The coachman's hurried steps were filled with anxiety as he sprinted toward the carriage, propelled by the ominous feeling he had about what he might encounter.

It was something he had never wished to face in his career as a coachman, something so foreboding that even the thought of it haunted his dreams.

As he ran, his prayers to the deities he believed in were constant. However, his rapid advance came to an abrupt halt—more accurately, it was as if time itself had stopped.

A voice, dripping with an eerie chill that sent shivers down the coachman's spine, resounded around him.

"What's the hurry? Are you late for something?"

The coachman, forced to come to a standstill, found himself face to face with a middle-aged man.

The man had a well-built physique and was dressed in rather ordinary clothing, but the attire bore the marks of branches and cuts, suggesting that he had encountered unexpected situations or hadn't taken proper care of his clothing.

coachman's throat tightened, and he involuntarily swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Fear coursed through him as he faced the ominous figure before him.

"Who... Who are you?" he stammered, his voice trembling with unease. Deep down, he had a terrible inkling of who this person might be.

But he clung to the slim hope that he could be wrong, that there was no impending crisis. With trepidation, he sought confirmation from the stranger.

"Who am I? That's a rather peculiar question, isn't it?" the person before the coachman replied, starting to approach him.

"Can't you see that I'm just another human, like you?" he continued as he walked closer.

The coachman, his fear intensifying, took a step back as the person neared him. "Don't come near me," he pleaded.

The stranger appeared perplexed. "Why are you so afraid? It's not like I'm going to eat you," he said, his confusion evident in his tone.

As the coachman continued to step back, he suddenly felt something obstructing his retreat. Perplexed, he turned to look behind him, only to find another person, much like himself but wearing luxurious clothing.

This well-dressed individual held out his hand and grabbed onto the coachman's attire.

Annoyed, he scolded the coachman, holding him up with one hand while patting his own clothing with the other.

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"Hey, watch where you're going! You almost ruined my clothes!" he exclaimed, clearly more concerned about the state of his attire than the coachman's predicament.

"You're going to pay for this!" the well-dressed individual threatened, glaring at the coachman.

The coachman managed to get a closer look at the person's attire and noticed similar marks and cuts on the fabric, though not as extensive as the other person's.

He attempted to speak up, to explain or apologize, but the person gripping his clothing tightened their hold, making it difficult for him to breathe, let alone speak.

"Ring"

A bell-like sound began to ring from the carrriage, drawing the attention of the first person the coachman had encountered.

He turned his gaze toward the carrriage and remarked, "Oh, it seems you're not alone here. Do you have guests inside?"

He started to walk toward the carrriage, all the while the bell continued to ring.

The coachman struggled to speak or scream, but the person holding his clothing tightened their grip further, rendering it impossible for him to utter a word.

The muscular person walked toward the carrriage, and instead of opening the door, he placed his hand on the window beside the door and began to knock on it.

"Tip, tip."

His initial knocks on the glass window went unanswered from inside, but he persisted, continuing to knock. Eventually, a response came from within the carrriage.

The window, upon which the person had been knocking, suddenly opened.

What met his gaze was an incredibly beautiful girl. Her beauty left him entranced, and he couldn't help but admire her from head to toe.

She was dressed in a sheer white garment that was almost transparent, teasingly revealing her figure. Her black blindfold, adorned with yellow lines, added an intriguing allure to her appearance.

"Well, well, aren't you a beauty," the person said with a lustful smile as he extended his hand toward the carrriage door.

"Don't you know that the night can be very dangerous for girls, especially girls of your caliber?" he commented while attempting to open the carrriage door.

However, his efforts were in vain as the door was locked from the inside.

"Please don't... don't hurt me," the girl pleaded with a trembling voice, clearly filled with fear.

Observing her vulnerability, the smile on the person's face grew even wider, as if he were beginning to relish the girl's distress.

He struggled for a few moments with the locked carrriage door, trying to open it. After several attempts, he began to back down with a troubled expression.

"Did you lock it from the inside?" he asked, to which the girl nodded her head,

confirming that she had indeed locked it.

"Really? That's a problem. It seems I don't have any way to break the lock, and it's not like you're going to unlock it either," he sighed, as if giving up.

"If there's no method to break it, I guess I should just give up. I don't want to waste my time on something I can't do," he continued, finally backing away from the door.

Seeing that the person was giving up, the girl's mood improved slightly as she began to feel a glimmer of hope.

However, in a sudden and almost imperceptible moment, her expression turned somber, hinting at something hidden beneath the surface.

The sudden shift in the person's demeanor caught the girl off guard. She had begun to hope and had relaxed her trembling posture. As she let her guard down, he swiftly moved in.

"Did you think I'd give up that easily, especially when there's a delicious treat in front of me?" he taunted.

He reached for the handle of the door, tightened his grip, and with a powerful force, he pushed it back.

Crash!

With a loud, splintering sound, the carriage door broke apart, revealing the girl who had nearly lost her breath in that moment of shock.