A coliseum of justice. It was appropriate to call this place that. It was my first time seeing a courtroom. A tall room with multiple levels. The center was the lowest, surrounded by enough stands and chairs to fit more than a hundred people. The judge’s stand was by far the tallest, imposingly standing directly in front of a small stand in the middle.

  The room was dim, and the lights weren’t working. No matter how much we tried, two opposing little side windows were the only source of light we had. Casting a still dim spotlight on the lower section. A weird and spooky atmosphere, but we had even more pressing problems.

  “Uhmm… I think we’re locked in here… The door’s not opening…” I rattled the door back and forth, but it would not open.

  All the girls stared in surprise. I was the last one to enter the room, and the door slamming made them all turn around.

  “What do you mean ‘it’s not opening’?” Carol was the first to approach, with Katja following right after. “It can’t be…”

  “She’s right…” Katja tried turning the knob. “It’s locked now… Why?” She shoulder bashed the door a few times, but nothing. “It doesn’t even budge.”

  “*Sigh…* What did you do, Iroha? Fess up…” Carol rolled her eyes…

  “Hey, I didn’t do anything! The door closed on its own after I stepped inside! It’s the monster! It must be!” It all matches up! In the story Shinji told us, the judge and the attorney who were attacked claimed they were locked in here too! They must have gotten locked just like we did!

  “Come on… It can’t be that bad…” Narumi laughed it off. We were all ready for a fight, and she was no different. She had her axe with her, she extended it with a smile, and approached the door. “Out of the way! I’ll show you just how locked we are…”

  Hecate watched amused from a little down the stairs. “Great… Destruction of property within the first five minutes. Might be a new record for us.”

  “There!” Narumi swung her heavy axe at the wooden door, but… “Huh?! It bounced? Why? I was going all out! I swear!”

  She made excuses to no one but herself. None of us were looking to blame her for anything. Though, seeing the axe bounce off made one thing clear…

  “What did Shinji say again?” Hecate started. “The PSF was unable to confirm the presence of a monster, but they were certain there was something supernatural going on? Whatever it may be, it seems obvious we’re already in the middle of it.”

  “Wait… Does that mean the door is the monster?” Katja readied her sword and entered into a fighting stance.

  “No… I don’t think that’s it…” Somehow, I had a feeling that wasn’t it… This kind of thing, being magically locked in a room, kinda reminds me of horror games… Like a haunted house… And in that case… “It’s better to think of it like the whole room’s the monster… Or rather, under the monster’s control. We probably won’t be able to leave until we find and defeat the monster.”

  It seemed like a leap, but with our lack of information, they played along. “Find the monster…” Carol said. Slowly, everyone’s shoulders loosened, and they looked around the room. “I- is that it?” She pointed down, to the center of the room. There was something there. Something that touched a recent trauma. “Ughh… Ghost?!”

  Kinda… But not quite. I extended my sword and walked past her. There were four figures surrounded by the stands. They looked like transparent, full-body mannequins with no features, and each with a different color. A blue man, a red lady, and a green boy. The three stood around a yellow boy lying down on the floor. Just like a dead body.

  “Looks like it… Let’s go!” Katja jumped down the stands with her sword in hand and attacked before the ghosts could react. Her sword cut through one, two, three, then she stabbed the fourth on the ground. “That should do-”

  The figures neither moved nor flinched. There was hope for a quick fight for a split second, then the whole room went dark. The windows were our source of light, but it was as if something had turned off the lights. Turned off the sun.

  “He- hey!? What the fuck is go-” Carol started a complaint when the light suddenly came back on. Dimmer this time.

  “Ka- Katja?” How did the attack end? What’s happening here? *Thump thump thump thump!* Heavy footsteps echoed all around, and Katja was nowhere to be seen. The figures were where they were, until… “Wh- wah?!” The four walked, ran, crawled, and jumped unnaturally fast. “No!”

  I flinched, and everything went dark.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  Again…

  Wh- what the fuck just…

  “Gyyaahhhh!” Someone let out a scream. Hecate. And the lights came back. Just like they originally were.

  “Hecate?!” I immediately ran down the stairs as soon as my legs could move. It was a complete mess. The figures were back in their place. Motionless around the yellow one. Katja was there, sitting on the ground like she had fallen backwards. And Hecate was lying down, passed out.

  “What happened? What just happened!?” I asked no one in particular. Any answers would be better than nothing.

  “Th- they jumped at me…” Katja was trembling. She was so startled she dropped her sword.

  “That’s not possible…” Carol and Narumi could finally move too. “They jumped at me!”

  “Me too… Did we all see the same thing?” Narumi asked.

  “Doesn’t matter right now… Hecate, are you alright?” We split up. Narumi went for Katja, while Carol and I went for Hecate. I held her up, and she seemed okay. Paler than usual, though.

  “Iroha…?”

  “Don’t talk. Let’s take them up before these things start moving again!” Katja was able to move with Narumi’s help while I lifted Hecate out of there. We couldn’t leave the room and stopped on one of the higher stands.

  “It’s okay now… How are you feeling? Are you hurt?” I sat Hecate down on a chair and sat next to her. Katja was fine after getting a few seconds to catch her breath, so Hecate was our main concern.

  “I- I’m alright, but… I’ve got no energy left… I suddenly saw them approaching me, then all the strength just left my body…”

  Narumi started asking some questions. “Does that mean we all saw the same thing? Why is Hecate the only one in this state then?”

  “No clue…” Carol bit down on a nail. “Was all that an attack? Why were we suddenly attacked? Well, monsters are supposed to attack people, I guess. But why are they not attacking now?”

