Chapter 64
'Alice is the person responsible for the Alice ghost story that was told yesterday. I'm sure of it.'
There is no doubt that Alice is a ghost.
I gathered the group in the club room during lunch and told them that.
Then they became agitated.
"Would a ghost be wandering around in the daytime just like that?"
Suho retorted.
There is no proper basis on my part either.
But isn't it just a stereotype that ghosts only wander around at night?
Isn't this where our occult sensitivity is lacking?
A supernatural phenomenon that defies normal laws. That is the occult!
"But it's suspicious."
"Hmm..."
Everyone agreed that it was suspicious.
I spoke first about something suspicious I noticed about Alice.
"Alice... Honestly, she's really pretty! But it's strange that our classmates barely pay any attention to her."
If you have a striking appearance, attention will naturally be drawn to you.
However, the others paid no attention to Alice's face at all.
Even if she wasn't pretty, as a transfer student, she would probably be asked about things she likes or her hobbies.
"Definitely. There was no reaction from anyone but us. What could be the reason?"
"I felt like the other kids in the class didn't know that Alice was pretty."
"Maybe there's actually no transfer student, and we're all just possessed by Alice?"
"I don't think so, because everyone knows she's a transfer student."
Opinions differ.
But no clear answer was found.
I immediately listed the suspicious details.
"She was really flustered the other day when I asked if she could go in and out of the mirror."
"Isn't it just because it was a random question?"
"It's not enough to make you spit out water."
"That's true."
When I asked Alice if she could go into the mirror, she reacted so violently that she spit water.
It must mean that she felt prickled.
My intuition tells me. Alice is hiding something
"...It's suspicious, but! There's nothing we can do. Is there a way to prove that Alice is a ghost?"
Kyeong-min said.
The topic of today's meeting became clear.
As I was trying to get occult knowledge out of my head, I remembered that Eun-jeong had some leftover beans in her lunch.
"Hmm... How about sprinkling beans?"
"In Japan, there's a custom called Mamemaki, where you throw soybeans at an oni who hates soybeans, saying, Devils out! Fortune in! It's like an exorcism."1
"Is it going to work on Alice?"
"I don't know. It's for a type of demon called Oni, but just like how we sometimes mistakenly call unknown monsters goblins, wouldn't it apply to other things as well?"
"That makes sense."
Suho nodded.
I think it's an interesting exorcism method, but it's also a little weak, and I'm not sure if it'll really work, so I decided to come up with a few alternative strategies.
"Alright... Starting today, the activity of the Mystery Exploration Club is to find out Alice's identity! Each one of us is going to find out whether Alice is a human or a ghost using any tactics we think of!"
POV Switch - 3rd Person
The extraordinary is like sweet honey when added in the right amount.
From the day the excited children began their activities, Alice's ordeal lasted for three days.
The children gathered their own methods for distinguishing between people and ghosts and tried them all on Alice, a transfer student.
Without even considering that those attempts would cause her pain.
Suho and Kyeong-min used relatively passive methods, but Ha-rim and Eun-jeong, who felt less distant because they were the same gender, acted more proactively.
Eun-jeong, in particular, was really persistent.
After the three-day period was over, the children gathered again in the club room and held a meeting.
POV Switch - Ha-rim
I drew an X on the word bean among the various words written on the board.
"Well... Sprinkling beans didn't really help."
I tried throwing beans at Alice under the pretext of playing, but it had no effect.
First of all, Alice ate the beans well.
Since we had to sprinkle it naturally, we all got covered in beans, and now our pockets and clothes are full of beans.
"Even making her clap her hands. I thought ghosts always did things backwards, so I thought she would clap with the back of her hands. But she did it just fine."
This time, Kyeong-min spoke while drawing an X on the word backwards written on the blackboard. And then, Eun-jeong asked Kyeong-min.
"Have you tried making her do a handstand?"
Kyeong-min shook his head as if asking what nonsense she was saying. And then he said to Eun-jeong.
"Alice is wearing a skirt. It's a bit weird to ask her to do it, so... Ah, she might do it if it's during gym class when she's wearing her gym uniform."
Asking Alice, who is of the opposite sex, to do a handstand while wearing a skirt is nothing more than asking her to show her panties.
That's just perverted.
Eun-jeong, who heard Kyeong-min's words, tilted her head as if wondering what the problem was, then said.
"I was insistent, and she did it. I guess she forgot she was wearing a skirt. I think Alice has a soft spot in her heart!"
"...?"
Me, Suho, and Kyeong-min couldn't believe our ears.
Why is she smiling so brightly while saying that!??
"I got scolded by Alice for looking at her panties... I don't get it. We're both girls."
