【"Waaah! Ghosts are scary~!!!"】
When I sent that whine to Wifey and the others, it somehow resulted in the whole class holding a test of courage.
I—I didn't even know what I was saying!
"Gyahahahaha!!! Leo! You're actually scared of ghosts!!!"
Isono pointed a finger at me and laughed hysterically. How annoying.
"Gyahahahaha!!! Leo’s terrified! He’s not even afraid of the Zork, but he's scared of this!!!"
Nakajima was also laughing his head off. Should I just punch them?
Then One-oh-one tilted her head in confusion.
"Is the thing the Major is afraid of stronger than a Zork? Could it be a new model?"
Everyone's gaze fixed on One-oh-one.
That possibility hadn't even crossed my mind...
"S-Surely it wouldn't be a Zork."
"R-RIGHT!!!"
Both Wifey and I were in a total panic.
And so, I ended up moving through the ship while carrying an electrocardiograph.
"So, where exactly did you see this ghost?"
Edie asked me as we walked down the hallway.
"I went toward the toilets and then toward the vending machine to buy a drink, so over there."
First, a reenactment.
I walked toward the toilets and then doubled back toward the vending machine.
"Then I heard a voice."
"...lp me."
"See! That voice! Honestly! Trying to scare me like that!"
When I turned around to complain, I saw that Edie's face had gone pale.
What was with that look?
Isono and Nakajima were clinging to each other.
What was wrong with you guys?
"Mu-mu-mu-mu-mu-mu! Lord Groom!!! N-n-n-n-n-no! I didn't do anything!!!"
"I figured. Edge probably set it up..."
Wait, Edge’s face was also white as a sheet.
Alyssa was shaking her head violently in denial.
"Then Tatiana must have..."
Tatiana was plopped right down on the floor.
It looked like her legs had completely given out.
Huuuh?
"Claire..."
Ding-dong-thud.
She had leaned against the wall and fainted dead away.
"Melissa..."
"Ghosts are scary ghosts are scary ghosts are scary ghosts are scary..."
She was also sitting on the floor, covering her ears and muttering to herself like a mantra.
I see, so everyone was bad with ghosts.
Man, that was a relief.
Wifey was trembling and clinging to me with all her might.
The rest of the classmates were also more or less terrified and had become useless.
While the party was being wiped out, Ren—who probably had the highest fear resistance due to her race—approached me.
"Lord Husband. Lady Luna has gone silent."
What!
So the culprit was the Fairy?!
Jeez! What a little prankster!
"Fairy, stop it~! Seriously! What a tasteless prank!"
Then the Fairy materialized.
However, she had a very serious look on her face.
What was that look for?
"What is it, Fairy?"
"Hmmmm... I can certainly hear it. It's registering on everyone's hearing, but the terminal's microphone is only picking up static."
"Static? Just the sound of the vending machine?"
"I thought so too, but... Oh, it's done. This is the version where I've analyzed the static and filtered out the ambient noise."
I took a listen.
【Help me】
"She's definitely saying it!!!"
"Hmm... But for it to blend into the ambient noise when she's this close is strange in itself..."
As we were debating it, the voice spoke again.
"Help me."
That was it!
It was a girl!
There had to be a girl there!
"Edie! I’m leaving the others to you!"
"Leo! Hey, wait!"
I sprinted toward the vending machine.
She should have been right around where I was standing...
Then, I saw her.
"Fairy!"
"Checking security cameras! She appears to be a physical entity!"
"Roger that!!!"
I closed in on the girl.
In the next instant, something came flying at me.
I didn't realize it was a ball until it smacked me right in the face.
That texture... it was one of those pink resin candy balls that kids play with.
Not the kind used for sports, but the soft kind for toddlers and preschoolers.
I managed to catch the ball after it bounced off my face.
It was full of glitter and sparkling.
Because I was distracted by the ball, I tripped and fell on my backside.
I slid across the floor and slammed into the wall.
Ow.
The electrocardiograph had also come detached and was rolling away.
I looked back toward the girl, but she was gone.
"S-s-s-s-s-she vanished into the wall!!!"
"A hologram or something?"
"Where would the projector even be?"
There wasn't one.
Inside the wall, huh... Hmph, I was still something of an engineer myself. (Even if I just happened to hold a license.)
Ventilation duct, spotted.
"Ah, he’s thinking of something bad again."
"Heh heh heh... Into the walls we go!!!"
"I knew you’d do that!!!"
I kicked the ceiling's ventilation duct cover off with a jump kick.
Then I jumped again. As long as I could get a grip, I could get inside.
My fingers caught the edge!
I hauled myself in.
From there, I moved through the duct work using a belly crawl.
"Leo-kun... your movements are exactly like a monster from a horror movie..."
"Shut it!"
As I suspected, the duct led into a space within the walls.
I crawled further toward the back.
"Huh?"
There was a strange room.
There were no doors leading outside, yet a room existed in this void.
In the center was a small shrine... or maybe a full-on shrine?
Anyway, something was being enshrined there.
I didn't understand. What was this?
The small shrine had been knocked over.
I figured it must have toppled during the warp.
For the time being, I set it back where it belonged.
However, I didn't know the proper rites or anything.
I sent an image of it to Wifey.
"Lord Groom! Where on earth are you right now?!"
"Inside a duct. I found something that looks like a Shinto shrine."
"Eh? W-wait a minute! It isn't connected to anything?!"
"Yeah, there's no entrance or exit."
"Jeez! I don’t understand any of this!!!"
The incident had taken a turn that left everyone baffled.
After returning, even though it was already night, I held a meeting with Piggett and Thomas.
We even dragged Katori-sensei into it.
Thomas said he didn't know anything about it, but Katori-sensei and Piggett were aware of the practice.
Apparently, old ships used to enshrine gods.
Back when they were young, such things were established on the ships of high-ranking nobles and the Imperial Family to pray for safe voyages.
Once it reached the era of the man known as Maro, the tradition faded rapidly until it reached the present state.
That bastard Maro, he really never did anything good.
So, why did such an ancient specification remain on Wifey's ship?
It seemed the chief engineer was an old-timer.
He had hidden it away so it wouldn't be found, fearing he'd be scolded.
"We shall create an entrance."
Under Wifey's orders, construction was hurriedly carried out.
Apparently, they could put in a door whenever they wanted.
Since there were obviously no shrine carpenters available, the woodworking specialists performed emergency repairs on the shrine.
They said they would rebuild it properly later.
Then, using the restored network, a high-ranking Shinto priest performed a ritual remotely.
It was the height of chaos.
Finally, on the night of the day it was decided I would return to my room after the data collection was finished.
While I was sleeping, a girl stood by my pillow.
"'Sup."
When I greeted her, I felt like she gave me a smile.
I couldn't really see her face, though.
"Thank you."
With those words, she vanished.
A god?
Or some kind of Zashiki-warashi existence?
I didn't really know.
And so, a permanent shrine was established in the Research Institute Sector.
"L-L-L-L-Leo-kun! This ship! Its performance has increased by 20%!!!"
Later, the Fairy told me in a panicked voice.
I had no clue what was going on anymore.