weight:400">I suppose it was a test of character of some sort. Would she be fine with sacrificing others to achieve her dream? Or would she pay the price herself, choosing to suffer to make her dreame true? If it was the former, I’m sure Rosa would have been disappointed.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Your dad will be sad if he finds out you went and really sold your soul to try and get him and your mother back together.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I see. Then… you’re going to sign the contract?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“For whom are you signing it?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“My dad.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“If it’s for your dad, I won’t let you sign it no matter what.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Why... not?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Because you should be signing it for yourself, not your dad. You want your dad to be happy and not lonely. But… will you be happy?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“If… I can have my mom back and we can live together as a family… I’ll be happy.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Then, let me ask you again. For whom are you selling your soul to the devil, Dawn?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“My… self.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes. Because you want to be happy. Seeing your dad together with your mom is your happiness. That is why you wish to sell your soul, never forget that. It’s for your own happiness. Not anyone else’s.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Right.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Then, go ahead and sign the contract.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Sure…” A short eerie silence ensued as the only thing that could be heard was the whistle of the wind blowing past the opening in the castle wall and static through the radio.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Okay, I’ve signed- AHHHHH!” Dawn’s words were abruptly cut short as she let out a shrill shriek.
<span style="font-weight:400">What the hell? What happened? Did something go wrong with the contract? But, that shouldn’t be possible. Nothing’s ever happened to other people who signed them. Not only that, the contract wasn’tplete yet since I hadn’t signed it in advance. I didn’t want her to see my name on the contract after all.
<span style="font-weight:400">My body hadn’t reacted either meaning the contract shouldn’t be in effect yet either. Wait, was that an issue?
<span style="font-weight:400">“Dawn! What’s wrong!” Rosa called out to her.
<span style="font-weight:400">I peaked over the edge of the hole to take a look at what was happening.
<span style="font-weight:400">Dawn was on the ground with her back to the wall. She was looking straight ahead at something.
<span style="font-weight:400">“The... devil…”
<span style="font-weight:400">“What about it?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Can’t yuh see him?” Dawn raised her hand and pointed straight ahead.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Huh?” Rosa turned her head and took a look before she tilted her head to one side confusedly and asked, “I don’t see any devil.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Is it because I signed the contract that I can see him?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Was she hallucinating?
<span style="font-weight:400">“What exactly does he look like?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“A giant spider... as big as the room.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“A… giant spider? I mean… there is a pretty big spider where you’re pointing… but it’s definitely not as big as this room. It’s about the size of a dinner te at best.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Ah. So the spider had returned.
<span style="font-weight:400">“No way, I’m telling yuh, it’s really the size of this room!”
<span style="font-weight:400">And Dawn was hallucinating thanks to the mold.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Huh? Where’d he go?” Dawn rose to her feet and scanned the room frantically.
<span style="font-weight:400">“If you mean the spider, he scurried off when you took your eyes off of him.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’m telling yuh, Rosa, it was the devil’s true form. I’m sure of it.”
<span style="font-weight:400">I’m not a spider though…
<span style="font-weight:400">“<b><i>The contract… has been established.</i></b><span style="font-weight:400">”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Great Devil, that was your true form just now, right?” Dawn asked nervously.
<span style="font-weight:400">I stood up and headed to the exit as I spoke into the radio, “<b><i>Your mother... is a surgeon... at the hospital… you visited recently. That should be... more than enough... to find her. With this… our transaction isplete.</i></b><span style="font-weight:400">”
<span style="font-weight:400">“What? Huh? A surgeon? Wait!”
<span style="font-weight:400">I turned off the radio, returned to the second floor, and posted up outside the door.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Rosa, what happened to the contract?” That was the first thing I heard from inside the room when I posted up outside the door.
<span style="font-weight:400">“It seems that devil might have taken it before he left when we got distracted by the spider.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I see… so the spider took it. Maybe it was that devil’s familiar.”
<span style="font-weight:400">The door suddenly opened up, Rosa stepped out first and said, “We’re done, we sessfully summoned a devil.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Sure you did.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“We really did. It was really here,” Dawn adamantly attested to that, fully convinced the entity she conversed with had been a devil.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Right. Whatever you say. Anyway, where’s your mother ording to this alleged devil?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Uh… the devil we summoned said she’s a surgeon at the hospital yuh took me to.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“That sure is a coincidence. But can you really trust that devil’s words so easily? What if he was making shit up?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“He knew my mom’s name without me even telling him though.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I see. I don’t think it’s a good idea to stick around here for very long. We should probably leave soon.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Already? But we only just got here. Are you scared after hearing about the devil we summoned~?” Rosa teased.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’m not scared. There’s a lot of mold in here, being exposed to that mold for an extended period of time isn’t good.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Sure, sure, just admit you’re scared~”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I said I’m not scared.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Then why don’t we investigate the source of the phantom footsteps you heard before we leave and see if anything… or anyone is here?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I was just hearing things earlier.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“But… what if you weren’t? We can’t say for certain unless we look, right?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I already checked out the entire second floor while I was alone and found nothing.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“But you didn’t check all of the first or third floors, right? And what if there’s a secret basement or hidden rooms in this castle that you missed?” She looked strangely excited when she mused over the possibility of there being a secret basement or hidden rooms.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I doubt there are any hidden rooms.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“There could be a torture chamber or something. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could find it?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“What the hell do you want to find a torture chamber for? Are you nning to torture someone?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah, I totally want to torture you~” Rosa moved close to my ear and whispered alluringly, “To tie you down to a chair and do <i><span style="font-weight:400">it</i><span style="font-weight:400"> until you’re begging for me to stop~”
<span style="font-weight:400">I ignored Rosa and asked, “Dawn, what about you? Don’t you want to leave yet?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Uh… I think it’d be fun to keep exploring.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Too bad for you, looks like it’s two to one.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Haaaaah.” I could only sigh in resignation. We came here in Dawn’s pickup truck after all, even if I wanted to leave alone, I couldn’t.
<span style="font-weight:400">…