Watching Mirei Shinohara's departing back, Eriri had no intention of following to check on her. Instead, she and Wakaba Hiiro took seats together at the two desks pressed against the back door of the classroom.
Of course, she wasn't sitting there to act as a greeter—she simply wanted to personally witness the embarrassed expressions of the guests as they emerged from the haunted house.
Once seated, Eriri pulled a large assortment of snacks from her bag, piling them so high they covered two-thirds of both desks.
Grabbing a handful of sunflower seeds, she smiled at Wakaba beside her.
"Alright, everything's ready. Now we just wait for the show to start!"
"You really do have a bit of a wicked streak~"
Wakaba's tone was calm, but the faint sparkle in her eyes betrayed her own interest in what was to come.
By ten in the morning, the cultural festival officially opened to visitors from outside the school.
Parents who had been waiting at the gates, along with others interested in the event, began to enter. In moments, the school grew lively.
Because Eriri and Wakaba were seated right by the classroom's back door, it wasn't long before a crowd gathered outside Class 2-3.
Roughly eighty percent of them were students from their own school; only a small fraction were outside guests drawn by the commotion.
But once they caught sight of Eriri's stunning beauty, none of them could bring themselves to leave.
It was then that the actual greeters stepped forward—two boys and two girls from the class: Hasebe Yuika, Yuka Hasebe, Yamada Shunsuke, and Ooshima Kanata.
Aside from these four, plus Eriri and Wakaba, the other twenty students were either playing ghosts inside the haunted house or exploring the festival elsewhere.
"As you can see, our class has set up a haunted house today. Want to come inside for a tour? I guarantee it'll be more thrilling than anything outside~"
Yuika stepped forward with a confident smile to address the crowd.
At her words, the onlookers finally tore their eyes from Eriri.
"Oh? Is it really that good?"
Since the classroom was completely shrouded in black curtains, no one could peek inside from the windows. But based on past cultural festivals, most doubted her claim.
After all, it was just a haunted house put together by high school students—how could it compare to professional setups, let alone surpass them?
"Of course! If you don't believe me, take a walk through. I promise you'll walk in laughing and run out crying!"
Ooshima Kanata chimed in from her seat, her confidence matching Yuika's.
"Hah, I don't believe it. Let's see if your haunted house can really make me cry!"
Perhaps because Eriri was watching, the students were easily provoked by Oshima's words. Not wanting to lose face in front of her, many decided to give it a try.
Even those who'd had little interest in haunted houses found themselves lining up to enter.
Of course, aside from a few very timid people, most weren't about to risk entering a haunted house they feared like the plague.
"Not bad, very brave. I hope you remember what you just said once you're inside."
Ooshima Kanata smiled mysteriously, making the boy at the front of the line feel a sudden sense of unease—though he quickly brushed it aside.
After Oshima spoke, Yamada Shunsuke, standing behind Hasebe Yuika, stepped forward.
"You can go in alone or in groups, but no more than three people at a time. Space is limited, so please understand."
The boy at the front didn't hesitate. "I'll go in alone!"
With that, he strode straight into Class 2-3's classroom.
Two minutes later, he came tearing out the back door of the classroom, crying out in terror, and fled the area as though something monstrous was chasing him.
Eriri watched his panicked retreat with keen interest, a pleased smile on her lips as she popped a peeled orange slice into her mouth.
"Hey, hey, hey, he's not one of your plants, is he? No need to overact like that—the classroom was completely silent."
The crowd outside looked skeptical, clearly convinced the boy was a plant sent to advertise the haunted house.
"He's definitely not a plant~ If you don't believe it, go see for yourself," Yuka Hasebe said with a grin, leaning on her desk.
Truth be told, she was also puzzled by the boy's reaction. She had confidence in their haunted house, but it shouldn't have scared a guy that badly—unless he was incredibly fainthearted, which his confident demeanor beforehand didn't suggest.
More strangely, she hadn't heard him scream inside. Their haunted house wasn't soundproof.
The same doubt crossed Yuika, Yamada, and Oshima's minds. But they didn't dwell on it, chalking it up to the ghost-role students doing an impressively convincing job.
"Fine, I'll go. It's not like I've never been to a haunted house before—and I've never been scared."
