Not a detective

Page 64

They tried almost everything that could be called a step, including the steps next to the stadium stage, the steps of the lecture hall, and even the steps of the flagpole...

It took them about an hour, with over 90% of the search done by Asakawa Riku alone.

...

He once tried a type of exercise called "stair running" when he was exercising.

Some might think, "It's just running up the stairs from the bottom, I can do that too," but that would be a big mistake.

Simply climbing stairs is too basic a training method for Asakawa Riku—he doesn't run up from the bottom of the stairs, but runs down from the top.

It sounds unbelievable, doesn't it?

What can be done is done. In principle, it means stepping onto a right-angled vertical plane at the bottom of the stairs, then accelerating your body and running downhill.

As long as you alternate your feet quickly enough and maintain your balance well, you won't tumble down all at once.

But the most important part of doing this exercise is not the technique.

Technically speaking, some runners might be able to do it, but they don't have the courage of Riku Asakawa.

Confront the fear of falling, don't let your body plummet, but use your powerful physique to control the rhythm, constantly looking straight down into the abyss.

This requires extraordinary mental fortitude. Athletes are afraid of injuring their bodies, so they don't and don't need to train like this.

Asakawa Riku used this to train himself and continuously improve.

He used this method to search all the staircases in the entire school.

He used to fall while running up and down stairs, but he hasn't used this kind of training method for a long time now, because it has become the basis for reaching a bottleneck. Now, Asakawa Riku can walk up and down stairs as if on flat ground, without any hindrance, as if gravity has no effect on him, which seems incredible.

The bad news is that the conditions for triggering the ghost story are still not met.

Riku Asakawa finally reunited with Chizuko, only to realize with dismay that their actions were merely a desperate attempt to find a cure, because the ghost story clearly stated:

"At midnight, the school's stairs will automatically add a step, changing from the usual 12 steps to 13 steps."

In other words, only staircases that normally have 12 steps are the target.

...

"So we've ended up back here again."

Asakawa Riku looked up at the building in front of him, feeling somewhat helpless.

They returned to the school building. Perhaps their initial deduction was correct: the ghost stories created by Aoandon only appeared here.

"Well, actually, only this staircase has exactly twelve floors... I'm sorry to have made you come all this way for nothing, it's my fault."

Chizuko rubbed her forehead in annoyance: "I was so anxious that I lost my mind. I really shouldn't have done that."

"It's ok."

This wasn't a humble remark; in fact, Asakawa Riku hadn't even broken a sweat, and was only slightly out of breath. This amount of exercise was just a warm-up for him.

He was more concerned with the truth of the mystery: where exactly was that mysterious staircase?

Asakawa Riku raised his head and silently observed the school building in the night.

Although the school has a long history, the school building seems to have been replaced 30 years ago, so it doesn't look old overall. The paint job is also very good. After regular maintenance and inspection, it can maintain a good appearance even with so many students using it every day. It's all show and no substance, but I don't know what the inside is like.

He walked closer, but instead of entering through the main door, he went to the outer wall and touched it with his hand.

"...?" Chizuko was puzzled, but she didn't interrupt and just observed silently.

Asakawa Riku closed his eyes.

Begin to feel the breath of the architecture.

Everything in the world breathes. Whether it is a human or an animal, grass or a plant, or even an inanimate object, they all breathe in some way.

Breathing is the source of life and a necessary condition for existence. Whoever controls the other's breathing controls their throat...

In the pitch-black landscape of Asakawa Riku, the outline of the school building was reconstructed, and it was continuously refined and deepened.

Not only did the pulse of breathing appear, but even the structure of blood vessels and bones emerged, as if a colossal square giant had been dissected by Asakawa Riku.

"It's very sturdy."

He muttered something to himself.

This is a country that frequently suffers from earthquakes, so the buildings in this country are reinforced and modified accordingly to prevent earthquakes, especially key locations such as schools. For the safety of students, the building standards are the most stringent. Although Riku Asakawa is not an architectural expert, he is, in a sense, a master of mechanics. Although it is not so scientific, he can see the supporting role that the structure plays for the whole.

It's a bit convoluted to say all this, but in short, this isn't a building that can be destroyed with a single punch.

But if Riku Asakawa really wanted to demolish the building, it would just take a little more effort to destroy the key points supporting the weight, like a precision blasting operation...

The entire school building would collapse under its own weight, crumbling down layer by layer.

He could almost hear a series of loud noises; in Asakawa Riku's imagination, the building had already been destroyed once.

"But that's meaningless."

Demolishing the entire building to solve a strange tale, while it might solve the problem once and for all, is undoubtedly putting the cart before the horse.

If the former Asakawa Riku might have done this, compared to the lives of the students here, demolishing a building would have been enough, as long as the source of danger could be eliminated.

But he goes to school here now... He can't wake up tomorrow and find there's nowhere to go to class, that would be too absurd.

In his heart, he still longed to be an ordinary student.

"What's wrong?" Chizuko couldn't help but ask.

In her eyes, Asakawa stood there motionless, her hand touching the wall, muttering to herself, and occasionally revealing a strange smile.

It makes one wonder if a new ghost story has emerged.

"senior."

Asakawa Riku withdrew his hand and turned around.

He stared at Chizuko, his smile slowly widening, his eyes filled with determination: "I've found it."

"Huh?...Really?!"

Chizuko was stunned for a moment, then immediately became overjoyed: "What is it? Is there some hidden trigger condition?"

“No… it shouldn’t be a hidden trigger condition.” Asakawa Riku shook his head: “Senior, you said that the ghost stories of Aoandon must follow the rules. Since it’s not written in the rules, it shouldn’t exist. What I’m thinking is that we may have been missing a step and haven’t tried it. Since we’ve ruled out all the other answers, the last one must be true.”

