The Detective of the Noble Male Academy

01

“You've been transferred here for a week now — are you adjusting to life at the school?”

The academic affairs teacher's worried gaze lingered on the transfer student's face.

Ji Yue, the new arrival, left an impression on everyone that was perhaps far too deep — so much so that the teacher had harbored a faintly uneasy premonition ever since that night.

Right now the boy sat upright beneath the lamplight, his straight black hair falling down his back like the soft fur of a black cat. First impression: this was truly a beautiful child — a face no bigger than a palm, a pointed chin, blue eyes, cold pale skin.

In both feature and bearing, he resembled a wild cat a little.

Only, with such a pale, listless air about him, his health did not seem to be in the best shape?

Nor could the teacher imagine how the boys here would treat him.

The teacher had no choice but to circle around the question, probing indirectly — had he run into any trouble at the Imperial Male Academy that was hard to speak of openly?

Ji Yue told him, “No. Everyone has been very kind to me.”

The teacher let out a small breath of relief. “They... all have their own habits and circles. As long as you don't feel too troubled by it, that's fine.”

Ji Yue's mind was elsewhere; he was indifferent to most of what went on at the academy.

Because he was a private detective.

The Imperial Male Academy sat upon a fog-shrouded island, its high towers of steel and concrete drowned amid a pale gray sky. The academy's manor was hidden deep within the island, its carved beams and painted rafters as vast as a mountain range, exuding the quaint air of a century past.

The boys all wore friendly faces — vague, proper, polite — keeping upon him a gaze that seemed to be there and not there at once.

They mentioned the island's scenery in passing: “Yan Min has a greenhouse Flower House. It's his Wednesday-afternoon pastime.”

“You all know Yan Min?”

Hearing this, Ji Yue finally lifted his eyelids with interest.

He knew this person.

The F1 among the F2 — wait, among F4 — of mysterious lineage, always shut away in his private antique collection room and garden, who falls for the protagonist shou at first sight and takes him by force, and who is also the detective's mission target.

“No one wouldn't know him — just as everyone has known of your existence since the very first day of enrollment.”

“Do you all pay this much attention to special students too?”

“Why would I pay attention to him?” The two boys exchanged a glance of unreadable meaning, then said with a smile, “Want to go play at the Flower House?”

Ji Yue did indeed want to take a look at F1's Flower House, because apart from that, he could find no other way to get close to F1 for the moment.

The main thread of this book was the melodramatic entanglement between the powerful F4 and a commoner special student; its tags were dubious consent, NP, and the wife-chasing crematorium. According to the small world's settings, a young private detective transfers in here and begins secretly investigating everything concerning F4 and the special student.

【——Detective——】

【Mission Difficulty: Four Stars.】

【Content: Investigate F4 and the special student】

【Requirement: Collect all materials related to F4 / the special student】

Not limited to everyday photos, videos, and paper documents — and he must not be detected by any of these five people.

A reminder popped up on the communicator's screen — Horseback Riding Class.

The special student had joined the Horseback Riding Class, and in class formed a relationship with F2 that was equal parts mutual contempt and ambiguity; the two of them were bickering sweethearts.

Ji Yue's classes didn't overlap with the special student's, so he could only run into him by chance between lessons.

At the very least he could take a few photos?

He bade the two boys farewell and quickly headed for the riding grounds, placing a miniature camera in front of the lockers.

The boys of the Horseback Riding Class were all discussing this afternoon's training match, drifting in twos and threes toward the lockers, and one whole row of lockers gaped open one after another.

Among them, the special student always seemed to stand apart. He was a silver-haired young man, tall, with his looks marred — a streak of dried blood split his cheekbone. He was dressed carelessly in a black T-shirt, sleeves rolled up to his shoulders, baring firm, muscled arms.

He bent his head to open his locker and took out a change of clothes; throughout, no one dared strike up a conversation with him — because F2 had already taken a liking to him.

The miniature camera recorded it all like a vlog, and after the special student left, Ji Yue retrieved it and checked the footage.

【The special student wasn't this tall in the original work, you know.】

The System was aghast; only today had it noticed the matter of the protagonist shou's height.

‘And what's the problem with that?’

【Before he turned dark, the special student was set up as a cool, stubborn little white flower, and there's a classic scene where he gets kabedon'd by F2 in the Horseback Riding Class. If these two are the same height, how is anyone supposed to kabedon anyone?!】

“Ji Yue!”

This excited greeting cut through their exchange — a boy from the Introduction to Religion class was waving at him eagerly.

Ji Yue had a group assignment with him; they chatted a while and settled on giving their report tomorrow, and by the time he looked up again, the special student was no longer in the corridor.

