—"The Curse User who 'died' at my hands."
"Wha—?!"
Hearing this, Aoi Todo surged to his feet, but his exertion was too much. His vision went black, and he collapsed back onto the tatami, staring at Kira Nanami in total shock.
"Hey, brother, you're joking, right? This old man is annoying, but he can't be a Curse User in disguise... the Cursed Energy, the appearance, even the way he talks—it's identical to the real Gakuganji!"
"That's why I said 'not entirely,' Todo."
Kira Nanami kept his gaze fixed on the old man sitting across from him, ignoring Todo's outburst as he continued.
"You didn't just change your appearance. You took possession of Gakuganji's body. That's why the resemblance is so perfect... so perfect that even the Grade 1 sorcerers in this academy couldn't see through you."
'Gakuganji' smiled faintly, took another sip of tea, and asked calmly, "And what is your evidence for such a claim?"
In truth, his palms had already begun to sweat.
"It's simple. Do you remember the first time I came to see you? When I told you my 'deductions' regarding the location of the curse?"
"What about them?"
"Those deductions were complete nonsense."
"...What?"
Kira Nanami propped his chin on his hand, his face maintaining that placid, suburban expression. With the casual indifference of a man buying a baguette at a bakery, he enunciated every word:
"I. Made. It. Up."
"While I did minor in psychology, I am not so talented that I can accurately map out a spiritual plague based on mental profiles. Human emotions cannot be quantified. A single degree of error in analysis would result in a discrepancy of miles on a map."
"You knew my deductions were wrong at the time, didn't you? But you pretended to be convinced anyway."
"All that talk about our anxiety levels being the same? Made up. Saying our Cursed Energy capacities were equivalent? A lie. I was testing you."
This was why Kira had found that initial conversation so meaningless. He had just wanted to go home. Both parties were acting; the content of the conversation was irrelevant—only the reaction mattered.
"What was the point of that?" 'Gakuganji' asked, his voice tightening.
"The point was to understand your objective. Why manufacture such a massive, fake disaster? I could only think of one explanation: you needed a grand event—a catastrophe—to draw the attention of every sorcerer in the school so you could complete your true goal in peace."
"But a mere plague wasn't enough to mobilize the entire faculty. Only the birth of a second King of Curses had that kind of gravity."
"During our first talk, you seemed to be questioning the existence of this 'King,' but you were actually guiding me. You performed shock, anger, and eventual 'conviction' just to solidify my confidence in my own fake theory. I must say, you're an excellent supporting actor."
This was why Kira had mentally called him a "drama queen" after their last meeting. The man had been acting the entire time.
'Gakuganji' let out a sharp, frustrated laugh. He gripped the handle of the ceramic teapot, his lips dry. "You still haven't told me how you know."
"Actually, you've already guessed, haven't you?" Kira Nanami toyed with a fingernail, his voice flat. "You just refuse to admit your own stupidity."
"I made up a 'perpendicular line' on a map and told only you. And then, the center of the curse actually appeared on that very line... That is far too convenient, don't you think?"
"You thought you were the actor on stage, successfully mocking the audience with your performance. But in reality, it was the audience's applause that made a fool out of you."
If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains—however improbable—must be the truth: After that conversation, 'Gakuganji' moved the site of the curse to match Kira Nanami's fake prediction.
His motive was easy to deduce. The imposter wanted the sorcerers to find the "birth of the King," but it couldn't be too easy, or it would look suspicious. Following the logic of a thriller, the villains shouldn't let the heroes find them—the heroes have to "investigate" and find clues.
Kira Nanami was the perfect tool for that. With his reputation, leading the investigation team to the site would be seen as legitimate. So, after hearing Kira's ridiculous theory, the imposter moved the ritual site to the exact coordinates Kira mentioned. He wanted them to find it.
He wanted a battle to erupt. He wanted the school emptied. He wanted to be left alone as the "Principal" to finish his real work.
This was why Kira had been so lazy during the search—he knew the site would be found eventually because the villain was making sure of it. From that moment, Kira had seen through the entire plan. His "absurd theory" was a bait, a trap to verify the Principal's identity.
Kira's acting had been so good that Hasegawa truly believed Kira was just a pretentious intellectual who had failed at reasoning.
"I imagine you were secretly laughing at my 'stupidity' back then," Kira said, looking at the misty rain outside. He covered his mouth with a slender hand and whispered, "Your frantic effort to move the site just to keep up with my lie... it was almost cute."
'Gakuganji' stared silently at the tea in his cup. Finally, he spoke in a muffled voice. "Then how did you conclude I possessed this body? Wouldn't it be more logical to assume the real Gakuganji was a traitor who had been undercover for years?"
"And how do you know my name is Hasegawa Kaede?"
"That," Kira Nanami said, still watching the rain as it grew heavier, "is another matter entirely."
The window was open, and the wind brought in a spray of damp, cold mist.
"The rain is still going to fall for a long time. We have plenty of time."
"Let's take it slow."
After all, the opportunity to legally slack off during work hours didn't come often.