Chapter 75: The Hidden Basement and the Spirits’ Awkward Tricks

“Um… Could she really have gone back first?”

From the first to the fifth floor, she was nowhere to be found. The only possible conclusion was that Yuri had returned to the dormitory first.

However, there were two things about that assumption that didn’t quite sit right.

First, did Yuri have the courage to make her way through the forest path between the dormitory and the old school building alone? Of course, it was possible that she had forced herself to endure the fear and return.

Second, would Yuri, given her personality, really have left us behind after realizing something was wrong? It was possible that she had gone back to seek help or to grasp the situation more clearly.

But for her to suppress her fear, leave without checking on her friends, and return alone?

That scenario was difficult to imagine.

“But we definitely checked every floor.”

“No. There’s still one place we haven’t looked.”

Presia contradicted Celian’s words. She unfolded the map she was holding and showed it to us.

However, the map in Presia’s hands still only displayed the layout of the first floor.

?

“As I was walking around, I noticed one place that didn’t match the map.”

She pointed to a small room next to the staircase leading to the upper floors.

“At first, I thought I was mistaken, but now I’m sure.”

Covering part of the room’s depiction on the map with her finger, she spoke again.

“It’s smaller. By this much.”

We immediately made our way to the small room next to the staircase. Sure enough, when comparing it to the map, it did seem more cramped.

Furniture had been stacked cleverly to make the room appear smaller, concealing a small space.

“Yuri? Are you in there?”

Hoping that Yuri might be hidden beyond the furniture, we called out, but there was no response.

“What should we do? There’s too much to move one by one…”

“El, Celie! Step back for a moment!”

At Anne’s shout, I pulled Celian back, and Anne swung the greatsword she was holding at the furniture.

It wasn’t as massive as the one she rarely carried due to its inconvenience, but with her strength and aura, the heavy sword was enough to shatter the furniture blocking our way or send it toppling over.

However, there was no Yuri beyond the wreckage—only a staircase leading downward.

“The basement…”

“Well, with a building of this size, it makes sense there’d be a basement.”

“Then I guess the ghosts were the ones who stacked up that furniture as a prank.”

“But why wasn’t the path to the basement marked on the map?”

“This map… Judging by the paper, it’s not very old. It’s probably not the original but something someone made after visiting the old school building, just like us. That person must have overlooked this area.”

Compared to the actual size of the room, the map’s depiction was slightly larger. However, since the discrepancy wasn’t significant, it likely hadn’t been seen as a problem.

“Anyway, should we head down right away? We need to find Yuri quickly.”

“Wait a moment.”

Presia stopped me as I rushed forward. She snapped her fingers lightly in the air, summoning four bright orbs of light that illuminated the surroundings.

Each orb hovered around one of us, following closely.

“There’s no moonlight, so be careful not to miss a step going down…”

As expected of a basement, there were no windows, and the hallway was much darker than above ground.

If Presia hadn’t been here, exploring would have been much more difficult.

“Hmm… Should we all move together for now?”

Since we had no map and were unfamiliar with the layout, it seemed safer to stick together rather than splitting up and wasting time retracing our steps.

—Grrrrrr…

However, before we could take more than a few steps, a ghost appeared and grabbed hold of someone’s ankle.

Not metaphorically—literally. Along with an eerie sound, it reached for a leg.

The ghost probably wanted to startle us, but instead, Celian simply stared down at it with an expressionless face.

Her gaze, as if asking “What are you doing?” lingered long enough that the ghost seemed embarrassed. Awkwardly, it let go of her ankle and slunk away into the darkness.

…What was that thing?

Yet, the ghost wasn’t willing to give up on scaring us. As we continued searching the rooms, it attempted another foolish trick.

—GRAAAH!

With a loud noise, the ghost suddenly reappeared, this time targeting Anne—the shortest among us, even smaller than Presia—by materializing right in front of her.

This time, the ghost’s efforts paid off. Anne let out a loud scream, alerting everyone to her fright.

However, the ghost probably had no idea how big a mistake it had just made by choosing Anne as its victim.

WHAM!

Anne’s reflexive punch sent the ghost flying straight to the ground.

Its form began to blur. Whether it had fulfilled its purpose of scaring someone and could now pass on, or if Anne’s punch had outright exorcised it, one thing was certain: the ghost was disappearing.

“That really startled me…”

The second time someone gets startled, it won’t be the ghost that gets caught—it’ll be a real person.

For the record, I once tried to startle Anne, and after getting hit, I decided never to do it again.

“Hmm… This room’s structure seems different.”

As we moved together but examined different rooms, Presia called us over, having found something.

“What is it, boss?”

Being the closest, I followed Presia into the room.

Creak. Thud. Click.

But the moment I stepped inside, I heard the sound of the door closing behind me. That last click was probably the lock engaging.

Clank. Clank.

The lock should be on the inside, yet no matter how much I turned the doorknob, the door refused to budge.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

“Celie? Anne?”

I called out to Celian and Anne, who should be on the other side of the old door, but there was no response. Even when I pounded on it—hard enough to break it, given my strength—the old, worn-out door didn’t so much as shake.

“Hmm… This seems like the ghosts’ doing…”

“For something set up by ghosts, the door sure is unnaturally sturdy.”

“It’s probably because the negative energy is stronger underground. No sunlight reaches here, and it’s been left abandoned for a long time.”

That eerie chill I felt coming down the stairs wasn’t just in my imagination.

We were trapped in a sealed room with no windows, and the only exit was a locked door that wouldn’t budge.

I considered asking Presia to use magic to break it down, but just then, words slowly appeared above the door.

『To exit, you must hug for ten minutes.』

“Huh? Boss, take a look at this.”

“…I see it.”

Despite the intensified negative energy, it seemed the ghosts were still at heart playful pranksters.

Rather than doing anything harmful, they just wanted us to hug for ten minutes.

“Alright, boss. Come here.”

It wasn’t a difficult request, and instead of antagonizing the ghosts, it was easier to just go along with their silly game and leave.

So, I spread my arms and gestured for Presia to come closer.

“Uh…? Well… okay…”

After hesitating for a moment, Presia finally agreed and leaned into my embrace.

She was small, not as much as Anne, but still petite for her age, fitting snugly into my arms. If it were someone like Celian or Yuri, who had a more prominent figure, this might have felt awkward. But with Presia, it was fine.

“Are you feeling uncomfortable?”

After a few minutes passed, I loosened my grip slightly, wondering if I was holding her too tightly.

But Presia reassured me.

“…To avoid giving the ghosts an excuse, you can hold me tighter.”

That was a fair point. If the ghosts decided we weren’t hugging properly, we’d just waste ten more minutes.

“Alright, then. Sorry if it’s a bit tight.”

“You can squeeze me a little more… yeah, just like that.”

Of course, if I used my full strength on her frail frame, things would go terribly wrong.

“A little more. Tighter… good…”

As I gradually increased the pressure, Presia indicated the right amount she could handle.

Click.

Exactly ten minutes later, the ghosts must have been satisfied, as the lock on the door released.

I let go of Presia and turned the doorknob—it opened with no resistance, as if nothing had ever been wrong.

The moment the door swung open, Presia, her face flushed red from the ordeal, bolted out of the room.

Even though she said she was fine, I must have pushed her physical limits. Maybe I should’ve let her hug me instead, since I had the bigger frame.

Still… where on earth is Yuri?