第１１３９堀：反応が良すぎても逆に疑わしい (Part2)
At his prompt, I returned my gaze to the monitor, but the silver-haired student hadn't vanished; her back remained visible, slowly walking down the corridor.
"Ah, I can still see her. Can you see her on your end, too?"
"Yeah. That rules out a visual hallucination. What about everyone else..."
As Agil looked toward the others, I followed suit, scanning the room. Just like us, everyone was exchanging bewildered glances or repeatedly checking their own monitors.
*Wow, it looks like everyone can see her.*
Just as I was wondering what to do, Yuki spoke up.
"Everyone. Since it seems you can all see 'that thing,' let's be clear. Raise your hand if you can see a silver-haired student on your monitor right now."
True to his role as our reliable leader, Yuki’s command prompted everyone to raise their hands in unison. Not a single person kept their hand down. It was clear: everyone was perceiving the same entity.
"I see. Good. Kirika, please project the feed onto the front monitor."
"Understood."
At her command, Kirika immediately routed the feed from our surveillance monitors to the holographic screen floating before the blackboard.
The silver-haired student was clearly visible there as well. Unlike the view of her back I’d been watching, this feed captured her from the front. If she got any closer, we would be able to make out her features clearly.
"Everyone, can you confirm the silver-haired girl on the front monitor as well?"
At Yuki’s words, everyone nodded. I’d heard that some ghosts only appear on certain screens and vanish if you switch the feed, but this one was different; she was rendered perfectly on the holographic projection.
"Hmm. This confirms that—whether it was through channeling mana or physical contact—we can only perceive her existence through media that Popuri has touched."
Exactly as Taizo-san said. Every camera we were using had been handled by Popuri, infused with her mana. We’d hypothesized this was the key based on yesterday’s footage, and it had worked perfectly. Why she reacted to Popuri’s mana specifically, however, remained a mystery.
"Now then, Popuri, Lara. Do you recognize her?"
That was the question that mattered most. Even from a distance, her face was becoming clearer. The girl in the footage didn't look like a corpse; she looked like an ordinary student. Yet, the fact that she was invisible on the cameras Popuri hadn't touched made it undeniable that she was something beyond the ordinary.
Who was this girl? Popuri, who likely held the answer, responded to Yuki’s inquiry...
"No, it couldn't be... she is..."
"There is no mistake. But..."
It seemed both Popuri and Lara knew her well.
"You both seem to have an idea. Would you mind telling us?"
"...Yes. But her hair color is different from what Lara and I remember. Her hair was originally blue."
"Yes. The length is different, too. But that is beside the point. She was supposed to have gone missing during the Great Sea of Trees expedition 230 years ago."
*Missing in the Great Sea of Trees, huh?* Given the unique nature of this land, that wasn't particularly surprising. The Sea of Trees was teeming with monsters, and surviving there required a certain level of martial prowess. But still...
"My, you remember her quite clearly. Were you two acquaintances? Well, I suppose you were, but was there something special about her?"
"Yes. Her name was Havia. She was a student who researched monsters."
"Monster research? Like Wazfi?"
"Yes. She was fascinated by monster ecology. Like Wazfi, she would often sneak into the Great Sea of Trees to conduct surveys, and she was frequently scolded for her recklessness. But..."
"About 230 years ago—232 years ago, to be precise—we conducted a large-scale survey of the Great Sea of Trees. She had snuck along, and we were planning to send her back once she was discovered, but we had the misfortune of encountering a powerful monster. The survey team was decimated. Havia never returned."
*So, curiosity killed the cat, then...*
"Then why is she in this corridor?"
That was the real issue. Why was she appearing in this academy instead of the Great Sea of Trees? Shouldn't a ghost manifest where they died? It’s like when you go looking for a ghost and the spirit introduces itself by saying, "Yes, I am a ghost"—it actually makes you more suspicious. The more you look into the connection, the more contrived it feels. It makes you wonder if the whole thing is just a staged performance.
In the end, a "spirit photo" that is perfectly clear is nothing more than just a "photo."