“…Nike, aren’t we going too fast?”
“But Victor, we need to hurry and get the beaker!”
Nike fearlessly marched through the dark corridors of the stern correctional facility.
With a heart of steel like Victor’s, one might not be overwhelmed by this dark, damp atmosphere. But for others, it could be suffocating.
Nike was not one of those.
She was indeed suitable to be the head of the former Mokemoke Occult Club.
“Victor, there are cobwebs here!”
“It’s an old abandoned building, of course there are cobwebs.”
“Do you think Kongkong has any friends?”
Nike seemed excited at the prospect of catching and taming another spider.
Then, as if she had discovered something, she exclaimed, “Victor, look at this!” and dashed into the darkness before I could comprehend what she had seen.
In Nike’s hand was a black, shimmering lizard, resembling a dragon.
“It’s a Shadow Gecko! They’re hard to find, but here it is!”
-Gecko.
It was indeed a remarkable lizard.
Even for me, it was a creature I had never seen before. Perhaps it was added in the DLC.
Nike said.
“It’s black and sleek like Miss Enio, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is.”
Enio’s shadow techniques often involved creatures that slithered like lizards on the ground.
I suddenly became curious about what Enio was doing right now.
Perhaps she and Victoria were growling at each other since they had become allies.
I wonder what they’re talking about.
I asked.
“So, what use does this Gecko thing serve?”
“Other than making strange noises, not much! But they go for around 50.000 Rene each. Isn’t that amazing?”
“Wow.”
50.000 Rene for one lizard.
That’s a fantastic animal.
I told Nike as she collected the lizard into her sample jar.
“Let’s see if there are more.”
“Sure!”
Making money while having fun.
If this isn’t healing, what is?
With that feeling, Nike and I wandered around the correctional facility, searching for hidden animals. But other than the Gecko we found first, there wasn’t much else to see.
Well, if it were easy to make money by catching animals, other students would have already swarmed here.
The students of Ludens were attracted to places with the scent of money.
“It’s strange. I thought there would be at least one more… gecko- gecko-.”
“What are you doing?”
I asked Nike, who was making peculiar sounds.
She then gestured to be quiet by covering her lips with her index finger.
“I’m calling the lizards…! Calling them pretending to be one of their own to catch them…!”
Indeed, it was a ruthless strategy befitting a girl raised in the forest.
If I were to go outside after hearing a call like “Victor, come here!” and then a giant monster, several times my size, grabbed me, I would truly despair!
“Ge-ko. Gecko-. Geng Geng Geng-. Garigyeonggeong-.”
…But there probably weren’t lizards that cried out like that.
Of course, I didn’t voice such concerns.
They could actually exist.
“Victor, look over there!”
Nike once again pointed with her hand. Did she see something?
I didn’t see anything, but Nike seemed ecstatic, as if she had found a nugget of gold.
“What’s that? I’ve never seen anything like it!”
And then it sprang up like a spring.
I had no choice but to grab her hand.
“Be careful, Nike.”
“Oops!”
Right in front of where Nike was about to rush, there was a large pit. It was more accurate to say it was a hole connecting the second floor to the third floor.
Goooooooo─.
The old, hole-ridden floor was as dark and sinister as the gaping mouth of hell.
“We need to watch our step around here. There are many holes and gaps in the old places.”
“Thank you, Victor. I wonder when this hole appeared…?”
Nike laughed awkwardly.
Seeing her uncomfortable, I asked, “Did you get hurt anywhere?”
“It’s not that, my hand….”
“Right.”
I let go of Nike’s hand.
Nike’s hand felt delicate like a sprout in spring. Just grasping it with Victor’s rough and sturdy hand could cause pain.
“But your palms are so delicate, not like those of someone raised in the forest. Weren’t you relatively comfortable in the forest, compared to what I thought?”
At my question, Nike stared at her hand in the darkness as if it were a star.
“Really? My hand? Compared to Miss Victoria or Miss Enio, my hand should be completely rough….”
If Nike’s hand was rough, mine must have been as rough as sandpaper.
Actually, they were quite similar.
Top of Form
Nike said.
“But it’s true that I didn’t suffer much when I was in the Leshgad Forest. There were many friends there, and my dad was there too, so I didn’t feel uncomfortable!”
“I see.”
“In spring, we picked flowers. In summer, we fished in nearby streams and ponds. In autumn, we picked and ate ripe fruits.”
Even in the darkness, Nike’s emerald eyes sparkled with longing like starlight.
Nike, who grew up in the forest without much lack, had faced the cold wind in Ludens to seek ‘revenge’.
“Is that revenge so important? Enough to be pondered over as much as experiencing hunger and homelessness in Ludens.”
“That…”
Nike’s main episode.
I could vaguely feel the theme of ‘revenge’ as a seasoned player.
But in the past few days, the Nike I’ve experienced was far from someone who emitted a scent of blood.
So I subtly asked.
‘Do you really have to go through such a difficult path?’
To which Nike replied.
“This is a debt of my heart. Debts must be repaid.”
“That’s true.”
Debts must be repaid.
If you owe something, you must repay it.
But a debt of the heart.
I’ve never repaid such a thing.
Nike continued.
“Of course, there were many hardships. …I was almost bullied in my first year. I had no money, and my grades kept dropping…”
“Nike, you were bullied?”
“…”
Did she not want to talk about it?
I recall the humble and shy Nike I met before we became friends.
At that time, if it were the Nike back then, it wouldn’t have been surprising if she was being bullied. Perhaps she didn’t even realize she had become so humble because she was bullied.
