662,

“Ha~”

“That sound?”

“That’s right. This is the place.”

With the sound of the bell and a baby’s laughter, everyone realized that something behind the door was moving.

“Windy…”

Elyse knew Windy was moving. For a moment, she lost her bearings, wanting to go into the room and take a look.

But Cyclone and Onigashima acted at the same time. Cyclone pulled Elyse back from behind, while Onigashima held out a hand to signal her to stop.

“Don’t move yet…”

Onigashima whispered as he slowly rose to his feet in slow motion.

The bell kept ringing, showing that Windy was on the move.

Yuna stepped forward twice and asked in a low voice.

“We really have to wait until he’s gone before we catch him?”

Onigashima turned to face Yuna and her forceful question.

“All I can say is, this is an ancient ritual.”

Those words weren’t much of an explanation, but they convinced everyone.

Investigating the principles behind it is one thing. Whether it succeeds is another.

Onigashima was simply following the successful methods of the past, performing the ritual with the highest chance of success for Cyclone.

Why wait until he’s gone before catching him? That wasn’t the heart of the matter.

The point was that if they caught him after he left, he could be reborn as an elf.

If that was the case, why break the rule now?

If the ritual failed, Windy would have to be hunted as a baby corpse ghoul. That was the last outcome anyone wanted to face.

This was the tragedy of an ancient ritual—and the ignorance behind it.

Cyclone and all his wives understood this perfectly.

So when Onigashima gave that answer, Yuna fell silent. She couldn’t even make a snarky comment.

Looks like a chase is unavoidable. At least it wasn’t snowing tonight; otherwise, it’d be even harder.

“Heh~”

The sound suddenly shifted, coming from behind everyone.

Everyone except Onigashima looked behind them.

Just then, the bell rang.

It wasn’t where they expected it to be. It was inside the room.

“Ha~”

The baby laughed again, this time from the opposite side of the room.

But this time, unlike Cyclone and the other wives, Yuna didn’t turn around.

Yuna kept her eyes on the door and the wall separating the two rooms, listening closely for the sound she expected to hear.

One second after the laughter, the bell rang.

The bell was still inside the room, moving little by little.

According to Yuna’s memory, Windy was by the window now.

“So that’s why you put a bell on him?”

“Baby corpse ghouls aren’t very fast, but when illusions are involved, they seem to appear and disappear without a trace.”

Onigashima opened the door and moved forward, step by step.

Cyclone and the others followed him, walking up to the bed in the room.

Windy was nowhere to be seen, but there was a breeze.

The window was open, and the breeze was blowing in from outside.

Unlike the brightly lit living room, this place was a little dark.

But that dimness only made Onigashima’s green eyes stand out more.

When he reached the window, Onigashima raised a hand, signaling everyone to stop moving.

“He’s crawling toward the ground. Once he gets down, he’ll start absorbing the natural magic around him to strengthen himself.”

As Onigashima spoke, the bell rang several times, confirming what he’d said.

“Most monsters go through this stage. Right after they’re reborn, they draw power from their surroundings to grow stronger.”

Onigashima didn’t stick his head out, but he still stole a glance at what was happening outside the window.

“You asked why we have to let him run, right? I think the point of this ritual is to use a baby corpse ghoul’s fear in its early stages. By making him feel like he’s being chased, we make him forget that he’s absorbing natural magic.”

Onigashima flashed a sly grin. At last, the man was starting to look a little like a hunter.

“When he absorbs too much natural power, given his size and the enormous amount of magic…”

“Then, if we remove the rage that comes with being a monster… he’ll become something as close to an elf as possible?”

At Yuna’s addition, Onigashima smiled and looked toward Cyclone.

“Your wife has real potential as a hunter!”

He cut himself off and immediately turned around.

“He’s on the ground! This way!”

He was still speaking, but Onigashima had already leaped out the window.