“So, what business does a student devoted to daily social contribution have in a place like this? Do you have some malicious stalker or something?”
“No, it’s not that kind of thing…”
She pressed her fist against her chest and looked down as if choosing her words.
That hand was tightly clenched and trembling.
Rather than being nervous, it was as if she was cowering from something.
Once, she cast her eyes down,
“…It was five days ago.”
She looked at Norman with a clinging gaze.
“At our Evergrace Academy… it appeared.”
“Appeared? What did?”
“—— The [Weeping Woman].”
●
“It began late at night last week. A security guard making night rounds heard screaming. When he immediately rushed to the scene, an academy student had collapsed.”
For a moment, Rebecca’s face clouded.
“That was one of the founding members of the Social Contribution Club… my dear friend, and she’s still hospitalized.”
Norman thought it seemed quite serious, but didn’t voice it.
He felt it would be rather cruel as a response to a girl whose heart was pained by her friend’s hospitalization.
“Right after she—Molly—collapsed, the teachers conducted an investigation, but they couldn’t find anything. But three days later, that is, the day before yesterday…”
“Someone else collapsed?”
“Th-that’s right. This time, it was two people. Those two were also founding members of the club and are currently hospitalized.”
“Oh?”
Norman raised an eyebrow slightly at the information that it was two people together.
“Did you hear the screams again this time?”
“Yes. A teacher on night patrol reportedly heard them.”
“I see. So, the [Weeping Woman], then.”
The [Weeping Woman] was a fairy—or perhaps a malevolent spirit—from Bristen folklore.
Details varied by region, but the core legend remained the same: Those who hear her screams will die. In this case, no one had died yet, but the screams and the fact that the victims had remained unconscious for days were enough to evoke the image of the [Weeping Woman].
“Three founding members of that ‘Social Contribution Club’ in a row. Just how many people are in that club, anyway?”
“There are nine members in total. But among the founding members… I’m the only one left unharmed.”
“Ah. That explains it.”
“Yes.”
Rebecca nodded slightly, her body trembling.
It wasn’t from nervousness—but from sheer terror.
“That’s why… I first consulted Lady Cklares, and she introduced me to you, Mr. Hamish.”
Her voice was strained, barely a whisper.
“Please… I beg you. Solve this [Weeping Woman] incident.”
“Sure.”
“As for payment… Huh?”
“I’ll take the job. And don’t worry about paying me. I’m sure the headmaster will cough up something.”
“R-really!?”
“If Cklares vouched for you, I’ve got no reason to refuse.”
“See, Rebecca? Told you. Leave it to Norman Sensei, and it’ll be handled—perfectly. A solution so flawless it’ll go down in Evergrace Academy’s history!”
“Hah. No pressure, huh?”
Norman laughed before turning serious.
“But, Rebecca-chan. There’s one thing I wanna ask.”
“Y-yes! What is it?”
“Simple question. The victims so far are all founding members of your club. By that logic, you’re next.”
Rebecca stiffened, but Norman pressed on.
“You four—the club’s founders. Any idea why you’re being targeted?”
“Th-that’s…”
Her trembling worsened. Her gaze wavered, and she clenched her hands tightly in front of her chest.
“Seems like you do have an idea.”
Norman wasn’t certain. He half-expected her to snap at him, but he asked anyway.
Yet her reaction was telling. She’d been tense from the start, shaking with fear. But now, the emotion dominating her expression was unexpected.
“…Guilt?”
“……!”
At his murmur, Rebecca sucked in a breath and bowed her head in silence.
Norman and Cklares waited. F
“…There is a reason.”
Rebecca raised her head, and her trembling had disappeared.
“That’s…why I came to Mr. Hamish. Molly collapsed, then two others followed, and I have a reason to believe that I will be next.”
Hesitating, she forced out the words.
“In the past… we bullied a student named Sisel Barker. She took her own life a year and a half ago… We fear this may be her vengeful spirit, punishing us.”
“Hah? What kind of bullshit is that?”
●
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
“……Huh?”
As Rebecca’s bewildered voice rang out, Cklares shifted her gaze.
Standing in the hallway leading to the bedroom was a silver-haired girl.
Shizuku.
Bare-armed in just her innerwear (a familiar sight for Cklares), she stared blankly at Rebecca.
“Sisel… was bullied? Suicide? That was an accident. And now you’re saying it’s her ghost? I don’t know who you are, but if you keep spouting nonsense, I’ll kill you nine times out of ten.”
“……Tia—”
“Huh?”
“—————Tiana Cram!?”
“………………What?”
At the name, Shizuku frowned.
Her expression screamed, Why the hell would you call me that?
Cklares suppressed a wry smile. Just as she opened her mouth to speak—
“…………The hell is this nonsense?”
Shizuku spat out the words like poison. Norman and Cklares exchanged glances and shrugged in unison.
