Chapter 32: The Old Security Guard’s Secret

After the lunch break bell rang, Bai Yuliang and Qichuan Feng returned to their classroom, looking utterly exhausted.

Surprisingly, they had searched the entire staff office, only to find that all the teachers who had taught those students back then seemed to have retired.

They had no choice but to return first and consider their next move.

No sooner had they taken their seats than several students gathered around Bai Yuliang.

“We’re sorry, Yuliang-kun. What happened this morning was our fault.”

“We didn’t mean to ostracize you.”

“It was all Yuto Kirigaya’s fault for instigating us.”

These were the students who had voted for Bai Yuliang earlier that morning, swayed by Yuto Kirigaya’s words.

Now that the previous assignment was over, and realizing their mistake, they hastily apologized to him.

Bai Yuliang was actually disinclined to bother with them. While he had been somewhat annoyed by their votes that morning, such binary-minded individuals, utterly devoid of the ability to discern right from wrong, were inherently both detestable and pathetic.

“It’s fine. Our common enemy is Teacher Matsui. Let bygones be bygones; I won’t hold a grudge against you.”

Upon receiving this reply, the students left, seemingly satisfied.

“Really?” Nishionji Mitsuki turned around, curious. “You just forgave them like that?”

“What else could I do? What do you expect? Beat them up to vent my anger?” Bai Yuliang shrugged. “If I did that, I’d probably become the class’s public enemy.”

“Alright…” Nishionji Mitsuki found his reasoning sound. “Did you look at the student roster I gave you earlier?”

“I did. I found survivors, but for some reason, the page with their names was torn out. The teachers don’t seem to know anything about events that far back either.”

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be teachers, does it? This school doesn’t just have teachers and students, after all.”

“Huh?”

Her words seemed to spark an idea in Bai Yuliang, but just as he was about to grasp it, he was interrupted by a commotion outside the door.

“Seriously, why is your classroom such a mess right now!”

Teacher Mori yelled irritably at the students inside the classroom.

“Don’t you want to get into university?”

Despite his indignation, no student paid him any mind. Everyone continued with their own activities, oblivious.

There was even a couple openly flirting, oblivious to their surroundings, which only fueled the balding Teacher Mori’s rage.

“Hmph, so you won’t study, eh? If you don’t study, don’t even think about making money later! You can all go be security guards! It’ll save you a few decades of detours!”

With that, he stormed out in a fit of pique.

Security guards?

Suddenly, Bai Yuliang seemed to have found his answer. He grabbed the student roster and ran out of the classroom, his expression a mix of excitement and urgency.

‘That’s right, why didn’t I think of it sooner?’

Teachers with twenty years of experience might have retired, but security guards don’t have that issue.

While the school did need to assign younger guards for certain posts, for night shifts and patrols, the older men could certainly handle it.

“Yuliang-kun, where are you going?”

Qichuan Feng’s voice came from behind him.

“I’ve thought of something. Do you want to come along?”

“Mm.”

Soon, the two arrived at a secluded corner of the school.

This was the old dormitory for the school’s security personnel, seemingly built during the Showa era. Due to a lack of maintenance, its exterior was very plain, with many rusty spots, making it appear dilapidated.

“Ugh…” Qichuan Feng covered her mouth, her face instantly paling. “Surely no one actually lives in a place like this?”

“I heard before that there’s an old security guard at the school who’s been here for decades. He’s the oldest person at the school; maybe he knows something.”

Cautiously, the two walked up the moss-covered stairs to the second floor. They reached a door and knocked.

“Who is it?”

The door opened, revealing a bald head poking out, furtively glancing outside.

Bai Yuliang spoke politely, “Old sir, we’re students from the school. There are some things we’d like to ask you, if it’s convenient?”

“Tsk…”

The security guard inside scratched his armpit, casting an annoyed glance at Bai Yuliang. Just as he was about to refuse, he spotted a cute female student behind Bai Yuliang. His eyes immediately lit up, and he quickly changed his tune.

“Oh, my, why are you being so polite? Come in, come in and sit!”

He flung the door open, reaching out to pull them inside.

