Chapter 16
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“Well, Hastings, as you may know, we have selected three transfer students this semester, ranked first to third.”
On the morning of the first day of school, I listened to the explanation while walking with the homeroom teacher of Class 2-F.
“However, the other two students suddenly declared their withdrawal due to personal circumstances. So, Hastings student is the only transfer student this year.”
“I see.”
I nodded vigorously as if full of enthusiasm. The teacher smiled with satisfaction.
“Transfer students are usually assigned to classes with insufficient capacity. And F class is always the only one with insufficient capacity. That’s why transfer students are unconditionally assigned to this F class.”
I followed the homeroom teacher, glancing around.
The school corridor was quiet, as everyone seemed to have finished arriving, except for a few students running late.
“At Saint Gloria Private School, classes are assigned based on academic performance every year. Classes are assigned in order of S, A, B, C, D, but F class is considered a special class and is excluded, so it’s always short on capacity.”
“Why is the special class always short on capacity?”
“Students in arts and sports are all assigned to F class regardless of their grades. Naturally, there are significantly fewer arts and sports students compared to general students, so there’s always a shortage.”
Ah. While S to D classes are reassigned annually based on grades, only this F class maintains its roster regardless of grades each year. That’s why it’s a special class.
For reference, Erica was in S class.
“Transfer students are initially assigned to F class, but when the school year changes, they are reassigned to general classes based on their grades, so keep that in mind.”
So after this semester, I’ll go to a general class.
‘I’ll have to leave this school before that.’
I must take Raven and leave the school before next summer to save him from death. That is, if I can’t find the cause of Raven’s death.
The homeroom teacher of Class 2-F energetically opened the classroom door and entered.
Clatter.
“Everyone! Did you have a good vacation?”
I didn’t know the homeroom teacher was such an energetic person. I unconsciously shrunk my shoulders a bit.
“As you’ve all heard the rumors, we have a transfer student.”
The teacher gestured towards me standing at the door. I slowly walked to the front of the class, carrying my bag.
The F-class students looked at me with indifferent faces.
I was worried because there had been so much talk about the controversial transfer student, but everyone seemed uninterested in me.
‘What’s this? The atmosphere feels a bit strange.’
While I was observing the atmosphere and keeping quiet for a moment, the homeroom teacher urged me.
“Hastings, greet your friends.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Melody Hastings.”
I greeted automatically at the teacher’s urging. However, the students still showed no reaction.
More precisely, they were glancing at me while pretending to be indifferent.
But soon, unable to hold back any longer, they started whispering among themselves.
“Look. It’s Crazven’s sister, right?”
“They don’t look alike.”
“She’s prettier than I thought.”
“I heard she showed up covered in blood during the transfer exam.”
“It’s Crazven’s sister. Seems the sister is out of the ordinary too.”
“We should be careful.”
And then it happened.
Crash.
Someone kicked a chair. The classroom suddenly fell silent.
When I turned my head towards the sound, I saw a familiar face.
‘Huh?’
Gray hair and golden eyes. A slightly crooked posture and relaxed attitude. The male student smiled when our eyes met.
Leonard Norton Ramsport.
He was the student I met during the transfer exam.
‘I thought he’d be in S class, but he’s in F class?’
The fact that such a talented student who wouldn’t miss first place in the transfer exam didn’t go to S class means Leonard must be an arts or sports student.
They said F class only accepts arts and sports students regardless of grades.
Leonard smiled nonchalantly and pointed to the seat in front of him.
“Teacher. The seat next to Wellington is empty. The transfer student can sit here.”
I saw the homeroom teacher sigh.
Seeing this, I understood why Leonard was called a dog. Nobles all seem strange somehow.
“Would you like to go sit there? That’s the only empty seat anyway.”
The homeroom teacher pointed to the empty seat and briefly left the classroom.
I headed towards the seat in front of Leonard under the students’ burdensome gazes.
