He became a god in Japan starting with the bear disaster.

Chapter 27 Debate

Because the incident happened suddenly, and the location was right in the first-year teachers' office where there was a lot of foot traffic, the news of Maeda Kenpei's suicide by hanging spread quickly throughout the school.

A sense of unease gripped the school. Although the principal ordered classes to proceed as scheduled, both students and teachers were distracted during lessons. Many only realized today how close the concept of death truly was to them.

The two policemen who took Lin Xiuyi's statement treated his final answer as a joke and told it to the other policemen in the corridor. Several teachers and students who were passing by also heard it, and the matter spread.

The police laughed, the teachers shook their heads, and the students questioned; almost everyone thought it was absurd for Lin Xiuyi to say that "Principal Yokota is a murderer."

Because no one saw any evidence, all they knew was that Maeda Kenpei died alone in a secret room. Even the heartbroken Maeda Masako said she accepted the fact that Maeda Kenpei had committed suicide.

"Shuichi, do you think that Maeda-sensei died because of... that incident with Masako-sensei?"

During lunch, Ishiki Kin approached Hayashi Hideichi to speak.

"Leaving aside whether Kenpei Maeda actually discovered his wife's affair, even if he did, it would only be a minor factor that pushed things forward. I don't believe that a person would be so weak as to choose to hang himself just because he discovered his wife's infidelity."

Lin Xiu put a mouthful of rice in her mouth and denied her statement.

"Then why do you think Principal Yokota is the murderer of Mr. Maeda?"

Since morning, Isshiki Kin has no longer had a smile on her face as usual, but has maintained a serious and earnest expression.

"As we mentioned before when we discussed Masako's infidelity—Yokota has leverage over Maeda Kenpei, but we don't yet know just how effective that leverage is."

Is it a weaker approach where one can only demand the other's cooperation in withholding student scholarships, or a stronger approach where one can force the other to ignore their act of taking over the other's wife, or even a stronger approach that goes as far as murder...?

In this situation, if Maeda Kenpei were suddenly and without warning killed at school, the murderer would most likely be Yokota, who, for some reason, used this leverage to kill Maeda.

Lin Xiuyi stated his deduction.

"Is it really impossible that he committed suicide for his own reasons?"

"impossible."

Why?

Lin Xiuyi was silent for a moment, then said, "I'll take you somewhere after school this afternoon, you'll see when we get there."

After thinking for a moment, Isshiki Jin nodded, "Okay, anyway, I was planning to go wherever you go anyway."

"That's really taking matters into your own hands."

Lin Xiuyi finished the rest of the bento box.

Breaking news!

A student suddenly burst into the quiet classroom, shouting excitedly, "We found Mr. Maeda's suicide note in his desk! The contents are incredibly shocking!"

The group of people pricked up their ears, listening to him continue: "Maeda confessed to his crimes! He said that as an executive member of the school development committee, he had been bribing students' parents with special admissions and university recommendation slots, and had also arbitrarily altered scholarship lists. Now, facing an investigation by the school board, he felt he could no longer cover it up and, unable to bear the pressure, committed suicide out of guilt!"

His words were like a boulder dropped into calm water, creating quite a few ripples.

"What are you talking about? How could Maeda-sensei be that kind of person?!"

"Give me examples, provide evidence, stop talking nonsense!"

Immediately, someone stood up to voice their objection. Maeda Kenpei was the homeroom teacher of Class B, and everyone in the class had witnessed his daily conduct. Many students who considered him an upright and kind teacher could not accept this statement.

The boy who was announcing the news from the podium was stumped and argued, "This isn't something I made up. The principal read it aloud in front of all the teachers in the office, and several teachers have confirmed the handwriting on the letter; it really was written by Mr. Maeda..."

Upon hearing this, the opponents immediately fell silent and sat back down.

The principal announced it in public, and given the authenticity of the handwriting, the evidence was conclusive. No matter how unacceptable it was to them subjectively, it could not change this fact.

Many people in the class then began to whisper among themselves.

"So, that kind of Maeda-sensei was a scumbag."

"I knew it! Sometimes he looked at me strangely..."

"Oh right, I remember now!" Kameda Jiro, who had to stand in the corner of the classroom because he had willingly lent his seat to Isshiki Kin, suddenly spoke up excitedly.

"The scholarship list that was originally posted on the bulletin board originally included Lin Jun and Lin Xiuyi's names, but suddenly it changed to Isshiki—no, Ruri-sama's name. Isn't this evidence of scholarship tampering?"

"You bastard, what are you saying!"

The boy next to him, who also belonged to the "Asarashi Guard," changed his expression and immediately slapped him on the head.

Kameda covered his head and immediately added, "Of course, that's definitely because that shameless old scoundrel wanted to curry favor with our Ruri. Lady Ruri herself is absolutely innocent!"

The members of the surrounding "guard team" immediately echoed, "Yes, yes."

Although the fire was burning her, Isshiki Kin didn't care. She just sighed, looked at Lin Xiuyi, and asked softly, "Xiuyi, aren't you going to say anything?"

Lin Xiuyi had no desire to get involved in this pointless, emotional argument and was about to refuse, but Kameda's words drew everyone's attention to him.

"Hayashi Hideichi, what do you think? Do you still believe that Mr. Maeda, who falsified your scholarship, didn't commit suicide?"

The class monitor of Class B asked him questions aggressively.

Thus, Lin Xiuyi had no choice but to respond. He calmly replied, "Let's put the scholarship issue aside for now—that's right, I still believe that Principal Yokota killed Maeda. The principal himself is a suspect; how credible can his words be? It seems more like a performance deliberately staged to cover up the truth."

The letter of apology could easily have been forced upon Maeda before his death; such evidence is completely untenable. If we believe everything we hear, wouldn't that allow the real villains to escape punishment?

His words shocked the entire class.

"How shameless! The principal clearly exposed the bad things Maeda did to him."

"Was he an accomplice who colluded with Maeda?"

"Hey, Lin Xiuyi, you should learn to be honest first!"

Just moments ago, a classmate who didn't believe their homeroom teacher was a jerk suddenly launched a verbal attack on Lin Xiuyi.

"I believe Lin Xiuyi. Why would he need to lie?"

Iseki immediately stood in front of Lin Xiuyi, confronting the group with a serious expression.

"You're not even in Class B, what right do you have to get involved!"

"Show me some respect! This isn't just a problem for Class B; everyone has a say!" The boys, who were forming a semi-circle around Isshiki Kin, immediately launched a counterattack.

"Doesn't anyone think there are too many suspicious points? Based on my experience of reading more than ten detective novels..."

"But no matter what, the evidence is conclusive; Maeda Kenpei is a scumbag!"

Soon, an argument ensued, affecting the entire class and involving dozens of students. Order was completely disrupted, and everyone was criticizing each other's views with flushed faces.

Lin Xiuyi had long anticipated that things would develop this way.

He sighed, stood up, grabbed Isshiki Kin who was still trying to argue, and sneaked out of the classroom through the back door.