Chapter 54: Tradition

Levi walked into the dining hall and looked toward the table, discovering that out of the sixteen available seats on both sides, six people were already seated.

Among them were two people Levi recognized—the newlywed couple.

They sat together, and when the wife saw Levi, she excitedly waved at him.

The husband beside her looked a bit displeased but said nothing.

Across from the couple, on the side seat, sat an old lady.

Her attire was somewhat strange; she wore a black veil and a black dress.

Her thin, small body was curled up in the chair, giving the impression of a shadow.

At the moment, she only lowered her head without saying a word.

With a seat separating her and the veiled old lady was a family of three: a husband, a wife, and a four- or five-year-old daughter.

The little girl had golden hair, dressed like a doll, with bright blue eyes that blinked curiously at everyone, full of liveliness.

Her mother beside her was very caring, occasionally turning to smile softly and whisper to her.

The father, however, wore a stern, serious face, smoking silently without a hint of a smile.

Levi nodded politely to the people at the table as a greeting, then sat down across from the family of three.

The little girl had been watching him curiously ever since he entered.

Now that he sat opposite her, she showed a playful smile, waved at him, and Levi smiled back, returning the gesture.

Inspector Lestrade then sat beside Levi, grinning as he waved at the little girl as well.

Frightened, she quickly buried her head into her mother’s arms.

She stole a peek at Inspector Lestrade, then swiftly turned her head away again.

“………………….”

Inspector Lestrade’s mouth twitched as he glanced at Levi.

“Do I really smile that terribly?”

“The way you looked just now, it was as if you’d spotted prey and were planning to eat it raw.”

Levi answered bluntly, and Inspector Lestrade sighed.

“Ah, after being a policeman for so long, I’ve forgotten how to smile. I thought whenever I smiled at suspects and they confessed everything, it was because my smile had charm.”

Now it seemed that not scaring people to death was already fortunate.

The two exchanged a few words before the middle-aged woman from before, along with a young maid in uniform, entered to serve dinner.

In Levi’s world, there was a saying that foreigners rarely ate animal organs, only the meat—never touching hooves, heads, and such.

Levi didn’t know if that was true.

After all, he knew foreigners also ate dog meat, horse meat, and snails——by that logic, if they could eat snails, saying they didn’t eat organs wasn’t exactly honest.

But at least in this world, Levi did feel a touch of that “use every part” philosophy from his own world.

The so-called inn was essentially just a guesthouse.

And a guesthouse naturally lived off its surroundings.

This manor sat by mountains and forests, with lakes and streams nearby, and even had its own stables.

Even if a biohazard broke out, they wouldn’t starve here.

Tonight’s dishes, of course, were all local specialties.

The starter was veal head soup, with roasted fish in celery cream sauce.

The entrée: fried shrimp cutlets, veal liver, and herb-flavored bacon.

The main dishes included stewed chicken, cold-cut ham, and vegetable salad.

Alongside were lemon milk jelly, desserts, and frozen sweets, making for quite a feast.

Levi naturally ate heartily, his only request being to replace the pre-dinner wine with a cup of rose tea.

“You don’t drink?”

Inspector Lestrade looked at Levi in surprise.

Drinking was such a daily habit in this era that seeing someone refuse was like watching someone eat dumplings but only the wrapper without the filling—one couldn’t help but suspect something was wrong with his head.

“Alcohol is bad for health.”

Levi calmly replied.

Every drink shaved thirty minutes off one’s life—who wouldn’t feel distressed?

Whether fine or cheap, alcohol still shortened one’s lifespan; the difference was only whether it cost ten minutes or an hour.

Before crossing over, Levi hadn’t liked drinking, and now he simply refused it altogether.

“You just can’t hold your liquor, right?”

Inspector Lestrade didn’t mind, grinning at Levi.

As a policeman, he had seen all kinds of people—some could down a barrel and stay sober, others forgot their own names after a sip.

In his view, Levi probably belonged to the latter.

This amused him; finally, he had found Levi’s little weakness.

“Something like that.”

Levi didn’t care.

For men of this era, if someone questioned their drinking capacity, they’d prove it by draining three big bowls to set the record straight.

