Chapter 43
Well, if you think about it, this might actually be for the better.
‘It’s better this way. It’s good if Raven quits the Ghost Story Investigation Department to avoid me.’
It was okay, even if I couldn’t meet Raven anymore like this.
As long as he’s alive, that’s all that matters.
If he could just live safely and graduate from this school, nothing else would be a problem.
“Melody. What are you thinking about?”
Just then, Senior Noah approached the desk where I was sitting and asked.
I quietly raised my head. Moonlight fell across his face, making it glow pale.
“I think it’s also good for you if Raven avoids the Ghost Story Investigation Department activities to stay away from you.”
As expected, he seemed to have the same thoughts as I did and said something similar.
Easton, who was the only one who didn’t understand that statement, questioned with a puzzled face.
“Huh? Why is that good for Senior?”
“Because ghost story incidents are dangerous. It’s fortunate if Raven stays out of it.”
Easton’s expression became ambiguous at my answer. He looked at me silently for a moment, then grumbled while scratching the back of his head.
“What’s with these siblings? In the end, they’re looking at the same thing.”
I don’t understand what Easton’s words mean.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Ask Raven about that.”
“You know my situation.”
“That’s your situation. It’s my principle not to interfere in others’ family matters.”
Others’ family matters.
That’s right. I’m only interested in Raven too, so I understood Easton’s decision.
“Still, I envy Raven. To have a sister like you, Senior.”
After Easton’s reply, silence fell for a moment.
I noticed ghosts peeking through the corridor window.
They seemed to want to approach me but kept watching Senior Noah cautiously. He must have been quite scary to them.
“By the way, why are the ghosts afraid of the president?”
“Ghosts?”
Senior Noah tilted his head, expressing doubt.
I belatedly realized that when he’s in human form, he can’t see evil spirits or wandering souls.
On the other hand, Easton seemed to be able to see the ghosts, as he acknowledged them.
“They’ve always been like that. Afraid of the president. I heard that the only beings wandering souls fear are evil spirits or ‘kings’, so it’s strange.”
I hesitated at Easton’s words. The title ‘king’ that came from him was unfamiliar.
“Hmm.”
Senior Noah pondered silently with a meaningful look.
“I don’t know the reason either.”
And after a long while, he answered.
Is it true that he really doesn’t know? Noah is a man whose inner thoughts are hard to read.
It was difficult to determine the truth of his words because I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
At that moment, Senior Noah checked the time on his wristwatch.
“By the way, we’re a bit behind schedule. We need to start the ghost story investigation in earnest from today.”
As Senior Noah gestured, Easton spread out a map of the school on the desk.
The senior pointed to the gymnasium on the map and said,
“This is where we’ll investigate today. I hear there’s been talk of a gymnasium ghost story among the students recently.”
Gymnasium?
Since we’re currently in the annex, the gymnasium is right in front of us.
🐈⬛
Thump—
Thump—
As we approached the gymnasium, we could hear the sound of a ball bouncing inside.
Meow.
Senior Noah, in the form of a black cat, meowed.
The ghosts that had been following me from afar suddenly got startled and ran away.
“You’re scaring them. Why are you frightening them?”
At my words, the senior looked up at me with a bewildered face.
“Both of you, be quiet and get ready to enter. The gymnasium door is open.”
At Easton’s words, I turned my head again. As he said, the gymnasium door was open.
[It seems the door to the ‘Other World’ has opened.]
One doesn’t simply judge that the ‘Other World’ door has opened just by seeing an open door.
Especially in the unique situation of Gloria Island teeming with evil spirits, certain conditions must be met for a door to open.
If a door is open in a place where at least one human is present, and an evil spirit passing by becomes aware of this fact, that door immediately becomes a passage to the ‘Other World’, they say.
Of course, this was what Father Cesario had told me.
‘First, we need to find the medium.’
Just like with the elevator ghost story, we had to find the medium and then open or close the door.
If I’m in the real world, we close the door, and if we’re in the Other World, we open it.
If the door to the ‘Other World’ has opened, it means there’s someone inside, but who could it be?
Thump—
Thump—
The sound of a bouncing ball was continuously coming from somewhere. The inside of the gymnasium was empty.
“I’ll guard the door. Good luck.”
Easton said, standing in front of the door.
He’s playing the role of a doorkeeper to prevent the door from opening or closing until we find the medium.
I looked around the inside of the gymnasium with Senior Noah.
There was no sign of people or evil spirits inside.
Thump—
Thump—
We moved following the sound of the ball coming from somewhere.
[Melody, there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.]
At that moment, Senior Noah, borrowing the body of the black cat, stopped walking and looked up at me. I also stopped following him.
What is he going to say that makes the atmosphere so heavy?
Even though he was in the body of a black cat, the indescribable pressure emanating from him was suffocating.
[I’ve had the feeling that you knew me even before we met.]
“That’s…”
I looked at the black cat with a tense face.
Senior Noah swished his tail for a moment before speaking.
[You seemed to have a lot of interest in me too.]
“…W-well, that’s.”
Well, I did observe him closely because he might remember the events of 903, but I couldn’t say that wasn’t true.
Then Senior Noah nodded with a confident face.
[It didn’t seem like romantic interest, so it’s probably not because you like me.]
That was very accurate.
[So the conclusion I’ve come to is that you know something, not about me, but about the Eglinton family. Am I wrong?]
No. That’s exactly wrong.
But since the senior was so certain about it, it was awkward to refute.
If I say no, what excuse should I make?
He wouldn’t believe that I came from the future, so I’d have to make another excuse, but I couldn’t think of any other reason that would satisfy the senior.
Above all, Senior Noah’s tone sounded as if there was some hidden secret in the ‘Eglinton family.’
‘It must be my imagination?’
Thump- Thump- Thump- Thump- Thump—
At that moment, the sound of the bouncing ball started to be heard rapidly. As if trying to draw attention back to itself.
Thanks to this, I could no longer continue the conversation with Senior Noah.
We immediately ran in the direction of the sound. We passed through the multi-purpose hall, the main space of the gymnasium, and looked up towards the spectator seats.
There, a ball was bouncing on the floor by itself.
Looking closely, a translucent shadow could be seen holding the ball.
That’s it. That’s the entity behind this ghost story, and that ball was the medium.
The gymnasium ghost story wasn’t a rumor. It was real.
🐈⬛
Thank you for reading! ♡