CH 38

How To Remember Someone (2)

“Isn’t that a bit harsh?”

Unable to bear her words, I retorted back.

“Even if we’re weirdos, we have to settle this.”

After that night, I felt the gaze stare at us blatantly. The gaze felt partially strong when we were heading to the main building. Leto and I kept glancing back and frowned. I thought it was just my imagination since we were talking about the curse yesterday, but at this point, someone must be watching us. I didn’t know why they were staring, but it felt quite uncomfortable.

Usually, I wouldn’t dwell on this kind of gaze, but this was too much. I wasn’t sure who the culprit was, but I was going to knock some sense into them. I turned my head and glared fiercely at where I could feel the gaze.

“Let’s catch them, Leah.”

“No. Let’s watch a little longer.”

At my words, Leto suggested to continue keeping an eye on it. It was faint but I could still feel the gaze. I couldn’t feel the gaze when we were in the dorm or during class, but I could sense that someone was watching us when we were walking or eating. 

Because of that, I couldn’t properly swallow the sausage I was eating. At this point, I was getting angry since it was affecting my meal.

“Let’s catch them and teach them a lesson.”

The aftertaste was unpleasant. When I finally tried to step up, Leto shook his head. Why does Leto keep holding me back? Don’t tell me he’s scared. I was frustrated by his timid behaviour. He grabbed me with a stiff face and shook his head firmly.

“What if it’s dangerous?”

“What? It’s not dangerous. If they can look at us so blatantly, it must be a simple guy who can’t mask his presence.”

“Maybe they revealed their presence on purpose.”

“…But.”

“Briseis, if you get hurt while dealing with it, it would only bring you more trouble.”

Leto refuted my words. I wanted to say something, but he had a point, so I closed my mouth. In fact, there were many accidents reported in the Lexley Academy since it was an elite magic school.

Even during orientation, we were told to report to the control room in the main building in case anything happened. There were also expensive items and art pieces here, so robberies were quite frequent. When I admitted that Leto was right, I felt the gaze again.

This time, I tried to endure the unpleasant gaze that was staring at us again…

“That punk!”

Leto got up and ran out angrily. Even he couldn’t stand it and began to run towards the place where the gaze was felt. After sitting in a daze, I followed after him but only Leto was there, indicating that we had lost them. He glared furiously and heaved out a breath heavily. 

“Leah!”

“…I lost them!”

He shouted with his teeth clenched.

“Did you see them?”

“It was a guy with purple hair. He was tall…It must be a 4th grader! He was quick. How did he get away?”

“Let’s not rush so suddenly and inform the security. They said we should report them immediately if there were any strange people at school.”

I suspect that the person watching us could be a dangerous person. Bad things may happen if we try to deal with this on our own. Unlike before, Leto relieved his anger by cursing the guy openly. Then, he deduced that the guy was after his money.

Leto was angry that the guy might be trying to steal money from him, knowing he was wealthy being a child of the Arsene family. If that were the case, then he was really dangerous. He was even older than us. Not only was he able to use magic skillfully, but he could also misuse it.

“Leah, calm down.”

“Damn it. I should have caught him…!”

We tried to catch him a few more times, but it was all in vain. He was abnormally fast. When I felt his gaze, I turned around and tried to catch him, but he had already disappeared. However, I gathered a few information about him after a few tries.

First of all, it was not a ghost or a monster. And he was a senior in this school.

In the end, Leto and I headed to the control room. There, we saw Professor Hartz talking to a guy.

“Ugh, why is he here?”

I already met Professor Hartz during liberal arts class earlier, so I wasn’t delighted to see him again. Meanwhile, Leto immediately blurted out his feelings of displeasure. But the man and Professor Hartz had a grim expression as though they were having a serious conversation.

“Hello.”

When I greeted them first, the two of them felt out of place and stopped talking.

“Oh, right. What’s the matter, student?”

I looked at the control room. Devices that could detect magic and several magic circles were activated everywhere. When Leto’s mother came, I had casted a spell. They must have sensed my magic from this. For some reason, the thought of being watched all the time felt even creepier.

“I have to go now.”

Professor Hartz placed the cup he was holding down and got up from his seat.

“It’s nothing, but I think there’s a strange guy at school. He kept following me all the time and it’s been going on since yesterday.”

