As I laid my body on the bench, bathing In the scorching sun I started relaxing more and more, which eased the pain In my back
I opened my eyes, seeing two figures approaching me.
"How do you feel?"
Catrina asked with worry tinged In her eyes.
"better, so you aren't gonna play anymore?"
I asked, I wasn't surprised though, because when either one of us got Injured or hurt, There was no way we could continue playing while the other was suffering.
'well maybe I would make fun of them if they tripped or something'
"So? where does it hurt?"
Catrina asked me, I didn't know why she wanted to know but I just answered her since she asked
"my back, more specifically, It's this spot here. Close to my pelvis".
that's the spot which crashed Into the Van head first.
"why are you asking"
"..."
"..?"
Catrina looked at Cale for a while before opening up her mouth.
"I can massage your back"
"you can do that?"
It was a surprise, even to me, since from my knowledge she never was capable of such things.
"well if you want to, go ahead I'm not stopping you"
she flashed a bright smile, almost as if telling both me and Gabriel to watch the 'expert'
'she's probably lying, she doesn't know how to massage me, she's saying it so she can do something to help me'
It was pretty wholesome when I thought about it like that, but I couldn't be any more wrong.
"..." Gabriel watched as Catrina started massaging Cale
't-that feels so good~'
she wasn't kidding when she said she could massage.
her hands pressed on my back felt soft and brittle, I felt relieved and rejuvenated.
'I could get addicted to this~'
I wasn't lying, If I could pay her to give me a massage I would do it in a heartbeat.
"w-what's up with him"
Gabriel said in a trembling voice
"w-why are you asking me"
Catrina said back, also in a trembling voice
I couldn't hear them well, they were both whispering after all, so I just surrendered myself to Catrina's soft hands.
***
"..."
'I'm back...'
I returned back to Gardenia after what felt like 10 minutes.
I inhaled the air which had the smell of roses wafting off of it, afterwards I started to walk to the cafeteria.
I didn't need to risk my life like before, I had already gotten what I needed after all
'The humanoid monsters weakness...'
they were bound by the same rules as me, they had to follow the schedule and rules.
It was a simple weakness, but an effective one
'This was the reason they avoided the school building, or to be more precise they were avoiding the teachers'
Unlike in the trial, The teachers upheld the rules here In Gardenia instead of those Sludges, however this also meant that those teachers, like the sludges in the trial.
'They don't know when someone breaks the rules'
They have to physically hear and see the student breaking the rules.
I didn't know the rules of Gardenia, but I had a strong feeling that the Humanoid monsters are avoiding them because they are breaking the rules.
'the only way to confirm that fact must be...'
I needed to ask a teacher to be certain.
'Should I though?'
If I was right then that would also mean that I would probably not die and they would answer my questions honestly.
but if I was wrong....
"Haaaah"
I sighed and made a decision.
"Screw it, I'll just ask"
they're teachers, they wouldn't kill a curious student asking what the rules are right?
Cale started walking, In hopes of finding a teacher that would definitely answer him.
He slightly turned his head to see the bright sky, but instead he noticed something at the edge of his peripheral vision
"...?"
a shadow. someone had been following him. he had barely caught a glimpse of their shadow at the corner of his eyes.
'It's following me? why?'
his heart started beating more loud as he started panicking for a while.
He stopped for a few seconds to see what It would do
'It's not...doing anything?'
he saw that it hadn't been doing anything else but just...follow him
he walked around pretending he didn't see it to see what It would if he did that but nothing happened.
'It's just following me'
that's the only thing it did, It only watched from a distance
He stopped paying attention to it after a few more minutes of nothing In particular happening.
'I'll just go find a teacher'
he didn't want to go to a teacher simply with the Idea to only confirm the weakness of the humanoid monsters, Cale wanted to especially ask the teachers about the rules In Gardenia which he doesn't know whatsoever.
'I might break the rules on accident If I don't find out what rules Gardenia has in place'
***
Soft steps were heard through the corridor as a an Invisible figure In a neat suit started emerging from the stairs.
Carlos Ashen was patrolling. It was his job as a teacher In Gardenia to make sure no student broke the rules of Gardenia, However It was also his job to answer any student's question to the best of his abilities.
He was loyal to Gardenia, but that didn't mean he would want to get along with other teachers that were tasked to patrol like him.
