At Horikita Manabu's command, the Student Council members immediately sprang into action.
Kondō Reion and Ishizaki Daichi were escorted to another vacant meeting room outside the Student Council room to wait, with guards specially posted at the door to ensure they couldn't communicate in any way.
Inside the spacious Student Council room, only the first subject of the interrogation remained: Komiya Yōgo of the Basketball Club.
At one end of the long conference table, Horikita Manabu and Tachibana Akane sat silently, like two emotionless statues. Their very presence created an invisible pressure.
At the other end, Komiya Yōgo sat alone in a chair, facing the three from Class D. His face still showed traces of the shame and annoyance provoked by the previous words, but more so, a facade of composure.
Horikita Suzune stood before him, holding the document Natsukawa Sosuke had prepared for her.
Her heart was far from as calm as she appeared. This was her first time leading such an important situation in front of her brother. Nervousness, excitement, and an urgent desire to prove herself, all these complex emotions intertwined.
But when her gaze fell on the document and she saw the clear handwriting, a strange sense of reassurance calmed her chaotic thoughts.
She took a deep breath, recalling what Natsukawa had told her last night.
"Remember, don't ask the core questions they've already coordinated, like 'who started it' or 'what did he say.' They've rehearsed these questions countless times, and you won't find any flaws. What you need to do is drown him with a massive amount of seemingly irrelevant, even somewhat absurd, detailed questions, leaving him no time to think and forcing him to answer by instinct. When a person's brain is forced to process a large amount of useless information under high pressure, their ability to fabricate lies will plummet."
Horikita Suzune looked up, her gaze becoming sharp again.
"Komiya-kun, let's begin," her voice was calm. "First question: on the day of the incident, when Sudo-kun provoked you, what color was the sports backpack he was carrying?"
This question clearly caught Komiya Yōgo off guard.
The color of the backpack? Who would pay attention to such a thing?
He frowned, trying hard to recall, but he seemed to have no impression. Yet, this was the first question, and he didn't want to show his hesitation.
"...It was black." He gave the most common answer based on his gut feeling.
Horikita Suzune made no comment on the answer, merely noting it down on the document in her hand. This action inexplicably tightened Komiya's heart.
"Second question: behind the special academic building, when Sudo-kun pointed at you while speaking, was he using his left hand or his right hand?"
"...Right hand!" This time, Komiya answered quickly and confidently.
"Alright." Horikita noted it again. "Third question: what was the order of your three positions at the time? From left to right."
"I was in the middle, Ishizaki was on the left, and Kondō was on the right."
"Fourth question: what color were the shoelaces on the basketball shoes Sudo-kun was wearing?"
"..."
"Fifth question: how many trees were next to the place where your conflict occurred?"
"..."
A barrage of detailed questions rained down on Komiya Yōgo. These questions were bizarre and completely deviated from their pre-arranged script. Komiya's brain began to work at high speed; he had to try to recall while also guarding against potential traps in the questions.
Gradually, sweat began to bead on his forehead again.
Just as he was getting annoyed by these trivial questions, Horikita Suzune suddenly threw out a core question.
"Sixth question: after you were hit by Sudo-kun and fell to the ground, did he attack Kondō-kun first, or Ishizaki-kun first?"
This question, mixed in with a barrage of irrelevant details, seemed so abrupt.
Komiya Yōgo's brain was still stuck on thinking, "If the location was indoors, how could there be trees?" Hearing this question, he blurted out the answer almost instinctively.
"After he hit me, he went to hit Kondō!"
After saying it, he realized he had answered too quickly. But then he thought that this order should be correct, so he didn't change his statement.
Horikita Suzune's face remained expressionless as she calmly recorded his answer, then continued to bombard him with another round of trivial questions.
The entire interrogation lasted nearly twenty minutes.
When Komiya Yōgo was allowed to leave, his back was drenched in sweat... Next was Kondō Reion.
Horikita Suzune asked the exact same set of questions in the identical order.
Kondō's reaction was exactly like Komiya's, from initial composure to mid-interrogation panic, and finally, irritation.
When asked the sixth question, he hesitated for a moment and gave a different answer.
"...After Sudo hit Komiya, his next target was Ishizaki. I was hit last."
...Finally, it was Ishizaki Daichi's turn.
As the backbone of the trio, his psychological resilience was noticeably better. Facing Horikita's tricky questions, he mostly dodged them with "I don't remember" or "I didn't pay attention."
But when answering the sixth question, he also made a mistake.
"Huh? After that guy hit Komiya, I was next! That kid Kondō was hit after me!" He seemed to remember this order very clearly, answering decisively... When all three independent interrogations were over, the three students from Class C were brought back into the office.
Their faces all bore a trace of the exhaustion and unease of having survived a disaster.
Horikita Suzune walked to the front of the conference table and presented the three documents filled with notes to Horikita Manabu and Class C's Class teacher, Sakagami Kazuma.
"Student Council President, Sakagami-sensei, the interrogation is complete."
"Now, let's see how consistent these three testimonies, coming from 'co-experiencers,' truly are."
Her voice was cold and clear, every word like a heavy hammer striking the hearts of the three Class C students.
"Regarding the color of Sudo-kun's backpack: Komiya-kun's answer was 'black,' Kondō-kun's answer was 'dark blue,' and Ishizaki-kun's answer was 'I don't remember.'"
"Regarding the hand Sudo-kun used to point: Komiya-kun and Kondō-kun both confirmed it was his 'right hand,' while Ishizaki-kun emphatically stated it was his 'left hand.'"
With each contradiction read out, the faces of the three Class C students grew a shade paler.
"Of course, these are just irrelevant details, and it's normal to misremember them." Horikita Suzune's tone shifted, and her gaze suddenly sharpened. "However, regarding the core sequence of the conflict, I don't think you could possibly misremember that, could you?"
She looked at Komiya Yōgo.
"Komiya-kun, your testimony is that after Sudo knocked you down, he next attacked Kondō-kun."
Then, she looked at Kondō Reion.
"And Kondō-kun, your testimony is that the second person Sudo attacked was Ishizaki-kun."
Finally, her gaze, like a sharp sword, pierced directly at Ishizaki Daichi, who had begun to tremble all over.
"And Ishizaki-kun, you are the most interesting. You firmly claim that you were the second person attacked, and Kondō-kun was only hit after you."
"The three of you have given two completely different answers regarding the sequence of events for the same core incident, at the same time and in the same place."
"Now, who among you can tell me which one is the truth? Or rather, how could you possibly come up with identical testimonies under such circumstances?"
Horikita Suzune's voice echoed in the dead silent office.
The seemingly unbreakable chain of false testimony, woven from lies, completely snapped at this moment, accompanied by countless contradictory details.
Despair and panic were already etched on the faces of Komiya Yōgo and Kondō Reion. Both of them, almost simultaneously, cast pleading glances towards their last reliance — Ishizaki Daichi.
Ishizaki Daichi felt the crushing gaze of his two companions.
He looked up again and saw Horikita Manabu's cold, emotionless eyes at the head of the table, Sudo's mocking expression from Class D opposite him, and his own Class teacher's unwavering gaze.
All the pressure, in that instant, swept over him like a landslide and a tsunami.
His body began to tremble uncontrollably.
He knew it was all over.
Ryuuen's plan had completely failed because of their stupidity.
The immense pressure and fear of Ryuuen Kakeru became the final straw that broke him.
"I..."
....
Read more at patreon.com/zeaser