Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume 7 Chapter 4 (section)

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We broke the already worn and broken foot stools and lit them.

Although it had not darkened inside the school building, it is indeed true that the presence of fire is calming. Furthermore, our wet clothes were icy cold against our skin – that’s why we felt even more that it was a great thing to have fire.

Although there was an entrance facing the outside, it didn’t move an inch despite how much we tried. On the inside there were 2 entrances, both of which were sealed with protective seals. We gathered around the fire and sat on the cement floor. Although it was covered in mud, there was nothing we could do about it.

“Mai, do you want a drink?” Ayako called me.

“Something sweet.”

“Your cup?”

“The one with the frog. – Ne, pass it over, Naru.”

Naru looked like he was thinking about something.

“There are seven classrooms on level 1, but there were only twenty students. How were those seven classrooms used?”

“The two at the very end had the separating wall knocked down – it was originally a staffroom, but was later turned into a classroom. The next room was originally the sickbay, which doubled up as a staffroom.”

“Did the teacher stay there?”

“No, the teacher’s lodgings are directly facing the front entrance – apparently there were houses inside there in the past. The fourth room from the inside was originally the home sciences room – some birds and animals were kept there. The remaining 3 rooms were originally a science lab, an art room, and a music room, which were by no means used at that time. It was originally a comparatively large building – one was renovated into a swimming pool.”

So that was how it was. Mentioning that, all these were mentioned during our meeting.

“What about the size of the school.”

When Ayako asked that, Naru’s face flushed with displeasure. “Did you completely not hear what was said during the meeting?”

“Ohhhhh.”

“There were 8 villages in this area, but 3 of them had disappeared long ago.”

“The disappearance of farming villages is really serious.”

“But – two of those villages are at the bottom of the reservoir.”

“Is that so…”

Mentioning the reservoir, I recalled it. We don’t know how the work that was progressing at the reservoir was going. Although it was interrupted by this storm, they probably haven’t found it yet. – Because if they had found it, there should be someone coming here to inform us.

Looking out through the window, the rain outside had eased a little. I could see the car just outside – that was so provocative.

“The question is what the other party aims to achieve by closing us up in here. Regardless of what happens it looks like they don’t plan to let us leave so easily.”

“That’s what it looks like.”

Looking at the watch on my wrist, we’ve been sealed away for nearly two hours already. As it was raining outside, the sky should darken earlier than usual. I looked at the bonfire – if the sun goes down we’d be dependent on it for illumination.

– No! If Bou-san and co comes back, they should be a great help.

“Bou-san etc are very slow.”

Ayako nodded in agreement to my words. “Yes, - could it be because Yasuhara wanted to ask around for information?”

“Yeah…”

“They could be away until evening.”

“That shouldn’t be so. They did go out to buy lunch.”

“I didn’t hear that. – Anyway this is all we can do. It’s not like we have any other countermeasure.”

Naru shrugged uninterestedly to Ayako’s words.

“We’ve been closed in with much difficulty, so let’s see how we should go about the investigation of this building. There’s no use in being impatient to get out.”

– He actually said this so coolly in such a frightening situation.

“The people at the campsite said they never actually heard rumors about the appearance of spirits here.”

Ayako sighed.

“Forget it – even if there are rumors, there are also things that people do not mention.”

“But, didn’t the helper mention the lead that there weren’t any spirits?”

“Yes.”

“We might have been tricked, we can’t tell.”

It was Naru who spoke.

“??”

Naru started smiling forcedly again.

“Didn’t the helper mention it? That they hoped that we’d help them keep it secret? Income from tourism is a matter of life and death to them.”

“It was indeed mentioned.”

“It’s not only the presence of rumors. In reality, it probably might not be as simple as whether there are rumors or not.”

“Not only? Do you mean that in actual fact there are spirits that appear, and that they haunt as well?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. The probability that  something major had happened is very high, that’s why the village chief came to make the request in person.”

“Yeah…”

“But tell us truthfully then. This ‘problem’ will leak out and make them feel troubled; the problem affects the volume of tourists and hence their livelihoods. – Hence the details of the situation are hidden.”

It really is dangerous enough – “Fortunately, the (people who run the) campsites are all their relatives. Hence, as relatives, they will not leak the secret.”

– Even if this was not so, the staff at the campsites depend on income from tourists for their meals; based on this point they would not speak.

“—Yeah.”

That’s why I say this is a situation created by adults.

“What do you think that major incident was?”

“We still don’t know,” saying that, Naru stood up. “I’m going inside to investigate.”