Volume 3 Chapter 13 Ghost Busters!
What welcomed the two who had made their way underground was a dimly lit corridor and a musty, unique air.
"This has quite the atmosphere."
Randy said with a wry smile, to which Liz replied, "It's my first time here too," looking somewhat apprehensive. In the dark underground where they repeated their research on beasts daily, it seemed promising, as the two relied on the plate displayed above the room to search for the beast research club...
"Oh, here it is."
...They had just found the desired plate halfway through.
"There were quite a few empty classrooms," Randy noted.
"Well, the basement isn't very popular," Liz replied.
With a wry smile, Liz knocked on the door of the beast research club. The sound of the knock echoed in the dark, quiet corridor.
...However, there was no change at the door or inside.
"Huh? Are they not home?"
"No, I can sense a presence inside. Let me try."
This time, Randy knocked a bit harder on the door. A louder sound echoed through the corridor...
"Oh?"
...The moment Randy seemed to notice something and turned, the door to the adjacent classroom opened. The door creaked open wide, and caught off guard by the unexpected opening of the neighboring door, Liz let out a small "Eek" and grabbed Randy's hem to hide.
"What's this? I thought I sensed something, but it was just the next room."
It seemed the presence Randy felt was from someone who was right next to the wall in the adjacent room.
"Um, they're not home today."
A girl said, fidgeting as she spoke. The petite girl had fluffy, soft-looking brown hair and glistening eyes, and Randy turned to look back at Liz, who was still hiding behind him.
"Guess we'll have to come back later, Liz."
With that, Liz finally seemed to notice her appearance. "Y-Yeah, I suppose," she said, clearing her throat as she stepped out from behind Randy...
"Oh? Is that you, Lady Elizabeth?"
...The girl in front of them opened her eyes wide and showed a delighted expression upon seeing Liz.
"Yes, I'm Elizabeth, but..."
Elizabeth tilted her head, but upon looking closely at the girl's face, she smiled and said, "Could you be Lady Annabelle?"
"Oh, you remembered me!"
"Of course."
It seemed the two were acquaintances, but Randy was still a bit confused about the situation. Normally, he would think they were related to lacrosse, but this clearly wasn't the lacrosse club room.
Noticing Randy's confusion, Liz turned back and explained, "She is the fiancée of Sir Chris Row."
Liz, who was once the fiancée of Crown Prince Edgar, and Annabelle, who was the fiancée of the Minister of Justice's son Chris, apparently had met a few times outside of school.
It seemed they had accompanied each other to royal family-hosted parties as fiancées, but unfortunately, Liz was no longer a fiancée now.
"Um, I can't believe Lady Elizabeth would do something like that..."
Looking down, Annabelle said this, to which Liz gently smiled and replied,
"That's all in the past now. That incident was shocking, but I was blessed with a wonderful encounter."
With a smile that seemed to radiate light, Annabelle returned with, "I-I'm glad to hear that."
"By the way, what are you doing here, Lady Annabelle?"
"W-Well, me...?"
Annabelle's voice trailed off as she glanced back at the door she had come out of.
"I-I'm part of the occult research club."
"Occult..."
"Occult?"
Liz's face drained of color in an instant, while Randy was surprised that there was an occult in this world. The two, taking completely opposite actions, reacted...
"Um, Sir Randolph──"
"Lady Annabelle, what exactly does this occult involve?"
...It was completely the opposite. Before Liz could suggest leaving, Randy had already latched onto the topic of the occult.
"Are you, um, interested?"
Annabelle took a step back from Randy's enthusiasm, but the joy in her eyes was undeniable.
"Yes, very much."
Randy nodded vigorously, while behind him, Liz was pulling at his hem with a pale face... but Randy was completely unconcerned.
"Um, if you're interested, would you like to take a look around?"
Randy nodded enthusiastically at Annabelle's words. Despite Liz pulling with all her might, there was no way she could win against Randy, who was all muscle... Poor Liz ended up being dragged along as they entered the occult research club's room.
To Randy's surprise, the occult research club's room was neatly organized. The soft glow of the magical lantern illuminated the interior, which featured a large table in the center and several chairs. Other than that, there were shelves that covered the walls, giving it a very tidy atmosphere.
Given Randy's imagination of a room scattered with documents and mysterious instruments, he couldn't help but blurt out, "It's surprisingly clean," as the organization was impeccable.
