CH 59

Academy Ghost Commotion (7)

Without hesitating, Senior Jimbo went down the basement and headed to the place where Professor Hartz had drawn the magic circle. Has he not appeared yet? I didn’t feel any presence. After going deeper inside, Senior Jimbo and I stared blankly at the empty wall.

While we were thinking whether we should wait until Professor Hartz arrived or not, I felt a sudden chill.

When I hastily turned my head back, Senior JImbo, who was looking at the wall, also looked in the direction I was looking at. There was no one, but I felt a strange energy. Sensing this, Senior Jimbo and I quickly prepared to draw a magic circle in the air.

In the absence of Professor Hartz, we were in the perfect state to be played with the dead. They might have noticed that we were students who were inexperienced in dark magic and would attack us. Soon, the sound of someone sobbing was heard. I inadvertently swallowed my saliva and Senior Jimbo held my hand tighter.

He took the lead and headed towards the place where the sound came from. We exited the basement and climbed up into the main area. It was hard to see because it was surrounded by bookshelves. The sound came from within the library. 

I walked between the bookshelves and quietly approached the source of the sound. I had the formula of the magic circle formed in my head so that I could cast it at any moment. I started to hear the voices of the dead closely but not sure where they would appear. It was somewhere nearby.

But that cry soon multiplied into many. Not just one, but several weeping, which soon turned into faint laughter. Hearing that laughter which sounded like they were laughing at us, Senior Jimbo and I stopped walking. Could it be that we fell into a trap?

“Bree, hide behind me.”

Feeling the unusual air, Senior Jimbo hid me behind his back. All the dead souls seemed to have quite a bit of power. Well, that’s probably how they manage to hide away without being caught by Professor Hartz.

Anyway, being possessed by these guys was a huge risk. If I had known this would happen, I would have waited for Professor Hartz. As I took a step back, I felt something strange behind me. When I turned my head, the pale face of the dead looked at me as if it was about to devour me. 

“Aaaa!”

【Engilical!】

When I screamed, Senior Jimbo quickly casted the spell. However, the magic was weak and the dead was startled but did not disappear.

“Damn it!”

Senior Jimbo cursed at that sight, then grabbed my hand and ran. After noticing that we were an easy prey, the dead giggled and chased after us.

When I glanced back, I saw terrifying faces flying swiftly in the air. They were pale, sickly and gruesome, with blood all over their clothes. When my eyes met theirs, they teased me with ridiculous and bizarre expressions. I turned my head again and saw the blocked path.

Senior Jimbo turned and ran to another side, but it was also a blocked path. In an instant, Senior Jimbo and I were driven to the wall and cornered by the dead. There were about six of them. All of them were demons with tremendous power that was not only difficult to defeat them easily, but also difficult to deal with even one of them.

“I’ll deal with them, so you run away.”

“I can’t do that!”

Senior Jimbo glanced at me at my words, and let go of my hand roughly.

“Go and call Hartz, I’ll buy you some time.”

“……Ah.”

He was right. When I reluctantly nodded, Senior Jimbo held out his arm to deal with the dead again.

【Engilical!】

As he chanted the spell again, the souls who were temporarily immobilised, stiffened. At that que, I instantly ran out of the library. In fact, it might actually take quite a while to bring the professor.

Even if I managed to escape and call the professor, Senior Jimbo might have already been possessed. So what should I do? The fastest way to call the professor was to use a conspicuous magic inside the library that would shake the barrier. 

Light magic would do the trick. I hurriedly tried to draw the magic circle and cast it, but the books on the bookshelf in front of me suddenly fell over.

“W-What!”

I tried turning around but I instantly ran into a corner as more books fell down. I faced another wall. I tried to run away, but I felt someone grab my feet.

“Aack!”

I immediately tripped and landed on the ground. And through the cracks of the bookshelf, I could see Senior Jimbo’s legs in front of me. He faltered backwards, but his legs slowly floated in the air as if he had been caught by the dead.

“No!”

I was trying to get up again, but a dead soul grabbed my foot and wouldn’t let go. Having yet to learn the Engilical magic, I used my foot. But to my displeasure, my foot went right through the dead man’s face.

