Chapter 11: First Mission of the Detective Club!! / Ranpo's Trap

Hirata: "Guys, once classes start, I ask everyone to pay proper attention. Especially you, Sudou-kun."

Hirata drew the noisy classroom's attention by standing at the podium.

Sudou: "Tch, what's up?"

Hirata: "This month, we didn't earn any points. This is a problem that will greatly affect our future student life. We can't continue like this and graduate with 0 points, can we?"

— Definitely not!

A girl shouted in response to Hirata's words. He nodded.

Hirata: "Of course not. Therefore, we have no choice but to try to earn some points next month. That's why all of us in the class need to work together to solve our problem. We must avoid being late and talking during class. Naturally, the use of cell phones during classes is also prohibited."

Sudou: "Tch... What's the point if we're already at 0?"

Hirata: "However, if we keep being late and talking during class, our points won't increase. We can't go below 0 points; it still counts as negative."

Sudou: "I don't get it. Even if we work hard during class, it's not like our points will go up."

After a few seconds of silence, Kushida, who had been looking at her phone with a strange expression, chimed in.

Kushida: "Didn't the school say that not being late and not talking during class should be common sense?"

Hirata: "Yes, I agree with Kushida-san. It's only natural."

Sudou: "That's just an explanation for their convenience. Talk to me after figuring out how to increase our points."

Hirata: "I don't think there's anything wrong with what Sudou-kun says. I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable." *Hirata bowed his head to the dissatisfied Sudou* "But I think Edogawa-kun explained it quite well."

Sudou: "That bastard!! No matter what you do, don't involve me. Got it?" *As if feeling uncomfortable staying in the classroom, Sudou left the room.*

— Sudou-kun really can't read the room. He's the one who's always late. Even without Sudou-kun, can we get some points?

— Yes... it's the worst. Why is he in the same class as us?

What hypocrites, I saw both of them using their phones and talking at least 38 times last month.

After stepping down from the podium, Hirata walked to the front of the classroom.

Hirata: "Horikita-san, Ayanokouji-kun, and Edogawa-kun, do you have time after school? When school is over, I want to talk about how we can increase our points. I want you to participate. Can you?"

Ranpo: *Edogawa raises his hand and smiles* "I can't! As the 'Great Super Detective' that I am, I have to go to the club! Bye!!" *quickly leaving but stopping in the doorway* "Although I have to say, your idea of creating study groups is not my favorite, mmmm... Although if you include me in a group, I'll decide who my teammates are. Goodbye!"

Hirata: *stunned by surprise* "W-what the hell?"

Horikita: "I have to admit, even though he acts like an idiot all the time, he's truly intelligent."

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"DETECTIVE CLUB OFFICE"

I want you to imagine this situation: a fairly large classroom with 4 giant bookshelves filled with books, a large couch where Hiyori was sitting with two towers next to her, Albert accompanying her with a manga. In the background, there were two desks, one giant like a president's desk, where Ranpo was lying down with at least 20 candy bags around him and a laptop. Lastly, Ichinose was at a small desk, checking paperwork with a slightly irritated expression while casting some glances at her companions.

But the last straw was when Ranpo started snoring loudly.

Ichinose: "EVERYONE STOP NAPPING ALREADY!!"

Ranpo: *still asleep, raises a hand* "Shut up, Kunikida~" *goes back to sleep in the same position as before, with his head on the desk*

The entrance door opens, and someone enters the office slowly, standing in front of Ranpo's desk.

Hiyori: "Horikita-Senpai..."

Everyone stands up and gets in line (except Ranpo, who keeps sleeping).

Ichinose: "What do you need, President?"

Ranpo suddenly jumps up with an excited face.

Ranpo: *hopeful* "The President came to visit me!!" *changes to a disappointed face when he sees it's Manabu* "Eh, what does Manabu-Sempai want?"

Horikita: *sighs at Ranpo's antics* "I have a mission for you all."

Ichinose: "A mission!"

Ranpo: "That sounds fun!" *sits in the chair and grabs another piece of candy* "A mission!"

Hiyori: *bends down and leaves the books on the shelf* "Um, President. What mission is it?"

Horikita: "I've discovered that some second-years have been setting traps for new students. I want you to investigate and resolve everything."

