Volume 2 - CH 1.8

A large travel suitcase was moving slowly despite there being no one pulling on it. It moved about ten centimeters forward, stopped for a few seconds, and then moved another ten centimeters or so. It repeated this over and over.

The pathway was in the far distance, and the light provided by the moon was faint, but with everything else completely still, the bizarre lumbering suitcase stood out like a sore thumb.

The suitcase is moving on its own?

It seemed to be heading in the direction of the academy’s main gate.

Kazuya just stood there for a while, stunned. A moment later, he snapped back to his senses. He tossed aside his textbook and pencil, and stood up.

He carefully reached for the thick tree branch leaning against the window. He was never good at climbing trees, but when he was younger, his boorish older brothers used to laugh at him when they left him up trees or drifting in the river. They weren’t tormenting him on purpose—no, there was no malice in their actions. It was just their way of having fun with their younger brother, albeit in a rough manner. They believed that boys liked to climb trees and play in the river.

With the skills he was forced to develop in those days, Kazuya deftly slid down the tree trunk.

There was only one thing on his mind. A mystery… A moving suitcase under the moonlight! He meant to share this matter to his peculiar friend, Victorique, as a gift.

Kazuya swung down from branch to branch, and, though a little scared, jumped the last two meters to the ground.

Whoosh! The branches shook wildly.

He rose to his feet and walked across the lawn, careful not to make a sound. Slowly, he approached the dark pathway.

The suitcase was still slowly but surely moving somewhere.

Kazuya was thrilled. He was looking forward to going back up the library and telling Victorique about this mystery.

He went around the suitcase to get a better look, but as the angle changed, he saw something that brought a baffled look to his face. Eventually, his puzzled expression turned into one of exasperation.

On the other side of the suitcase were small feet, clad in lacy leather shoes. The fringes on the hem of her elegant dress swayed slightly as she moved, and the velvet ribbon on her hat flapped in the night breeze.

Is that Victorique?

“You there,” Kazuya called from the lawn. “What are you doing?”

The suitcase stopped abruptly.

The sudden male voice startled Victorique. Kazuya peered further into the other side of the suitcase. She was pushing the huge bag with her small hands.

When Victorique refused to answer, Kazuya dashed across the grass to the pathway. As he neared, he saw that the trunk was very large. It looked like it could fit both him and Victorique inside.

“What are you doing?” Kazuya asked once more.

“Uhm…”

Victorique was about to say something, but she clamped her mouth shut. Feigning ignorance, she resumed pushing on the suitcase.

“Are you going somewhere?”

“…”

“Victorique?”

“…”

“You said you weren’t allowed to leave the academy without permission. Besides, the main gate is locked.”

It goes without saying that students of St. Marguerite Academy were not allowed to go out after curfew. The gates were locked shut. If they went out without permission, they would be banned from going out on weekends for a while, and the academy might even report them to their parents.

As for Victorique…

Kazuya was not privy to the exact details, but she could not leave the academy. The one time she was allowed to, Grevil de Blois asked for some kind of special permission and had to accompany her.

“…”

Victorique did not answer Kazuya.

The suitcase was slowly moving toward the main gate at a speed of fifteen centimeters per minute.

“Wh-Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Victorique whirled around, astonished. Her face was twisted in disbelief.

“Wh-What is it?” Kazuya asked dubiously.

“Hmm…!”

“You can’t talk? Oh, I get it. Cavities.”

“Hmm…?!” She looked frustrated.

“Both your cheeks are all puffed up.”

Victorique furrowed her brows and clenched her teeth as if to say her cheeks have always been that way.

“Are you going to the dentist?” Kazuya asked, oblivious to the aura she was emitting. “You don’t need this much, then. Can you open it? Whoa, what’s all this stuff? A change of clothes, a big mirror, a chair?! A tea set for ten people, a vase big enough for you to fit in, and… is this a cot?! Where on earth are you going? Are you moving overseas or something? Your luggage is bigger than last time. You’re such a handful.”

He began reducing her luggage. Victorique flailed about in silent protest.

He went on anyway. “If you have a toothache, you gotta stay put.”

“Hmm?!”

Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes as she held her puffed-out cheeks.

A while later.

“Remember. As soon as your appointment’s done, we’re going home straight away. Also, make sure you keep this hole a secret. Otherwise, Avril… the student who made it will get into trouble.”

