I have a life simulator.

"Kōenji-kun."

"Do you have anything to refute? Were you in the infirmary as they claim?"

Horikita Manabu shifted his gaze to Koenji Rokusuke, who still seemed somewhat nonchalant under the watchful eyes of the four homeroom teachers. He shrugged, seemingly bored, and snorted through his nose.

"No, my beautiful body is so strong, why would I go to a place like the infirmary?"

"I was just sitting in a coffee shop enjoying coffee and desserts."

"The location is on the second floor of the Beech Tree Shopping Center. You should have investigated it beforehand."

Horikita Manabu nodded and, under the somewhat incredulous gazes of Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki, replied:

"After reviewing the surveillance footage, we confirmed that on September 14th, Rokusuke Koenji stayed in the coffee shop on the second floor of the Keyaki Shopping Center from noon until dusk, and never approached the direction of the infirmary."

"How could that be? I clearly saw it and heard the sound!"

Haruki Yamauchi immediately started shouting, but quickly shut his mouth under the intimidating gaze of Manabu Horikita.

You're lying...

Even Majima Tomoya, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-D, made this judgment, because in the admission materials about [Yamachi Haruki] that he had, the interviewer's comments clearly stated that "the student's answers to the interview questions differed from the objective investigation report", "has a bad habit of lying to faculty members", and "likes to exaggerate".

During Majima Tomoya's coaching tenure of more than half a month, Yamauchi Haruki and Ike Kanji were indeed among the most unruly people.

"Based on objective facts, Koenji Rokusuke himself did not appear at the infirmary that day, so Yamauchi and Ike, your statement can only be wrong, you are lying."

"If it were just a voice, it might be possible that someone recorded it, but to claim that you saw Rokusuke Koenji..."

Horikita Manabu shook his head:

"This is an impossible fact."

After settling the story of the two students from Class D, Horikita Manabu turned to ask Katsuragi Kohei, remembering that the shiny bald man had also participated in the student council recruitment but had been rejected during the interview.

"Katsura-kun, according to you, Haruki Yamauchi and Kanji Ike deliberately faked their injuries and framed Rokusuke Koenji as the culprit in order to intimidate and deceive you, is that right?"

"Yes."

Katsuragi Kohei stepped forward. After hearing Yamauchi and Ike's words, he instantly realized that what the two had seen was him wearing a wig. However, revealing this would not benefit Class A at all, so he simply decided to keep it a secret.

“At the time, I received an anonymous text message saying that Koenji and the students in Class D had gotten into a fight and that I should go to the infirmary immediately. Then I ran into Yamauchi and Ike, who were denouncing Koenji. They threatened to expel Koenji from school. In order to protect my classmate, I asked to pay one million personal points to make them drop the matter.”

"At that time, I didn't have the mind to think about it carefully. I just felt that as the class monitor of Class A, I couldn't sit idly by and watch a classmate drop out of school."

Kohei Katsuragi's resolute gaze and powerful words seemed to bathe the entire conference room in a righteous light. Even the homeroom teacher of Class 1-A, Sae Chabashira, nodded repeatedly, her eyes filled with satisfaction.

"Do Yamauchi and Ike have anything to refute?"

"That injury wasn't something we faked at all! Although we did try to extort money from Katsuragi later, we were already bandaged up like that when we woke up."

Ike Kanji quickly denied it, saying that it really couldn't be blamed on him and Yamauchi Haruki for having preconceived notions; everything just seemed too reasonable.

The panic of being caught before losing consciousness, the smell of disinfectant in the infirmary after waking up, and the lingering pain almost made them instantly accept their injuries. Just then, someone rushed in to apologize and offer compensation...

Not to mention that Rokusuke Koenji didn't have time to think it through, Haruki Yamauchi and Kanji Ike didn't have time to think it through either.

"Heh, maybe you're just trying to protect your own accomplices."

Katsuragi Kohei, however, felt he had grasped the whole truth, and with his arms crossed, he said:

"I heard from classmates that photos of Gao Yuanji being surrounded by girls circulated in the group chat before. You two were the ones who expressed your dissatisfaction at that time, right?"

"Because of this incident, you have become jealous of Koenji-kun."