“Is it because of the Reshguard Forest?”
I recalled what Enio had said.
There were rumors that terrifying monsters lived in the Leshgad Forest.
And Nike’s father was…
Indeed.
That was the rumor circulating around.
Then Nike said.
“But I’m fine now! Lately, every day has been full of unexpected events. I never thought my life could shine like this!”
“That’s fortunate.”
“Victor, meeting you was also a great stroke of luck for me!”
That was unexpected.
Because neither Victor nor I were the type to receive such sincere praise, it pierced through the ironclad walls of my heart, making me feel embarrassed.
So I nonchalantly replied.
“We’ve each increased our debts by 200 million. But we’ve been doing well so far. I’ll continue to rely on you, partner.”
I extended my hand.
Nike grasped it.
“Yes, partner!”
* * *
“Nike, pour all the beakers there into the bag. They seem usable.”
“Here, there are also pots and ladles!”
We arrived at the fourth-floor laboratory and hastily filled our bags with utensils.
Honestly, this so-called Courage Test was quite nerve-wracking.
But this ‘Dish Farming’ was quite enjoyable.
“The conditions here are strangely good.”
The laboratory was so clean and tidy that it didn’t seem like a dusty abandoned school. So the tools placed there seemed as if they had just been wiped clean.
I don’t know what’s going on, but anyway, it’s great.
While we were filling the bags, Nike asked.
“By the way, Victor, don’t you hear anything strange?”
Did Nike’s sensitive ears pick up on something?
I also stopped what I was doing and listened carefully.
But I didn’t hear anything.
“I don’t hear anything.”
“Maybe it’s just my imagination…, but I thought I heard a rumbling sound…”
Is it a mouse?
This old building really has a lot of mice.
This made the mouse hunt exciting.
I was really angry because I had to pay attention to hygiene management because of the little mice that might gnaw on the stock.
Come to think of it, didn’t the unique item “Hameln’s Instrument” that I confiscated from Enrique at the Student Council end up in the Student Council warehouse?
How can I borrow that well and drive away only the mice?
With such thoughts in mind, as we came out to the entrance of our base camp, where Arnoy had lit a bonfire, welcomed me and Nike.
“Indeed, you have returned safely…! Then the courage test is over…!”
“Next is Arnoy, isn’t it?”
“This Arnoy is an 8th grader in her last year who even has to be careful of falling leaves…! If you recklessly take the courage test, you might not graduate again this year…!”
No, you talked the most about the courage test.
I’ll look the other way since I got a bunch of utensils.
At that moment, Enio approached me and crossed her arms.
“Victor, why don’t you come with me too? I’m really scared. I don’t really trust Miss Victoria.”
Then Victoria grabbed Enio’s arm and pulled her away from me.
“Enio, don’t you know that you are not allowed to have any careless contact with students of the opposite gender after 10? And there’s no way you, the one who deals with shadows, would be afraid of darkness like this!”
It seems that even Enio and Victoria are reluctant to team up to take the courage test together.
But I don’t need to go back in with Enio. I’ve got everything I need.
With that feeling, I decided to conclude the schedule shortly by saying, “Then, the courage test ends here.”
I have to quickly wash the utensils I acquired and practice cooking.
Tick, tock.
As I was washing the dishes at the teacher’s counter, Arnoy, who was playing with soap and foam next to me, asked.
“So, I’m curious…. Earlier, I heard a very loud scream from upstairs…! What on earth did you see that made you so surprised…??”
“A scream?”
Nike and I looked at each other’s faces.
There wasn’t anything in particular that could be called a scream?
Even if it was a loud noise, it was when I grabbed Nike, who was about to fall into a hole, and she exclaimed, “Oops…!” It didn’t seem like it would have reached the entrance.
“Arnoy, you must have misheard.”
“That can’t be…! I definitely, definitely heard it…! Someone screamed loudly…!”
However, contrary to Arnoy’s story, neither Victoria, Enio, nor teacher Domina heard the scream either.
“T-That can’t be…! Why is everyone lying…? There’s no way only Arnoy heard the scream…!”
Arnoy trembled, sweating more than when she pleaded for hearing the scream.
Then Nike suddenly brightened up.
“Wow! Nymph’s sweat!”
Nike, with her fingers, collected the sweat rolling down Arnoy’s forehead into a graduated cylinder she had obtained from the lab earlier.
When Enio asked, “What are you doing?” Nike answered with satisfaction.
“I learned from my dad that nymph sweat and tears are precious medicines…! Things like nymph bones or hair are also used as important materials for magic tools…!”
“Really? Why is that?”
“Nymphs are messengers created by the gods. So nymphs are said to be as valuable as dungeons or rare treasures found in Ludens!”
Upon hearing that, Arnoy began to tremble more fearfully than when she claimed to have heard the scream.
“You shouldn’t believe in such nymphophobic rumors…! Everyone, you shouldn’t believe in such foolish stories…! It’s groundless…!”
However.
The way everyone looked at Arnoy seemed to change slightly.
“I really needed a new weapon lately…. Cutting here and there….”
Especially when Enio looked at Arnoy, it was like the eyes of a cold-blooded hunter looking at her prey.
If it were Enio, she might really go too far.
I’m interested in that nymph material too, but I can’t afford to lose the goose that lays the golden eggs and the part-time worker.
“Now let’s go back to the lodge and practice cooking.”
Leaving behind the chaotic atmosphere in various ways, we left the old school building and returned to the club room.
Even amidst this, Arnoy continued to look back at the building, unable to hide her regret, muttering, “I definitely heard it….”
