A comic book, but a librarian

"We absolutely cannot go over there! It's probably connected to some unknown place, and there's basically no way back. And there's something in the fog that's luring me over there. I suspect those people were lured over there back then, but I don't know why they reappeared here in this way many years later... In short, we absolutely cannot go over there now. As for what happened, I think we can only find out what happened back then..."

Saki Kawasaki nodded seriously. Uesugi Sumire's posture and tone of voice did not sound fake. In addition, she had already seen the almost weird fog. Even the most stubborn person would have to weigh the weight of her own life. She was not the heroine of a horror movie, so there was no need to take risks.

"Then how about we go home tonight? We can discuss this matter tomorrow. It's too late now, and this place is not suitable for discussion."

Uesugi Cheng's proposal was unanimously agreed upon. After all, no one wanted to discuss things in a place where danger might lurk.

However, accidents always happen faster than they planned. When they went to school the next day, the atmosphere of the whole school seemed to be wrong.

Chapter 51: The Forgotten Disappearance

Uesugi Cheng yawned. Compared with yesterday, today's integration was so serious that it seemed as if everyone was afraid of the enemy. The dull atmosphere that was almost condensed into water made many people look much worse. The whole school seemed to have lost some vitality.

Not only that, Uesugi Cheng also saw two policemen standing at the entrance of the junior high school across the street, seemingly asking something. There were also many strangers in suits standing upright nearby, as if they were afraid that others would not be able to tell that they were not ordinary people.

"What exactly happened? Why such a big fuss?" Uesugi Sumire didn't think that the Japanese police would be so efficient under normal circumstances, but what situation would make these guys so nervous?

The whole school was in a state of unrest, with countless rumors and whispers spreading. His classmates began to doubt everything that could be doubted, including Uesugi Sumika. There was no reason, perhaps it was just that Uesugi Sumika was more mysterious.

After easily opening the locked rooftop, Uesugi Cheng found a place to sit down, and soon several people who had acted with him last night came up.

"Bad news... someone is missing. The police officially announced the disappearance and started a large-scale search today. It's a junior high school student..." Hikigaya Hachiman's face had never been so serious. He was more uneasy than ever before. Perhaps his sister was only a little away from becoming a missing person on the list. His heart was almost in a state of torment. He wished he could rush to the blocked area in the back mountain immediately and eliminate all factors that might threaten his sister at the source.

"......It is said that he has been missing for more than 24 hours. The police had no choice but to release the information. Moreover, the missing person seems to be of high status. He happened to be a student at Tonghe University."

Saki Kawasaki's expression was not very good either. She had just seen that kind of thing last night, and today she said that a person suspected to be the victim appeared, and it seemed that the police had no clues about the missing person... Saki Kawasaki's expression was almost as solemn as Hikigaya Hachiman's. She also couldn't imagine her brother disappearing under such circumstances and the police being helpless.

"Is it really because of that incident that he disappeared? Could it be some other reason..." Yotsuya Miko leaned back in her chair, and seemed to have different ideas. According to their investigation yesterday, the white mist and abnormal phenomena were not aggressive at all. Even the voice that seemed to lure Uesugi Sumiko only appeared because he stepped into the white mist. Ordinary people who did not have any spiritual abilities should not be lured.

"Jizi, remember what happened not long ago... Sometimes forming a bond and seducing someone is not that troublesome, but what you said does make sense." Uesugi Sumiko shook his head. What he said stunned Yotsuya Jizi. She glanced at the bracelet with the amulet on his hand and nodded heavily.

"Although we don't know who the missing person is or what happened, I think everyone should understand the special nature of the current situation. Our goal is to solve the source of the trouble while protecting ourselves. Do you agree with this statement?"

Everyone nodded heavily.

"Then the first thing to do now is to find out who the missing person is and what happened before he disappeared within a reasonable scope... Be careful not to go beyond what an ordinary student can know. Whether the police will believe what we say is another matter. If we are targeted because of such an unnecessary thing, it will not be worth it."

After a few brief instructions, the group left the rooftop. The rooftop was originally locked and no one else was allowed to enter, so Uesugi Cheng opened the lock without a care and then locked it again.

