The Witch Trial Begins with the OO Buckethead Zombie

On the map, these three locations represent the staircase leading to the second floor, the entrance to the cafeteria, and the entrance to the courtroom, respectively.

The court seemed to have been set up for the witch trials that were supposed to be held. Whenever a murder occurred, the owl would summon the prospective witches to the court, vote to identify the witch who had committed the crime, and then execute her.

Of course, it's probably not needed now. At most, it's used every night after the Great Witch kills someone, and then in the morning she gathers people together to identify the people she suspects or doubts about.

I don't care, it's none of my business anyway.

Ignoring the direction of the courtroom, Hoshino Utsunomiya pulled Meruru Ice and pushed open the cafeteria door.

Unexpectedly, there were visitors who had arrived before them.

For once, Arisa Shito pulled down her mask, her face contorted in a grimace, and used a spoon to stuff a strange, sticky substance into her mouth.

Hearing the noise at the door, she paused, her eyes widening in surprise.

Quickly concealing her resistance and disgust, Arisa Shito hurriedly shoved the spoonful into her mouth, swallowed it whole, then quickly shoveled the remaining paste off the plate, hastily wiped her face to remove the food residue, and then hurriedly pulled her mask back up.

Her slightly flushed face was completely hidden by the mask.

It seems she's not used to being seen by others when she takes off her mask.

Actually, when Arisa took off her mask, her pretty face was surprisingly small. It was completely opposite to the delinquent girl vibe she had shown before. She looked very harmless. Her small, innocent face and the lack of any sharpness in her aura contrasted sharply with the unrestrained clothes she was wearing.

...It has to be said that these prospective witches are quite a contrast.

The seemingly fierce and rebellious Arisa Fujito is actually a bit like a shy little animal from who-knows-where. The seemingly jellyfish-like Meruru Ice, who would squirt water if poked, actually shows a serious expression when using healing magic. The seemingly gentle, considerate, and understanding Hiro Nikaido is actually full of lewd nonsense.

It's really a mix of good and bad.

Lowering her head to avoid their gaze, Arisa Fujito picked up the tray and turned to leave.

She turned and went into the kitchen. After a brief rinsing sound, she came out empty-handed. Seeing that the two men were still staring at her, she quickly lowered her head again. She hugged the wall and circled around it before slipping out through the crack in the door.

Before she could close the door, a dull thud, the sound of something colliding, and the cries of the two girls drifted in through the crack in the door.

"..."

"Can't you even watch where you're going?!"

"Kiang?!"

"..."

The shouts and whimpers signaled the end of the brief conflict, and soon silence returned behind the door.

Hoshino Utsunomiya didn't rush to look away and go find food. Instead, she and Meruru turned around and quietly stared at the crack in the door.

He wasn't in a hurry to eat, especially after seeing the mushy stuff that Arisa had just eaten.

Hoshino Utsunomiya had little trust in the food provided by this prison.

A quiet atmosphere pervaded the air.

A short while later, accompanied by a slight sound, the door, which was not closed to begin with, was carefully pulled open.

A small head with pink highlights peeked out from under the door.

He looked up and met the gazes of the two men.

"..."

"..."

"..."

In the moment of silence, an awkward atmosphere began to spread around them.

"Haha..." Sakura Emma chuckled awkwardly, slowly pulling her head back.

Hoshino Utsunomiya sighed helplessly.

"Stop hiding, come in and eat," he said.

If it's just a meal, it won't be too much of a disturbance.

Besides, he had promised Emma that he would have dinner with her.

Let's treat this as the last time.

However, that's right.

The Great Witch will randomly kill one person every day. The method of killing is unknown, and the time of killing is not specified. Although if the others knew about her death, they could probably immediately identify Meruru as the culprit, but to be on the safe side, they still need to make some preparations to end this game of werewolf with few participants after her death.

Utsunomiya Hoshino's chosen method is...

Scheduled text messages.

Scheduled text messages with pre-edited content are definitely more reassuring than leaving letters or death codes.

