The Witch Trial Begins with the OO Buckethead Zombie

Chapter 94 My Conscience is Clear

"Hmph, as a great detective, Sherry feels it is my duty to lead everyone to unravel the mystery and see the truth."

So, Tachibana Sherry made a statement without permission.

"Let the truth begin with me!"

As she spoke, Tachibana Sherry raised her hand high, and after a few seconds of holding it up, she decisively lowered it, pointing her index finger straight at Kinosaki Noah.

"You're the witch! Noah Kinosaki!"

she says.

Noah Kinosaki, who was pointed at by her, was slightly taken aback and showed a blank expression: "...Eh?"

"Noah, is she a witch?" Noah Kinosaki pointed at herself, seemingly with a hint of doubt.

Her heterochromatic eyes widened, her small lips parted in a surprised curve, and an expression of utter bewilderment appeared on the girl's face.

"That's right, that's right, you are the witch."

Shirley Tachibana nodded repeatedly, withdrew her right hand, placed her left hand on her right elbow, and raised her right index finger in an arc in mid-air.

"Let me tell you my reasoning." She lowered her voice, deliberately creating an air of mystery: "Why is Noah Kinosaki a witch?"

"First and foremost, there's the most distinctive characteristic of a witch!"

Once again, she pointed at Noah Kinosaki.

Heterochromia!

The words were deafening, the fingertips pointed directly at him, and his gaze burned like a torch.

Tachibana Sherry spoke in a loud voice, making what seemed like a very reasonable deduction.

“A red right eye, a blue-yellow gradient left eye.” Looking at Noah Kinosaki’s eyes, Sherry Tachibana glanced at the others around her: “Look at the other people’s eyes.”

"Everyone's eyes are normal, solid-colored eyes. Although the colors vary, they are all the same!"

"You have gradient-colored eyes? Noah Kinosaki, you must be a witch!"

Having seized upon this single, seemingly unfounded 'evidence,' Tachibana Sherry hastily issued an accusation.

"But, but, Noah's eyes were natural..."

When pointed at and told 'you are a witch,' Noah Kinosaki was momentarily at a loss for words.

She gave a somewhat hesitant explanation, glancing pleadingly at Nikaido Hiro and Hasumi Rhea beside her.

"So that's how it is. You were born a witch?"

Tachibana Sherry relentlessly continued her pursuit, but Hasumi Ryoa could no longer stand by and watch.

“Don’t waste time on this kind of reasoning, Sherry.” Ryota Hasumi frowned and interrupted, “You can identify a witch just because of the color of her eyes? If only witches were that easy to identify.”

"Pupil color is naturally diverse; what's the point of using this inherently different physiological factor as an argument?"

"Besides, if I wear colored contact lenses to pretend I have heterochromia, and if I make Noah wear colored contact lenses to disguise the characteristic of heterochromia, are you going to say that I'm a witch and Noah isn't a witch?"

What are you even talking about?

If Meruru hadn't died, it would have been understandable if she hadn't felt any sense of crisis. Her joking around at least eased the tense atmosphere of being inexplicably thrown into jail.

But Meruru is already dead, yet you're still making this kind of reasoning.

...Really.

"...So that's how it is?" Tachibana Sherry looked enlightened. "So, Hasumi Ryoa, you're the witch."

"You're the one with heterochromia, you just wore normal colored contact lenses to disguise your eye color. In order to create a target that could attract suspicion from you, you even made Noah wear heterochromia contact lenses."

"What a brilliant plan."

Shirley Tachibana exclaimed with great admiration and clapped her hands enthusiastically.

Applause echoed in the empty courtroom.

"...Why are you still dwelling on the heterochromia issue?" Hasumi Ryoa seemed a little helpless. She raised her hand to her brow and sighed, "After listening to me, you should understand that eye color can't be used as evidence, right?"

His words sounded somewhat powerless, and his tone was quite perplexing.

Ryota Hasumi felt somewhat defeated.

"Is that so?" Tachibana Sherry tilted her head.

Hoshino Utsunomiya, who had been listening quietly, nodded slightly at that moment.

“That’s how it is,” he said.

While there are world settings where witches' magic manifests in heterochromia, it's clear that the witches in this world don't have this characteristic.

At least Meruru doesn't have one.

Oh right, there's no Yuki Tsukishiro either.

