Chapter 53

I saw it…

It happened in the middle of the night yesterday.

I woke up feeling the urge to urinate.

I currently live in the dormitory of Green Academy.

There is a new school building that was recently built, but the dormitory building is quite old and feels gloomy even during the day.

Especially the toilet is so scary that I hesitate to enter it even during the day.

So I always use the toilet in the school building.

But I couldn't bring myself to go all the way to the school building in the middle of the night.

I steeled myself and headed towards the dormitory toilet.

Even the corridor on the way there had a creepy atmosphere, and I was trembling as I walked.

I prayed desperately in my heart, "Please, nothing should appear…"

But as if mocking me, the window in the corridor suddenly started to rattle.

I let out a pitiful scream, "Ah!" and almost wet myself.

Still, I somehow managed to hold it.

As a girl, I absolutely had to avoid that.

It must have been the wind.

I tried to convince myself of that.

But then, despite knowing I shouldn't, I cautiously looked outside the window—

And I saw it.

In the dim moonlight, a shadow floating in the sky…

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

I recalled that moment and couldn't help but scream and crouch on the spot.

A mocking voice came down to me, who was clutching my head.

"Hah, you're still scared of ghosts even at your age, Colette?"

Kaito, my childhood friend, scolded me with a look of annoyance.

"Don't call me just for something like this. Why do I have to come along in the middle of the night?"

"Well… I first asked Kufa, but then I thought you should help too…"

When I revealed this, Kufa, another childhood friend, sounded a bit flustered.

"It's decided that it's better to have a guy around in situations like this."

"Sure, you just say that because you're scared of ghosts too."

"What? That's not true! Besides, aren't you actually scared too? I remember you couldn't even go to the toilet alone when you were little."

"Hey, don't bring up old stuff! I was just a kid back then!"

Kaito and Kufa started arguing.

These two have always been like this…

They fight often, and I'm always the one who has to mediate.

But despite their fights, they might actually get along quite well.

But more importantly.

I had them come to my room specifically because of what happened last night.

I couldn't sleep at all after that.

In the end, I didn't get any sleep last night.

"Maybe you just saw something wrong? Or maybe it was a dream. You don't just run into ghosts that easily."

"B-But I really saw it! Clearly!"

"Hmm. So, what would you do if it was real?"

"…I, I would defeat it!"

"Hey, Colette, can you even defeat a ghost?"

"I, I don't know…"

Maybe we need to call an expert.

If so, there are people who practice necromancy among black magic users, so the Black Academy might be a good place to go.

"Besides, since it happened in the dormitory, shouldn't you have reported it to the school instead of us?"

"…W-Well, if it was just a mistake, it would be embarrassing…"

"Maybe it was just a mistake after all."

I've only been here for a short time, and I don't have any friends I can rely on for such things.

…Partly because I'm extremely shy.

The only ones I can rely on are my childhood friends.

"By the way, was everything okay with the toilet?"

"…Well! It's a bit early, but let's check the dormitory once!"

"The atmosphere really feels like something might appear…"

As we walked down the dim corridor, Kufa whispered in a trembling voice.

The dormitory residents seemed to be asleep, and there was almost no sound.

Our footsteps echoed loudly.

"R-Right? It's understandable if you can't go to the toilet alone at night, right?"

I said, hiding behind Kufa.

I really wish each room had its own toilet.

"This, this is nothing, right?"

Kaito, who was following us a bit behind, seemed to be putting on a brave front. His cheeks were twitching.

We cautiously moved forward down the corridor, at a snail's pace.

Finally, we reached the spot in question.

"There's nothing there."

Kaito said, looking outside the window.

It was still earlier than last night, and indeed, there was only darkness outside the window.

"Y-Yeah, it was probably just a mistake."

Kufa said, looking like she wanted to leave, when—

Rattle, rattle, rattle!

The window suddenly started to rattle.

Just like last night, exactly the same phenomenon.

"It's just the wind!"

Kaito said in a high-pitched voice, but the next moment… we saw it.

A mysterious shadow floating in the darkness.

"It, it's here!?"

We all screamed loudly.

Our voices echoed in the narrow corridor.

Maybe the shadow reacted to our voices.

It slowly started to move towards us.

"I-It's coming this way!?"

"Y-Yeah, I know! Attack! Attack!"

"Fi, Fi, Fire…"

"O-Oh, calm down!"

Despite our panic, we tried to cast attack spells at the approaching ghost.

At that moment, a familiar voice came from the ghost.

"Hmm? What are you doing here?"

Ah, it's Alar!?