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In that expensive-looking suit and poised stance, he was ridiculously out of place in a forest, investigating the ruins of a house that was supposedly haunted. Actually, there wasn’t a single place in Emberlyn where he’d “belong” in that attire without a profession to back it up.

“Go back,” Evan snapped.

“Where?”

“Wherever. I don’t care.”

“Mm.”

“Leave me alone.”

“Mm.”

Before Evan could hurl a blast of spiritual energy at Xen in hopes of rattling his brain into place, a figure emerged at a distance. As the man drew closer, Evan noticed the straw hat perched on his head and the timeworn attire he wore, splattered with mud.

It was the Chief Forest Officer, Steave Choi.

The old man approached them and tipped his hat with a smile. “Long time no see, Mr. Blackwood.”

Evan gave him a brief nod. “Steave.”

Steave Choi could be considered Evan’s sole accomplice, who’d helped him earn his stubborn reputation ofappearing where he wasn’t supposed to. Because it was with this Chief Forest Officer’s permission that Evan continuously trespassed into the forbidden areas of the forest, like the Dark Woods. Even though the townspeople seemed upset over the matter, Choi was a merry old man with very little time to cater to ancient superstitions.

His life motto was quite literallycouldn’t care less.

As long as Evan could remember, Choi had always been the Chief Forest Officer, a single man who lived in a treehouse somewhere deep in the forest. How he survived in the supposedly dangerous and mostly undiscovered woods was still unknown to many, including Evan.

“Thank you for showing up on such short notice,” Choi’s eyes flickered to the man in red behind Evan, standing with his arms crossed behind his back. He smiled. “Good morning, I’m Steve Choi.”

Xen’s face remained impassive.

Evan cleared his throat and offered a twitch of his lip. “He’s not much of a talker.”

Choi chuckled softly. “Hard to believe anyone such is from this town.”

He didn’t leave the forest much, so Choi was unfamiliar with trends and whether wearing a suit in summer was a thing among youngsters. Anyone else from town would take one look at Xen and declare he was an overdressed tourist.

“So,” Evan started. “What’s the problem here?”

“Ah, yes. The problem isthat,” Choi pointed at the ruins of the house behind them.

The roof had completely caved in with a gaping hole right at the center, like something huge had plummeted in from above with enough force that not only the roof but a third of the house had collapsed.

Unease stirred in Evan’s guts. “What happened here?”

“Something awful. There used to be a tree right behind that house,” Choi pointed at a pit in the ground a few feet away from where they stood. “While clearing it, the loggers accidentally dropped a huge chunk of the trunk on the house.”

Evan’s eyebrow perked, a memory fluttering past his mind.

Dropped a tree on a house… Where have I heard that before?

Choi sighed, shoulders drooping. “A man and his wife were inside when it happened.”

“Were they…”

“The man didn’t make it to the hospital.”

Oh.Unnatural death due to human error. That was sufficient criteria for a haunting.