Vol 6 Chapter 3 (2/2)

Seron reached out and grabbed the rod

The rod had not been secured to the cylinder, likely to htly and put it back again

“I understand How interesting”

“Yeah I don’t think anyone’s gonna need it in today’s weather, though”

“Of course But I a chuckled

Seron and Larry did not understand, but Meg continued

“Let us go!”

They resumed their walk

Larry’s team continued down the trail and entered the woods

Only one turn later, they found themselves deep in the forest with neither the strea of birds punctuated the ambience

“If now I coversaid, “I will probably not knohere I have to go to find the square”

“No worries That’s what thethe map in his left hand

The edge closest to Larry had been rolled up, and the opposite edge was hanging fro his thu line, slowly ress

He also s in line with the terrain around them

Whenever they ly He also checked the cooing the right way Larry paid special attention to places where their route split

Larry made it all look easy

“You’re incredible, Larry,” Seron said

“Thanks, onna go straight down this way for a bit There won’t be any forks until we see a streaonna put away the map Gotta take it easy when you can”

Larry put the compass in Seron’s rucksack and carefully rolled up the map in his left hand Then he checked the time

Instead of wooden planks, the trail here was paved ood chips The ground was soft and easy to walk on Larry, Seron, and Meg walked side-by-side

Ahead, they spotted other students

“Where are we?”

“Hht turn, and…”

“You sure it wasn’t a left? This is the starting line, so we turned left and ended up here!”

Three junior-class their position with the map between them None of them sounded the least bit anxious

“This is the ay froet to the checkpoint C’irls said just as Larry’s teairls all rose to their feet and headed in the direction of the entrance

“…That way see asked, glancing back

“Yeah, but it’s all right As long as they’re having fun,” Larry said with a chuckle, “it’s just a gaood memory to them Not even the school considers this a real competition, I bet”

“Do you really think so?” Meg wondered Larry was about to respond, but stopped hiestured to Seron instead

“Yeah I think today’s et a taste of nature Most people probably think getting first place here’s just a nice bonus People ai for the top like us are probably the exceptions”

“Right!” Larry nodded

“I see I understand”

“Let’s just hope we’re the only weirdos who think of this as a competition,” Seron said with a smile

“Yeah,” Larry agreed

Meg also put on a smile in response “Yes! It certainly is a lovely place It is the perfect weather for walking!”

“I e could do this every month,” Seron whispered to himself

Seron, Meg, and Larry continued briskly down the the trail, encountering other students on occasion

They had stopped speaking so tried to break the silence

So Larry was forced to do it himself

“By the way, about Jenny”

“Yeah?” “Yes?” Seron and Meg responded, slightly surprised

Larry hesitated, but decided to speak “I guess it couldn’t hurt,” heyou in our tea midterm season e had a chance to talk”

“Oh?” “What is the reason?”

“She says she wants to dig up Lia and Nick’s secrets”

“Pardon? Their secrets?”

“What does that mean, Larry?”

“Basically,” Larry said, “she’s never really spent a lot of time alone with those two”

“Now that you say it, that is true” “Yeah” Meg and Seron nodded

“She says, and I quote: ‘The nose knows! Nat and Nick are hiding some juicy secrets’”

“H any instrument She can play a piano and a flute”

“Nick is a h you couldn’t tell from the way he usually acts”

Meg and Seron each gave suggestions

“Yeah Nick really surprised ot Jenfie started She’s probably assuhed, not even trying to hide his disbelief

“I understand,” said Meg, “so that is why I was placed in here and those three people became the same team”

Larry nodded “I would have done the same if I were in Jenny’s shoes It was either you or Nick on this tea up Lia and Nick’s secrets I bet her tea with the checkpoints They’re probably sitting around snacking on a bench so the others”

“I see…” Meg trailed off, but she resumed “But! But, Natalia is the sa to hide She came to visit at my house, and she was the same o were alone”

Larry nodded firmly “Yeah Lia’s been that way all her life She was born with that crazy personality Which is what I told Jenny, but…”

Seron chi you’d call a secret is his skill and experience with the staff—it’s a surprising secret, but not a particularly deep one”

“Yeah It was definitely a shock, though,” Larry agreed

“Yes, it was,” Meg did as well Seron continued

“His vocabulary, his feot taking classes with hied since”

