“Hmm… Could she really have gone back first?”
From the 1st floor to the 5th floor, since she’s not on any of them, the only thing we can think of is that Yuli went back to the dormitory first.
However, there are two aspects of this hypothesis that are hard to accept.
First, I wonder if Yuli’s bravery would allow her to go through the forest path between the dormitory and the Old School alone. Of course, she might have bitten her lip and gone back because staying there was scarier.
Second, would Yuli, given her personality, have gone back first without telling us if something strange happened? Of course, she might have gone back to call for help or to assess the situation more clearly.
But to have gone back first without even checking on the others, biting her lip through fear?
This scenario is almost impossible to imagine.
“But I’m sure we’ve checked all the floors.”
“Not true. There is a place we haven’t looked at yet.”
Selian’s statement was countered by Presia. Presia showed us the guide map she was carrying.
However, the guide map in Presia’s hand still only showed the layout of the 1st floor.
?
“After checking around, I saw one place that didn’t match the guide map.”
The place she pointed out was a small room next to the staircase leading to the upper floors.
“I thought it might have been a mistake at first, but now I’m pretty sure.”
She pressed her finger on the room’s diagram on the guide map.
“It’s much smaller.”
We headed directly to the small room by the staircase. Once we compared carefully with the guide map, it was clear that the room was indeed narrower than depicted.
The neatly stacked furniture in the room made it look small, effectively concealing the extra space.
“Yuli? Are you there?”
We shouted, wondering if Yuli might be hiding in the space behind the furniture, but there was no answer.
“How shall we proceed? It seems there’s more to clean up, but…”
“El, Selian! Step back for a moment!”
At Anne’s call, we stepped back while she wielded her two-handed sword, swinging it at the furniture.
Though not as large as the giant broadswords she doesn’t usually carry because they’re cumbersome, the sword was heavy enough. Combined with Anne’s great strength and her aura, the furniture blocking the way shattered or collapsed immediately.
But there was no sign of Yuli behind the furniture. Instead, there was just a staircase leading down.
“Underground…”
“Well, a building of this scale would likely have a basement.”
“Then, I suppose the furniture was tampered with by the evil spirits.”
“But why wasn’t the path to the underground marked on the guide map?”
“This guide map… judging from the paper, it’s not very old, so it’s probably not the original. Someone who visited the Old School like us must have drawn it later. This person likely overlooked this area unintentionally.”
Even when compared with the original room dimensions, the room’s size in the guide map was subtly bigger, but not enough to raise attention, so it might have been overlooked.
“Anyway, should we head down? We need to find Yuli quickly.”
“Hold on for a moment.”
Presia, who stopped my urging, lightly flicked her fingers toward the air, and four bright orbs of light appeared, illuminating our surroundings.
Each of these light patches moved around each person’s vicinity.
“There’s no moonlight either, so be careful not to trip as we go down…”
Indeed, the basement had no windows, and we were greeted by a much darker hallway than above-ground.
If Presia hadn’t been there to light the area, our exploration could have been much more difficult.
“Hmm… Let’s all scout and move together?”
Since there was no guide map, and it seemed inefficient to split up without knowing the structure, it felt safer to move as a group.
-Gruuuh…
However, after taking just a few steps, an evil spirit appeared and grabbed onto someone’s ankle.
Not metaphorically speaking, it literally grabbed someone by the ankle. And the creepy sound was just extra.
The evil spirit seemed to have appeared to startle us, but the one actually grabbed, Selian, just stared down at it with a blank face, holding onto nothing but her ankle.
The continuous stare from Selian seemed to embarrass the spirit as it quietly let go of Selian’s ankle and slinked away, fading into nothingness.
…What kind of creature is that?
Still, the evil spirit couldn’t resist attempting to frighten us again while we explored.
-Gruuuhhh!
Another loud shriek heralded an abrupt second appearance.
“Kyaaa!”
