Tokyo: Magical Girl Shatters My Dream of Going Public

Chapter 114 I am a magical girl (4/5)

The bell rang, signaling the end of school.

The students gradually left the classroom, and the noise faded into the distance.

Kaoru and Chinatsu went to the back of the classroom and sat around Hoshino Saki's desk.

Saki Hikari had already taken out her laptop, and her fingers were flying across the keyboard.

"I didn't expect you two to be interested in these kinds of ghost stories too~"

She spoke without looking up, her tone tinged with excitement.

Xun offered a plausible reason: "Recently, there's been an increase in student absences at school due to an unexplained flu, and the hospital can't find the cause. We're wondering—could it be caused by something else?"

Saki Hikari pressed the Enter key, turned her face, and her eyes were bright.

"Then you've come to the right person!"

She patted the computer: "I also felt something was off before, so I did some special investigation."

Kaoru and Chinatsu exchanged a glance and moved closer to Saki.

The screen is filled with densely packed documents and tables.

Saki opened a folder: "I made a special trip to visit those classmates who were on leave from school."

Her tone was casual, but it made Xun's heart skip a beat.

"I used some methods, asking them where they felt unwell and if they had any unusual sensations—"

Xun suddenly remembered.

A while ago, Saki always volunteered to deliver study materials to students who were on leave.

So that's what it was for.

She had noticed Hoshino Saki's strong initiative during the previous incident with the old lady on the highway, but she never expected that the other party would be this strong.

Before they even noticed anything amiss, she had already begun her secret investigation...

Saki continued, her hands still busy: "I summarized everyone's answers, then reorganized the draft and analyzed it, and that's how I got this."

She pressed Enter.

The messy records in the document are quickly compared and analyzed in the processor.

A list of keywords pops up on the screen.

Dream.

basement.

A masked man.

Wailing.

death.

pain.

captivity.

Each word is followed by a number indicating its frequency, which is alarming.

The masked men were mentioned by almost everyone, and their numbers were astonishingly high.

Saki said excitedly, "If only one or two people say that, it can be explained as a coincidence."

She turned her head and looked at Kaoru and Chika.

"But everyone—mentioned the keyword 'masked man.' There must be a connection."

"So I followed this lead and conducted an intensive investigation, which actually led me to some more crucial clues."

Saki turned back to the screen, opened her browser, and entered a name in the search bar:

Kuroda Kageji

Press Enter.

Page refreshed.

The search results were few and far between, mostly consisting of blogs by people with the same name or irrelevant information.

Turn off the light and quickly swipe to open one of the links.

The page loads and displays an old news report.

The bold, eye-catching title: [Serial Killer Eiji Kuroda's Final Verdict: Death Penalty]

It was published thirty years ago.

Kaoru held her breath, and Chika leaned even closer, almost touching the screen.

Saki scrolled through the page and gave the two a brief introduction.

"Kuroda Eiji—a serial killer active thirty years ago. He specifically targeted young students. His modus operandi was: 'He would imprison his victims in a basement, torture them for extended periods, and finally disfigure their faces with a sharp blade.'" She paused, then read the description from the report: "Kuroda Eiji—a serial killer active thirty years ago. He specifically targeted young students. His modus operandi was: 'He would imprison his victims in a basement, torture them for extended periods, and finally disfigure their faces with a sharp blade.'"

The classroom was deathly silent.

The setting sun slanted in through the window, casting long shadows of the three people.

On the screen, the man in the black and white photograph had a blurred face.

But the reports used words like "basement," "torture," and "imprisonment"—

This creates a chilling and terrifying echo with the previous list of keywords.

Saki turned her head and looked at the two of them, her eyes devoid of their usual playful expression.

The investigation is not yet over.

Saki took a deep breath and revealed even more chilling information: "Having obtained the name, I continued my investigation. I discovered that this [Kuroda Kageji]—thirty years ago, was a faculty member at Seika Girls' Academy."

