It was a night of heavy rain and thunder.
Startled by the thunderous roar, I woke up.
The child wasn’t particularly afraid of the thunder, but it did annoy them a bit.
Being someone who generally couldn’t sleep deeply, once they woke up, sleep completely vanished.
So, feeling compelled to study a little, they rummaged through their bag, but the notebook was nowhere to be found.
However, after pondering for a moment, they suddenly remembered that they had left the notebook in the laundry room.
Thus, there was no choice but to head out into the hallway.
Normally, they would have just waited until the next morning to look for it out of laziness, but it was exam time.
Moreover, the academy at night was prone to ghosts appearing.
Still, they usually carried a scroll that chased away ghosts, and if worse came to worst, calling the security teacher would solve the problem… it didn’t seem like it would be a big issue.
Of course, if they were caught by the patrolling security teacher, they would likely get scolded, but they thought that if they explained the situation well, they would understand.
Also, the child was naturally fearless.
With little thought, they grabbed a flashlight and left the dormitory.
However, upon coming out into the hallway, their thoughts began to change a bit.
The sound of rain felt a little louder, and the thunder, of course, was even more prominent…
So they thought about going back into the room, but the thought that they wouldn’t be able to find the notebook tonight made them start walking.
Taking each step reluctantly, to their surprise, nothing happened at all.
The fearful feeling gradually faded, and suddenly, they began to adjust to the eerie atmosphere of the hallway.
In the academy, there were usually no ghosts, and if a ghost did appear, tearing the scroll would chase it away; and the sounds of rain and thunder were just noise anyway, right?
Once they became accustomed to it, it felt like just another ordinary walk down the hallway during the day.
In fact, the empty hallway felt refreshingly okay.
They even thought about sneaking out to walk the hallway at night from time to time.
Ugh, no matter what, I don’t think I could go that far.
Anyway, once they arrived at the laundry room, that’s when the previously postponed feeling of fear began to creep in.
What if a scary person or monster suddenly jumped out from inside the washing machine? That kind of thought.
I’m sure everyone has experienced that before, right?
Our academy’s washing machines are gigantic.
The child had that thought.
Anyway, in that moment where they were a bit anxious looking for the notebook, suddenly,
Creeeak, creeeak—!
They heard a sound.
It was like someone screaming.
A chill ran down their spine, and they immediately took out the scroll, held it tightly, and dashed back to their room.
They slammed the door shut with a bang and locked it right away.
However, after thinking calmly, they realized this could be a serious matter.
After all, it would be a big deal if an intruder entered the girls’ dormitory.
So they reported it to the security teacher, and thankfully, there were no ghosts or intruders.
Instead, they got scolded for wandering around alone at night.
But it was strange; they clearly heard a sound.
So what exactly was that sound?
The child thought carefully and decided to go back to that spot the next morning.
While walking from the laundry room looking for where the sound might have come from, they discovered the music room.
Hey, you know? The music room next to the laundry room.
Oh, is there no one else using the dormitory other than me?
Ayla, you’re not using the dorm, right? Hmm, not anymore?
Oh right, right. That place!
Anyway, to continue the story, after thinking it might be a sound from the music room, they wondered if it wasn’t an instrument sound rather than a scream.
So, they wanted to directly see whoever made that sound tonight.
After all, the security teacher didn’t mention anyone being around!
It must have been someone who startled them and ran away immediately!
With that thought, they were no longer scared at all.
If it was an intruder, there wouldn’t really be a reason for them to make such sounds with an instrument to scare themselves, right?
If it were a ghost or a monster, the security teacher would have caught it.
Yeah, that’s right. The child is quite clever.
They did well in their studies too.
Anyway, they planned to walk the hallway one more time tonight and listen for the same sound.
This time, they wouldn’t be alone but would go with some friends.
Because scary places aren’t that scary when you walk together, right?
Plus, it’s better to tell a kid playing pranks to stop when you’re not alone.
However, that night, they heard no sounds at all.
Instead, they were caught by the security teacher and scolded as a group.
It was on one of those nights.
Thunder rumbled while rain poured.
Suddenly, they thought back to that time.
Bored, the child decided to take another walk down the hallway.
If that sound happened again, they promised not to run away this time.
So, while walking down the hallway, as expected…
The sound happened again.
Creeak, creeeak…
The child walked straight into the music room.
They clearly saw someone at the window.