Of course, that comment was a result of Liz poking him in the side, but Annabelle, who was right in front of them, seemed surprisingly unfazed and continued to talk about the activities of the occult research club.
The Royal Academy's Occult Research Club.
In a world where magic exists and ghosts fly, one might want to question what the occult really is... but surprisingly, its history is quite old, and the research content is specialized.
The most basic research is likely related to ghosts.
When one hears "ghost," it's easy to define it as someone's spirit, but in reality, the ghosts that are classified as beasts have not been definitively proven to be anyone's spirit. They delve deep into researching that.
Specifically, they capture ghosts, conduct various experiments, and attempt to revive their memories from when they were alive...
"The ghosts can't withstand the experiments."
Unlike before, Annabelle spoke fluently, but Randy and Liz were taken aback by what they heard.
Imagining the delicate girl in front of them capturing ghosts and torturing them──strictly speaking, it wasn't torture──would make anyone understand Randy and Liz's feelings.
"So, I want to capture a more robust spirit, like a wraith──"
Unlike ghosts, wraiths are powerful. It seems that capturing one alive is beyond the capabilities of the girl in front of them.
"...So, ghosts can be captured, huh?"
"Yes. We have the tools for that..."
In response to Randy's question, Annabelle rummaged through a small shelf in the back and pulled out...
"Ah, no!"
...the shape of it made Randy involuntarily shout and hold his head in despair.
Liz and Annabelle jumped at Randy's sudden outburst, but to Randy, the shape was something to complain about. Who was he complaining to?
(What are you doing, developer?!)
...assuming this was a world based on a game, it would be the creator (developer).
They had completely messed it up.
(Ghostbusters... no, it's not a vacuum cleaner, is it?)
As Randy continued to hold his head in despair, the transparent container looked somewhat like a backpack. The flexible tube and vacuum-like mouth attached to it resembled something from a certain green brother who fights ghosts in an apartment.
"Sir Randolph, what happened all of a sudden?"
With Liz speaking in a formal tone, Randy replied, "No, don't worry about it," while staring at the vacuum again.
(No, it hasn't been decided that it will suck anything in. There's also the possibility of capturing it with a beam...)
That would still be a problem, but holding onto a glimmer of hope, Randy cautiously asked Annabelle, "So, how do you use this...?"
"This device uses a magical stone as energy to emit a special beam that captures ghosts."
When Annabelle flipped the switch, after a sound like ringing in the ears, several thin beams of light emerged from the vacuum's mouth.
"It captures ghosts weakened by holy water with this beam and traps them in the special container behind. It's a one-of-a-kind magic tool developed in collaboration with the magic tool research club by past members."
Annabelle puffed out her chest with pride, but Randy couldn't stop himself from giving a wry smile upon hearing that.
A collaboration between a vacuum cleaner and Ghostbusters. It felt like featuring Pokémon.
(Also, the beam looks super royal...)
There were so many points to critique, but prolonging this conversation any further would lead to chaos.
Feeling bad for Annabelle, who was still happily explaining the tool's features, Randy decided to change the subject decisively.
"Capturing ghosts is well understood. Are you doing anything else?"
It was a blatant change of topic, but surprisingly, Annabelle, who was asked, opened her mouth happily.
"Besides that, I'm also researching ancient history... Oh, and there are the 7 mysteries of the academy too──."
"Seven mysteries?"
The moment Randy tilted his head, the grandfather clock in the room made a loud noise. Liz flinched, and Annabelle looked disappointed as she said, "Oh, it's already this time."
"I'm sorry. I still want to talk more, but I have to go now──."
"No, no. It was fun to hear your valuable stories."
"If you'd like, please come again. I'm usually here on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays."
As Annabelle bowed her head, Randy and Liz thanked her and left the room.
The sun had already begun to set, and the dimly lit hallway grew even darker. It seemed that the noise from upstairs was bustling with those hurriedly preparing to go home.
"After all, we didn't get any information about the beast, but..."
"It was fun, so that's good. Besides, Liz's rejoining the lacrosse team has been decided."
"Well, I haven't said I'm doing it yet!"
"And the exploration of the 7 mysteries too."
"That hasn't been decided either! What happened to the camera?"
Not to be outdone by the commotion above, the two decided to head home for the day.
Little did anyone know at that time that this chance encounter would later become the catalyst for completing the camera and ultimately crushing Chris's conspiracy.
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