3.1 Halloween Special The School Midnight Walker

A sound of a window that is being closed slowly, can be heard throughout the hallway.

"What's that?" Aý asked and clinged on Asman.

1, 2, 3, 4, windows was suddenly closed.

Aý shouted and tried to hide herself on Asman.

"Hahah, it's just the wind, just the wind" nervousness can be heard on Al's voice while a drop of sweat slowly flows down on his face as he looks at me.

"Y-yeah, a student could have just forgotten to close some windows after cleaning"

I feel drops of sweat slowly running down my face. Why am I here at school instead of sleeping at my dorm room? Good question, then let me tell you.

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"Have you guys heard about the rumours about this school?"

"Ohh that one about the midnight walker?"

"Yeah, that one"

"Do you think it's true?"

"Even if it isn't true, I won't stay until late at night here at school"

"I get you, the school gives the royalty vive of the ancient times but at night, it's creepy"

Some girls was talking about the current topic of the school. We are at the canteen, I can't help but hear them as we walk by their table.

"Hey guys, do you think it's true?" Aý asked the three of us. It was just a coincidence that we went to the canteen at the same time.

"Maybe or maybe not" Al answered.

"What is that rumour anyway?" I asked. They all looked at me with disbelief.

"You are to much of a loner, are you content with just Aldawçy's company?"

"Yes" I closed my eyes as I scratched my head a bit when I answered so I didn't see their reaction.

"How can you answer that without thinking twice?" Asman asked.

"Why should I think twice when it's Al we're talking about?"

Al turned a bit red, Aý smiled and Asman was looking a bit jealous as he turned his back on us. (Why is their reaction like that, did I say something wrong?)

"So what was that rumour anyway?"

"Ohh yeah that" Aý was the one who first reacted to my question. "It's about a ghost that roams the school at night just before the faculty, the student council and club members leaves the school grounds"

"The teachers said that it should be just the golem that guards the school. Due to it's size, it's footstep can be heard throughout the school" Asman said sarcastically.

Our school has only two floors but it' very huge that causes loud sounds to echo in a room.

"The students said that it wears a white coat with green skin with no face. No eyes, nose nor mouth" Al said creepily towards Aý and she screamed a bit.

"Some also said that it sings like it was crying" Al continued.

They looked at me waiting for a reaction so I scratched my head again.

"I really don't believe in ghost so I take it's a golem" this is a fantasy world so I won't get surprised that ghost also exist in this world but I won't tell them that.

"Then how do you explain the crying part" Al asked.

"Yosh, we should stay in school to confirm the rumours" Aý shouted that made the other students look at us.

(Oi, oi, don't shout like your going on an adventure)

"Ii Ne" Al agreed.

"Tssk, as if I'd waste my time on that"

"Oh-hoh, are you scared nīsan?" Asman was More than an hour older than Aý.

"Why would I be scared brat?"

"If your not, then prove it" she smiled in triumph.

"Then Adam and and I will meet you tonight at the front of the school"

"Why am I also coming?" I asked.

"Of course you are, we are a package remember?"

I only sighed and nodded.

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That's how I ended up here. After the windows was closed, echoing footsteps can be heard not far from us.

"Then shall we confirm the 1st theory" Aý said then clinged again behind Asman.

(She is so cute like that) while I smile at myself, I ended up leading everyone. I really didn't care what it is, I just really want to get back to the dorms and get some sleep.

Large footstep can be heard as we grow closer to it. Footsteps but it wasn't moving.

"Is this the club room of the magic origin research club?" Al asked.

"Magic origin?"

"You don't really care about anything don't you Adam" Asman said.

"Mahhh, mahhh. They research on how magic started? how it conjures the outcome of the spell? why mana is required? how mana can create the outcome of the magic? and iroiro" Al said

"Hmmm, so did they find out anything?" I asked while I opened the light for the room.

We entered the room, the footstep is getting louder and louder as we walked to back of the room. Dividers and bookshelves was in between the entrance and the sound.

"Not yet, so they experiment in many things to find any clue on how it works. But one of them said that, not only Humans, Demi humans and Monsters can use mana but also animals and objects"

"Objects?"

"They discovered that everything in this world is infused with mana, so if we write an incantation on an object. The incantation will be casted without any mana from us"

"Well that's already a good discovery" he only nodded at me.

"It's very convenient, but they said that objects has a limit to how much mana it can accumulate by itself. That's why wielders and owners are instructed to put mana in objects so that it can evolve to something stronger"

"Ohh, so that's why it evolves cause it has already a mana pool. Mana from the owners infuse with the objects mana and depending on how much was given to the object, it will evolve. That's why their are different kinds of rarity in swords"

"He nodded"

(Hahah, that's more convincing than those in games that make it evolve with just materials without any explanation)

"So it was this thing that was creating the sounds of a footstep" Asman was searching for a power source as he said that. He caught our attention and so we also looked at the object in front of us.

It was a giant bellow with a mechanical pumper blowing into a giant furnace, when the end part that should be the handle collides, it makes a footstep sound. It's fast and big enough to make it sound like it was a giant man walking.

