I made a mistake in the previous chapter, Hide did not find headphones. I forgot that I had pointed that out in the prologue :p
People
*Locations/cities/etc. may not correspond with actual real life locations.*
Oakwood high school was generally regarded as a larger than average academy. Actually, saying something like that may be a bit of an understatement. In truth, Oakwood was the largest school, both student population wise, as well as land space within the international port city of Setoha. Setoha was a city of the coast of Okinawa, and as such, not only housed an American military base, but also plenty of foreign embassies. As a gesture of foreign friendship, many international diplomats would lay root within Setoha, and Oakwood was the usual benefactor for the children of said diplomats. This influx in foreign exchange students was only one of several reasons for the prestige of the school...
With three separate main buildings, interconnected by a series of extending skyways, the school boasted as much as 400 separate classrooms, 5 indoor gymnasiums, 2 swimming pools, an observatory, as well as one of the largest tracks in the nation. Currently within this gigantic excuse of a school, I was at the central building, one of the newer construction, and the mainstay of the academy.
The central building housed many important facilities, most notably the Cafeteria, the main office, and the infirmary. After crossing the skyway that connected the old school building and the central building together with Cielle and Hina, we were on our way downstairs, to where the infirmary was located.
My vague recollection of the school’s layout guided our way as we pushed onwards.
With tensed footsteps, we made our way through the empty hall that led to the nearest flight of stairs. As we moved forward, I observed the scenery before me, the same scenery I’ve been greeted with for the better part of two years. As expected of the newest addition to the school, the floors were lined with Vinyl tiles, while the walls were decorated in new, pale blue lockers. This was quite a sharp contrast to the Old building, which had rotted floorboards, and lacked actual lockers, instead opting for the more traditional shelving within the classrooms.
Of course, one thing that stayed constant was the blood. Even here, the destruction and carnage had claimed its victims, staining the floors red, while denting many of the lockers. Although one key difference here was that there were less bodies- corpses. In fact, there were none. None at all, although I could see the occasional red drag marks that indicated someone had moved the bodies. It was refreshing in a sense. After being surrounded by death 24/7 for more than a week, a place as wide and open as this hallway to lack any actual corpses… it was refreshing.
But that’s not to say it stopped me from tensing up. After all, blood, no matter the context, is still blood, and in all likelihood, they indicated that a monster had been through here. That was enough reason for me to be on guard. This “unexplored territory” deserved our utmost attention and focus. Even the girls understood that.
Hina, who, lately, has been getting quite talkative, hasn’t uttered a single word from the moment we crossed the skyway, instead opting to put her focus into her surroundings. Her eyes would dart back and forth, stealing glances at the windows that peered into many of the empty classrooms and at the blood splatters that stained the hallway. The blood seemed to act as an enforcer, which made her develop a rather peculiar habit as we ventured further into the building. Every Step of the way, she held her hands up, away from her body. Her fingers were also outstretched, pointed in front of her, ready to cast magic on anything that seemed out of place.
Cielle on the other hand, was a bit more composed… or should I say, she was acting the same as ever. Her unkempt hair still cascaded over her eyes as she held a small backpack within her arms. The bag was filled with at least a gallon of [Dark Gemini], and acted as Cielle’s last wall of defense, in case we ever ran into something dangerous. Since we couldn’t continue carrying around a container as large as the one within the art room, we had to improvise, and a backpack was what we came up with. Cielle held that bag tightly within her grasps as she followed me with her usual small strides.
I was similarly on edge. Ever since we set off for the infirmary, I’ve been experimenting with my new skill, [Sensory Remapping +]. The skill itself was easy enough to use, wherein, its effects activated with merely a thought, kind like the window panels. After a couple of tries, I learned how to mess around with my senses. As we walked, I “switched off” my sense of taste, all the while, enhancing my sense of hearing.
