CubexCursedxCurious:Volume16 Chapter2

Chapter 2 - The Steel Wishing for Powerlessness / "Case x Collision x Coetaneous"

Part 1

The trio of Un Izoey, Taizou and Kana were walking in the corridor with their postures slightly bent forward.

The corridor was very quiet while lessons were in progress, filled with a unique atmosphere of tension, but it was not silent. Faint lesson sounds could be heard from the adjacent classroom as well as a stammering voice reciting English. However, the mood was so tense that it felt like making a sound would be a terrible crime.

Naturally, due to other reasons, they could not make too much noise either.

"Hmm~ This really feels like Mission Impossible: Skipping Class. I'm getting addicted to this tension."

"So this class is repeating last period too? Eh, Un-chan?"

"Shhhh—Quiet. I will explain later, ordering with this kind of order. Follow me quietly for now... Please."

After she spoke in a serious voice, Taizou and Kana looked at each other then obediently closed their mouths. What a great help—A safe place to hide must be found next.

In the process of escaping the classroom, Un Izoey had swiftly reported the situation to her boss. Everything had gone smoothly so far, but the bell then rang immediately after that, prompting class to begin again. In other words, after the hypnosis, the students and teachers were having the exact same lesson as an hour ago's. As for details like records in notebooks, their cognition was probably tampered to fit the situation.

Even though lessons were taking place in this extraordinary manner, lessons were lessons. Needless to say, students walking outside of classrooms would be conspicuous beyond measure.

Un Izoey lifted her head slightly to check out the surrounding situation. Looking out the window next to her, she could see the connecting corridor leading to the opposite school building as well as the two knights walking nonchalantly along that corridor. They were wrapped in gray coats, talking to each other while keeping watch on the surroundings vigilantly.

The hypnotized students did not see them. These outsiders were strutting around the place openly yet Un Izoey's trio had to sneak around despite being students. It felt very ironic.

"...This way. Keep yourselves low."

Un Izoey changed their route to get away from the knights' direction. Only after their presences were out of range did she quietly take her cellphone out from her pocket. No signal. During the call to Pakuaki, the line had cut off suddenly after she explained the basic situation. Ever since, the phone had been showing no signal.

(Just as the Lab Chief said, they found a way to jam the signal?)

Un Izoey thought it was very likely. The Knights Dominion intended to establish a second Knights Dominion here even at the cost of reducing their main stronghold's functionality. Their serious commitment was absolutely genuine, hence meticulous measures would not be surprising. Unlike irreplaceable knights whose numbers were limited, the effort required would be far less, if all it took was setting up a signal jamming device.

(It means they already took into consideration the risk factor of people unaffected by the hypnosis still in school...)

In other words, the trio's current situation was also within enemy expectations.

—Un Izoey could not help but think, had this school turned into a hunting ground? A place fenced up with meticulous preparations. Then releasing drugs safely to put to sleep the animals inside, making it easy to take away their fangs and fur any time. Cruel hunters were currently on the prowl, searching for dangerous prey that had not succumbed to the drugs—

Un Izoey narrowed her eyes, thinking of her pride and determination. Hunters? Compared to them, she was far more qualified. A hunter could not be hunted in reverse.

Cautiously, she moved along the corridor, turned a corner and went down the staircase to reach the ground floor. Then looking out from the stairwell, she observed—

Two knights, different from the pair she saw earlier, were walking along the corridor, heading towards her in a straight line. She hastily pulled her head back. Fortunately, they did not notice her. After making a gesture to the two behind her to be quiet, she decided to go back the way they came, but—

"...!"

There were footsteps directly above. In other words—Someone was descending the staircase. Not students. Those footsteps did not come from indoor shoes. Instead, it was the crisp sound of metal-reinforced outdoor shoes.

They were surrounded!

She instantly pondered. What to do? Fight? If possible, she did not want to cause a commotion, but there was no choice by this point. Launch a surprise attack to swiftly render one side incapable of combat. So long as none of the knights were squad leader level, it should be possible. Could she do it before the other pair noticed? Or should she eliminate them in sequence? However, oh right, there were ordinary people present—

Just at this moment, Un Izoey's gaze ferociously went harsh.