...Eun-jeong is sometimes incomprehensible. I immediately brought out the following.
"The Fox Window didn't work either... What about the salt?"2
"I gave it to her, and she sprinkled it on the eggs in her lunch."
The meeting continued, and most of the letters on the blackboard were crossed out.
There are only two things left now.
It's unfortunate, but I decided to stop doubting Alice if I tried just one of these two things and failed again.
"Most of them failed. Okay, let's just do this one last time and be done with it."
The moment I was about to choose one of the two options on the blackboard.
Bang!
"You guys...!"
The club door suddenly opened, and Alice appeared!
Seeing her frowning face as if she was very angry, I ended up making an excuse.
"Alice? We didn't mean to offend you."
Alice looked like she was going to rush at us at any moment, but she held back her anger and walked slowly.
Eun-jeong, overwhelmed by the momentum, screamed like a cornered mouse.
"Hey, this place is for Mystery Exploration Club members only!"
"Shut up!!!"
"Uwa!"
She seems particularly angry at Eun-jeong...
"Throwing beans! Suddenly asking me to do handstands! Attaching weird amulets and playing loud noises in my ears! Argh...! Really! I tried my best not to get involved with you guys, but what are you guys doing? You won't leave me alone! Please leave me alone!"
"We were equally beaten, taunted, and yelled at!"
"That's not what I meant!!"
Uh... I guess we went too far.
I scratched my cheek sheepishly, thinking about how I had tried so many different things over and over again.
Alice stopped for a moment as she saw our reactions, but her anger, which had stopped for a moment, flared up again.
Alice pointed her finger at Eun-jeong and said.
"Especially you, Eun-jeong! Why do you keep sticking right next to me when I'm changing into my gym clothes?!"
"But you wait outside when everyone else is changing, and then you change by yourself, which I find suspicious."
"I don't care! It's a burden! Even though I feel embarrassed when I undress, you keep staring at me so persistently...! I've told you five times that it's a burden!"
"That's because Alice was covering herself... Like she was hiding something... Your skin is white and pretty. Have confidence!"
"Ughhhhhh!"
It’s dangerous. Alice's head might explode with rage. I wasn't kidding, it really seemed like it was possible.
"Hmm."
"Ahem."
Leaving behind Kyeong-min and Suho, who for some reason turned their heads and cleared their throats, I held out an apple to calm Alice.
A clear apology is better for human relationships than a lame excuse.
It was something I read in a book, and I felt sorry for Alice, so I put it into practice right away.
"I'm sorry, Alice. I did it because I thought you were a ghost. I really didn't know I was going to bother you so much. Will you please forgive me?"
Alice's anger eased as I bowed my head and apologized.
I shouldn't think like this, but I think people are too easy. Maybe things will be easy after all.
"Haa... Why on earth would I be a ghost?"
Alice wanted to know the reason, so I took out my phone.
"Look at this here."
What I showed Alice was the Alice ghost story on the internet.
Alice's eyes widened at the post and the grotesque picture of Alice that had somehow been attached to it.
'What the hell? That's me! Could it be that this happened when I was crazy? They say that anomalies that can't be contained spread rumors, and that includes me.'3
Alice completely calmed down.
It seemed like she was satisfied with our actions.
Alice said, straightening her hair that had become matted due to her anger.
"Did you really believe in this ridiculous story? Okay, I know my timing matches with the rumors. I'll forgive you just this once. You can't do this again... If you do it again..."
"If we do it again...?"
"Um... If you do it again..."
Alice thought for a short while, as if she couldn't think of anything.
Then she warned us with a look of shame on her face.
"I'm going to tell the teacher..."
"That's!"
Alice left the club room.
Maybe Alice will go to class soon and sleep on her desk, like she has done for three days straight, since it's class time soon.
We then reflected on our mistakes, like a clear sky after a storm.
"We might have been bullying Alice without even realizing it."
"But it just felt natural!"
"At least Eun-jeong wasn't natural!"
"Eh. Why~"
"It looks like Alice wasn't a ghost after all. Let's apologize again next time."
We bought Alice something delicious and promised to apologize together.
I think it will be a hassle if we go right away, so we'll have to go later.
Since she seems to have a good heart, she will quickly let go of her anger and open her heart!
"Are we done with Alice's ghost story?"
When Suho asked that question, I shook my head.
"No. Let's try necromancy with a mirror."
"What if that also fails?"
"It's just a shame!"
"I see."
'I wonder if I could just hold a mirror up to her and see if she would go in. I want to try it, but I'm hated, and I don't want to bother Alice. It can't be helped.'
I unfolded the paper on which I had written down the items needed for necromancy and prepared them one by one.
