Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Uninvited Guests of Darkness (2)
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Shirone thought Amy was just playing along.
“Sorry. Did I surprise you? I didn’t say anything because I wanted it to be a surprise. How are the senior classes?”
Amy’s eyes were filled with suspicion. Then, as Shirone tried to get closer, she hastily slapped his arm away. The two cups of coffee she was holding went flying.
Shirone stared blankly. This couldn’t be a joke. Amy’s face was flushed red, as if she were genuinely angry.
“Who are you to do this? And why are you speaking so informally to me when you call Seriel ‘senior’?”
Seriel, too, looked displeased, as if this was going too far.
“Are you in the advanced class? Even if you’re interested, isn’t this approach a bit much? And you should speak respectfully to your seniors. What is this? You’re not some delinquent.”
Shirone was dumbfounded. Amy and Seriel were acting as if they didn't know him at all.
“Senior Seriel, it’s me, Shirone. You don’t know me? Amy, you really don’t know me? You’re joking, right?”
“How would I know you? If you’re a student, then please just study. It’s annoying. Can’t you distinguish between a time and place? Do I look like such an easy target?”
Amy grabbed Shirone by the collar. She was truly annoyed. She thought becoming a senior meant saying goodbye to annoying guys, but to think one would follow her all the way here.
*‘Just when I thought it was quiet, it starts again. This is all because that guy is so useless. Hanging out with weirdos and doing stupid things…’*
Muttering to herself, Amy tilted her head.
*‘Huh? That guy? Who was that?’*
It seemed like a certain person was involved in why the pestering male students had disappeared, but she couldn't remember.
With his collar in her grip, Shirone felt as if a hole had been punched through his chest. There was no trace of familiarity in Amy’s eyes.
“No… this isn’t right.”
Shirone shook off Amy’s hand gripping his collar.
“No! Stop lying!”
“Ouch.”
Amy winced, clutching her wrist. But Shirone shouted, as if he even hated that look on her face.
“Why are you pretending not to know me! What did I do wrong? If you don’t like me, just say so! Acting like this hurts my feelings too!”
“You! Get away!”
Seriel shoved Shirone. Because it was Seriel of all people, Shirone couldn’t even resist and fell on his butt.
“Why are you harassing my friend? And a senior, at that! What class are you in? Do you really want to get in trouble?”
Shirone looked up at her, his face a picture of utter devastation.
*‘Senior Seriel…’*
Amy’s one and only best friend. A girl at heart who, despite always ranking at the top with her exceptional skills, would sob while reading romance novels. Shirone remembered. How she would enthusiastically cheer for him whenever he faced a difficult challenge.
But the girl before him now was a completely different person. Her eyes seemed to burn with fire, and her tightly pressed lips were laced with hostility.
Shirone shook his head. It wasn’t that he couldn’t believe it; he didn’t want to. Something like this could never happen.
“No! It’s a lie!”
Shirone scrambled to his feet and ran. He felt like he would go insane if he stayed there for even a second longer.
“Don’t ever come back! If you mess with us like this one more time, I’m telling a teacher!”
Seriel, who had cupped her hands around her mouth to shout, still seemed angry as she turned to Amy with a frown.
“Ugh, what’s with that kid? He looks so innocent, but he’s so persistent. Oh, Amy. Are you okay?”
“Huh? Oh, I’m fine.”
Lost in thought, Amy snapped back to reality. But a lingering sense of unease remained. She had felt a strange sense of longing watching Shirone’s retreating figure.
“Who was that, anyway? He acted like he really knew me.”
“He probably just acted crazy to see what would happen. There are a lot of kids like that these days. The nerve of him, aiming for someone he can’t have.”
“You think so?”
“Anyway, I’m heading in. Ugh, I was hoping to talk with you for a bit, but that weird kid wasted our whole break.”
Even though they were in the same graduating year, their majors were different, making it difficult to even find time to catch up unless they made a specific effort.
As Seriel entered the classroom, Amy followed. But she stopped at the entrance and looked back in the direction Shirone had run.
“…”
She stood there, rooted to the spot, until the class bell rang.
* * *
*‘Why are they doing this! What’s the reason!’*
Shirone ran like a madman. As he passed through the steel gate and reached the advanced class building, the bell rang, and students began heading into their classrooms.
“Mark! Mark!”
Mark, who was chatting with Maria, turned his head. Shirone rushed over to him in a single bound.
“Mark! You know me, right? Who am I! Tell me, quick!”
Mark looked flustered and glanced at Maria. But Maria just shrugged as if to say she didn't know either.
“Um… who are you?”
Shirone’s heart began to pound crazily. He had no idea what was happening to him.
“It’s me. It's me.”
“I know, but who are you? You have to tell me for me to know.”
“It’s me! Shirone! Class Five! We even took the exam together! You really don’t know?”
Mark’s expression soured. But hearing “Class Five,” he couldn’t argue and instead bowed politely.
“Ah, yes. I apologize for not recognizing you.”
“That’s not it! Why are you acting like this!”
*What in the world does he want me to do?* He wanted to snap back, but he couldn’t with others watching.
“You two, class has started. Why aren’t you going inside?”
Shina was walking down the hallway. Shirone felt like he had met his savior and ran to her.
“Teacher! It’s me, Shirone!”
Teacher Shina couldn’t possibly have forgotten him. She was strong. A certified Grade 6 mage. But her reply was nothing short of cruel.
