Gray Life (4)

Naturally, this man had no way of knowing where the video had come from.

Only Oreki knew.

After all, it was sent by Sakayanagi.

"I..."

"What, are you thinking of giving up this job?"

"..."

"With the economy in a downturn, is this really a good idea?"

Oreki seized upon the other man's weakness without hesitation.

He continued to add:

"You spent quite a lot of effort to reach this position, didn't you?"

"All you have to do every day is stare at the monitors."

"You can even slack off and play games."

The security guard ultimately chose to leave.

He walked toward the restroom on this floor.

"What... I didn't see anything."

"I'm going to the bathroom for five minutes now."

"During that time, there won't be anyone in the monitoring room..."

Oreki nodded.

He put his phone back into his pocket.

--Success.

Thanks to the file Sakayanagi sent just in time.

Sometimes she could actually do something useful.

Though Oreki wouldn't thank Sakayanagi for it.

A temporary compromise.

It could be considered a short-term cooperation.

Once he had his own power, he would naturally leave Sakayanagi.

Now was not the time to burn bridges.

Investigating the surveillance footage still required some technical skill.

Moreover, the specific time was still unknown.

However...

What Oreki intended to look at was not just the school post office.

There were also clues at the art gallery.

For instance, the time the anonymous letter was dropped off.

This could basically be narrowed down to within a month.

Because the letters in the art gallery's mailbox were only cleared out once a month.

Most of them were just thrown into the trash.

The so-called collecting of public suggestions, listening to the voice of the people, and so on...

It was all just for show.

Nothing more than empty words.

--February 15th...

Oreki pulled up the surveillance footage from that period.

He focused primarily on the mailbox in the corner of the art gallery.

Although the daily foot traffic was high, almost no one went near the mailbox.

Watching at sixty-four times speed.

--Not enough time...

Oreki hesitated for a moment.

He finally took out a USB drive.

After installing a script on the computer...

"Found it."

Oreki deleted the script and then zoomed in on the captured image.

A very fat person.

Gender indistinguishable.

Because the other party was covered up very tightly.

Sunglasses, baseball cap, scarf...

Plus this old computer.

The resolution was pathetically low.

Facial recognition was likely out of the question.

There was very little of the five-minute window left.

After transferring the image to his phone, Oreki restored the computer and left the seat.

He went downstairs quickly.

"Relatively fat build..."

Oreki thought while riding his bicycle.

If that was the case, there were only two suspects who could have sent the anonymous letter.

One was the sponsor's daughter.

The other was the former curator.

They were the only two with relatively fat builds.

However, thinking cautiously...

It was also possible that one of the four of them had commissioned someone unrelated to this case to send the anonymous letter.

But in that case, the lead would be very vague.

There was no accurate direction.

The scope of the investigation was still too large.

Therefore, this lead would be set aside for now.

Change to a different investigative direction.

For example...

Go find the registration log from the day at the art gallery.

Although he wouldn't go looking for the people on it one by one.

He could check the handwriting.

If he could find handwriting similar to that on the anonymous letter, it would mean the sender was the person themselves.

If not...

Then it meant it wasn't the person themselves.

But rather someone commissioned by the letter writer to send it.

Oreki glanced at his phone.

It was already nearly nine o'clock at night.

"At this hour, is there still anyone there?"

He couldn't help but wonder.

When it came down to it, why was he being so proactive?

He hadn't even eaten dinner yet.

"As expected, I still can't make it..."

Oreki stood in front of the art gallery.

The lights were still on.

However, there was no one at the front desk.

He didn't know where the curator he had met earlier was...

Forget it, what does it have to do with me.

"I'll come back when I'm free tomorrow."

Oreki turned his bicycle around and rode toward the nearest restaurant.

"Welcome."

Under the mechanical female voice, he walked through the door.

This place was not bad.

Chinese food, Western food...

Yellow Croaker and Fish Maw Soup, Sea Anemone Bean Noodles, Truffle Soup Dumplings...

"Two bags, please."

Oreki pointed at the Truffle Soup Dumplings.

I'll just eat these for dinner.

Portable and filling...

"That will be one thousand yen."

"Mm."

After paying, Oreki turned and walked away.

His gaze shifted around.

Professional...

Or just a personal habit.

Whenever he arrived in an unfamiliar place, the first thing Oreki did was observe.

Everyone here was an upperclassman.

Hmm...

And they all seemed to be couples.

Because there was a man and a woman at almost every table.

It wasn't even White Day yet.

If it's like this now...

Then when White Day actually arrives, it'll probably be everywhere...

The small woods will likely be reeking of hormones.

"Grey hair... rare. I remember..."

"Hello."

Shiina Hiyori closed her novel.

She invited Oreki to sit down with a friendly gesture.

I remember now, Shiina Hiyori from Class C.

Why is she looking for me?

Whatever.

Oreki hesitated for a moment.

In the end, he chose to sit across from Shiina Hiyori.

"I've heard about what happened to you."

"What happened?"

"That incident at the gymnasium."

"Oh..."

"Do you have any time tomorrow afternoon?"

"No."

Oreki shook his head.

He had already missed his chance today.

He was planning to go to the art museum tomorrow afternoon to check the registration log.

However, without Sakayanagi's help, it probably wouldn't be easy.

Or rather, he might just get the door slammed in his face again.

His own family was indeed somewhat well-known.

But only somewhat.

Compared to those major families, they were still lacking.

"Is that so? That's a pity."

"What's a pity?"

"Ryuen Kakeru would like to meet with you."

"Ryuen Kakeru?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"He wants to collaborate with Oreki."

"Collaborate?"

"Hmm, Classmate Oreki hasn't unified Class A yet, have you?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

Oreki was speechless.

He didn't know if Shiina Hiyori was intentionally mocking him.

Or simply stating a fact.

With Sakayanagi Arisu and Katsuragi Kohei both there...

Class A could never be unified.

At the very least, it would remain split into two factions locked in a power struggle.

Unless one of them left Class A.

Otherwise, even if they reached a consensus, it would only be for show.

It wouldn't last long.

Conflict would eventually erupt regardless.

"Since this is a collaboration, what are the conditions you're proposing?"

"Helping Classmate Oreki defeat Classmate Sakayanagi."

"Allow me a few days to consider."

"Very well. I will be waiting here for your answer in three days."

"Fine."

After saying this, Oreki turned to leave.

But Shiina Hiyori quickly called out to him.

"Please wait a moment."

"What is it now?"

"Could we have a chat?"