Chapter 30- Lava Mansion (Part 7)
The next room Rin seemed to be the office where the husband worked. Except for the chair and the table, at the back of the room, there wasn't anything else in the room. Even the minimalist decorations he saw in every other room weren't there.
'This room seems way scarier than the other rooms for some reason.' Rin thought to himself as he made his way inside the room.
The heavy atmosphere inside was way more palpable than in the other places he was in. It was as if something was trying to stop him from reaching a certain place. But, Rin wasn't going to stop at all, he had already made up his mind to clear the dungeon.
[The journey was a smooth sail till now, host. You might be able to get out of here alive.] The system commented out of nowhere.
'Don't jinx it, idiot. Raising flags is the single worst thing you could do.'
[What do you mean raising flags, host? I always hear you saying such things.]
'It means when someone as ignorant as you say stuff like that. The chances are that they will face a great threat because of it or even die.'
[I see. Such superficial things aren't within my understanding, host.]
'You will definitely regret that.' Rin sighed and picked the next letter.
"What do you have on hold for me this time, Mr. mysterious husband?"
The letter this time was way shorter than the previous ones. There were only a few sentences but the way they were written was nothing short of spine-chilling. Everything about the letter screamed 'danger'. Every letter, every word, and every line was creepy to look at.
"March 14th, huh? So more than a month has passed. The handwriting is chaotic and…. angry?" He voiced out his thoughts but was surprised why he felt anger from the letter.
It wasn't even a subtle emotion like the other letters but straight-out anger that Rin could feel was oozing out of the piece of paper.
Shaking those thoughts away, Rin quickly started reading.
"Over a month and you didn't reply, huh? I applaud your attitude, Nile. I came out of my way to try and talk with you again but you are still refusing to respond. Even after all these years, you are still that child that couldn't grow up, you are still so immature and naive. You couldn't move on from the fact that you lost something you never had a chance to get. But, as angry as I am right now, just for the sake of my future wife, just for the sake of the love of my life, and just for the sake of our brotherhood, I will give you a chance to meet me again, Nile. You still have an opportunity to regain your brother and your own childhood friend, Nile. Don't let it slip because of what your younger self felt at the time."
Rin's face turned slightly grim as he read the content of the letter. He had already started grasping what was happening. But, he still needed just one more puzzle piece and everything will go into its perfect place and the situation will turn clear.
A few moments later, the lava appeared and Rin threw the letter inside of it to get rid of the lava. As he waited for the woman to appear again, he sat down on the chair behind the office and thought about what he saw till now.
[What are you thinking of, host?]
'I was just organizing my thoughts. I think I know what is going to happen but I still can't make sure whether I'm right or wrong.'
[You look like a detective, host. I can tell that you are fit for the job.]
'You know my methods, system.' Rin replied as he suppressed a grin from appearing on his face. The reason for that was that Lina finally appeared in front of him, sitting on a chair facing the office.
"H-Honey… Why? Why did it turn out like this?" Her voice trembled ever-so-slightly.
"He really doesn't want to meet us," Rin replied calmly.
"Why?!!! We could've fixed everything!!! This shouldn't be the outcome!!" She stood up and screamed loudly.
Rin tried to keep his composure in front of Lina as he knew that any mistake now could turn the tables on him.
"Keep your composure, Lina. This won't fix things."
"M-My apologies. I lost my composure there."
Rin knew how much she respected the husband so he tried to sound as stern as he could so that he can keep control of the conversation.
"But, I' won't believe that it will end like this. Not on my watch."
"..." Rin's eyes squinted.
'She… she's definitely something else.' He thought to himself as he sighed.
"Why so adamant on this?" The boy could only ask.
The way she tried to get in contact with Nile again and again and again no matter how many times he ignored them was abnormal, to say the least. She didn't even entertain the thought of giving up… not even once.
"Because… because I don't want to lose him." She said.
Closing his eyes, Rin didn't reply at all. Soon enough her silhouette started vanishing. Then, the boy merely stood up and left the room in silence.
Even the system didn't try to throw any remarks at all during this time. He felt the mood Rin was in didn't allow for any bad jokes.
Finally, Rin stood in front of the last room… The master's bedroom.
He somehow predicted that this will be the last room he will be in. The last puzzle piece should've been inside the most intimate place for a couple. The place where hearts were connected the most and their love would rise up.
Such a place, filled with memories for both of them, was also the place where the story should end. It was as beautiful as it was ironic.
'Ok, let's finish this.' He thought to himself and walked inside.
The master's bedroom was quite spacious and was by far the most beautiful room out of all the other rooms. However, that luxurious room was ruined by the horrible pressure that loomed over it.
Rin felt his lungs almost getting emptied out of air. But, forcing that pain away, he looked around searching for anything worthy of notice.
Finally, on top of the bed, he found a piece of paper. No, what he actually found was a stack of papers. At least three or four letters coming one after the other in an orderly manner.
Rin picked up the pieces of paper and started reading them.
"January 30th… Hi brother, I'm sorry for not replying quickly. I just received the letter. I have no idea why but the letters that I tried to always send to you never reach their destination. I tried to send them multiple times every year but they never reach you. I know why that is the case but I can't do anything about it. But, I will still send you letters as many times as I could for as long as I could… to save you."
Rin's eyebrows contorted slightly as he continued reading.
"I have tried to warn you many times. There's something gravely wrong going on in that house. Something that is trying to change us and destroy us. But, no matter how many times I tried to warn you, you never listened to me. I could only leave that place as I knew that if I stayed there, I will also be manipulated and corrupted."
The letter then ended there. Without waiting, Rin quickly picked the second one to see where this is going.
"25th of february… I guess that didn't reach you too, huh? I don't know what to do at this point. I tried and tried to help you but I couldn't do that. I can't face that, brother. I can't pull you out of that hole. It's all because I'm too weak, too scared to come back to that wretched place. The only thing I can do is to keep sending these letters in hope of one of them ever reaching you. If you see this, run away. Leave that place and never come back. Leave everyone and don't look back. Everything we lived through, the memories of our childhood were all a lie."
Rin's hands started shaking slightly as his eyes turned darker and darker. But, even with that, he still picked the last piece of paper which was also the last letter.
"2nd of april…. I have lost you too, brother. I thought that it might still be possible to save you but I was way too stupid… too naive to think it was possible. You already threw me away and fell into that thing's illusions. You were completely corrupted and destroyed. However… I decided to finally do something…. I'm coming back, to end things and kill that thing… I will definitely kill Lina… that wretched demon… I will stop her, even if it means my own death… even if it means everything I loved will perish with me…."
As he was reading that letter, a shadow slowly loomed over Rin's body from behind. Rin felt the presence behind him and quickly turned around.
*Swish* *Bang*
(A//N: Your opinions on the chapter. Was it well executed? Time for the action to start :). )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading. Any support you give me is always appreciated no matter how small it is. Let's all keep it up :)