"You know who the killer is?"
Tiger Peak Toumi leaned closer to Lin Wuming and asked in a low voice.
Lin Wuming instinctively tensed up, then immediately forced himself to suppress the urge to activate his ability and fling the girl away.
After a brief pause to steady himself, he spoke in a deliberately calm tone.
"It's simple. It's that Doctor Yamamoto."
Tiger Peak Toumi did not doubt him for a second. Her gaze sharpened like a blade as it snapped toward the male doctor among the three suspects.
Their exchange hadn't been intentionally hushed, so everyone present heard Kobayashi's words clearly.
Aside from Doctor Yamamoto himself, no one else seemed particularly surprised by the conclusion.
The female guard among the suspects spoke up.
"Student Wuming, you didn't witness the crime itself. On what basis did you make this judgment?"
"Intuition?" Lin Wuming shrugged, his expression relaxed.
The real reason was actually very simple—because he recognized the other two suspects.
The female guard was Yomikawa Aiho. She had personally investigated his case just yesterday. Moreover, in the original Index storyline, she was a fairly well-known character, one of the righteous figures within the Anti-Skill system—someone trustworthy.
As for the other doctor, just one look at his frog-like face was enough to rule him out entirely.
The true heavyweight of the original work: Heaven Canceller.
The fact that Kamijou Touma could recklessly charge all the way into New Testament—and even Genesis—owed a massive debt to Heaven Canceller's medical skills!
In other words, if Lin Wuming wanted to lie low and live peacefully, this was a big shot he absolutely could not afford to offend—someone he should instead build a good relationship with. After all, Heaven Canceller truly saved lives.
With those two eliminated, the remaining culprit could only be the last one left.
Even though Lin Wuming had never seen Doctor Yamamoto before, since Anti-Skill had confirmed there were no other suspects, then by simple elimination—
He had to be the killer.
Doctor Yamamoto was not a professional assassin. By the time he was brought into this conference room, he was already panicking.
He understood the situation all too well. Just looking at the other two "suspects" beside him, it was obvious that Anti-Skill had already decided he was the culprit. They simply hadn't secured conclusive evidence yet, which was why they had used this method to corner him.
After that, with Anti-Skill's resources, finding a psychological esper to assist with interrogation would be effortless.
The game was over.
Slumped in a dazed state, Doctor Yamamoto had already resigned himself to his fate. He didn't even have the will to argue.
When he accepted the commission, he had been gambling on not being suspected immediately—buying enough time for his employers to clean up afterward.
What he hadn't expected was that Doctor Sakurai would interfere and catch him in the act.
"Then," the guards said as they stepped forward and cuffed him,
"who hired you to assassinate Lin Wuming?"
"No one…" Doctor Yamamoto shook his head—then suddenly froze.
"You didn't deny that Wuming was the real target," Yomikawa Aiho said with a smile, nodding in satisfaction. "Very good. Making a move while I was away… looks like your employer's intelligence network is quite efficient."
Doctor Yamamoto's expression flickered between light and dark. He didn't know what to do anymore. His mission had failed—would his employers still protect him?
It was precisely because of this faint hope that he refused to give in completely.
He clenched his teeth and chose silence.
"I want to see my lawyer," Doctor Yamamoto declared.
Tiger Peak Toumi could no longer restrain herself. She pulled a roll of bandages from her pocket, clearly about to charge forward.
The first person to react was Lin Wuming.
Without hesitation, he used telekinesis to snatch the bandages out of her hand.
Facing Tiger Peak Toumi's murderous glare, Lin Wuming maneuvered his wheelchair backward while speaking quickly,
"Calm down. Didn't you promise you wouldn't act recklessly?"
"But this guy!" Tiger Peak Toumi glared at the culprit. If looks could kill, Doctor Yamamoto would already have been pierced by ten thousand blades.
"Please calm down, Student Tiger Peak," said the guard who had escorted her in, soothing her while casting an approving glance at Lin Wuming.
"Don't worry," Yomikawa Aiho suddenly said with a smile. "We already have the evidence. According to Anti-Skill regulations, the judgment of a Level 4 or above psychological esper carries legal force and can serve as primary evidence for conviction."
As she spoke, she turned toward what looked like a whiteboard on the wall.
In reality, it was a one-way mirror. From inside the room, it appeared to be nothing more than a board for writing, but from the other side, the entire conference room was clearly visible.
To obtain decisive evidence, Anti-Skill had specifically requested the assistance of a high-level psychological esper from Talent Academy—
A "Mental Out" esper whose ability had recently reached Level 4 in the Library registry.
Shokuhou Misaki.
"It's confirmed," said the blonde, starry-eyed girl as she observed the meeting from behind the one-way glass.
"This doctor is the one who intended to assassinate Lin Wuming. Due to certain unforeseen factors, he ultimately injured Doctor Sakurai by mistake."
"As for the mastermind who hired him—because the contact was made through a secret online forum, their real identity is unclear. However, he personally suspects an organization called 'Black May.'"
"Black May?" The guard beside her recorded the term.
"That's only Doctor Yamamoto's personal speculation," Shokuhou Misaki quickly added. "Its credibility isn't very high."
"Understood. We'll verify it," the guard nodded, handing a tablet to her.
"Thank you very much for your assistance. Please sign here to confirm—this will make it legally valid evidence."
Shokuhou Misaki signed her name without hesitation.
This time, she hadn't falsified anything. After all, this outcome also aligned with Talent Academy's interests.
Although Talent Academy had some cooperative ties with Dark May, they were ultimately separate organizations with little direct connection.
Strictly speaking, the only thing they truly shared was the label of "illegal experimentation."
Just yesterday, the Dark May project had requested Talent Academy's help in dealing with an escaped subject.
That was the reason Shokuhou Misaki had appeared at the hospital in the first place. However, her assessment—that Lin Wuming was merely suffering from amnesia combined with delusional symptoms—failed to reassure the Dark May project team.
To be absolutely safe, they still issued a commission and hired an assassin to silence him.
Talent Academy was extremely dissatisfied with this approach and had no intention of continuing dealings with such foolish "colleagues."
That was why Shokuhou Misaki's on-site testimony today was actually proposed proactively by Talent Academy—partly to draw a clear line between themselves and the Dark May project, and to avoid being dragged down with them.
In truth, the one most dissatisfied—and most furious—was Shokuhou Misaki herself.
She had been asked to "evaluate" the subject, yet her conclusions were ignored, followed by a pointless assassination attempt!
Even knowing that Dark May was an illegal experiment project, such blatant disregard for human life far exceeded her expectations.
And at heart, Shokuhou Misaki had never liked using her ability for brainwashing or manipulation in the first place.
She didn't have a particularly good impression of Anti-Skill either—she was only cooperating out of professional obligation.
Compared to that…
Returning the tablet, Shokuhou Misaki's starry eyes locked once more onto the boy in the conference room.
—Lin Wuming.
This boy… is actually quite interesting.
(End of Chapter)