Schoolboy Aoyama is bright, inquisitive, and a bit headstrong. He has plenty of mental work to keep him busy—after all, he will be an adult in just a few thousand days. For now, however, he must live life as a fourth-grader. Not that it is a bad life. Summer has arrived and school is nearly out. He has a crush on an intriguing older woman he met at his dentist's office, who is coaching him in chess. And a colony of penguins has appeared in the middle of Aoyama's sleepy little town. Where on Earth—or elsewhere—did these waddling interlopers come from? Aoyama and his friends embark on a research mission, applying rigorous scientific methods and principles. Their discoveries, however, only lead to ever more puzzling wonders...