"Hey? How are we supposed to find the culprit?"

"What? I don't know."

"Anyway, let's do the fight show!"

A few minutes had passed since I'd done my brilliant job.

The class meeting was in trouble.

I knew this would happen.

As the saying goes, "If three people get together, there is wisdom in all things," and even ordinary people can come up with some good ideas if they get together, but no matter how many first graders get together, they will never be able to solve this difficult case.

The only first grader I can think of who can guess the culprit by deduction alone, without fingerprint verification or interrogation, is Mr. Ko●n.

(TN: Is this another reference that I don't know?)

Besides, there is a crucial reason why this case has not been solved.

――I've been watching them for the past few minutes and I've learned something.

The majority of them are just having fun with this case.

They're not really trying to solve this case, they're just playing detective for me or something.

As the victim, I find this annoying. They use the White Dragon's death as a springboard for their own amusement.

But I also think that's okay.

If they looking for a murderer for fun, they will never find out who the murderer is unless they come forward.

Once the classmates realize that, they'll get bored and the class meeting will come to an end.

The biggest question is how long it will take for them to get bored.

Even if there is a culprit in this class, I no longer have to worry about being hanged, but that doesn't solve the problem of continuing meaningless class meetings.

And even if you solve the problem of the class meeting, it doesn't solve the problem of the "White Dragon (omitted) Incident."

Just because our class is bored with the incident doesn't mean that other students will be.

In any case, this incident must be put to rest.

I don't want to stay in the middle of it forever either.

But what should I do?

I've got a solution, but it's not something I can do on my own.

I was struggling to figure out what to do.

"Pan!"

And Misato-sensei clapped her hands once.

Then the students stopped talking and turned to the teacher.

"I'd like you all to take a seat for now. Mizui-san, you can sit down, too."

The teacher instructed, and the classmates obeyed, taking their seats.

The fact that the teacher took action suggests that she judged that it would be impossible for the students to handle the situation alone.

First of all, no matter how student-led the class meeting is, it's not a good idea for a teacher to leave everything to the first graders.

Then the teacher stood at the podium where Mizui-san was and began to speak.

"It seems that the person who destroyed Itosaki-kun's free study cannot be found, so I will now ask the person who did it to come forward... Then everyone, face down on your desks."

The classmates did as they were told, though they seemed to be wondering why they had to do it.

Oh, I didn't expect to have to do something so cliché.

I wonder if she should have done this from the beginning, but I guess that's the teacher's educational policy of letting the students think.

"Yes, everyone got down. ――Then, I won't get mad at you, so if you destroyed Itosaki-kun's free research, please raise your hand honestly."

What a nostalgic phrase.

Every time there was a problem at school, the teachers in my memory, including Misato-sensei, used to do this.

However, not a single student came forward with it.

There is nothing more unreliable than the teacher's words at that time, "I won't get angry."

No matter how many first-graders there are, it's hard to believe that they would honestly come forward.

"... Yes, you can all look up now."

In less than ten seconds, the teacher instructed us to look up, and my classmates were buzzing to see who had raised their hands.

"Sensei! Who's the culprit?"

A curious child can't help but ask anything, and one of the students asks such a question.

What's the point of getting down on the desk if that's the case? But I was also a little interested in what the teacher had to say.

"The culprit............ It looks like it wasn't a student from this class."

The teacher said with a gentle smile.

"No, of course not! It's definitely in this class!"

But the students didn't seem convinced.

Not only were the classmates playing detective, but they were also playing a kind of werewolf game in which they were trying to find out who the murderer was.

So, the fact that there was no werewolf, in other words, no culprit, must have been hard to accept.

"But, Itosaki-kun's free research was in the multipurpose hall where everyone in the school could touch it, right?　Then it wouldn't be strange if other students destroyed it."

The teacher gently admonished the students who disagreed.

I see, the teacher did this on purpose to make the students aware of this.

"Well, yeah, that's probably true..."

"So you're saying there is no culprit in this class?"

"Nah. Boring."

"Let's go home."

The fact that there was no criminal among the classmates was rather a good thing, but they were disappointed and dropped their shoulders.

Anyway, thanks to the teacher, the problem of the class meeting was solved for the time being.

However, the fundamental problem has not been solved yet.

As long as this incident remains unresolved, I will continue to be a victim.

I guess I'll just have to wait for time to solve the problem...

As my classmates went home one by one, I sat in my chair and pondered a few solutions.

"Itosaki-kun, I want to talk to you about the free research, can you come to the staff room later?"

"Yes, yes."

That was all Misato-sensei said and followed the students towards the main gate.

I wondered what she was going to talk about, although it was probably something related to the incident.

Despite my doubts, I headed for the staff room.

◆

When I visited the staff room and explained the situation to the receptionist, I was led to the reception room.

Normally, this room is used for visitors, but since it was not scheduled to be used today, I was given special permission to enter the room.

The sofas facing each other and the table between them were expensive, and the entire room was beautiful.

It wasn't exactly luxurious, but compared to the interior of this 30-year-old public school, it was a world of its own.

About fifteen minutes passed.

I had just started to play with myself, opening the tea cabinet and lying down on the sofa, when the teacher appeared, and I hurriedly woke up and pretended not to be surprised.

"Sorry, Itosaki-kun. I'm sorry for making you wait."

"No, no, it's fine."

It looks like they didn't see me lying down on the sofa at the last minute. Oh, watch out, watch out.

I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead and watched as the teacher came in.

Then I saw my classmate, Sunagawa Rinta, there.

He was the first kid to present his free research, right? I believe he was making a robot.

Why is he here?

For a moment, such a question crossed my mind, but I soon figured things out.

There was no way I would invite an unrelated person to talk about my free research.

If so, then there was a connection, and that's why he was called here.

I had a pretty good idea of what was going on, but I didn't open my mouth and waited for him to say something.

"... Actually. It was Sunagawa-kun who destroyed... Itosaki-kun's free research."

The teacher said what Sunagawa-kun should have said in his place.

I can see the remorse in his eyes as he looks down and glances at me.

Apparently, I was not misjudged.