week 5, thursday

[vigilantics]

[ so they have things to discuss before murder!!! steph is dying. so, after dragging belph into her bedroom, she immediately starts talking. ]

Hi. I accidentally ended up entering an alliance with Varian, Veronica, and the Ion we checked? Also apparently the other half of our hint is going to be that each faction needs to complete at least seven objectives.

Comments

[vigilantics]

No, but they know my title and ability. It seems like Beauty and Beast are sending those three letters specifically without prompting, which makes me think that Veronica and Varian don't have roles either.

[ since ion didn't. ]

[axilium]

Makes sense. In that case, try to keep your role hidden—though I probably don't need to tell you that.

Anything else you learned from your new best friends?

[vigilantics]

If it comes down to it, I'll probably have to claim that my main source is a role. But so far they haven't really asked, probably because they don't want me asking too much either.

[ they'd want to protect their sources too, after all. ]

A couple of titles and abilities, not including just theirs. I'll write them down since it's a lot.

[axilium]

All right.

... As for our suspects: Cardia's either playing dumb or knows nothing. Sanji's an Editor, and he knows the Shield.

[vigilantics]

... so what do Editors do? Did he say?

[ she has suspicions but if sanji actually explained it... ]

[axilium]

... They killed Dave and Hijikata. [a beat.] Sanji's actually given permission to throw him under the bus if it's needed for the best ending, buuuuut let's not jump to that.

[vigilantics]

[ okay, yeah, that news isn't too surprising considering how odd dave and hijikata's deaths were. ]

Part of the Editor descriptions says that they shouldn't be blamed for following orders, so I guess that explains why they don't seem to appear in the killer count we get during trial. If they shouldn't be blamed then they wouldn't fall under killers.

[axilium]

Yeah, that goes in line with what Akechi said to me—that only people considered "guilty" are part of the killer count.

... Speaking of which, were you aware that your partner is arming Akechi with his gun every Thursday night?

[vigilantics]

My partner is doing what now.

[ it's cute that belph assumes hikage tells her anything. ]

[axilium]

[hikage, why.]

Well, maybe not every night. Maybe just a night? Anyway, it's his way of protecting Akechi, so Akechi knows that he's probably shady as well.

When I asked Hikage about it—I kind of had to, more on that later—it sounds like he's doing it because he finds it interesting to have Akechi around.

[vigilantics]

Of course he does...

[ why is her partner like this. ]

Well, that's good to know. Did he say anything else about Hikage?

[axilium]

... He suspects Hikage of having a role—Editor, specifically, although he doesn't have confirmation about what they do. Still, he's looking for Monika's killer.

Actually, he wants me to check Hikage next week. I'll probably have to lie to him.

[vigilantics]

... great.

At least I'm so off the radar that it's my partner that'll probably get me in trouble instead of myself.

[ she doesn't sound annoyed or anything though; it's just expected with the kind of personality that hikage has, even before they found out his backstory. ]

[axilium]

Well, keep on being discreet.

... Ah, by the way: I was right. Hikage's the trial item guy.

[vigilantics]

[ she is not sure how she feels about this. ]

What did he give us last time? The magnifying glass?

[axilium]

Sounds like it. Apparently, he decided to help out on a whim, but it didn't seem like it worked. Otherwise, though... the only reason he helped out in the earlier trials was to complete his objective. Now that he's done with that, he's doing whatever he wants.

[isn't it great that hikage, of all people, has this title ability............]

[vigilantics]

The Crafters must think they're hilarious.

[ this may be a problem, especially considering they proved how great they are at solving murder without someone confessing. ]

[axilium]

Well, it's not like he's adverse to the idea of helping out. It just depends on his... mood.

[vigilantics]

Well... let's just hope for the best then!

[ she wants to believe that hikage won't let them suffer...... ]

[axilium]

[hahahaha hoping for the best, please...]

Your partnership is a mess, for the record.

[vigilantics]

I'm aware.

... how messy. Is he talking about me?

[ belph what's the gossip....... ]

[axilium]

I think he still doubts that you'd accept him and thinks that you're nice to him purely because you're a good person, not because he personally matters. Looks like the two of you have a lot of trust issues.

[vigilantics]

I'm going to be honest, if I didn't like him personally I would not hide it.

[ look. steph is nice but she also is easy to anger and judgmental . ]

But I'm not sure how to prove that?

[axilium]

Neither do I! Good luck.

[vigilantics]

Belph! You're like his best friend, think of something!

[axilium]

I told you! He likes me because we share a similar brand of shi—I mean, we're both very questionable people. I can't tell you to emulate me.

[vigilantics]

I guess I'll just have to try harder to bug him.

[ he doesn't really seem to like talking to her about the war itself though; he tends to change the subject when it gets brought up. ]

... you trust me, right?

[axilium]

[...]

I don't trust you to keep yourself alive, but otherwise, you're too much of a do-gooder to be suspicious.

[vigilantics]

[ okay that gets a smile out of her. ]

If I die I will do my best so that it's not my fault. But um, since more people know my ability now and admittedly two of them are people I probably would not have told in any other circumstance...

[ what she is trying to say is that, if any of them become a blotter it would be pretty simple to take her out so she can't look at their evidence. ]

[axilium]

Well... your ability hasn't been a dealbreaker in trials so far, so hopefully it won't come to that. Who knows about it?

[vigilantics]

Yeah, but they don't know that.

[ also they are all so... paranoid...... ]

Those three, you, and Hikage.

[axilium]

[he makes a mental note of that. just in case steph's ever killed...]

That reminds me: while no one's expressed any indication of wanting to backstab me, I should update the whole dying message thing.

[since they have more people/monika's died since he first came up with it.]

[vigilantics]

... oh.

Yeah, I guess that should be done.

[axilium]

Let's see... horizontal for Akechi or Sousei—if it's a Blotter kill, you can figure that it's Sousei. Vertical for Melloi... Diagonal towards the inside of my face for Sanji? And diagonal outside for anyone else I think is doing it because of my role.

[vigilantics]

[ well! she really hates talking about this. ]

... well, hopefully none of this will be necessary.