It’s quite an amazing experience. My range of hearing expanded, while the lack of taste in my mouth boggled me. Did you know that saliva actually has a taste? It was a bit difficult at first, adjusting to the suddenly missing constant which I had grown accustomed to all my life, but in the end, the trade off was worth it. My boosted hearing was well suited for these quiet halls, as any trace of noise could be instantly detected.
Currently, this new skill was molding out to be quite amazing, and more than just useful. Although, if I had one complaint, it would be my own mastery. Unlike what the skill panel had indicated, I could not adjust the level of sensory loss. In my case it was either use it or lose it. Hopefully, as the skill’s own level grows, my flexibility with it will as well, but for now, I can satisfy myself with this amount of adequacy.
After a few minutes, we arrived at the infirmary. Along the way, we somehow managed to avoid any unwelcomed encounters…. although to me, it was more like this hall lacked any actual monsters, which had struck me as odd.
The fact that we hadn’t encountered anything, despite the traces of monster and battle all over the halls set all three of us on edge. We didn’t know what could be lurking around the corner at this very moment, and that uncertainty scared us.
With such dark thoughts, I willed myself to focus on the goal in front of me.
The infirmary was guarded by a flimsy set of sliding doors whose surfaces were stained with splotches of red and yellow.
It was a foreign scene. Truth be told, I’ve never once set foot into the infirmary, so, in a sense, this would be a first for me.
I took a moment to collect myself, before my hand moved and grasped onto the bloodied knob. I ignored the unnerving feel of dried blood as I turned towards the girls behind me and whispered in a low voice, “Ready?”
The two girls nodded in understanding as they prepared themselves. Hina’s hands remained held high, this time pointing at the door, while Cielle silently unzipped the backpack in her arms. Sparks of red danced around Hina’s hands as bits and pieces of black liquid floated within Cielle’s vicinity.
This would be our first time actually entering a classroom within the Central building, so this level of caution was necessary. What lies behind this door, could either be death, salvation, or nothing, and truthfully, I’d prefer it not to be anything unpleasant.
My free hand gripped at Efhermet’s handle from underneath my jacket, as I abruptly opened the door with excess vigor.
“....”
“....”
“....”
After being greeted by an empty room, I eased my grip on the dagger while simultaneous rounds of relieved sighs resonated from behind me.
With reassured step, I entered the room. As expected, the infirmary was empty. Looking around the room, I could see clear signs of struggle - the broken cabinets, strewn about beds, a computer that was flung all the way to the other side of the room. It was clear that there had been some violence here, but whether it was monster or human… I had my doubts.
While I was looking around the room, the girls had entered. Once she got into the room, Hina went straight for the cupboards, probably where they kept all the medication.
“Hina, do you go here often? You seem to be familiar with the room.” The earlier tension had somewhat diminished, so I decided to banter a bit with Hina as I also began looking through the room.
“Ah, yeah. I used to be a student aid for the nurse here… She taught me a few things…” She replied, somewhat distracted.
“I see…”
I answered awkwardly while I jiggled the knob of a locked cabinet drawer.
Seeing my struggle, Cielle, who had been staring at me for quite some time now, moved forward. She rummaged through the teacher’s desk located near the back wall, before moving over to me. In her hands was a copper colored key.
“Here…” She mumbled while handing over the object.
“Ah, thanks…” I replied and promptly opened the drawer. To my disappointment, it was filled only with papers and old medical records.
Sighing, I dejectedly moved on and continued with my search. It might be obvious, but we were looking for medical supplies. While Cielle’s [Gemini Blue], and to a lesser extent, Hina’s healing spell, could fix any injury, we were still powerless towards illness or infection. And, in a dirty place like this, rather than monsters, infection might be our number one enemy…
I rummaged through a few more of the compartments near the back wall.
Cielle moved over to stand besides me. She helped with my search, all the while sending constant, “discreet” glances my way. For some reason, this sent shivers down my spine.
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After a couple of minutes, I dragged myself over to one of the spare beds and sat myself down while sighing. In the end, I couldn’t find a single thing.
