This time, it was still the tiger—and the very same tiger from before.
It emerged from the woods again, but this time it was not here to attack Shade and Mia. Behind it followed a young man dressed for summer—or rather, the soul of a young middle-aged man. There was clearly something wrong with his neck, which seemed to have been the fatal injury.
Shade glanced up at the bright afternoon sun above the branches and muttered in surprise:
"Ghosts can appear during the day too?"
Ghosts like this either had experienced something unusual or were exceptionally powerful themselves.
"You really can see me?"
A delighted expression appeared on the man's face. Shade nodded and looked towards the tiger, which clearly did not want to come any closer to him:
"Did this tiger kill you?"
He was about to act, but the young man hurriedly shook his head:
"No. About two years ago, when I came nearby for fieldwork, I accidentally slipped down a slope and broke my neck. It ate my body afterward, but I was already dead by then. I don't know if that's why I've been able to stay with it—or perhaps it has been staying with me. I help it scare off small animals like wild rabbits, and it follows my instructions through the mountains."
Shade had truly never heard of such a strange symbiotic relationship.
"At noon, I can't move around freely, so it ran off on its own. When it came back injured just now, I knew we had finally encountered the people from the stories who can use witchcraft and magic. To be honest, although I was a folklorist while alive, I never really believed in any of that."
He stood in the shadow of a thick tree trunk as he spoke. Shade