"Enough!"
The old woman finally could not help interrupting. "The victims were all guests at my Mountain Villa because this is the only villa nearby. Why not say that everyone who died was from Earth?"
With a stern expression, she turned to the loose-tongued mountaineer. "Besides, I've told you many times not to joke about this supernatural nonsense—you see, your hand was scratched yesterday. That must have been a warning from 'that thing.'"
The young man laughed heartily and carelessly waved the hand wrapped in bandages.
Still, even though he was not superstitious, he often stayed at this Mountain Villa. He did not want to fall out too badly with its owner, and he had already frightened them enough, so he wisely changed his story:
"From a scientific perspective—or the police's perspective—the chocolate beside every victim's remains was probably dragged out by mountain animals. Food is scarce in winter, so while rummaging through the victims' luggage, they accidentally pulled out the chocolate."
—Though that did not explain why, apart from the chocolate, everything else the victims had was still neatly packed in their bags...
He had wanted to say that, but on closer look, the two high school girls seemed too frightened to react anymore. There was no fun in scaring them further—he would save that part for when he returned that evening.
Looking forward to the evening's entertainment, he adjusted his Windproof Goggles and said to the two women who had just seen him off, "I'm off to work. You two keep these new tourists company."
With that, he gave them a dashing wave, slung a Camera around his neck, hoisted his small backpack, and headed into the forest.
His girlfriend waved after him and wished, "Have a safe trip! You'll definitely get the shots you want today!"
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