Not a detective

The chest that was hit by the hammer did not leave any bruises or swelling. How did they manage to knock someone away without leaving any injuries?

"How was that punch? Pretty impressive, huh?"

Turning his head, Asakawa Riku smiled with an innocent, smug look, as if he were waiting to be praised.

The boy suddenly found himself able to look directly into that tall and imposing face, which no longer seemed like a terrifying demon, but was actually just a gentle peer.

"Amazing, incredibly amazing." The words slipped out unconsciously, a heartfelt expression. Under that punch, everything around seemed to lose its color, utterly powerless to resist.

"Then I'll tell you—"

Asakawa Riku pressed down on the boy's head, slowly raising his gaze and turning it to look at the top of the school building in the distance.

Above, you can see the surprised figures of the delinquents.

He softly uttered the most important and crucial sentence:

"Remember how you felt just now."

"My punch is ten million times more powerful than all of them combined... That's all."

Aoandon's Autumn: Chapter Five - The Crisis of the Abandoned Society

"I heard that Kasahara-san successfully got his revenge."

"Kasahara?"

"Kasahara Shizue, you gave him such a passionate and inspiring speech, and in the end you don't even know the name of your duel opponent?"

"If I were to remember every opponent I defeated, my results would definitely suffer."

"Her name sounds surprisingly girlish... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"He can't hear me, right? By the way, how did he get his revenge?"

Unable to suppress his curiosity, Asakawa Riku conceded defeat.

A week later, after the duel that day, he acted as if nothing had happened, leaving behind a thoughtful Kasahara... classmate, and left the school.

During that week, he didn't even pay attention to the follow-up developments; he just searched online to see if his video had been uploaded to the internet.

It seems not. Those delinquents were probably frightened by the power of that punch and didn't dare to do anything unnecessary.

Even if they did film it, there's nothing to be afraid of. Without professional equipment, it would be impossible to capture Asakawa Riku's punching speed; it would just be Kasahara-kun suddenly flying out.

"I've heard the rumors, or rather, they've caused quite a stir."

Chizuko-senpai then began to speak, mentioning that they were sitting in the mystery club after school, which was their usual time for casual conversation.

Chizuko-senpai has a shikigami named "Okiku," a ghost that can freely move through physical walls, concealing itself from being discovered, making it an excellent intelligence gatherer.

So even though she didn't have many friends, she had more gossip information about the school than anyone else.

"Two days ago, the leader of that delinquent group was walking in the school when he was suddenly attacked from behind. Kasahara Shizue, holding a baseball bat, knocked the leader unconscious and straddled him, swinging it around. The other members of the delinquent group tried to stop him and pull him away, but they were frightened by his crazy shouts. In the end, Kasahara Shizue even took out a knife."

"In the end, about seven or eight people were injured. The most serious was the leader of the delinquent group who suffered a concussion. Next was Kasahara Shizue herself, who was also punched and kicked by the delinquents, but all of them were external injuries. Some of the delinquents had cuts on their arms and thighs with knives. Finally, Mr. Matsuyama arrived and stopped everyone."

Riku Asakawa did not witness the scene firsthand, but he vaguely recalled Professor Matsuyama's tall and robust physique.

That person does have some fighting skills; he should be able to subdue those young men easily.

"Well done."

"You're not praising Matsuyama-sensei, you're praising Kasahara-kun, aren't you?"

Chizuko's insightful words hit the nail on the head.

In fact, the audience for the duel that day wasn't just that group of delinquents; Chizuko herself also watched the whole thing from the edge of the activity room window.

Although she was surprised that Asakawa Riku had actually thrown a punch, she also heard the last two sentences Asakawa Riku said to Kasahara.

"Yes." Asakawa Riku admitted frankly, "If it were me in the past, I probably would have taught the bullying group a lesson. At the time, I thought that would solve the problem. Now I realize that it was just treating the symptoms, not the root cause. As long as the bullied person remains the same, there may be new bullying situations. And what I did was just self-satisfaction."

He paused for a moment, seemingly reluctant to bring up what happened in junior high school:

"So I decided that it would be better to inspire the fighting spirit and courage of the bullied person himself, and let him fight back and struggle on his own. This is the only way to solve the problem once and for all."

"That's a good idea." Chizuko smiled with satisfaction, seemingly agreeing with Asakawa Riku's point of view.

Needless to say, Chizuko's "self-rescue plan" at the time was also in line with Asakawa Riku's ideas, which is why the two of them are together now.

