Chapter 696 684: Sobu High Strange Tales

After concluding their discussion, the atmosphere inside the club hut relaxed considerably.

"Speaking of which, Takuma-tan, what is that thing you're playing with in your hands?" Yui asked curiously, looking at the small golden orb Asakura was tossing about.

"This thing?"

Asakura raised the Golden Snitch model in his hand, gave it a light toss with his fingertips, and smoothly handed it over to her.

Yui instinctively reached out to catch it. Unexpectedly, although this little object looked dainty and delicate, it felt heavy in hand; failing to control her force, she almost dropped it and hurriedly cupped it with both hands.

"This is a Golden Snitch," Asakura continued, "Though it's just a prototype."

Actually, the name Golden Snidget sounded nicer.

Nothing could be done about it, though.

One had to respect the original work (in Asakura's words).

"What a strange name," Yui murmured in a low voice while holding the small golden orb to examine it closely, her fingertips gently brushing against the exquisite patterns on its surface.

In the very next second, with a whoosh, the miniature wings that originally looked like mere decorations suddenly unfurled, fluttering to whip up a faint breeze, and with a swift swoosh, it darted straight out, disappearing through the hut's window in the blink of an eye without a trace.

"It... it f-f-flew away?!" Yui froze on the spot, still maintaining her cupping posture with eyes wide and round, utterly dumbfounded, staring blankly in the direction where the Golden Snitch vanished, unable to react for quite a while.

"Well, it is a Golden Snitch after all," Asakura said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Because it's a 'flying' snitch, it flies... what kind of dry dad joke is that," Anon muttered under her breath.

"Is it really fine not trying to chase it back?"

Asagumo asked Asakura as well.

"Of course we have to chase it back."

Asakura spoke in deep lamentation, "That thing is made of gold and silver; even one that small costs over a hundred thousand yen."

When he was fondling and turning it in his hands earlier, he had tried activating it, but the Snitch showed no reaction. Asakura originally thought it was Shiina's first time crafting such an object and her craftsmanship lacked the standard required for activation.

Now it seemed either the Golden Snitch had simply been spun dizzy by his fondling, or the little rascal was profoundly cunning and merely playing dead...

Although the magic power he infused to activate it wasn't much, he hadn't yet had time to bind the master's information into the Golden Snitch, so this thing would likely zip all across the school until someone caught it or until that bit of magic ran dry.

"No choice then. Hear my command, all troops! S... cough, go retrieve the Golden Snitch; that thing is probably still inside the school," Asakura said. "As a reward, whoever catches it gets to be the master of our first self-developed Golden Snitch."

"So what on earth is that thing actually useful for?"

Yanami eyed Asakura suspiciously and asked.

"It's a magical tool used for delivering letters. Don't look down on its tiny size; its interior actually has space roughly the size of a hiking backpack," Asakura said. "I intend to use it to completely replace pigeons as the Magic Club's communication tool."

"Setting aside the fact that we've never used any communication tool other than our phones..." Yanami grumbled, "Why pigeons?"

"Because we're not allowed to keep owls," Asakura answered.

"That's completely beside the point, just like 'Why make Jewish people into soap?' 'Because using them as fertilizer isn't efficient enough'."

Yanami muttered under her breath.

You sure know your dark humor.

As a side note, keeping pet owls was actually permitted in Japan; the procedures were just rather troublesome, and it was very expensive.

"Should we contact Yukinon and ask her to help out too?" Yui asked.

"Speaking of which, after Asakura-kun granted her the [Flash Crest], isn't Yukinoshita-senpai also able to enter the club hut?" Anon asked curiously. "Why doesn't she come over?"

"Because she says she's the president of the Service Club, not a member of the Magic Club, so unless she encounters supernatural matters, she generally doesn't plan on stationed here permanently."

Asakura spread his hands and answered.

"Should we say Yukinon is too earnest, or just too rigid..."

Yui grumbled.

"In any case," Asakura stood up, "let's set out first to retrieve the Golden Snitch."

☆

The lingering glow of the setting sun dyed the stone paths of Sobu High in an ambiguous orange-red.

Soyo walked along the path with her head down. Because they were welcoming students from the other two schools, one could tell the groundskeepers had put immense effort into beautifying the roadside landscaping, yet right now the girl lacked the slightest inclination to appreciate it.

