The afternoon sun cut bright patches of light on the floor through the glass window of the teachers' office. Fine dust motes floated in the air, mingled with the scent of ink and old paper. When Okabara Kyogumichi followed Chitanda Eru into the office, several teachers were gathered around a table, grading assignments, the rustle of pens on paper rising and falling.
"Excuse me, is Yoshida-sensei here?" Chitanda Eru walked up to a desk, bowed slightly, her voice clear and polite.
From a window-side seat came the rustling of turning pages, and an old teacher with round-rimmed glasses and white hair looked up: "Ah, Chitanda-san. What can I do for you?"
"We'd like to inquire about the Heisei 23 Culture Festival's Test of Courage. You were the student council advisor at the time, weren't you?" Chitanda Eru's eyes sparkled, like they held two curious stars.
Yoshida-sensei pushed up his glasses, his brow slightly furrowed, seemingly recalling distant memories: "Heisei 23... that was ten years ago. The Test of Courage? I remember it was canceled, but I can't quite recall the specific reason. It was like..." He paused, tapping his finger on the desk, "It was like the stairs in the west wing of the old school building collapsed?"
"The stairs collapsed?" Chitanda Eru's eyes widened in surprise, "But the records from that time didn't say anything about it!"
"Perhaps they were afraid of affecting the school's reputation." Yoshida-sensei sighed, "It rained particularly heavily that night, and the old school building was already dilapidated. The rain must have softened the foundation. Fortunately, it hadn't started yet, so no one was injured."
Kyogumichi noticed Yoshida-sensei's fingers unconsciously rubbing the corner of the desk, a small habit when he was nervous. He used "Basic Perception (lv.1)" and vaguely sensed a hint of hesitation in the other's emotions, as if he was hiding something.
"Then do you remember who the students responsible for setting up the venue were at that time?" Kyogumichi interjected at the right moment, his gaze gentle but with an undeniable seriousness.
Yoshida-sensei froze for a moment, his eyes flickering: "I can't remember... it's been so long."
Chitanda Eru wanted to press further, but Kyogumichi gently touched her arm, then bowed to Yoshida-sensei: "Thank you, Yoshida-sensei, for your time."
As they walked out of the office, Chitanda Eru immediately asked: "Okabara-san, why didn't you let me keep asking? He definitely knows more!"
"He's lying." Kyogumichi looked at the window at the end of the corridor, the sun reflecting a dazzling light on the glass, "A collapsed staircase doesn't need to be hidden, and his tone clearly sped up when he mentioned the west wing of the old school building."
Chitanda Eru covered her mouth in surprise: "Lying? Why?"
"Let's go check the archives at the city hall first." Kyogumichi turned and walked towards the stairs, "Sometimes documents are more honest than human memory."
The city hall archives were in the basement, cold and dry. The administrator was a middle-aged woman wearing glasses. Hearing that they wanted to check weather records from ten years ago, she pointed to a metal cabinet in the corner and said: "Heisei 23's are all in there, find them yourselves."
A thick layer of dust covered the metal cabinet, and it let out a grating "creak" when pulled open. Chitanda Eru immediately squatted down, her fingers brushing over the labels on the archive boxes, her movements as gentle as if she were caressing fragile treasures: "Found it! August 17th to 20th!"
She pulled out an archive box and carefully opened it. The yellowed pages were covered with dense numbers, recording daily temperature, humidity, and precipitation.
"Look!" Chitanda Eru pointed to one of the pages, "It didn't rain at all on the day of the Test of Courage, and it was only light rain the day before!"
Kyogumichi leaned in to look, and it was indeed as she said. His fingertip brushed over the words "Precipitation 0mm," and he suddenly noticed a blurry stamp on the edge of the page, like the logo of a club—a simplified mask pattern.
"What is this?" Kyogumichi asked, pointing to the stamp.
Chitanda Eru leaned closer to examine it, and suddenly her eyes lit up: "It's the Drama Club's logo! I saw it in an old school album!"
She suddenly stood up, nearly knocking over the chair behind her: "The Drama Club must have participated in the Test of Courage that year! Their prop storage was in the west wing of the old school building!"
Kyogumichi looked at her flushed face, excited, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously curved upwards. This girl always found connections in seemingly unrelated clues, like a keen-scented little beagle.
[Character: Chitanda Eru]
[Bond Progress: 7% → 9% (Triggered Event: Joint Discovery of Key Clue)]
[Event Evaluation: She is amazed by your observation skills, her trust in you has greatly increased]
[Points Gained: 50 points]
[Current Points: 480 points]**
As the system prompt popped up, Kyogumichi was being pulled by his clothes by Chitanda Eru, running out of the archives.