He would keep on patrolling until Recess ended.
'No student Is coming up to me to ask me any questions...'
It's not like he didn't understand why they didn't want to go up to him to ask questions. He understood why, but he also knew they'd die sooner or later because of their fear.
[only those outstanding students came to us to ask]
Carlos was referring to the Humanoid monsters, they were the most powerful students currently and that fact wouldn't change for a long time. They were confident in their strength which was the biggest factor to their lack of fear, they were arrogant. Far from being the future of Gardenia.
He kept walking down the corridor, occasionally turning his head to meet the outside
'It's quite beautiful'
It was a breathtaking sight to Carlos no matter how many times he saw the same scene over and over again.
The blue sky, the courtyard and the rays of sunlight streaming down created a scene- no it had been art In the eyes of Carlos. It was a known habit to the other teachers, that Carlos would halt his movements completely when looking at the outside of Gardenia
Many of the teachers like Bringam would ask him 'Why do you always stop when you look outside of Gardenia? you act as if you've never been outside' to that he answered 'I just want to savor this Painting like scene' he said nothing more than that, but it was enough reason to make them stop pestering about it to him.
[...?]
As he continued to look outside with a calm and tranquil mind, he heard a disturbance, a slight vibration to the calm waters of a lake.
the sound of soft steps burdened by nothing echoed and rippled throughout the entire corridor.
Carlos turned his face and stared at the staircase at the end of the corridor where the rays of sunlight didn't reach.
He then saw who was coming up.
[Oh? someone deprived of color and cursed came to me?]
He said, his voice, soft, echoed through the corridor until it reached the intended target.
***
Cale stared at Carlos Ashen blankly, keeping his distance and ignoring the nonsense he said the moment he appeared before him which he wouldn't be able to understand even if he thought hard about it.
'I'll have to talk...'
Cale didn't want to open his mouth since he was scared that he might make a mistake talking, but in this situation. He didn't have a choice but to open his mouth to talk.
So he opened his mouth to start speaking and asking Carlos his question.
[You are here to ask about the rules of Gardenia, right?]
"?!"
Cale was astonished that he quickly figured out his Intentions without even speaking, however he quickly regained his composure and nodded.
[They are quite simple and few]
Cale stared at Carlos intently and listened carefully, afraid he might miss something crucial.
[The First rule Is no littering and no smoking, you can be punished and get held In detention for up to 2 days]
"..."
[It seems you're disappointed... and It makes sense, I tried pleading to Zenox to make the punishment harsher but he said it was already harsh enough when it's obviously not]
Carlos then clicked his tongue In frustration as his attempts to persuade Zenox all failed.
'It's not that....'
Cale didn't know how bad Detention was in Gardenia, but he knew that making the punishment harsher when it already was harsh enough was an act of Insanity.
[The Second rule Is the prohibition of all violence, you can be put In detention for about 2 weeks, however you can also be put In there for entire month depending on how severe the case is]
"..."
I stared, my eyes widening by the second.
'seems like I was right'
Cale thought to himself, 'wait, does this mean that I can tell on him?' Cale knew they were breaking the rules, so what's stopping him from telling on him directly to the teacher, however the next words killed that thought completely.
[To avoid abuse of this rule, we need evidence of the violent act provided to us]
Cale didn't have any evidence, they were gone completely making him unable to report it.
He had thought of reporting the bodies but they were also gone completely and disappeared from their original spot. Even if he did report it, they wouldn't put him in detention because of the lack of evidence.
[The Third rule prohibits acts of vigilantism, whenever you see someone breaking these rules, you come to us and tells us so we can handle it, anyone who breaks this rule will be put for a month In detention]
Just when he thought it was done-
[One last thing]
Carlos raised his hand which donned a black glove and pointed at his eyes.
[Do not use your 'eyes' unauthorized If you do not want to break the Fourth rule]
He didn't elaborate more, he just said this without explaining why, his voice turning serious and cold.
Cale didn't question why, he got the Information he needed and got a few bonuses he didn't ask for. However this also meant one more thing.
"..."
If Carlos couldn't see that Cale was using his ability, It didn't mean that they couldn't detect the usage since it wouldn't make sense as Cale's unique ability to see the pitch black lines came from Gardenia in the first place.
It could only mean one thing.
'I hadn't been able to properly use my abilities at all...'