Chapter 119 – Darkmtl

Chapter 119


“Wait here for a moment.”

Considering the number of students, the academy’s grounds are so vast that we weren’t just engaging in activities in one classroom; each class was allocated specific areas to prepare freely.

So, while I was on my way to our class’s designated area, Anne suddenly stopped me not far from the spot.

Standing in place at her abrupt halt, I stared blankly as she dashed ahead.

In the distance, I saw Anne waving her arms as she ran to catch someone, saying something, but the distance made it impossible to hear her words.

Squinting to focus, I realized the person Anne grabbed was our class president, Lena.

It seemed that the area ahead was indeed our class’s territory.

The reason Anne ran ahead, leaving me behind, must be related to a surprise.

After chatting for a while, the two nodded at each other, and Anne headed back toward me while Lena entered the tent where the other classmates were.

“Did you wait long?”

“Nope. But was there really a need to go ahead and discuss? It’s just right there.”

“Hehe, that’s true, but I was wondering if Selian and Yuli weren’t here and might come later.”

That made sense. The reason I joined Anne in wandering around was also to check out our class’s event and to see Selian and Yuli.

“So they’re here?”

“Yep! It just so happens they’re on duty right now!”

Whatever their duty was, it meant they had arrived on time.

If I had heard they were absent, I would have had to turn back after coming all this way.

“Welcome!”

As we arrived at our class’s tent, Anne and Lena, who had been discussing things in advance, greeted us.

“I saw the opening ceremony. It really showed how much practice went into it.”

Since the ceremony took place at the early hour close to dawn, many must have skipped it, but the hardworking president was probably up early to watch.

“Everyone in the class made an effort, so if you have a conscience, you should at least be able to walk a bit and deliver a few lines without trouble.”

“That’s something to say when no one’s around. Ugh, if it was me, I would have tripped and fallen!”

This reminded me of Mariel, who was nervously fidgeting just before the ceremony.

Hmm. If she hadn’t relaxed, I might have been able to enjoy watching her trip.

“Hehehe. So, you came to check out what we prepared?”

“That’s true, but… what on earth did you prepare that required setting up a tent that doesn’t let any light through?”

“Uhuhuh….”

Instead of answering my question, Lena silently pointed upwards.

Following the tip of her finger, I noticed a sign attached to the top of the tent.

“Haunted House”

An incredibly simple name without the slightest embellishment.

“A haunted house, huh… Are people actually going to come for this?”

Of course, during the festival, it was permitted for the general public to enter the academy, so there would be people coming to check out the haunted house. There could be more than I expect.

However, the reason our class was the only one that chose a haunted house was quite clear.

Most academy students aren’t afraid of ghosts.

Of course, if they encountered a powerful ghost, they might tremble in fear, but that’s fearing the ghost’s power, not the ghost itself.

Students from the Knight Department would slice through even ghosts, while those from the Theology Department would exorcise them as sworn enemies.

As for students in the Magic Department, they, fortunately for the ghosts, might end up being the ones researching the ghosts, trapped in flasks.

Students from the Administrative Department… well, they would probably just crunch numbers or something.

Of course, there are exceptions like Yuli and Linne, but those are rare.

In any case, for the reasons above, most students, except for the Administrative Department, aren’t particularly scared of ghosts unless they’re unusually timid like Yuli.

Even if it sold a lot to the general public, since it was made for the enjoyment of the students, a haunted house had its shortcomings.

“This is all thanks to market research! Did you know? 30 percent of our haunted house visitors are students.”

Despite being just 30 percent, considering that there are far more general visitors around the academy, that’s not a trivial number.

“Huh? Is that even possible? Did you trap some monsters like ogres or something?”

It’s clear that such a thing is nonsensical, but if that’s the case, then believing that 30 percent of academy students are visiting seems unbelievable.

“Hehe… Surprisingly, rather than people expecting to be scared, there are actually many students coming for other reasons.”

“Other reasons?”

“Since the best way to learn is through direct experience, why don’t you go in with Anne? It’s also Selian and Yuli’s turn.”

With that, Lena pushed Anne and me toward the entrance, forcing us inside.

As we stepped in, a dim darkness greeted us.

While it’s natural for people to feel uneasy when one of their most relied-upon senses, sight, is obscured, that didn’t apply to me as a former assassin.

In fact, this darkness felt incredibly familiar.