"After investigating Gao Yuanji's situation in our Class A, you found that he usually keeps to himself and behaves in a somewhat eccentric way. However, I have been standing by his side these past few days, making it difficult for you to make a move."

Upon hearing Katsuragi Kohei's statement that he was standing beside him, Koenji Rokusuke twitched the corner of his mouth and turned his head to the other side.

"So you decided to target me first. Knowing that I have a good relationship with Koenji, you used Koenji to blackmail me. You deliberately faked a very serious injury, claiming that it was caused by Koenji Rokusuke's violence. Then you called me to the infirmary with an anonymous message and induced me to pay personal points to settle the matter privately. You imagined that I would break up with Koenji after this incident, and then you would find an opportunity to take action against Koenji."

"Well? Am I right?"

Haruki Yamauchi and Kanji Ike were shocked. They had no idea that they had such a complicated plan and such subtle thoughts, but the logic seemed to make sense. It made them wonder if they had actually come up with such a plan in the first place.

"How could that be? Yamauchi and I are not familiar with you or Koenji at all. If you hadn't walked in and apologized, we wouldn't have asked you for points."

Kanji Ike tried his best to explain:

"The only student we know in Class A is Kokushida."

Haruki Yamauchi quickly added a comment.

Kikyo Kushida gave an awkward yet polite smile, admitting that she didn't know why she had been called here.

"Besides, if we really wanted to frame Koenji, why didn't we just use a real injury instead of a fake one that's easy to spot?"

"That's because you two are afraid of pain. You can't threaten with injuries that are too minor, and you can't bring yourself to do anything that's too serious."

Katsuragi Kohei snorted coldly.

"I already said that the fake injury wasn't done by me or Yamauchi, and we don't know how to do that at all."

Ike Kanji's blood pressure rose after Katsuragi Kohei's words, and he stomped his feet in frustration.

"Because the medical room's surveillance system is faulty, it is impossible to confirm exactly who was inside at the time."

Horikita Manabu stroked his chin and asked Yamauchi Haruki and Ike Kanji:

"Assuming what you two say is true, then there is at least one mysterious person."

"First, there's the person who knocked you both unconscious; let's call him X for now."

"Then there's the person who made the fakes for the two of you; let's call him Y for now."

"X and Y could be the same person, but we can't be sure right now."

The homeroom teacher of Class 1-A, Sae Chabashira, wasn't interested in Horikita's XY approach. She tapped the table and said:

"In any case, it is a fact that Haruki Yamauchi and Kanji Ike extorted one million personal points from Class A by faking an injury, and Yamauchi himself has already spent 110,000 personal points, which fully meets the conditions for fraud."

“These minor details are not important; the student council just needs to make a fair judgment.”

For Chabashira Sae, all she wanted was for Class 1-A to get out of this storm as quickly as possible.

"No, it's better to get to the bottom of things first."

Horikita Manabu clicked on an image on the desktop, which showed hundreds of movement trajectory lines centered on the infirmary.

"Although the surveillance cameras at the infirmary malfunctioned, the cameras in other areas are still functioning normally. The student council has also compiled a list of students who were loitering near the infirmary during the time of the incident. Ultimately, they discovered that, apart from Ryuen Sho, Yamada Albert, and Tokito Yuya from the previous incident, and Yamauchi Haruki, Ike Kanji, Katsuragi Kohei, and the school nurse Hoshinomiya Chie from this incident—"

"There is a significant possibility that two other people have been to the infirmary."

"The first one is Kiyotaka Ayanokouji from Class 1-A."

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, who had been keeping a low profile and remaining silent the whole time, only lazily raised his head after hearing his name called, looking tired and as if he hadn't slept well.

"I just felt a little unwell and wanted to go to the infirmary, but then I thought it was too much trouble and went back the way I came."

"Ok."

Horikita Manabu did not directly refute Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's statement. Instead, he turned to Tachibana Akane, who was standing beside him, and said:

"Let Yagami Takumi from Class 1-B come in too."

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji's pupils contracted slightly, but his expression remained calm.

"Yagami-kun, what did you do at the infirmary that day?"

"I just helped the homeroom teacher, Hoshino-miya, with some cleaning and tidying."

Takuya Yagami, who was summoned in, did not appear nervous at all. He even greeted the four homeroom teachers and student council members with a polite smile.

“I can testify that Yagami used to come and help me a lot.”

