Between the borders of France and Italy, where you can have a beautiful view of the Alps, lies the French city of La Ténacité, known for its self-sufficient government. Here lies the school I'm attending, the École Pour Les Habiles or School for the Skilled. It's technically a special secondary school that smart people attend and the place where higher education can be achieved. Three years have passed since the World War, the autumn of 1921.

I am an "exchange student", so to say. I am the second son of an imperial soldier, Iryoku Chuusha, serving under Emperor Showa, and one of Japan's fewest people to dream of being a world-class detective. My name is Ignatius (pronounced like Ikku-natte-yuusa in Japanese if you want to know) Chuusha, and for now, you'll be following my story… if you are real. If you're not, then I'm just delusional. Moving on…

The world was still in slight disarray during the aftermath of the World War (I'm referring to the first year after the evets of the war), but because my own academic skills were recognized by France, I was encouraged by the École and the rest of my family to temporarily live in La Ténacité, saying I won't be able to grow into my dream detective self if I am to stay in Japan.

My inspiration for becoming a detective came from the British author Arthur Conan Doyle. My older brother, Tsuyoi, was (and still is) a rampant traveler across the world before the World War first raged, and after his first trip to England around nine years ago, he brought back a British novel titled "A Study in Scarlet", one of the first items that will be in my collection as I grow up. I was expected to learn English at the age of six, so before departing yet again for another adventure, my brother taught me word for word, and then the Sherlock Holmes character slowly began to be my role model.

Then the world plunged into war when I was eight (though not the entirety of the world), and Japan was forced to fight alongside the Allied Powers, hence my country's connection with France. With my Sherlock Holmes collection incomplete, I studied and studied and studied so that when I become independent and can supply for my own needs, I would buy all the Sherlock Holmes short stories I haven't collected. And that's how our story began. Seriously, I might be delusional, but still doesn't the fact that I have no friends here.

Yes. Literally. I have no friends here. The people here think I'm the Grim Reaper just because of my hair and eye color. Everyone's all blonde and blue, while I'm all black and brown. You get what I mean. I hope you do. Since the start of the school year, I've been with no one else but me, myself, and I, and I'm not complaining. If I did have friends, they would tease me for the fact that I can easily be embarrassed. That trait earned me my childhood nickname "Momoko" because of my frequent blushes (they were as pink as a peach) back then. And that's a girl's name. Why would my family give me such an embarrassing moniker when we're a distinguished family…? Know what, I won't think about it so hard now.

So here I am, all thinking to myself while looking out the window. So absurd sometimes but…

"…The World War was marked by millions of civilians being killed across…"

I can somehow learn a thing or two without directly listen-

BONK! Ah! What the-

"Are you listening, Mr. Ignatius Chuusha…?"

"Y-yes. I am." Half lie.

Who bonked me, you might ask? Well, it's my history teacher, Ms. Sophie Blanchefleur. Her appearance is a 24-year-old curly brown haired teacher with brown eyes, wearing a white button-up and a skirt that reaches up to just a few inches above her ankles. She has a pink hairclip on and also a roll of newspaper (or maybe more accurately, test papers) on her right hand. That must've been the one she hit me with.

Also, point of view note, as far as things are considered, I am speaking French, but of course, I don't know if you can understand French or anything so I'm resorting to English to lighten things a bit. Oh, she's talking again… Wait, those are my classmat-

"Don't look deep into his eyes, Teacher Sophie! They'll consume you!" a female classmate of mine warned Ms. Sophie.

"His hair and eyes are so… irregular…" one of my male classmates mentioned. Man, do I look THAT creepy…?

"Now, now, students. Don't judge a book by its cover. Who knows, something unusual would happen when he's around…?"

And then, she just surprised me when she just put her face closer to mine, "Isn't that right, Ignatius?"

Oh, also, bear in thought that they pronounce my name the normal way, so… can I… can I keep this to myself? No? I guess, you're a figment of my imagination, created to fill that void in my heart. *sigh* I was almost blushing and stuff. "Y-yeah. Yeah…" I trailed off.

I managed to hide my face before anyone could spot my rosy-colored cheeks. "I SERIOUSLY doubt it, young man! You don't even make an effort on making friends! Why don't you put some devotion into friendship eh…?"

I sigh and reply to the teacher, "It's not like I don't want friends, it's just they think I could kill because of my looks…"

"Teacher, weren't we discussing the World War?"

The teacher quickly snapped back to what she was thinking and lecturing about before she strayed off-topic. "O-Oh right! Well then…"

Yet again, I didn't pay attention. I already know much about the World War from my father and brother. Began July 28, 1914, lasted 4 years until November 11, 1918. The progenitor of said war was the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by the hands of Gavrilo Princip, a Yugoslav fanatic and this major event occurred at least a month before the war, 28th of June. The result of this was the entanglement of several countries into the diplomatic severity between Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Serbia, thus resulting in global warfare. As expected, technological advancement slowed down and many civilians were killed.

By 1918, the Allied Forces pushed forward and eventually defeated the Central Powers, by defeating Germany. Four empires vanished during the duration of the war and the world was in disarray. But now, we are in (slight) peace, and I hope this doesn't happen again soon.

Now that reminds me… Are you still there? You do know I need someone to talk to, being a lone wolf and all. And now, it's lunch time. The bell tower rang loud a few seconds ago, prompting Teacher Sophie to end History class. We all went down the slightly old corridor made of cement, and there are bits of little cracks on them, but I hope that doesn't affect the school's whole body. The windows were panes that really reflected sunlight… well, there's little sunlight due to some abnormal clouds appearing in the sky an hour ago, bringing out thunderstorms about. I believe it's just localized. I hope.

