"So you could explain it that way. As long as you weren't the one who planted the phone, it wouldn't count as betrayal."
"And even if it were discovered, you could claim it was a scheme by a rival class. Then report them and strip that student of their points."
"However."
"Our classroom was locked every day, and the key was always kept in the office. Each day, the first student to arrive in the classroom went to the office to get it."
"Although the phones issued by the school were of excellent quality, their battery life wasn't particularly impressive. They generally needed charging every two days."
"So, Hashimoto, you could only have placed the phone there the day before the exam—that is, yesterday."
"And there were cameras in the office as well. All they had to do was check whether you went to get the key yesterday, and that would prove it."
"So, if you didn't betray the class, why would you help a student from a rival class plant a phone in our classroom to cheat?"
"And once they checked the office surveillance footage, they would see you, Hashimoto, taking the class key from the office. That would prove you assisted a student from a rival class in cheating." As Katsuragi spoke, he fixed Hashimoto with a profound gaze.
A thin sheen of sweat instinctively appeared on Hashimoto's forehead.
Damn it!
That was indeed another angle.
Hashimoto no longer had his initial confidence or carefree manner. He was genuinely starting to panic.
Because Katsuragi had actually considered things so thoroughly.
And that was indeed what he had done.
He had originally intended to say that, even if it were exposed, his new girlfriend Maeda from Class D had placed the phone in the classroom herself, so he would