Archaeology Scroll

"Kitagawa-kun, will the school really use this test paper as the midterm exam?"

Ichinose Honami's brows furrowed slightly as her fingertips lightly flipped through the sheets just ejected from the printer.

Ten minutes ago, in a corner of the cafeteria, she and Kitagawa Kai had completed a transaction with a second-year male student whose eyes held a trace of impatience.

Ten thousand personal points in exchange for the electronic version of the test paper in his hands.

Kitagawa Kai leaned against the wall nearby, his gaze sweeping over her serious, worried profile, then passing over the white A4 paper in Ichinose's hands.

The test paper looked unremarkable, with a bold black title printed at the top—

"Advanced Nurturing First Year First Semester Midterm Exam Paper."

Fields for name, class, student number, and so on were all present, no different from previous small exam papers.

"This paper is genuine. I'm fairly confident of that."

Ichinose Honami looked at him, the doubt in her eyes not fully dispelled: "But how could the school allow a test leak? That second-year senior, how did he..."

"Rules." Kitagawa Kai cut her off, shifting his gaze from the paper to the afternoon sunlight outside the window, his eyes seeming somewhat deep.

"This school encourages competition, even tacitly permits a certain degree of rule-breaking, as long as you don't get caught red-handed. Remember what Hoshinomiya-sensei said about failing the exam?"

Ichinose nodded, her expression growing more serious: "I remember. The passing line is half the class average. If a personal score falls below that line, they face expulsion."

"Exactly. So, considering the average academic level currently displayed by Class C and Class D, how many of them do you think could reach or exceed half the class average on their own, without any outside help?"

Ichinose Honami fell silent, beginning to recall the situations of the other two classes.

Leaving Class C aside, Class D was a gathering of problem children. Aside from a few individuals, most students seemed indifferent to their studies. In their current state, passing the exam would be as difficult as reaching the heavens.

"Oh, Kitagawa-kun means that unless they all deliberately score extremely low, dragging the class average down to make the half-standard lower as well."

"So, when the school designed this midterm exam, they must have considered this scenario."

"Therefore, either the exam's difficulty won't be too high, ensuring most students willing to work hard have a chance to pass; or they allow us to find and use this method as a shortcut."

Ichinose Honami's expression lit up with sudden understanding: "I see. Whether this test paper is real or not, it provides a clear direction for review."

Kitagawa Kai added, "We can make reasonable changes to the order and numbers of the questions, compiling them into an internal practice set for Class B to help everyone consolidate and sprint before the exam."

"Wow, Kitagawa-kun, thanks for the advice. Leave the rest to me."

"Honami, you've worked hard." Kitagawa Kai replied, watching Ichinose Honami disappear down the corridor, clutching a folder.

He withdrew his gaze, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and turned to walk toward the library.

Kitagawa Kai headed straight for the mystery novel section. At this time of afternoon, this area was usually quieter.

Shiina Hiyori was still sitting in her usual spot by the window, as if she had just dozed off, or perhaps simply been immersed in the world of books for too long. She was now tilting her head slightly, her eyes vacant, enjoying the soft sunlight filtered through the glass.

Her wine-red blazer was draped over the back of the chair, leaving her in only a clean white shirt, with her dark blue tie loosened a bit, adding a rare touch of laziness to her cool temperament.

Shiina Hiyori seemed to sense the gaze, slowly turning her head. When she recognized who it was, a gentle ripple spread through her amethyst eyes.

"Kitagawa-kun, good afternoon."

"Good afternoon, Shiina-san. Ryuen hasn't given you any trouble, has he? About our private association." Kitagawa Kai walked over to her and naturally pulled out a chair to sit down.

"Ryuen-kun? He only focuses on what he deems necessary." Shiina Hiyori spoke, her voice as gentle and slow as ever, carrying an air of detached indifference.

"Kitagawa-kun and I discuss mystery novels in the library; it doesn't involve any information. So, he won't interfere too much."

Even if he did interfere, I wouldn't change. After all, what's a class compared to one's own book friend?

Thinking this, she very naturally tilted her head and quickly glanced at the boy sitting beside her.

"I see." Kitagawa Kai nodded.

"Looks like I was overthinking it. I just thought that, given Ryuen's style, he might try to prevent classmates from getting too close to me, since I've made him lose face a few times."

"..."

Please stop. Our points are almost all deducted by Ryuen by now.

A brief silence flowed between them, but it wasn't awkward—more like a natural pause while reading.

Until Kitagawa Kai closed the book in front of him, as if suddenly remembering something, and broke the quiet in a natural tone:

"Speaking of which, Shiina-san, is there any book you're looking forward to reading next? I was thinking of checking that shelf over there to see if the new copy of The Mystery of the Doll House has arrived."

Shiina Hiyori also closed the Sequel: Black Death House in her hands, carefully inserted her bookmark, and stood up along with him. "I'll come too."

The shelves in the mystery novel section were especially tall, the top row nearly brushing the ceiling.

Shiina Hiyori looked up, her eyes carefully searching the middle and upper shelves.

Philosopher's Locked Room.

That book was placed on the very top shelf. For someone of her average height, the position was a bit awkward—she could almost reach it on tiptoe.

Without much hesitation, she pushed up onto her toes, stretched out her arm, and her slender fingers reached upward with effort.

This movement caused her skirt to lift slightly, revealing a small section of her calf wrapped in gray knee-high socks—a truly fair and delicate sight.

Kitagawa Kai stood not far behind her to the side, pretending to browse the neighboring shelf, but the corner of his eye was always watching her movements.

Seeing her slightly tiptoe, reach out, and even give a little jump without success, it somehow revealed an endearing stubbornness.

Kitagawa Kai naturally walked over. "Is this the one?"

"Mm."

"Let me."

Kitagawa Kai raised his hand, steadily pinched the top edge of the book, and with a slight pull, extracted it from the tightly packed row of books.

"Thank you." Shiina Hiyori took the heavy book, holding it with both arms. Her cheeks seemed to have flushed a faint pink from the effort just now, and her breathing was slightly unsteady, but this only made her look more vivid.

"You're welcome. From now on, feel free to call me for any books on the high shelves."

The two of them returned to the window-side seats with the books, each placing theirs on the table.

"As usual, read separately, and discuss whenever we come across something interesting?"

Shiina Hiyori barely hesitated, nodding softly. "Mm, just like usual."

[Ding!]

[Shiina Hiyori Affection Level +5, Current Affection Level: 45]