The Witch Trial Begins with the OO Buckethead Zombie

"Hero is kind, gentle, and compassionate. He finds it hard to tolerate the difficulties of others, he can't bear to see them suffer, and he can't stand by and do nothing."

“Hero is pure, upright, honest, spotless, and selfless. He is not overly influenced by personal desires or excessive emotions. You can entrust things to Hero with peace of mind and have no worries.”

"Hiro is a good boy, Hiro is a good boy. Although it's very wrong and I shouldn't have said it, I still have to say it."

"—I might have fallen for Hero too."

The girl was already acting so coquettishly towards him, so it wouldn't hurt to say a few more words of praise and encouragement.

He wouldn't be so stingy with his words.

However, amidst the delightful praise...

He will still express how he feels at that moment.

Even so, saying something like that at this time seems...

It felt like they were throwing out some candy to try and entice Hiro.

So, the girl's body, which had been quite relaxed, began to react, little by little, to what he had said.

Before she could say anything...

"—What about Noah?" Noah, standing beside him, finally seemed unable to bear it any longer and asked:

"Has Hoshino fallen for Noah?"

At this moment, Nikaido Hiro realized that they were still in the underground corridor.

Noah Kinosaki is still by my side.

Whispered words, comforting words, coquettish words, words of praise.

All of these things are in this empty underground corridor.

It's actually incredibly clear.

In an instant, a surge of intense shame shot from the soles of her feet straight to her brain, spreading throughout Nikaido Hiro's entire body. Her toes gripped the soles of her shoes with tremendous force, her upper teeth bit down hard on her lower lip, and she felt her cheeks and head rapidly begin to heat up.

She decisively stepped out of Utsunomiya Hoshino's arms, pushing him away while suppressing a trace of reluctance in her heart. She was about to explain herself.

"If Noah is always a good kid, then I will still like Noah." He was pushed away, but he naturally rubbed Noah's head.

"Okay, stop fooling around."

He let go of her hand, turned around, and took Nikaido Hiro's hand again, then took Noah Kinosaki's hand.

"Let's go up first. Even if we can't find an art studio, we should still look for one. If all else fails, we can just make do with the high walls and use them as street art."

Quite naturally, he shifted the topic to 'Noah Kinosaki's studio,' which they were supposed to continue anyway, easily ignoring the words of comfort and embrace he had just given, and even the almost confessional remark.

Hiro's outburst of shame and anger was stopped, her surging emotions suddenly subsided, and as she was pulled along, her mind quickly cooled down.

No, don't rush. Rushing will only make you lose your temper and do irrational things.

So many mistakes should have taught me enough lessons.

Do not worry.

Explain? Explain what? Noah was watching himself say those words, those words that sounded shameless and coquettish.

She watched herself accept his comfort with a satisfied expression.

Excessive explanations will only make things worse.

Besides, I'm Hoshino's lover, so what's wrong with being hugged and comforted? What's wrong with acting cute in front of him?

These things—others' opinions, other people's thoughts, and other people's evaluations—should be the least important.

Forget about all that, just focus on doing your best.

Yes, that's right.

The key point is...

That confession.

Is it a confession? It's definitely a confession, right? I'm sure I didn't mishear, I absolutely didn't mishear.

Hoshino Utsunomiya whispered in my ear, 'I like Hiro.'

This Hero is definitely Nikaido Hero. There's no ambiguity in his words, nor is there any misunderstanding due to similar pronunciations. He's saying that he likes me.

Although the method seemed to deviate slightly from what I had expected, for example, I failed to carry out any justice, I showed a little incompetence, and I snuggled in his arms in a way that was perhaps the first time in my life that I had ever acted coquettishly.

But the result was good!

The result is correct.

My unparalleled charm did indeed successfully win him over, making him fall in love with me.

As for his comments about liking Noah and such...

Isn't that for coaxing children?

No need to worry about it.

As he stepped onto the stairs and turned to go upstairs, Nikaido Hiro caught a glimpse of a figure in the distance of the underground passage out of the corner of his eye.

Who was it again?

A gloomy aura, long, loose hair, silver-white hair, and a nightgown.

Natsume Anan...?

That seems to be its name.

To be honest, because she was so inconspicuous and refused to communicate with others, Nikaido Hiro barely remembered her.

The key is that she doesn't speak, and doesn't even reveal her voice, the most basic characteristic for identifying her, so it's naturally hard for people to remember her.

In comparison, noisy characters like Tachibana Sherry and her sidekick Hannah Tono are quite memorable.

If she's over there...

Did she hear it too?

The thought of someone listening to and watching her act cute made Nikaido Hiro's face flush.

No, it's okay. Noah heard it and she didn't care, let alone Natsume An'an.

An'an can't speak or communicate with others, so there's no way any gossip could spread.

Although she might look at me with strange eyes...

But it's okay!

but......

Natsume Anan did seem a bit too aloof, and even in order to prevent her from feeling isolated, Nikaido Hiro felt that he might need to do something.

Of course, this would happen after she won over Hoshino Utsunomiya.

......

"Make way, make way—"

As soon as they reached the first floor and walked into the entrance hall, they heard Shirley Tachibana's greeting.

Following the sound, Hoshino Utsunomiya saw it...

Shirley Tachibana is carrying a ladder.

The moment their eyes met, the results of the witch's scan came out.

【Miss Tachibana Sherry isn't a witch...】

She is not a witch.

Utsunomiya Hoshino: "...?"

Two questions overlapped at this moment.

They were puzzled by Tachibana Sherry's current behavior and the origin of the ladder, as well as the purity of Tachibana Sherry's identity.

...This time, she's not a witch again?

So who is the witch?

If we follow the same logic that Hero used to identify the witch last time, then the closer someone is to you and the more they care about you, the more likely they are to be a witch...

The only one left on the list of suspects is Noah Kinosaki, whom he is currently holding hands with.

Hoshino Utsunomiya glanced down at Noah Kinosaki.

As if sensing his gaze, the girl turned her head and met his eyes twice.

Blinking eyes, flawless heterochromatic pupils.

Witch?

...I can't tell.

But if you could tell, then she wouldn't be a witch.

But it turns out that this really can happen...

The person who was not impersonated by the witch was imprisoned.

Because Meruru had been scanned twice before and both times she was a witch, Hoshino Utsunomiya thought that although the witch said she was going to impersonate someone else, she hadn't actually changed her appearance and was just herself appearing.

In any case, not many of the people present knew each other. Apart from myself, Hero, and Emma, ​​everyone else was a stranger to each other.

It's reasonable no matter how they perform.

But now it seems that the witch's role was indeed real.

In other words, there is another Meruru who is not a witch, but still appears as a witch in disguise.

Thoughts flashed through his mind, but on the surface, Hoshino Utsunomiya didn't say much, simply and naturally looked away.

Noah Kinosaki also turned his head back.

Making way for Tachibana Sherry slightly, Utsunomiya Hoshino casually asked:

"What are you going to do?"

They even went out of their way to find a ladder.