“Shirone? There’s no student by that name in the advanced class. Who are you?”
“Teacher, you don’t know me? It’s Shirone.”
Shina searched her memory. But as she expected, it was an unknown name and an unknown face.
“There must be some mistake. I haven’t heard about any new students. Are you really a student at this academy?”
Mark and Maria’s gazes turned sharp. Suddenly a suspicious person, Shirone felt a surge of fear.
“I-I’m sorry! I was mistaken!”
“Hey! Wait, stop right there!”
Leaving Shina’s voice behind, Shirone fled desperately. He thought he understood now. What had happened.
Everyone had forgotten him.
“*Sob, sniffle…*”
He felt like a lost child. Infinitely weak. Everything in the world felt frightening.
After entering Istas, Shirone got lost three times before finally reaching the Paranormal Research Society.
*‘My friends will be okay. Of course they will, why wouldn’t they be?’*
Hadn’t they been joking around just a few hours ago? Even if the whole world forgot, they, at least, had to remember.
When he opened the door, Nade and Iruki were chatting. They looked up at Shirone with surprised expressions.
“Nade, Iruki, it’s me. I’m Shirone.”
His friends just blinked, saying nothing. The emotional dam he had been holding back finally broke, and Shirone’s face crumpled.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? You remember me, right? You haven’t forgotten, have you?”
Nade glanced at Iruki. Then he scratched his head and approached Shirone.
“Um… who are you?”
Tears welled up in Shirone’s eyes.
“You really don’t know me? We were together just a little while ago. We studied together yesterday and the day before!”
“Sorry, but we don’t know you. Did another club send you to spy on us? Don’t cause trouble and please leave.”
Iruki suddenly exclaimed as if he realized something.
“Wait! That could be a possibility. How did you find your way through Istas? Speak up! Who are you?”
“You, you guys…”
Shirone’s lower lip jutted out. He couldn’t hold back his tears anymore. No, he didn’t even want to.
“Pff…”
A puff of air escaped Nade’s mouth. Then he clutched his stomach and burst out laughing.
“Pwahahaha! Did you see that? Did you see his face? This is a masterpiece!”
“I saw! I saw! He was totally terrified, going 'You, you guys...' Pwahahaha! Shirone, what are you trying to do, kill me with laughter?”
Nade staggered, clutching his aching stomach from laughing so hard.
“Hehehe, hehehehe! Ah, the more I think about it, the crazier it is! Why on earth would you… Kuhahaha!”
Shirone couldn’t understand the situation. He couldn’t even tell if it was reality or a dream.
“What, so you do remember me?”
“What nonsense are you talking about? Did you have a nightmare or something? Do you know how hilarious your face is right now? Pwahahaha!”
Shirone felt all the tension drain out of him. It felt like a boulder had finally rolled off his chest.
“Jeez! You should have said something! Why did you pretend not to know me?”
“Your expression when you came in was so funny, we had to play a little prank. You were like, 'I-It's me. Shirone.'”
As Nade imitated Shirone, Iruki started slapping the floor, roaring with laughter again. Too exhausted to even scold them, Shirone sank into a seat and covered his face with his hands.
“Haaah, I was seriously scared to death.”
“Sit down for a bit. What happened?”
Sitting on the sofa, Shirone passionately recounted what had just happened. At first, the boys snickered at the absurdity of it all, but their expressions turned serious when he mentioned Teacher Shina.
“Hmm, so even Teacher Shina doesn’t know you? It’s not like she would play a prank.”
Nade found it utterly unbelievable.
“Is that really possible?”
“It’s possible with mental-type magic. Though whether it’s possible to manipulate the memories of the entire student body is questionable.”
“I’m telling you it’s possible. I just went through it myself.”
Iruki calmed Shirone, who was thumping his chest.
“Okay. Don’t get excited. I’m just saying. Anyway, I believe you. That people have lost their memories of you.”
Nade said.
“But we remember you. Couldn’t that be a hint about the situation?”
“I think so too. There’s only one reason I can think of for why we didn’t forget Shirone. We weren’t at the academy for two days. What on earth happened while we were gone?”
Shirone and his friends were lost in thought. Someone manipulated the minds of not only the entire student body but also the faculty while they were away? It was a hypothesis that was hard to accept right now.
“Maybe it was a supernatural phenomenon? If you look at case studies, there are quite a few similar incidents in history.”
Iruki was skeptical.
“I don’t know. I think even those cases are related to magic. In any case, if it’s something like that, how do you explain why we didn’t lose our memories?”
“It could be because we were in Istas. We’ve been here ever since we parted with Shirone.”
Shirone asked.
“What does that have to do with Istas?”
“There have been rumors for a long time that Istas has a mysterious power. It’s just a rumor, of course, but we should consider everything we can. This concerns our safety too.”
Iruki said.
“In other words, there’s a possibility we could lose our memories too.”
“We can’t be sure.”
Silence fell. It was sad that people didn’t remember, but it was also a problem if they themselves lost their memories.
Nade bravely broke the silence.
“Still… we should probably go out and check, right?”
“Yeah, it’s not like hiding will solve anything.”
His friends were right. But Shirone, who had already been through a terrible ordeal, looked reluctant.
“What if you guys forget me too? I think I’d really go crazy then.”
“Let’s do this. We’ll leave a mark beforehand. That way, even if we lose our memories, we can avoid the worst-case scenario.”