episode_0083
by fnovelpiaAfter Professor Esther joined us, we finished lunch as usual.
Deacon Sophia and I returned to the professor’s office. With summer vacation just around the corner, we were preparing for the first exams for first-year students that would be held next semester.
Since there are no exams for first-year students in the first semester, there will be no summer semester this summer.
It was a blessing. I absolutely hated going to work in the sweltering heat or in the pouring rain.
What if even Deacon Sophia had to go to work in that humid heat?
‘It’s hell.’
It was more like hell. Even though it hadn’t even been full-blown summer yet, Deacon Sophia was sweating profusely and exhausted every time she left the cool, air-conditioned room.
If the semester had been opened, Deacon Sophia would probably have fainted. Summer, when the hot, blazing sun is at its peak, is a season when Deacon Sophia’s health is a concern.
“Substitute Sophia.”
“Yes?”
When I called out to Deacon Sophia, who was sitting at her desk, she also raised her head.
It was a newly purchased desk. It was a convenience that I was able to enjoy thanks to the budget support provided by the Academy under the pretext of research expenses.
Each department in the academy determines its budget each semester based on the students’ class evaluations. The students in Class A, the first year, seemed to be more satisfied with my class than I had imagined. I was even a little surprised to receive a research grant.
Anyway, I looked up and asked Deacon Sophia, who was looking at me.
“Is it still hot?”
“No, I’m fine now.”
It was fortunate that the air conditioning in the Academy had been repaired. Deacon Sophia’s complexion looked much more comfortable than before, when she had complained of the heat.
“That’s great. By the way, what happened to the thing I asked you to do?”
“Ah… Are you talking about the club advisor professor?”
The club advisor professor. This was also the main culprit that gave me a headache.
Because Daniel had arbitrarily put my name forward for the position of Professor of Occult Studies, I had to go to the head professor of the first year and ask him to come up with a plan for this.
But the answer I got back was extremely cold.
“The documents have already been submitted, and there are no empty advisory professor positions in other clubs, and anyway, all professors have to be in charge of at least one club… . The head professor said so. So… .”
“… So, in the end, I have to take charge of the Occult Research Club?”
“That’s right… … . Yes… .”
I covered my face with both palms. My eyes went dark. As if I was looking into my future.
As I kept washing my face, Deacon Sophia smiled awkwardly and said.
“Still, the students are all good, right? Even in the grade-by-grade competition last week, they didn’t cause any trouble.”
“… … .”
“Since it has come to this, let’s think positively! A prestigious club where only the best students from each grade gather! What do you think?”
“… Very good.”
“Is that really good?”
“Yes. It really feels like a dream.”
Yeah. Let’s think positively. If it had been according to my original plan, I would have stopped keeping an eye on Chloe, but…
‘… There’s no other way.’
Now that it’s come to this, I just have to throw the plan away. I won’t stop caring about Chloe. That was my conclusion.
‘You surprisingly did well in this year’s school competition, and Duke Adelheid also showed signs of trying to befriend you… I guess I’ll just have to watch from up close.’
As I was organizing my thoughts, Deacon Sophia added.
“Ah! By the way… . The head professor said that we should submit the Occult Research Club’s summer vacation activity report by next Friday.”
“Activity book… . Are you talking about that?”
“Yes. You said that if you were to do club activities outside of the academy during this summer vacation, you had to report in advance. I haven’t received the details yet, but I think the documents will be sent to us once the head priest’s intention is confirmed.”
I pondered the words of Deacon Sophia.
The Occult Research Club’s summer vacation activities? I’ve never really brought up anything like that, but out of the blue?
‘… No way, did Daniel do something weird again?’
It’s not unreasonable for me to have these suspicions, because all the current members of the Occult Research Club, including Daniel, had a strange side to them.
The rumors in the academy are also not good, even if they are just empty words. Because Daniel and Vivian only visit the so-called ‘spiritual places where ghosts might appear at any moment’, the other students’ gaze towards the Occult Research Club is not so favorable.
To be exact, it’s a gathering of weirdos. They’re all naturally talented, but they’ve joined weird clubs like the Occult Research Club.
There are even opinions that say that they are too lazy to join academic clubs that help with their classes. Since they are among the top students, there are also some who say that they don’t care about their studies and just hang out.
Fortunately, since Daniel had a wide following among the second-year students, no serious rumors were spreading… .
‘… I’m a little anxious.’
I looked at Deacon Sophia again. Her emerald eyes were fixed on me, waiting for my answer.
“I will talk about that story again after I discuss it with Daniel.”
“Yes. Then, I will tell the senior professor that too.”