“Yeah,” Larry added, “I think those two know themselves really well, and knohat they want They’re completely sure of themselves”

“Oh! That is a very cool Roxchean phrase, Larry You want to say that where a person is now is i exclaimed

“Huh? Oh Thanks,” Larry said, casting Seron a glance

“Yeah That’s about all with Nat and Nick,” Seron said, not a hint of jealousy in sight

Larry breathed a sigh of relief and continued “I’ things She’s probably wasting her breath right about now, trying to get them to spill their nonexistent secrets”

“I see…in a Roxchean expression, Jenny is barking up the wrong tree,” Meg noted

“If only that were all…” “Yeah”

“H intoned “What does this mean?”

Seron replied, “it rave robber”

“A mummified…? Do you mean the mummies? Jenny will become a mummy, you mean? She will dry and die? That is terrible! Wepanicked, but Seron calmed her down

“Don’t worry, it’s just a figure of speech There’s an old story about how a grave robber broke into a tomb to find a medicine the mummy was buried with, but he died in the tomb and became a mummy hi, only to end up doing it yourself So…”

Larry picked up where Seron left off “Jenny’s gonna try to dig up their nonexistent secrets, but they’ll turn it around and—”

“And Jenny will tell her secrets to the?”

“More or less,” Larry replied

“Yeah It see That’s generally how it goes The more secrets you have, the more of an appetite you have for other people’s secrets,” Seron said

“Oh! That Roxchean expression is very cool too, Seron”

Seron lost hih of relief at the sight

“Then,” Meg continued, “to exaraph she showed to us during the suan to twinkle “Wh-ill happen?”

Meg seemed to feel a mix of pity and excitement, mostly the latter

“I wonder…” “I wonder…” The boys replied, trying not to let their curiosity show too much

“Oh? You do not wish to know, Seron and Larry? Jenny’s secret” Meg asked, as though having read their mind

“Look, a pond” “Look, a pond”

As the students wandered in search of the next checkpoint, three in their ainst the flow

“Nice weather Snacks are great whenever, but today’s perfect for snacking”

“It certainly is lovely I do not feel sleepy at all, but today is perfect for a long nap in the sun”

“Yeah I’rapher, but it’s perfect for taking snapshots”

Natalia, Jenny, and Nick sat on a bench by aline

The peaceful water reflected the clear blue sky, with leaves poking out of the surface and delicate ripples left in the wake of passing waterfowl

“I suppose the othersuncharted terrain as we speak,” Nick re up at the sky

“I’mma put Larry on tea duty if he screws up this one,” Natalia snickered, putting a large piece of chocolate in her mouth

“I believe he is already fulfilling that function,” Nick pointed out, but Natalia pretended to not have known

“By the way, you two—or,

“What’s up? If you wanna kno to get taller, all I can tell you is to not be a picky eater”

“No, no I was actually curious about Larry”

“Oh?” Natalia grinned, pleasantly surprised “So what kinda dirt you want? I can tell you anything! We’ve got plenty of time”

“Thanks,” Jenny replied brusquely, then grinned to herself

Natalia also grinned, but did not let Jenny see

“All right, so how long’ve you known him?”

“What was it now…Ilike 10 years My family moved into the empty place next to the Hepburns”

“I see”

“My folks sold the house when I was in fourth year at pri house since they were away at concerts all the tiko tree that turned bright yellow in autumn It kinda stank this time of year, but I didn’t mind,” Natalia reminisced

Pleased with the flow of information, Jenny moved on to the next question “What was he like back then? I get you were childhood friends, but what did you do together? I can’t really picture anything”

“What did we do? We did kid stuff Fooling around without caring about being a girl or a boy I think ere close Oh, and he used to be a big crybaby”

“I see, I see So how’d you make him cry?”

“Was it that obvious? Well, I did a lot of stuff”

“Like?”