Dressed in a school uniform, playing the violin.
Seeing that, the child felt a bit angry.
Remembering the time they got scolded by the security teacher too.
So they burst into the room and shouted.
Why on earth are you playing in the middle of the night? It’s a major nuisance, so stop it!
But…
——–
“The child turned around…”
Gulp, all the kids swallowed hard.
Mary, observing the reaction of the children, whispered as if to cry out.
“There are no eyeballs, and wack!!”
“Ahhh!”
At Mary’s sudden loud voice, the children screamed.
“…that’s the sound they made!”
At that, Mary had a proud expression, enjoying the children’s reactions.
It was the moment when the question of why they didn’t like scary things but liked scary stories was answered.
Mary seemed to enjoy swaying the hearts of the other children with her words.
“What happened after that?”
“After that, the child ran away immediately, and even now, on rainy and thunderous nights, the sound of a violin can be heard from the music room.”
“Ugh, that’s scary.”
“If it’s not a ghost or a monster, then what could it be…?”
“That should work against a ghost, right?”
The children trembled and muttered in unison.
However, Luke maintained a calm expression.
“Huh…”
He sighed, seemingly relieved.
That was only natural, as it made him think of Py as soon as he heard of the ghost in the music room.
While Py wasn’t a ghost, she could now influence the material plane in her spirit form regarding instruments, making her the perfect model for a ghost in the music room.
If that were the case, then it meant Py had been causing trouble…
“Py, it seems your prank was not just a prank after all.”
-?
Py tilted her head as if wondering what he was talking about.
Well, considering the nagging she received after that incident, she wouldn’t do anything to affect the music room’s items without permission again.
Looking at Luke’s calm expression, Mary thought, ‘As expected, Luke isn’t scared at all,’ and said.
“Luke, are you really not scared? I talked so passionately…”
With a slightly sulky expression, Mary, Luke lightly laughed and replied.
“Hmm, isn’t there anything particularly scary about it?”
Luke was able to catch the subtly realistic elements of the story.
When you combined that series of clues, it was easy to surmise who the ghost in the music room was.
That identity is…
Irsia.
The violinist of midnight.
The one who taught him how to properly hold a violin.
Luke nodded in agreement with the reasonable deduction and spoke up.
“That must be the story of Irsia. No need to fear.”
“Irsia…?”
Mary seemed to have forgotten. After all, it was a passing story that an 11-year-old might easily forget.
“You seem to have forgotten. I once mentioned that night in your dorm where we played together at night, in the end of the third grade.”
“Did we talk about that…?”
Luke nodded and continued speaking.
“The reason for only playing on rainy nights is probably an effort to hide the sound of music in the noise of the rain and thunder to lessen disturbances, and the part about there being no eyeballs could make sense if you happened to see them in dark surroundings.”
With black hair, and if they let their bangs down considerably, that could cover their eyes.
And anyone would be startled if they suddenly showed up unexpectedly in the middle of the night.
That chilling scream was probably just a reaction to being very surprised.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Thank goodness, it’s not a ghost…”
Hearing Luke’s explanation, the children began to relax their previously tense faces.
However, Mary’s reaction was different.
“…Huh? That can’t be…”
Mary looked increasingly horrified, as if she couldn’t comprehend.
“Why? Is there something wrong?”
“Of course there’s something wrong!”
Mary shouted.
“What exactly is the problem?”
“This story, I heard from my older sister, a graduate, five years ago!”
“Uh…?”
Five years ago… isn’t the timeline too different?
That’s strange. Irsia couldn’t have been at the school five years ago.
She was in third grade, so five years ago would have been before she even enrolled.
For a moment, Luke wondered if Mary was lying to avoid ruining the scary atmosphere, but Mary’s expression was too vivid to dismiss.
This meant that the protagonist of this story might not be Irsia at all…
“Well, then I guess it’s not Irsia. I don’t know.”
But the other children seemed to think differently.
“Could it be that the student named Irsia…”
“Is it a ghost after all…?”
“…Yikes.”
‘Oh no…’
Luke, who tried to dispel the fear, had instead inserted a deeper terror.
What should he do in this situation?
Luke scratched his chin, looking embarrassed and avoiding eye contact.
In that amazing atmosphere, one child stammered and spoke up.
“How about we stop with the scary stories and play a card game instead…?”
“Yeah, let’s do that…!”
“I like that too!”
“I agree!”
