Hachiman Hikigaya was at a loss...
Though he privately believed that going along with the crowd was something people did throughout their lives, and that bullying and ostracism might also stem from it, when he truly tried to get to the root of it, Hachiman could find no answer. After all, bullying, isolation, and such phenomena did not occur only within a single school—it had already become the norm in this world.
If there really was someone who had started it all, just how had they made the entire country accept it as normal?
"It's tradition..." Fortunately, his confusion did not last long before Sogo Doma said, "The so-called instigator is tradition itself..."
"Tradition?"
"That's right..." Sogo nodded again. "It's like telling children that demons will eat them if they don't behave. Even though people scoff at such things once they grow up, the tradition remains. And when they have children of their own, they pass down that very tradition they once mocked..."
"Hm?" Shizuka Hiratsuka could not help saying, "Doma, are you saying..."
"Ms. Hiratsuka..." Before she could finish, Sogo said, "When you were little, did adults ever tell you something like, 'Don't be like so-and-so, or else...'?"
"This..."
"Perhaps you've already forgotten those warnings..." Sogo continued as she spoke. "But they have remained in your subconscious. It is precisely because of that subconscious awareness that people keep their distance from those who stand out. But..."
At that, Sogo paused.
"B-But?" Shizuka could not help asking.
"Does tradition necessarily mean it is right?" Sogo said. "Take the Black Ships opening the gates, for example. The people who clung to tradition were finished, but that did not mean the world became worse. On the contrary..." He paused again before asking, "Would you be willing to return to the old world?"