"I see."

Shirley Tachibana nodded as if she understood, readily accepting the explanation.

Just like when they initially identified Hoshino Utsunomiya.

She would refute other people's rebuttals with reasoning that, while somewhat reasonable, was subtly far-fetched upon closer examination.

But as long as he comes up with a seemingly plausible explanation, she will readily accept it.

"However, I still think that Hasumi Ryoa is definitely a witch."

The accepted statement is that 'heterochromia cannot be used as evidence to identify a witch,' not that 'Hasumi Ryoa is not a witch.'

Tachibana Sherry turned her head and continued to target Hasumi Ryoa.

Ryota Hasumi: "...?"

Again?

"Everyone, think back carefully!" Sherry Tachibana exclaimed. "At the very beginning, they were saying things like 'witches don't exist,' and 'we should trust each other'..."

"Isn't it just Léa-chan?!"

Shirley Tachibana's mouth dropped open, revealing a look of utter horror.

"It was Léa-chan who spoke first, it was Léa-chan who first made everyone trust each other, and it was Léa-chan who, from the very beginning, told everyone not to doubt the existence of the witch..."

"No matter how you look at it, Rhea-chan is still that witch..."

Sherry's expression gradually turned to sadness and pain, and she raised her hand to wipe away non-existent tears.

"Eh, Rhea-chan, is she a witch...?" Emma Sakura was shocked by this surprising conclusion.

Seeing her like this, Nikaido Hiro simply sighed softly and said:

"Don't listen, don't believe, don't pay attention."

Sakura Emma is a good dog in every way, except that she trusts others too easily, which is a bad thing.

Like a stray dog ​​that can be easily lured away with a sausage from the roadside.

"I am not a witch." Faced with Tachibana Sherry's accusation, Hasumi Rhea simply denied it calmly: "Noah is not a witch, and neither am I."

"The reason I spoke up was to lead everyone. I've said from the beginning that we should trust each other. I want to trust everyone and I want everyone to trust me too."

Ryota Hasumi's gaze swept over everyone before settling on Sherry Tachibana's face again. Her voice was clear and firm, and her eyes were filled with regret and sorrow.

"But now it seems, Sherry, that you didn't choose to believe me."

Letting her cold voice echo in the courtroom, Hasumi Ryoya shook her head: "As for witches... that's just wishful thinking on my part."

Ryota Hasumi responded to each of Sherry Tachibana's accusations with an explanation.

Then, after a brief pause, she quietly repeated what she had said before the start of the event.

"That's why I said I wouldn't hold back anymore."

"Sherry Tachibana".

Ryota Hasumi softly called out Sherry Tachibana's name.

"You are the witch."

Then, a declaration is made.

......

"Eh?" Tachibana Sherry was momentarily flustered when Hasumi Ryoya accused her of being a witch.

But she quickly composed herself, put her hands on her hips, and gave a couple of calm "humphs": "So that's how it is, so that's how it is. You're going to use this tactic? To clear your own name, you're turning around and attacking me, the great detective?"

"It is indeed a very good choice. As long as I am suspected, my words will seem less credible."

After a slight pause, Tachibana Sherry changed the subject.

“But!” she raised her voice, trying to regain control: “A great detective doesn’t easily panic. Let me expose your false evidence!”

Tachibana Sherry preemptively labeled all of Hasumi Ryoa's subsequent statements as false testimony.

"...Perjury?" Hasumi Ryoya shook her head.

“Now we can speak freely.” Releasing her hand from the witness stand, Hasumi Ryoya said softly, “I want to believe everyone. I want to believe that there is no witch among us…”

"—But that's impossible."

The voice, which had been slowed, rose again at this moment, and her tone gradually returned to calm.

“I knew that from the beginning, but I still said it anyway.”

"The purpose is to avoid arousing your suspicion, to lower your guard, and to make you naturally reveal your flaws when you realize that everyone is not taking the matter of finding you seriously."

Her gaze remained fixed on Tachibana Sherry, and her slightly somber expression finally softened into a smile.

"It seems my plan was very successful; you revealed a flaw just as I expected."

Seeing the smile on Ryota Hasumi's face, Sherry Tachibana couldn't help but blink.

"What flaw?" she asked.

With utter calmness, Hasumi Ryoga announced a name.

"Utsunomiya Hoshino."