The class is still discussing this unsettling incident in a small circle. Someone has even described the missing person in vivid detail, which sounds complete and credible.

Of course, the credibility of these rumors among classmates was not very high, and Uesugi Sumiya and Hikigaya Hachiman just wrote down what they said as if there might be some truth in it.

"Do you know why I called you here?"

Shizuka Hiratsuka asked calmly. She looked particularly tired today, and her tone of voice became a little floating, as if she had not slept all night.

"I don't know, but I can probably guess a little bit."

What else could it be other than the disappearance incident that is causing unrest in the entire Unity?

"I know you are unlikely to be involved in this matter, so I am just making a routine inquiry. Is that okay?"

A steady male voice spoke on behalf of Hiratsuka Shizuka. A man in a neat suit and a burly man stood at the door of the office and smiled at Uesugi Sumire and Hikigaya Hachiman.

"Oh, it's the police officer from last time..."

"Fukami Junya, you can just call me Officer Fenghai. This is my colleague, you can just call him Officer Kogure. Don't worry, this is just a routine inquiry. After all, the public opinion caused by the sudden disappearance of a student is too bad..."

Fukai Junye was hesitant to speak, as he did not want to say anything that was not suitable for students to hear, so he and Hiratsuka Shizuka nodded to each other, and the two police officers took Uesugi Sumire and Hikigaya Hachiman to a small room next door. Although it was a routine interrogation, this scene did not look like an ordinary interrogation.

"My name is Soichirō Kogure. I'm with the Police History Compilation Office. Thank you for your guidance." Before the questioning began, the burly policeman next to them carefully explained his name to the two high school students. His formal way of speaking made both of them think of the samurai who adhered to tradition.

However, the following questions almost dispelled the two people's thoughts. After all, they seemed to be questions that could not be more ordinary. However, the question asked by Soichiro Kogure at the beginning made Uesugi Sumiya a little curious.

"Generally speaking, cases like this, such as kidnapping or murder, should be investigated by the Criminal Division, right? But why do you two say that you belong to the Police History Compilation Office, which sounds like it has nothing to do with the criminal department?"

Hikigaya next to him was stunned. He didn't expect Uesugi Sumire to ask such a question directly. Although he was also curious about it, according to Uesugi Sumire, he just wanted to get away with it. He didn't expect that Uesugi Sumire himself violated the agreed policy first.

"This matter..." Feng Haichun also looked out the window, as if thinking about something.

Chapter 52: The Forgotten Disappearance

Jun'ya Fukai seemed to have made some decision. He first found an excuse to send Soichiro Kogure out, and then spoke solemnly to Uesugi Sumire.

"I think Uesugi-san should know that in this world, there are many things that no one wants to believe, but in fact they are the truth. The Police History Compilation Office is the archive room that solves and records such cases."

"It sounds like the argument that because the case is completely unsolved, they have to define the murderer as non-human or supernatural. So, is this matter..."

Uesugi Sumiya's statement made Feng Haijun also reveal a helpless bitter smile. When most people heard about this department, their first reaction would probably be the same as Uesugi Sumiya's current one. After all, the title of "tax thief" of Japanese police has been stuck on their foreheads and there is no way to get rid of it.

"We don't know. I really shouldn't tell you so much, but Uesugi-san, do you remember the last time we met? About the case in that building..."

Of course, Uesugi Sumire and Hikigaya Hachiman still remember this incident. It took them a lot of effort to resolve it.

"At the time, I felt that Uesugi-san didn't look very ordinary... and after you entered that building, all the events seemed to have ended, and there was no news anymore. I didn't know what was going on, so I just wanted to chat with you."

"We don't know what happened. We went in just to explore a mysterious place... Thinking back on it now, it makes me sweat. It was indeed a reckless act."

Feng Haijun didn't show any expression when he heard this answer.

"Let's keep what I'm going to say as a little secret. Don't let anyone know. After all, we're already very busy right now."

Although he said this, Feng Haijun didn't seem to expect them to keep the secret. After all, if he really wanted to keep it a secret, he wouldn't have said this.

