第１１３１堀：月下に映る (Part1)
**Chapter 1131: Reflected Under the Moon**
**Side: Popuri**
The monitor before me displays nothing but the corridor, plunged into the gloom of night, unchanged and utterly mundane.
"It’s certainly quiet, isn't it?"
I let the words slip out, a soft murmur directed at the screen. At my mutter, Lara snaps her gaze toward me.
"Principal. I understand you wish to go ghost hunting, but we still have this much paperwork left. Could you please prioritize that?"
"Yes, yes. I wasn't exactly hunting for ghosts, you know. I was just feeling a bit melancholy that even though it’s gotten this dark, you and I are still buried in paperwork."
Yes. Now that I’ve said it aloud, the weight of it settles in even more deeply.
Outside, it is already night.
The students, and even the teachers, have long since returned home to relax. To be here with Lara, silently laboring away, feels somewhat tragic.
"It cannot be helped. Through the opinions of the exchange students like Kagura-san, we are to have the other great powers support the Lancer Magic Academy as well. If we don't lay the groundwork now, we’ll have the rug pulled out from under us."
"I know, I know. Honestly, it’s because of them that I’m pulling an all-nighter."
Complaining as I am, I pull myself together and return to the documents.
"But it has become much easier, hasn't it? Before Weed arrived, we had to rely on our own magic or candles just to secure some light."
"That is true."
I stare up at the electric bulb swaying from the ceiling, nodding in total agreement with Lara. It is far brighter than a dim candle, and a convenient tool that provides a constant, steady light without the need to expend my own magical energy.
For someone of my or Lara’s level, maintaining a light spell while focusing on other tasks is simple enough, but it still requires a sliver of consciousness. If we can avoid doing it, all the better.
Conversely, because we don't have to spare that focus, it means we can get more work done.
Thanks to that, here we are, deep into the night, still scratching away at our documents. Yuki-dono once said that while the advancement of civilization is wonderful, it also brings an increase in workload. I am feeling the truth of that in my very bones.
*Scratch, scratch…*
*Flip.*
While lost in such idle thoughts, Lara and I continue to process the paperwork one after another. In the dead silence, only the sound of our pens remains.
It is truly quiet. As I always think, the bustle of the day feels like a lie. The metaphor of a light being extinguished hits home.
How many nights like this have I endured? It’s almost laughable.
As I ponder this in the corner of my mind, I suddenly notice a gentle light, different from the electric bulb, spilling onto my desk.
"Moonlight, is it?"
"There are no clouds tonight, so the moon is quite bright."
At Lara’s words, I turn and look up through the window to see a magnificent moon shining in the sky.
...I wonder why. Seeing this moon, my heart feels...
"Principal. You look tired. Shall we take a break? I have some sweets that Milly delivered."
"That sounds good. Sorry for making you go to the trouble."
"Not at all. I am the one who is tired, so please, do not worry about it."
Lara heads to the adjacent kitchenette to prepare. In the meantime, I push the documents on my desk to the side and gaze at the moon again while waiting for the tea.
"A half-moon tonight, I suppose."
The moon in the sky is halved. I stare at it intently—a moon I usually never take the time to look at so closely.
There shouldn't be anything unusual about it, yet I cannot tear my eyes away. Why is it so captivating? I have lived a long time and seen the moon countless times. Why does it bother me at this very moment?
Ah, perhaps I’m just so exhausted that I’m trying to escape reality.
"Principal. It is ready."
"Thank you."
Well, I’ll cast my vote for "exhausted and escaping reality." To recover from that fatigue, I start by replenishing my sugar levels.
"Oh, a simple shortcake today."
"Yes. I’ve prepared coffee to go with it."
"Haha. I suppose I can't just call it a night after this, can I?"
"Unfortunately, no."
Honestly, Lara is always so earnest. Still, if we don't finish this work tonight, tomorrow will likely be another all-nighter, so I have no choice but to do my best.
Bathed in moonlight, I take a sip of coffee, readying myself to push through once I finish. Just then, my eyes catch the tablet monitor.
There, to my shock, a female student is walking down the corridor, her back turned to the camera.
"Pfft—!?"
"Principal!?"
Caught off guard, I accidentally spit out my drink.
"*Cough!* *Cough!* Lara, the monitor!"
"Eh? The monitor? Is something being displayed?"
At my words, Lara immediately turns her gaze to the tablet on her own desk, but...
"Nothing is displayed here."
"Huh?"
I wonder if I saw something wrong, so I check my tablet again, but the female student is still there, walking slowly down the corridor.
"It’s on monitor five. Look."
I point my tablet toward Lara.
"Eh? Eh? Principal... I cannot see anything. Is something there?"
"..."
At that unexpected response, a chill runs down my spine. There is no way Lara would lie about something like this. Does that mean this student is visible only to me? Just as I think that such a thing is impossible...
"Principal, you would not lie, but if she is on monitor five, she should be on monitor six, which is installed on the opposite side. Yet, I see nothing on either. Can you see her, Principal?"
Prompted by this, I switch to monitor six, but...
"...Huh? Nothing? What does this mean?"
I cannot understand it. The camera on monitor five clearly shows the student walking slowly—unnaturally slowly—yet the camera on the opposite side, monitor six, shows nothing at all.
I briefly wonder if the configuration is wrong, but monitor six clearly shows the back of monitor five in the distance. Besides, there is no way I could mistake the layout of the academy I manage.
"...Principal. There is no reaction on the map screen either."
"...You're right."
I am past the point of being surprised, but it is true: the map shows nothing. In other words, for now, this student on monitor five exists only within my field of vision.
No magical signature, no biological reaction, and she doesn't appear on any other camera. My body begins to tremble slightly.
...Ah, this is the terror that comes from "not understanding." A phenomenon that cannot be explained. Something that exists, yet lies beyond my comprehension.
"Principal. Is she still there?"
"...Yes. She is. But why? Why is she walking so slowly?"
That’s it. I cannot fathom the reason for walking so slowly through this corridor at such an hour. At first, I thought it might be a student who forgot something, but that wouldn't explain the pace, and above all, I know of no student who lacks a magical or biological signature and fails to appear on camera.