She typed on the keyboard and pulled up a scanned copy of a yellowed employee registration form: "Position: Cleaner and Gardener."

"All the people he chose were students from this school."

"The victims—there were five in total."

The classroom was deathly silent, with only the faint hum of the computer cooling fans.

Saki continued scrolling the page.

"Our school actually did admit male staff members thirty years ago. But after this incident—"

"They never hired male staff again, turning it into a completely all-girls school, and even staff and teachers were required to be women."

Chika subconsciously looked around.

The bright and clean classroom, the girls' cheerful laughter still seems to echo in my ears.

She suddenly realized that the "all-female" environment of this school had such a bloody reason behind it.

"And I found out that the most widely circulated ghost story about the faceless man in our school—its prototype is very likely this murderer."

Upon hearing this, Xun finally understood.

The reason why a ghost story can be passed down for so many years and believed by so many people is —

Essentially, there must be some kind of "evidence".

Whether it's a trace, a resonance, or—the bloody reality.

Otherwise, try telling people that there are aliens under the school and see how many people will believe it.

Not to mention it became a ghost story that so many people talked about with great interest.

Kaoru and Chika exchanged a glance.

The last lingering doubt in my mind was finally dispelled.

A widely circulated ghost story.

It has a real-life prototype.

Legendary vengeful spirits are those that are said to have been born under the influence of magical energy.

That "Faceless Man" is probably the "real culprit" they are looking for.

Xun composed herself and pressed further, "If we want to find him—where should we look?"

Saki Hikari answered almost instinctively, "If we're looking for it, it's definitely in our school."

She rested her chin on her hand and analyzed, "It should only appear at night, right? After all, there are so many people during the day, and no one has ever seen anything like it."

But then she changed the subject: "However—this kind of 'thing' might very well actually exist."

She looked at Kaoru and Chika with a serious expression.

"We can't investigate on our own. The best way is to notify the magical girl and ask if I can film some videos from behind, hehe~"

Saki is bold, but not brainless.

She didn't want to die.

However-

The moment she finished speaking.

The classroom front door was pushed open.

Savior Guang, carrying his schoolbag, strolled in leisurely.

Her light flaxen ponytail swayed gently behind her head. Her gaze swept over the three people gathered around the computer, and she grinned, her canine teeth gleaming: "What are you guys talking about?"

Saki Hikari saw Savior Light and casually waved, "A newbie, huh?"

She didn't try to hide anything and said directly, "We're discussing school ghost stories."

She pointed to the alarming keywords on the computer screen.

"We're discussing—where to find a magical girl to resolve this matter."

The secret of being a magical girl is not something she can't tell.

She had no motive, nor any obligation, to help keep the magical girl's secret.

However, after listening, Hikari nodded: "If you're looking for a magical girl, you can come directly to me. Because I am the magical girl herself."

"ha--?!"

Saki's eyes widened suddenly.

My body leaned back instinctively, and the chair legs scraped against the floor with a screeching sound.

Her mouth hung open, her expression as if she'd heard the funniest joke of the century: "What did you say—?"

She immediately thought the other person was joking.

In contrast, Xun remained unusually calm; she had known the other party's identity all along.

Moreover, Mr. Kurokawa had anticipated this scene long ago.

She also specifically instructed him: "She might reveal her identity herself, so there's no need to be especially careful."

Xun sighed softly in her heart.

Mr. Kurokawa is indeed amazing!

They even guessed that.

Seeing Saki's surprised expression, Hikari asked, "What? You don't believe me?"

Of course, Saki Hikari couldn't possibly believe someone's nonsense just because they said one thing.

She demanded, "I can believe you, but you need to provide evidence."

"Evidence?" Savior Light hesitated for a moment, then showed off a two-handed sword-shaped charm hanging from her backpack. She said, "This is my transformation device. If you don't believe me, I can transform in front of you."