Apart from the footsteps approaching from above and the ground floor corridor—A third presence appeared.

It was directly behind them.

"This way."

"!"

The instant someone grabbed her shoulder, Un Izoey's body moved on its own. But halfway in her motion, she realized various things—

"Hi, anything out of place?"

"Nope. How about your side?"

"The same. But high school lessons really bring back memories."

"Nostalgia is fine, but don't be careless. With so many people here after all, it won't come as a surprise if a few students escaped Lady Taciturn's hypnosis."

"Ordinary brats unaware of anything can be easily handled."

"But some of them aren't ordinary brats. Like the 'Hunter' of the Lab Chief's Nation is also a student here, but it's confirmed that she is missing from her usual classroom—It's best to assume that she evaded hypnosis."

"Hmm, then make sure she doesn't rip out your throat with her teeth."

"Good heavens, now this job is getting more meaningful, I'm so glad..."

After ending their conversation along the staircase, the two teams departed.

Un Izoey was listening to this dialogue taking place overhead. Although her heart skipped a beat when they mentioned her, her appearance was very conspicuous in school to begin with. She already knew that it was just a matter of time before her absence from the classroom was noticed. Now that they had discovered that she was moving outside freely, the knights must have raised their alert level slightly. She must proceed with greater caution—

"Isn't it time for you to move this knife away, Dark-skin? Most regrettably, I have neither the generosity nor the luxury of time to practice beard-shaving with you at the moment."

"Oh... Sorry, I apologize with this kind of apology."

Still maintaining her posture of sitting on the floor, Un Izoey retracted her leg that was raised as though performing an overhead kick in soccer, with knife pointed at the girl behind her. She had attacked with her foot instinctively due to someone suddenly grabbing her shoulder from behind. Although she had stopped just before the knife stabbed into the throat, compared to withdrawing the knife, she could only prioritize hiding just now.

The current location was behind the stairwell, a space where things like buckets and cleaning equipment was kept. Un Izoey's group was hiding in this cramped space that could only be entered by stooping. And the person who had led them here was—

"So... Although I've no idea why these two are with you, what is going on right now?"

Showing no signs of fear despite the knife held against her throat, simply scowling as usual with arms crossed in nonchalance—the classmate, Sakuramairi Shiraho.

Hearing this comment of hers and feeling muffled breaths blowing against her hands, Un Izoey was reminded of those two's presence. She moved away her hands, which she had used to cover their mouths while dragging them here.

"Puha! I-I'm almost about to suffocate... Eh, Sakuramairi-san?"

"And you call yourself a member of the swimming team? By the way, Un Izoey-san's hand has a kind of earthy smell, it's so comforting... Wow, you're skipping class too, Sakuramairi-san?"

The two of them were staring at Shiraho in surprise. Regardless how little they knew about the truth, for someone like Shiraho to be found in such a dirty space under the stairs—That alone was already quite a rare spectacle.

"These two—My hand was forced. Sakuramairi Shiraho, how much do you know about the current situation?"

"Nothing at all, Dark-skin. I've been sleeping in the infirmary. After hearing the bell, I was planning to go back to the classroom when I noticed the strange situation in the sports ground with a group of weirdos walking around in the school building. Thinking something must have happened, I decided to hide first... A bizarre situation outside, a group of abnormal-looking people, and there's me. Wouldn't walking outside as normal under such circumstances be tantamount to declaring 'Please rape me'?"

Although Un Izoey had no idea whether they were going to rape anyone—neither could she promise for certain they were not going to rape anyone—In any case, she concluded that Shiraho had made a very wise decision. Still, there was one concerning detail.

"You were sleeping in the infirmary, this means..."

"Are you feeling unwell somewhere~?"

Kana proceeded to ask but Shiraho puffed out her chest and replied with inexplicable pride:

"No, because I pulled an all-nighter last night, I was very sleepy."