Ranpo: "Ohohoho, a detective mission...~ I see! This will be easy!"

Hiyori: "An investigation... This could be fun."

Albert: "Yes."

Ich

inose: "Give me all the information you have, President Horikita."

Horikita: "Have it." *hands over some papers and a USB drive* "I have to go now; Tachibana is waiting for me at the door."

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After she left, Ranpo and his group went through all the information, finding that some second-years were taking advantage of the lack of audio in some cameras to provoke some first-years and extort them.

Ranpo: "Ohh, I remember now. I think I saw some second-years bothering one of my classmates." *puts a hand to his chin* "Hiyori, do you have the profiles of the second-years?"

Hiyori: "I have most of them." *passes them over* "Why do you ask?"

Ranpo: *grabs them and spreads them all over the table* "Just look." *takes off his glasses and puts them on* "With my 'Super Deduction,' I'll solve this in less than 60 seconds."

A green light surrounds Ranpo as his glasses show millions of lines of information, or so he thought.

Ranpo: *moves his hand and points at 4 students* "Ogata Yuito 2-D, Murata Yachiru 2-C, Obata Yuuhei, Kusumoto Noma 2-D, those are the culprits."

The three of them: *thinking* "This is terrifying."

Ichinose: "R-Ranpo-kun, how do you know?"

Ranpo: "Simple! My 'Super Deduction' led me to the answer! You see, if I focus on a particular person, my deductions will reveal everything about them."

Ichinose: "W-Wait... if that's true... But how?!" Ichinose asks, astonished.

Hiyori: "M-Magic...? Do you really have some kind of superpower?"

Ranpo: "And of course! I'm the master of deduction! I can guess everything! Especially if I focus on someone, all their secrets and thoughts will be revealed."

Although there's something that's bothering me in my deduction. They're not the culprits; they're just part of a power chain controlled by the vice-president. It's a pity that his profile is one of the missing ones.

Albert: *speaking in English* "And what do we do with this information?"

Ranpo: "Mhmm, good question. *raising one finger* We look for evidence or the last and my favorite *raising the other finger and smiling mischievously* we create evidence."

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We see Ranpo with a soda in his hand approaching the bench where the Senpais were sitting. He sits down shamelessly and starts speaking loudly and angrily.

Ranpo: "DARN IT!! This class sucks!! I hate being in Class-D!!" *throws his drink on the ground*

— "Hey, are you a first-year? That's our spot!"

Ranpo: "Who are you guys?" *furrows his brow*

— "Haven't you heard? Get lost. Spoiled first-year brat."

Ranpo stands up and stares them in the eyes.

— "The first-year is trying to fight, what? For a Defective shrimp with 0 points, you've got quite the guts, hahaha."

Ranpo assumes a fighting stance.

— "Go ahead, try to hit us, hahaha. You know we'll give you a free punch."

Ranpo: "Damn it!" *goes and hits a second-year, with a punch weaker than that of a 4-year-old girl*

— *falls to the ground, pretending to be seriously hurt, and slowly gets up* "I have to say, you hit like a girl, but your days as a student are over, hahaha. From now on, you're our slave."

— *points at the cameras around* "These cameras clearly recorded how you attacked us without us doing anything to you."

Ranpo: *with a face that expresses fear* "But the camera recorded you saying I hit like a girl!!"

— "Hahaha, those are cameras without audio, hahaha. First-years always fall for these traps."

Ranpo: *changes his face back to his usual one and shakes off some dust* "Phew, I guess that's enough. I hate acting!"

— "What are you talking about?!"

Ranpo: "Ehh..." *turns around and looks at them* "Ahh, I forgot... You guys can stop recording and come out now!!"

The three of them emerge from different places. Surprisingly, Yamada managed to hide (don't ask how, because I don't know).

Hiyori: "Ranpo-kun, you're amazing at acting!"

Ichinose: "Yeah, that was incredible. I almost believed you were really angry."

Albert: *nods*

Meanwhile, the second-years were trying to sneak away.

Ranpo: "Not so fast." *says as Albert blocks their path* "I must say, you can say goodbye to this school."

(If you have any opinions or comments, I'm happy to hear them!😉)