Proving the Supernatural
"The Paranormal and Spiritual Science Research Society has successfully demonstrated the existence of ghosts through this presentation. And yet, you still refuse to believe in the existence of souls?"
"Of course not! You expect us to acknowledge this nonsense after tricking us with fake ghosts? You guys are going to fail."
"That's right! This is nothing but a cheap prank! Anyone could pull off a trick like this! If I put my mind to it, I could—"
The student from Class Four suddenly stopped speaking.
A murmur spread through the crowd as other students also turned to each other, realization dawning on their faces.
"Wait a minute, how did they do it? Do you know?"
"No, I can't even begin to guess. It really looked like a real ghost. And they tricked the entire school."
This was not a simple prank.
The fact that they managed to create hundreds of holograms was impressive enough, but the real mystery was how they controlled them so flawlessly.
"Those guys… What kind of trick did they pull off?"
As the students erupted in discussion, Shiina closed her eyes and furrowed her brow.
To be honest, she didn't fully understand the mechanism either.
'Creating holograms is possible. Moving them is also feasible. But to cover the entire school, hundreds of projection points would need to operate without a single error. Under those conditions, luring 400 students to one location would be impossible. No, more than that—the truly impossible thing is…'
Even if luck played a role, how had Shirone and his team transmitted their information so flawlessly?
"Hahaha, looks like they got the better of us this time."
The teachers turned to see Alpheas laughing heartily as he gazed up at the rooftop.
Shiina shook her head.
"Headmaster, this is not something we can just brush off lightly. I don't know what those students did, but installing unauthorized devices on school property is…"
"Oh? So even you don't know how they did it?"
Alpheas wasn't concerned about the violation of school rules. His interest lay in the technical ingenuity of Shirone and his team.
Had he not specialized in light magic himself, he might never have guessed that advanced information technology had been incorporated into their strategy.
'Even so…'
Was such a feat truly possible at a student level?
It must have been a tremendous gamble for Shirone and his team.
Alpheas found himself wanting to applaud their daring success.
Shiina admitted begrudgingly, "Yes. As embarrassing as it is to say, I don't understand it. But just because I don't know how it works doesn't mean they can convince the teachers."
"Haha, perhaps I misspoke. When I said they got the better of us, I didn't mean it that way."
"Then… what do you mean?"
Alpheas didn't answer and simply looked toward the rooftop.
"Let's just wait and see. It seems the presentation isn't over yet."
The students were still arguing, trying to unravel the trick Shirone's team had used.
The area in front of the building had turned into a massive debate hall, but the more they discussed it, the deeper the mystery became.
The students of Class Four, in particular, were frustrated.
Not only had they been completely fooled by their juniors, but they couldn't even figure out how the trick worked. Their pride had taken a serious hit.
"Hmph! Whatever! No matter what they did, it was just some ridiculous trick. The point is, this whole presentation is a sham! Showing us a ghost that doesn't even exist and calling it proof? Don't make me laugh!"
A sharp voice rang out, and Class Four students quickly rallied behind it.
"Yeah! There's no way we can accept this! This isn't paranormal science—it's just a magic show!"
Hearing this, Neid stepped forward.
"Everyone, do you still refuse to believe in souls?"
"Of course! Souls? This is just a form of illusion magic! It's not real!"
"Then let me ask you this. If that's what you truly believe, why are you all here?"
"That's obvious…! Uh?"
A hush fell over the crowd.
Among the hundreds of students, no one could refute Neid's words.
If they didn't believe in spirits, why had they run away?
The answer was simple. Somewhere deep in their hearts, they already believed in the existence of souls.
Neid continued, "What you're feeling right now—that is the essence of paranormal science. Humans live their entire lives with questions and curiosity about the unknown. If something is unproven and we simply dismiss it as unnecessary to explore, then what reason is there for intelligence to exist at all? This is precisely why the Paranormal and Spiritual Science Research Society has a place in Alpheas Magic School."
The students fell silent.
No real ghost had appeared, but did that even matter?
What was important was that, at this moment, everyone here was willing to entertain the possibility of ghosts.
And if they could consider that possibility, then someone had to step forward and seek the truth.
For the first time, the students viewed the presentation with sincerity.
After all, the purpose of learning the known was to uncover the unknown. Ultimately, intelligence itself was the pioneer of the unknown, and in that sense, supernatural phenomena and magic were no different.
"This concludes the Paranormal and Spiritual Science Research Society's presentation. Thank you all once again for attending so late into the night."
Shirone and his team bowed deeply.
Silence filled the air; no one spoke.
Then, laughter erupted.
"Pwahaha! This is a masterpiece! You guys really pulled it off! This presentation was exactly what your research society is all about."
"Yeah! Honestly, I've always been interested in this stuff! Hold more presentations like this in the future!"
The teachers were bewildered by the students' sudden change in attitude, but Shirone understood.
Just as it had been for him, everyone carried a lingering question in their hearts.
Where do we come from, and where are we going?
People bury these thoughts under the weight of daily life, but perhaps these are the most important questions of all.
Alpheas nodded in satisfaction.
"Revealing the unseen without making it visible. So there was a way. Well done."