"In the archives of the Police History Compilation Office, there is a file called the Unified School Disappearance Case... What is happening now is almost exactly the same as what is mentioned in that old file that looks like it will break if touched."

Hikigaya's eyes widened. He didn't expect to hear such a familiar term here. It's not that the police did nothing about the case fifty years ago. Perhaps they had to seal the files because the truth was too horrifying.

"The regrettable thing is that... the description of the case in that file is almost vague, and at the end of the file there is only a conclusion that there is no news about the missing persons so far..."

Hikigaya Hachiman's face became more serious. The fact that the police had not found any useful information was not a big deal. After all, he did not expect the Japanese police to have any useful information. But why did Officer Kazeumi Junya tell them such a thing? If he told two high school students about something that should be considered an internal police secret, even if he had someone to protect him, he would not get any good results.

So why? What would make a police officer tell high school students these confidential things? Catching them? Killing them with a borrowed knife? Testing them?

Hikigaya Hachiman had a blank expression on his face, but his brain was already working rapidly. He didn't want to have anything to do with the police. After all, if they were really noticed by the police, their activities would definitely be restricted, and the police might treat them as suspects, which would be real trouble at that time.

"These things have nothing to do with us, right? Why are you telling us about this?"

Uesugi Sumire asked the question that Hikigaya Hachiman wanted to ask.

"......I'm just reminding you. After all, you two don't seem to be the kind of people who would settle down. I don't want you to become one of the missing. In fact, this is just my guess, so I hope you two stay away from the junior high school of your school......The only place mentioned in the file is there."

Jun'ya Fukai had a serious look on his face, and it looked like he really just wanted them to stay away from there.

"Thank you for your reminder. We will definitely keep it in mind." Uesugi Sumire and Hikigaya both bowed their heads to express their gratitude. Although there were many things that didn't make sense with this statement, since the other person seemed to be reminding them with good intentions, then there was no reason for them, two high school students, not to respond to this kindness.

The routine questioning was soon over. When Uesugi Sumire and Hikigaya Hachiman walked out of the room, they saw that there seemed to be police officers outside questioning students. Just as he thought, the police seemed to be running out of options and were trying to find clues even by using such a bad method with a significant impact.

"How much do you think he said is true?"

"God knows, we can't believe it all...That officer Feng Hai is obviously leaking information on purpose. He really thinks we are a little abnormal, right?" Hikigaya Hachiman touched his chin. He didn't know why he had this little action when thinking recently. The two of them stood in the corridor, and the classmates passing by did not affect their communication.

"Perhaps he also wants to release this point in the back mountain through us... I have to go back and ask the Police History Compilation Office."

Uesugi Cheng thought about it and decided to seek help from outside forces. After all, his sister worked in the procuratorate and must know more about the police than them, two high school students.

Of course, while Uesugi Sumire and the others were thinking here, Fumi Junya was also sitting in the small room just now. There were some things he didn't even tell his companion Kogure Soichiro, for example, he had encountered some supernatural events that were beyond human common sense, and some of the victims were even people he knew.

"No matter what, we have to keep them away from the area behind the mountain..." Feng Haijun bit his nails. One thing he didn't tell Uesugi Cheng and the others was that someone he knew jumped to his death in an abandoned building. It was under such circumstances that he found something beyond human imagination that might exist in that building. But when he was about to investigate further, that thing suddenly disappeared without a trace.

The only clue he could find was the two high school students who had entered the building in the surveillance video, so he had to step forward and reveal the information to remind them that perhaps the things in the building were not enough to scare the two high school students, but some words mentioned in the missing case file showed that the police fifty years ago did try to solve the thing that silently devoured the students.

But from the current situation it seems that they have not succeeded at all, so this matter is definitely not something that two high school students can solve. He now only hopes that Uesugi Sumika and Hikigaya Hachiman can listen to the advice and stay away from the back mountain.

