It happened one morning.
Almark left the dorm, like every day, and on the way to the schoolhouse he saw a familiar figure walking in the sunlight. A smile played on his lips. He jogged over to her.
“Morning, Wendy.”
“Oh, Almark.” Wendy turned around, her voice perking up cheerfully. “Not often I run into you here.”
“Yeah.” Almark smiled. “I’m always out around this time. You’re just a bit later than usual today.”
“You’re right.” Wendy nodded, walking beside him. “My roommate needed to talk, and I only ended up leaving for class now.”
“You have a roommate?”
“Yes, a girl from Class 1,” Wendy said with a bit of a strained smile. “She’s fun to be around, but once she gets talking, it’s hard to get her to stop.”
“Really? I have a room all to myself, so that never happens to me…” Almark smiled back at her. “Sounds fun, though.”
“Well, yes. I suppose it’s fun in its own way.”
Chatting idly, the two continued down the road to the schoolhouse.
“Summer’s almost here.” Wendy looked up at the blue sky, the wind toying with her hair. “It’s getting hotter.”
“We’re still not at summer?” Almark said with a strained smile. “In the North, it only gets this hot during the height of summer.”
“Is that so?” Wendy’s eyes widened. “It’s going to get even hotter here.”
“Really?” Almark scratched his head nervously. “I do know what summer is like in the central plains, at least. I traveled there on the way here.” He rolled up his sleeves. “Still, I was surprised by how much hotter it is compared to the North. I kept thinking summer in the South must be difficult.”
“I only know what summer is like around here, so I really can’t compare…” Wendy tilted her head bashfully. “Right, it’s so much colder where you come from.”
“Yeah.”
“Come on.” Wendy looked at Almark, smiling sheepishly. “Tell me what summers in the North are like.”
“Up North, huh? Hm…” Almark looked up to the sky, searching for the words.
Summers in the North. The first thing to come to mind was a vivid greenery that stood out against the blue sky. Life suppressed by the cold singing out to put its resilience on full display. This was the scenery of the North’s brief summers.
“Summers in the North are…short,” Almark began, but then he heard loud footsteps behind them, and something soft sandwiched between the two of them.
“Hey, you two, listen!”
“Whoa!”
“Ah!”
It was Morgan.
“What’s wrong, Morgan?”
“I just heard something interesting,” Morgan grinned as he looked between the two of them.
“Interesting?”
“Yep!” Morgan affirmed and walked between the two of them. “I think I’ll bring it up with everyone in class when we get there. It’s a good thing I ran into you guys. I’ll tell you ahead of everyone else.”
“Thanks.” Almark smiled. “I’m curious now.”
“That’s the spirit! I knew I could count on you, Almark.” Morgan grinned, satisfied with Almark’s cooperation, but then he turned serious. “Have you two heard about the secret room on the third floor of the schoolhouse?”
“There’s a secret room?” Almark pondered. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“Me neither.” Wendy blinked. “The third floor is where our classroom is, right? I think I would’ve heard about any secret rooms there.”
“Heh-heh…” Morgan gave a dramatic chuckle. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you?”
“Um, yeah?” Wendy nodded.
Morgan threw out his chest. “Well, as it turns out, that room is real!”
“Huh?” Wendy frowned. “Then where is it?”
“Come on, it wouldn’t be much of a secret room if I just told you, now would it?” Morgan said. “But I can tell you how to find it. At lunch break, go to the schoolyard and look up at the schoolhouse. You’ll notice that one of the windows on the third floor looks strange. That’s the secret room!”
“Strange, how exactly?”
“Uh, I don’t know,” Morgan said quizzically. “I didn’t get all the details on that.”
“And it has to be during lunch?” Wendy asked.
Morgan nodded.
“But why?”
“I dunno. I didn’t get the details on that, either.”
“And who told you about this, anyway?”
“Someone from Class 1.”
“And you didn’t check it yourself, did you?” Almark asked.
“Of course not. I mean, I’m busy eating during lunch. Why would I go outside?”
It was all so vague and obscure that Almark and Wendy had to exchange doubtful looks.
Morgan frowned in disappointment. “Oh, so that’s how you feel. All right.” He nodded. “I won’t tell everyone in class about it, then.”
Morgan stuck to his word, and when he got to class, he didn’t tell anyone about the rumor, as if he’d all but forgotten about it. Almark settled into his seat and got ready for class, Morgan’s story already gone from his thoughts.
“Say, Almark,” Wendy whispered while he read the textbook. “What do you think about what Morgan said?”
“Uh, I’m not sure.” Almark looked up from the textbook quizzically. “It all sounds too vague to mean much.”
“That’s all?”
Wendy looked at him with her large eyes, and Almark had to avert his gaze.
“I mean, it does sound strange.”
“Right?!” Wendy nodded eagerly. “It’s a strange story. It’s so vague, but specific in the weirdest parts.”