"Wow, such freedom..."

"Your reason for being in the infirmary is not important. Since you were sleeping, it means you did not hear the announcement, right?"

Un Izoey was already 99% sure of the answer. This was just confirmation. Shiraho was currently behaving no different from Kana and Taizou, but definitely unlike the hypnotized students.

"What announcement? I am a very sound sleeper. Every time I sleep, I do it with the determination of 'never waking up until I am absolutely satisfied.'"

"Oh..."

Anyway, the hypnotic suggestion evidently failed to take effect during her sleep. The cursed words had not reached her consciousness—That was theoretically the case.

However, since she was not hypnotized, it meant Un Izoey had to explain the story to her somewhat. Unlike Kana and Taizou, she could omit certain explanations, so it was very easy.

"My explanation: simply stated, the Frontline Gathering Knights Dominion is here. They captured this school. Students are hypnotized to not see them, to lose their memory, to keep repeating the same hour of time."

"I will go find Sovereignty."

However, Shiraho's response went as far as to omit a great deal all at once. This was too abrupt. Standing up, without any hesitation, Shiraho prepared to exit this space under the stairs.

"Umm..."

"I don't know the details, but in any case, the 'enemy' did something to create this situation, right? In that case, there is only one thing I have to do. I must stay by her side."

Simple and clear. It was almost like solving an equation without any unknowns, like proudly declaring "one plus one equals two." Her gaze was candid, genuine and without hesitation. Her willpower was crystalline.

From Un Izoey's view, she looked absolutely dazzling.

"Cellphone... Still no signal? Good grief, how useless of the telephone company for calls to be impossible in such an important time. Can't they provide a plan with a hotline to Sovereignty any time?"

Shiraho complained while looking at her cellphone. Un Izoey crawled out from the hiding spot and asked at the same time:

"Please accompany us, I request this kind of request. Our goals are aligned, cooperating should be a good choice, right?"

"What is your goal?"

"To find a hiding place that will not be found. This place is just temporary after all. But you should know better than us—more familiar with places in this school where other people will not find, I judge this kind of judgment."

For the purposes of what one would call a tryst.

Although Un Izoey did not say it out, this small detail was already known.

Shiraho's lips turned into a frown for an instant as she glared viciously at her—But soon after, she shrugged greatly and sighed.

"Very well... As long as we meet up with Sovereignty, we have to find a place to hide anyway. Since no one knows what will happen, I suppose it's better to have a bodyguard."

Despite her tendency to follow her own dazzling impulses, Shiraho was quite practical. This was probably part of her personal traits as well.

Un Izoey reached out to help Kana and Taizou exit the space under the stairs while she asked:

"Then the next course of action is?"

"Do you really need to ask? Start with the most likely place where Sovereignty will be found, if she's not there, go to the next likely spot. If enemies appear, you handle them. That's all."

So simple that Un Izoey could not help but shudder in awe.

The group tiptoed their way through the school building.

As soon as they noticed signs of knights, they would try their hardest to find a hiding place in an empty classroom or under the stairs like before, to wait until the enemy passed by. Thus, it took them several times longer than usual to reach the first destination. Un Izoey had prepared herself to resort to violence if they encountered the enemy, but fortunately, there was no need.

Before them was another building's top floor which differed from normal classrooms. No one would come here without business. In other words, it was totally deserted.

Unlike corridors outside classrooms where lessons were in progress, the silence hanging over this corridor was even more intense than that of a vacuum.

Un Izoey stopped in front of the door and cautiously touched the handle—It did not turn.

"...Seems locked."

"Is that so? Then I shall open it."

Shiraho decisively took out a key from her pocket.

"How did you get this place's key?"

"If that masked deviant were to do obscene things to Sovereignty in a locked room, what could be done? Holding onto a spare key is the minimum precaution, of course? Given this natural right, I decided on my own to duplicate her key."

"..."

Immediately, Shiraho inserted the key into the keyhole without any hesitation at all, unlocking the door. Then without a moment's pause, she turned the handle directly and barged inside.

