Chapter 17: The Eldritch Godness and the Case Investigation

Due to my supposed frail health, I’ve been excused from all physical education classes. The school has acknowledged this, so during P.E., I’ve been resting or studying on my own.

But now, a major event related to athletics is coming up.

That’s right—the Sports Festival.

"The Sports Festival is next. We’re about to get busy again."

As usual, when I entered the student council room, Klaus was saying something like that.

"Does the student council handle the Sports Festival too?"

"Only partially. It’s not as much work as the Cultural Festival, so it won’t be too hectic."

"Understood."

I nodded as Klaus spoke.

"...Miss Iris, you’ve been absent from all P.E. classes. Will you also skip the Sports Festival?"

"Yes. My body hasn’t fully recovered yet."

"I see."

Felix stared at me intently as he asked. Still terrifying.

Just then, there was a knock on the student council door.

"Pardon the intrusion."

"Excuse us."

The ones who entered were… Emilia and Leonhardt. Unusual visitors for the student council room.

"What brings you here?"

"Well, we were summoned by Student Council President Klaus…"

"By Klaus?"

I turned a puzzled look toward Klaus.

"Indeed. While we do have Sports Festival preparations, there’s another matter we need to address."

Both Klaus and Felix wore unusually serious expressions.

"The mass suspensions and withdrawals in April. The same among faculty—leave of absences and resignations. And lately, the increasing number of students falling ill in the dormitories. Then, just recently, the suspensions of Marie, Clara, and Mira."

Klaus listed the incidents that had occurred around us.

"Something is happening around us. Something ominous. And I intend to get to the bottom of it—with the help of everyone here."

With that, Klaus looked around at all of us and made his declaration.

"I’m aware of the April incidents, but what’s this about recent dormitory cases…?"

"It’s only natural you wouldn’t know, Miss Iris. The school’s been keeping it under wraps."

Klaus began explaining.

"Lately, many dorm residents have been reporting nightmares. If it were just bad dreams, we wouldn’t make a big deal of it. But some students have fallen ill because of them. That’s not something we can ignore."

"I’ve also heard about these nightmares plaguing students. They’re not just terrifying—they blur the line between dreams and reality."

Leonhardt spoke up, his face equally grave.

"When Klaus and I investigated the April incidents, we noticed a pattern among those who withdrew or went on leave. They were all highly sensitive individuals—gifted in arts, music, literature, or philosophy."

"And the recent cases follow the same trend. This diary belonged to an art club member. The contents are… disturbing. Brace yourselves before reading."

Felix and Klaus placed a journal on the student council’s reception table. I was the first to pick it up and begin reading.

The Mad Student’s Diary

[Undated Entry]

I had a terrifying nightmare. No—was it even a nightmare?

Even now, after waking, I can feel them. The rats. Crawling beyond the walls. Countless rats, writhing on the other side, waiting for us to fall asleep before they emerge.

Their eyes are melted, as if burned by acid. Their fur is festering, scabbed like mange. And those countless rats—rats, rats, rats, rats, rats—swarming in a squirming mass, cannibalizing each other, slurping up entrails.

Ah. Ah. What a horrifying nightmare. What does this mean? If a psychologist analyzed my dreams, what would they say about my mental state?

I don’t know.

[Undated Entry]

The nightmares continue. They grow clearer.

The blasphemous rats move on instinct. To protect themselves from something even more terrifying, they gouge out their own eyes, huddle together, and try to endure the presence of that something.

What is that something?

I feel it too—instinctively. In my dreams, I sense it.

It is close. It is not of this world, that much is certain, but neither is it from some distant corner of the universe. No. It has descended upon this land. I feel this with dreadful certainty.

Perhaps I will understand its true nature if the nightmares grow clearer still. But by then, I doubt I will remain sane.

I consulted someone about the nightmares. They prescribed me sleeping pills.

I’ll start taking them tomorrow.

[Undated Entry]

Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. AH!

I saw it. The source of the terror. The thing that brings the nightmares. I saw it.

That abominable presence is so close to us.

It. Is. Right. Here.

It came from beyond our sky, beyond the cosmos, from the far reaches of the outer void—a realm not of this world. It descended upon this earth to mock our ignorance, to bring us terror. Ruin. Chaos. Madness.

I don’t think I can endure its influence much longer.

Even now, the rats squirm. The rats are afraid.

"This is…"

I lifted my face from the diary of a student who must have been consumed by fear.

"After this, the student overdosed on sleeping pills and was rushed to an imperial hospital. The State Military Police ruled it a suicide attempt."

"A suicide attempt…?"

The diary was then passed to Leonhardt and Emilia, who read it in full. Leonhardt’s expression darkened, and Emilia pressed a hand to her mouth, her face pale with horror.

"This student showed no signs of mental illness before the April incidents. The same goes for the others who attempted suicide. They weren’t already mad—they were driven to madness."

"So you intend to uncover what drove them to it?" Leonhardt asked.

"Exactly, Your Highness. If we don’t, we’ll never know when someone close to us might suffer the same fate."

"True. That is a frightening thought."

Leonhardt glanced worriedly at Emilia.

"But how do we find the culprit? Hasn’t the State Military Police investigated?"

"They’re not taking it seriously, Lady Emilia," Klaus said grimly. "They dismissed it as mere suicide attempts, blaming ‘personal conflicts.’ Even after seeing this diary, they called it ‘a student’s delusions.’"

"So we can’t rely on the adults…"

"Precisely."

Emilia bit her lip, uneasy.

"I want the five of us to investigate the anomaly lurking in this academy. Will you help?"

"Why the five of us?" I asked.

"Felix, Miss Iris, and I are responsible student council members. His Highness Leonhardt is royalty, and Lady Emilia has… prior experience resolving incidents like this."

"Emilia has?"

I stared at her in surprise.

"...Yes. Once, long ago, I encountered something similarly grotesque," she murmured. "You knew about that, Lord Klaus?"

"I did my research."

Emilia’s past wasn’t explored much in the game, so I wasn’t familiar with it. But if she faced something like this before… does that mean she encountered the same kind of being as me?

"That’s why I’m asking for your cooperation. Will you join me?"

"Of course. Let’s do it."

"I’m in as well."

"Naturally."

Emilia agreed first, followed by Leonhardt and Felix.

"L-Let’s do our best!"

Part of me thought this felt oddly like a youthful adventure—but another part screamed, Wait, isn’t the culprit me*? Should I really be on this side?!*

……………………