When I was startled by this, he giggled and slowly climbed up my legs. As I looked ahead, something reflected in my eyes. Before me was the cleaning storage room. There was a shiny chain between the cracks of the door, but it felt strange. I heard that the watch senior mentioned also had a shiny chain……

Just in case, I pulled on the chain hard and opened the room. Then, light poured out and soon, the deal soul holding my ankle disappeared. What happened? Was Professor Hartz hiding inside the cleaning storage room? I raised my head and unwittingly kept my mouth shut. It was another dead soul. 

“Don’t worry, I’m on your side.”

After reassuring me, he picked up the pocket watch that had fallen on the floor. Looking at the face of the dead, I soon noticed that he resembled Professor Hartz and Senior Jimbo. He was handsome with lightly curled hair and cat-like eyes. He was pale, but I could tell how beautiful he must have been during his lifetime. Moreover, his clothes had a confectionery logo on it.

He smiled at me gently and slowly walked towards Senior Jimbo.

“Leave this to me, go ahead and get Hartz.”

A clear and pure voice. It was kind and warm. 

I hurriedly rose from my position at his words. I had to run again. After stepping over the books littering the floor, I went out of the library and was greeted by the lukewarm wind. I hope we didn’t miss past each other. I rushed to the professor’s room, and fortunately, I saw Professor Hatz looking at the clock in the distance. 

“Professor!”

At my urgent call, the professor turned his head. When I rushed towards him, he frowned as if he sensed something serious. 

“What’s going on?”

“B-Big trouble!”

At my words, the professor immediately ran towards the library after grasping the situation. It was hard to keep up with the professor’s fast pace. I breathed heavily and headed back to the library, and unlike before, the silent atmosphere gave me goosebumps. I was worried that it might have been too late.

Please don’t be too late……I took my steps carefully and headed to the place where I was with Senior Jimbo earlier. I couldn’t feel the presence of the dead. There was no possessed voice, grotesque cries, and it was quiet. Where was Professor Hartz?

Come to think of it, I didn’t even tell Professor Hartz the exact location. As I grew more and more worried, I felt my heart tighten. I leaned against the bookshelf, preparing for any sudden attack. Then, when I turned around, Senior Jimbo was there. 

Slowly raising my head, I found senior crouching down. Senior was holding his neck with his head lowered and eyes closed. And next to him was the soul that had saved me earlier.

“Senior!”

The moment I ran, senior turned his head. At the sight of those blue eyes looking straight at me, I realised that senior was not possessed. It was a relief. I lost my strength and sat down in front of him.

“Bree?”

“…I’m glad…I’m glad that you’re okay.”

I held senior’s hand and spoke in a trembling voice. Then, Senior Jimbo smiled and stroked my hair.

“Why are you here?”

“I called Professor Hartz…Didn’t he come?”

“No.”

Then, who saved you? My gaze naturally turned to the soul next to him. There stood a man with a gentle smile. He looked at Senior Jimbo and I and took a step closer.

“Jimbo.”

Senior Jimbo flinched when the soul called.

“Jimbo, right?”

“…….”

Senior Jimbo let out a deep sigh but did not answer. Only then did I realise that the soul who saved us was Senior Jimbo’s father. He was the owner of the pocket watch.

“You didn’t have to save me.”

Senior spoke in a discontented tone without looking at his father. Upon the confirmation, his father’s expression shifted, as if he was about to cry before he smiled again.

“You’ve grown a lot.”

“You look exactly like the picture.”

“Yes.”

“Mother is doing well.”

“I see.”

It was hardly a conversation between a father and a son. Senior Jimbo’s tone made the conversation sound even colder.

Seeing Senior Jimbo like that, his father smiled bitterly and held out his pocket watch.

“Here, it’s yours.”

“…….”

Senior Jimbo remained still for a while before he took the pocket watch without saying a word.

“You have nothing more to say, right?”

“And you?”

“Neither do I. Now that I’ve found my pocket watch, I’ll have to cast the sealing spell all over the  library.”

“Yes, it’s best you do.”

Was this the end of the conversation? It was the first time the father and son saw each other. Even if it wasn’t an emotional reunion, there must have been many things they wanted to say, but the two were calm. Before I could say anything, Senior Jimbo got up to cast the spell.

“Brother……?”

Just then, I heard Professor Hartz’s trembling voice from behind.