Jude’s body slowly began to blur.
His dark brown hair and skin shifted into a translucent, pale blue-green.
The school uniform and glasses he wore became hazy, like shadows cast in sunlight, their edges indistinct.
His lower body turned into something like smoke, a murky mist that muddled the eye, dissolving the boundary between the ground and his body and leaving him floating in the air.
A ghost.
Jude, now transformed into something resembling the ghosts from media in my previous life, opened his mouth.
-This is my true form. A foolish student who died long ago, and now does not even have a corpse left.
“…Your voice is buzzing in my ears. It tickles.”
-Sorry. I don’t have vocal cords, you see. So my words echo a little unclearly.
“How are you talking if you don’t have vocal cords?”
-Well, I’ve pondered that quite deeply myself, but the conclusion I reached was that I don’t know. Knowledge related to souls is a secret known only to mages or high-ranking priests. As someone bound to Academia’s main building, I had no way to acquire such knowledge.
Ghost Jude floated in the air and looked down at us.
-So? What do you think after seeing my true form?
“Does floating in midair consume a lot of stamina? It seems freer than a lightness skill.”
“You really look like a standard ghost. Do they have ghost movies here too?”
“…I’m used to it, Senior. Your appearance, I mean.”
-Huh?
Ghost Jude’s eyes went wide, and he looked flustered at the reactions from the three of us, which were utterly different from what he had expected.
-No, this isn’t the reaction people are supposed to have when I show them my true form…
“What were you expecting?”
-Screaming, or collapsing to the floor in terror. Some weak-willed juniors even fainted.
“How pathetic.”
Hwa Ryeong clicked her tongue, her face filled with contempt for the people Ghost Jude had mentioned.
“You are not even a demon that spreads terror, merely an ordinary ghost revealing itself, and yet they could not even control their own bodies? Truly pathetic.”
“Your true form isn’t scary enough to tremble in fear over, Senior.”
“Yeah, you just look like a person.”
-Ha.
At our answers, Jude let out a hollow laugh despite being a ghost. I took one step toward him and opened my mouth.
“I understand that you’re a ghost, Senior. So that’s why, when the secret door opened earlier, you didn’t do it yourself but had someone else do it. Ghosts pass through objects, after all.”
-…Have you perhaps met other ghosts besides me?
“Ah… I just guessed. Judging by your reaction, it seems I was right.”
“…?”
I thought I had answered his question as naturally as possible, but I saw Isil tilt her head slightly, as if something about my answer puzzled her.
I’d felt this before, but Isil seemed to become suspicious with astonishing speed whenever someone lied.
It was like she could quickly read other people’s emotions.
-Hoo… If this was going to be your reaction, I should have just shown up in my true form from the start instead of deceiving you. What a waste of time.
“No. Even if you have revealed your true form, there is still something to be wary of. What exactly is behind that iron door?”
-…Fine. I suppose there’s no point in deceiving you any further. Behind this iron door, there exists a certain relic.
“A relic?”
-Yes.
Ghost Jude moved his body this way and that in the air, pointing with a translucent finger at the reaction stones embedded in the wall.
-The reaction stones attached to the wall aren’t there simply to give off light. They’re there to measure the effective range of the relic in the space beyond the iron door. If all they wanted was light, it would be more economical to install lower-quality reaction stones than those.
Swish.
He made a gesture of sweeping his finger from the iron door where he stood to the secret entrance we had come through, continuing his explanation.
-The relic behind the iron door has the effect of devouring the memories of those who approach it. So by seeing how far a person can approach, it can determine whether they are qualified to open the iron door.
The sensing stones on the wall are there to indicate the stages of approach, Jude explained. I nodded, thinking, I see, then stopped.
Then I asked this outrageous ghost with an expressionless face.
“…Devours memories? No, more importantly, you brought us toward such a dangerous relic?”
“…So it was a trap after all.”
Shaaak.
When Hwa Ryeong spread her legs and took a ready stance at my question to the ghost, Ghost Jude panicked and quickly spat out his words.
-No, wait! It’s not that dangerous a relic! Even if it devours memories, it only makes memories from a few hours ago hazy. It doesn’t endanger your life, and above all, when your memories are devoured, it has the effect of clearing your head, so students even come here voluntarily right before exams!
“…You speak quite smoothly. But daring to lure us toward a relic with such an effect without any explanation is outrageous.”
-I’m truly sorry about that! But I was desperate too!
Ghost Jude waved his hands furiously as if trying to calm Hwa Ryeong, who had clenched her fist, shouting, “If you use violence against a senior, you’ll be disciplined!”
The sight was strangely unsettling, like a living person truly pleading out of fear of being beaten by a thug.
If he was a ghost, Hwa Ryeong’s fist would pass through him anyway, so why was he so afraid?