"Maybe I'm just trying to be lazy. I don't want to be a hero anymore, this is the easiest way for me."

Asakawa Riku smiled. He didn't try to elevate himself; this was the easiest way to restore a peaceful life.

As for the bullying issue, let them resolve it themselves.

“This should fall under the category of ‘private relief’,” Chizuko suddenly said.

"Self-help?"

The senior student took a book out of the bookshelf, flipped through a few pages, and Asakawa Riku thought that the books here were all folklore, supernatural tales and detective novels, but he did not expect that there would be popular science books on this topic.

"Private remedies refer to the actions taken by a rights holder within the scope permitted by law, relying on their own strength to remedy the infringement of their civil rights through acts of self-defense or self-help. Private remedies, which operate on the edge of public remedies, are the earliest form of rights remedies in human society. In modern society, private remedies still maintain their own territory, complementing and supplementing public remedies, and maintaining social harmony and stability."

“In this conflict, Kasahara Shizue took the initiative, rather than retaliating while being bullied and physically harmed. This does not meet the definition of ‘self-defense’ and ‘avoidance in an emergency’. He even premeditatedly attacked with a baseball bat… Therefore, I believe this should be considered ‘self-help’.”

She read it aloud in a serious tone, and after thinking for a moment, Asakawa Riku roughly understood the meaning of the words.

"Hmm... so it's basically about taking action to make up for one's losses in emergency situations when public authorities can't provide protection?"

Asakawa Riku immediately asked, "But does revenge fall under the category of 'self-help'?"

"Hmm, you reacted quickly. Modern society governed by the rule of law has abandoned the primitive form of revenge of 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.' Although revenge falls under the category of private remedies, it has been completely abandoned in the modern legal environment. Revenge is difficult to control and can easily lead to excessive and inappropriate behavior, which is not permitted by the rules."

Chizuko slammed the book shut and tossed it aside.

She, who usually cherishes books, treated them with such contempt; it seems she doesn't quite agree with this concept.

If we were to assign a motto to Chizuko-senpai, it would undoubtedly be "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." She is a staunch advocate of the path of revenge...

"Wait, are you saying that Kasahara Shizue's act of revenge is not recognized?"

Asakawa Riku initially felt the topic shift was a bit abrupt, but at this moment, he suddenly realized why Chizuko-senpai had brought up the topic of "private relief."

He couldn't help but stand up: "Could it be that he was punished because of this conflict? That doesn't make sense..."

"No, that's not right, but your reasoning is wrong."

Chizuko shook her head decisively, and then said something that Asakawa Riku never expected:

"It's not Kasahara Shizue who's being punished, it's us."

A sheet of paper she had taken out was spread out on the table—new paper, yet another sheet of paper.

[The Reasoning Club:

Due to the violent conflict involving Kasahara Shizue, a first-year high school student, and considering the role your club played in this incident, it has been decided, after careful consideration, to disband the Mystery Club.

Please inform all members within seven days to cease all activities, pack up personal belongings, and properly tidy the activity room in preparation for inspection.

—Student Council.

Aoandon's Autumn: Chapter Six - The Consequences of Slacking Off

"What does it mean?"

Asakawa Riku couldn't help but slam his fist on the table and stand up: "Why should we disband!"

"That's right—your mystery club played a role in instigating that incident. If it hadn't provoked Kasahara, he probably wouldn't have taken such an extreme action. On the other hand, in such a situation, we should comfort and protect Kasahara and report it to the student council or a teacher immediately. That would be the right thing to do."

Chizuko recalled what the student council said when she went to pick up the letter.

"It's easy for you to talk when you're not the one suffering... You bastard." Asakawa Riku clenched his fist.

Just as he was about to push open the door and leave, Chizuko stopped him: "Where are you going?"

"I'll go and have a word with them."

"Are you going to resort to violence... Honestly, you were the one telling me to calm down just a few days ago."

"I will restrain myself, but am I just going to stand by and watch them disband?"

"...Don't rush." ​​Chizuko took out another document from the envelope: "That's just a simplified version of the notice. There's also a student council investigation report here."

Asakawa Riku frowned, then turned around and caught it.

He flipped through a few pages and immediately sensed something was wrong.

This investigation report is a report on the "Kasahara Shizue incident" that occurred two days ago. It was written by the student council and submitted to the school. This is probably a photocopy.

What Asakawa Riku found strange was that it was far too detailed. He flipped through several pages of densely packed content, probably tens of thousands of words long. Every point was listed in great detail, unlike something a high school student could produce. Even university students' class assignments and papers might not be this thorough, having investigated the causes and consequences of Kasahara's bullying in detail.

