The Witch Trial Begins with the OO Buckethead Zombie

But Tachibana Sherry only glanced at the seats before raising her hand.

It crashed down.

"Bam—"

The witness stand, which was already barely maintaining its stability, was completely overwhelmed by this attack. Cracks rapidly expanded, the structure collapsed entirely, and it crumbled into a large pile of fragments on the ground.

"..."

Tachibana Sherry said nothing, but casually turned her head, tiptoed, and took a few steps to the witness stand, which was closer to Utsunomiya Hoshino.

There's no need to check the witness numbers or care whether the seat is actually yours.

When that witness stand became unusable, she changed to another one.

As for the phrase "please fill in the blanks according to the marked numbers"...

The warden will shut up.

In this day and age, it's really baffling that we still have to sit in order by number. Is there any need for it at all?

Sherry, I can go wherever I want.

After resuming her seat, Tachibana Sherry adjusted her expression, took a deep breath, and after several breaths...

"You two, you two!" the girl spoke again, her voice tinged with grievance. "That's too much!"

The mask, which was vaguely on the verge of collapse, was once again put back on securely, as if someone wanted to persist in maintaining a performance that had become meaningless.

"Both of them bullied me! Both of them attacked me! They kept arguing with me, and now they've turned me into a witch?!" Shirley Tachibana yelled, beginning to accuse the two of their attacks on her:

"I cannot accept this! You have betrayed the detective's trust in you!"

Shirley Tachibana pressed her hand to her chest, pressing her clothes into shape with her palm.

She made a heart-wrenching gesture.

She slapped the new witness stand twice more, raised her voice, and shouted:

"This isn't how witch trials are done!"

"You should each fight your own battles! You should find ways to clear your names! You should try your best to defend yourselves!" After a pause, she glanced at Hasumi Ryoa and Nikaido Hiro, then continued shouting:

"Instead of the two of them ganging up on me, this weak and helpless detective, like this!"

"Why did you secretly form a clique?!"

"They secretly formed a small group, joined forces to exclude outsiders, and worked together to portray me as a witch, eliminating dissidents and such..."

Tachibana Sherry raised her hand and made a large X in front of her chest.

"I don't accept this! That's not how witch trials are done!"

Sherry Tachibana's voice rang out clearly in the courtroom.

"..."

Hoshino Utsunomiya glanced at her, then turned and glanced at the sundial.

The slowly tilting iron bucket had already filled most of the sundial's time. Although they didn't know if half an hour had passed, they certainly didn't have much time left.

However, it should already be a conclusion that Hasumi Rhea and Nikaido Shiro, who are clearly working together, will definitely vote for Tachibana Sherry.

Now it's up to Noah and Emma.

However, he didn't think that Noah and Emma would choose Tachibana Sherry over Hasumi Rhea and Nikaido Shiro.

It's almost a done deal.

Now, perhaps it's time to go back to the question that Hoshino Utsunomiya asked himself at the beginning of this trial.

Should we 'save the witch' or 'not save the witch'?

There's really no need to ask. After all, his attitude should have been quite clear when he chose to remain silent and listen to the girls' heated debate, and when he spoke up to refute Tachibana Sherry's wild accusations on behalf of Noah Kinosaki.

...It's impossible for him to choose to protect the witch.

Protecting the witch means making enemies of everyone; protecting the witch means letting her kill at least one more round.

Meruru's death on the ice was already unacceptable; he should have been the one to die last night.

Let's find another opportunity.

Hoshino Utsunomiya felt that he still had a chance.

"How ugly, witch."

Hearing Shirley Tachibana's resounding words, Hiro Nikaido simply shook his head.

It's so ugly.

Even at this point, instead of obediently admitting defeat, she struggles so desperately to put the mask back on, trying to act as if nothing happened and continue playing the role of 'Tachibana Sherry,' feigning cheerfulness, pretending to be lively, and making a lot of noise...

What are you trying to do?

Now that she has opened fire everywhere and turned everyone into her enemy, Tachibana Sherry has no allies left.

"Just admit it already, witch."

Hasumi Ryoya also shook her head.

"Have you found the witch yet? Noah doesn't want to see anyone die anymore. Being shameless is not good, witch."

Noah Kinosaki glanced at Sherry Tachibana.

"...It really is you, Sherry, you witch."

Emma Sakuraba revealed a compassionate look in her eyes.

Words, gaze, expression...

One after another, one after another.

Again.

It wasn't just two people anymore; all four of them were calling her a witch.

"..."

But Tachibana Sherry wasn't angry.

"...Why did you just assume I was a witch?" she pouted, her voice booming, "I don't understand!"

"Is it because I just stick to Hoshino for no reason that I'm a witch?"

"What kind of reason is that?!"

She was very dissatisfied.

"No, no—" Tachibana Sherry clenched her fists and raised her hands to her chest. She should have spoken up her defense without hesitation at this moment.

But when the words reached her throat, a conflicted expression appeared on her face.

I struggled, hesitated, and wavered, but finally made up my mind.

The girl's pretty face flushed slightly, and with a shy and charming demeanor, she said loudly:

"—Couldn't it be because I fell in love with Hoshino at first sight?!"

Faced with the witch's accusations and the evidence presented by Heero and Rhea, Sherry Tachibana's response...

It's because of feelings!

She opened her mouth, closed her eyes, and spoke out in shame and indignation. Before her voice could even echo in the courtroom, she spoke again without taking a deep breath:

"Feelings are irrational! Why are you forcing a young girl to express her shy feelings?! You've really gone too far!"

As if trying to drown out the echo of "love at first sight," this sentence was said with even more urgency than the previous one.

Sulli Tachibana played the emotional card.

"..."

Nikaido Hiro was somewhat silenced after being hit.

This card...

It's not that we can't fight, it's not that we're useless.

But playing it now always carries a subtle sense of self-abandonment.

Hiro Nikaido didn't think that this was false evidence deliberately fabricated by Sherry Tachibana to clear herself of suspicion.

After all, it's hard to imagine what reason a witch would have to cling to Hoshino Utsunomiya if she didn't like such feelings.

However, this kind of operation is still too abstract.

It doesn't seem like something a human could produce.

After a moment of silence, Nikaido Shiro spoke:

"...Then you should be a witch even more."

"Why?!" Sherry Tachibana protested, "Have you stopped using logic just to turn me into a witch?!"

"Does that mean it's okay as long as one person is chosen as the witch, no matter what?!"

Shirley Tachibana snorted, letting the air rush out of her nose. Before Hiro Nikaido could explain further, she showed a look of sudden realization.

"I understand, I get it, that's your plan..."

"...What you want has never been to find the real witch." With a chilling expression, she began to state her reasoning: "Whether I am a witch or not, you have already decided to treat me as a witch and ostracize me."

"Once you vote me out, you can declare that the witch has been found, and then happily continue playing around..."

“Until another person dies the next day, you can pretend it was a mistake and keep repeating this process... until the last witch hides at the very end.”

Shirley Tachibana couldn't help but hug her chest, her body trembling slightly.

"Indeed, as expected, Hero and Rhea, the true witch lies between the two of you..."

Still wild theories, still speculations. It seems that as long as there is even the slightest bit of rationality and logic, Tachibana Sherry can throw it out as evidence without hesitation.

...Does she really think she can fool people by pretending to be stupid?

Nikaido Hiro had some doubts.

However, the purpose of a normal person pretending to be stupid is to lower people's guard and then take advantage of the opportunity.