The man drew a small smile at Leto’s words. It meant that he was aware.

“Five people, including you, came to say that today.”

“What?”

There were other students who also felt that gaze beside us?

“That’s often the case during this time. Because of the curse or something. It’s weird, right? Curses don’t exist. So don’t worry too much about it.”

The man shrugged his shoulders, saying it was no big deal.

“I saw it myself. It was a guy with purple hair…”

“You saw it yourself? Was he an academy student?”

“It looked like he was wearing a school uniform, but he was also wearing a strange coat. What was it…”

Leto bit his lip to recall his memory.

“Ah! It was a coat with a cookie logo on it. It was white…”

“What?”

It was none other than Professor Hartz who responded to Leto’s words. He was at the door, apparently hadn’t left yet, and approached us. Professor Hartz’s eyes were wide open in shock. Leto and I flinched, fearing his expression.

“A cookie logo? White coat?”

Professor Hartz asked with a grim look. It was my first time seeing the professor like that. The professor, who asked in a desperate tone, grabbed Leto’s shoulder when he didn’t respond immediately.

Leto, whose body stiffened up from the professor’s sudden urging, simply nodded without saying a word.

“Tell me more about it. Now.”

It almost sounded like a threat.

“That’s all I remember…”

“Scoff, useless memory!”

Leto, who was normally not afraid of Professor Hartz, froze at his swearing. Then, the professor hurriedly left before anyone could stop him.

“…Has he finally gone senile?”

Leto, who later came back to his senses, muttered with a displeased face. Senile…He was still a middle-aged man…However, the professor’s appearance just now was strangely desperate.

It was then that I heard the sound of the bell. While we headed to the next liberal arts class, Leto walked forward without feeling content.

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“Something went missing. I think I heard strange sounds from the library every night.”

“Did you see it yesterday? People say the lights suddenly went out. This must really be the May 29th curse.”

I could hear the students whispering. While I was carefully listening to them, they said that a group of curious students gathered together to practice black magic to summon the souls of the dead. The curse was more popular in the school than I thought, and there were many cases and witnesses. At this rate, I thought a ghost might really appear.

As I continued to listen to the rumours, I wondered if the gaze I had felt yesterday was also due to the curse. Maybe it was the bad seniors that were making fun of their freshman. There were mischievous seniors sometimes. When all the classes were over and I stayed at the library, I could still feel the gaze.

While I was studying uncomfortably, a note flew out in front of me. It was Leto. I was surprised to receive Leto’s note, which usually I would have sent first, as he had never sent me one first.

But the content inside was also regarding the gaze.

[I’m thinking of catching him. What do you think?]

Since it was not dangerous, I guess he must have thought he could catch him. I agreed. As long as it was confirmed that it was a senior in 4th grade, not an outsider, then there was no need to hesitate. Instead of sending a note, I nodded and Leto rose up from his seat.

“We need to plan a strategy.”

Leto said as I followed him out of the library.

“He’s not an ordinary guy. It’s almost like a flying squirrel.”

“Should we use magic?”

“Will it work? If he’s a senior, we lose in terms of magic.”

“Do we need to fight? We just have to catch him.”

Leto looked puzzled at my words. After all, he was the one following us. We had to take advantage of it.

＊  ＊  ＊

Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks.

After classes were over, we headed to the study room. We studied in the study room like usual and if there was something we didn’t know, we asked Senior Jimbo. It was a quiet time. It was getting dark and the library got quiet. I was worried that it would suddenly blackout like last time, but fortunately, that didn’t happen. 

“This is hard. I can’t do it.”

It was Bona who broke the silence. I placed my book down and tilted my head to see if the problem couldn’t be solved. Senior Jimbo, who was looking at Bona pathetically, sighed.

“Would you like some milk? It’s a new milk made by our family this time.”

“I hate milk.”

“I see.”

Bona cut Vivian’s words with a single slash.

Bona stared at the window silently and suddenly shuddered.

“I need someone to walk me to my dorm later.”

She still seemed afraid of yesterday’s event. Her eyes were on me as she looked for someone to walk her home.

“You’re so shameless.”

“Thank you.”

Bona responded lightly to Leto’s words.

“I will not accept rejection. If you don’t like it, go away…”

While Bona was talking, I felt the gaze.

“……!”

“……!”

Leto and I got up in a hurry as he tried to run away.