Chapter 53: Exorcist Survival Manual

However, although this disappearance incident caused constant rumors in the school, and the police's intervention made everyone quite panic-stricken, after the police left, the overall atmosphere of the school gradually recovered. At least there was no longer that feeling of being on the alert. It seemed that as long as the police were not in the school, these things had not happened. However, the junior high school seemed to still have two plainclothes police officers left to observe, at least that was what Yotsuya Miko said when she went to gather information.

"I went to get some information... I heard that the missing people were two girls, not from the same class and not related to each other. It felt like a random crime, so the police were so worried. They might have classified this case as a kidnapping."

Hikigaya naturally disagreed with the police's opinion. Putting aside other things, he witnessed the fog and those terrifying white phantoms with his own eyes last night. It didn't seem like the kind of thing that could be created by a so-called kidnapping case.

Yes, although no one had actual evidence, several insiders had already linked this disappearance case to the supernatural phenomena that occurred that night. Two girls who had nothing in common except for the school they attended and their gender suddenly disappeared one after the other for more than forty-eight hours. There was no surveillance camera capturing their whereabouts, and no one saw them again after dusk that day. This evidence was enough for a group of people to roughly confirm their guess.

"Whether it is a kidnapping case or not, what I am more concerned about is... are they still alive now?" Saki Kawasaki frowned. She was even more afraid that the two missing children had died somewhere.

"I don't know. We don't know anything except that there are some problems in the back mountain area. And according to the police's approach, that area will probably be blocked again. God knows if we can still get in."

Hikigaya Hachiman rubbed his head in distress, looking extremely troubled by this sudden incident. The police restricted their movements physically, and what was even more troublesome was that God didn't know whether the police knew how to handle the matter so as to avoid wasting time and causing greater damage.

"Let's not worry about this for now... The presence of the police can guarantee our safety to a certain extent. Before there are no new changes in the situation, we can't take large-scale actions, so let's leave it this way for now."

In everyone's eyes, it was Uesugi Sumira who said such a thing, which was out of character. He seemed to have no interest in this matter, but they had no way to refute Uesugi Sumira's statement. As a few high school students, being able to collect some information was already the limit. Most of the further actions would require bypassing the police, which was basically impossible for them as high school students to do.

Yotsuya Miko smelled something strange, and it seemed that Uesugi Sumire had something he hadn't said, but she just felt that Uesugi Sumire might have some discoveries that he couldn't say, so she decided to put it aside and ask him when she had time.

Thus, this small gathering ended in a solemn atmosphere. Hikigaya and Kawasaki Saki, two people whose families were studying in junior high school, probably planned to give it another try, but Uesugi Sumire did not stop them.

"Hey, sis...are you busy at work?"

"Don't worry about whether you are busy or not! Are you okay? I just heard that someone is missing from your school!!" My sister's voice sounded anxious and even a little flustered, which was unusual.

"I'm fine. It's just because of this incident that many police officers came to the school today..."

"Oh, that's good..." As if hearing this response from Uesugi Saki, Uesugi Saki's tone finally softened.

"By the way, sister, do you know the 'Police History Compilation Office'?"

The voice on the other end of the phone paused for a while, and it seemed that someone checked the strange department that Uesugi Cheng mentioned.

"You mean the Police History Compilation Office?" Uesugi Saki's voice became more serious, and she seemed to be choosing her words carefully. "Is that how the police officer across from you introduced himself?"

"Yeah, they looked a little weird, and the department sounded weird, so I thought I'd ask you."

"......How should I put it? They are probably more mysterious than the police here. We at least know what the police do, but the Police History Compilation Office only has a few lines of description here in the procuratorate...Their office is located on the fifth underground floor of the police station. A horrific murder case occurred there, and the files are still sealed...It's gone."

Uesugi Saki couldn't help swallowing her saliva. She never thought that she could find out such a thing. The fact that there was almost no record of this department in their department was enough to show its value.

"I understand... This matter is not that simple, but it probably has nothing to do with me." Uesugi Cheng deliberately made his tone a little cold. Sure enough, his sister nodded repeatedly and said that it was true. She even wanted him to take a few days off, but was secretly blocked by Uesugi Cheng.

