When Shimizu Akira returned to the classroom, the situation was indeed as Matsushita Chiaki had said—Yukimura Teruhiko was standing beside Hasebe Haruka, explaining something in a low voice. Judging by their relaxed expressions, the matter was likely resolved.
His gaze fell on Matsushita Chiaki, and a thought suddenly crossed his mind: This one's ability must be at least 0.3 Ayanokōji Kiyotakas, right?
His experience last Saturday had given him a full appreciation of Ayanokōji Kiyotaka's prowess.
That extraordinary observational ability simply didn't seem like something an ordinary student could possess.
(Could Ayanokōji Kiyotaka be a special forces soldier fresh back from Afghanistan?)
The other was just like the protagonists in the web novels he'd read in his previous life—special forces operatives blending into the city, seemingly capable of anything, mastering every skill effortlessly.
Unconsciously, Ayanokōji Kiyotaka had become his implicit benchmark for measuring other classmates' abilities.
Just like now, watching Matsushita Chiaki quietly quell the class dispute, and recalling the "guaranteed top twenty in the grade" mentioned in the daily intel, the assessment of "0.3 Ayanokōjis" didn't seem exaggerated at all.
...
Time quickly slipped towards noon. The moment the bell for the end of class rang, Shimizu Akira suddenly smacked his forehead—he had almost forgotten his promise to Shiina Hiyori.
He still hadn't sent her the information about the surveillance equipment purchases.
A few days ago, Shiina Hiyori had already sorted out and sent him the form for Class 1-C.
When he opened the file at the time, he had specifically glanced at it. The data was neatly arranged, even the remarks column was clearly filled out. It truly matched her consistently meticulous style.
So, after returning last night, he had specifically compiled the relevant data for Classes 1-B and 1-D into a form and saved it on his phone.
It came in handy now. He opened the chat and directly sent the file.
Shiina Hiyori:Received. The table Shimizu-kun organized is very clear.
Shiina Hiyori:In that case, I probably won't need to trouble you further.
Shiina Hiyori:Thank you for your help these past few days, Shimizu-kun.
Just as he finished reading the messages, a system notification popped up—Shiina Hiyori had transferred 50,000 points to him.
Shimizu Akira was slightly taken aback.
They had clearly agreed on 30,000 points; he hadn't expected her to give 20,000 extra.
Looking at the number, he suddenly remembered Shiina Hiyori's eyes when she handed him the commission—seemingly calm yet holding a serious determination. Perhaps for this Class C girl, precise intel and efficient assistance were simply worth this level of compensation.
But a deal was a deal.
After accepting the 50,000 points, Shimizu Akira immediately transferred 20,000 back.
He put away his phone and stood up to head to the cafeteria.
The noisy chatter in the hallway washed over him like a tide, yet he felt an inexplicable sense of clarity inside—the dispute with Karuizawa Kei was completely resolved, and the camera rental commission was finally concluded. Settling two matters in one morning meant he could finally focus on the afternoon classes with a calm mind.
...
In the Class 1-C classroom, Shiina Hiyori held her phone, carefully cross-checking the form Shimizu Akira had sent once more.
The format clearly mirrored the one she had sent previously, even optimized in the details—for example, light-colored font was used for remarks beside the data, and the categorization columns were clearer than her version.
"Shimizu-kun is really quite thoughtful." She nodded unconsciously, her fingertips lightly scrolling across the screen.
Whether it was the accuracy of the intel or the standardization of the form, there wasn't a single fault to be found.
She even found herself wondering if he had made countless similar forms before?
"Probably not…"
After all, like herself, he was just a 16-year-old student.
Shiina Hiyori suppressed the doubt in her heart and refocused on the intel itself.
First, looking at Class D's records: some students bought computers due to their obsession with games and anime. The remarks column even contained details Shimizu had specifically noted—he had deliberately raised many questions about anime and programming, and the other party could answer them fluently, clearly indicating their story was true.
Moving on to Class B: Ichinose Honami's reason for buying a computer needed no further explanation.
As the Class B leader, combined with the chat logs from that day, it made perfect logical sense for her to rent cameras from the "mysterious person" and buy a computer to verify the equipment's functionality.
She went through it line by line and found that every student's reason for purchasing a computer was logical and coherent, without a hint of being forced. Whether for daily needs or class affairs, they all fit their individual circumstances perfectly.
This way, she could almost assert with certainty: the people from Class D and Class B could be completely ruled out as suspects.
Next, she thought about her own class, Class C.
Actually, from the very beginning, she had subconsciously ruled out Class C. The reason was simple—if it were a classmate, there would be no need to specifically go through Ichinose Honami to inquire about Ryūen 's information.
But for the sake of logical rigor, she had still gone to ask the few people in her class who had bought computers about their purpose.
After all, they were students from her own class; Shiina Hiyori didn't find communication particularly difficult.
The result was similar to what she expected: these individuals' reasons and motivations were quite substantial, with no flaws to be found.
So, the remaining suspects seemed to be only the people from Class 1-A.
She picked up her phone and pulled up the list of Class A students.
Although it was originally just a paper document, she had long since used Ryūen 's computer to organize it into a digital version saved on her phone.
Three people from Class A were involved.
She didn't know any of these three personally.
However, Shiina Hiyori did have a vague impression of the name Sakayanagi Arisu—Ryūen had mentioned she was the most likely person to have rented the cameras. He had also personally told her that Sakayanagi's father was the chairman of this very school, a proper young lady from a wealthy family.
Since the Chairman was her father, the possibility of her being able to rent the cameras was indeed much higher than for the average person.
But this line of thinking was clearly untenable—real analysis shouldn't be led astray by such "presumptions of identity." Just like a detective solving a case, one shouldn't predetermine suspicion just because the other party had the means.
Moreover, such characters often seemed the most suspicious, appearing most like the culprit, but were actually often red herrings meant to mislead the detective—this was too common in mystery stories.
But the real world was different. Often, those with the greatest initial suspicion were, eight or nine times out of ten, actually the culprits.
Reversals in books were for plot twists, but logic in reality was often more straightforward.
Shiina Hiyori's train of thought momentarily stalled.
But regardless, she knew in her heart that she had to meet Sakayanagi Arisu in person.
Because handing the investigations for Classes B and D to Shimizu Akira last week while keeping Class A for herself wasn't an unintentional act at all—it was her deliberate choice.