The Hero Who Saved Another World Delivers Divine Retribution (Zama!)
—A few days later.
I faked being sick and skipped school to watch the live NHK broadcast of the National Diet from my room.
Today, the House of Representatives would be holding a sworn testimony session with Imagawa Motoyoshi, chairman of the Imagawa Group.
Just as I tuned in, the TV showed Chairman Imagawa making his entrance into the main chamber.
“There he is—the villain boss. Sorry, but I’m not holding back today. I’m pissed off, you know. So if you want to blame someone, don’t blame me—blame your spoiled brat of a son.”
At exactly 10:00, as scheduled, the session began.
“O goddess Athena, grant this man the Mouth of Truth. Let what is pure be spoken purely, what is just be spoken justly, and what is right be upheld as right. For justice is the law of both man and world—by your power, let justice remain true. Hero Skill: [Judgment]. Target: Chairman of the Imagawa Group, Imagawa Motoyoshi.”
I activated the Hero Skill, [Judgment].
This skill imposes the goddess’s vow on those who swear to speak the truth—it prevents them from lying.
Not long after I cast the spell, Chairman Imagawa took the oath, and questioning by opposition lawmakers began in earnest.
“Time is limited, so I’ll get straight to the point. Are the reports true—that the Imagawa Group made five hundred million yen in illicit donations? And if so, weren’t you, as chairman, the one who gave the order? Please answer honestly before the nation.”
The question came from a veteran opposition lawmaker, a former news anchor, whose sharp tongue cut straight to the core.
“Yes, as you correctly pointed out. On Month X, 201X, I personally handed five hundred million yen in cash to Secretary-General Mishina of the Jimmei Party, in his office. The purpose was a kickback in exchange for securing a large no-bid contract related to the procurement of defense equipment.”
As Imagawa calmly confessed his crimes…
“Even if you try to play dumb, I have internal documents that—wait, what? I’m sorry, did you just say—what exactly did you just say?”
The veteran lawmaker, stunned by an answer no one could’ve expected, stumbled over her words.
“As I said, on Month X, 201X, I handed over five hundred million yen directly to Secretary-General Mishina in his office. It was a kickback tied to the defense equipment contract.”
“So, just to be clear, Chairman Imagawa—you are admitting to all of these allegations?”
“Yes, I acknowledge everything the member stated. I made the five hundred million yen payment. Incidentally, Prime Minister Takenaka and the Deputy Prime Minister were also present at the time.”
The chamber erupted into chaos, and NHK immediately ran a breaking news ticker: [Chairman Imagawa admits to five hundred million yen in illicit donations. Prime Minister Takenaka and the Deputy PM were also present.]
“D-Do you have any proof to support these claims?”
“Yes. I have an audio recording from that meeting. To avoid it being found in the recent raid, I had my former secretary hide the SD card containing the data at his parents’ house. The recording includes Prime Minister Takenaka saying, ‘We’ll hand the next contract to Imagawa too, so prepare the same amount.’”
The Diet was in an uproar.
“Lies! That’s a damn lie! Arrest him for perjury right now!”
Prime Minister Takenaka shot to his feet, his face flushed red, shouting in fury.
“Order! Order in the chamber!”
The Speaker banged the gavel repeatedly as security and aides urged the PM back into his seat.
“J-Just to confirm… everything you’ve said here today is true? You do realize that if you’re lying, you’ll be charged with perjury?”
The seasoned lawmaker’s voice trembled with disbelief.
“Yes. Everything I’ve said is the truth. I also have records showing the origin of the five hundred million yen, stored on hidden overseas servers belonging to our offshore subsidiaries.”
“Th-Thank you… Um, in addition to that, there are also allegations of funneling donations to the Jimmei Party through indirect channels. Could you comment on that?”
“We routinely routed funds through political support groups and campaign organizations. Each year, three hundred million yen went to both Prime Minister Takenaka and Secretary-General Mishina.”
“Silence! Every word he’s saying is a lie! He’s trying to frame me!”
“Order! Order! Order in the chamber, please!”
From that point on, Chairman Imagawa laid bare scandal after scandal, dragging every hidden truth into the light—by day’s end, the cabinet resigned in full.
And that sworn testimony triggered a second round of raids on the Imagawa Group, igniting a massive scandal that exposed the company’s deep ties with the political elite.
In the aftermath, the Imagawa Group was broken up, absorbed, and scattered among various corporations.
But none of that had anything to do with me.
All I did was lend a small helping hand to a justice-minded chairman who had vowed to speak only the truth—and kept his word.