Moreover, it's not just based on hearsay; there are also photographic records, anonymous student testimonies, and so on... making it incredibly detailed.

Moreover, all of this had to be completed within two days, which shows how skilled the author of this report is, or how strong the student union's overall execution is.

"If you had that ability... why didn't you intervene sooner?" Asakawa Riku's tone was still not satisfied: "It wouldn't have turned out like this."

He turned to the last page, to the crucial conclusion.

[...Given the above circumstances, we have reason to believe that Kasahara Shizue experienced long-term bullying by the aforementioned seven individuals at school, even resulting in serious physical altercations and insults. Today's incident was a counterattack by Kasahara Shizue under duress, a self-defense measure taken when she was pushed to the brink, and therefore has a certain degree of rationality.]

Therefore, the student council unanimously voted to recommend the following actions regarding this incident, for the consideration of all esteemed teachers:

[1. Regarding Kasahara Shizue's retaliatory behavior, it is recommended that she only receive persuasion and education, and that observation, protection, and psychological counseling be provided over the next two years.]

[Secondly, the seven-member bullying group is the direct cause of this incident. Each member had repeatedly violated school rules during their school years, showing no signs of reform despite warnings, and even had multiple criminal records outside of school. They also had improper connections with groups in society. It is recommended that they be expelled, and preparations should be made to prevent retaliation and to contact and communicate with the police.]

[III. Regarding the "Detective Club," a student organization mentioned in this article, we have reason to believe that it played a contributing role in this incident, exacerbating the conflict and nearly leading to irreversible consequences. For over a year since its establishment, the club has consistently failed to meet the minimum membership requirement of five as stipulated by school regulations, and has never submitted financial or activity reports to the student council. It has no proven track record of activities and has not yielded any visible positive impact on students' development. Therefore, we recommend that the club be dissolved.]

"..." After reading it, Asakawa Riku's mouth dropped open.

"How about it, are you calmed down now?"

Chizuko seemed to have anticipated this outcome.

"Did they really do it?"

"Yes, although it was just a suggestion, it was perhaps too reasonable and well-founded, and the school adopted their opinion completely."

Faced with Riku Asakawa's doubtful questions, Chizuko nodded: "Shizue Kasahara has not been punished in any way, not just in terms of school rules. Even the police, after reviewing the investigation report and confirming the facts, decided not to prosecute. After all, Kasahara is a minor, and while it involves bullying, it didn't cause serious harm. Moreover, everyone in that delinquent group has indeed been expelled. Although their parents came to the school to cause trouble, when this written report was presented to them, they could only argue with flushed faces. After all, the facts of the bullying were right in front of them, and with their tarnished record, I doubt any school would dare to accept them in the future."

“That’s pretty impressive…”

Asakawa Riku had no choice but to soften his tone; his opinion had changed, and he sincerely admired what the student council had done.

Even he might not be able to expel the bully. Not just suspending him from school, but expelling him completely is really impressive. Perhaps this is the most "correct" way to handle it?

If I had to say something, I could only say that justice came too late.

“To be honest, I was very surprised.” Chizuko suddenly remembered something and added to herself, “A year ago, the student council probably wasn’t so powerful, otherwise the student disappearance incident wouldn’t have escalated to that extent, and I wouldn’t have ended up in that situation… In the past year, perhaps they’ve added an amazing newcomer.”

"Let's ignore that for now."

Asakawa Riku wasn't interested in the new student council members. He waved his hand and said, "It was supposed to be a happy ending for everyone, so why did we have to be dragged into it? What did we do to deserve this?"

He was still furious, pointing to the last item on the report: the student council's recommendation to cancel the mystery club.

Judging from the previous statements, the student council did not seem to be unreasonable people. They should be able to distinguish between good and evil. Before seeing the investigation report, Asakawa Riku thought that the student council had seen him punch Kasahara Shizue in the school courtyard and regarded him as one of the bullies. However, he did not expect that the charges would be "instigation" and "exacerbating the conflict".

They knew the truth, yet they still chose to disband the Mystery Club.

What kind of nonsense is this? They're clearly doing the right thing...! How could they be forced to disband for such a reason!

"Asakawa-kun, I understand your anger, but I think their real reason for wanting to disband might not be this."

Chizuko also came closer, patting his back as if to comfort him, then pointed to a section of the investigation report: "It's here—"

[No relevant activity achievements].

"What……"