"Please explain everything to me."
He needed to know. As far as he could remember, an incident had occurred where a researcher betrayed them.
When he tried to stop it, an uncalled-for situation happened—he was teleported inside a hell-like place.
It was a massive area where numerous other humanoids were being held captive. After passing out because of a spider, he now found himself in a different place.
He was absolutely lost and needed clearance on the situation.
"Oh! You should know, of course. The village you are in right now is on top of a mountain where it snows all year round. And oh, don't think about escaping without prep time, or you will just be snacks for the Yai beasts."
For some reason, Atiya saw a spark of excitement in Leishna's eyes.
Why was she excited?
"Now, you must be wondering why they haven't deserted such a dangerous place. Well, they can't."
"...I wonder why?"
Atiya answered awkwardly. He hadn't actually thought about it at all.
"It is because the village was cursed long ago by a passing wanderer. They have to worship a certain demon here just to survive."
'Hm, just like all the cliché storylines.'
Atiya snorted, but a doubt was still brewing in his mind.
'Maybe that pit is related to this.'
That was the only thread he could pull, but what she said next rebuked his theory.
"As a tradition and offering, a human is to be sacrificed every ten years to ensure their survival."
The silver-haired girl's expression was as mischievous as ever. She looked like someone who thought exactly the way a psychopath would.
"Come again... human? As in, humans like me?"
Of course, what he heard wasn't wrong, but it was so threatening and shocking that he had to ask again just to confirm.
"You are the sacrifice. The ceremony will be held in a month."
Leishna calmly reported Atiya's impending death to him.
"Really."
Atiya's brow twitched.
"Truly."
Atiya thought for a long while before finally letting out a sigh.
Truthfully, he wasn't fazed by it at all. Compared to being inside that pit, the current situation was calm and honestly speaking better.
It was as if he had actually gotten used to death threats, for a Yai user, this was quite normal.
"Those who held us captive... are they not humans? Are you human? And most importantly, is there a way out?"
Those were the questions he needed answered before he could plan his escape.
'The village is surrounded by Yai beasts, so I need a guide to stay alive. She seems to be the one assigned to take care of me. But why is she telling me all this? Wouldn't it be better for her to hide the fact that I'm an offering?'
Tons of thoughts raced through his head, but he forced himself to stay rational.
"Heh! You think I'll just answer all those questions for free?" Leishna's expression shifted. "If you want answers and if you want me to potentially become your ally, you need to propose something worthwhile."
The girl looked at Atiya with an expression that clearly said, 'I am a demon. I will give you everything, but in return, sell me your soul.'
"...A proposal? What kind?"
What could she possibly want? To him, she was just an idiotic-looking, psychotic, suspicious gremlin of a girl he'd just met. How was he supposed to know her preferences? Did she like sweets or spicy food? Did she prefer tall or short men?
For that matter, was she even a girl? In this place, there were too many possibilities to count.
"I will free you from the curse and save everyone in the village."
'What the fuck am I saying? This is a typical, generic main character move that somehow rizzes up the female lead ninety percent of the time. But it's so cringe, ugh.'
Atiya fidgeted in disgust, his eyes rolling toward the rest of the room. He hadn't noticed it before, but the space was quite clean and minimalistic.
"Jokes on you! I am also a sacrifice. We are both trapped in here!"
Leishna's words exploded like a bomb.
"So you were playing me the whole tim—"
Just then, the door creaked open.
A man with a blue beard, wearing thick layers of fur coats, entered and interrupted them. When he opened the door, Atiya caught a glimpse of the snow outside.
"My, my, what a joyous day! Our esteemed guest has awakened. You might be confused, but please know that we mean no harm. We will tend to everything you want, all day and night."
The blue-bearded man's words were the exact opposite of what the little girl had said.
'Okay, now who is telling the truth and who is trying to coax me?'
The man's words carried no hostility.
"May I ask who you are?" Atiya asked.
The man stopped in his tracks and let out a short cough.
"Ahem, ahem. Where are my manners? I am Fredo Nelljan, the priest and chief of Inumaki Village. We found you guests frozen outside our village and have been nursing you ever since."
'So how many days has it been?'
"I am aware you have many question but it would be best if you first have a meal here, you must be quite hungry."
The blue-bearded man left as soon as he had said those words.
Atiya watched his back intently, and once the man was a good distance away, he turned to the girl and spoke in a low voice.
"He's not human, is he? Though I didn't see a tail sticking out of his butt but his yai signature definitely was not of a human.."
"So you noticed, but that's not important now. First, choose what you want for the feast."
".....Feast."
Why would they be having a feast now? Was it to celebrate the news of him waking up safe before the sacrifice was held?
"It is their tradition to serve the offerings extremely well before their impending slaughter," she said. "Don't worry, it will be safe."
After a short while, several women clad in green robes arrived carrying various dishes.
'I thought they would be short of food, but apparently that is not the case. Or maybe they are just fattening me up for the ritual,' Atiya thought wryly.
