Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume5 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 7===

This was the second progress report during the doll search, or perhaps the last progress report. Most likely there would not be a third progress report.

The time was already 4pm. Due to the gradual departure of visitors, the cultural festival's liveliness was slowly cooling down. But increasing in response were students running around yelling about discounts, trying their best to push unsold merchandise. In that sense, the school still maintained a lively and energetic atmosphere. The cultural festival was still underway. Even when 5pm arrived and people were supposed to start cleaning up, the festival would still continue, because after the cleanup was done, there was still an after party to be held in school. However&mdash;that would only happen if no major situation arose at 5pm.

"Why can't we find it!"

Fear roared angrily and hammered the table violently. She was so furious her shoulders were shaking. Filled with murderous intent, her eyes were glaring at the school map on the table. The solemn eyes she displayed during the previous progress report were probably complementary to her anxiety. And now, that anxiety was exploding.

"Fear..."

Haruaki placed his hand lightly on her shoulder. In actual fact, everyone was just as anxious. Similarly, everyone felt as though they were being crushed by a nauseating and ominous premonition, however&mdash;

"...Acting out in this place won't help at all."

"I know, of course I know that! But&mdash;"

Fear turned around forcefully, scattering her silver hair. This time, she reached her hand behind her and smacked the table again.

"How many dolls have we found, Zenon!?"

Disregarding Fear's rudeness in asking a question without making eye contact, the superintendent's secretary answered softly:

"&mdash;Forty-nine, Fear-sama."

"That's right, forty-nine! Don't you find it strange? Why can't the last one be found!? Logically speaking, there's no place left to search. That's what this map indicates!"

She was completely right. Every place on the school map had been marked as searched&mdash;In other words, the entire school had already been searched. Even places where the four of them could not enter had been taken care of by Zenon's side.

"Perhaps we should consider whether any of us might have missed it?"

"But that guy said 'They're all placed in conspicuous places you can find just by paying a little attention.' We're already searching so desperately, how could we have missed anything... But indeed, it's impossible to rule out that possibility."

Her hand still placed against Haruaki's back, Kirika answered Konoha's question.

On the other hand, Fear was clenching her fist so hard that cracking noises could be heard.

"That guy said there are fifty, so the final one must be the target doll. We must find it no matter what, absolutely&mdash;What are we gonna do if it explodes? What if other students are caught in the blast? This happy place will be filled with screams, filled with that smell of blood like the castle dungeon, with limbs and remains flying around like in that castle dungeon, filled with death like that castle dungeon&mdash;"

"Fear, don't just recall those annoying images! Let's go and search, we'll search all over again! I can't allow that kind of result to happen either!"

Just as Haruaki declared forcefully, Fear looked up. However, he saw in her eyes something different from her earlier anger, a flash that seemed as though she were afraid of something.

"Hmm... That's right, we must search. Yes, v-very likely, I missed a place, it must be that. So, we must search, I'm going...!"

"Hey wait up! Even if you search randomly&mdash;!"

Konoha reached out but Fear ran past her hand and rushed out of the superintendent's office as though she were fleeing. Konoha sighed and put down her hand.

"I understand how urgent she must feel, but the way she acted really doesn't look right."

"Because that girl sometimes falls into that kind of self-abusive mode..."

Konoha sighed as she spoke. Haruaki could sort of understand the reason.

In the past, Fear had been closer to "death" more than anyone else. Rather than death stemming from war but death was brought about under the most dismal of conditions, through unreasonable causes, merciless and cruel like nightmares, irredeemable.

These past events could not be forgotten. Even if she wanted to forget them, these memories remained.

Hence, as soon as she approached similar matters&mdash;She was prompted to remember. To remember the stench of death that she could not dispel from her cursed body.

Haruaki bit his lip and said:

"Staying here won't help. We must take action too."

"Let's pick places where it's more probable to miss things before we act. There's not much time left, hurry."

"That's... right, it's all we can do... Yeah."

Konoha and Kirika examined the map carefully. There was only one hour left. Clearly everything would be resolved by finding that one last doll. That was the only solution the entire team knew.

"Supposing, if we still haven't found it at the last second... I need to find a way to contact that guy. We absolutely can't have innocent students suffering."

"Ueno-san... I really don't want to hear something like that."

"That's right. You said you didn't want to return, right? So don't give up so easily."

Haruaki listened to Kirika behind him and felt the grip of her fingers tightening.

"...Sorry."

Indeed, that was the only solution the entire team knew.

If anyone knew some other solution, Haruaki really wished they could tell him. To prevent the bomb from exploding, to protect the students from suffering, to allow Kirika to stay at this school, safe and sound&mdash;That kind of secret trick.