Vol 2 Chapter 10 (2/2)
“I agree We’ll each need backpacks and hard hats with flashlights attached Gotta be prepared” Larry nodded, his watchful eyes on the passage ahead
“I’ve decided”
“Yeah? What’s your plan, Seron?”
“We’ll turn this corner here, and if the passage keeps going we’ll give up and go back”
“Pardon? We will go back, you said? We will all together go back to the first building which we entered together?” Meg asked Seron’s response was mechanical, almost cold
“That’s right I don’t want to risk any accidents What if the passage branches out to the point that we lose our way? And I don’t really want to consider this, but what if there’s a cave-in? No one knoe’re in here—we’ll be stranded completely”
“I—I know those facts very well, Seron But there may be someone just up front still, no? Someone whom no one knoho does not know that he will be stuck inside here”
“…Probably”
“If that is the case, I after all want to save him We must save him from here This is e are here to do”
“…Megmica”
“Yes?”
With bated breath, everyone waited for Seron to continue Several seconds passed in silence before they heard him inhale
“If at all possible, I want to help hier for that”
“Nice” Larry said under his breath, his eyes still on the passage ahead Natalia grinned, knowing that Meg could not see her face froed with a smile
“He certainly has a point” Nick said froroup
Meg was silent Natalia put a hand on her shoulder
“I know it’s tough to accept, Meg But first, let’s look around that last corner Okay?”
Seron looked into Meg’s dejected face
“Please, Meg to leave hiet more people here today if we can, or at least by tomorrow We’ll explain the situation to theh look inside this place We can ask the drama club for help, too”
“…I understand I understand, Seron” Meg replied, hanging her head
“Well Let’s do this” Larry said, stepping forward
Seron could say no more He turned and followed after Larry
Several steps later, Larry whispered to Seron
“Hey, you think we’ll find anything around the corner?”
“No” Seron whispered back “I’e”
“I knew you’d say that”
“People used to build the s, huh”
“I can’t tell if you’re impressed or annoyed”
“Both, actually”
“Hey!” Natalia cried “Enough whispering by yourselves!”
Finally, Seron and Larry reached the corner
“All right… let’s do this”
“Yeah Let’s go”
This ti as they turned the corner And—
“…”
“…”
They were both struck dumb
Around the corner was a room
“Sophia, could you passneedle?”
“Hht Here you are, Arthur”
“Thank you I’ll take care of this costume, so you can take a break with the others”
“What? Er… i-it’s okay I can wait here in case you need more help”
“Really? Thank you”
“It’s nothing …I had no idea you were so good at sewing, Arthur”
“I’ve been learning froraduated last year, you kno she works as a fashi+on designer at Epstein”
“Wow I had no idea”
“Really? We’ve known each other for so long I thought I ht have told you before”
“Huh? Oh… er, yeah But I barely know anything about your family”
“I suppose I haven’t told you much about them On that note, I don’t know much about your family, either”
“…S-say! If you want, do you want to come over sometime?”
“Hm? Oh, I’m sorry, Sophia! I didn’t mean it like that Sorry if I made you uncomfortable”
“Huh? But I—”
“Yes?”
“I… it’s nothing Nothing at all”
“There The coachman costume is done!”
“Good job, Arthur”
“Thank you I’ a little thirsty now Want to have some tea at the cafeteria?”
“Oh, yes! That sounds great!”
“Excellent I’ll go get the others”
“Hht…”
Several seconds of stunned silence followed Seron and Larry’s discovery But they quickly regained their senses
“What… is this?”
“If you don’t knohat chance do I have?”
They stood frozen past the corner
“Hey, what’d you find there?” Natalia asked, turning the corner with the others They pushed Seron and Larry aside and saw for themselves
And they all fell silent
There was a room
Contrary to their assue did not continue beyond the corner The hallway ended suddenly about 2 meters ahead, and a wide-open space unfolded beside it
Seron and Larry’s flashlights were still on, but they were unnecessary Rows of lightbulbs on the wall gave off just enough light to see by
Though it was hard to tell exactly how large the rooer than the first baseer than it ide, and the stone wall on the opposite side seemed very low
The furniture in the rooht
In the center of the rooainst the wall Further inside the roo, and neatly folded blankets
“What… is this?” Natalia gasped
“Tell ure it out, Lia” Larry said
“This is certainly a scoop, don’t you agree?” Nick asked Jenny
“Yeah But what is it, exactly?”
