Chapter 61
Their bodies were made of vine-like stems, with birdcages for heads. Once you reached this section, they would chase after the protagonist as fiercely as the gardener. If you got caught, they would hack you to death and carry your head or heart around in the cage. But now, they themselves had been hacked to pieces.
And if you went right from the clearing where the nymphs were, you’d find another type of creature: Vampire Butterflies, which circled a structure that looked like a giant birdcage and attacked the protagonist or companion on sight. They, too, were all torn apart, lying scattered dead on the ground.
Every single creature in the Spring Blossom Garden was dead. Realizing this, Cynthia felt the entire gorgeous garden become eerily, chillingly silent.
In such a peaceful atmosphere, Cynthia instead grew uneasy.
What exactly is in here? What could have killed all these creatures?
‘Still, all the dangerous things are gone. I can survive this.’
Clutching her complicated feelings, she slipped behind the giant birdcage-shaped structure, entwined with brilliant spring flowers, and found herself in the center of the garden. There, a large tea table had been set.
Only after seeing the various pieces of tableware scattered carelessly on the tea table did Cynthia come to her senses.
“Oh, right. The puzzle.”
She was supposed to have collected hints to use for the puzzle on her way here, but she’d completely forgotten.
To get the key to the door leading from the Spring Blossom Garden to the Moon Flower Garden, she had to arrange the tableware on this tea table in the correct positions.
By combining the hints found in the zones guarded by the Scarecrow Gardener, the clearing with the Nymphs, and the garden of the Vampire Butterflies, she could determine the correct placements of the tableware.
However, when Cynthia examined the table, she saw that all three hint pieces were already neatly placed near the tableware.
“……”
Three wooden blocks inscribed with letters:
‘Blue knife – east, blue plate – east, blue cup – west’
‘Red knife – west, yellow plate – south, yellow cup – west’
‘Yellow knife – south, red plate – west, red cup – east’
Originally, the hints hadn’t been this straightforward.
You could find up to five wooden hint pieces in each zone, but you had to sort through them to find the correct ones. If you got even one wrong, the tea in the teapot would turn to blood and the desserts on the three-tiered tray would become flesh and bone.
‘To think someone left the hints here so kindly… I should be grateful, but…’
She was grateful, truly, but she couldn’t help feeling uneasy.
Could this be a sign that something even worse was about to happen? Shaking off her creepy imaginings, Cynthia checked the hints in front of her one by one and began placing the tableware in the designated spots.
After some time, the tableware was perfectly arranged.
As Cynthia stepped back from the table, unfamiliar voices rose up.
Wow! Tea time is ready!
Looks delicious! Thank you for the meal!
And then came the sounds of invisible beings eating something.
Nom nom, munch munch. Slurp, smack.
Crunch, crack, crick crack crack.
Snap! Squeak! Squish, squish…
“……”
They were definitely not the sounds of people enjoying tea and dessert.
There were sounds of something bursting, of slurping up something far too viscous for tea, sounds of chewing something hard, or squishing something soft, the sounds of mashing, crushing, and gnawing flesh off bones…
Clack.
After a while, there was the sound of utensils being set down.
Thank you for the meal!
And then, without her noticing when, all sense of presence vanished from the area.
Trying to calm her trembling heart, Cynthia looked at the tea table. She had been watching the whole time, but suddenly, things had appeared that hadn’t been there before: torn pieces of flesh, half-chewed bones, bowls and teacups filled with foul-smelling red liquid.
And finally, on the pretty plate set in the very center of the tea table, a key appeared.
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