Chapter 92

Note: This chapter has not been edited yet

Carefully, I opened the classroom door and went out into the hallway. As soon as I left the hallway, I met two imperial knights.

“Hey, do you know who hid where?” Just in case, I asked them about the whereabouts of the other children. However, the two knights kept their mouths shut as if they had promised the other children.

“I’m sorry. It is difficult to say.”

“……We didn’t see anything!”

It was obvious that the second knight was hiding something, though.

Hmmm.

‘Huuh, I failed to cheat…’

Reluctantly, I greeted the knights and passed by. Let’s start with the room with the lockers, then.

“Is it here?”

The locker room was bigger than I thought, and we were smaller than I thought, so I opened the doors one by one thinking that someone might be in the locker, but unfortunately no one was there.

“None.”

Just as I was about to go out to the next room with a broken heart… I turned around!

“Oh, come to think of it, there was this place.”

I was reminded of the past when Cedric showed a secret space and hid the sword there. I touched the door leading to the secret passage, as Cedric did. However, there was no one in the open space.

“……Eh? I thought Cedric would be hiding here, but he’s not.”

In the end I was disappointed and had to turn around and leave the room. The next place I headed to was the nap room.

Kiik-

The door hinge made a creaking sound because the room wasn’t used often. I carefully turned on the lights in the room and looked around.

‘There are several good beds to hide under here. So there must be someone hiding in one of these!’

Or maybe there could be two of them hiding here. Then it’s a big win! I smiled and started searching under the bed one by one.

“No one’s here.”

Just as I was lifting the fourth bedspread, I suddenly heard a rustling sound from the bed next to me, which I had not yet checked. Since the high-end facility was built in the Imperial Palace, the Imperial Kindergarten must not have mice roaming around.

“Found you!”

I immediately checked under the bed. There really was someone.

It was Alice. However, there was a problem.

“……Huonng.”

“……?!”

Alice was crying!

I opened my mouth wide in bewilderment. Wh, why? Why is Alice crying?

Oh, maybe I got something scary on my face!

“What, what’s wrong, Alice?”

Hopefully it was not because I found her too early. Alice finally answered, “You came too late…”

“Yes?”

An unexpected answer.

“I-I’ve been waiting here since a while ago… But you didn’t come until now, so I thought you found everyone except me.”

After seeing my face, Alice slowly stopped crying. She then said that it was dark under the bed and she was so scared.

“Alice, from now on, hide in a brighter place. Or, a crowded place is also fine.”

“I-I will.”

“And I found Alice first.”

“…Oh, is that so? Really?”

At my words, Alice put on a look of embarrassment, and then she covered her face with her hands.

“I didn’t even know that… I’m sorry. I cried for nothing.”

“No. It can be misleading enough. I spent some time in the room earlier.”

With Alice, who quickly stopped crying, I started seeking again. As I was just leaving the hallway, Alice whispered to me, as if she had just remembered, “I saw earlier that Lord Cedric went up to the second floor.”

“Oh, is it? Alice, thank you so much!”

Since that was the case, we get to the second floor first!

***

The second floor was narrower than the first floor, but most of the rooms were empty. Compared to the first six students, the kindergarten building was large, so there were a lot of rooms left.

“I think this is a room where things used in class are kept.”

Alice and I talked as we held hands and walked through an empty hallway. At that time, in the room at the end of the hallway, we saw the portiere  fluttering. Did they leave the window open?

However, the floating form had a somewhat artificial feel.

‘Hey, my intuition is telling me that Cedric must be there.’

I confidently walked towards the portiere. And right after going through the door, Cedric screamed suddenly and fell with a loud thump, as if he had fallen from the sky.

“Uhhh…uwaak!”

No, Cedric couldn’t have fallen from the sky, so it would be more accurate to say that he fell from the ceiling.

“You are here! Did you climb on top of the door frame covered by a curtain? But I just heard a thump… Does it hurt?” I asked Cedric, who showed up on his own even though I didn’t look for him.

Then Cedric, who stood up from the floor and looked upset, answered, “Awawaw… yes. I was on the door frame. Ooh, it hurts. No, take back what I just said, it doesn’t hurt.”

“……Yes.”

Cedric grimaced, then immediately looked as if he had never done so. I simply nodded my head.

“More than that, you’re amazing. Were you still on the doorframe until I came?”

“Of course! To be honest, isn’t that a given?”

Cedric insisted he could hold on a bit longer, but the sound of our footsteps relieved him of strength. At first, I decided to believe it.

“Okay then, let’s go find the other three. Us.”

“Sounds good.”

Cedric took the lead with a confident look.