“This… this is a room Yes ‘Room’ in Roxchean, orNo one else could explain any further
Seron slowly strode forward Larry went after him
“Excuse me!” Seron said in a very loud voice at the entrance He cautiously looked around and stepped into the room proper There was no one there
Larry followed after his
The roo, with the walls made entirely of stone Stone pillars about 50 centimeters thick stood at intervals in the roo above
Upon closer examination, he could see a se doors, and a desk and a chair—the sa with intricate embroidery underneath the desk and the chair
About half of the lightbulbs installed in the alcoves in the ere still lit
Electric wires froainst the walls The wires split at points, and several of the branches led into to a socket in the wall
Three verdant landscape paintings hung on the walls Perhaps they were there to offset the desolate look of the room
On the right side of the chamber were two doors Both were ordinary wooden doors with doorknobs on them The closer of the doors was red, and the other blue They were both closed
“It’s okay, guys There’s no one here” Said Larry
The others followed after him
“This is crazy… there really is a room down here And it’s pretty nice—it’s even better than my room”
“Wh-what has happened here? Do schools in Roxche hide charound normally? Do they?”
“Let’s calmica As far as I know this is not the norm anywhere in Roxche Today is simply full of surprises”
“I’ot a scoop on my hands, but somebody explain what this scoop actually is! How am I supposed to write an article when I don’t have any info to go on?!”
Voices of shock and surprise resounded through the room
“You could always ine all the possibilities” Nick suggested with a sot in response was—
“Hmph!”
“Guys, I want you to stay near the entrance” Seron said, walking around the entrance and exa the furniture Larry did the same
The furniture all seeular use
Seron walked up to the bookshelf and scanned its offerings He picked out what seemed to be the newest of the books
The book was titled, ‘Bobby and the Lemon’
“Light, please”
“Right” Larry nodded, casting light on the book Seron flipped backwards through the book and found the copyright page
“I knew it This was published last month—I saw an ad for it in the newspaper”
“What?”
Seron gingerly stuck the book back in the shelf and dragged Larry over to the entrance, where the others waited
And without warning, he raised his voice
“Wow! Who knee’d find such a cool place underground on campus!”
It was not every day that Seron spoke so loudly His voice bounced off of the stone walls and ceiling and echoed
“…You all right, buddy?” Larry asked with a hint of concern, but Seron ignored the question He spread his arain
“We should use this room! As a clubhouse from now on! It’ll be a secret base! What a find! nobody’s in here! We should take over the place!”
The others were lost, but Nick alone understood and stepped forward
“I see now …That’s a wonderful idea! This rooh to host—no, house—six people! What a discovery! We’re now free to escape our parents!”
“Not you too, Nick I mean, you were always a bit weird, but…” Larry trailed off But Nick ignored him and continued
“What do you say, Seron my friend! We should throw out all the furniture we don’t need! And bring in our own things!”
“Great idea! We’ll definitely do that! In fact, we should get started immediately! Let’s all carry out some of this junk!”
“Perfect! We’ll finish the job before the day is over!”
At this point, Jenny and Natalia also noticed what Seron was doing
“I see I get your plan” Jenny nodded
“Expected nothing less from the drama club” Said Natalia Larry, as still in the dark, offered a correction
“Seron’s not in the drama club In fact, Nick isn’t, either”
“Okay, okay Just be quiet and listen, Larry”
As Larry tilted his head and Meg shrank back at the sudden noise, Nick and Seron continued
“What do you say, Seron! That desk is awfully familiar, don’t you think? We don’t need one of those!”
“Yeah! There are plenty of those back at the school! We’ll dis in a better one!” Seron replied
Nick took a deep breath to continue—
“W-wait! Don’t do it!”
The voice did not belong to any of the six students
The voice came from a man