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

Chapter 461.

Chapter 461. An Exciting Night with Two Girls Outside the City: The Alleged Haunted Castle. (4/10) 

“Then where is she? If you tell us that then we’ll be able to trust you.”

“Heh… heh… heh… don’t... make me laugh… little mortal… Do you think… a devil... is a fool? Once I... tell you… you plan… to run… and not sign… then leave with… the information… you wanted the most.”

“Tsk.”

“Is that true Rosa?”

“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?”

“Yuh mean yuh were willing to go as far as trying to deceive a devil… for my sake?”

“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.”

“How cute… NOT… for showing me… something so repulsive… this deal… is canceled…”

“Wait! Don’t go!” Rosa called out frantically.

“What… is it now... little mortal? My patience… wears thin.”

“Instead of Dawn selling her soul… let me sell my soul in place of hers.”

“Rosa! What are yuh saying! Yuh can’t do that!”

“Oh? You wish… to take her place?”

“Yes.”

“Stop!”

“Alright… if that’s what… both of you want.”

“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.”

“Relax, it’s not a big deal.”

“If yuh… try to sell your soul Rosa… I’ll kill myself… and everything will have been pointless,” Dawn spoke resolutely.

“Kill yourself? There’s no way you’ll really go and do that.”

“I’ve got a revolver in my car, it would be over in an instant.”

“Even if doing so would only make your dad sad and make him end up even lonelier?”

Dawn let out a heart-wrenching groan, “Ugh… I… I’d…”

“See? You wouldn’t be able to do it after all.”

“I’d still do it.”

“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.”

“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.

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 dream come true? If it was the former, I’m sure Rosa would have been disappointed.

“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.”

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

“I see. Then… you’re going to sign the contract?”

“Yeah.”

“For whom are you signing it?”

“My dad.”

“If it’s for your dad, I won’t let you sign it no matter what.” 

“Why... not?”

“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?”

“If… I can have my mom back and we can live together as a family… I’ll be happy.”

“Then, let me ask you again. For whom are you selling your soul to the devil, Dawn?”

“My… self.”

“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.”

“Right.”

“Then, go ahead and sign the contract.”

“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.

“Okay, I’ve signed- AHHHHH!” Dawn’s words were abruptly cut short as she let out a shrill shriek.

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’t complete yet since I hadn’t signed it in advance. I didn’t want her to see my name on the contract after all.

My body hadn’t reacted either meaning the contract shouldn’t be in effect yet either. Wait, was that an issue?

“Dawn! What’s wrong!” Rosa called out to her.

I peaked over the edge of the hole to take a look at what was happening.

Dawn was on the ground with her back to the wall. She was looking straight ahead at something.

“The... devil…”

“What about it?”

“Can’t yuh see him?” Dawn raised her hand and pointed straight ahead.

“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.”

“Is it because I signed the contract that I can see him?”

Was she hallucinating?

“What exactly does he look like?”

“A giant spider... as big as the room.”

“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 plate at best.”

Ah. So the spider had returned.

“No way, I’m telling yuh, it’s really the size of this room!”

And Dawn was hallucinating thanks to the mold.

“Huh? Where’d he go?” Dawn rose to her feet and scanned the room frantically.

“If you mean the spider, he scurried off when you took your eyes off of him.”

“I’m telling yuh, Rosa, it was the devil’s true form. I’m sure of it.”

I’m not a spider though…

“The contract… has been established.”

“Great Devil, that was your true form just now, right?” Dawn asked nervously.

I stood up and headed to the exit as I spoke into the radio, “Your mother... is a surgeon... at the hospital… you visited recently. That should be... more than enough... to find her. With this… our transaction is complete.”

“What? Huh? A surgeon? Wait!”

I turned off the radio, returned to the second floor, and posted up outside the door.

“Rosa, what happened to the contract?” That was the first thing I heard from inside the room when I posted up outside the door.

“It seems that devil might have taken it before he left when we got distracted by the spider.”

“I see… so the spider took it. Maybe it was that devil’s familiar.”

The door suddenly opened up, Rosa stepped out first and said, “We’re done, we successfully summoned a devil.”

“Sure you did.”

“We really did. It was really here,” Dawn adamantly attested to that, fully convinced the entity she conversed with had been a devil.

“Right. Whatever you say. Anyway, where’s your mother according to this alleged devil?”

“Uh… the devil we summoned said she’s a surgeon at the hospital yuh took me to.”

“That sure is a coincidence. But can you really trust that devil’s words so easily? What if he was making shit up?”

“He knew my mom’s name without me even telling him though.”

“I see. I don’t think it’s a good idea to stick around here for very long. We should probably leave soon.”

“Already? But we only just got here. Are you scared after hearing about the devil we summoned~?” Rosa teased.

“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.”

“Sure, sure, just admit you’re scared~”

“I said I’m not scared.”

“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?”

“I was just hearing things earlier.”

“But… what if you weren’t? We can’t say for certain unless we look, right?”

“I already checked out the entire second floor while I was alone and found nothing.”

“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.

“I doubt there are any hidden rooms.”

“There could be a torture chamber or something. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could find it?”

“What the hell do you want to find a torture chamber for? Are you planning to torture someone?”

“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 it until you’re begging for me to stop~”

I ignored Rosa and asked, “Dawn, what about you? Don’t you want to leave yet?”

“Uh… I think it’d be fun to keep exploring.”

“Too bad for you, looks like it’s two to one.”

“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.

…

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