Verra Mountain

In the south of Siera City, there was a mount called Verra Mount. The mount was clouded by mystery. This started 6 years ago when a group of climbers was found dead on the mount. At the place where they were found dead, the trees in that place were badly damaged as if they had been hit by a disaster.

After more than a month, the reason was still not found, police finally closed the case. Many rumors were scattered, one of the most popular was the rumor about the existence of a mysterious monster on the mountain. This provoked a group of hunters to climb the mountain. However, a week later the hunters were missing.

The only thing that could be a sign was the hunters' belongings left in the tent. The surroundings of the tent itself were badly damaged. This case created a sensation again. Although, the police still had not closed the access to Verra mountain, but Verra mountain had become a forbidden mountain for people in Siera City.

If there's one place where I could understand more about the Exor world, it's probably Verra Mount. There was no doubt that the events at Verra Mountain had to do with the Exor world, although police did not say anything but there were many rumors regarding the involvement of the Salvation Church in the search for the missing person on the hill.

I, who had not gone to the school again, finally arrived at the foot of Verra mountain. After 30 minutes of sitting on the bus, I finally arrived at Roco Village. I was greeted by a shabby archway. I heard this place used to be busy, but since the incident at Verra mountain, Roco Village which used to be a tourist spot was very quiet now.

To be honest, geographically this village was located in a less than ideal place for farming, also this place was not crossed by the main road. Maybe that's why many villagers decided to move after this place didn't function as a tourist attraction anymore. However, I'm sure there were still many villagers who choose to stay here.

I walked slowly into the village, at first, all I saw were abandoned houses, but after a while, I found the Roco villager. She was a little girl playing with a shabby doll.

"Excuse me little miss, may I ask you something?"

"Hyaa!!" The little girl ran scared and went into her house.

I wonder, why did the girl look scared? I threw away that thing out of my mind. After walked several minutes, I finally saw a small bar opening in this village. I eagerly opened the bar door. However, a scream immediately startled me.

"My brother is missing there, Uncle!! Do you think I should just sit down here and pretending nothing happen?!"

Inside the bar, there were 4 people who seemed to be arguing about something. The first person was a girl that seem look like 20 years old. from the conversation it seems that her brother was missing somewhere. Second, an adult man with a stocky body and a beard that filled his face.

Third, a thin middle-aged man, he seems to be the owner of this Bar. Fourth, a woman in her 40s who stood in the middle trying to intercede the argument between the girl and the man with beard.

The people at the bar noticed me, they stopped the fight and looked at me. The man with the beard asked me, "Who are you?"

Nervously, I answered his question, "Ee, I came from Siera city, I came here to climb Verra mountain."

"If you still want to life, get out of here while your life is safe and don't ever come here again unless you really want to die," said the bearded man.

I furrowed my brow, looks like this mount was really dangerous, will I be okay if I go there? I mean, physically I'm stronger, but if I go in there alone, I'm afraid even if I am stronger my life will be in danger.

"Don't listen to that person! I know the way there, I can accompany you to go to Verra mountain," said the girl to me. she walked over to me and held out her hand. I shook her hand.

"My name is Clarissa, nice to meet you."

"My name is Kevin, nice to meet you. Does Verra mount really have monsters like the rumors? Have the people here ever seen anything?" I asked.

The woman who intervened in the argument between Clarissa and the Bearded Man answered my question, "We haven't specifically seen anything strange but maybe Arnold has, by the way you can call me Mrs. Theresa," she said and glance at Arnold, the bearded man.

Arnold looked away, in a deep voice he said, "It is more than a monster, no one has ever lived after seeing it."

"Except you, Arnold," added the Bar owner.

"The only reason I survived is because I sacrificed them." Arnold grabbed the necklace around his neck and looked at him sadly.

Clarissa leaned over and whispered to me, "Uncle Arnold lost his wife and child."

I don't know what's going on but I'm sure this wasn't something Arnold could casually talk about. Arnold suddenly woke up, he looked at me and Clarissa then said "I have warned you two, if you still want to go, then go but don't invite anyone else. Don't involve this village with anything dangerous."

After saying that, Arnold sauntered away from the Bar.

Clarissa asked me, "Hey, have you had lunch?"

I shook my head.

"Uncle Jenkin! give us two servings of food and two beers," she shouted to the bar owner.

After that we sat across from each other at a table.

I asked Clarissa, "I heard something about your brother, may I know what happened?"

"The incident happened yesterday, in my family I only have my brother, both my parents have died. We often go to the forest for daily life, our main income is from sokke mushrooms, have you heard of it?"

"I've heard of it, it's a very tasty mushroom and is popular in Siera."

"Sokke mushrooms grow in all seasons, but only in certain places sokke mushrooms could grow. It's just that these places were now ruined, so we decided to look for them in the mountain."

Clarissa paused for a breath before continuing. "Although I don't believe in the rumors regarding Verra Hill, I'm still cautious. I used a 100-meter-long rope to connect my body with my little brother's body. I used the rope, so that our exploration range could be a little wider."

Clarissa continued, "I told my brother to pull the rope if anything happened. After that we split up. But by that time, my brother was gone. I followed the rope but no part broke. I know the end was getting closer. When I thought I would find my brother, it turned out that the end of the rope was a big rock.

"Hah? What do you mean?"

"The rope I tied around my brother's body seemed to come out of a rock. Weird, isn't it? There's no way my sister was suddenly in a boulder."

If that was really the case then the answer could only be supernatural powers.

"But if what you saw was true, don't you think that your brother is dead?"

Clarissa lowered her head and mumbled, "As long as my brother's body isn't found, then I'll keep looking for it."