Otherwise, they weren’t real men.

But Levi couldn’t be bothered.

To waste his life just for useless pride… that would be truly foolish.

Inspector Lestrade teased him for a bit.

Seeing Levi unmoved, he lost interest and stopped.

By the time dinner was almost over, the middle-aged woman and the maid returned again.

This time, however, they were preceded by a middle-aged man in formal wear, stylishly dressed.

Just how stylish? ——Wearing sunglasses indoors at night in the dining hall, that stylish.

“Good evening, honored guests. I am Cohen, manager of the Red Moon Inn.”

The man walked to the end of the dining table and bowed slightly.

“Welcome to the Red Moon Inn. May I ask if you were satisfied with tonight’s dinner?”

Unless they were fools or looking for trouble, no one would complain.

“Thank you, everyone.”

The manager smiled again after hearing their responses.

“However, please don’t hurry to leave. After dinner, we have prepared a small entertainment program for you.”

“Entertainment program?”

The newlywed wife looked at him curiously, and he nodded.

“Perhaps you don’t know, but before becoming the Red Moon Inn, this place was once the residence of a nobleman.”

Hearing this, Levi and Inspector Lestrade remained calm on the surface, though their ears were perked.

“That nobleman had a tradition—every holiday, he would host themed banquets and invite guests to participate. We inherited this tradition. Of course, we won’t take too much of your time.

It will simply be a small themed entertainment after dinner.”

“Then, what exactly will we do?”

The newlywed husband asked, and the manager smiled faintly.

“It is——spirit communication.”

“……………???”

At that moment, Levi’s gaze at the manager carried the clear meaning: “If you want to die, just go jump in a river.”

In modern horror movies, séances were already cliché death-flags at the beginning of the story.

But in this world and era, séances were considered a kind of pseudoscience—a parlor game where people placed hands on a planchette in a pitch-black room, muttered strange incantations, and played at thrills… a cheap equivalent of a haunted house attraction.

But in this house? Levi knew people had actually died here!

Not to mention the ring on his finger came from this very place.

Who knew what else was lurking here? Playing with séances in such circumstances—wasn’t that just asking to die faster?

“I think it’s better to change the activity.”

Levi quickly voiced his objection.

“Why so, sir?”

“Such things are far too stimulating. I don’t think they’re suitable for our group.”

Levi gestured toward the elderly and children at the table.

“There are old people and children here. Isn’t it too much stimulation? A game of cards would be just fine.”

“Please don’t worry about that.”

The manager smiled at the old lady in black.

“This lady here is the medium I specially invited.

With her present, I guarantee the séance will be absolutely safe.”

“……………”

So this man was adding insurance to speed up their deaths?

“Of course, if any of you don’t wish to join, we understand. But tradition is tradition. Even if there are no guests, we ourselves must complete the ritual.”

You just said ritual.

You said ritual, didn’t you?

Levi’s hand silently pressed against his waist, debating whether drawing his gun right now would be too impolite.

Hmm.

Could his charm convince the others that after shooting this man, he was actually exposing a ruthless criminal? Based on his horror movie experience, Levi was ninety percent sure this man was suspicious.

Should they just skip the prelude and fight the monster straight away?

Levi glanced at Inspector Lestrade, who only shook his head helplessly.

Alright, maybe not.

Levi quietly lowered his hand, though clearly he wasn’t dropping the matter.

“We’ll be going upstairs to rest.”

The mother seemed sensible enough.

Hearing all this, she pulled her daughter to stand and spoke a few words to her husband.

But the husband seemed intent on staying.

So the mother had no choice but to take the girl upstairs to rest.

On the other side, the newlywed wife also seemed uninterested.

She tugged her husband’s sleeve, wanting to leave, but…

“Don’t worry, dear. Nothing will happen.”

The husband clearly sensed a chance to show off.

He shot a defiant glance at Levi, then turned to his wife.

“We’ll stay here. I promise you—it will be fun.”

“This… but…”

The wife looked at Levi, then at her husband, and in the end obediently stayed.

“We are ready.”

The manager once more gestured invitingly to everyone.

“Please, to the entertainment room.”

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