“I feel like most of the rumors Morgan hears are like that.”
“Let’s check it out. Together.” Wendy’s eyes were sparkling. “I mean, we’re the only ones in our class who’ve heard about it, right?”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“And unlike last time with the voice in the garden, we don’t have to go anywhere too far to check it out.” Wendy’s voice was incredibly cheerful as she looked at Almark. “So, can we?”
“I don’t mind,” Almark answered calmly. “You know, I remember thinking this back when we heard about the rumor with the garden, but you really like this sort of thing.”
“Yeah…” Wendy gave a sheepish smile. “I do, honestly.”
“Then I’ll tag along. You always help me out, after all.” Almark grinned. “So, how are we going to check it out?”
“As soon as lunch break starts, let’s go outside before we go to the dining hall.”
“That’s simple enough,” Almark agreed. “Okay, once classes end, let’s go outside.”
After morning classes, Almark and Wendy both left the classroom at once.
“Okay, let’s hurry up and go take a look!” Wendy said as she jogged through the hall. “We don’t want to end up missing lunch!”
“Yeah, that would be bad,” Almark said, running beside her.
But just then, a slender student walked out of a nearby class and sharply chided them.
“Hey, no running in the halls! Do you want to get yourselves hurt?!”
“Sorry, Ein!” Wendy stopped in her tracks and apologized. She then started walking with swift steps, sticking out her tongue impishly at Almark. “Someone from another class just scolded us.”
“Yeah. Let’s be careful.”
The two made a turn in the hallway and went out to the lawn of the schoolyard as rays of early summer sunlight shined on them. Almark had already thought it was hot that morning, but noon was an entirely different beast. He could really tell the seasons were changing.
At this time of day, everyone normally headed for the dining hall, so the schoolyard was empty save for the two of them.
“Remember, Almark, third floor.” Wendy said, shading her eyes with a hand as she looked up at the schoolhouse.
“Right, I remember.”
Almark did the same and looked up at the building. As always, he could see the windows of the third-year classrooms: Classes 1, 2 and 3. Next to them were the windows of the classrooms for specific subjects, as well as some empty classrooms.
“None of the windows look strange,” Almark pointed out.
“Yeah…” Wendy squinted up at the building. “Everything looks normal… Ah.” Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she pointed up. “Almark, look at that.”
“Oh…,” Almark called out despite himself.
At the edge of the schoolhouse, at the wall situated between the second and third floors, was a single window. Almark couldn’t recall if he’d ever seen a window in such an odd spot. And while that alone was peculiar, there were other strange aspects to the window. When exposed to the sunlight, it seemed to appear and disappear, its contours fuzzy and unclear—like a mirage from a heat daze.
“What’s that window…?” Almark blinked. “Wendy, what room is it for…?”
“Isn’t it a staircase?” Wendy answered. “I mean, see that window? That’s our classroom… Hmm. Yeah, I think that would be where the staircase between the second and third floors is.”
“The staircase… Was there a window over there?”
“I don’t remember one…”
But even as they discussed this, the window continued wavering like a reflection on the water, and soon vanished.
The two hurried into the dining hall and rushed through their lunch. After that, they dashed to the spot where they saw the window outside. Like Wendy had said, it was the staircase between the second and third floors. And though there was a skylight above them for illumination, the spot where they saw the window outside had nothing but an empty wall on it.
“But this was the spot, right?” Wendy turned around to look at Almark, looking confused. “This has to be where we saw the window.”
“Yeah.” Almark nodded. “This was the spot.”
“Hmmm…” Wendy patted the wall. “There’s nothing there…”
In the end, they found nothing suspicious on the walls or the stairs. The bell rang, marking the end of lunch break, and they had no choice but to go to class.
After classes, on his way to meditation training with Illmis, Almark looked up at the schoolhouse once again. There was still no sign of the window.
The next day…
“Let’s go check it out, Almark,” Wendy said when they met in the classroom that morning. “Today during lunch, let’s go look for that window again!”
“A-all right…,” Almark said, a bit overwhelmed by her enthusiasm. “Sure, yeah, let’s go see it.”
“It’s all I’ve been thinking about since yesterday!” Wendy said. “I really want to figure it out today.”
And so, all but physically pulled along by Wendy’s enthusiasm, Almark bolted out of the classroom with her as soon as morning classes ended.
“Huh?”
The two of them looked up at the same spot as yesterday, but now the spot where they saw the window the day prior was covered by nothing but wall.
“There’s no window…,” Almark muttered.
“…Yeah.” Wendy nodded.
But at that very moment, the window flickered into existence.
“There it is!” Wendy gasped.
The window wavered for a few moments, shimmering and wobbling before, just like the day prior, it eventually vanished.
“…What does it mean?” Wendy asked aloud as she patted the wall of the third-floor staircase. “What is that window?”
Just like yesterday, there was no window there, just blank wall.