Shiraho's excessive lack of caution took Un Izoey by surprise. Just as she frantically chased after her into the room—

"K-Kyahhhhhhhhhh!"

"!"

A figure hiding next to the entrance swung something down at them. Stepping between Shiraho and the figure, Un Izoey used the knife in her foot to block the attack. Instantly, a metallic collision was heard while she felt a minor impact. The attacker's weapon was made of a handle and a main body. A metal unlike iron. Round rather than sharp, its shape included a depression with depth—

In other words—

A frying pan.

"Hwah!? Oh dear, oh dear, Un-chan!? Aw aw wawa, sorry, I was thinking the bad guys' evil claws had finally reached over here! Oh, it's Shiraho~! Awawa, come to think of it, if it weren't for Un-chan, I would have smacked your head hard, Shiraho, now that would've been terribleeeeeeeeee!?"

Her last sentence ended in a weird scream because Shiraho had hugged her, maid outfit and all, as hard as she could, even burying and rubbing her face forcefully against her chest.

"Ahhh... Sovereignty, I wouldn't care about that. Even if being hit will hurt, it's completely insignificant compared to this blissful joy of seeing you. No, if I were hit during this blissful joy, that sense of pain would surely become one of today's precious memories. I will make this a day of commemoration and christen it the Sacred Sovereignty Day of Pain to be passed down the generations."

"D-Don't make it sound like a religious activity! You're acting a bit weird, Shiraho~!"

"She seemed quite calm but was actually worried sick about you, I speculation this kind of speculation. So it is just an overreaction."

Un Izoey remarked and returned the knife she used to block the frying pan back under her skirt. Taking another look, she found that Sovereignty was not only holding a frying pan but also wearing a pot tilted on her head. Using it as a helmet...? In any case, judging from her behavior, Un Izoey concluded that they were hiding here due to a clear sense of crisis.

Indeed, they. Sovereignty was not the only person staying in the superintendent's office—

"Ara ara~ Please allow me to remark in fear and trepidation, you two are still so close and intimate~ Ufufufu."

"Shiraho-san... Thank goodness you're okay. By the way, Isuzu, why were you speaking with such arrogance just now? I'm gonna hurt you, got that?"

"Ahya, you're already hurting me~ Also, you're pinching even harder than usual~"

Shiraho suddenly separated from Sovereignty the instant she heard the two girls and coughed "ahem" to clear her throat. As though nothing had happened at all, she coldly tossed her hair.

"Oh, you girls are here too?"

"Y-Yeah... Umm... Sorry..."

"N-No need to apologize."

The people before them included the black-haired shrine maiden—the cursed set of kagura bells, Isuzu—and her owner, Hayakawa Chihaya.

Kana and Taizou were already staring in surprise at the various things happening in the room, but now, they both tilted their heads in further puzzlement.

"After entering the locked room, a maid attacked us, then the janitor shrine maiden appeared inside along with an underclassman who sometimes talks to Akki and friends... Mumumu, this feels like even more complicated foreshadowing!"

"And for some reason, the underclassman is still wearing gym clothes, looks like PE class is the key!"

"Ugh..."

Just as Taizou pointed out, Chihaya was dressed in gym clothes from head to toe for some reason. As though realizing only now, Chihaya awkwardly pulled her shirt hem lower and shrank away. If anything, rather than Taizou, she seemed more concerned about Shiraho's gaze, although Un Izoey did not think she needed to feel embarrassed about this getup.

Compared to this, there was something else that needed to be confirmed first.

"None of you—heard it, right?"

"Please allow me to say in fear and trepidation: precisely~"

Isuzu answered. With an unfathomable smile as usual, she said:

"As kagura bells for playing music to the gods, we are more sensitive to sound than others... Consequently, even it was an unknown language, the instant I heard the strange voice speak over the public announcement system, my mind instinctively warned this voice must not be listened to~"

It probably happened at the same time as when Un Izoey had felt that decisive chill, just as the announcer yelled "hört" with all that speaker noise. Since Isuzu had felt danger as a result, it meant the word could carry the meaning of activating the cursed ability, namely, "this word is for releasing the curse next."