“A lot of stuff I’ht? You must’ve made a lot of boys cry yourself when you were in second year of priies?” Natalia asked Nick, irl

And even after the girl disappeared, the s his senses on the conversation to his left

“Me? I wouldn’t know I didn’t talk with boys at that age,” Jenny replied

“Huh? You e in primary school”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh So did they ,” Natalia raised an eyebrow Jenny had no choice but to answer

“No There just weren’t any boys in my school”

“Huh? I thought ious school, chief?” Natalia gasped, waving her hands dramatically

“No”

“Then where’d you go? Or don’t tell o, could you! I’m so sorry, chief…your family was broke, wasn’t it? You couldn’t pay the tuition…I’ht face to the heiress to Roxche’s largest car company

“Obviously, no,” Jenny sighed, “I did go to primary school”

“Where?”

“Halsey Women’s University Primary School”

Halsey was the most famous private women’s university in Roxche, also infamous for its difficult admissions requirements

“Whoa! That’s a real fancy lady school!” Natalia exclaienuine She leaned in close to Jenny as though zoo “You serious, chief?”

Jenny nodded alht

“Then why not continue on to Halsey Women’s University Secondary School? As I recall, Halsey’s affiliated institutions range froarten to university”

Nick had a point “Yeah, but…” Jenny trailed off

Natalia and Nick saw a rare shadow of doubt in Jenny’s eyes and decided to refrain fro for all of zero milliseconds They leapt like predators locked on to their prey

“What a waste! You beat the odds and one all the way to their exclusive secondary school too Ours isn’t bad, but I’d have stayed if I were you”

“I ree,” Nick joined in with support fire, “but I suppose people all have their reasons, as you must have had, Jenny And thanks to your decision, we ether, and even share our pasts with one another”

Specifically, Jenny was the only one sharing her past, but Natalia caught Nick’s pass and continued their team effort

“Yeah! You could even call this destiny, chief We were fated to meet! I bet you must be happy to do club stuff with us and publish newspapers—er, a newspaper with us, eh?”

“Personally, I a about secondary school is that acaderee?”

“Exactly, Nick Exactly Don’t you think so too, chief?”

Natalia and Nick were on a roll Jenny was being dragged along

“Er…well…”

“Chief! That’s all the ht you here! Oh, but I guess it’s not fair if you’re the only one talking Then we’ll all share I’ll go first,” Natalia ra herself immensely “The truth is…I applied to this school because…”

A spark of excitement rose to Jenny’s eye She prepared for the an to pour out her heart

“…Because it was closest to my house Ten minutes on foot”

“Oh”

Jenny deflated instantly

Her explanation finished, Natalia cast a glance over Jenny’s head to her right

“All right You, Nick?”

“In my case, I live at about the halfway point between our school and the 3rd Capital Secondary School In fact, the latter may technically be closer to my residence”

“So what made you pick our school?”

“I wanted to avoid the 3rd Capital Secondary School, asat the time”

“Interesting…so is there so between you and the hints of a secret with Nick’s sisters

“Not at all They’re both lovely and ad to attend a different school”

“Oh”

Again, Jenny deflated

“You, chief?”

“Huh? No reason”

“Really?” “Truly?” Natalia and Nick asked at the same time

“It wasn’t anything big”

“Oh? Then tell us”

“I said it’s nothing big”

“I’d love to knohy you went froirls’ school in Roxche to a norossip behind it C’mon, chief”

“Well…it was…”

“It was?”

“It was just a change of pace,” Jenny spat

“I see, I see,” Natalia said, nodding repeatedly She put her right aret the picture”

“Yeah? Good to hear,” Jenny said, looking slightly relieved under Natalia’s arm But—

“Yeah It’s definitely et a boyfriend!”

Angry creases formed on Jenny’s brow “Hey! Where’d that come from?!”

“Oh? Was I wrong?”

“Yeah!”

“But what else could it be? The only difference between a girls’ school and a co-ed one is the stink of men”

Nick chuckled bitterly at the comment, but Natalia continued

“As a fellow girl, I can see how having boys around could s fun Mhm”

“H Natalia’s arm off her shoulder “I said that wasn’t the reason! I applied to a co-ed school because there’s boys around, but not because I wanted to get a boyfriend!”

“Then you don’t want one?”

“No! I’onna date anybody!”

“A, but you’re wasting away your youth Are you gonna start dating in university?”

“How am I supposed to know?”

“If you want to find a decent otta start early Don’t you think?”

