The Witch Trial Begins with the OO Buckethead Zombie

The place was completely empty.

Keep going.

Doors leading to the atrium, doors leading to the shower room, a storage room without doors, and doors leading to the medical room.

I walked all the way to the corner of the corridor, but there was no one in any of the four rooms.

The environment observed along the way pieced together the dilapidated structure of the mansion somewhat.

The corridor here only has a left turn. Considering the front door that I saw when I went up the stairs and entered the foyer, I guess this way I'll end up going around in circles anyway.

In other words, if she wanted to catch up with them faster, she should turn back and intercept them through another door.

His hurried steps suddenly slowed down and stopped as his thoughts wandered. Nikaido Hiro nimbly spun around and changed direction.

When she returned to the door of the reception room

The voice, which sounded like a confession, came through the not-quite-soundproof door.

—He began.

He's about to start again.

As expected, on this day when he seemed to be at risk of being killed by the so-called Great Witch at any moment, he recklessly and randomly chose a target.

His hunt was about to begin.

Who is this being said to?

Sakura Emma? Or Ice Meruru?

His 'next' target has been chosen, and it looks like he's about to start using the same old tricks again.

"Ah."

Meru's soft voice on the ice was crystal clear. The image of Emma Sakuraba that had surfaced in his mind was instantly erased, leaving only the image of a weeping jellyfish floating in Hiro's mind.

...Did she still agree?

I warned her not to get close to Hoshino Utsunomiya, but she still agreed.

She must have been threatened; the pressure of being alone with a man must have forced her to accept it.

That's not right. Hoshino Utsunomiya, who randomly confessed to people, is not right, nor is Meruru Hikami, who couldn't handle the pressure.

I must correct this mistake and stand up for her!

Taking a deep breath, Nikaido Hiro suddenly pushed open the door.

"—That's incorrect!!!"

"--Can't!!!"

Her voice overlapped with Emma Sakura's.

Chapter 75 This man is the embodiment of desire (6k6)

Nikaido Hiro: "...?"

Emma Sakura: "...?"

The doors opened at the same time, and the shouts came out simultaneously. Their eyes met, conveying their confusion to each other.

The faint tacit understanding built up since childhood as friends has strangely come into play again at this moment.

'Sakura Emma, ​​what does that mean?'

"What are you doing, Nikaido Hiro?"

In the instant their eyes met, the words exchanged through their gazes conveyed complex meanings.

'Weren't you clinging to Utsunomiya Hoshino, circling around his feet and whining?'

'What's with all that whining?! Can you finally speak like a human being now?!'

'What do you mean I can't speak human language? Aren't you the one who can't speak human language at all and only knows how to fawn over men?'

'Kiang?! Nikaido-kun, you seem like a stranger to me now!'

'Sakura Emma, ​​you feel even more like a stranger to me now!'

"Enough with the small talk, don't get in my way, watch what I'm doing!"

The intense eye contact quickly ended, though it was unclear whether the exchange of information, the messages conveyed through their glances, had been misinterpreted, or if the meaning of their words had been distorted...

In any case, Emma Sakura took a deep breath, stepped to the side, and clearly expressed her attitude of letting Hiro Nikaido do the work.

Please, Ms. Nikaido, begin your performance.

Give a good scolding to that wicked Hoshino who casually confessed his feelings to a woman he had just met, and teach that wicked Jellyfish a lesson for accepting a man's confession so easily!

With her arms crossed, Emma Sakura leaned against the wall by the door.

"..."

As a result, Hoshino Utsunomiya and Meruru Hikami, whose eyes were first drawn to Emma when the two opened the door at the same time, naturally turned their gaze back to Hiro Nikaido behind them.

Utsunomiya Hoshino: "..."

To be honest, he didn't know why, but when he realized that Hiro was standing behind him, the back of his head started to throb slightly, and he felt inexplicably restless.

But when viewed from the front, that feeling quickly disappears.

It's clearly not because of the availability of talent that caused the sense of crisis.

It can only be said that it was because Nikaido Hiro's aura looked too overwhelming.

She always maintains an air of "I am right," and this air of self-importance always manages to make others believe in her correctness. In turn, this makes people wonder if they have made a mistake, which is why she appeared, creating a lot of pressure.

