Class has ended, but I still haven’t found a suitable chess piece that will become the key to resolving the incident.

That’s because I haven’t seen any good candidates.

On my way home, I focus on defining the conditions for my chess piece.

The piece should have such a faint presence that they don’t stand out, be introverted and be a timid girl.

Even if she becomes involved in the incident, she would want to avoid being noticed, but quickly her weak heart would trap her in guilt.

‘Timid and inconspicuous… who would that be? The guys in our class are all so distinctive and unique that it’s hard. Do I have to look in another class?’

Well, being timid or even being a boy would be fine.

As long as they don’t stand out too much.

No, in fact, it’s better if they don’t exist at all.

That way, there’s no chance they’ll catch Class C’s attention during my operation.

Lost in thought as I walked down the hallway, I received a message from Sakayanagi.

[Sacrificing blind spots, I found a place with no cctv at all. The third floor of the special building. In addition, some of my friends saw several Class C students entering the special building.]

The third floor of the special building.

I’ve never been there, so I don’t know it well, but with confirmation that they even did a preliminary scouting run, it’s credible.

More importantly, not just a blind spot but a place with no cameras at all.

It seems Ryūen has a much deeper grasp of this school than I thought.

[Also, the Class C students in the basketball club are Komiya Kyogo and Kondō Reo. I’ll send you their photos, so please check. You’ll win anyway, but I’ll be cheering for you.]

They were marked in the group photo of the new basketball club members Sakayanagi sent.

Since I didn’t recognize their faces, they must not have been among those who were partying with Class C before.

The information is complete.

More importantly, I need to secure my chess piece quickly.

If I don’t find one by tomorrow before lunch, it’ll be troublesome, but I’ll have no choice but to use another plan.

As I sent a thank-you message to Sakayanagi and kept walking—

Bang!

“Ugh.”

“Ah!”

I bumped into someone coming from the opposite direction and dropped my phone.

I didn’t fall, but the other person was completely wiped out.

Even with that impact, they went flying.

Just how terrible is this person’s athletic ability?

From the look of it, they were also walking while looking at a digital camera, so it’s not entirely my fault.

“What are you looking at? Watch where you’re going.”

“U-uh… s-sorry!”

She has pink hair tied into twin tails and wears glasses, with a plain and rustic-looking face.

In short, she’s likely a loner in her class.

Judging by her poor physical ability, she’s undoubtedly an incompetent.

I pick up my fallen phone and start to walk away.

“A-ah… H-how could this happen…”

Tch.

I was about to leave, but now something annoying has happened.

The incompetent girl’s digital camera is broken.

It might be fine, but if I leave her like this and she spreads bad rumors, that would be troublesome, so I turn back and approach her.

“Let me see it.”

“Huh? Ah…”

I take the camera and try turning it on again.

The power comes on, but all the stored photos are gone.

There’s no visible damage on the outside.

Looking closely, it seems the internal SD card popped out when it fell.

I put it back properly and restart the camera and the photos begin to appear.

I was even considering compensation, so it’s fortunate I won’t have to waste money.

“Here. The SD card just came loose.”

“Th-thank you… Ayanokoji-san.”

She knows who I am.

Well, I’m famous enough that it’d be strange if she didn’t.

She doesn’t seem like Class C, I don’t recall seeing her in Class A either, so is she in Class B?

“Then go back quickly. It’d be better if you don’t say anything strange to your class.”

“Huh? Um… we’re in the same class.”

What?

The same class?

I don’t remember seeing someone like her at all.

“We were in the same class? What’s your name?”

“…S-Sakura Airi.”

I stare at Sakura.

I swear I’ve never seen this girl before.

As an incompetent, her presence must be so faint that she never even entered my field of vision.

But looking closely, many things are strange.

Despite dressing plainly, her glasses have no lens curvature.

They’re fashion glasses.

Not for style, though.

Then… to conceal her identity?

Looking more carefully, while she lacks athletic ability and muscle, her body has good curves overall and her chest size would rank quite high in the class.

On impulse, I reach out and remove her glasses.

“Eek! W-what are you…”

Oho.

Despite dressing so dowdily, she’s far more beautiful than I imagined.

So beautiful it almost feels sinful to hide it.

