"So, was that really the right move? I can't help but feel you let a perfectly good opportunity go to waste."
Having departed Luminous Academy with the former Hero Candidates now branded as Reincarnators, Dogma and her cohorts were being questioned by Drop, who had been waiting for them at a nearby inn.
The three of them had known she would be there, but they could only offer wry smiles at being bombarded with questions the moment they crossed the threshold. Drop spoke up again.
"Drop-chan was certain you’d out our little Hero-kun as a Reincarnator right then and there in front of everyone... Why didn't you?"
"Shut it. You're an outsider, so just sit back and watch how we handle things."
"Now, now, Burn. Drop is still our associate. You shouldn't speak so crudely to her."
Burn clicked his tongue, making his irritation plain as Dogma scolded him.
After silencing him, she turned back to Drop with a gentle smile—one that carried an undeniably dangerous edge—and spoke cheerfully.
"I don't mind answering, but this is hardly a conversation to have while standing, is it? We’re all here, so why not talk over a few drinks? Wouldn't you agree, Hypno?"
"Yes, of course."
At Dogma's prompting, Hypno clapped his hands. The door creaked open, and an inn servant appeared.
With hollow, glazed-over eyes, the man trudged into the room and set two bottles and four glasses on the table.
"Would you prefer red or white?"
"Drop-chan makes it a rule to refuse alcohol from people she doesn't trust."
Despite Dogma's pleasant tone, her malice was poorly hidden. Drop met her gaze with a smile of her own, making no effort to mask her hostility and suspicion.
Unfazed by Drop's reaction, Dogma took a seat. She watched the servant leave before finally addressing the question.
"Now, as for why we didn't expose Hugo Clay as a Reincarnator... that was it, wasn't it?"
"Yeah. I mean, according to the info we have, he's strictly speaking not a Reincarnator anyway. But given how nasty you lot are, I figured you might just ignore that little detail."
Drop flopped into the chair opposite Dogma with a heavy thud.
Dogma chuckled. She tilted a glass filled with wine as red as fresh blood, took a slow sip, and then provided her answer.
"It certainly was an option. Had we used something other than the Flame of Judgment for the selection process, we might have been able to drag him along with the others."
"But you didn't. That seemed like a pretty massive opening. Why pass it up?"
"Because it would have been pointless, I suppose."
She took another sip of wine, drawing out the moment.
Drop nibbled on some peanuts provided as a snack, clearly exasperated by the woman's theatrical delivery. Dogma continued.
"Unlike those former Hero Candidates, Hugo Clay has achieved significant results in this world. By resolving incidents and helping those in distress, he earned friends and genuine trust. He is currently hailed by his companions as a true Hero. We could have labeled him a Reincarnator and sent him plummeting from that pedestal, but doing so now would have accomplished nothing."
As she spoke, Dogma reached out and slowly nudged Drop’s unused wine glass off the table.
The glass fell, but the thick carpet softened the impact. It rolled across the floor, unscathed and unbroken.
"His trust was something he built through his own merits. The ones who called themselves Hero Candidates, however, only secured their status through petty maneuvering, using their starting bonuses and game knowledge. The second those advantages were stripped away, their gilded facades crumbled—behold their current state. They have fallen so far that no one raised a single objection when we took them into custody."
"Well, once those blind believers snapped out of it and looked back, they probably realized how many holes there were in their stories. Everyone found them annoying anyway; the students are probably just glad to be rid of them."
"By the same token, religion is a powerful tool for blinding the eyes of the public. As long as you have someone to boldly present the mystical as absolute fact and provide a few convenient pieces for a narrative, the ignorant masses will convince themselves it's the truth. Provided, of course, that it doesn't cause them any personal harm."
"Ah, I see. You guys are even more twisted than Drop-chan thought."
Dogma’s infiltration of Luminous Academy as a Sister, the claim of a divine oracle, the selection using the Flame of Judgment... it had all been a calculated performance.
Drop scowled, reconsidering the sheer malice required to devise and execute a plan that so thoroughly weaponized human psychology and the unpopularity of the Hero Candidates. She threw one final question at them.
"So? What's the next move?"