Part 90: Episode 82: Nageki's Help

Getting hung up over little things in a time like this is a sign of weak nerves.
Really…?
Well, then. Where are the school documents?
Hmm… Probably not where just anybirdie can look at them.
They are probably somewhere in the back, then. How dull. Come, let us search.
Right.


We searched through every shelf looking for any sort of information on the school.

And here, a line of incredibly dusty encyclo--
?
That’s odd. There are nine of them.

Volume six is missing… huh, that’s weird. Did somebirdie misfile them?
…Anyway, St. Pigeonation’s history. It’s not back here with the large volumes, so maybe it’s a smaller book…?
It’s not here.
!
You never left?



Well, not really, but… I told you earlier, there’s an emergency going on!
Hmm…

“Hmm”? I can’t tell if he doesn’t realize what’s going on, or just doesn’t care.

The records.
Huh?

So… You know where they are?
Yup.

Well, since he’s here even now, I imagine he basically lives in here… So it’s hardly surprising that he knows where to find things.

I don’t have much time. Could you tell me where to find them?
By request.
R-request…?
…You don’t know what that is?

He gazes at he with eyes like black holes of cosmic disdain.

You can only get at them by request. They’re not kept out here.
Then… Where are they kept?

There are a number of bookshelves behind the desk, it’s true.

Thank you, Nageki! Really!
Don’t worry about it.

The music stops.

While I was thanking Nageki for his help, Sakuya looked out from behind a nearby bookshelf.

Oh, sorry. I was talking to him.
Talking? To the bookshelves? Surely there are better uses for your energy.
No, Nageki was telling me where to find the--

……
…u-ummm…

What is he talking about? Nageki is standing right next to me. It’s not like he’s behind a shelf, or something…
I was worried he was a figment of my imagination for a minute, but he just told me where to find the records. But Sakuya…
Let’s find out.


Can I ask you something, Nageki?

Are you… a hallucination?
……
If I was, that would mean you’re asking a hallucination whether or not he’s a hallucination.
Y-yeah… That’s right.

It does seem a little weird.

Does it matter? Maybe I am, or maybe I’m not.

That doesn’t answer anything!

…This doesn’t usually happen. I’ve never been able to talk to a bird I’ve just met, before…
I think I will remember everything, soon.

!
Did I just hear him correctly? Is he talking about—

N-Nageki, do you know something about that!?

As I started to ask this question, however…
Huh…?

He disappeared…

The thing I forgot… That’s exactly what the doctor said, too. Why did Nageki know about that? It wasn’t just a coincidence, was it…?
Am I forgetting something important about all this? I don’t think I can dismiss him as just a hallucination.


Well, either way, Nageki gave me a hint to finding the school documents, so I should talk to Sakuya and get searching behind the reception desk.

Looks like it. I see a lot of the same books as were in the headmaster’s office…
“Chronology of St. Pigeonation’s”… This?

Let’s see.
I grabbed the book and began to flip through it.


2810? Much more recent than I had thought.
Only eight years… I hadn’t known, either.
Aside from that, it’s all transfer student records and sports scores. Is there really a clue in here?

As Sakuya began to look over the book with me, my eyes caught something.

Wait, Sakuya! Look at this!

Medical center? Does this school have something like that?
I… don’t think so.
There was no mention of it in the student guide. I suppose it was never reopened… Does it say anything else?
Umm, right here…
“Damage from the fire”--
…!
The music stops.

The book presents us with a new mystery, as if to taunt our inability to hold all those we already have.
A new sort of mystery.



…Didn’t I just hear that name?
The exact same… But that’s…

Nageki… died five years ago…?
Then who is the Nageki I keep meeting today?
He didn’t deny that he was a hallucination. Sakuya couldn’t see him. Which means he’s--

A ghost…

Tu dis des balivernes (You’re speaking nonsense)! We’re betting our lives on this search, you know. I won’t have any occult rubbish brought into it.
But I think he know something! If he is the same bird, then he could be the key to solving this mystery!
So you intend to rely on some invisible ghost? There are limits, Kawara!