* * *
Rona’s lips quivered.
It was obvious from her face that she was flustered and didn’t know how to respond.
However, the person who made the remark felt the same way.
Chester pressed a hand to his forehead. He felt like his face was burning.
“Fine, I’ll trade with you.”
Rona chose to just coolly swap with him rather than continue the conversation.
Even though his reason—that he simply liked the number 4—was somewhat absurd, she handed over the paper she was holding.
“Thanks.”
After finishing the exchange, Chester approached Ruite, who was wandering around asking if anyone had number 4.
“No way…”
Ruite narrowed his eyes as he spotted Chester approaching.
When Chester confidently held out the paper with the number 4 on it, Ruite’s expression turned slightly sour.
He clearly didn’t like the look of it.
“You hate it that much?”
“It’s not that I hate it… won’t it be uncomfortable for you?”
Ruite felt like he had been getting tangled up with Chester quite a lot since coming to the camp.
Human affairs are truly unpredictable.
Even when neither side wants it, situations keep tying them together.
“Just do it.”
As soon as Chester spoke, Magnus raised his hand high and shouted for everyone to gather.
The classmates naturally stood with the partners who had drawn the same number.
The order followed the numbers written on the papers.
Starting from number 1, they were to enter the area Magnus had mentioned, touch the large tree, and return.
And so, the courage test—the “fun” event hosted by Magnus—began.
As Rio and Ayla, who drew number 1, began to move, everyone swallowed hard and grew tense.
Whether ghosts actually existed was a problem for later.
The atmosphere of the forest itself was quite dismal.
It hadn’t seemed like much when looking from afar during the day, but once inside, the vibe was definitely eerie.
It was pitch black everywhere without a single point of light, and the bushes swaying in the blowing wind created a spine-chilling sound.
Moreover, perhaps because of the rumors that ghosts appeared often, there was even a lingering chill in the air.
Just then, a faint sound like a scream drifted from deep within the forest. Ruite was startled and flinched.
“What was that? Was that Ayla’s voice just now?”
“I-is there really a ghost…?”
A few minutes later, the group that left first returned.
Because of the scream, everyone flocked to them.
Fortunately—or perhaps disappointingly—the scream was just Ayla’s voice because she had almost tripped.
The two shook their heads, saying they hadn’t seen anything like a ghost.
However, both Ayla and Rio had somewhat tense expressions; they said that the deeper you went, the thicker the trees and bushes became, making it much darker and scarier than here.
Next was the turn for number 2, Colin and Rona.
Watching their retreating backs, Chester realized that if he hadn’t swapped numbers with Rona, he would have been Colin’s partner.
Soon after they entered, the surroundings became quiet again.
“Aren’t they too late?”
“Yeah. It’s definitely about time for them to be back…”
This time, there were no screams, but Colin and Rona had not appeared even though they were well past the expected time.
“W-were they caught by a ghost?”
“No way…”
Though they laughed and told each other not to joke, everyone swallowed nervously.
Just as the worry began to peak, Colin and Rona finally appeared.
“Why were you so late?”
“Did you see a ghost?!”
At that, Colin smiled gently.
“We didn’t meet a ghost, but thanks to Rona, I got to see quite a lot of interesting plants.”
Ruite muttered quietly, “I knew it.”
While the others were worried, Ruite had remained calm.
Since the person who was late was Rona, he had a good idea of what was happening.
Seeing that Colin also looked quite happy, they must have spent plenty of time looking at plants.
“But it did get darker the further we went. The atmosphere was strangely chilling.”
Despite that, Colin shrugged, saying he didn’t see even a hair of a ghost.
Next, Magnus, Blair, and Davis moved as a team.
But the three of them were also out of luck.
When they returned, Magnus especially had a disappointed look on his face.
“Alright, next are Ruite and Chester.”
The two were the last ones for this event.
Perhaps because the previous teams hadn’t spotted a ghost, the tension and interest that had been pulled tight earlier had sagged a bit.
“I wonder if there really are no ghosts.”
Ruite looked around as they set off.
Indeed, because the trees were much taller and it was an area rarely touched by people, the bushes were thick and the atmosphere was quite different.
He looked up, but the moon in the sky was hidden by the trees and hard to see.