"Hurry! Let's go ask the Drama Club now, maybe we can find members from that year!" Chitanda Eru's voice was full of excitement, her skirt gently fluttering as she ran.
When they rushed back to school, club activities had just begun. The Drama Club's activity room was on the third floor of the new school building, the door ajar, and the sound of script discussions came from inside. Chitanda Eru took a deep breath and gently pushed the door open.
"Excuse me..."
Before she could finish, a sudden gasp came from inside. A boy in a costume frantically stabilized a prop rack that was about to fall, and the masks on it clattered to the floor.
"Sorry!" Chitanda Eru immediately apologized, bending down to pick up the masks.
Kyogumichi also helped, and when his fingertips touched a black fox mask, he suddenly paused—a yellowed sticky note was attached to the inside of the mask, with "The lock on the west wing attic has been changed, the key is in the third drawer of the club president's desk" written on it in pencil.
"What is this...?" Kyogumichi picked up the mask and handed it to the Drama Club president, "Does your club have a key to the west wing of the old school building?"
The president was a girl with curly hair, who froze when she saw the mask: "This is an old prop from ten years ago! We found it when we were tidying the storage room and never threw it away. The west wing attic? Wasn't that sealed off long ago?"
Chitanda Eru suddenly grabbed Kyogumichi's arm, her voice trembling slightly with excitement: "I know! The Test of Courage wasn't canceled at all, they just changed the venue and went to the attic!"
"I'm very curious," Chitanda-san leaned close to Kyogumichi, her gem-like eyes fixed on him.
[Trigger Hidden Plot, help Chitanda Eru uncover the truth behind the Test of Courage]
[Points Gained: 120] (Note: This is a hidden plot, points will be credited immediately, please check as soon as possible, Host)
Looking at the system panel, and then at the expectant Chitanda-san, Kyogumichi couldn't help but smile.
"Alright, you've got me." Kyogumichi put the mask back on the prop rack, "We'll know when we go check it out, but we have to wait until after school, going now will get us scolded by the teachers."
Chitanda Eru nodded vigorously, her cheeks flushed with healthy excitement: "Mhm! I'll look up the floor plan of the old school building, and you confirm the location of the attic!"
Watching her run off towards the library in a flurry, Kyogumichi touched the system panel in his pocket. 500 points was just enough to exchange for "Danger Perception (lv.1)", he always felt that this odd-numbered point reward was probably deliberately set by the system.
"System, have you been coveting my points for a long time?"
"System: Hehehe."
"I'm truly fed up with you."
"System: (❁´◡`❁)."
[Kyogumichi: ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ]
"Sigh, never mind, my system, if I don't spoil it, who will?"
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
As the sun set, Kyogumichi stood outside the wall of the old school building's west wing, watching Chitanda Eru run towards him with a floor plan. Golden sunlight spilled on her hair, like it was plated with flecks of gold.
"The attic is on the roof! There's a small skylight!" She unfolded the blueprint, her finger pointing to a small square mark, "We can climb up from the fire escape!"
Kyogumichi looked up at the old building covered in ivy, its window frames like dark, hollow eyes in the twilight. He suddenly remembered Yoshida-sensei's evasive gaze, and those deliberately erased records.
"There might be danger." Kyogumichi looked at Chitanda Eru, "Are you sure you want to go?"
Chitanda Eru nodded without hesitation, her purple eyes incredibly bright in the twilight: "I want to know the truth—no matter what it is."
Kyogumichi smiled, reaching out to tuck a strand of wind-blown hair behind her ear: "Then let's go, 'accomplice'."
Chitanda Eru's cheeks instantly flushed, like clouds dyed by the setting sun. She lowered her head and whispered: "Mhm, accomplice."
[Character: Chitanda Eru]
[Bond Progress: 9% → 11% (Triggered Event: Reached 'Accomplice' Agreement)]
[Event Evaluation: Your relationship has surpassed ordinary classmates, becoming partners who share secrets]
[Points Gained: 60 points]
[Current Points: 560 points]**
As the system prompt sounded in his mind, Kyogumichi had already led Chitanda Eru to the bottom of the fire escape. The twilight deepened, lights came on in the distant school building, and they were about to step into a forgotten past.
Kyogumichi looked up at the steep iron ladder, then at the eager Chitanda Eru beside him, and clenched his fist.
"I'll go up first to scout the way." Kyogumichi stepped onto the first rung, the metal making a slight sound under his feet.
"Be careful!" Chitanda Eru's voice carried worry.
Kyogumichi turned back and smiled at her: "Don't worry, 'accomplices' have to complete tasks together."
As night deepened, the silhouette of the old school building appeared particularly mysterious in the moonlight. A new adventure had just begun.