Chapter 11

"How should one evaluate such ethereal things?" Suzuki asked in return. "Good question! Eijun, you actually reminded me of something." I turned around abruptly and began searching for something. "Eh!?" "Minya, what are you looking for?" "Found it!" I pointed to the surveillance camera in the corner of the wall and said. "So it's just surveillance... is there anything special about that?" "Don't you think the density of surveillance cameras in our school is a bit high? In Class C's classroom alone, there are four cameras, front and back. Two watching the door, two watching us," I recalled. "True, is it because the students are wealthy, so security is tighter?" "Maybe, but perhaps there are other purposes as well... for example, observing our every move?" I revealed a smile. "Hiss... that's terrifying when you think about it! Would this school be that perverted? Watching every single student like this..." "As expected of Minya, it's a good thing we found out about this early!" Oda began to feel fortunate that he had pulled me into their group. "It's also thanks to the conversation between Eijun and Masashi that I realized it," I said modestly. "Actually, we didn't really do anything..." Sonoda waved his hands shyly. "Haha! As long as we keep this secret, we'll be the bourgeoisie of this school from now on!" Suzuki excitedly threw his arm around my shoulder. "No, we should quietly spread the secret to the others in the class," I said calmly. "Ah!!? You don't have to be such a saint, right? What does their life or death have to do with us?" Suzuki expressed his confusion. "Things definitely aren't that simple. There are some things I need to confirm with the upperclassmen. Once the results are in, I'll tell you my deductions." "Minya, that's not right of you! We're friends, after all. Let's split up and look for upperclassmen we can communicate with! We'll contact you once we find some!" "You're willing to help? That couldn't be better. Let's set up a discussion group to communicate!" "No problem, let's call the discussion group Kitazawa Detective Agency!" Suzuki suggested, not fearing chaos. "Hahaha! Great name. Minya looks like a master detective when he's thinking about problems." Oda and Sonoda also expressed their approval. "Spare me..." I'm a descendant of a small capitalist, why would I be a detective! I shook my head with a smile and took the opportunity to pull them into the discussion group. Making friends and such—this is what youth is all about!

Volume 1: First Appearance : 4 Choosing an opportunity is saving time. Choosing an opportunity is saving time. -- Francis Bacon

"Minya, we found something interesting!" Inside the convenience store, Suzuki and the others, who had split up to shop, seemed to have found some free goods. "Hmm... that's right. It's hard to imagine a situation where 100,000 points are still not enough... Based on our class, the number of new students this year should be around 160, so there are about 480 students in this school. Just like that, it's 48 million per month, and 560 million a year... This is all taxpayers' money!" I muttered in response, but my gaze was drawn to an acquaintance across the aisle. It was the man and woman duo from across the aisle on the bus. The girl was staring with annoyance at the gloomy man who was trying to sell her a razor. "Someone you know?" Suzuki joined the ranks of the peepers. "Don't know them. But it's rare to see someone start their 'conquest' on the first day of school..." "Indeed, that girl seems to be from Class D next door, right? She looks quite good; no wonder she's being targeted... Does Minya want to play the hero saving the beauty?" "Better not. I just feel like rushing over to disturb them will lead to big trouble..." "This is inside the school; that gloomy guy wouldn't dare to act recklessly, right?" "It's not about the gloomy guy; can't you feel the killing intent radiating from that girl?" "Killing intent?" "Yeah, the killing intent she released the moment she expressed dissatisfaction with the gloomy guy's words... She must be a very formidable girl! If that gloomy guy keeps pestering her like this, he's definitely going to suffer a big loss." "Although I don't quite understand, Minya, you have a good eye for people, right? I trust your judgment." "It's probably close enough... unless someone is a very good actor. I used to attend an aristocratic school, and there were many people there who were great at acting, so I know a little bit about it." "I see. My family also wanted me to go to that kind of school before, but I refused, haha!" "Minya, Eijun, we're leaving!" Oda called out to us from not far away. "Yeah, let's go. Continuing to observe the gloomy guy is just a waste of time." However, things didn't go as planned, and we ran into the gloomy guy again at the checkout counter. It seemed the gloomy guy's delinquent companion had forgotten his phone, causing a situation where he couldn't pay. "Eating instant noodles on the first day of school... what kind of people are these..." Watching the red-haired guy shouting at the front of the line, Oda whispered. "Better not cause trouble, let's wait patiently." The upperclassmen in front didn't make a scene, so I signaled him not to meddle. Surprisingly, the gloomy guy ditched his beautiful girlfriend—well, his target girlfriend—to pay for the red-haired guy, and even diligently helped him add hot water to the instant noodles. As expected, the beautiful girlfriend was instantly enraged, confronted the red-haired guy for a few sentences, and left in a huff. "Her name was Horikita, right? Although I didn't hear exactly what they were arguing about, it's really rude to treat such a beautiful girl like that," Suzuki commented. "Ayanokoji?" I heard the gloomy man's name. "What's wrong? Minya, we should stay away from people like that," Sonoda suggested. "I just think this person is very strange. Why bother with this red-haired guy while talking to a beauty? Looking at how they introduced themselves earlier, he doesn't seem to know the red-haired guy well either..." I scratched my head, feeling somewhat puzzled. "Master Detective, people like that are unreasonable. Don't waste your brain cells." After the troublesome people left, it was finally our turn to check out. "Existence is reasonable. If you think from another perspective, maybe you can discover something..." "Think by substituting myself into that red-haired gorilla? He looked like he wanted to hit a woman just now! Hahahaha!" Suzuki reached out and made a funny gesture of patting his chest. "Usually, people like that don't have a good upbringing and might even be prone to domestic violence," Oda chimed in. "Why would people like that get in here? Isn't this the high school with the highest advancement rate in Japan?" Sonoda's question made the senior student behind us waver slightly. I keenly observed this and followed up: "Who knows? If only we could ask the seniors for advice. We still have too little information right now..." "Yeah..." Even though I deliberately slowed my pace as I left, that senior student was only moved, and in the end, she didn't rush over to strike up a conversation with us. Or perhaps, the older students aren't allowed to voluntarily disclose certain information? Well, there's no rush for these things.