"No...... Are you reading it wrong? ”

Rina fiddled with the ponytail on her right, she looked calm, but her eyes still revealed the unrest in her heart.

"My eyesight is good."

Mika didn't seem to want to quarrel with Rina, she retorted coldly, and continued to stare at Mamura: "Mamura, tell me, did you really not do anything serious against ethics?" ”

Mamura wasn't angry this time, he just stubbornly raised his head and looked at Mika, and shook his head firmly: "I didn't. ”

"That's fine."

Hearing him answer this, Mika's expression immediately relaxed, she pulled the scattered strands of hair behind her ears, showed a relaxed smile, stood up and patted him on the shoulder apologetically: "I'm sorry, Mamura, I shouldn't doubt you." ”

"I didn't ...... Never mind. ”

Mamura hurriedly waved his hand, his white cheeks turning red again, but this time he was not angry.

"Mika, what the hell is going on? Why don't you make things clear first? ”

Seeing that the relationship between the two of them was restored, I asked again, but both questions were already answered in my heart.

"Because I want to believe Mamura – I don't think he's going to do anything bad, but I still want to hear him tell me. Whatever he says, I'll believe him. ”

Mika's answer did not surprise me, her trust in Mamura was not ignorant and distrustful of her friend, but after a deep suspicion, she still chose to believe that her friend would not deceive her trust. Compared with the two, the former is undoubtedly more pure, but the latter would rather deny their own thinking and want to believe in each other, which undoubtedly seems to value this friendship more.

"We all know Mamura's character very well, he won't do bad things."

I also stepped forward and patted Mamura on the shoulder, which was by no means a lie, and even if it was true that I could not step out of the Hachicho Standard, which was indeed strictly forbidden in the special ethical regulations, I did not think it was a bad thing—if saving someone's life was a bad thing, then anything that no one had done could be called righteous.

Even if the person being saved is a wicked person, a criminal, or a demon, the kindness and good deeds of the rescuer without knowing it should never be criticized. Mr. Dongguo saves the wolf, although his help that does not argue between good and evil is stupid, but his kindness is indeed righteous.

Mamura's face turned redder as I patted him on the shoulder, and he shyly lowered his head and grabbed the corner of his hood. Rina on the side quietly breathed a sigh of relief, and Sano pursed her lips and chuckled, still looking at the coastline in the distance.

……

"And then?"

"Then I'll run back to inform you."

"So let me summarize, you were near Maolun Township Park, and you saw two members of the Education Committee dressed and two rats, and those two members of the Education Committee also showed the real village's pajamas to a short rat to smell - right?"

I summarized what Meijia said earlier a little bit and distilled the essence.

"That's right, but I feel so sick to hear you say that......"

Mika nodded, she glanced at Mamura's beautiful girl-like face, and suddenly her face turned pale, her hands crossed her shoulders, and she shuddered: "Do they plan to give Mamura to the rat...... When ......"

She didn't finish her sentence, but everyone knew exactly what she wanted to say. Both Sa's and Rina's faces turned strange, and I probably did the same, both surprised and speechless at Mika's whimsical thoughts. As for Mamura, his face turned pale, and he didn't say a word, and he didn't know whether he was frightened by Mika's irresponsible speculation, or if he was simply angry at Mika's malicious thoughts.

In fact, compared to other weird tales in the town, rat transformation is not very scary, but the topic of rat transformation is the most popular among children, except for the adult standard "ugly, reverent of magical humans, intelligent, second intelligent life that can communicate", children who have not actually seen rats are more inclined to believe other versions - for example, rats are very interested in beautiful human boys, and often take boys to be "wives", which is also quite popular.

As for why it's not a girl, there is also a clear explanation; Because rats are matrilineal, females have a very high status in their nests, so much so that they are afraid of other female creatures.

Adults often use this argument to frighten mischievous boys, saying that if they don't obey again, they will be given to rats as brides. As long as you say that, no matter how naughty a boy is, he will become a good baby in a short time.

"Mika, don't scare Mamura."

I coughed to hide the embarrassment on my face, and began to think about the sudden news, which must have something to do with Mamura's departure from the Hatcho standard. At first, I thought that although the situation of stepping out of the Hachicho mark in private was very serious, it would not make the big people in the town hold them accountable, and as long as Mamura himself did not remember, even if there was other evidence left, they should not punish a child too cruelly.