  “I think it’s because we attacked first. Either that or there are some other conditions… Worst-case scenario, they’re already preparing for the next one.” It was all speculation. I tried to offer my thoughts, but who knows for sure.

  “Because we attacked… In that case…” Katja balled up her fists. “Sorry, Hecate, it’s all my fault!”

  “*Sigh…* Calm down… Katja… I’m not hurt… What’s important right now is… figuring out things…”

  “Does that mean we’ll have to get closer to those things again?” Carol recoiled.

  “Hmm…” I looked down at them again. “I think so… Let’s take things slow so we don’t get caught by surprise again…” Hecate’s arm was wrapped around me, and I tried to move it away. Hmm… Someone should stay here with Hec-

  “Take me with you… I’ll help out too…” She strengthened her grip. Is it really okay to bring her back there? I don’t want anything happening to her, but… maybe it’s better to stick together as a group…

  …

  We slowly made our way down the stairs to where the mysterious figures were. Are they gonna suddenly start moving again? Seeing that once was already terrifying. If it happens again…

  We eventually got to the bottom without being attacked. I sat Hecate on a chair nearby, and we were actually able to move around and investigate.

  “How are we supposed to eliminate these things if we can’t attack them? Is there an answer down here?” Katja’s gaze was locked on the figures, ready to defend from a second attack. Or try to, at least.

  Hecate took a slow breath. “Is that a piece of paper…? Can you see it…? On the table past… those things…”

  “Oh… You’re right…” I sneaked around the four figures, keeping an eye on them to make sure they didn’t bite me, and brought the paper back.

  “What does it say?” Narumi tried to read it over my shoulder, but I read it out loud for all of them.

  “Uhmm… Looks like a police report…? For some kind of crime… The police arrived at the scene of the crime and found the body in the lawn with multiple knife wounds? Early investigations were open to the possibility of a third party being responsible for the crime, but evidence now points to the boy being… killed by one of his own family members…? What?”

  “I- is that a real crime?” Carol answered uncomfortably, and I didn’t blame her… It was a macabre thing to read without warning.

  “I guess this crime is what… that…” The three ghostly figures around the one on the floor. “Is supposed to represent…”

  “Then… Are we supposed to solve the crime?” Narumi turned to me for confirmation. “Could that be what we need to do to get out?”

  “Th- that’s… very possible actually…” If this was a game, that’s the conclusion I’d immediately jump to.

  Katja faced the red figure bravely. The one that looked like a woman. She got startled before, so she took it as a challenge to stand up to them. “But we don’t have enough evidence, do we? It’s not like these monsters are suddenly going to start talking.”

  “I was preparing dinner when the older brother went outside…” A feminine, impersonal voice suddenly echoed into our ears.

  “Holy shit! Turns out they are!” Katja recoiled. So much for her bravery. The figure continued without paying her any mind.

  “The younger brother showed up later, looking for his sibling. Their father was outside mowing the lawn the whole time.”

  Katja covered her face from exhaustion. “Monsters that talk… Just what is happening here? This is like nothing we’ve seen before…”

  “I- I have no clue…” We were all stunned. “But… Isn’t this the evidence you wanted? What did you do to make her speak?”

  “I didn’t do anything! She… just started speaking on her own when I approached… Sorry…” Katja was wobbling. I think her pride may be in shambles after getting scared twice in the same day…

  “When you approached…” I slowly approached the small green figure. Narumi clung to my shoulder along the way. You wanna do this together? We stared at his featureless face for a second, and…

  “I was playing in my room with my brother before he went outside. Mom was working in the kitchen. I was in my room when the body was found.”

  “Ohh! It worked!” Narumi jumped while shaking my shoulder.

  “Don’t push me! You’re gonna make me step on the yellow one!” Narumi heard me, and we stopped before the worst happened.

  “My body was found in the lawn.” The yellow figure on the floor spoke out. Flatly stating the facts.

  “Yeah? We knew that already!” Narumi retorted.

  “Are we actually doing this? I can’t believe we’re actually doing this…” Carol came over to my side and grabbed my other shoulder. “We just need to hear the blue ghost now, right? Let’s get it over with!”

  “I was in the kitchen getting a drink and found the body when I went outside to mow the lawn.” The blue man spoke as impersonally as the others.

  “That should be all of them, right?” We took a bit longer than expected to step away, and the man repeated himself. Same exact words, same tone, same rhythm. He’s like an NPC… “And a very creepy one at that!”

  “It doesn’t look like we’re gonna get anything else out of them…” Katja added, and we all gathered to discuss things. “What now? Do we have everything we need to solve the case?”

  “Don’t we…?” Hecate was following even though she was too weak to move. “The body was found in the lawn… That’s what they said… One of the survivors was in the lawn, so… Isn’t it obvious?”

  “I think you’re on the right track, but you’re forgetting something…” Narumi giggled. She’s surprisingly enthusiastic about this. “We heard three statements from the three family members, but like the paper said, one of them is supposed to be the murderer, right? In that case… We should assume one of them is lying!”

  “You really think so?” I didn’t want to believe it, but it made complete sense… “That makes things complicated.”

  Carol crossed her arms in thought. “So… do we just need to find out who’s lying? How are we supposed to do that with what we have?”

  “Ahahahahahaha! It’s fine…” Narumi assured us. “I think we have everything we need. We just need to think it through together. Though, I’m kinda bad at that, so I might not be able to do much…”

  Bad at what? Thinking? What does that make us then? She’s been carrying us this whole time.

  “Come on, let’s go over it together!”