Oran Knight is out (1/3 chapters for today)
Fourth of Seven Mysteries (1): Missing Painting
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“Well, is it really interesting this time?” (Frank)
Frank, the most straightforward talker among our team, said to Heinz.
After school, while the lingering summer heat remained, we gathered in the courtyard and listened to Heinz talk about the fourth of the Seven Mysteries he had brought with.
Certainly, leaving aside the Western-style mansion, the second of the Seven Mysteries, ‘The Motionless Stone Statue’, is indeed mysterious, but how should I put it? There isn’t something about it that lacked liveliness, and it isn’t captivating. That’s for sure.
As for the third one, the artificial lake, we couldn’t figure out what it was about in the end. Frank, who heard about the artificial lake later, probably wouldn’t have thought to go see it. In reality, it was undeniable that other than Heinz, the rest of us were starting to get a bit bored with the Seven Mysteries. However, there was the matter of the school newspaper file that suddenly vanished 10 years ago, so we couldn’t just dismiss it offhand.
“This time, it’s interesting! It’s a dancing painting!” (Heinz)
Heinz passionately argued with Frank. Certainly, it seemed like a more intriguing story than ‘The Motionless Stone Statue’ or ‘The artificial lake where something happens when it rains heavily’.
“So, where is this dancing painting?” (Frank)
Frank asked Heinz without much change in his expression.
“Uh, well, that’s the problem.” (Heinz)
“Huh? You don’t know where it is?” (Maria)
Maria asked while looking puzzled.
“No, I know it used to be displayed on the landing of the stairs in the old school building.” (Heinz)
“In the past?” (Sonia)
Sonia asked.
“Yeah, it was there before they moved from the old school building to the new one. And then, when they moved to the new school building, it suddenly disappeared.” (Heinz)
“Who did you hear that from?” (Rick)
Rick-san seemed curious about the source of the information.
“Huh? From Burke-sensei, though?” (Burke)
Burke-sensei is a veteran who has been teaching at the academy for a long time. He was the instructor who handled my first practical class when I entered the academy, and he was also the one who showed us around the artificial lake the other day. Apparently, Heinz went to talk to Burke-sensei, spurred by the artificial lake incident the other day. Wow, his communication skills are amazing.
Although Burke-sensei wasn’t particularly interested in the Seven Mysteries, he remembered the painting that disappeared when they moved from the old school building to the new one, as it became a bit of a topic at the time.
Apparently, the rumor that the painting was dancing was around from when it was displayed in the old school building, and some freshmen were scared by the upperclassmen and avoided using those stairs. Moreover, it seems those freshmen would do the same to the next incoming students the following year, so it might have been something like a traditional ceremony in the old school building. Since it was a painting that was loved by the students, for better or worse, its disappearance also became a topic.
“So, does Burke-sensei also not know the whereabouts of the painting?” (Frank)
“Yeah, he said it might have been stored in a warehouse at some point.” (Heinz)
For those related to the academy, when they simply say ‘warehouse’, they refer to the group of four buildings next to the old courtyard of the old school building. Just like the former courtyard had become a storage area for materials, the four buildings that were once used for various purposes were currently used as warehouses. Among them, the warehouse closest to the main street also stored bibs and other things, so it was a building we are familiar with.
However, the farther you go into this warehouse, the fewer people come and go. It seems things close to junk are stored there, and I have never even gone near the innermost building.
“Well, assuming it’s stored in the warehouse, how do we get in?” (Ratt)
Ratt-kun asked as he tilted his head while munching on snacks.
“Should we say, ‘Please let us clean up’ or something?” (Heinz)
Heinz, who probably hadn’t thought that far, replied without much confidence.
“Hmm, that’s a bit of a stretch. If only the school newspaper file could be found, there might be something mentioned in it.” (Rick)
Rick-san said regretfully.
“Where could the school newspaper have gone?” (Sonia)
Sonia seemed more interested in that than the dancing painting. To be honest, I was also more curious about the file.
“I’ve been thinking about that school newspaper.” (Frank)
Frank continued, pushing up his glasses slightly.
“Only Lux and Rick-san have actually seen the real thing, so it’s hard to say for sure, but the file must have been quite thick, right?” (Frank)
Indeed, each file was thick enough that you couldn’t grab it with one hand unless you spread your fingers wide.
“There were 12 volumes, right?” (Frank)
If you asked if I was absolutely certain, I wouldn’t be confident, but there were definitely more than 10.
“If all of those disappeared at once, wouldn’t they be hidden somewhere in the old school building?” (Frank)
“Ah, I see. You mean it would be difficult to carry that many files somewhere else all at once?”
Rick-san added.
“Exactly. If they’re that thick, they must be quite heavy too, so whether it was done by a single person or a group of two or three, taking them all out at once would be quite a challenge. Unless it was a group of more than 12 people, that many people coming out of the old school building would simply stand out. So, it’s reasonable to think they hid them inside the old school building, don’t you think?” (Frank)
What Frank was saying made the most sense. Honestly, since the files suddenly disappeared, I had this vague image that ‘someone took them out’, and imagined they were carried outside, but it was more natural to think they were hidden in the old school building.
“And, if I may add, if they were to hastily hide that many, I think it would be in a room near the library of the old school building. What do you think?” (Frank)
Everyone was impressed by Frank’s reasoning and said, “I see”.
“Alright, then, let’s search the rooms near the old school building before looking for the painting.”
Heinz summarized, and then, he volunteered.
“I’ll borrow the keys after class tomorrow.” (Heinz)
So, we left it to him.
If it’s Heinz, he’ll probably come up with a good excuse to borrow the keys.
—
The next day, we gathered again and split up to search the rooms on both sides of the old school building’s library. On either side of the library, one side was the science lab, and the other was the staff preparation room. Since the staff preparation room was small, we assigned more people to the science lab. That said, there weren’t any particular lab tools left, just simple shelves and tables placed around.
While we were opening the sliding doors of the shelves to check inside and looking behind the teacher’s podium, we heard a voice from the hallway.
“Found it!” (Rick)
The voice belonged to Rick-san, who was checking the staff preparation room.
When we hurried over there, there were three files on the table. They were definitely the ones with the spines we saw in the library.
“Are there only three files?” (Lux)
“Yes, these were the only ones shoved into the corner of this table.”
In response to my question, Rick-san said so.
Out of the 12 volumes, for some reason, there were only three. Although there was still a part of me that felt unsettled, it was also true that I felt as if we had grasped a small clue.
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