Surviving in a School of Ghost Stories

Chapter 14

 

“Strange. Why is no one here?”

Erica scratched her cheek with a puzzled look.

Just then, a male student entering the room stumbled upon seeing me and Erica.

“What the… Erica? Who’s that next to you?”

“Ah, senior, you don’t need to know. Have you seen the new student? Hastings.”

Erica cut off the boy’s words coldly. I felt embarrassed, but the two of them didn’t seem to care.

Does the Student Council not have any respect for seniority?

For a moment, I recalled Leonard and Maddox chatting casually.

Right. Maybe this is just the school’s atmosphere.

“Oh. If you mean Hastings, I think he said he was going to the library?”

“Thank you. Bye, senior.”

“Wow. That’s a really half-hearted goodbye. I’m curious about who that beauty next to you is. Never seen her before. Can you hear me? Where are you going, Erica…?”

The senior-looking male student showed interest in me. However, Erica ignored his words and left the Student Council room.

I also gave a silent bow and followed Erica.

We headed straight to the library.

But we couldn’t meet Raven there either.

“Raven Hastings? I think he borrowed a few books and went back to the dormitory.”

We immediately went to Raven’s dorm, but he wasn’t there either.

Instead, his roommate came out and complained a lot.

“That bastard didn’t even clean the room. I don’t know where he went, but if you find him, tell him to come clean up the room right away.”

Raven’s cranky and irritable roommate then looked closely at my face and was surprised.

“Huh? Wait, are you…?”

Erica asked, seeing his reaction.

“Do you know each other?”

“No, it’s our first time meeting.”

At my answer, he finally seemed to realize his mistake and awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

What could it be? That reaction as if he knew me.

Perhaps Raven often talked about me to his roommate? Maybe that’s why he recognizes me.

If so, maybe Raven doesn’t hate me after all!

“Anyway, Raven isn’t here, so look somewhere else.”

Without saying anything more, the roommate slammed the door shut.

As we were giving up and leaving the boys’ dormitory, another passing male student mentioned seeing Raven at the gym.

So we went straight to the gym.

However, there was no one in the gym, just a single ball bouncing on the gym floor.

“What the…. Wasn’t someone just here?”

Erica muttered incredulously, pointing at the ball.

Is Raven really intentionally avoiding me? Why on earth?

“Erica, what do you think of Raven? Is he doing well at school?”

“I haven’t talked to him much, so I don’t really know what he’s like. Easton knows him better.”

“Who’s Easton?”

“Raven’s roommate we just saw. They’re famous for being rivals.”

“Why are they rivals?”

“Sorry. I’m not interested, so I don’t really know beyond that… I just know that he’s a weirdo.”

Erica, who said that, soon apologized to me.

“Ah. Sorry, he’s your brother.”

“It’s okay. I’ve heard other students call him ‘Crazy Raven’ too.”

Erica patted my shoulder.

She really seemed uninterested in others, so I couldn’t get more information about Raven.

“Could it be that he’s running away after hearing that I’m coming?”

Erica, who was looking around the gym while petting Blackie, agreed.

“That’s my guess too. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be this easy to keep missing each other.”

I sighed and fell into thought.

There are two reasons why a person avoids someone.

Either they have feelings of dislike or hatred, or they have a secret they don’t want to be discovered.

Whichever reason it is, if I can’t meet Raven, all this talk about Plan A or Plan B is useless.

I slowly racked my brain for a way to solve this unexpected problem I suddenly faced.

Suddenly, I recalled what the postman, who claimed to be the student council president before the regression, had told me.

 

“Before that. You said you’d tell me the truth about why Raven died. Can you tell me that first?”

“You’ll naturally find out when you go back a year.”

 

He said I would naturally find out if I went back a year.

Could I solve this problem by going to the student council president?

 

“Yes. But I’ll be different from now. I won’t recognize you. The me from that time doesn’t know anything, so please understand if I act rudely.”

 

Ah, now that I think about it, you did say that.

You said the current student council president doesn’t know anything. So even if I go, I won’t be able to meet the ‘student council president of 903’ who knows the whole story and sent me back in time.

‘But for now, this is the most promising method.’

I nodded and made up my mind.

‘Let’s at least go see his face.’

And check if that postman was really the student council president.

You never know. The student council president might remember something.

I asked Erica,

“Erica. Since you’re a student council member, do you know which grade and class the president is in?”

“The president is in Class S of 3rd year. Why? Do you know the president?”

“Since Raven is a student council member. I thought the president might know why Raven is acting this way.”

I made up a plausible reason for meeting the student council president.

Erica nodded, seeming to think it made sense.

“Since the office was empty earlier, it might be difficult today. If you’re curious, come to the student council after school. He’ll definitely be there then.”

I nodded at her words but then paused and took out my pocket watch to check the time.

I had been walking around since morning, and a lot of time had already passed.

“It’ll be difficult today. I need to go pick up my textbooks and uniform now.”

“You’re going to the main building’s office, right? I’ll go with you.”

Erica, seemingly with nothing to do, followed behind me, holding Blackie in her arms.

“Should I hold Blackie?”

Erica shook her head and hugged Blackie tightly.

“No, Elizabeth likes it here.”

“Elizabeth? Her name is Blackie.”

“Did you ask for her opinion? She might prefer Elizabeth over Blackie.”

Erica replied shamelessly.

It’s not wrong, but how can you ask a cat’s opinion?

Meow.

Blackie meowed cutely in Erica’s arms. As if asking us to look at him.

I went ahead and asked him.

“You tell us. Do you prefer Blackie or Elizabeth?”

Meow.

… Right. Of course, a cat can’t speak.

That cat I met in Chesswind Village was the odd one.

Blackie jumped down from Erica’s arms. Then he walked ahead with small steps.

Meow.

Moreover, when we didn’t follow, he stopped, turned back, and meowed.

As if asking why we weren’t following.

Erica, who had been quietly watching him, spoke in a low voice.

“… One thing’s for sure, it’s not an ordinary cat.”

The blue-eyed cat wasn’t ordinary either, but the yellow-eyed cat in front of us now also seemed extraordinary.

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