But just as his hand was about to touch Qichuan Feng, it was firmly gripped by another hand, as strong as a vise, rendering him immobile.

“There’s no need for that, we can just ask at the door,” Bai Yuliang said, flashing a friendly smile.

“Uh…” The old security guard tried to pull free a few times, realizing that the other’s hand wouldn’t budge. His face fell slightly as he said, “You… you can ask, just let go of my hand.”

“Mm.”

Even after the other slowly released his grip, the tingling sensation in the old security guard’s hand persisted.

‘Looks like a tough one after all…’

“What do you want to ask?”

“Do you recognize the people in this photo?”

Bai Yuliang pulled out a photo. With just a glance, the old security guard answered without hesitation.

“Reiwa 13… My, how many years ago was that? How could I possibly know them?”

“You really don’t recognize them?” Bai Yuliang asked, a hint of reluctance in his voice.

“Truly, I don’t,” the old security guard said, shaking his head with an honest expression.

“Ah…”

Just as Bai Yuliang was about to leave, looking disappointed, a forceful challenge suddenly rang out behind him.

“You’re lying!” Qichuan Feng pointed at the old security guard with a serious expression. “You definitely know the students in that photo!”

“I… I’m not!” The old security guard denied nervously. “I really don’t know them!”

“Are you going to keep up this act? My father has connections with the school administration. If you continue to pretend, I’ll go back and have the school fire you!” Qichuan Feng said, crossing her arms over her chest with an air of haughty defiance.

“Ah… no! If I lose this job, I really won’t be able to live!”

The old security guard could no longer maintain his facade, looking at Qichuan Feng with fear.

“I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you… I actually do know the students in there. These three were the only survivors from Class 3-D back then…”

“Aha! You *do* know something!” Bai Yuliang seized him by the collar, asking impatiently, “Do you also know about the Death Assignment?”

“Death Assignment?” The old security guard shook his head innocently. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but something strange did seem to happen in the school back then, which resulted in only three people graduating from that class. Logically, this is very odd, but apart from me, no one else seemed to think anything was amiss. Over time, I stopped paying attention to it.”

“Then, do you remember the names of these three people?”

“I definitely remember that pretty girl!” The old security guard said, lewdly poking at the cute girl in the photo. “She was the school’s beauty back then. I remember her name was something like Tachibana Riai. Many men wanted to pursue her, and one teacher was even fired for harassing her.”

‘Hmph…’ Bai Yuliang wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but he seemed to hear Qichuan Feng’s somewhat displeased grumble from behind him.

“What about the other two men?”

“I don’t have much of an impression of the men. The one wearing glasses seemed to be called Mori Kajinosuke… and the other one’s surname was Kurasu or something…” The old security guard thought for a long time before offering this information.

Bai Yuliang asked several more times, but when he couldn’t extract any further information, he and Qichuan Feng left the place.

On the way back, he couldn’t help but look at Qichuan Feng with an expression of great admiration.

“Feng, how did you know he was lying? He had me fooled at first.”

“Mmm…” Qichuan Feng pursed her lips, looking down as she explained helplessly, “I’ve always been particularly sensitive to other people’s gazes since I was little. When someone stares at me intensely, my skin gets tense and prickly. That old security guard’s gaze kept drifting towards me, intentionally or not, from the moment he saw me. So I concluded he must be a very perverted old man. And such disgusting pests are bound to have strong impressions of pretty girls.”

“So that’s how it is…” Bai Yuliang smiled admiringly. “Actually, if you hadn’t confronted him, I was planning to trick him too. Perhaps you didn’t notice, but in his cluttered room, I found a corner piled with many girls’ underwear, and there have always been rumors of missing resident female students’ underwear at our school…”

“What a disgusting creep!” Qichuan Feng said with contempt. “I’ll go back and have my father use his connections to get that pest fired!”

“Let’s put that aside for now. We should go find someone first.”

“Who?”

“Mori Kajinosuke.”

Upon hearing this, Qichuan Feng’s eyes widened.

“Teacher Mori… the one who’s always substituting for us?”