The cafeteria would look really tidy when you come here for lunch, and the food here is pretty decent. If you aren't a picky eater or anything and you're really smart, trust me, the École is perfect for you. Anyway, I don't really feel like eating much, so I requested salad. Of course I would have to stay silent if I want to enjoy this. Talk to you later.

Lunch is done and about, and now we're back on class. Now, it's French class.

"Education is Éducation, férocité is, of course, ferocity. And then…"

BLANG! Suddenly, a school staff just shot at the door. I don't mean "shot" shot, I meant he charged at the door. The teacher, Enzo Farenze, and the others were left in shock, while I was interested.

"Teacher Enzo! Students! Please evacuate immediately!"

Teacher Enzo walked towards the male staff, "And what is the emergency, young lad…?"

"The clouds are raging and throwing down lightning and everything it can dish out! We must get out of this classroom and school building now!"

I remember that this school hasn't installed a sort of lightning rod on the roof. Well that puts the school in a major risk of fire, since some parts of this building have wood as a building material. This puts my gears working… Why would they not install a lightning rod in case of this major incident…? They should have a good reason to- Hey, hey! These idiots are pushing me out! Do not do that while I'm thinking, alright?!

Like a system, all students of the school got out and quickly went back to their dormitories, while I was just standing there, drenching myself of the rain, while lightning bolts strike any tall object it could lay its streaks on. I know I'm pretty much doing an illogical action, but I'm not going back to my room until I know exactly why they didn't place a lightning rod on the school roof…

Of course, the school needs to have its safety protocols investigated and approved by the Department of Education but how did they get themselves a license when they haven't considered a risk of a lightning strike. It is possible that rain and lightning are a bit of uncommon conditions here, and they thought that such a spike standing on top of the roof wasn't really of a need, but if I have to use that explanation, how did this weather condition concoct?! I can't…

W-what was that?! The lightning… it seemed different from before… and wait, did it strike somewhere upon the Alps?! I don't know, but that location is luminating a sort of luminescent blue. I… I have to check that out for myself. First, I have to get myself across this fence. Luckily, and weirdly, there are no spikes pointing upwards. I prop myself up and jump across.

Water everywhere, my uniform, slacks, and shoes are getting wet, and my energy reserves are almost exhausted. I'm almost somewhere along the front of the highest mountain of the Alps, and it's nighttime… I'm profusely panting, my leg muscles are cramping, and I don't know whether or not my consciousness could hold out but… I want to…

I want to know what that was…! I'm curious! What was that lightning? That wasn't a natural thing at all. I could've just gone back to my room and let the storm pass but no… I want to know now!

Wait, I could make out a sort of silhouette coming from the point where the bolt struck the ground. I… is that a human?

"Hey! Hey, you okay there? Hello…? Bonjour? Ohayou? Kumusta ka…? Please answer…"

No answer, the person's just standing there. I think that's just some sort of life-sized doll that got struck by the electric bolt, but I can't piece why would someone leave (and make) a human-sized doll there? Maybe if I get close… Gah! Damn, wind! I have… to push forward… I cover my eyes with my arm, to prevent anything foreign from colliding with the windows to my soul. My leg cramps got even worse because of the center of gravity shifting towards my thighs.

Almost… close…! Ah! My hat! Geez! I… just forget it! I… w-what…?

A… real human…

A female. I think she's around my age. She has sandy brown hair and blue eyes, and she's wearing loose clothing, a one-piece dress, I think, underneath a coat that doesn't seem to fit her. These particular articles' colors were white and brown, and also there's this blue ribbon around her neck. Her right leg has a sort of bandage wrapped around it, and her footwear is something a little unfamiliar to me. Now that I take a closer look at her, she DOES seem like a doll, uncanny and all. But there's something off… is she…

C-c-crying?! What-what does a guy do in a situation like this!? It's almost the middle of the night, upon the plains below Mont Blanc, raging storm, I foolishly ran at least a few miles away from my room and school, I spot a girl who seems like a doll, and now she's crying?! What does a-

Wait…

She's falling on her back. I quickly take action and catch her. I hold her up, princess style and al- Ow! Ow! My arms! They're killing me! Ack ack ack! Even though she doesn't weigh that much, holy crap!

But now that I can take a closer look on her face, she seems peaceful. Oh, she just fell asleep, thank God. Now…

What do you do in a situation like this? Hey, hey, can you help me? Uh… oh right… figment of imagination. What would be the right thing to do…? I can't just leave her here like this… And I can't just walk straight back to the École now… I'm too tired…

Oh, if I remember my Geography class earlier, one of the nearest towns here is the commune of Chamonix, and I may have enough pocket money in me to stay the night in an inn along with her. All right then, it's decided. I know it will be rather awkward sleeping in the same room with a girl but I have to push through it! I, Detective-to-be Ignatius Chuusha, will investigate this "Miracle sous la Nuit", and if I'm lucky, get some clues from this girl…

But now… how will I get to Chamonix from here…? AHHH! DIDN'T THINK THAT THROUGH!

- Miracle sous la Nuit: Page 1 -

• The Detective-to-be Cross Paths with a Goddess of Snow •

• Next time: The Girl Wakes upon an Underdeveloped World •