Her long brown hair was loosely tied behind her head, her expression brimming with despondent melancholy; even her brow and eyes, which usually carried a cool, widow-like aura, were currently shrouded in a layer of lingering gloom—just a short while ago, she had finally met Tomori again and brought up the matter of reforming CRYCHIC, believing that as long as everyone gathered together once more, Sakiko might return to the band, and that once-warm refuge would return yet again.

In the end, however, she was gently yet firmly rejected by Tomori.

"I haven't received Anon's answer yet. Soyo-san, I'm sorry." Tomori's voice remained as gentle as ever, yet those words of refusal pierced into Soyo's heart like a delicate needle.

Why is everyone like this, having not a shred of nostalgia for the past days?

Practicing instruments together, stepping onto the stage together, that refuge akin to a true home was the most precious memory deep in her heart. She stubbornly held onto a shred of obsession, hoping to return everything to its starting point, so why was everyone else so self-willed?

She aimlessly wandered the Sobu High campus—having no particular goal, just temporarily wanting to be left alone; after all, in her current state, anyone from Tsukinomori who knew her would surely ask with concern what had happened. But right now, she had no energy to exchange polite pretenses with those superficial friends.

The girl's steps were slow and heavy. Without realizing it, she strayed from the crowds and walked into a secluded path deep within Sobu High.

This place was far from the teaching buildings and the sports field, surrounded only by dense camphor trees whose interlocking branches and leaves blocked out most of the setting sun, leaving the ground covered in mottled tree shadows.

The occasional chirping of unfamiliar birds broke the silence here, making the surroundings feel all the more desolate and eerie.

Soyo halted her steps, leaning against a camphor tree, yet the gloom and disappointment in her heart showed not the slightest relief.

Right at that moment, a faint rustling sound came from the nearby bushes, as if something was wriggling inside.

Soyo looked over instinctively.

At first, she thought it was just a stray cat; after all, whether at Tsukinomori or later at Toyogasaki, stray cats would occasionally wander onto campus and draw crowds of students.

Yet in the very next second, her breathing seized instantly, and the blood throughout her entire body seemed to freeze solid.

The leaves and branches of the bushes were slowly parted, and a large snake crept out at a sluggish pace.

Its build was exceptionally thick and massive—Soyo even felt it was more than a size larger than those so-called 'giant pythons' she had seen in the reptile house at the zoo.

No, calling it a giant python seemed somewhat inaccurate as well.

Because the surface of its body wasn't covered in reptilian scales, but rather wrapped in... fur?

It was probably fur; with her state of mind in complete disarray, Soyo was utterly incapable of calmly analyzing such trivial details.

She was already terrified to the point of collapsing onto the ground, her face drained of all color.

If not for that Asakura consciously introducing the restrooms earlier and letting the girl empty her bladder, she might have actually leaked right then and there.

The fur-bearing snake noticed Soyo, and its massive head turned to look at the girl.

Unlike ordinary snakes, those pitch-black eyes were round and bead-like, lacking even the slightest hint of serpentine coldness; instead, they seemed to carry a trace of an eerie smile, the corners of its mouth slightly upturned as if smiling at her, and it even nodded as though offering an apology—except that smile was so uncanny and horrifying that it sent chills running down Soyo's spine.

"Aah—!"

As if finally regaining control of her vocal cords, a shrill scream erupted from Soyo's throat. Her limbs trembled uncontrollably, her hands clutching tightly at the blades of grass on the ground, her knuckles turning white under the strain.

The giant snake seemed startled by her scream; it tilted its head slightly, then darted into the nearby thicket with a swift motion, vanishing completely without a trace.

Just as she was utterly overwhelmed with panic, a gentle voice called out from the distance: "Classmate, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

Soyo snapped her head up and saw a pink-haired girl wearing the Sobu High uniform running quickly toward her.

As if grabbing onto a lifesaving straw, she hurriedly pointed in the direction of the giant snake, her voice trembling with a tearful sob: "Th-There's a large white snake over there!"

The pink-haired girl sporting a hair bun looked in the direction she was pointing, then wore a slightly embarrassed smile: "I-Is that so... ahaha..."

"I'm not joking! There really is a snake! A huge one," Soyo said in a frantic yet dead-serious tone, "It... it even smiled at me."

"...Maybe the mushrooms in the cafeteria today weren't cooked properly." The pink-haired girl averted her gaze and murmured in a low voice, "It's completely empty here; there aren't any snakes, you know?"