Hoshino Tomoe, the class advisor for Class 1-B, also raised her hand to explain.

Horikita Manabu paused in his movements, then suddenly asked with some curiosity:

"As the school's health teacher, Hoshinomiya-sensei wasn't in the infirmary on the afternoon of the incident."

"Of course, I left after noon, so it was a little bit of a break?"

Facing Horikita Manabu's gaze, Hoshinomiya Chie quickly waved her hand again and said:

"Don't worry, don't worry. Although I'm not in the infirmary all the time when I'm on duty, I'll check in every hour. If no one's there, I'll go back."

"That……"

"Since the door was always closed and there was no movement, and it was a normal class time that afternoon, I didn't think any students would go to the infirmary, so I would just look around at the door and leave each time."

Looking at the map showing Hoshinomiya Chie's numerous back-and-forth routes, Horikita Manabu reluctantly nodded in agreement.

The infirmary and health teachers at Tokyo Advanced Educational High School, or rather, all high schools, are in a rather awkward position. They are in a situation where they can't get help for minor illnesses, but they can't get help for serious illnesses. If something really happens, the school will definitely arrange an ambulance immediately. For minor illnesses like colds and fevers, students will choose to get medicine after school.

Therefore, being a school nurse is essentially quite a leisurely job, especially since there aren't many students at Tokyo Advanced Educational Junior High School. This is why Hoshinomiya Chie was able to take on the role of school nurse while also serving as a homeroom teacher for Class 1.

But there's always a feeling that the other party is hiding something.

As Horikita Manabu was pondering the matter of Hoshinomiya Chie, a piercing scream suddenly rang out from Yamauchi Haruki:

"I...I understand completely!"

-------------------------------------

"Pretending to be injured means they want to make a big fuss. In fact, if it weren't for Ryuen Sho's interference, Yamauchi Haruki and Ike Kanji would almost have succeeded in swindling one million personal points from Class A."

"Wasn't Longyuan arranged by you, Liang...?"

Horikita Suzune muttered a weak complaint.

"I'm just thinking from their perspective."

Kitagawa Ryo lowered his eyes, staring intently at the two people who entered the conference room, as if he could see right through their thoughts:

"The school will narrow down the possibilities for these two people, after all, the student council president is a student."

You mean your brother will help?

"We don't need his help; rather, we should say that Xue is the person most likely to deduce the truth."

Kitagawa Ryo smiled, and as he played with the ends of Horikita Suzune's hair that hung down to her feet because she was squatting, he sighed:

"Rin's hair grows very fast."

"However, it's still quite troublesome to comb through regularly."

Horikita Suzune lowered the pitch of her voice slightly, making it sound a bit soft and droopy.

"But it looks really good! Rin can recite it silently every morning when she combs her hair in front of the mirror—"

"Silently ask yourself, who is the most beautiful woman in the world?"

"No interruptions!"

Kitagawa Ryo patted Horikita Suzune on the shoulder and said very seriously:

"A woman adorns herself for the one who appreciates her."

"The 'pleasers' here include both people you like and people who like you, but ultimately it's all about pleasing yourself; your own happiness is the most important thing."

"So it should be said that it is a two-way emotion. Like Rinne, who used to only remember her brother's promise and grow her hair long, it was essentially a one-way emotional investment."

Horikita Suzune understood all of this, having experienced it twice before. However, she showed no sign of rebuttal or impatience, quietly listening to Kitagawa Ryo's soft words as he leaned against her.

With Yagami Taku also summoned into the conference room, Kitagawa Ryo changed the subject:

"Gaku will probably deduce half of the truth, and then Yamauchi and Ike will fill in the other half without thinking. You can think of him as Uncle Mori who heard half of Conan's explanation."

"The metaphor of 'cool' is really apt."

Kitagawa Ryo propped his head up and asked himself:

"Oh dear, who did this?"

Who is it?

-------------------------------------

"Ayanokoji Kiyotaka! This was all your scheme, and I've seen right through it all!"

Facing Haruki Yamauchi, who was rushing towards him with spittle flying, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji was instantly locked onto by all eyes in the conference room. Yamauchi waved his hand and pointed at him without any politeness, his voice almost cracking:

"It was all Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's doing!"

Chapter 55: Darkness Under the Lamp