【Tailing the special student isn't so simple, you know!】 the System laughed. 【F4 loves pulling this kind of thing with their power and influence, so Si Jing has learned anti-tailing.】

‘If I could get F4 to take the photos for me, it'd be a lot more convenient.’

Just a passing thought, of course. The academy Café in the evening had hardly anyone in it — a good place to sort through the videos and photos he'd taken today. Ji Yue had been seated only a short while before the Café gradually filled to bursting, the nearby chairs packed with quite a few boys.

Amid the bustling crowd, he glimpsed a tall, silver-haired figure heading this way.

Si Jing worked part-time at this on-campus Café? No wonder so many boys had shown up.

Under F2's intimidation, the male academy NPCs couldn't speak to Si Jing, and could only settle for hovering around him. Ji Yue could faintly make out what they were discussing:

“School beauty,” “special student,” “Yan Min.”

It was, in plain terms, the love story of F4 and the special student — a game of you-chase-and-I-flee.

Ji Yue mused aimlessly: so far, Si Jing's movements and daily routine were perfectly ordinary, no different from any other student — class, part-time work, back to the dorm, and so on, round and round.

Why would a client pay to investigate an ordinary commoner student?

Or perhaps the one truly being investigated was F4.

‘Who is the client in the original work?’

【The client has no clear setting.】

【This plotline is probably just a romantic interlude. The client is likely some old friend who has feelings for the special student — once you hand over the materials, the special student discovers your terrifying behavior, F4 realizes you've been surveilling them, and in a towering rage they drive you out of the academy.】

‘Understood.’

Ji Yue set the miniature camera in a hidden spot, aimed at the special student who'd sat down not far off — only, before long someone took a seat near him, and a Doraemon coffee cup blocked the angle of his shot.

With people coming and going, it was no longer convenient to keep adjusting the angle.

Now he couldn't get the shot.

The silver-haired young man in an apron walked over to a nearby table, clearing away wrappers and empty coffee cups. He turned and walked straight to Ji Yue's table, taking the smiling Doraemon away outright.

“Hey, I'm not done yet.”

The boy beside him called him back.

Si Jing apologized, neither servile nor haughty, and set the coffee back down.

He placed the cup to the right-hand side, where it no longer blocked the mini camera's line of sight.

Good.

Ji Yue covered for himself a little before looking at him.

Si Jing kept his eyelids lowered and asked softly, gently, “Is there anything else you need?”

“No, thank you.”

“Enjoy your meal tonight.”

Si Jing handed him a cup of matcha coffee, his manner deferential.

【Poor special student — he has no idea he's being feverishly tailed and filmed by you! Kind soul that he is, he even threw in an extra tomato for you.】

【Friendly reminder: Si Jing detests being filmed. Once he turns dark and discovers what you've done, he's bound to take revenge — so you'd better watch out then!】

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BBS Forum...

Hot Threads / HOT

Topic: The school beauty went for coffee again tonight, huh?

0F: He actually went to see the special student again, didn't he (rage)(rage)(sobbing)

1F: But the special student didn't even work at this Café before?

2F: It's all because the school beauty often comes here in the evening for a sandwich! This special student is just a scheming lowlife of a man, and he even gave the school beauty cherry tomatoes

3F: Every time the school beauty shows up, the Café instantly packs full — you lot were really born

4F: The school beauty, always trying his hardest to dress plain and inconspicuous so the special student won't notice him, is so adorable..

5F: Last time he even wore big black-framed glasses and a checkered shirt, trying to dress all frumpy and cosplay a librarian, but he was still too dazzling — the special student nearly couldn't hold back his smile (heart)(heart)

6F: The way the school beauty sneaks around tailing the special student all furtive-like is adorable too (steamy)(steamy)(tongue out)

7F: Starting to miss the school beauty's Landmine Style outfits from when he first enrolled — too hot, savoring it endlessly..

8F: School beauty, school beauty, we hail you!

9F: Heard the school beauty turned down Yan【】's Flower House invitation today

10F: You thought that just because the school beauty's a little art prodigy he'd like his garden? (covering mouth laughing)(covering mouth laughing)

11F: Why does the favored son of heaven wash his underwear with such a cold face? (covering mouth laughing)(covering mouth laughing)

12F: As everyone knows, the school beauty is only interested in the people he's interested in and in his coursework...

13F: What's the special student even got going for him? Isn't he just a silver-haired version of a yellow-haired delinquent? (sobbing)(fist)(fist)

14F: Oh no!!! The school beauty's gone off to tail Yuwen【】!!!