I’LL TURN MY LIE… INTO YOUR TRUTH!

-Wait… wait a second! Makoto has an alibi! 

-H-He… he does?!

-…. – Nia… stop looking at me like that…. your smile… scares me. – 

-And what’s his alibi then? Actually, how do you even know that? You were fainted the whole time!

-B-Because… Miya told me. 

-H-Huh?! – Makoto, please, stay calm! – 

-…hmm! – Nia, I know you already discovered my secret, alright?! – 

-I-I… I did..?! M-Memopo, what are y–

-Miya, d-did you forget? When you were talking with me about the footsteps. Before you even heard anything, you and Aki were outside, and then Makoto appeared.

-Then you three entered the Clothes Section, and stayed there, and that’s when you heard the footsteps.

-…Memopo, are you… protecting me..?

-Makoto… I… It’s my job. We need to find the truth, and… we can’t stop at random points like that just to discuss about minor details. We need to discuss about actual suspicious things that we didn’t notice at first, not those refutable things!

-S-She’s right. S-She’s right, everyone! I just forgot to specify! I swear!

-…Memopo, I-I…! A-Ah…!

-So? Do you remember? – Please, Miya… please, Aki… – 

-I… – She’s looking at me, with a serious looking on her face. – M-Memopo’s right. Migoto was inside the Clothes Section with us.

-B-But! At the beginning of the trial..! Was that entire discussion for nothing?!

-T-Teru, I… I was still nervous, I just left a crime scene, okay?! But… s-she’s right, she’s definitely right. Migoto was inside the Clothes Section, so… h-he has an alibi! – M-Miya, you..! Thank you so much! – 

-…Hmpf. Miya, dear. Why do you keep forgetting those silly things? I knew something was wrong, but you need to be more focused, you know? Yeah, yeah, she’s right. – Aki… Aki too?! Y-You guys… you guys are… – 

-Yes! And there’s also the fact that we just discussed about the note and the dying message! It would be a big coincidence if somehow Makoto appeared inside the storeroom, and he would’ve discussed with me if he had something to hide!

-Hmm… not to mention the fact that he was severely exhausted these days. It wasn’t his fault, but I don’t think that he would be able to kill someone with a depressing emotional breakdown.

-Kgh… so I was wrong, huh? What a great day. At least we discussed about something, am I right?

-… – …So, everyone believed me..? Was it that easy? No contradictions..? – 

-Hm, so it seems I was mistaken, again. – Nia, please, s-stop looking already! – Heh, alas, he wasn’t the culprit anyway. I’ll say that, this trial went to a good place for relaxing to just a boring discussion.

-S-So… Makoto’s definitely not the killer… right? All our evidence pointed to him being the culprit…

-I-I don’t think so… we should just drop this, after all… he said that he had an alibi… W-We’re so sorry, Makoto…

-Y-Yes, Mr. Hiroma! I’m so sorry for doubting your alibi!

-I-I… it’s… it’s alright. It’s all thanks to Memopo to make… Miya remember it.

-Y-Yeah, totally! She’s a-a great person!

-…. – Nia… – Ahahaha! Alright, alright. I’ll play this game with you, then. 

-G-Game?! What are you talking about? This isn’t a game, you know that!

-Hehe! Yes, I do understand. But right now, Memopo, you’re being… very, very interesting. Perhaps I understood you wrong at first, some magicians are for certain entertaining to watch. Uhu.

-S-Stop laughing… you’re laughing like a crazy psychopath right now!

-A crazy psychopath? Hajime, dear, don’t say such bad things about me, I’m just an academy high-school girl! 

-Y-Yeah, but y’know, you were acting kinda crazy before. With that strange laugh of yours and everything.

-Hehehe! Strange laugh? Oh, don’t be such a fool, Kiyohara! A girl like me can’t even laugh anymore? It’s just so rude!

-We shouldn’t discuss about my laugh, anyway. If Memopo wants to continue this class trial with that information, may as well go with it.

-I-I don’t know what you’re implying, Nia, but… If you’re not gonna help us survive this class trial, then please just don’t make this complicated for us.