In addition, on the first day of the Snow Festival, Lady Tomiko, the grandmother of Asahina Satoru, whom I met, talked to a man about the outbreak of war between the rats and rats, and I had expected that this "big event" would attract the attention of the town's authorities, and that the small mistake made by Mamura was nothing compared to this "big thing".

However, Mika's news overturned my luck, and the town seemed to be more concerned about the "child leaving the Hachicho Standard" than the "big event" of "war between rats" that I heard that day. This can be seen from the fact that there is no news of an imminent war in the town, and the fact that the rats who have been in the town for five days as a messenger have not left the town is obviously unreasonable—all of which reveal the importance that some adults attach to finding out "children who have left the town in private".

Obviously, I overestimated the seriousness of the war with rats, and I also underestimated the seriousness of Mamura's private stepping out of the Bading standard.

I suddenly became a little irritable, and the current situation was completely passive with Mamura, and I didn't know the seriousness of the matter of "stepping out of the Hachicho mark in private", nor did I know why the authority in the town took it so seriously, and I didn't know how severe the punishment would be, and what form it would take—this kind of confusion caused by the asymmetry of information and ignorance made me feel like I had a burning fire in my heart, which would erupt at any time.

What should I do?

I closed my eyes and raised my right hand to rub my temple, only to feel my left hand being grasped by a slender hand. I opened my eyes and found that it was Sha Zheng who was holding my hand, she looked at me worriedly, and suddenly showed a shallow smile again, and blinked: "Fold, let's figure it out together." ”

"Thank you."

I nodded, and turned my head to see Mika and the others looking at me as well. With a slight mutter, I threw out the first question: "First of all, we have to determine one thing, and that is whether what Meijia sees is true or not. ”

"I've said it all, I have good eyesight, and I can't be mistaken. Fold, don't you believe me? ”

Meijia complained dissatisfiedly. People in the town attach great importance to eyesight, and they usually control the degree of eye use, so almost everyone has excellent eyesight, and I believe that she will not be wrong when looking at a pajama from a distance of tens of meters.

"It's not that we don't believe you, it's just that we need a definite affirmative answer. And ......"

I shook my head, paused, and shifted my gaze to Mamura. His expression was both puzzled and nervous, probably remembering if he had done something wrong, and his young and delicate face still looked so green - I had to help him, both in terms of friendship and morality.

If I could, I would also like to help children whose fate I have influenced.

"And we don't know why the adults took Mamura's pajamas, thinking that it's a bad thing is just our own thoughts. We don't know anything now, so we can't help the real village, we have to know the real situation. ”

Yarn seemed to really understand my thoughts, and she filled in the unfinished words for me.

"But when it comes to rats, it can't be a good thing at all, right?"

Meijia was not convinced, she bit her lip and frowned: "The real situation? Or we should go directly to the adults of the Board of Education and ask them why they are doing this. If I don't want to, I can go alone. ”

"Mika, do you think you're the only one who cares about Mamura?"

Rina glared at Mika dissatisfied, she wore a thick cotton mask on her face, and although her voice was dull, it was full of displeasure: "And it's not that you don't care about Mamura, you're too impatient." ”

"Mika, we can go and ask the parents of the real village what they say...... It should be known why the Board of Education is doing this. Mamura ......"

I understand Mika's impatience, but it would be too reckless to ask the adults of the Board of Education directly, although there is no class or status gap between people in the town on the surface, but that is only on the surface. If children like us go directly to the Board of Education, they will end up being taken home by their parents and given a beating or grounded, which will not help the current situation in the village.

Mamura was still dazed, and it wasn't until I tapped him on the shoulder again that he came back to his senses, and I looked at him: "Mamura, I want to ask you what you think, I'm sure you haven't done anything wrong." You should also believe in yourself, then...... Tell me what you think. ”

"I ...... I was scared, I felt as if I had forgotten something, but ......"

He slurped, his hands clenching the corners of his clothes, and finally his voice became firm: "But I don't think I've done anything wrong. ”

"Okay, then we'll go to your mom and dad after dinner, do you know where they are?"

"Mom is at home with her sister, and if Dad is at home, he should go back in the afternoon."

"Then we'll go to your house."

Without further ado, I decided on the afternoon's itinerary and turned to look at Mika, her chin held sullenly, and she didn't know what she was thinking—from common sense, she shouldn't be so anxious about Mamura's affairs, after all, she didn't know the hidden inside story of the town, and she didn't know about Mamura's stepping out of the Hachicho standard. Unless......

I glanced at the yarn out of the corner of my eye, and noticed that she pursed her lips and looked at Mika thoughtfully, so I had a guess in my mind.

……