“Please do so. Thank you.”
After answering like that, I immediately stood up from my seat. Deacon Sophia, who was working at her desk, turned her gaze to me again.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to go have a smoke.”
“Ah… . Have a nice day.”
I looked at Deacon Sophia, who had started to focus on her work again, and then quickly moved my steps and left the professor’s office.
“… Hmm.”
Holding a mysterious note that was vaguely felt in his pocket.
* * * * *
As the students were attending afternoon classes in the classroom, the schoolyard was deserted like any other afternoon. The people walking around the academy schoolyard during this time were mostly people who managed the academy.
Like a janitor, a gardener, or a cook working in the school cafeteria.
I sat down on a quiet bench. There was an ashtray standing next to the bench, and a maple tree stood tall above the bench, so it was also a place I often used as a smoking area.
He took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and put a cigarette in his mouth as if he were used to it.
– Chick.
As I held up a match and lit it, the refreshing minty scent that cleared my stuffy head hit my Adam’s apple without mercy. The cool and refreshing impact was superb.
I exhaled the smoke from my cigarette and quietly looked up at the peach tree that was starting to bear fruit. It was a hot, scorching afternoon, but the peach tree provided a large shade, making it bearable.
That was another reason why I loved this place. I exhaled smoke from my cigarette and put my hands in my pockets.
The neatly folded note I had received from Deacon Sophia before lunch was placed in my hand. I took a cigarette in my hand and looked around for a moment.
“… … .”
There was no one there. The only person nearby was a maintenance man who was working on a streetlight in the distance, and he wasn’t close enough to see my note.
I put the cigarette back in my mouth with relief and held the note in my hand with both hands.
– Thud thud.
The gap where the paper and the paper met. The adhesive that had been holding it tightly was easily removed, and the sealed note began to unfold slowly.
Who sent the note? Colonel Mayhem? Dennis? Or maybe General Damien?
Or maybe someone from the Occult Research Department was playing a prank. I took a cigarette in my hand, exhaled smoke, and looked at the note.
[ In front of the main building of the Academy. Ashtray bench under the copy tree. Come after lunch time. ]
“… Hmm?”
What does this mean? I continued reading the note.
An unknown phrase. Beneath it was written a single letter.
[ lee. ]
“… … .”
I stared blankly at the words.
Lee. It looked like some kind of code, and the letters were so difficult to decipher that it was hard to understand their meaning. After reading that one letter, I was lost in thought.
“… Lee.”
Lee. Just one letter. If you think of it as a password, there doesn’t seem to be any hidden intention.
I turned the note over. There was nothing on the back except my name and the folded lines.
I flipped the paper over again. And then I thought back over the words written on the note.
The schoolyard in front of the main building of the Academy, and the ashtray bench under the copy tree. This was a sentence that pointed to a certain place. I looked at it and frowned.
“… This is it.”
The place written on the note was where I was smoking. I took a deep drag on the cigarette that was burning in my hand, exhaled the smoke, and read the sentence that followed.
The words to come after lunchtime also make the meaning clear.
After lunchtime meant exactly now. All the sentences I had read so far had been referring to the bench I was sitting on and this very time.
[ lee. ]
So what about this unidentified letter?
If you are writing something like a letter, it is common sense to write the sender at the bottom. With that in mind, I will write this letter ‘Lee’ again… .
… … .
“… Lee.”
He muttered quietly, and not just because he knew no one was listening.
A single word that came out of my mind, completely unconsciously, but with a clear mind. Lee.
It wasn’t a difficult code to decipher. It wasn’t the name of any place or organization.
It’s just a person’s name. The name of the person who sent me the note.
And, in my memory, there is only one person whose name contains the letter ‘Lee’ alone.
“Lee… . Cesar Lee.”
I called out that name in a daze. Towards the empty space, as if recalling a being that had already disappeared. As if calling out to a ghost that did not exist in this world.
– Thud. Thud.
And, he is actually a person who has disappeared from this world. He is already dead. Yes, that must be the case… .
– chin.
I could feel someone put a hand on my shoulder.
I was afraid to turn my head. I swallowed dry saliva.
You are definitely dead. As far as I know, no one who used that name has ever existed in this world.
In the midst of the burning flames, I heard with my own ears the hellish cries you uttered as you died.
If so, if so… .
“Lucio.”
Whose voice is this that I hear behind me?
It was a voice that seemed familiar, yet strangely different from the one in my memory. It was a voice that sounded like it was full of phlegm.
When I heard that voice, I ended up turning my head away.
“Long time no see.”
There, standing, was the ghost of a past that was thought to have already disappeared from this world.
That too… . alive and well.
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