Shh…

How long did Anne and I walk down the dark path?

After quite a distance, it seemed, but no ghosts were in sight.

“Huh? We should have encountered something by now…”

It appeared to be an unexpected situation, as Anne, who had been tense, tilted her head in confusion.

I wondered how long we walked side by side without any clue. Finally, a ghost awaited us.

“Anne? I heard you were coming with Elysia, but why are you alone… Eek?!”

However, the ghost-masked friend came out naturally and spoke to Anne instead of trying to scare us.

In fact, while chatting, she noticed me and seemed astounded.

“I… I only sensed Anne! When did you get here?”

The girl in the ghost costume was genuinely surprised, her voice trembling.

Ah… Come to think of it, being in the dark, I must have instinctively suppressed my presence while walking.

I had worked hard to shake off my assassin habits, but moving in the dark brought them rushing back.

As a result, the hidden classmates must have only sensed Anne’s presence, and naturally, since Anne was preparing the haunted house too, they probably thought she was just passing by for some other reason.

Thus, there was no reason for them to pop out to try scaring us.

“Ahaha…”

I couldn’t possibly say that I was a former assassin and had been hiding my presence, so I just awkwardly scratched my head and chuckled.

“Well, shall we head back?”

Eventually, after sending the ghost-masked friend away, I firmly grasped Anne’s hand and began to walk normally.

The stick-tack of our feet was definitely just the two of us.

How long did we walk?

Walking in the dark made even the unstoppable Anne start to feel uneasy, as she clutched my hand tighter than before.

Even more, I could hear the sound of her swallowing hard next to me, probably out of tension.

Surprisingly, Anne must have a fear of the dark.

Huh? But during the last visit to the old teacher’s place, she was definitely…

– Grrrr…

A male student suddenly jumped out in a zombie costume.

The quality of the disguise was excellent, and his acting was superb, but I was way too numb to be startled by something at this level.

“Ahh, ahhh!”

However, unexpectedly, it seemed to scare Anne, as she let out a cute scream I had never heard before and hugged me tightly.

She squeezed so hard that I felt a pop at my waist for a moment… but let’s trust in my sturdy body.

The male student, having completed his mission, returned to his original position, but Anne was still clinging tightly around my waist.

“The zombie is gone now. Let’s hurry forward.”

I tried to persuade her to let go of my waist, but without answering, Anne silently held on and began to pull me along again.

It seemed she had no intention of letting go, so I eventually gave up and started moving forward under duress.

“Phew. We finally made it.”

After what felt like ages of being startled by classmates in ghost costumes, Anne kept hugging my waist as we walked.

Finally, I spotted a door that looked like the exit.

“But in the end, we didn’t run into Selian and Yuli.”

It seemed that because I had been suppressing my presence, we missed running into the very Selian and Yuli preparing to be ghosts.

As I thought this, the moment I took a step toward the discovered exit…

““Boo!””

Suddenly, two people grabbed me to surprise me.

– Hehehe…

And from the ceiling, Linne, a real ghost, popped out with a spine-chilling laugh.

Of course, no matter what, it was still insufficient to make me feel scared.

As I was lost in my thoughts.

“Eek!?”

I unknowingly let out a sound that wasn’t quite a scream.

I wasn’t startled or scared; it was just that Selian, who grabbed me intending to surprise me, accidentally brushed my chest, causing me to let out a sound without thinking.

However, hearing my sound, Selian and Yuli seemed to believe they succeeded in surprising me, so they started poking me even more enthusiastically.

“Wait a sec…. Eek?!”

Even though I wanted to say I already knew their identities and wasn’t scared, every time their hands touched my sensitive body, I was too busy screaming.

Even in the meantime, Anne still seemed unwilling to let go of me.

“Linne, stop just watching…. Uh!”

Instead, the real ghost, Linne, stopped trying to scare me and floated in the air, holding popcorn in both hands, watching me.

“Ugh!”

As my reactions fueled their energy, Selian and Yuli’s hands moved even more eagerly.

Eventually, the frantic movements of their hands occasionally slipped into my clothes, directly brushing against my sensitive skin.

The more I screamed, the more active their hands became—and so my screams grew louder and more frequent.

It was truly a nightmare cycle.

“Wait, that’s my… Ah!?”

In the end, when we passed the exit, I had spent quite a long time being tormented by Selian and Yuli after our earlier walk.

It was truly a haunted house…