As Cale laid his bare body on the bench, bathing In the scorching sun he started relaxing more and more, which eased the pain straining his back
Opening his eyes, he saw two figures approaching from afar
"How do you feel?"
Catrina asked with ironic worry tinged In her eyes.
"Better, so you aren't gonna play anymore?"
Cale asked, he wasn't surprised though, because when either one of them got Injured or hurt, there was simply no way they 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, and Cale answered like a good bo-
"My back, more specifically, It's at this spot here. Close to my pelvis".
'That's the spot which crashed Into the Van head first'
"Why are you asking"
"..."
Catrina turned silent like the narrator did when Cale cut him off
"..?"
"I can massage your back"
She said nonchalantly, Cale had massaged her back when they were still in primary school and she knew it was more than possible for her to replicate that
"You can do that?"
It was a surprise since he never knew she was capable and she was far from dexterous with her hands
"Well if you want to, go ahead I'm not stopping you"
In the end he didn't stop her, if he found that she sucked at it, at least he could make fun of her like a good friend
Catrina flashed a bright smile, almost telling with her bright face to both Cale and Gabriel to watch the 'expert' work
'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 he thought about it like that, but reading all of those Romance-Mystery novels really messed him in the head because he couldn't be more wrong.
"..." Gabriel watched as Catrina started massaging Cale, it was...a unique sight?
'T-that feels so good~'
Cale melted at the soft relief he felt, his bones cracked with satisfaction, he was acting like how a grandpa would act when their grandchildren offered to give a massage only for them to actually be good at it
'She wasn't kidding when she said she could massage'
Her palms pressed on the wounded back, soft and brittle, Cale felt relieved and rejuvenated at the experience.
'I could get addicted to this~'
He wasn't lying, If it were possible, he would pay her to give a massage
Gabriel then said in a quaking voice
"W-what's up with him..."
Catrina replied back, also in a trembling voice
"W-why are you asking me.."
Cale couldn't hear them well, they were both whispering after all, so he just surrendered himself to Catrina's soft hands.
***
Recess
'I'm back...'
He returned back to Gardenia after what felt like 10 minutes.
Inhaling the air which had the smell of roses wafting off of it, he begun to walk to the cafeteria.
Cale didn't need to risk his life like before, he had already gotten what was needed from his past episode after all
He stretched like he knew how to, doing random exercises that would make one think he was in a cult
'The humanoid monsters weakness...'
Cale judged that they were bound by the same rules as him, that they had to follow the schedule and rules.
It was a simple weakness, but an effective one nonetheless, theoretically not requiring any manpower
'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.
Cale didn't know the rules of Gardenia, and how would he? There was no booklet they gave to tourists or anything like that, he was only a stray sheep damned to die pathetically
'The only way to confirm that fact must be...'
In the end, the only to find out more was to ask a teacher to be certain.
'Should I though?'
If Cale was right then that would also mean that he would probably not die and they would answer any question they could honestly.
'But if I am wrong....'
The thought shredded and vibrated his body
"Haaaah"
Exhaling like he never knew what an exhale was till a few days ago, he 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. each time he wobbled away from it, it would move ever so slightly. 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 loudly as he started panicking for a while.
He stopped for a few seconds to see what It would do which was beyond idiotic when a teacher wasn't nearby, classically not processing his own information and throwing it away like those hated retarded protagonists who blame it on 'lack of experience', in the end becoming what he hated
'It's not...doing anything?'
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 was 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'
Cale didn't want to go to a teacher simply with the Idea to only confirm the weakness of the humanoid monsters, he also wanted to especially ask the teachers about the rules In Gardenia which he doesn't know whatsoever. The only good thing he came up with in this situation
'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 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 that 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, echoing 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 furrowed his brows at Carlos intently and listening 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 is...a reasonable one?'
[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 obviously was not]
Carlos then clicked his tongue In frustration as all his attempts to persuade Zenox failed entirely.
'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.
[Anyway. 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]
"...!"
Cale's eyes widened
'Seems like I was right!'
'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 that came out, killed that thought completely.
[To avoid abuse of this rule, we need evidence of the violent act provided to us]
'Oh'
Cale didn't have any evidence, he looked down at his body, 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 that glowed a pale white and pointed at his eyes. It was as if he were choosing his words carefully
[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.
"..." He shifted to the black lines that pulsed weakly
If Carlos couldn't see that Cale was using his ability, It couldn't mean that detection of the usage was not possible 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...'