Because the moonlight didn’t leak through, the surroundings were dark.
“There’s no way such things exist in the first place.”
With that, Chester made a sharp point, saying those rumors are common everywhere and are just exaggerated stories for entertainment; he added that it’s stupid to believe them from the start.
“Then why did you say you were coming here?”
“…”
Ruite wondered why he came to an event that wasn’t mandatory if he firmly believed ghosts didn’t exist.
Chester stayed silent for a moment and looked at Ruite.
“I don’t know either.”
“What is that? You actually want to see a ghost, don’t you?”
“I told you that’s not it.”
“Then why did you come?”
“I said I don’t know.”
The conversation went in circles like a broken record.
Ruite persisted in his own way, but Chester didn’t give a specific reason for why he came all this way.
As they moved forward, mist began to crawl through the air.
It wasn’t very heavy, but it made the atmosphere feel even more dismal.
Just as Ruite was looking around, thinking a ghost might actually be preparing to appear, his foot caught on something and his body pitched forward.
“Ah…”
Even though he knew there was nothing to lean on or grab in front of him, he reflexively reached out.
Just as he thought his knees were going to get completely scraped, he felt warmth on his outstretched hand, and a firm arm and hand grabbed his shoulder.
“…Th-thanks.”
Chester held the hand Ruite had reached out and supported him by grabbing his shoulder with his other hand.
Ruite quickly checked his feet.
A tree branch rolling on the ground was the culprit.
“It’s dark and I didn’t see it properly because of the mist.”
Ruite decided to speak first, fearing Chester would nag him about why he suddenly tripped like a fool or ask if he did it on purpose.
“Be careful if you know that.”
“Huh? Y-yeah. But Chester.”
“What.”
“Why are you still holding my hand?”
The arm around his shoulder had dropped away quickly, but Chester was still holding his hand.
Even when Ruite twisted slightly to pull away, Chester was strangely holding on with strength.
“Think about it.”
“Think about what?”
“Do you think you won’t trip again while walking? Even if you’re careful, it looks like you’ll trip several more times.”
Ruite’s mouth hung open.
Anyone would think he had the power of prophecy.
However, Ruite wasn’t confident enough that he wouldn’t trip again, so the words “that won’t happen” couldn’t easily come out.
“Then it will just delay us more. I want to finish this nonsense and go back quickly.”
“Then you shouldn’t have followed me in the first place…”
“In that sense, this is the only way to make sure you don’t trip.”
Ruite couldn’t say anything to the claim that he wouldn’t trip if someone was holding onto him.
It would indeed be helpful to some extent, and more than anything, it didn’t seem like Chester would listen to whatever he said.
Anyway, just how much did he want to go back quickly that he would grab the hand of someone he disliked so suddenly?
“Ah! Could it be…?”
Ruite thought of a plausible possibility, wondering if there might be another reason, just like before.
“Come quickly. It looks like we have to go further up ahead.”
Chester pulled his hand. Ruite looked at the back of Chester’s head with narrowed, meaningful eyes.
‘This guy, he acted like he didn’t care, but he’s actually scared of ghosts.’
Usually, when fear grows, it tends to overwhelm other emotions.
No matter how much you dislike someone, if you are placed in such a chilly atmosphere, you might feel like grabbing onto a straw.
If that was the reason, Ruite could certainly hold his hand.
It felt a bit bad that Chester was dishonestly blaming him, but well, he could handle this much.
Ruite nodded, lost in his own thoughts.
Then, he purposefully put strength into the hand he was holding.
At that, Chester’s eyebrows twitched as if they were about to dance. His body stiffened at the firm grip returned to him.
Chester stared off into the opposite direction and covered his mouth with his hand.
“Chester, I think that’s the tree over there.”
He perfectly understood why Magnus said they would know which tree he meant just by looking.
Even through the faint mist, its majesty was felt.
Drawn in by the solid trunk and immeasurable height, the two approached the tree together.
“Looks like there are no ghosts, right?”
Ruite looked around on behalf of Chester, who he assumed was scared.
Meanwhile, Chester couldn’t take his eyes off their joined hands.
“Let’s go back now.”
‘Because you must be scared.’
Ruite swallowed the last part and turned around.
Right then, a rustling sound came from the bushes on the right.
* * *