“Did you find anything?” Hina spoke from the front of the room. She didn’t bother turning towards me, as she continued to search through the numerous cabinets.
“No…” I replied with a sigh. “Cielle and I couldn’t find anything… I was hoping you had better luck…”
She awkwardly laughed while turning towards me and shrugging. She raised her arms up, exposing her empty hands.“It’s odd….” She stated while looking a bit puzzled. “I’m sure they should be over here but it’s empty. It’s all empty.”
Cielle and I moved over to where she stood, and we both looked at the empty cupboards. Like she said, it was empty. In fact, it wasn’t just that cupboard that was empty. After extensive riffling through the infirmary, we soon discovered that most of the medical supplies had been taken. Except for three rolls of bandages, and a box of waterproof band aids, the infirmary was empty.
“... Someone took them.” Cielle voiced out my thoughts. “A person…”
“Un…” I solemnly grunted while I nodded my head in agreement.
Monsters had no need for medicine. From what I could gather through our previous encounters, monsters, at best, had sub par intelligence. Maybe something a bit higher than your ordinary animal, but they definitely weren’t a race of Einstein's, that’s for sure. If something like goblins came through here - a more humanoid monster, then I could see them taking the supplies, but I doubt that. In all likelihood, it was more plausible that another human came and took them.
“Hey, hey, if… if a person really did take all the medicine, that means there are others right?” Hina suddenly spoke out, her voice a little choked. “S-survivors. There are others right?” She repeated, her tone had a sense of newfound hope, one I’ve only ever heard once, back when we brought her back from death’s door.
“....” I replied with silence. There wasn’t much I could say. A lot of people probably died, but it wouldn’t be an impossibility if a few survived. The school was a big place, and had plenty of students. Anything could happen.
As we sat in silence, thinking over the possibility of survivors, something caught my attention.
It was a slight, quiet sound. The sound of shuffling. Shuffling foot steps from out the hallway. Normally I wouldn’t have been able to notice such a quiet sound, but my ears had picked up on it due to my new skill.
I could tell that the sound came from a couple of meters away, and that there were probably more than one cause for the noise. The noise grew louder and louder as what ever caused it drew closer and closer.
Without another word, I crouched down beneath the window that looked out into the hallway while I indicated for the girls to follow.
They complied, but not without shooting questioning glares in my direction. I replied only with a “shh” gesture, while I carefully leaned my head to peer through the window. I made sure to be as discreet as possible, hoping that whatever came wouldn’t be able to see me.
Soon, 4 figures came into view. 3 male, one female. From the looks of their tattered school uniforms, they were students - survivors.
Hina, who by this point, had also decided to look out the window, couldn’t help but cover her mouth as she muffled a gasp. I didn’t blame her though, even I was fairly surprised to see actual people.
I quieted down while I continued to observe the group.
All 4 of them were armed. Two of the boys carried metal bats, the girl had a pair of sharpened scissors in each hand while the last one held what looked like a black short sword. The sword brought my attention the most. From what I could tell, it was glaringly obvious that it was a monster drop.
The group was tense and obviously distressed. The boys had bitter, scowling looks on their faces while the girl was doing her best to hold back her tears. Every now and then, she’d whimper and hiccup, to which one of the guys would always reply with a stern “shut up!”.
As they approached closer and closer towards us, the girl abruptly stopped. Now that they were closer, I could clearly see the girl’s face. It was dirtied and smeared, both with blood and tears. She had a giant gash on her forehead, which looked like it hurt.
The girl exchanged worried glances with the trio, to which they replied by bitterly biting their lips as they hung their head down.
Silence persisted for a good while, before the girl’s squeaky voice spoke out.
“W-w-what do we do….?” Her voice was weak, squeaky, and interlayered heavily with worry. It was the type of voice that would annoy anyone.