A wavy-haired girl at the head of the next group said confidently, grabbing her friend's arm.
"Reiko, let's go in together."
"Mm-hm!"
Hand in hand, the two girls walked into Class 2-3's classroom.
...
"See? There's nothing to this. I told you that guy earlier was just putting on an act."
Inside, the wavy-haired girl and Reiko saw nothing frightening—just a dark background and dim, flickering lights casting a lonely glow. Hardly the stuff of haunted house nightmares.
Reiko nodded in agreement. "Looks that way."
She wasn't as bold as her friend and had braced herself before entering, but in this atmosphere she felt no real fear.
Still, she didn't completely let her guard down. After all, they had only just entered, and none of the ghost-role students had appeared yet.
"Ami, let's keep going. Maybe there'll be something scary further in."
"Forget it. I'm not expecting much from this haunted house. I only came because I was drawn in by Lady Eriri's beauty~"
Just like back at Toyogasaki Academy, Eriri had, over the past month, naturally become the most famous person in the entire school. Whether male or female, everyone was captivated by her beauty. That was why such a large crowd had gathered so soon after the cultural festival began.
"True… Lady Eriri's beauty never gets old. If only I could take a photo with her." Reiko clasped her hands over her chest, recalling Eriri's breathtaking looks with an infatuated smile.
Ami, the wavy-haired girl beside her, rolled her eyes. "Stop daydreaming."
After a brief pause, she added, "Still, even if I don't have high hopes for this haunted house, since Lady Eriri helped make it, we should at least experience it seriously."
Reiko snapped out of her fantasy and nodded. "Mm-hm, I agree~"
The two said no more and continued deeper into the haunted house.
Before long, their path was blocked by a door.
Under the flickering light, they could see it clearly—a very ordinary wooden door, now worn and rotting, its frame and broken handle draped in irregular spiderwebs. Age clung to every inch.
The surrounding walls were no longer plain black curtains, but European-style set pieces likewise marked by time's decay. At a glance, it looked exactly like the entrance to an abandoned castle.
"Now this is getting interesting," Ami said with satisfaction, her view of the haunted house already changing.
Without lingering, she stepped forward and reached for the door.
With a creak… creak…, the wooden door slowly opened, releasing a gust of wind heavy with the stench of decay. The sudden chill made both girls shiver; Reiko, being the more timid, immediately clung to Ami's arm.
"Ami, doesn't this place suddenly feel really creepy? And that smell—it's awful."
"Yeah, I feel it too. Looks like I underestimated Lady Eriri's class's haunted house."
Despite the unpleasant sensation, they didn't stop walking, carefully taking in their surroundings.
They now stood in a room about forty to fifty square meters in size.
Unlike the entrance, there were no flickering dim lights—nor was it pitch dark. Instead, a faint glow from above lit the interior as though under a full moon.
The room was eerily silent, devoid of the spooky background music common in haunted houses.
On the right wall, its plaster mostly peeled away, hung two massive, faded oil paintings. The figures' faces were completely blurred, as if deliberately erased, leaving only their bodies intact—a sight that sent a chill through the heart.
Between the paintings hung an old European wall clock, its hands frozen, the glass over them shattered. Time itself seemed to have stopped here, wrapping the room in an unsettling stillness.
Dusty, cobweb-covered furniture and the stench of rot completed the illusion. The girls felt as though they had truly stepped into an abandoned castle.
"This room is huge—almost half the classroom. Is this the only scene in the haunted house?" Reiko asked, wide-eyed. She tried to sound casual, but her grip on Ami's arm only tightened as the seconds passed.
Ami didn't respond. Reiko didn't press; it had only been a passing comment.
Then Ami suddenly began walking toward the oil paintings, pulling Reiko along.
Seconds later, they stopped before the painting on the right. Ami tilted her head back, staring fixedly at it.
"Ami, what are you doing? What's so interesting about this painting? You can't even see the person's face."
Imitating her friend, Reiko looked up. From the body shown, it was clear the subject was a noblewoman.
But Ami didn't answer—she didn't even move. This time, unlike before, Reiko had genuinely asked a question. Ami wasn't obliged to respond, but an inexplicable unease began to creep into Reiko's heart.
—
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