Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume16 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 3===

"Eh, what's that?"

"Who knows... They're starting to walk back and forth busily."

"And setting up tents too. What's going on?"

"Hey, students, hurry back to your seats&mdash;! Class is starting again... That should be fine, right? They didn't say anything in the staff meeting today either..."

Once disrupted, order in the classroom was hard to recover. Even the teacher standing at the lectern was tilting his head with a troubled look.

In this kind of situation, Un Izoey continued to observe intently from beside the window&mdash;the Knights Dominion's movements. Her mind was devoting all thoughts to deciding on the next course of action. Meanwhile, it was best to keep her eyes wide open to gather information, of course.

"Hmm, have a look at that tent, my dear Kana-Watson. The way I see it, this must be an unexpected surprise event that the superintendent made to look like a circus! This is his painstaking plan to reward and inject vitality into us after the exhausting exams!"

"Isn't unexpected and surprise kind of redundant in meaning? But really? Tai-Holmes! But it really looks plausible! Ah~ So that's why people are carrying things resembling swords? They're gonna perform those martial arts dances? Hmm, all mysteries are over in the name of my grandpa!"

While Taizou pretended to smoke on an invisible pipe, Kana was nodding with exaggerated motions. The two of them were standing at the adjacent window, chatting noisily, but Un Izoey was in no mood to correct them.

She was staring at the movements in the sports ground. Knights setting up tents. Knights moving supplies out. As well as&mdash;

(That is...)

A group of knights were walking to the edge of the sports ground. Staying vigilant, they checked out their surroundings without lowering their guard. Then they stopped before the fence. Next, holding a reel-like device taken from the helicopter, they started pulling a certain something out from it&mdash;

(...''Barbed wire''...?)

Un Izoey focused her gaze but reached the same conclusion. It was barbed wire, or one could call it wire fencing. The knights were swiftly and cautiously laying a small wire on the inner side of the fence, weaving it through gaps or tying other wires to secure it. The barbed wire seemed to be much longer than a few meters and the knights apparently intended to keep extending it. Splitting up, the knights continued to extend that flimsy-looking barbed wire along the fence.

Incomprehensible. Normally, wasn't barbed wire or wire fencing used as walls? This school already had fences and walls. Even if one were to encircle the school with that kind of narrow wire&mdash;

(No... In other words, there is a need to do this intentionally?)

Then that thing must be more than what its appearance suggested. In other words, that wire was useful enough that the Frontline Gathering Knights Dominion went as far as to suspend its destruction&mdash;

It was cursed.

Assuming it was cursed barbed wire, what kind of curse would it carry? What kind of taboo power could be drawn out? Truly a new unknown.

Un Izoey had a foreboding feeling. Perhaps it was time to start taking action&mdash;Just as she was about to leave the window side  quietly&mdash;

The faint crackling of static was heard in the classroom. It was the school's public announcement system.

'Eh&mdash;Ah~ Ah~ Testing, testing, one two three.'

Un Izoey could not ignore this voice. Whether students or teachers, everyone was looking up at the speaker where this stranger's voice was coming from. The expressions on their faces were not all the same. Some were staring in surprise, others were deeply intrigued, all of them wondering if an explanation for what was happening outside was finally coming.

The voice continued to speak. Listening to the woman's voice coming from the speaker, Un Izoey felt that something was not right. It felt very distant&mdash;like transmitted through a thin curtain&mdash;Was it her imagination? Anyway, the content of this woman's speech was more important at the moment.

'Ah~ My name is Taciturn Chatterbox. Members of the Knights Dominion should know what precautions to take next, right? Trash who don't know will have to be punished, a separate discussion. Okay? Then hurry and let's&mdash;'

"!"

This was a different kind of foreboding feeling, as though something was rushing up one's heel after stepping on something. A sensory type of fear, without any logical basis at all. It felt as though she had stepped on something. Like a ferocious beast's tail, a poisonous insect's stinger, a highly toxic wild plant.

That type of terror instantly invaded her entire body. Calves, the back of her knees, thighs, waist, then&mdash;

'&mdash;<b>Hört!!</b>'

The quality of the woman's voice coming from the speaker suddenly underwent a dramatic change.

It became a twisted sound enough to blow away all prior sense of dissonance. It turned into an extremely hoarse voice&mdash;Indeed, as though it had gone through an amplifier of exceedingly poor quality&mdash;

The instant she heard the twisted voice spoken in some unknown language, Un Izoey felt her instinctive chill turn into a clearer sensation, rising up along her spine. It was like a poisonous snake reaching her neck, its fangs approaching her throat while dripping with venom. This voice&mdash;This voice was very dangerous!

Every hair of hers stood on end suddenly. Instead of using her mind to think of countermeasures, her body moved automatically on its own. With her back to the speaker, her hands reached for her head&mdash;No, just as she was about to reach over&mdash;

"What's going on? Haha~ My deductions will be proven, right?"

"Hohoh~ Is it time for the murderer to confess? I was just thinking of walking on a cliff."

''Right beside her, Taizou and Kana, still looking up at the speaker casually, entered her view''.

Totally unaware&mdash;

Completely uninvolved with curses or the Knights Dominion&mdash;

To Yachi Haruaki's group and herself, they were simply precious classmates&mdash;

The two of them.

For an instant, their existence, and the fact that the two of them were right before her eyes, occupied her entire mind.

Without thinking, her body acted on its own again.

"Uwah!"

"Kyah?"

If one were looking for a reason, it was purely because they were ''within arm's reach''&mdash;That was probably all there was to it.

Un Izoey wrapped her arms around their heads and sat down on the floor, pressed their faces against her chest then clamped her upper arms on their ears. At the same time, she managed to cover her own ears with her palms. Instantly&mdash;

Within the world where sound had become very distant...

Something happened.



Several minutes later.

Un Izoey watched that scene in surprise, still covering her ears.

Originally gathered near the windows, those students who had been watching the sports ground with interest...

Those students who had looked up at the speaker with puzzled expressions after hearing the sudden announcement...

All of them started looking around with faces that read "Eh? What was I doing just now?" In the next second&mdash;


''Everyone took out their cellphone from their pocket or schoolbag, then started making calls at the same time''.