I’m Trying to End This Possession - Chapter 67

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 67

Nettie also helped Dana get dressed.

“Everything looks fine except for your ankle, so you should be able to attend the ceremony.”

What exactly is this ceremony that everyone is so strongly urging her to attend?

Just as Dana was about to ask out of curiosity.

“Oh my, look at her?”

“What is she doing?”

A girl came rushing out of the trail, running frantically toward them.

‘What’s with her?’

The girl was filthy, as if she had rolled in mud.

Dana thought maybe she was running like that because she wanted to wash up quickly, but—

“Where are you going, child!”

A middle-aged woman who had followed behind grabbed the girl’s arm roughly.

“Come, come, you need to go home quietly. Okay?”

Then she dragged her away, and it was a surprisingly violent action.

“Oh dear, there she goes again.”

“She still hasn’t come to her senses, I guess.”

However, the village women just laughed and chatted as if it was nothing serious.

A strong sense of unease arose from that disconnect.

Is that funny? Right now they’re dragging a girl away like taking a dog to the slaughterhouse?

That wasn’t all.

“Please save me!”

The girl shouted while looking at Dana.

“Please save me, please save me!”

What?

Dana unconsciously shot up from her seat. Save her? What is this right now!

“Oh, it’s okay.”

Nettie gently pressed down on Dana’s shoulder as she hurriedly got up.

“It’s nothing serious. She does this all the time, not just once or twice.”

Then she whispered as if feeling sorry.

“That child has some mental problems. I don’t know when she’ll get better. Poor thing.”

Then the women nearby also clicked their tongues in agreement.

“Oh my, her parents are the ones to feel sorry for.”

“She stirs up the whole neighborhood like that once a week, you know?”

“Tsk tsk, how pitiful.”

A sick child?

Dana watched the girl being dragged away with a hardened expression.

Now she was being dragged away with her mouth covered too.

“You know, children who are a bit lacking.”

“She once went into that forest and got lost, and how much the villagers suffered staying up all night looking for her?”

“Miss, you don’t need to worry about it.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, okay?”

Dana looked at them silently.

Such ordinary women, the kind you’d commonly see on the street. They waved their hands dismissively, repeatedly saying it was nothing serious.

“I see…”

Dana answered quietly. She wasn’t naive enough to blindly believe their words. However.

“I understand.”

She simply nodded. She wasn’t foolish enough to openly reveal her suspicions.

Most importantly, she didn’t have the luxury to worry about other matters right now.

“That’s really unfortunate.”

* * *

On the way back after finishing her bath.

“Dana!”

Karl’s shout could be heard from far away.

“There you were. I’ve been looking for you for a while.”

“Unc…”

She almost called him “Uncle” but managed to swallow it back.

“Did you come from bathing?”

“Yes.”

When Karl approached, all the women who had been chattering noisily until just moments ago became shy, creating quite a spectacle.

“I helped her. She seemed to want to wash up.”

“Thank you, Miss Nettie.”

Karl, who said that, lifted Dana up in his arms.

As if he had really been searching for a long time, his breathing was slightly labored. His chest, which touched hers, was rising and falling rapidly.

“Let’s go back, Dana.”

“Wait a moment…”

Dana grabbed his collar.

It would be troublesome to go back like this. She needed to lure Karl to ‘that place.’

By a coincidence, this place happened to be near the very location Dana had been searching for.

Just a little further and they would reach that place.

She didn’t need to do much. She just needed to show Karl that scene.

“Instead of that, couldn’t we take a little more of a walk? I feel so stuffy…”

Dana thought he would naturally accept. But.

“Just bear with it a little.”

Karl refused gently but firmly.

“Sometimes feeling stuffy isn’t so bad either.”

What kind of talk is that. Dana said again, bewildered.

“Ah, but I…”

“Let’s go back and rest instead. Okay?”

“What? But—”

“Please.”

“…”

He’s cutting her off before she can say anything. It was an attitude unlike him.

‘Why is he acting like this?’

Could something be wrong?

“Hey, Karl!”

As they passed through the open space, the men shouted.

“Karl, there you are.”

“Why don’t you have a drink of grain wine with us here!”

When did they become so friendly?

However, Karl just gave them a declining smile and walked quickly without answering.

Moreover, perhaps it was her imagination, but he seemed to be turning his body as if to keep her from being seen. As if.

‘Is he hiding me?’

As if he was trying to conceal her from the villagers.

* * *

There’s definitely something going on.

Dana felt it and said nothing more after that.

‘He’ll tell me something when we reach the mill.’

That’s what she thought, but.

“Is it delicious?”

Instead of telling her something, Karl put bread in her mouth again.

“Here, drink some milk with it.”

Gulp, gulp. As she drank the milk being pushed toward her, Dana glared at him.

He wasn’t some mother bird, yet Karl was focused on feeding her food.

“Uncle.”

“Eat a lot, eat a lot.”

“….”

Dana was certain.

That Karl was deliberately avoiding conversation right now.

“There’s a carriage in the stable.”

Pretending not to notice her glaring gaze, Karl wiped the milk from the corner of her mouth.

“We can take that carriage and leave… Dana?”

Dana finally grabbed his hand tightly and pulled it down.

“Uncle. Why are you acting like this?”

“Hm?”

“Why won’t you tell me anything? There must be a reason you’re acting this way.”

“Hm?”

“Uncle, by any chance.”

Dana whispered very quietly.

“Are the villagers forcing us to participate in a ritual?”

The expression disappeared from Karl’s face. He was silent for a moment, then asked back.

“How did you know?”

“I’m not an idiot, how could I not know?”

This village was very strange.

Even aside from that girl who was being dragged away earlier.

‘They’re excessively kind.’

They made crutches, gave soap, lent clothes, helped with bathing, and even applied fragrant oil to her body.

‘This isn’t even a kind-hearted rural village.’

These are people living in what’s essentially an abandoned ghost town.

They must have their own stories and couldn’t be well-off, yet they were being kind to the point of providing soap, fragrant oil, and clothes.

There was clearly a purpose behind it.

“…Yes. They keep insisting. For both you and me to come to tonight’s ritual.”

Karl finally sighed and admitted it.

“That’s why they’re treating us so well.”

Now that the conversation had come this far, she absolutely had to ask.

“What exactly is this ritual?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“….”

An immediate answer without hesitation.

Dana narrowed her eyes.

After things had come this far, he still wouldn’t tell her?

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————