Adding Emma's contact information, which seemed a bit abrupt earlier, wasn't just to change the subject.

The scheduled message will be sent at midnight today.

Hopefully Emma won't miss it because she overslept.

"!" Hearing Hoshino Utsunomiya's greeting, Emma Sakuraba, who had been looking slightly embarrassed with her head down, quickly regained her familiar joyful expression. She released the door that was holding her balance and leaped out, nodding her head happily.

"Ok!"

Eat, eat, eat~

Having dinner with friends~

The little dog wagging its tail seemed to have forgotten that she had come to follow them.

There were no chefs or waiters in the canteen; the empty and deserted canteen only contained clean tables and chairs.

There were eight square tables arranged in pairs, sixteen chairs facing each other, and a fireplace burning brightly in the center of the wall near the door. On the side closest to the kitchen door, there was a long, long square table.

Arranged on the table are various edible and inedible foods, some that look normal and some that seem abnormal.

Perhaps it's in the form of a buffet.

Take a plate and chopsticks; take only what you want to eat.

Although it appears to have all sorts of food containers—basins, plates, pots, baskets, wine bottles...

It has a very medieval noble dinner party feel to it.

In reality, most of the containers were empty, while a few contained what looked like decent food.

...It's fake.

Just like the shiny, tempting, and delicious-looking products displayed in show flats, they are nothing but counterfeit goods.

can not eat.

After confirming that the exhibits had been eliminated, only two edible items remained.

The large container held the sticky food that Arisa Fujito had just been eating. It looked disgusting, and judging from Arisa's expression while eating it, it must have tasted terrible.

It's practically a desecration of food; it's something created solely to make food taste terrible.

Indian flavor may just be flavor, but this might be inferior to India in every way except for hygiene.

"..."

The other one was the only fresh apples, which were arranged in a basket and looked like decorations but were actually fresh food.

There are five in total.

Originally, it was supposed to be a one-person-one-serving arrangement, but because of their intrusion, Arisa Fujito didn't get to eat.

The poor child was forced to eat that stuff, and couldn't even eat an apple to rinse his mouth?

But they're being way too stingy with the fruit! How much would it cost to give a couple more?

I wonder how much the person in charge of procurement embezzled.

Logically speaking, the presence of such fresh fruit indicates that the prison is connected to the outside world and is not completely isolated, thus providing an opportunity for escape.

Let's check if there are any clues later, and if so, leave them for Emma via scheduled text message.

"Waaah..."

After repeatedly checking, it seemed that this was really the only thing to eat, and Emma Sakura's smile immediately turned into a worried expression.

"...Is this really the only thing available?"

Is this definitely not some kind of bullying?

...Okay, it shouldn't be bullying, bullying isn't like this.

Bullying should be like this: you pour a bucket of cold water on my head, then happily bring me a bucket of water so I can pour it on you again.

That's what bullying is all about.

Making food look unpalatable is not bullying.

It's called blasphemy.

"Yes, that's all there is."

"Arisa-chan, you just ate this kind of thing... Should I have some too?"

"Correct."

This is what I ate at the end of my life.

Owls are extremely wicked.

But the Great Witch is really something, preparing this kind of thing for herself, she can actually eat it.

You have to understand that the Great Witch can impersonate one of them, so she definitely needs to eat normally too.

Hoshino Utsunomiya simply served three portions of food, then pulled up a chair and sat down at the table, which was spacious enough for two people but would feel relatively cramped for three.

Sakura Emma sits on her left, and Ice Meruru sits on her right.

After hesitating for a while, Emma Sakura put the sticky food into her mouth, making a crumpled face beforehand. She put the food in her mouth without much chewing, and perhaps feeling the slightly warm food gradually filling her stomach, her expression slowly relaxed.

The taste is truly bizarre, and it's truly awful.

But when I think about how I ate with friends, it seems to make it more acceptable.

...It's just too cruel to the food.

On the ice, Meruru looked aggrieved as she repeatedly poked the spoon in, pulling up the paste, but couldn't bring herself to eat it even after it had passed her lips three times.