A headache or something...

Hoshino Utsunomiya actually suspected that he was arrested and imprisoned because he was ambushed and knocked unconscious by someone he didn't know.

Actually, he felt that if the mastermind behind it all told him, "This place is full of witches," he would happily blindfold himself and be brought here even without being hit on the head.

It doesn't matter now. Although it hurt a little for a moment, it seems to be fine now.

What bothered Hoshino Utsunomiya even more than the physical headache was...

As expected, it was Nikaido Hiro.

When they met again after many days, her expression was still as aggressive as ever.

Hoshino Utsunomiya remembered that the last time they met was on his first day here, his first day after transferring schools. That was the only time they met, the only time they had a conversation... and that was all.

He was initially a little worried about her condition. He didn't know if it was due to mental problems caused by hearing about Tsukishiro Yuki's death after returning, or if it was resentment towards him or some other reason. When they first met again in this cage, she looked at him with a narrowed pupil as if she had seen someone she shouldn't have seen.

Up to this point, things were relatively normal, but afterwards she remained completely silent, neither raising her hand to reprimand herself for her mistakes nor softening her expression to do anything else. She even completely ignored Sakura Emma, ​​who was supposed to be her long-lost friend.

Hoshino Utsunomiya once considered whether she needed some psychological counseling, but gave up on the idea because she thought it would make things more complicated.

At that time, I wasn't only thinking about Nikaido Hiro, but also about what would happen to Emma Sakuraba, who was left alone after he died and went back.

In fact, Hoshino Utsunomiya originally thought that this would be a good opportunity to send Emma away and let her check on Hiro's situation, so that she could rebuild their friendship, which had become distant due to their long separation, through her concern.

In this way, Emma Sakuraba has friends again, Heero Nikaido can return to normal, and he can die undisturbed at the hands of the witch.

This is truly a win-win-win situation!

But now it seems that Emma Sakura doesn't need to comfort her anymore; she's recovered on her own.

Moreover, he put on an act of upholding what was right, as if he was about to start interfering with his own suicide attempt.

Headache.

It was fine when he was in school; there was no fixed deadline, so if he was disturbed, he was disturbed. It wasn't like he hadn't been disturbed by Emma before; he just did what he was supposed to do.

But that's not possible in this prison now.

There's not much time left; today will be over soon.

If she interrupts a couple more times and the atmosphere isn't quite right at the end, that would be troublesome.

Hoshino Utsunomiya couldn't help but turn her head to look at Emma Sakuraba again.

'Please help me, Miss Emma!'

Their eyes were trying their best to convey a signal for help.

But Emma Sakura didn't respond to his gaze; she simply smiled and mouthed the words "ignore."

What are you talking about?

'I don't want to'

Damn it, this friend is useless at a crucial moment.

There's no one to lend a hand; I have to rely on myself!

Enemy encountered, Nikaido Hiro!

"Utsunomiya Hoshino, your evil hunt ends here!" With his hands on his waist, Nikaido Hiro straightened his back, puffing out his still-developing chest: "Because I'm here. Now that I'm here, there's no longer any room for you to be presumptuous!"

"Meru on Ice, don't be afraid, don't be scared, don't cry."

"I will stand before you and shield you from all the injustices of the world!"

Nikaido Hiro made the announcement.

"...I've wanted to ask this for a while now." Hoshino Utsunomiya sighed softly, "Why did you portray me as some kind of evil person?"

"So, if they don't like me, there should be some reason, right?"

"I'm sure I haven't done anything that would annoy you."

He shrugged, looking quite helpless.

As far as I can remember, it was because when we first met, I was misunderstood as the kidnapper who had kidnapped Yukishiro.

Logically speaking, the misunderstanding should have been cleared up when Yuki appeared in class the next day.

If the misunderstanding isn't cleared up, isn't Nikaido Hiro, who turned around and went to study abroad, just a selfish person who clearly felt that there was evil around Tsukishiro Yuki, but still abandoned his friend without hesitation for his own future?

The only reason that can be thought of is that the other party blamed Tsukishiro Yuki's death on him.

Although it wasn't entirely unrelated, for him... it felt somewhat like an undeserved disaster.

"You're already in my way!"