He reached for an apple, but a shrill feminine voice stopped him.
"Esteemed guest, you have not washed your hands."
A beautiful, black-haired woman took the apple from his hand and began washing his skin with hot water.
'Such hospitality, like they are naturally committed to this. Zelaine would snap if she saw this.'
'Are they using some kind of manipulating skills, there is a disruption in yai.'
Atiya peeked at the gremlin girl, who was stuffing her face as if there were no tomorrow. Then, he realized something.
'How is there an apple here?'
Apples generally would not grow in a frozen land, so the fruit had to be different somehow.
'It is time I start my act. They act like they are my servants just to ensure I do nothing. I am sure they have tons of excuses prepared to keep me here.'
The feast, or rather the first true meal Atiya had eaten in a while, continued like that. He turned over multiple thoughts in his head.
No matter what he did, he needed help to run away.
The little girl was the key.
After the meal, Atiya was told he could stay in another house if he wished, but he refused. He chose to stay with the girl, and surprisingly, she agreed.
It was late at night, and upon Atiya's further request, the girl continued with the details of the curse.
The story went something like this.
An Ascension 2 Yai user was traveling along the Land of Calamities. During his travel, he came across Inumaki Village. At that time, the village was at its peak. There was even an Ascension 3 Yai user living there.
The traveler wanted to know about them and extend a token of friendship, but his goodwill was answered with hostility and humiliation. The Ascension 3 Yai user of Inumaki defeated him and, in front of the whole village, made fun of him. He said rude things that forced the traveler onto a new path.
Fifty years later, he returned. This time, he brought vengeance and hatred. He had spent fifty years coding a skill that would punish all the villagers for a long time. Death was not enough for his humiliation. He cast a curse that made the villagers immortal, but their thirst, hunger, and pain would never wilt away. They would turn into hollow creatures.
After the curse was cast, the whole village conducted multiple rituals to redact it. No methods worked. The only option left was forbidden rituals, and a demon answered their calls. The demon gave them a sculpture and told them to worship it and periodically offer humans to it.
As long as they worshipped the sculpture, they would be free of the curse. It worked, but it came with the cost of confinement inside the village. However, the humans in the village were running out. The non-human villagers started to make the humans breed among themselves so they would never run out of sacrifices.
It failed. The inbred children did not meet the requirements for the sacrifice.
The demon manifested again. It said the reason for the curse was the mistreatment of humans. They had looked down on humans and considered themselves superior.
To meet the requirements, the humans they sacrificed had to be treated as if they were the villagers' masters instead.
Eventually, the humans died out inside the village anyway, and their hell returned.
A few years ago, a half-human girl came to Inumaki Village. The villagers captured her and tried to sacrifice her, but Fredo the priest stopped them.
He proposed using her to bait humans to come to Inumaki Village periodically. They cast a skill on her to make her submit to them. Since then, she has been bringing humans into Inumaki regularly.
Now, Atiya was that human.
"Wait a minute. So you brought me here intentionally! You fucking girl!" Atiya shouted.
"Te-hee."
The girl tapped her head with her fist.
".....So you must know the safe way out of here."
"I do. It is like it's written in the back of my head," Leishna said as a matter of fact.
"How about the proposal then? I will free you from the skill, and you guide me out."
He had no idea who held that skill. Judging from what she said, it had to be a strong, long-range one. However, the effects of such skills can usually be revoked if the owner dies.
'Can't help it. I will kill if I need to.'
But his wishful thinking was interrupted.
"That skill is the will of an Ascension 3 Yai user from millennia ago. It won't work like that."
'Fuck.'
Yep, it was truly a disaster.
"Is there not any other way?"
"There is."
Leishna spoke, but her face was serious this time.
'It feels like she is going to say something ridiculous.'
"Kill all the villagers. Then both you and I will be free."
Meanwhile, at another house inside Inumaki Village.
The blue-bearded priest, Fredo Nelljan, rested on a wooden chair. A woman entered the room carrying blankets. Upon hearing her footsteps, Fredo casually asked without looking at her.
"Do you think he has found out?"
The woman wrapped the blanket around him and answered in an whisper.
"Does it matter?"
Yes, it did not matter. He was there for their purpose to be served. It did not matter whether he knew or not; they would proceed as they always had.
The woman—the same one who had washed Atiya's hands earlier leaned down and bit Fredo's ear.
"He was cute and could not take his eyes from me at all. Can I serve him? Just once would be enough."
Fredo had expected this.
"Only if he desires it, our ritual shall not be disrupted over personal matters. You know very well, don't you? How it feels to be quenched."
The woman's eyes flared up.
"I, Screja, can never forget how painful it was to never feel the pain! To never feel the sensation. Ah, how I wished to even once be satisfied in bed! It was truly a hell!"
Fredo watched the reflection of himself and the lustful woman who was ready to devour him at any moment.
'I wonder what circle of hell I will enter when I die.