"Then in that instant, I used 'wordless wall' to shield myself from the voice. As it so happened, Sovereignty-san was next to me so I covered her ears with my palms~ ...Oh, sorry for not mentioning it until now, but I was sweeping behind the gym together with Sovereignty-san~"

"That's right, with the superintendent and Zenon-san absent, I had nothing to do at all. Although I heard they were going to come later in the day..."

"I can't believe you started sweeping on your own initiative, how amazing, Sovereignty. I must lavish you with praise."

"Ehehe~"

So—Un Izoey looked at Chihaya.

"And you?"

"I... Umm, there was PE class in the gym but I was just watching from the side. The rule forcing students to change into gym clothes even if they're just watching is so unnecessary, but whatever."

Then Chihaya exhaled lightly and took out from a pocket in her shorts something resembling a wire to show them.

"Because the teacher wasn't in the mood to teach, it was pretty much free time and I secretly listened to music on earphones. But it looks like I was lucky I did that. By the time I realized, everyone was acting really weird. Isuzu also ran in from outside to get me."

Hence, the three of them hid in the superintendent's office after meeting up—That was what happened.

"I see now... Thank goodness everyone is fine. Anyway, we should continue our discussion and share information to decide what to do next."

"That's right~ Discussion is very important. I've been pretending to be a detective all this time, but I can't keep the charade going any longer."

"Yeah, Kana and I will be really grateful if you can give an official explanation~ Oh, but please make things as simple to understand as possible!"

Un Izoey glanced at Kana and Taizou then said:

"Of course, I did not forget this too... Is this place safe?"

"Uh~ Well, Shiraho and the rest of you were the first people we ran into after hiding here..."

"Even so, no one knows if this place is safe or not. The superintendent's office seems to be a very important place, so even though those people's goal is unknown, it might be just by chance that they haven't come by yet—"

Just as Chihaya was saying that, Un Izoey frowned and turned around to look at the entrance of the superintendent's office—In other words, outside. Of course, she could not possibly see through the door, but she could make deductions, like sensing the movements of invisible prey from the sounds and shaking in the bushes.

Indeed, sound was the issue.

"Those are footsteps~..."

Perhaps even more sensitive towards sounds than her, Isuzu whispered.

Truly faint footsteps. The echoing of shoes on the corridor. Multiple. They seemed to be slowly getting clearer. In other words, they seemed to be approaching.

"My guess: judgment that it might be Knights Dominion."

"W-W-W-W-What to do...? Should we run away?"

"If we rush out into the corridor now, we'll just crash straight into them, right? Wouldn't it be better to hide?"

Chihaya nodded to agree with Shiraho.

"I agree too. Hey, maid, what about the next room?"

"The secretary's room? It's possible to hide there, but you won't be able to reach the corridor from there... It's a dead end. If the enemy goes in to find us, it's over—!"

Un Izoey bit her lip.

A frontal assault was also very risky and would require incapacitating multiple opponents in an instant. Otherwise, the noncombatants here were going to be in danger. No, she already knew that Isuzu's curse granted her power to control wind and nature, so as long as they went all-out—Perhaps they might manage barely to force their way through this crisis. However, it would surely expand the scale of the commotion. If such a large group had to run away again, it was hard to predict an optimistic outcome.

(! ...What should be done...?)

During her indecision, the footsteps continued to approach.

The room was already in total silence. Sovereignty was holding tears back, unsure what to do. Shiraho was glaring at the door with hostility on her face. Chihaya was holding her breath while Isuzu silently stepped in front of her.

Then—

The footsteps would pass straight by—This finally ended up as dashed hopes.

Ultimately, the footsteps suddenly stopped in front of the door to the superintendent's office.

Part 2

(placeholder)

Part 3

(placeholder)

Part 4

(placeholder)

Part 5

(placeholder)

Part 6

(placeholder)

Part 7

(placeholder)

Back to Chapter 1

Return to Main Page

Forward to Chapter 3