After finally dealing with the concern of his troublesome sister, and even having to promise to wait for his sister to come over for dinner tonight, Uesugi Sumika finally hung up the phone. He took a deep breath and returned to the bookstore.

In the empty reading room were several books he had already read, and on the table was a book about spirits that he had temporarily found from the pile of books.

The Exorcist's Survival Manual: A practical guide to dealing with "troublesome dead," based on theory but with a clear focus on their removal. Written by the Bureau's formidable gatekeeper Detective, Wheelock. (Mastery required: June)

Although most of the 'troublesome dead' introduced in the book return to the world through the power of Si Chen, or use various evil spells that should not exist in the world to manipulate corpses in a blasphemous way, these abilities should not exist in Japan in the real world... probably.

Uesugi Cheng took a deep breath. Those phantoms were not just phantoms. To be more precise, they were some special phenomena. Some folklore books mentioned a strange supernatural phenomenon. It was said that in the so-called "spiritually rich" area, the things the deceased did during his lifetime would be repeated over and over again, just like an engraved disc.

Uesugi Sumiya stayed in the school until dusk again. When he was packing up to leave, he unexpectedly saw someone.

Chapter 54: The Forgotten Disappearance

"Uesugi-san, do you have a minute?"

The old and calm principal was standing in the corridor. Surprisingly, no one seemed to react to his appearance. Some lively students even greeted him and received a mild response. When Uesugi Cheng walked out of the classroom, the principal, Murakami Seiichiro, wearing his gold-rimmed glasses and dressed very formally, asked him a question.

"I think there is, but my sister is still waiting for me to go back and cook, so I don't have much time."

"It's okay. It won't take up much of your time. I just... just wanted to talk to you about something that should probably have been forgotten long ago."

Uesugi Cheng followed the principal. At dusk, not many students chose to stay in the school. Even the members of the sports clubs seemed to have chosen to go home early today. It seemed that the police presence was still quite helpful.

"I don't think you would talk to me about irrelevant things, would you?"

"Yeah, I don't look like the kind of person who would talk about irrelevant things, so I'll make it short, Uesugi-san... Although this request is both rude and shameless, and can even be said to be shirking responsibility and forcing others, I still want to tell you... I hope you can resolve this matter..."

The principal's words seemed a little intermittent, and the setting sun shining on his glasses made it difficult to see his eyes, but Uesugi Cheng could sense the hesitation in his words.

"I know this sounds ridiculous, but...if someone like you appeared fifty years ago, I would have begged you to go and take a look...If someone who understood these things had taken a look at it, they might not have..."

The principal seemed to be recalling past events, and his voice suddenly became excited. To this educator, everything that was happening now seemed like a replay of a nightmare from fifty years ago, and he himself seemed to be caught in some kind of memory hallucination, and his voice suddenly became louder.

"Mr. Principal... calm down a little, please calm down a little." There was a strange sense of reassurance in Uesugi Cheng's gentle voice. After just a few words and actions, the old principal seemed to come back to his senses. He straightened his clothes a little, as if he felt a little rude for his excited appearance.

Uesugi Cheng was glad that among the great skills he learned there happened to be one that could be used to calm people's emotions. He would probably have to spend a lot more energy to help the old principal calm down.

[Quenching and Extinguishing LV1]: The art of extinguishing flames and soothing worries. "A true expert will never be troubled by flames, high temperatures, and anxious emotions." - Ambrose Westcott (2 Winters 1 Heart)

"Sorry... Sorry... That's what happens when you get old. I'm sorry to tell you, a student, about this. If you think it's too dangerous or troublesome, just treat it as a story..."

The old principal slowly told his story without waiting for Uesugi Cheng to speak.

Fifty years ago, Tonghe was still a small school built on a mountain. The students at that time were all doing well. The old principal, Murakami Seiichiro, was a mediocre and unknown person in their class.

Although he didn't have many friends, he was not excluded. In his last year of studying here, he made several good friends, including younger students and classmates next door. They all met in the library because they loved reading and soon became good friends.

"There was a person there whose family was studying local history and folklore... One day they said excitedly that since we were about to graduate, they wanted to do something exciting before graduation."