Soyo froze. She had clearly seen it with utmost clarity—that large white snake was right there, so how could it have suddenly vanished?

She hurriedly scrambled up, stumbling as she ran over to the bushes. After a brief hesitation, she immediately used her hands to carefully search through the foliage, yet whether inside the bushes or in the surrounding grass, there wasn't the slightest trace of a giant snake, not even a single strand of fur left behind, as if everything just now was nothing more than a nightmare of hers.

"Impossible... I clearly saw it! It was right here, pure white all over, and it could smile!" Soyo grew so anxious her eye rims reddened, her tone filled with grievance and bewilderment. Grabbing the sleeve of the pink-haired bun girl, she explained again and again in an attempt to make the other person believe her, "I'm not hallucinating, I saw it very clearly, it really exists!"

Yet no matter how urgently she explained, the pink-haired girl merely maintained a gentle smile: "Toyogasaki classmate, don't be scared, Sobu High is very safe. You might just be too exhausted lately and experienced a hallucination like this. Calm down first; if you're really feeling unwell, I can accompany you to the infirmary to rest for a bit."

Looking at the girl's gentle smile, a profound sense of powerlessness welled up in Soyo's heart.

The thought even crossed her mind: Could it really be that I was seeing hallucinations? After all, a fur-bearing giant snake that smiled at people truly sounded rather bizarre.

And so, Soyo forced a pale smile, shook her head gently, and released the pink-haired girl's sleeve: "No need, thank you. Maybe... I truly just saw wrong." Having said that, she turned around, dragging heavy steps as she continued walking deeper down the path, her retreating figure appearing exceptionally lonely and despondent.

Yui stood on the spot, watching her back and sighing helplessly. Only when Soyo's figure disappeared deep within the tree shadows did she softly blow a whistle: "Napoleon! I told you not to scare other people!"

Napoleon lowered down from the tree canopy, nodding with an aggrieved look.

On the other side.

Soyo wandered aimlessly, the gloom and grievance in her heart growing ever deeper. The fright from earlier hadn't fully dissipated either; the uncanny smile of that large white snake repeatedly surfaced in her mind, making her body run cold.

Sobu High wasn't some remote wilderness after all, so before long she walked out of the grove, arriving roughly near the sports field—because she hadn't paid attention when Asakura was leading the tour, Soyo hadn't fully grasped the geography of Sobu High.

A lively figure appeared before her eyes—a blue-haired girl wearing the Sobu High uniform, who had somehow gotten hold of a bug-catching long-poled net pouch, shouting "For an extra portion of snacks!" while scurrying all over the place.

That energetic appearance formed a stark contrast with her own gloomy, heartbroken state.

Soyo halted her steps, watching the hopping blue-haired girl, and couldn't help shaking her head.

The students of Sobu High didn't seem to be as quiet and gentle as those of Tsukinomori... perhaps they couldn't even compare to Toyogasaki; at least under the role models of Eriri and that Kasumigaoka at Toyogasaki, the girls were generally more elegant and well-mannered.

She composed herself, withdrew her gaze, and continued walking forward, thinking in her heart that perhaps walking a bit further would shake off this terrible mood.

Yet after taking only a few steps, she saw that blue-haired girl again—that person had clearly just run toward the flowerbed on the left, so how could she suddenly appear on the path to the right? Moreover, she wasn't holding a net pouch at this moment, but had somehow gotten hold of a baseball glove and was likewise scurrying all over the place.

Soyo furrowed her brows, a sliver of doubt surfacing in her heart.

She stopped and looked closely, confirming that she hadn't seen wrong—that was indeed the blue-haired girl from just now.

"Twins? Or am I too dazed and misremembered?" She muttered inwardly to herself, rubbing her temples before turning around and simply walking in the direction opposite the blue-haired girl.

There's no way I can bump into her again like this, right?

Then, over by the vending machine beside the club building, she once again saw that blue-haired girl who was supposed to be walking in a completely different direction from herself.

The other party was running in front brandishing a baseball bat, with a group of people from the baseball club chasing behind her.

"Give back the glove and bat!" they shouted.

"...They must be triplets! You can't fool me."

Watching this scene unfold before her, Soyo muttered in a hushed whisper as if trying to encourage herself.

Yet the lingering, uncanny feeling in her heart only grew thicker and thicker.