This time, the ghost aimed to scare Anne, the youngest-looking among our group and the shortest next to Presia. It materialized right in front of her and shrieked.
The effort worked as expected as Anne let out a loud scream, shocking everyone.
But the evil spirit had likely underestimated its decision to choose Anne to startle.
Bang!
Anne’s surprised fist slammed directly into the spirit, knocking it to the ground.
As the evil spirit’s body began to fade, it wasn’t clear whether it was dissolving into spiritual contentment after having succeeded at scaring someone or being exorcised after being hit by Anne, but it seemed to be disappearing nonetheless.
“That was scary…”
If it had startled twice, it wasn’t the spirit but a real person who would’ve grabbed someone.
As a matter of fact, I have stopped trying to startle Anne ever since she walloped me the last time I tried.
“Hmm… The structure of this room feels different?”
While scouting separately yet moving together, Presia seemed to have found something and motioned us over.
“What’s the matter, Boss?”
Being nearby, I followed Presia into the room she pointed out.
Creak, bang, click.
However, as soon as I entered, the sound of a door closing echoed behind me. The click was likely a sound of the door locking.
Clunk clunk.
Though the locking mechanism was supposed to be inside the room, turning the handle did nothing to open the door.
Bang bang bang
“Selian? Anne?”
I called out to Selian and Anne behind the worn-out door but heard no response. Even pounding on it with enough force to break it had no effect despite the door’s apparent aged condition.
“Hmm… Seems like it’s one of the spirits’ tricks.”
“Yet the strength of the door seems too sturdy for a simple joke by the spirits?”
“Likely because we’re in the basement, the negative energy has grown stronger. Here, sunlight doesn’t reach even during the day, and it’s been a long time since it was organized.”
The chill I felt when we descended the stairs seems to have been more than just a feeling.
There’s a completely sealed room with no windows, and the only door leading out refuses to open.
Just as I contemplated asking Presia to destroy the door with magic, a sentence slowly appeared on the door.
“A room where we must stay and embrace for 10 minutes to leave.”
“Hmm? Boss, would you care to look at this?”
“…I see it.”
No matter how strong the negative energy has become, these spirits still seem to favor playing tricks. Locking us here and making us do something hardly counts as causing harm. Just cuddling, really.
“Come on, Boss, this way.”
It’s not a difficult task, and instead of senselessly aggravating the spirits, we might as well just follow their demands and leave.
Thus, I opened my arms and beckoned Presia.
“Uh…? Well… uh….”
After a moment of hesitation, Presia eventually agreed and leaned into my arms with a snug embrace.
Though not as much as Anne, Presia too had a height befitting her age, and she fit right into my hold. Had it been someone with a fuller figure like Selian or Yuli, it might’ve been embarrassing, but Presia was quite fine.
“Does it feel cramped or uncomfortable at all?”
A few minutes later, I loosened my grip slightly, wondering if I’d been holding her too tightly, and asked. Luckily, she responded that it was tolerable.
“We might run into problems if the spirits find fault. If you allow it, I can hold you a little tighter.”
Thinking about it, she was right. If they perceived my loosened grip as us slacking off, we might be forced to stay the extra time.
“So, please bear with the slight discomfort.”
“A bit more, hold me tightly… it’s fine…”
Of course, despite my trained body, embracing someone as fragile as Presia too tightly might cause a different kind of problem.
“A bit more… yes… sure… ok…”
So, I slowly applied more pressure, letting Presia dictate the limit she could endure.
Click.
10 minutes of genuine, gentle hugging in a manner that wouldn’t strain her.
The spirits must’ve deemed it satisfactory because they quietly released the lock on the door.
When I released Presia and tried the door handle, it opened smoothly as if nothing had happened.
As soon as the door opened, Presia, evidently quite stuffy, rushed out, her face slightly red.
Though she claimed it was fine, clearly her delicate body had endured some strain. Perhaps, given my size, it would have been better if she had hugged me.
Anyway, where on earth is Yuli?
