After finishing the story, the professor calmly sipped on his matcha. Only then did the detectives notice that he had finished almost all the food on the table. In fact, they were so concentrated on listening to his story, they did not realise that the professor had not stopped eating all this time whilst he was talking.
"That's all I know about it," said Professor Kiriyama curtly as he wiped his mouth on a tissue.
"So, would you say that this is a real story?" enquired Shaun.
"Well, it's just a folklore, after all. No one can prove whether it actually happened. As I mentioned earlier, there aren't enough reliable sources. ごちそうさま!" said the professor as he stood up to go. "失礼します, I have a lecture at 2, I have to be on my way."
"Damn, that was such a rip off!" complained Jeffrey after Professor Kiriyama left. "That old fox told us nothing useful, we have to pay for all the food he's eaten and he barely left us anything to eat as well!"
"Well, I won't say it's entirely useless," replied the optimistic Blythe. "At least we learnt more about the story of 'The Lover's Curse'."
"But we don't even know if it's true, let alone if it's actually related to our investigation!" exclaimed Jeffrey, frustrated.
"I guess there's only one way to find out!" said Shaun pensively.
The detectives were curious to find out whether the story was true and if it were, how Yuki’s spirit came to be released again. Therefore, they decided to sneak into the school at night and investigate for themselves. It was a cloudless night. The atmosphere was chill and vibrant with rich tension. Overhead, the sky was clouded with mist as thick as velvet, which engulfed the surroundings, as if concealing a terrible secret, too dark to be revealed.
After entering the school from the back entrance, the detectives roamed around the school building. Treading along the empty corridor, their footsteps echoed deafeningly in the eerie hallway, as if warning them to stay back.
"Is it just me or does a school building always feel different at night when it's empty?" whispered Jeffrey as they walked up the stairs. They had a constant sensation that they were being watched, despite the fact that nothing seemed to be amiss.
Suddenly, the detectives heard the sound of footsteps approaching them, and a beam of torchlight shining in their direction.
"Shoot, it must be the school security guard!" whispered Jeffrey. "Let's hide somewhere!" The detectives looked around, and the only place they could possibly conceal themselves was inside the washrooms.
Thus, they hid inside the girls' bathroom and held their breath.
Just when they had barely hid behind the door of the washroom, the detectives perceived the sound of the security guard approaching. From the reflection of the washbasin mirror, they perceived the guard peering in through the crack in the door, scratching his head.
"あれ? That's strange! I bet I heard some noises!" muttered the guard to himself. "I guess it must've been the wind then!"
Jeffrey could hear his own heartbeat thudding deafeningly like a stampede of buffaloes as he tried his best to quieten his own sound of breathing lest they should be discovered. Only after making sure that the guard's footsteps had completely died away did they dare to emerge from their hiding place.
~To be Continued~
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