“That doesn’t et a boyfriend”

“But—”

The girl talk continued without giving Nick a chance to intervene

“Fascinating”

But he did not seeant smile

Larry was in the woods

Cedars as thick as a grownand obscuring his line of sight

Larry stood in the woods, the coht hand open and held at eye-level Larry peered through the lens in the lid to pinpoint his next heading

When he found the angle the compass indicated, he pinpointed a tree that happened to overlap with the wire fitted into the lid

Larry shut the corass He took one fir into a run

Seron and Meg followed about 10 meters behind

“He’s checking our heading by using nearby features as landmarks, since we can’t see too far in here,” Seron explained, “in this case, Larry’s picked that tree as the landht of it Once we get there he’ll check the coain and find us the next landmark”

“If he does do this, we can walk straightly in the forest I understand It is very wise,” Meg said with a nod Then she added, “but it is very bad news if he chooses the wrong direction”

“Yeah,” Seron replied

The teaain, taking the fastest route towards the next checkpoint

This route forced theh the woods all the way to their next destination There were no hills or streams marked, but the next checkpoint was hundreds of meters away

If they failed to continue in a straight line, even when they returned to the trail they would not knohether to head left or right They would be completely lost

Larry stopped and looked at the co stopped as well

“So he’s using a really clever strategy to ht,” Seron whispered, so as to not disturb Larry

“Oh? What is the strategy?”

Larry began to walk again Seron and Meg followed

“Right noe’re not actually walking straight to the next checkpoint,” Seron explained, “because if ere, and we happened to get lost, ouldn’t knoe’d strayed too far to the left or the right Does that make sense so far?”

“Yes, it does”

“So Larry’s leading us to a point on the trail about 200 meters to the left of the checkpoint Which means—”

Meg clapped her hands triuh she had solved a riddle “I understand! When we coht! Even if our direction is a little wrong, it will not be severely wrong”

“Yeah Exactly,” Seron replied, his gaze locked on Meg’s smile

“Knowing more and more makes it more and more fun!”

“I’lad to hear that I once read a book that said wouess it ”

“The good thing about you, Seron, is that you are sht!”

“Th-thank you”

“You’re very welco this to me”

They stopped, facing one another—

“Huh?! WHOA!” Larry cried

Seron and Meg also looked ahead

“Hm?” “Oh my!”

They spotted another group of students

“Your parents’d be happier if you brought home your future husband sooner than later,” Natalia res

“Sure, I guess”

Jenny sat next to her, sitting cross-legged

Next to the Jenny sat Nick, quietly sipping orange juice without joining the conversation

“Right? Better grab one early Gotta find Mr Right and put your name on him before anyone else does Or else you’ll end up an old maid before you know it”

Just as Natalia insinuated, most women in Roxche married in their early twenties It was the same for the upper classes, ent fro classes, ent into the workforce

Many students would begin dating in secondary school, populated by others of siraduation It was not uncommon to marry as soon as one entered university, either

Because it was very likely that one would go on to irlfriend from secondary school, the school hosted a dance party every year in the fourth ive students an opportunity to socialize and find their match

“Your parents would’ve set up soirls’ school Isn’t that why you came here?” Natalia asked, “that’s all my music-focused brain can come up with”

“Does it evento avoid the issue

“Yeah You’re the only one who hasn’t talked C’h In second year of primary school he tried to show off on the horizontal bars and fell off His nosebleed was so bad it coot plenty more secrets to share, if you wanna trade for it”

“Why are you doing this?” Jenny de up at Natalia

“Why else? I wanna get to know you more and be better friends with you,” Natalia replied Jenny smirked

“All right I guess it’s true I wanted a freer life here Girls’ schools are a lot more restrictive”

“See? It’s good to be free So what happened to bring you to a co-ed school? Did so happen to you when you were 12 years old?”

“Yeah, stuff”

“Like?”

“Just stuff”

“You gotta tell us what this stuff is, Jenny I get the feeling it’s soo, ‘oh oodness!’ every once in a while”

“Ohthethe sa other than us!”

About 50 meters in the distance were three people in school-issue sweats

The tallest of the three was a boy with brown hair He was accoirl with black hair a little longer than Jenny’s From their builds they were likely all senior-classmen

The tall boy at the front was holding a compass much like Larry’s