“There is an ancient legend regarding this particular forest,” Yasuhiro narrated to the rest of the class, as he leaned forward on the chair, placing his elbows on the table with interlaced fingers. He glanced over the room, his sharp eyes gleaming with earnestness. “Rumor has it that a demon is living in it.”

A few gasps came from a few of Akira’s classmates. Some of them were already relatively pallid and trembling with dread. Akira wasn’t surprised by their reaction. Sure, if the forest was miles away it would be a different story. But the forest Yasuhiro was talking about was just feet away from the cottage they were staying in.

Akira cast a glance at the wood paneling on the walls, creating some sort of pattern in the otherwise empty room. The ceiling was low with exposed beams, not exactly what he would describe as ideal.

Akira’s gaze drifted back and forth between the classmates, eventually settling on Yasuhiro, sitting with a rigid posture at the head of the table. This school trip wasn’t what Akira had imagined it would be. Everything had occurred so fast, and for some reason, they had ended up on the outskirts of an unfamiliar city.

Still, Akira had to admit it; he had never heard about a legend regarding the forest. As a matter of fact, it resembled any other ordinary forest. Despite that, he didn’t utter a word, when Yasuhiro continued speaking.

“If you step upon this demon, you will receive three requests from it. If you grant all its requests, you are free to go. However, if you are incapable of granting even one request…” He gently closed his eyes for a second and paused. “You will die.”

The cottage was engulfed in pin-drop silence. Everyone in the room subconsciously held their breath, and the only noise that hit Akira’s ears was the howling wind lashing against the small, faded muntin bar windows of the cottage.

“That’s why,” Yasuhiro went on to say. “No one has been able to leave this forest.”

Akira exhaled. He wanted to believe that what he had just heard was nothing more than a senseless joke. But Yasuhiro was a serious guy, after all. When he didn’t speak, everyone waited for him to open his mouth. When he spoke, everyone listened with great curiosity. And the things he spoke of, everyone believed without having second thoughts.

“Stop talking rubbish,” Kazuya abruptly blurted out.

Well, except for him, Akira thought to himself.

Yasuhiro narrowed his eyes and slightly opened his mouth. However, before he even had the opportunity to defend himself, everyone spoke all at once.

“Why are you accusing him of such a thing?!”

“How could you say that?”

“Yasuhiro would never talk rubbish!”

Akira sighed even deeper than before, deep enough to reach the pit of his stomach. This was what he meant. People always seemed to trust Yasuhiro, since he was such an honest person. Even so, Akira had a difficult time figuring out, how they could accept it as the truth so undoubtedly. Ultimately, it was nothing more than a legend.

The room was drowned in silence once again, when Kazuya slammed both of his legs on the table, one crossing the other.

“Listen,” he began explaining, leaning comfortably back on the chair. “Your fairy tale had a chance to be credible until you claimed one thing.” He paused for a bit, licking his parched lips, scowling at Yasuhiro. “If no one has been able to leave the forest, how come you’ve heard about this so-called ‘legend’? Did the dead come back to life to tell you about it?”

Their classmates stared at him agape with widened eyes. Akira jerked in his seat, hunching forward, barely able to hold in his laughter. Kazuya was impossible to frighten. Even if the most disturbing horror-scene occurred directly in front of him, he would simply not care. At some point, Akira had given up on trying to terrify him, but as the conversation went on, an idea popped up in his head.

“T-then it might not be true, after all?” a faint voice spoke from the other side of the room. “Not that I’m s-scared!” Rini stuttered with a flustered expression that gave her away and betrayed her rather brave words.

Silence lingered in the air. The wavering pillar candle flames placed in the middle of the wooden table continued to burn away, melting whatever was left of the candles. Their classmates’ eyes moved from place to place, gazing confused at one another. Even Yasuhiro had sealed his lips together, pursing them in the process. That was when Akira knew he had to step in.

“There’s only one way to find out,” he broke the silence, folding his arms together across his chest. He gathered his thoughts in his head, as his classmates’ eyes were glued on him. “If we want to find out the truth, we have to take a test of courage.”

The room inundated in chaos, causing a stir around the table.

“It’s too dangerous!”

“What if something happens?”

“I don’t want to die…”

Akira had anticipated those reactions. Since it appeared that most of them considered the legend to be true, it was only to be expected that they would refuse to participate in the test of courage. But what about the ones who thought of it as nothing more than a trashy fairy tale, apparently?

Akira cast a transient glance at Kazuya.

“We should let Class Rep decide,” Aina’s steady voice was suddenly heard among the group of teenagers. “Since her family owns the cottage, we’re all borrowing. In other words, she’s the host. It would only be fair, to let her make the decision.”

All eyes turned on Class Rep. Several seconds passed. Akira was counting them in his head. But the longer they all waited, the quicker he counted. A sinking feeling blossomed in his chest, his heart pounding in his ears like a drum. That was until she finally spoke.

“That is quite a nice idea,” Rai said, the corners of her mouth curving up. Her eyes glittered brightly with innocence, as she elegantly moved her lips up and down. “We should all participate!”

Akira subconsciously formed a smirk on his face. He knew exactly what he was going to do.