I never once thought that Dum and Dee wouldn’t want to undo the spell cast by the trap-laying demon. But that appeared to be how they felt.
When they tightened their arms around me, I realized they meant exactly what they said.
“B-But we don’t know what will happen if you aren’t changed back to normal! The most natural, human way of growing is to do it little by little over time. There’s lots of things you need to experience before you can truly grow.”
“We don’t care if we’re not like normal humans.”
“All we want is to be able to hold you like this, Alice.”
They pressed their cheeks to my head and purred like kittens.
“We love you, Alice.”
“We love you so much.”
“We love you.” I’d heard those words of affection from their mouths many times. I’d grown used to that form of play from them. And yet…
Why is my heart racing so fast this time?
My pulse was pounding in my chest. I knew it could only mean that I saw the situation differently now.
They were my family. They were my dear comrades in arms.
So why was there such a strange ache in my chest, almost like I’d fallen in love?
As the unexpected change left me dumbfounded, suddenly, the shrubs next to the houses shook.
“Who’s there?!”
I shoved my hand into my pouch. Dum and Dee let go of me to grab the weapons under their clothes. As we stared at the shrubs, they started to rustle again.
A figure brushed aside the branches and stuck his head out.
“What are you three doing out here?”
It was Robins. He had leaves stuck to his brow. He was holding a lantern but wearing his uniform, so it didn’t seem like he spotted us and followed us here coincidentally.
“Good evening, Robins. What are you doing all the way out here?”
“I came to search for the student who went missing in the woods, but I found him earlier and sent him back to the dorms. Since that’s all done, I was just about to head back too.”
The student lost in the woods had been back at Lion Dorm earlier that evening. He mentioned how Robins went out and rescued him, so it didn’t seem like the prefect was lying.
But that didn’t explain why Robins was still in the Nameless Woods in the middle of the night.
I looked at the twins, silently signaling them to keep their weapons holstered. Then I stepped forward.
“Charles and I saw you go into the Nameless Woods and were wondering why. Is there something out here?”
“Maybe it would be quicker to show you. Come with me.” Robins turned around, his robe fluttering around him, and led us down the path. “A lot of people lived on this island before the castle became a school. This was their village.”
We passed through the trees and walked along partially destroyed homes. A stone well sat on the side of the road, but the bucket and pulley had rotted away.
I kept my eyes moving constantly to make sure nothing dangerous was lurking nearby.
We’ll have to protect Robins if the trap-laying demon appears.
“This is it.”
Robins came to a stop at an overgrown cemetery. There were dozens of graves made up of stacked stones, and the weather had turned the names carved into the graves unreadable over time.
One larger boulder was sitting in the very center of the cemetery with red flowers in front of it.
“Someone’s visited this grave.”
“I’m the one who put the flowers there,” he said. “Prefects have to greet visitors on the island and take care of the cemetery, too. These graves belong to the nobles who owned the castle, the island residents, and those who worked at Ark School over the years.”
The last true “residents” of this island were the Ark School chefs and gardeners now. Their population had dwindled over time, with the remaining staff now elderly.
“You have a lot on your hands as a prefect, don’t you? However, I don’t see the need to visit graves in the middle of the night. It’s dangerous to walk around with only a lantern when it’s so dark out,” I said.
“…That’s true. I guess I should stop coming here at night. Thanks for looking out for me.”
The smile on Robins’ face was blatantly fake.
I won’t ask him what he’s still hiding.
If a boy was sneaking out of his dorm in the middle of the night, he was either drinking, smoking, or gambling. There was no point in digging up his secret if it was unrelated to the demon.
“We should head back now,” I said. “Will you return to the dorms with us, Robins?”
“I’m going to walk through the woods a little more first.”
“Then please be safe. Dum, Dee, let’s go.”
I led the twins away from the cemetery.
I could feel Robins’ eyes digging into my back as I left. His wariness was natural—if whatever mischief he was up to out there came out, his life as a prefect was over.
Schools were tiny societies of their own. Anyone who lost their power would be received coldly, and it was an impossible world to escape, being a school located on an island.
Behind me, the twins had let go of their weapons and were whispering to each other.
“He wasn’t using his lantern all night, was he?”
“He lit the flame just before he ran into us.”
When they mentioned it, I realized the wick of the candle in his lantern hadn’t burned much, as if it had only just been lit. It shouldn’t last long if he’d used it ever since the sun went down.
That meant that he lit the candle just before he found us.
Just what was he up to in such a pitch-black forest?
I whirled around for another look, but the cemetery was out of sight now.
The decaying houses seemed to bend and warp like I was looking through a stereoscope.
✦ ✦ ✦
🎃 🎃 🎃
“AH, that was too close.”
After sending Alice and the twins off, Robins crumpled to the ground.
He’d warned the students of Unicorn Dorm that the Nameless Woods was a dangerous place, but Alice and the twins were from Lion Dorm. Their prefect, Charles, was kinder than his stern demeanor made people think. Perhaps he hadn’t scared his students enough to keep them out.
This island was home to a terrifying monster—a demon. If they didn’t want the students to end up in its clutches, they had to be sure the rules were strictly followed.
“Come back already.”
A stomach-churning voice was carried to Robins’ ears by the night breeze. He looked up at the church next to the cemetery. A few silhouettes were beckoning him through the window.
“I’m coming.”
As soon as Robins approached the door, more hands than he could count reached out and pulled him into the church.
“Now, give your youth to us.”
The hands slithered over his body. Robins gritted his teeth to suppress his feelings of nausea.
He had to feed them his life force, or they would go after the other students.
Charles, his fellow prefect, would be their first target.
Charles was his dear friend, with whom he’d vowed to protect the boys who came to Ark School—an institution without a future, unlike its students. He couldn’t bear to let that friend become a victim, too.
I can handle whatever they do to me as long as it protects you, Charles.
With that one thought in his mind, he closed his eyes.
Robins knew he had to continue this daily routine until Charles graduated.
Even if Charles forgot about Robins as soon as he left the island.