“What do you mean, ‘what do we do’... there’s nothing we can do! Those bastards already….” A bald guy with a large build replied back. His face was covered in dirt, which kind of complimented the self deprecating glare he had on. From my perspective, he looked a bit too old to be a student.
“Uwaa… The BOSS is gonna be really pissed….” Another guy, the one with slanted eyes and a mop of messy hair, replied back as he looked up at the ceiling and sighed. He gave off a carefree attitude, but even from here, it was obvious that he too was worried.
“Man, I seriously don’t want to go back...” The last guy spoke out. This one was the one who held the black short sword. He had a rather plain face below his mop of dyed brown hair. “... The last time someone messed up this badly….”
“Agh! Don’t remind me of that, poor Takeda…” The bald guy sighed with a look of pity on his face.
“Hahaha… The BOSS does have a tendency to PK….” Brown hair replied while bitterly laughing to himself.
Hearing the conversation in front of her, The girl broke down and sobbed. Her legs gave out as she desperately hugged herself. She mumbled, “I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die” as her face was once again stained in tears.
The trio in front of her couldn’t help but scratch their heads at this spectacle. If you looked closely at their faces, the same look of worry also consumed them.
“Ah~, We’re seriously going to die….~”
“Fuck…”
“....”
After a minute of deranged sobbing, the girl abruptly shot up as her hands gripped fiercely on the scissors. They visibly began to bleed as her face contorted into an ugly expression. “Damn it, shit, fuck! If only those bastards from the cafeteria hadn’t jumped us…”
While tears pooled in her eyes, her face twisted into a vicious snarl. “We should just raid the cafeteria again! Nobody fucking steals from us!”
“Well, didn’t we originally steal from them?” Slanted eyes weakly replied.
“Ugh, Shut up! It doesn’t matter anymore! Nobody steals from us!”
The three guys attempted to calm her down, which only resulted in an angry reception as the girl lashed out with her scissors.
“Let’s just steal it back! We can just get the food back from the cafeteria!” She yelled, a heavy hint of desperation in her voice.
“Are you an idiot? There’s like 50 students there. After we raided the place 4 days ago with the others, they’d kill us if we showed our faces!” The bald guy tiredly retorted.
“But…”
“-Plus, they have that one guy there.” The brown haired kid interrupted. “ I heard he could do the same thing as BOSS…”
After the mention of ‘BOSS’, the group abruptly stopped talking. A heavy miasma of despair took hold of them as they clenched their fists tightly and looked dejectedly down.
From their reactions and conversation, I got a vague idea of what was going on. In short, these 4 were what could be best described as underlings, and apparently, the guy they worked for was a pretty scary fellow. The 4 in front of me looked pretty pathetic at the moment, so much so that even I couldn’t help but feel a bit of pity for them.
I momentarily shifted my focus as I casted a quick glance at the two besides me, hoping to gauge their own reactions at the scene before us.
Cielle was the same as always, an impassive look plastered on her face, while Hina sported a rather strange expression. Her eyebrows scrunched up as if she was deep in thought. Her head swayed from side to side, as if she was mulling over an important decision. It was a rather amusing sight, especially seeing the numerous facial expressions that flashed across her face.
While she was interesting to look at, unfortunately, she was too deep in thought. Without realizing, her face was completely visible. If one the guys so much as glances in our direction, they’d be greeted by this idiot’s face staring directly at them.
“Ah- You idiot!” I cursed under my breath, before hastily pulling Hina’s head down. She replied with a small “eep!” as her face bumped the wall, but I ignored her as I inwardly cursed again. The bump had produced a small thud sound, and I silently bit my lip in anxiety.
After a good minute, I warily poked my head up again as I looked cautiously out the window.
I was hoping they didn’t see us, but by this point it was too late.
My eyes exchanged glances with the Bald guy’s, and for a second, we just stood there, silently staring at each other.
After the moment passed, the Bald guy abruptly blinked as he began to walk over towards our direction, a certain hostility evident in his gait.