My guess is that she suffered in the past because of her looks, became introverted as a result and now dresses plainly and wears fashion glasses to hide her presence.

I put her glasses back on as she hurriedly covers her face.

“Sorry, I acted without thinking. But you’re really pretty, you know?”

“Huh? M-me? No way… Ayanokoji-san is much more….”

Ah, of course I’m pretty.

Pretty isn’t even enough to describe it.

I’m the absolute perfect beauty at this academy.

The White Room even had a curriculum for appearance.

If someone like me acknowledges her, that means she’s truly beautiful.

“Sorry, I’m just… not very interested in my incompetent… classmates. If your camera has problems later, tell me. I’ll compensate you.”

“N-no… it’s my fault for not watching where I was going…”

She’s burdened by standing out and her self-esteem is low.

She must be a complete loner with not a single friend, in Class D or any other class.

And judging by how she apologizes excessively even though we were both at fault, she’s probably never even gotten angry at anyone.

“By the way, you like taking photos, don’t you? That’s a wonderful hobby.”

“Yes… I like photography.”

“Then you must take a lot of photos of yourself too. After all, you’re really pretty.”

“No… at this school… there are so many cameras… so I only take them in my room…”

Because of the cctv, she only takes photos in her room?

She’s unbelievably conscious of other people.

So that’s why her presence is so faint.

“Still, if you only take photos in your room, won’t the background be monotonous? Someone as pretty as you would look even more radiant against a variety of backgrounds.”

“…Thank you. But… having other people see… I just can’t…”

“Did you know? This school has a lot of cctv, but if you look carefully, there are places with none at all.”

“…Huh?”

My chess piece has passed, Sakura Airi.

Be honored.

“The most famous one is karaoke, but there’s a place nobody knows about. On the third floor of that special building over there, there’s no cctv and after school, hardly anyone goes there. That’s why people don’t know how beautiful the sunset there is.”

I can see Sakura’s eyes light up.

From the looks of it, she’s truly passionate about photography.

If she imagines herself being photographed against a beautiful background, she’ll surely feel the urge to press the shutter.

I don’t actually know if the sunset there is beautiful, but who cares?

What matters is that there’s no cctv.

And sunsets tend to look beautiful anyway.

“I’ve heard that on days without club activities, some of the basketball guys come there to hang out, so you should just be careful on club days.”

Laying this groundwork will make her less flustered even if the basketball players show up.

Look, she already seems to be looking forward to tomorrow, thinking it’s a club activity day.

“Anyway, I’m going.”

“U-um… Thank you very much… Ayanokoji-san.”

At Sakura’s words, I turn my head back toward her.

“What is it? Do you have something else to say?”

“…Thank you so much… today and also before… Karuizawa-san once asked me to lend her points… I was scared and gave them to her… but thanks to what you said properly, I was able to get them back…”

Oh my.

So this pitiful incompetent girl was also one of Karuizawa’s victims?

Much obliged, Karuizawa.

Thanks to your foolish actions, it’s become easier to assign value to this incompetent as a chess piece.

More importantly, I’d rather you not look at me with such a moved expression and gratitude.

You’re starting to think of me as a friend.

I don’t make friends with incompetents.

My only true friend is Shiina Hiyori.

“I just did what I should. And as advice, I think it’s perfectly natural to get angry in situations like that.”

With words that leave her favorably disposed toward me, I leave the spot.

I can state with certainty that meeting Sakura Airi at this time is the luck of a lifetime.

Tomorrow after school, Sakura will surely rush to the special building and start taking photos, waiting for the sunset I mentioned.

She might even take photos with the night view as a backdrop.

In that situation, she will witness Sudō’s incident and become the sole eyewitness and testifier.

And her hobby is photography.

This is an unexpected stroke of luck for evidence collection.

Now then, Sakura Airi.

I have laid out a glorious board where an incompetent like you can move for my sake.

Your role is to gain the value of being the greatest witness there.

I’ll be looking forward to it.

Incompetents are still something I hate.

But that doesn’t mean they have no value.

They possess the greatest value of all: being used for the sake of the competent.

Working for the competent that is me.

Committing evil on behalf of the competent that is me.

Sacrificing yourself for the competent that is me.

Offering up what is precious to you for the competent that is me.

Even… getting hurt for the competent.