Rebecca, meanwhile, had passed out cold.
As if she’d seen a ghost.
●
“Sisel Barker was Tiana Cram’s only friend.”
In Norman’s private room, Shizuku lay sprawled on his bed, her head resting on his lap as she looked up at him.
Sisel Barker—a name from the past, a friend long gone.
Tiana Cram—the name Shizuku once bore, back when she was just another ordinary girl.
Both were names she hadn’t spoken in ages.
Norman ran his fingers through her long hair.
“Yeah.”
That was all he said. His curtness was a small mercy to her right now.
“Sisel was… well, normal.”
And so, she continued.
“Evergrace accepts anyone, but it’s mostly nobles’ daughters. A commoner like me, with no money, commuting from home? I stuck out like a sore thumb. But Sisel… she talked to me anyway.”
Memories of conversations with anyone else were scarce. She didn’t even remember Rebecca, despite apparently being classmates back then.
“She was a noble’s daughter too, but she wasn’t arrogant or sneaky. Always seemed a bit spacey, but she noticed everything. Fragile like a small animal, but never paranoid.”
In other words—
“She was a lot like you, Norman.”
“Is that… a compliment?”
“The highest praise.”
She smiled faintly at his wry grin.
“That’s why… she wasn’t the type to haunt people for revenge.”
Her eyes locked onto his.
“It’s true—Sisel died a year and a half ago. But it was a carriage accident. Just bad luck. Ghosts? Ridiculous.”
“Then what do you think the [Weeping Woman] is?”
“An Unlaw, obviously. Haven’t you heard?”
“Not yet. Probably busy with another case.”
“Useless………… So? You are investigating, right?”
“Yeah. Cklares’ referral means I can’t ignore it. Plus, I already told Rebecca I’d take the job.”
Casually, Norman stroked her hair.
“What about you?”
“I’m going back. To that academy.”
Shizuku sat up abruptly.
“The [Weeping Woman] doesn’t matter. But the idea of Sisel being labeled a vengeful spirit pisses me off. I’ll clear her name and make that Unlaw grovel at her grave.”
“Scary.”
He chuckled.
“Didn’t expect you to move for someone else’s sake, though.”
“I don’t move for others.”
But—
“For a friend? I’d move mountains.”
She smiled like a blooming flower—then, after a pause, added:
“I’m full of surprises, after all.”
●
“Seems like things are settled.”
Cklares strode into Norman’s room with her usual cheer.
Shizuku and Norman, seated on the bed, looked up as she grinned.
She’d been tending to the unconscious Rebecca but had overheard enough.
“So, it’s me, Shizuku-chan, and Norman Sensei on academy duty. Ah, the nostalgia! The senior-junior duo rides again!”
“…………We weren’t even at the academy at the same time.”
“Details, details! Don’t sweat it.”
“Oh, right. I can’t actually enter the academy.”
Cklares and Shizuku turned to him in unison.
“The headmaster personally banned me. I’ll support however I can, but you two will have to handle things on-site.”
“Banned? First I’ve heard of this. My fault?”
“Nah. The headmaster’s words.”
And then—
“You’re poison to students. Stay away. Harsh, right?”
Neither Cklares nor Shizuku could muster a response.
●
Evergrace Academy stood on the northern edge of Balldlum’s aristocratic district.
Its Gothic-style buildings enclosed a courtyard with a fountain. A hall, dormitories, and a greenhouse flanked the main building, with a small forest behind it.
Compared to the city center, it felt like a relic of a bygone era.
Inside one of its classrooms, an odd tension hung in the air.
The female students sat at their desks, all wearing identical expressions of confusion.
For the past week, they’d lived in fear after their classmates fell victim to mysterious attacks.
But now, they were witnessing something even less believable than the [Weeping Woman].
“Shizuku Teardrop.”
The silver-haired girl spoke only her name.
An odd arrangement of words for a name. Her uniform shirt was regulation, but she wore a long hooded parka instead of a blazer. A neck warmer, gloves, tights covering her legs—every inch of her, save her face, was covered.
Most striking was the badge pinned to her shirt—a design the girls attention.
They recognized the design.
One of their seniors wore an identical one on her hat.
“……Cram… san?”
Someone whispered.
The girl they knew, who was looking bored in the direction of the day after tomorrow.
The girl who’d suddenly stopped coming to school a year and a half ago, who’d vanished without a trace, who some even whispered had died—had returned.
But the girl who should have been Tiana now bore a different name.
A name that, once again, reminded them of that senior.
“Um, uh… Teardrop-san? Is there… anything else?”
The homeroom teacher couldn’t hide her bewilderment as she spoke.
“Hmm.”
Shizuku nodded once—then smiled.
A twisted, icy smirk, lifting only the corner of her lips.
“I have no intention of cooperating. I’ll disappear soon enough, so don’t bother talking to me.”
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