His finger pointed to the ground:

"Those are the steps leading to the basement."

Aoandon's Autumn: Chapter Thirty - The School Clinic

"Our school building even has a basement?"

Chizuko showed a confused expression, saying "Ah."

"I can't be sure either, but this is the only possibility left."

Asakawa Riku can't possibly claim that he perceived it by feeling the "breath" of the architecture, because ultimately it's just his own feeling and can't be taken as evidence.

He said to Chizuko, "You can try to verify it; maybe this is our last hope."

"Ah."

Chizuko naturally had no reason to refuse. She turned her head, her small lips moved, and she seemed to say something to Kiku beside her.

Then, the enormous ghost slowly drifted into the school building and passed through the outside of the wall.

Ghosts, capable of freely traversing physical realms, are undoubtedly the best assistants for investigation.

While Kiku went to check if there was a basement, Chizuko couldn't help but tilt her head and ask, "Asakawa-san, how did you find out?"

"It's just reasoning."

Asakawa Riku continued lying without batting an eye, completely ignoring his senior's suspicious gaze.

They didn't wait long before Kiku returned from her stroll. Chizuko's eyes widened instantly, her expression as if she had seen a ghost.

"real or fake……"

She spent a whole year at this school, during which time the ghost Kiku explored almost the entire campus, yet even she didn't notice the existence of the basement, which was completely hidden from her view, like a blind spot.

Asakawa-kun has actually thought of this.

Without wasting any time, she tugged at Asakawa Riku's sleeve: "Come quickly."

So the two entered the school building again, but this time, instead of climbing the stairs, they walked along the corridor on the first floor.

It's obvious that the basement doesn't go down the stairs; otherwise, they would have discovered there was another floor below long ago after going up and down the stairs so many times.

It appears to be hidden inside one of the classrooms.

"It's not a classroom."

Chizuko seemed to read Asakawa Riku's mind, and she stopped in front of a door.

Asakawa Riku looked up and saw the sign for the school clinic.

"oh……?"

This was a development he had never anticipated.

It's normal for a school clinic to be located here, considering whether students who are feeling unwell can climb the stairs, and also to facilitate ambulance stretcher transport. So it's conveniently located on the first floor. Asakawa Riku has never been here, but he's heard that some students come here to consult about health problems, or even just sleep through half a class, etc.

It wasn't that they only came when they were sick, but rather that they came whenever they wanted, which Asakawa Riku found hard to understand. He had heard that the school doctor was a handsome, single man with gold-rimmed glasses, middle-aged and unmarried, with a gentle and considerate nature, and a very pleasant voice. He was said to take good care of every student's feelings, which was probably why he was so popular.

Just like that young, beautiful music teacher who was very popular with boys, adolescence is just that kind of age.

As long as teachers can control the boundaries and limits of their interactions and avoid crossing any taboos, there's nothing to criticize.

"I heard... his name is Suzuki Sho, Suzuki-sensei."

Chizuko said quietly.

"Are you also a member of the fan club?" Asakawa Riku asked.

"No, but I think the same thing as you."

Chizuko's expression was serious. She wrapped her hands in a handkerchief and turned the doorknob of the school clinic.

Click, the lock is secure: "You must be thinking, we've found the suspect."

"Step aside."

Asakawa Riku was unexpectedly assertive; he didn't take the handkerchief Chizuko offered, but instead grabbed the doorknob of the school clinic.

He shattered the bolt with a burst of force—

It was so light that not a sound could be heard; the whole movement was smooth and natural, and the door was opened in an instant.

"We're detectives, not criminals. Why should we care about fingerprints?"

“…That was really brutal.” Chizuko shrugged and put her handkerchief away. “After killing the Spider Woman, I wonder who spent ages cleaning up the fingerprints afterwards.”

She has a unique obsession with "secret rooms." If Asakawa Riku hadn't opened the door, she probably would have used Kiku's teleportation ability to get in.

Upon entering the school clinic, it was dimly lit and empty.

Although Chizuko had the help of a shikigami, she herself did not have the same strong night vision as Asakawa Riku, so she could only grope her way to turn on the light.

In an instant, the room brightened up, and the image of the school clinic came into view. The tables and chairs were arranged neatly, and the cabinets storing medicines were spotless and securely locked. To the right were three beds placed side by side, with the curtains separating them drawn up and tied up. A faint smell of disinfectant could be smelled. The impression was of white sheets and pale yellow wallpaper.

She roughly understood why some people liked to rest here, just like her safe house was the mystery club; it seemed like a reassuring place to stay.

Unfortunately, something bad was lurking behind it...

“Here it is.” Unlike her, Asakawa Riku didn’t have time to appreciate the room’s decor; he went straight to his destination as soon as he arrived.

He walked to the bed closest to the corner, bent down, and felt the floor through the gap in the bed to confirm his judgment.

Then he braced himself against the floor with both hands, paused for a moment, and suddenly exerted force to lift the entire bed up!

"Be careful...!"

Chizuko was startled and quickly dodged, letting Asakawa Riku put the bed down: "Can't you push it a little... it's so heavy to move."

"The pushing was too loud."

Asakawa Riku clapped his hands, as if he had just done a stretching exercise.

This bed isn't a lightweight, simple bed; it's a medium-sized one with the bottom touching the ground. If it were to rub against the floor, it would definitely make a piercing noise.

In the quiet night sky, such a sound would be very noticeable and would carry out instantly; he didn't want to attract anyone else's attention.