“Do not involve us carelessly in your circumstances, you shameless ghost.”
“…Wait.”
“Hm?”
Isil lightly caught Hwa Ryeong’s sleeve as she tried, despite Ghost Jude’s pleading, to drive her fist into Jude’s face.
“Isil?”
“…Can I talk to him for a moment?”
“…Well, even if we talk, it won’t change the fact that we were deceived.”
Hwa Ryeong made it clear she would accept no objections on that point, but Isil looked straight into her eyes and said,
“…Please.”
“Very well.”
Whoosh.
At Isil’s serious request, Hwa Ryeong’s fist dropped powerlessly, like a flame abruptly snuffed out.
Seeing that, Ghost Jude stopped slowly inching backward, let out a sigh, and looked at Isil with a moved expression.
-…Kind junior. As expected, from the moment I first saw you, I knew you had such a gentle heart—
“Senior Jude, the relic beyond that iron door belongs to a witch, doesn’t it?”
-…
Even as Ghost Jude suddenly fell silent, Isil remained completely unmoved and calmly recited the conclusion she had reached.
“Handling abstract concepts like memories or emotions is the witches’ specialty. The only beings who can process that into a relic are demons or witches.”
-…
“But it didn’t seem like a demon’s, since I couldn’t sense the sulfurous smell unique to demons, so I was wondering. Your expression just confirmed it.”
After finishing, Isil turned her head and looked at me and Hwa Ryeong, speaking calmly.
“If the relic beyond that iron door belongs to a witch, there’s a high chance it won’t end with simply losing memories. So let’s leave.”
“Hm? I was certain you stopped me because you wished to take that ghost’s side. Was that not the case?”
“No. I’m more concerned about you two than that unidentified ghost. I only stopped you for a moment so we could learn reliable information here.”
“Oho. You are more concerned about us, you say. That is rather pleasant to hear.”
As Isil stepped aside, Hwa Ryeong lowered her head and once again took a stance to throw her fist at Ghost Jude, who remained silent.
“Do you have any last words, ghost? Unlike seasoned warriors, I have no experience sending a being with only its soul remaining on to the next life, but rest assured. The martial arts of our Hwa clan can burn even souls, so you will be able to fall diligently into hell.”
-…I’ve met many juniors since I ended up like this, but this is the first time I’ve met people as strange as you.
“Is that your will? For a ghost who has lived so long, it is rather shabby.”
-Yes, I have lived long. Though calling it living when I’m in the state of a ghost feels quite awkward. That means I know the geography of this main building inside and out. Beastkin junior, you said the passage you’re standing in wasn’t low enough to be called underground, didn’t you? Correct.
Clank!
Ghost Jude’s hand pulled the handle of the iron door upward.
What? In ghost form, he should pass through objects and be unable to touch—
Grrrrr, thunk!!
At that moment, with a loud noise, the floor of the corridor near the iron door opened in an instant, and our bodies began plummeting downward.
“Kh!”
“What is this!”
“…!”
-No matter how excellent a warrior you are, beastkin junior, if there’s no foothold, of course you’ll fall, right? See you next time, my cute juniors.
Whoooosh!
The moment we dropped into the darkness, Ghost Jude, floating in the air and mocking us, vanished into the shadows in an instant.
Even when we tried to press our hands against the walls along the way to stop ourselves, they were coated in some slippery, oil-like substance, leaving us no choice but to fall helplessly downward.
Whoooosh, thud!
After riding what felt like a slippery slide in the darkness for only a few dozen seconds, a wall that seemed to be blocking the way opened, and light entered my eyes.
“…Hup.”
“…Ugh.”
“…”
Hwa Ryeong, who had fallen first, adjusted her posture and landed with perfect form.
Isil and I, on the other hand, simply fell flat on our faces.
“Are you all right?”
“…Ugh, no. My chest is throbbing.”
“…Yeah, it hurts.”
“Hmm. Still, the angle of the fall was not very high, so it should not be a fracture.”
“How very comforting…”
“Why did you stop speaking midway?”
I kindly pointed behind Hwa Ryeong with my finger as she looked puzzled.
“Hm?”
“To think three tardy students would appear side by side starting from the entrance ceremony. How delightful.”
I felt Hwa Ryeong’s face stiffen the instant she turned her head in the direction of my finger.
Professor Jan, a middle-aged woman with a warm impression who had confirmed that Hwa Ryeong’s face had stiffened just like mine, nodded and spoke to us.
“Student Jin Prah, Student Hwa Ryeong, and even Student Isil. With this, we have prevented the unprecedented situation of three students skipping the entrance ceremony on the very first day.”
At her words, I felt the gazes of the countless new students seated around us pierce into us.