The Truth About the Historic Classic Lit Club

Houtarou realises that girl who wrote about Eru's uncle in the "Hyouka" anthology 33 years ago is actually the school's current librarian. He decides to ask her about Hyouka with the other three members of the Classic Lit Club.

Plot
Houtarou and Satoshi are on their way home in the rain. As they ride, Satoshi speculates that Houtarou has been solving mysteries after mysteries "for (Eru) Chitanda's sake, which he's surprised about. Houtarou corrects him that it was her fault that he had to solve them. But Satoshi disagrees that at the last one, where the Classic Lit Club was having a research-collaboration, Houtarou didn't have to really solve the case, yet he went out of his way to do so. Houtarou reasons that after seeing the liveliness of the other members, he may have wanted to waste energy by creating a theory. The rain stops, and he states that he may have been jealous of their rose-coloured lifestyle.

Back at home, Houtarou thinks to himself if he really wanted a rose-coloured lifestyle, like Eru or her uncle, or even like his own sister. He couldn't understand his feelings though. Looking back to his sister's letter, Houtarou reads a line that said "I'm sure I won't regret it 10 years from now," possibly relating to her request for Houtarou to enter the Classic Lit Club. After he wonders what he would think about himself 10 years in the future, the home phone rings and Houtarou heads over to get it.

It is his sister calling, giving a report on how she's doing with her world travel. She then asks how Houtarou was doing, and he replies that the club was working on the Hyouka and articles related to Jun Sekitani. Hearing this, her sister asks if the term "Kanya Festival" is still taboo. This surprises Houtarou, making him ask if she knows what she's talking about. Tomoe, his sister, talks about how tragic and depressing the event was, which made him want to ask more, but she was out of time. Tomoe cuts the phone, leaving Houtarou a bit confused, as the story of Jun Sekitani he knew of was heroic, not tragic.

Houtarou reviews the resources, and concludes that if the story about Jun Sekitani was "tragic", the theory he gave everyone was either incorrect or incomplete. He thinks about how Jun sacrificed his high school life for the sake of the other students. This high school life should have been rose-coloured to him, but if it was tragic, as Houtarou's sister said, it was not at all. Houtarou finds interest and wishes to solve this case.

Mystery solved

 * See The Origins of Hyouka

Trivia

 * This episode is adaptation of Ch. 7 "The Truth Of The Historic Classics Club" and Ch. 9 "Letter To Sarajevo" from.
 * In the novel, Classic Lit Club members have a talk with Youko Itoigawa in the librarian office because the library is full with students.