With one hand carrying Victorique’s mini-suitcase—now with the reduced luggage inside—and the other holding her hand as she flailed to free herself, Kazuya headed for the hole in the hedge that Avril had told him about.

After hiding Victorique’s excess luggage in the shrubs, Kazuya went back to his room to get his wallet and jacket and returned to show her the way.

He glanced back at Victorique. She wasn’t looking very happy.

“Oh, shoot. I forgot!”

Victorique’s face lit up, thinking he had finally remembered.

Kazuya pointed to the ground. Beside the small laced leather shoes were violet buds glistening in the night dew, swaying softly.

“Try not to step on the flowers. Ms. Cecile will be sad.”

Victorique looked a little despondent.

Once outside the academy, Kazuya held Victorique’s small hand tightly so she wouldn’t wander off somewhere. Her luggage was surprisingly heavy, but this brilliant and sharp-tongued girl, who had rarely gone outside of the academy, could end up getting lost if left alone. She might cry because she doesn’t know how to commute, or fall into an old well or an animal pit, unable to climb back up.

The various scenarios made Kazuya pale. He squeezed her hand even more tightly.

As if to disregard his concern, Victorique swung her hand around wildly—upwards, downwards, to the right and to the left—in an attempt to break free.

“Ow, my shoulder… You’re dislocating my shoulder!”

“…”

“Where to the dentist?”

“…”

Victorique walked in silence, and Kazuya reluctantly followed.

They eventually arrived at a place they had been before—the only station in the village. The round clock gleaming in the middle of the small triangular roof showed it was past seven thirty.

Kazuya’s eyes widened. “The station?! Are you taking the train? Where on earth are you going? Not the dentist…?”

Victorique entered the station building, completely ignoring him. She shook her hands free to buy a ticket, and told the station clerk her destination in a low voice.

Kazuya pulled on Victorique’s hand. “You can’t go far. They’ll find out you left the academy!”

“…”

“Besides, I only have my wallet with me.”

“…”

“Let’s head back. Seriously, what’s going on with you?”

“…” She broke free from his grip and walked away.

Kazuya quickly told the clerk, “One ticket, please! Same destination as the girl!”

“Are you going to Horovitz?”

“Horovitz…?”

Kazuya nodded swiftly, took the ticket, paid for it, and ran after Victorique. She was already in the middle of the platform.

He quickly caught up with her. “Victorique…”

“…”

“Why?”

Victorique did not answer.

The small station platform shook beneath their feet from the vibration of the oncoming train. Stars were twinkling in the sky above.

Someone else was coming out of the ticket gate and onto the platform.

The black steam locomotive arrived at the station with a plume of smoke.

The conductor disembarked and pulled a brass lever to open the door.

Victorique got on board. Confused, Kazuya followed her inside.

The conductor blew his whistle, and the door slammed shut.

Horovitz… That’s the name of the town in the classified ad.

Kazuya recalled the mysterious newspaper ad. It read: Descendants of the Gray Wolves. Midsummer Feast is near. We welcome you all with open arms.

There were directions on how to get to Horovitz, a small town near the border with Switzerland. A town at the foot of mountains much further than here… Why would she go there?

Disregarding his worried look, Victorique stayed silent.

As for Kazuya, he showed no sign of remembering why she wasn’t talking.

Come to think of it, she turned pale when I showed her the ad. The rumor about Victorique that Avril told me about… Victorique de Blois is a legendary Gray Wolf. Then there was the curious name that Inspector Blois blurted out, Cordelia Gallo. There’s so much I don’t understand. And Victorique’s not talking…

What a mess..

Victorique was sitting on one side of the box seat. Despite her tiny frame, she occupied the whole seat for two with her lace and frills. She stayed still, like a doll on display, only her emerald eyes blinking from time to time.

She looked downcast, less spirited than usual. But her cheeks were still a warm, rosy color, as though she had applied a dab of blush to them.

The door to the compartment suddenly opened, admitting a young woman. Kazuya jumped in surprise.

It was probably the other passenger who entered the station earlier.

“Not a lot of passengers at this time of night,” they said. “It feels lonely. Mind if I join you two?”

A slightly husky, but coquettish voice, sweet as lilac perfume. It sounded familiar.

“Not at all,” Kazuya said, glancing up.

The person looked surprised. “Oh, it’s you.”

“Ah, yeah…”

Standing there was a woman garbed in a stuffy nun’s habit, with bluish gray eyes that evoked images of dry desert skies.

It was the young nun who stole the Dresden Plate at the bazaar.