The Witch Trial Begins with the OO Buckethead Zombie

She responded, but did not take his hand.

"...Don't want to shake hands? That's fine." Hasumi Ryoa casually withdrew her hand. "Then where shall we begin? The nearest 'incinerator'? Or the 'punishment room'?"

Both facilities are located on the same underground level as the prison, and their names on the map alone are enough to pique one's curiosity.

Although there is no difference between the two and they will have to be explored sooner or later, giving the other party the right to choose and letting them decide the order of priority can make them feel that the situation is under their control.

Social skills are made up of these kinds of details.

There is no need to go to those places.

Nikaido Hiro shook his head, his eyes fixed on Hasumi Rhea.

"I'll just get straight to the point." Looking into Hasumi Ryoua's eyes, she asked coldly, "Are you a witch?"

......

Thinking too much is too annoying; overthinking and worrying too much is going too far.

If I am chosen as the first target, no matter how hard I struggle, I will not escape death.

Nikaido Hiro really didn't want to play this guessing game with the witch. Rather than racking his brains to guess who the witch was, or trying to find any flaws the witch might have or might not have in less than a day, he preferred to do so.

...She preferred to play stalking with Hoshino Utsunomiya.

So please don't make me worry about this anymore.

Show your weakness, witch!

A cold voice echoed in the corridor, and a sharp gaze was fixed on Hasumi Ryoua's eyes.

The changing gaze, the flickering pupils, the unexpected expression, and the subsequent smile.

“…Choosing you was definitely the right decision,” Hasumi Ryoga sighed softly.

After a brief pause, she responded to Nikaido Hiro's question, word by word.

"I am not a witch."

"It seems you aren't either."

It's unlikely that a witch would ask such a direct question. Of course, the possibility of doing the opposite cannot be ruled out, but Hasumi Ryoa thinks that possibility is very low.

"Since that's the case, then I should lay my cards on the table with you."

"What I'm actually looking for is a witch."

Trust is nothing more than an excuse to lower one's guard, and reliance is just a pretext to hide oneself.

Hasumi Rieya, with her back straight, proud and smug, laid out her thoughts to Nikaido Shiro.

Then, she asked softly:

"Hiro, since neither you nor I are... do you have anyone you suspect?"

What we want to borrow is the wisdom of others.

"Have."

Nikaido Hiro nodded without hesitation.

“Sakura Emma, ​​and Tachibana Sherry.”

They will actively approach and linger around Hoshino Utsunomiya.

They would all be placed on the list of suspected witches.

......

py:

Chapter 88 The Great Detective is Here to Accompany You on Your Big Investigation

Time quickly passed to noon.

Once the door clicks open, Hoshino Utsunomiya will have three hours of free time.

If he doesn't get what he wants before 3 o'clock, he will have to be locked in his cell again to wait for 5 o'clock.

After 5 p.m., it will be his last five hours of the day.

Although she felt a little anxious, Hoshino Utsunomiya felt hungry first.

......not good.

It seems like I'll have to eat all that sticky stuff again if I start over.

Why not just not eat at all? If I'm going to die today, it doesn't matter if I go hungry for a day, right?

The moment I opened the door with that thought in mind, a pink, cheerful little dog pounced on me again, wanting to hug me.

"flutter--"

"—Clang!"

The dog's leaping motion was quickly reacted to, and the door, which had been open, was instinctively closed again.

The playful puppy couldn't hold onto the boy, and its little head crashed into the iron gate with a crisp sound.

"..."

A moment later, Hoshino Utsunomiya reopened the door a crack, pushing it open just wide enough for a person to pass through, and walked around the cell into the corridor.

"Waaaaah..." Sakura Emma, ​​who was squatting in front of his door, made whimpering sounds, covering her head to try and dispel the pain. Hearing him leave, she covered her forehead with one hand, raised her head, and said to Utsunomiya Hoshino with a tearful face:

"It hurts..."

For some reason, Emma Sakuraba seemed to have regressed to a certain extent in her language skills today.

With a simple repetition of words, the girl finally let go of his hand, showing him her head, which seemed slightly red but not exactly injured, as if indicating to Utsunomiya Hoshino to rub or blow on it for her.

"Rub it yourself."

Unfortunately, Hoshino Utsunomiya, who was expected to gently kneel down and respond to her, only said those words coldly.

"Gurgle..."

Emma Sakuraba showed a pitiful expression.

The feigned defeat resulted in a major failure!

Damn it, pretending to be clumsy is the thing that should evoke the most protective instincts...

Is it really post-traumatic stress disorder?

Should I soothe his emotional wounds in a better and gentler way?

The girl seemed to be feeling wronged, but Hoshino Utsunomiya really didn't have much energy to comfort her.

He needs to find Meruru.

Last time, he was still thinking about pushing Emma Sakura back onto Hiro Nikaido, but this time he didn't have much of a desire to do so.

While it's not quite a complete break, I certainly can't let her become any more dependent on me.

With his eyes scanning left and right, Hoshino Utsunomiya strode forward down the corridor, checking the location of Meluru Ice through several locked and open doors.

The door was closed; behind it stood Ryota Hasumi and Hiro Nikaido.

An open door, Emma Sakura's room, an empty room, a room filled with the pungent smell of paint...

Whose room was painted like this?

The cell was a mess, with a strong smell of paint. There were spray paint marks from the floor to the ceiling, giving it a completely street style.

Come to think of it, there really was a child with a very artistic style of dressing.

If I remember correctly, her name was Noah Kinosaki, and it was Meruru on Ice who pulled her away.

This must be her cell.

...but she's not in there anymore.

Why are you walking so fast?

I didn't waste much time with the system, did I?

Has the witch already taken Noah Kinosaki away with her?

Just as Hoshino Utsunomiya was thinking this, he continued deeper into the room to check the last one.

"Click".

The innermost cell door slowly opened, and a blue figure stepped out from behind it.

"Ta-da, it's Tachibana Sherry! It's been two hours, did you miss me?"

She spoke as if she were very familiar with someone.

“…” After a moment of silence, Hoshino Utsunomiya turned around without hesitation.

Now that Meluru on Ice has left, there's no need to waste any more time in this cell.

As for what Hasumi Ryoa mentioned earlier about exploring the prison in pairs...

...He had no intention of spending his days in this prison with them, so what was there to explore?

Previously, dragging Meruru around to explore was just an excuse to get closer to her and find a good place to die.

Now that Meruru has refused to travel with him, there is naturally no need to actually explore anything.

"Hmm, are you ignoring me?" Despite being ignored, Tachibana Sherry wasn't too disappointed and just casually remarked, "What a cold man."

She didn't seem to care much about this treatment and followed behind Hoshino Utsunomiya without feeling embarrassed at all.

"Where to? Who to go with? If you don't mind, let the great detective accompany you on your big investigation!"

She peeked out from beside Hoshino Utsunomiya and said this.

"Wait, wait for me—" Seeing that Tachibana Sherry seemed about to shamelessly follow and take the place next to him, Sakura Emma finally stopped hesitating and quickly got up to take the other side of Utsunomiya Hoshino.

Put everything else aside for now, just don't let yourself be left behind and end up all alone!

"Good afternoon... Oh?" ​​Just as the group was about to head outside, Ryota Hasumi emerged from her cell, yawning slightly.

She greeted them, only to see three figures huddled together: "You...three people?"

“Yes, yes, there are three people~” Tachibana Sherry turned around and answered while walking backwards, “It would be too pitiful to leave Emma alone, so the great detective will mercifully allow her to come with us.”