Chapter 326: This World~ So Peaceful and Beautiful!

“Alright, K. This classroom is dreadfully dull. Let’s go out and do something, shall we?”

Pandora rose from her seat by the window, the hem of her uniform swaying gently with the motion.

“What about that food street—Firefly Lane?”

As she spoke, she pushed open the classroom door. The double doors swung outward with a soft creak.

Miss K followed her friend’s silhouette and instinctively glanced beyond the doorway.

By all her recollection, beyond that door should be the drab corridor: dark floor tiles, rows of tidy lockers lining the walls, and the heavy iron door at the far end leading to the staircase.

But—

What lay beyond wasn’t the corridor.

Instead, it was a street bathed in golden light.

The afternoon sun seemed to have passed through some special filter, taking on an almost unreal, saturated gold, soaking everything on the street in its warm radiance.

The street was crowded and bustling with people. Passersby paused to chat, hurried along their way, or leaned against the railings lining the sidewalk.

But Miss K felt that her eyes were a little blurry today. She couldn’t quite make out the faces of those pedestrians.

Their outlines were there, their features all in the right places, but whenever she tried to focus on a particular face, the details quivered like reflections in water, growing fuzzy and unfocused.

All she could hear was a jaunty melody drifting from somewhere—light, bright, and simple, yet inexplicably cheerful.

Even the passage of time seemed to quicken within that music.

In a daze, Miss K felt they had only walked a short while, barely exchanged a few words, and yet they were already at Firefly Lane, which should have been quite some distance from the school grounds.

Firefly Lane was even more crowded than before. Jostling shoulders, a sea of heads.

The calls of vendors, the clatter of cookware, the sizzle of grease over flame, and the mingled aromas of countless foods rushed at them all at once. Even the cheerful melody was drowned out by the lively noise, barely audible anymore.

Yet, inexplicably, Miss K loved the feeling. This sensation of being surrounded by life and bustle. So vibrant, so warm, as though it could heat a person all the way through.

But—

For some reason, a faint anxiety lingered within her all along. Like a needle-fine thorn lodged in some soft spot deep in her heart.

As if, within the crowd, unseen eyes were watching her. A cold gaze, reeking of blood, concealing a lethal malice.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

As if somewhere in a corner she couldn’t see, a shadowy figure holding a gun was slowly raising its weapon, aiming at her back...

“What are you thinking about? Go try a hot dog!” Pandora’s voice suddenly rang in her ear. It carried a smile, pleasant, like wind chimes.

The lightheartedness dispersed that faint unease like sunlight burning off a thin mist, covering it over entirely.

Miss K shook her head, casting off the inexplicable sensation of being watched. Without hesitation, she trotted over to a steaming street stall and bought two piping-hot hot dogs.

She remembered to buy one for Pandora too. She and Pandora were best friends—it was only natural.

Pandora accepted the hot dog with a word of thanks. The two of them each took a bite.

The steaming, savory aroma of meat bloomed in their mouths, mingling with the slight tanginess and sweetness of the condiments, and the distinctive wheaty scent of the bun.

“How is it? Good?” Pandora asked through a mouthful of hot dog, her words slightly garbled.

Then, abruptly, she straightened her expression. “Describe it in detail. Let me test your descriptive skills.”

She sounded exactly like a little teacher. Miss K couldn’t help the corners of her mouth curving upward.

A warm meal settling in her stomach, her best friend right in front of her, the sun shining warmly down, and all around the lively crowd and the aromas of food—this, without a doubt, was happiness.

A joyful emotion brimming in her heart, Miss K smiled and earnestly described the taste of the hot dog:

“Of course it’s delicious! The bun is so soft yet chewy, the crust toasted just slightly crispy, so you can hear a tiny crunch when you bite down.”

“The sausage is snappy, the hot, rich meaty flavor is intense, and the juices burst in your mouth... the sweet-and-sour sauce is just right too...”

Pandora listened, nodding with genuine interest. Then, suddenly, she asked another inexplicable question:

“You didn’t eat anything strange, did you? Like raw meat, or squirming squid tentacles—anything like that?”

The smile on Miss K’s face instantly froze for a second. “How could there be anything like that in a hot dog!”

She shot Pandora a mock glare, her cheeks puffing up indignantly. “Don’t say things like that while we’re eating!”

Pandora was tickled by her expression and covered her mouth, giggling. The two of them burst out laughing together. Their laughter merged into the bustling street noise, light and natural.

Then, they went to other places. A bookstore, a dessert shop, a corner record store.

Miss K felt that the after-school hours today were especially long. So long that she almost believed this day would never end.

Finally—

Under that golden, almost unchanging late-afternoon light, they came to a stop before an imposing building.

It was enclosed by a tall cast-iron fence and a thick stone wall, the tips of the fence cast with delicate ornaments.

Inside the wall was a mansion. It was quite a large estate, its Gothic spires casting heavy shadows in the fading amber glow. Perched by one of the windows, several black crows seemed to have alighted.

The Black Crow Mansion.

“Have you heard?” Pandora, nibbling on an ice cream cone she’d acquired from somewhere, leaned in close to Miss K, her expression dramatic as she lowered her voice. “This mansion is haunted!”

“Is... that so?” Miss K tilted her head, puzzled. “But I remember, just a few days ago the newspaper celebrated the safe delivery of Mr. Black Crow’s youngest daughter?”

“And I think there’s supposed to be a party here in a few days? The kind where all the city’s dignitaries and nobles will attend?”

Her voice held confusion, as if she were struggling to recall something, or as if those memories had always belonged to her.

Pandora took a lick of her ice cream. “Is that so? Then I must have misheard...” Her tone was dismissive, as if the mention of a haunting had been nothing but an offhand joke.

“But, speaking of which—” Pandora lifted her gaze, letting it settle on the mansion’s steep spire, then slowly trace toward the distant skyline. “Today has been really quite leisurely. Everything in this city is still so peaceful and beautiful.”

Her voice was slow, as if sighing, or as if stating an indisputable fact.

Miss K nodded along. They had visited so many places along the way, and Pandora had kept bringing up all sorts of bizarre tales she’d supposedly heard from somewhere: a haunted mansion, vanished travelers, strange sounds in the dead of night...

But how could any of those strange things possibly be real?

This world they lived in~ it was so peaceful and beautiful!