Surviving in a School of Ghost Stories

Chapter 9

 

I looked up, and our eyes met. The gray-haired man smiled and extended his hand.

“Hello. I’m Leonard Norton Ramsport. The second son of the Ramsport family.”

People were whispering about how terrible I looked, yet he was offering his hand to me.

I had washed up as best I could in the bathroom and changed into new clothes from my bag. However, I hadn’t showered, so there might still be a slight smell of blood.

Anyway, this Leonard fellow seemed to have a very nice personality. I smiled as kindly as I could.

“Hi. Nice to meet you. I’m Melody Hastings.”

“Hastings? I’ve heard that somewhere before, where was it?”

If he were a current student at this school, he would have asked about Raven, but if he’s a transfer student like me, he probably wouldn’t know Raven, right?

Just then, the teacher started handing out the exam papers, interrupting our conversation.

The exam began before Leonard could say anything more to me.

Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and then Mathematics, History, Literature, and Religion exams followed in succession.

‘Now that I’m actually taking the exam, I realize how many subjects there are.’

I moved my hand quickly, solving the problems. Fortunately, there were no parts where I got stuck.

‘At least I’m not stupid.’

I was the one who had tutored my younger brother Raven to help him get into Saint Gloria Private School.

At that time, I had studied very hard for the entrance exam myself while teaching Raven.

‘I’m confident in my studies.’

Back then, Raven said it would have been better if I had entered the school instead of him. He was very apologetic but grateful.

But even Raven, who was like that, changed after going to school. He didn’t send me a single letter, even though he knew full well I was eagerly waiting for his reply.

What on earth could have changed him?

“How did you do on the exam?”

As soon as the exam ended, the noble Leonard in the next seat spoke to me.

“I did well. How about you?”

I answered casually as I got up from my seat.

I returned the fountain pen I had been given and went to find the cat, but Leonard kept following me.

“Wait, you did well?”

I felt light-footed, as if I had just climbed a mountain.

“Yeah. It was easy.”

“Easy, you say?”

I stopped walking at Leonard’s questioning tone. Why, why is he asking so meaningfully?

“… Is that not okay?”

“The difficulty of the Saint Gloria Private School transfer exam is world-renowned. They say it’s even harder than the entrance exam. Especially today’s exam seemed to be the most difficult ever.”

Oh, I see.

I sighed in relief and asked him,

“How do you know that?”

“I’ve solved all the previous years’ transfer exam questions.”

With this level of obsession, shouldn’t he have been admitted already instead of taking the transfer exam?

Trying to ignore Leonard who was trailing after me, I returned to the reception desk.

However, the cat I had left earlier was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s the cat?”

The receptionist stuttered in confusion at my question.

“Ah… I’m sorry. It went off somewhere on its own. Its behavior was so natural that I thought it was a stray.”

“I registered it as a pet and left it here.”

“Oh my goodness, how could I make such a mistake! I’ll notify the school and have all the security guards search for it immediately! I’ll report to the Dean and ask the people of Gloria Island and all the students to look for a black cat…!”

“No, it’s okay. It is a stray cat.”

I cut off the receptionist’s words just before things got out of hand.

I don’t think a talking cat is an ordinary cat. It probably disappeared suddenly just as it had suddenly appeared before me.

It seemed like it might suddenly appear again from somewhere if I waited.

It was an oddly strong conviction.

Leonard, who had followed me to the reception desk, intervened.

“It’s not a stray, right? Shouldn’t you have that person punished? We need to find the cat.”

“It is a stray cat. No need to look for it.”

“Have you heard what the cat has to say? How do you know it’s not desperately looking for you?”

I halted, taken aback.

‘How did he know?’

A bit surprised, I asked him.

“Did you also know it was a talking cat?”

“…If you take a joke seriously, it makes me embarrassed.”

I wasn’t joking though. Feeling awkward, I swallowed my words.

‘But why does he keep following me?’

His attention was a bit burdensome. But I wasn’t cold-hearted enough to harshly drive away a friend in the same situation.

I ended up walking past him silently and exiting the exam building.

‘First, I need to find news about Raven.’

The school provides free accommodation for students who came to take the transfer exam on this remote island.

70 percent of Gloria Island is the school, and the remaining 30 percent is the island village.

From the only port, passing through the village and up a sloping hill, you’d reach the main gate of the school.

I came down the sloping hill and headed towards the accommodation provided by the school.

“Hastings! Let’s go together!”

Leonard was still following behind me.

In front of the accommodation, there were students checking IDs.

They were wearing armbands on their right upper arm that said <Disciplinary Committee>.

“Ah. Damn it.”

Leonard, who had followed me, muttered quietly upon seeing the disciplinary committee.

One of the committee members saw Leonard and made a sour face.

“Ramsport? Don’t tell me you took the exam again?”

The committee member acknowledged Leonard.

“You’re dedicated. You’re probably the only crazy person in school history who takes the transfer exam every year as a current student just to check your level.”

…What? Wait.

“Current student?”

I interrupted their conversation. The committee member looked at Leonard and me with a confused face.

“What? You didn’t know? He’s a second-year student here. And a member of the disciplinary committee.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to deceive you.”

Leonard apologized to me, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

As I heard it, Leonard had been deceiving the teachers and taking the transfer exam every year to verify his skills.

Feeling a distance, I stepped a couple of paces away from Leonard again.

The committee member who had recognized Leonard introduced himself as Maddox Parker, a third-year student.

He was a senior with many scars on his face, as if he had been in a fight.

“The exam results will be announced tomorrow. You’ll be assigned to a dormitory as soon as they’re announced, so be prepared.”

Senior Maddox kindly handed me a guide with the time and place of the transfer exam result announcement.

“Ignore that shameless guy. He’s more famous for his nickname ‘Genard’ because of his terrible personality.”

[In here, he change “레오 [Leo]” from “레오나드 [Leonard]” to “레 [Ge]” so it’s “레나드 [Genard]”. 레 [Ge] also means dog or someone behaves badly.]

“And you’re a fighter, senior. I don’t want to hear that from a senior who’s not exemplary.”

“Can’t you see I’m holding back right now? Are you trying to climb over your senior?”

Unlike how he spoke to me, Senior Maddox glared at Leonard with a very fierce face.

Of course, Leonard didn’t even blink.

While the disciplinary committee is supposed to guide students, they all seem a bit delinquent somehow.

“More importantly, I have a question.”

But I had no real intention of transferring to this school.

I was interested in something else.

“If you’re a student here, do you know Raven Hastings? He should be a first-year now.”

Raven died during his second-year vacation.

Since we’ve gone back a year, he should be a freshman who just finished the first semester of his first year.

At that, Leonard and Maddox stopped fighting and looked at me.

“Who?”

“Raven Hastings. He’s kind and innocent, so he might not stand out, but he’s handsome enough that you wouldn’t forget him once you’ve seen him.”

At my explanation, Leonard and Senior Maddox immediately made disgusted expressions.

“Ah. I was wondering where I heard the name Hastings…”

Leonard trailed off, then continued.

“So you’re Crazven’s sister.”

Craz… what? Who’s crazy?

🐈‍⬛

Thank you for reading! ♡