-Y-Yeah! At least tell us some info about your plan with the killer!

-Hmm, technically, I could just spoil the killer’s identity, but like I said before, we need to discuss every possibility, first. So you all could understand my point of view.

-And… how are we gonna do that? We’ve been talking about Makoto and Hoshi’s alibis but they were proved to be correct, so we didn’t gather any info about the killer.

-I wouldn’t say “any info”. – It was now Maisake’s time to refute. – We now understand how the secret passageway works and how the killer used it to their advantage.

-Hmm… can I add one last thing? Just a question that could help you guys with some clues?

-…Yes, go on, Nia. Just don’t do anything funny!

-Alright, I promise, hehe. Well, since we’re talking about the secret passageway, Memopo, tell me something.

-H-Huh? What is it?

-Please, explain how the killer used the secret passageway to me, once again.

-B-But why? Don’t you already know that?!

-I do, but please, do it. I need to show you my point.

-…Alright, I guess.

-Well, the killer, after ending Shiroga’s life, used the secret passageway to get through the entire shopping mall, trying to find a way to hide their weapon.

-And, since it was probably their first time inside the dark room, they wouldn’t know about how it worked at first, so they probably just ran until they found a room, the Audio Room, correct?

-Y-Yes, then they dropped the Knife, and ran until they found the Garden, dropping the Thermostat.

-Ok, I see. – Ok, so what’s your point?! – My point is, what kind of texture is blood, anyway?

-T-Tsu?! You can’t be serious!

-Y-Yeah! Nia, what kind of question is that?!

-It’s…

IT’S THE POWER OF MAGIC!

-It’s… a liquid, if I’m not dumb enough to forget about something like that.

-Yes, and what happens if you run while carrying a liquid, without any kind of source to keep the liquid safe?

-Hmm… – I can’t believe she’s asking me these kind of questions! Nia, please don’t let this be some kind of trick… –

IT’S THE POWER OF MAGIC!

-It obviously spills, am I right? Like water, if you run around with water on your hands, it would make the entire floor wet because it would spill.  –

-Exactly. Now tell me: How was the state of the secret passageway? Huh? It’s an important question.

-H-Huh?! – Wait, what? – W-Well… considering those facts… it was supposed to be bloody and wet, right?

-Nia, what’s your point, exactly? We’re all listening to you through this point of the trial, so please, be quick.

-Exactly, we’re supposed to know about who killed Shiroga, not about some bloody room?

-My point is simple: There was no blood inside that room. – H-Huh?! S-She’s… – 

She’s right! T-There was no signs of blood inside that room after all! W-What’s even going on right now?!

-H-Huuuh?! N-No blood?! But how could that be possible?! 

-A-AWAWA! S-So then… the killer never used that room after all! T-This is so bad!!

-No, I assure you, this room was exclusively used by the culprit themself. But before I give you guys some extra clues, you must understand their trick.

-…What if this is just a lie? – Hmm? Makoto? – Y-You wanted to attack me before, so I’m gonna refute you now. What if this is just another one of your lies?

-Hm? And why would I lie about something like that, again? I already said that I would help you guys, this is something serious, Makoto.

-Yes, but what if this is also another lie? You could just be lying about everything ever since the beginning! From your talent, to be working with the culprit, god, you might even be the culprit! 

-Hehe, ahaha! I see, I see your point now. If I lied about an alibi, I would be able to lie about everything else, right?

-Exactly! Then you need to show us some actual proof about those things as well! 

-Makoto… made an interesting question, you really could be lying about everything, and since you know how to manipulate people, you might be just manipulating us.

-Gal, this manipulatin’ thing is just not workin’ for me. This gal’s really fishy and I got suspicious of her ever sinc’ she talked about that damn talent. 

-Hmm, so the suspicion goes back to me, again. Alright, I can’t show you guys any proof that I’m telling the truth, since none of you were there with me, except the culprit, but… 

LET’S PLAY THIS GAME TOGETHER, SHALL WE?