Book 12: Epilogue: “An Intensifying Mystery”
The following Monday, Nanase and Horikita got together and successfully ironed out the details of the agreement between our two classes. By Tuesday, all 157 pairs had been formed, and everyone had shifted their focus over to the upcoming written exams. Although Kōenji remained uncooperative until the very end, he instantly agreed to partner up with Nanase at her request, surprising both myself and Horikita.
While my left hand had sustained quite the injury, I could confidently say that the results were well worth it. Many students were surprised to see my hand wrapped up in bandages, but thanks to Chabashira and Mashima-sensei, the matter was kept confidential. This allowed the special exam to move forward without anyone else finding out about what happened.
Even though there had been many opportunities to interact with the first-year students over these past two weeks, I still wasn’t able to discern the identity of the White Room student. Given the lack of action throughout the special exam, it made me question whether or not they even existed in the first place. It was safe to assume that I needed to stay wary of all the first-years I had come into close contact with.
Normally, one might think that they could rule out Hōsen due to the fact that several students knew about him from back in middle school. However, neither Ryūen nor Akito had actually met him in person before. In other words, there was a chance he was an imposter who had contacted the real Hōsen and taken on his identity.
As for Nanase, even though she didn’t appear to bear any ill will toward me at first glance, upon delving deeper there were several factors that couldn’t be overlooked, such as the method she had used to get close to me, her attitude after we left the karaoke parlor, and the reason she had chosen to contact me in the first place.
And then there was Amasawa, who had joined hands with Hōsen to try and get me expelled. But even then, it was more than possible that she might’ve just been after the 20 million point bounty on my head.
In any case, I still didn’t have a single shred of evidence to connect any of them to the White Room.
If I showed even the slightest hint of weakness, I could be swallowed whole, and it seemed like this would continue to be the case for a while.
And just like that… May 1st had finally arrived. The day that the results of the special exam were to be announced.