'But it's so strange. Was I that sociable? I should have been socially awkward because it's my first time with Alice, but she treated me as if we've been friends for a long time. Not just me, but everyone. Hmm...'
I felt a sense of nostalgia.
POV Switch - Alice
"How is school life?"
"Thanks, it's not that bad. The recognition-impairing device the Institution lent me is effective. Honestly, I feel like I'm overly self-conscious, but it's quite easy to hide my identity. But it seems like it only doesn't work on Ha-rim's group.
I broke away from them and was in contact with James.
James took on the role of assisting me with my everyday life on Carol's orders.
I asked James why the kids haven't been affected by the use of P-122, a heart-shaped machine loaned to me by the Institution.
James readily explained.
"The object's perception is impaired by the distance of the mind. Someone who doesn't know you will perceive you with the same distance as someone who passes by you on the street. On the other hand, those who are close to you will be able to recognize you."
I remember the children who came up to me while I was sleeping like a loner and threw beans at each other while saying that today was Setsubun.
It was annoying because a lot of beans got on my body in the process, but it was fun to see Eun-jeong, who hates beans, get soybeans in her mouth and gag.
Even though I was a stranger to those kids, they showed a lot of interest in me.
"Those kids won't know me because their memories have been erased, right?"
"I guess a connection to the heart is something that transcends memory."
"...That's romantic."
...
Oh! I almost lost myself in this sentiment. What am I regretting?
I ask James to shake off my lingering feelings.
"Is that the only reason you're calling this time? I'm guessing there's another reason you're calling when school isn't over."
James said yes.
"I need to tell you something."
I listened to James.
"It seems like there is a psychic who can move through space with mirrors."
"A psychic?"
A psychic. A human with anomalous properties.
I thought it was obvious they could exist, but when I heard it, I felt surprised.
"He is a guy who commits petty theft by using mirrors to move through space. He is currently running away after stealing an object-type containment from the Institution."
"Are you asking me to catch a thief? They're using a mirror, so I guess I'm the right fit for it. But just in case, I won't kill them if asked."
"I know."
James attached a photo to the Institution's exclusive app.
It was a map with a series of curved red lines.
"The markings in the attached photo show how he ignores some better shortcuts and circles around to nearby mirrors. Our best guess is that he has a distance limit that prevents him from traveling to mirrors that are too far away, and he doesn't appear to have the ability to create mirrors like you do."
"It's similar to me. But weaker."
"However, even if he’s weaker than you, it is not easy to track him down. He's being chased using an anomalous tracking object, but it is difficult to catch up as he moves around his location using teleportation with mirrors. We're trying our best, but teleportation is a really annoying ability, so we can barely create an expected movement path."
"That line of movement..."
"Your guess is correct. The route coincides perfectly with the school. Unlike you, he has to move around a lot, so we have a lot of time. However, since you might encounter each other in a few tens of minutes, be careful."
He's an anomalous human.
Unless he's carrying a bazooka, he's not that scary.
I've also seen monsters worse than that.
"I'm not a devil that can be afraid of petty thieves."
"I guess so. But he has a criminal record of child murder."
"..."
"It's not just children who were killed, but most of the victims were children. Alice, I'm not entrusting you with this just because you're strong. The idea is to focus on protecting children because they may be in danger. Even if you miss him, personnel will have troops on standby at the expected location, remove all mirrors to block the escape route, and then carry out a special quarantine."
"So that's why. Thank you, James."
"You're welcome. Warning about crazy people is something even a passerby would do."
"Hehehe... Okay. If I run into him, I'll catch him. See you next time."
"Please do."
I hung up the phone.
James is a person I am very thankful for.
His attitude towards me, who has become a complete devil, has not changed.
If you think about it, whether it's a devil or a mirror monster, it's the same.
Besides, James said he had ties to devils in the past, so he might not have a stereotype about them.
...When will I meet another devil?
If the Institution's quarantine code has a D attached to it, it means it's connected to devils, but I haven't seen any devils with whom I can talk.
'But that doesn't mean we have to meet. Let's focus on who I might meet right now instead.'
I looked at the montage James sent me. Wow, so normal, and yet a killer and a psychic who robbed the Institution.
'That's a lot of courage...'
Hmm... But would he really mess with the kids?
Of all the mirrors in the neighborhood, where are the bigger odds of having children near mirrors?
When I thought about it, it made perfect sense.
I closed my eyes and recognized the school mirrors with just my senses.
Classroom and restroom. It's on the rooftop too. What, are they everywhere other than the gym and the sports warehouse?
Maybe there was a better chance of running into him than I thought.
I guess I shouldn't sleep in class today.
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