My seatmate, called ‘Wellington’, was a brown-haired boy slumped over his desk in a gym uniform.
‘Let’s try not to stand out as much as possible.’
Staying quiet would be good for Raven’s sake too.
Anyway, I was trying to carefully and quietly hang my bag on the desk hook and sit down.
It would have gone as planned if my sleeping seatmate hadn’t suddenly lifted his head.
Smack—!
Because I was bending down to sit in the chair, my face collided squarely with my seatmate’s rock-hard head.
“Ouch.”
It hurt so much I could cry. I felt warm liquid flowing down under my nose.
Sure enough, it was a nosebleed.
All the students in the class stared at me with wide, surprised eyes. Gasps of shock could be heard here and there.
The already awkward atmosphere in the class became even more uncomfortable.
“Hey, Melody. You have a nosebleed. Are you okay?”
Leonard jumped up from his seat in surprise and shouted.
My seatmate, still half-asleep, apologized awkwardly with a dazed face.
“Melo nosebleed…? Are you okay? I’m sorry. That must hurt. But how can someone’s name be Melo-nosebleed?”
I looked at him with a bewildered expression while my nose kept bleeding.
What’s he saying? He must still be half-asleep.
Just as Wellington finished speaking, the bell rang from the clock tower on the school grounds.
Ding— Ding—
It was the bell signaling the start of class.
Only then did the students lose interest in me and start preparing for class.
“The nosebleed won’t stop. We might need to go to the hospital.”
“Your nosebleed isn’t stopping. You should go to the hospital.”
My seatmate, who had been plugging my nose with a handkerchief, muttered with a very serious face.
Leonard, who had been quietly listening to our conversation from the seat behind, suddenly stood up.
“Melody, should I help you?”
“Suddenly? How?”
I thought he was going to tell me how to stop a nosebleed, but he said “Excuse me” and lifted me up. To be precise, he lifted me like a sack of flour.
Ugh. I think the nosebleed is getting worse.
“It’s a bit much to go to the hospital for a nosebleed, isn’t it? Let’s go to the infirmary. Wellington, make sure to explain this situation properly to the teacher.”
After warning Wellington, Leonard took me out of the classroom.
Even as I was being carried like a sack, I held my nose and looked around.
The corridor was quiet, probably because classes had started.
Johannes Castle, where F classes from first to fourth year were gathered, definitely had a different atmosphere from the main building.
Maybe because it was the oldest building in the school, it was worn down and located in a corner, giving it a somewhat gloomy feel.
‘It feels a bit cold too.’
I shivered involuntarily, feeling eerie, and Leonard, who was carrying me, said,
“Bear with it a little longer. The infirmary is on the first floor.”
I nodded, but soon realized that the cause of the chill wasn’t simply the cold air.
There was something behind us.
‘What is that…?’
Strange things were floating in the corridor of Johannes Castle.
Long, round, semi-transparent forms covered in pure white cloth were floating around.
‘I think they called those things ghosts in the picture books I read as a child.’
“What’s wrong?”
Noticing something was off, Leonard stopped walking and put me down.
After a moment of dizziness, I pointed over Leonard’s shoulder.
“What are those things?”
“What?”
Leonard turned to look in the direction I was pointing.
The ghost-like things were still floating there.
“What are you talking about?”
Leonard turned back to me with a puzzled face.
“Those white things. Can’t you see them? Floating in the corridor…”
My voice trailed off. Leonard’s expression was becoming increasingly perplexed.
That’s when I realized.
It seemed Leonard couldn’t see those ghosts at all. Unfortunately, it appeared that only I could see them.
“When you go back a year, a mark will appear on Miss Hastings. Probably because of that mark, you’ll gain ‘eyes that can see things others can’t see.'”
Only then did I recall what the student council president had said.
Could these be the ‘things others can’t see’ he was talking about?
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Thank you for reading! ♡
