Compared to ordinary people, Shizuku had resources that made it much easier for her to investigate everything about that program.
Just like now, she had contacted the director of NCK Television through a Diet member connected to her company and summoned the station staff involved in producing the show for questioning. No one dared refuse—perhaps they did not care about some young girl, but they could not ignore orders from their immediate superiors.
"Actually, this program wasn't our station's idea."
Sitting before Shizuku, a gaunt man wiped the sweat from his forehead as he spoke in a low voice. At first, he had wanted to put on the airs of a media professional before her, but after Shizuku showed him her Metropolitan Police Department identification and a string of numbers, he went limp with fright and spilled everything he knew like beans from a bamboo tube.
"At first, a variety show production company approached us with this proposal. They believed all Espers were frauds, so they wanted to create a show like this to expose those frauds' tricks before the guests and audience..."
Oh, so it was the Japan edition of Approaching Science.
"Then do you think the Espers who appeared on the show were frauds?"
"Well..."
Faced with Shizuku's question, the man hesitated.
"To be honest, I think some of them really did have genuine abilities. For example, they could learn about a complete stranger's past, even things only that person knew. Of course, that was how the program was structured. First, we would do everything we could to showcase the Espers' powers, then once the audience believed in them, we would turn around and harshly criticize them..."
Build them up before tearing them down. Understandable.
"But those Espers wouldn't just accept that, would they?"
"Of course not. And