"Isn't this dangerous living it like this?" Asman said.

"Not really, it has a flue where the heat comes out and a modulate barrier [magic barrier that influences what's within it with a set of instruction given by the caster] was also casted so even if the bellow is pumped harder, it won't affect it that much" I said

"Then this must be what we've been hearing earlier"

"Yeah" I looked at it more specially the spell casted..

"Then what was the students saying about the green skinned ghost with no face?"

Then humming can be heard in the hallway, we all walked out of the room.

"Is it coming from the end of the hallway?" Asman asked.

Fear can be seen on Aý while she clinged on Asman.

"hmmm, hm, hmmm, hmm, hmm, hmhmm"

"Isn't that the school anthem?" they looked at me with nervousness written all over their faces.

It was slow but you can clearly distinguish the rhyme. (What the hell is it doing with the anthem, it is making my skin hair stand on end)

A sound of a window that is being closed slowly, can be heard throughout the hallway.

"What's that!?" Aý asked frantically and clinged on Asman.

1, 2, 3, 4, windows was suddenly closed.

Aý shouted and tried to hide herself on Asman.

"Hahah, it's just the wind, just the wind" nervousness can be heard on Al's voice while a drop of sweat slowly flows down on his face as he looks at me.

"Y-yeah, a student could have just forgotten to close some windows after cleaning"

I feel drops of sweat slowly running down my face.

"Sh-should we confirm whose humming?" Al looked at me like he was begging me to dis agree.

(Shiran, you guys are the one who eager me to come. You asked the wrong person cause I'm not scared of ghosts)

"Let's go, you guys said you want to confirm the rumours. So let's go" I can see shock from their face turning to regret.

They followed me behind. They were like animals being hunted by a predator, sensitive to every movement and sound.

The humming was coming from the floor above us at the stairs, it was slowly going down. We waited at the end of the stairs hiding at the corridor beside the stairs and expected it at the middle of it, waiting to confirm how it looks.

We can already see half of it, it was floating wearing a white gown with green skinned face. I can feel them trembling as they clinged on my back and anticipated the said ghost as it approaches the middle of the stair.

As it slowly turns to face us to continue to go down the stairs.

"Wait it doesn't have a nose bridge nor curves for it's eye and mouth on it's face that can be seen when a person stands sideways" Asman whispered fast filled with fear.

They already looked away and was planning to pull me to run towards the building entrance when I got to see it's face.

"Ya~~ly~n...." that was the final straw that made them run as fast as they can, pulling me until we reach the front, outside of the school.

They stopped running after getting out of the building.

"Did you see that? It really didn't have a face!" Aý said.

"What was that anyway!?" Asman said.

"It's a ghost right, but shouldn't ghost be a bit translucent. That thing was clear as day" Al said.

"I - I th-think I wo-won't b-be able t-to sleep toni-night" Aý voice tremble as she remembers it.

"Ya~ly~~n" it was close and louder like it was yelling to call out to me.

And there, the said ghost slowly shows itself from the shadows inside of the building. Only the Moon was giving luminescent.

Aý fell down on her behind, while Al and Asman slowly steps back.

"It really doesn't have a face" Al uttered, trembling from head to toe.

It's not that it doesn't have a face but rather, it's face is being covered by a mask, that's why facial features can't be seen. But if you look carefully, you can see holes on the mask so that it can see where it's going and if you take account how it present itself, you'll know it's a woman.

"Yalyn, what are you guys doing here so late at night?"

(This voice sounds familiar, even this presence) I walked a bit closer to it as I thought of it.

"Shishou?"

Aý opened her eyes and looked at me puzzled and the others straitened their selves.

"The Grand Court Magician!?" Al shouted with shock.

"Yyaaahhhh. I've been calling out to you, then you suddenly run away from me"

"I didn't run. They run while pulling me, well I don't blame them when you look like that while using gravity magic, shishou"

"Ehh" Aý looked at me puzzled.

"Shishou?" Asman looked at me as if asking why the hell am I calling the Grand Court Magician shishou.

"Why, what do I look like?"

" You look like a green skinned ghost without a face"

She slowly removed her mask and a beautiful face that you can mistake as a face of a goddess statue was shown to us.

"It's just a sleeping mask, they said the thicker you apply the more effective it is"

"I don't care about that. Why do you have to roam the school at night looking like that"

"Ehhh, Samui"she looked dejected.

"You've been scaring so many students, shishou!"

"Ehh, I've been staying here at school cause of my classes. So the principal asked me to round the school at night for any students, while I'm here"

"Wait! Jady-sama, if I may ask, why are you not denying him calling you shishou?" Asman said as polite as possible despite his irritation.

"Why? because I'm his shishou"

That left their mouth hanging except Al. (I guess it's really a big deal to be thought by the grand court magician)

The next day, the rumours was cleared and everyone stayed later than they should just to see shishou.

'Hahhh, why does she always make a scene'

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When the commotion about shishou staying in school subsided, the night the day shishou left the school to go back to the Castle. A menacing presence in the school is smirking as it fades away in the shadows, as if waiting for the right time to show itself.