“The first thing we need to consider is why the culprit would dispose of this book in a garbage dump.”
It immediately became President’s turn. This was really helpful.
“Huh? Didn’t they just throw it away normally?”
“That would be unlikely. As I mentioned earlier, if the contents of the cardboard box were examined and it was discovered that such things were discarded at the dump, the question would be who did it. Even if it wasn’t us, no one would want to be prosecuted for bringing such books into school in large quantities.”
Hmm, well, that’s true.
Whether the culprit was one of us students or even a teacher, it would undoubtedly be disastrous if it caused a commotion.
“And from there, if we assume that it wasn’t simply discarded, considering that our science magazines are missing, we can assume the culprit swapped our science magazines with those books.”
It seems reasonable to assume that there was a swap.
It’s hard to imagine that the person who left the adult magazines at the dump and the one who took the science magazines are different people.
It’s also unlikely that they simply discarded them, so it’s reasonable to think that the person who threw away the adult magazines deliberately replaced them with the science magazines.
“Deliberately…! Could it be they were trying to frame us?”
“Hmm, I’m not so sure about that.”
President then made a serious face, indicating he had some kind of deduction.
“It’s hard to believe that someone would just go around picking up things from a garbage dump. We only took back the cardboard because we mistakenly put it out there.”
“Oh yeah, that’s true.”
Well, yeah, it’s not like there’s someone who goes through the garbage. I wouldn’t do it.
“Which means the culprit must have had a reason to take back either the ‘science magazines’ or the ‘books that were put out’.”
That’s right. Yeah, at the very least, since someone took back the cardboard with the science magazines, it means the culprit had a reason to take it back.
“There are several possibilities… For instance, perhaps they simply needed the science magazines.”
“No way.”
“Hmm, normally speaking, I don’t think there’s anyone besides us who would want the science magazines…”
Well, yeah. President probably said that knowing it’s unlikely. Yeah.
“And then, to avoid the adult magazines being recognized as such, they swapped them with something else.”
“Oh.”
“Oh.”
“I see, that makes sense.”
This theory seems more plausible, right? If you were going to dispose of a box full of adult magazines, it wouldn’t be strange to take such measures. Yeah.
“But wouldn’t that be too roundabout?”
However, Hagasaki-kun rejected this idea!
“There’s no need to swap the box with science magazines just for camouflage. Normally, no one would go rummaging through the garbage. If they were worried about that, at the very least, they should have opened the box, placed a few science magazines on top of the adult magazines, and prepared for the worst-case scenario.”
That’s true too. Yeah.
If they just wanted to dispose of the adult magazines, they could have just casually placed the box among other trash in the dump. Yeah.
“In that case, we have to consider that there was a specific reason for swapping the ‘adult magazines’ with ‘science magazines’.”
And here, President’s expression clouded! It’s really rare for President to make such a face.
“…Could it be that there are people who get sexually excited by swapping ‘adult magazines’ with normal books?”
“No, no, no, no, I really don’t want to believe someone has such a niche fetish!”
In the end, President began to lose his way. Yeah. Well, I understand how you feel. Actually, no, I don’t. Sorry!
In the midst of this stalemate! While everyone was groaning! The one who raised their hand was!
“…Um, I was just thinking.”
It’s Hariu! What did he come up with!?
“This book is actually pretty good, don’t you think?”
……
“…Well, it’s not bad… yeah…”
“Oh, I like this! This is good! How about it?!”
“…No, this isn’t really my taste… If anything, maybe this one…?”
“Oh, this girl with glasses is cute.”
“Kariya’s choices are surprisingly ordinary.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“…What are we even doing here…?”
“That’s not something you say while voluntarily flipping through an adult magazine.”
And so, our viewing session began.
Yeah. I was so flustered that I wasn’t thinking straight. But, you know, with these kinds of books right in front of us, of course we’re going to look. We’re healthy boys, after all.
“This is nice. Honestly, I prefer this over the science magazines!”
Eventually, Hariu started saying stuff like that. Yeah. I mean, I don’t disagree. Right.
“Hey, let’s keep these.”
“Are you planning to leave these in the clubroom? That’s pretty bold.”
But Hariu got scolded by Hagasaki-kun, though he didn’t seem discouraged.
“…You know…”
It looks like he came up with something.
“I really don’t want to throw these away. It feels like such a waste.”
…Yeah.
“Don’t you all feel the same? You do, right?”
“Well…”
“I guess it does feel like a waste…”
“These are valuable, in a way, aren’t they?”
At this point, we were all going with the flow. Yep, typical us.
“Right! That’s what I thought!”
Hariu became all lively again… and then, out of nowhere.
“Doesn’t it seem strange to throw these away? It makes more sense to think there was a reason behind it!”
He’s starting to deduce things! I can’t underestimate him!
“If you really had to get rid of all these adult magazines, wouldn’t you just take them home? I know I would!”
But that reasoning is just absurd! But I can’t argue with it! As expected of Hariu!
“Maybe they already took some home? And these are just the leftovers they disposed of. It makes sense.”
And Kadomi’s point is valid too! Just because some of these books match our tastes doesn’t mean the contents of this cardboard box aren’t just someone’s leftovers! Because when it comes to tastes like these, everyone is different! Someone’s best might be someone else’s worst! That’s the world we live in!
…But Hariu countered from an impressive angle!
“No, no, no! That doesn’t make sense either! If they took some home and still had this many left over, where were all the original adult magazines stored in the first place?”
Ah.
This was a blind spot, for sure.
“…Even if these are all the adult magazines, it’s still a considerable amount…”
“A large cardboard box full of them… Yeah, that’s a lot when you think about it…”
Yeah. The impact, shock, and confusion when we first opened it was so overwhelming that I hadn’t realized, but the fact that there’s this many adult magazines in itself is impressive. Why didn’t I notice?
“And the fact that these adult magazines were in the school’s garbage dump means they were stored somewhere in the school to begin with!”
“It’s difficult to imagine someone from outside the school bringing them in… If you enter through the main gate, you’d be visible from the classroom windows in the school building. Psychologically, it would be tough to sneak in. Even if you came through the back gate, you’d have to cut across the north field, so it seems unlikely that a complete outsider could carry a cardboard box all the way to the dump.”
Wow, that’s right. The fact that this big cardboard box full of adult magazines was hidden somewhere in the school is definitely true. Wow, this could be one of the school’s seven mysteries.
“I might have solved this mystery by completely ignoring President’s deductions.”
Hariu said this with a somewhat indescribable expression.
“Instead of thinking about why the culprit had to take the adult magazines or the science magazines home, I thought about the ‘reason why they had to throw away adult magazines that they probably didn’t want to.’ And, well, I think I figured it out.”