Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat

Chapter 257

The curtain, a barrier formed through magic, was designed to be invisible so that people wouldn’t feel trapped within it.

Because of this, unless under special circumstances, very few people could discern whether the barrier was currently active or not.

If I had to list some, it would be sensitive magicians like Dwight, who are attuned to the flow of magical energy, or witches like me who are inherently sensitive to the existence of a barrier that blocks magic.

“Dwight, is it...?”

“...Yeah, it seems the barrier has disappeared.”

Perhaps because of this sudden disappearance of the barrier without any warning signs, it seemed like only Dwight and I were aware of the situation around us.

“W-What...? You mean the barrier has disappeared? Just like that?”

Even Sylvia, who was there with us, only realized the gravity of the situation after overhearing our conversation.

Of course, I could only ascertain that the barrier had vanished; I couldn’t fathom why such an event had occurred.

Unlike the last time, when I could at least guess that a problem with the barrier might have stemmed from the demonic beasts’ invasion, this time, the cause felt out of reach and utterly baffling.

“Dwight, do you have any idea why the barrier suddenly disappeared...?”

So, I turned to Dwight, who would know about the barrier more than anyone else, but—

“...I don’t know. I’m also puzzled as to why a perfectly operating barrier would suddenly vanish.”

He too did not grasp the reason and could only shake his head with a grim expression.

At that moment, Eve-sensei, who noticed something was off with the barrier, contacted Dwight.

“Dwight-kun, it seems there’s a problem with the barrier. Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

“I don’t know what’s happening. But the management room must have noticed the anomaly as well, so let’s wait a little.”

“Hm... I guess we have no choice but to wait for them to resolve it.”

After a brief conversation, the call ended.

Upon finishing his call with Eve-sensei, Dwight’s expression seemed to regain composure almost instantly.

How is it that Eve-sensei and he can remain so calm despite the emergency of the barrier’s disappearance?

Maybe the management room mentioned during the call was the reason, so I inquired about it.

“Dwight, what exactly is this management room you mentioned?”

“Oh, that refers to the place that manages the magic circle of the barrier. In the management room, magicians from my family are on standby, ready to act in case anything happens to the barrier. Just like the last time, when we deactivated the barrier by providing auxiliary power after the demonic beasts invaded.”

After confirming that the restoration of the barrier we performed was indeed done by the management room, I nodded along as Dwight continued.

“Maybe the abnormality from last time triggered some minor issue with the magic circle, causing this phenomenon. The people in the management room are not fools who would let problems like this slip by, yet it is peculiar... Regardless, they must have realized that something is wrong, so if we just wait, they’ll take care of it.”

Dwight spoke in a calm tone, as if reassuring us not to panic.

It seemed he had a great deal of trust in this management room.

Since he mentioned that it is overseen by the magicians directly descended from Ninehart, it’s likely he trusts them based on that.

Feeling somewhat relieved thanks to his regained composure, Sylvia and I internally muttered that everything would be okay, waiting for the barrier to be restored.

Five minutes passed like this.

“...It seems it’s taking a little longer than expected.”

Dwight’s face wore a slight look of confusion.

Ten minutes passed.

“...This is strange. It shouldn’t take this long.”

The tension began to show in Dwight’s expression.

And after thirty minutes had passed,@@@@

“...”

Dwight bit his nails, his anxiety heightened more than ever.

It seemed he had made up his mind as he muttered something.

“...I think we need to go check.”

“To the management room?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t make sense that it has taken this long without any contact from outside. There must be some problem not only with the barrier but also in the management room itself. I have no choice but to check it out myself.”

With that, as if time was pressing, Dwight immediately began to rush somewhere.

“Dwight-kun, wait a second!”

Sylvia suddenly grabbed Dwight’s arm.

Dwight shot her an anxious glare, as if to ask what she was doing.

“You’re in a hurry, right? How long would it take if you run there?”

Pointing toward a celestial chariot that had already been conjured to carry the two of us, Sylvia urged.

“Let’s ride this; it should be much faster than running.”

Dwight nodded in agreement.

The celestial chariot took to the air.

Our destination was the heart of the city, where the magic circle overseeing the barrier was located.

*

In the city’s central area, known for being the safest from external threats, numerous key facilities are always bustling with people.

Maybe it’s because the barrier has disappeared, but amidst the crowd, there seemed to be no sense of crisis on anyone’s face.

So this is the management room?

As I pondered while looking inside, contrary to my expectations, it was only a small room in size.

“What are you doing? Hurry in.”

However, there was no time to ponder as Dwight entered first and urged me and Sylvia to follow.

The moment the vault door closed behind the three of us, it thudded shut as if it would never open again.

With it being so dark inside, I felt an impending sense of claustrophobia threatening to overwhelm me, and I shivered slightly, but soon realized this wasn’t a vault.

“...This moves?”

“Yeah, we’re heading to the management room.”

What appeared to be a vault was actually an elevator.

So I thought to myself, “Ah, the management room must be underground.” when something even more surprising happened next.

“...Wait, didn’t it just move right?”

The elevator that was heading down suddenly changed direction.

Instead of going right, it moved forward, then switched to upward.

Is this really acceptable to call it an elevator? Since it moved not just up and down but in all directions, too.

As I got lost in confusion, Dwight provided an explanation.

“They deliberately complicated the route so that the management room’s location couldn’t be pinpointed, so don’t worry about it. As long as I, a Ninehart, am here, there’s no reason to fear we’ll land anywhere besides the management room.”

Just as I was about to retort that I had no such concerns, I realized something in his explanation was somewhat ominous and asked him.

“Wait, so if you weren’t here, we might actually end up somewhere else instead of the management room?”

“Exactly. So, I recommend against unauthorized entries.”

Dwight said this with an ominous air, nodding his head.

I gulped and asked him.

“...What happens if someone breaks in without authorization?”

“...Do you know? This vault we’re riding in is just an airtight space with a magic to supply oxygen.”

Dwight shot me that meaningful stare and then continued in a cold voice.

“If anyone tries to illegally enter the management room, they’ll find themselves buried alive in a sealed chamber with no air supply.”

I let out a small scream in response to this.

“Eek! There’s a lunatic who locks people in airtight compartments and kills them under the pretense of maximum security!”

The moment I shouted that, both Dwight and I burst into laughter together.

It was our way of dealing with the ominous thought.

Dwight asked me,

“Isn’t it a brilliant security system?”

“Yeah, it’s genuinely terrifying.”

When I replied, Dwight forced a smile and asked,

“...With a setup this thorough, nothing bad should happen, right?”

“...Yeah. Nothing should go wrong.”

I answered, holding his trembling hand along with Sylvia’s.

Hoping fervently that everything would remain alright as he wished.

Moments later, the elevator came to a stop.

And the moment the door opened,

“Ugh...”

“Ah...”

We unfortunately realized something dreadful had happened.

An unpleasant odor emanated beyond the elevator door.

The unmistakable stench of blood and decaying bodies.

“No...”

Before there was even time to object, Dwight bolted out first.

Sylvia and I chased right after him.

“A-Ah...”

We saw Dwight suddenly halt ahead, frozen in shock at something.

Instinctively, Sylvia and I stopped, peering over his shoulder at what lay beyond.

“Shelly... Layla... Harbor...”

Bodies lay sprawled on the floor with holes punctured somewhere in them, bodies upon bodies.

As Dwight mumbled in disbelief while staring at one fallen body, he walked over and collapsed next to it.

With trembling hands, he clasped the head of the body and a voice full of despair escaped his lips.

“Ah, Burgi...”

His sobs echoed through the management room filled with nothing but bodies.