Week 1 // Sunday Night

[mnasthai]

[ While Kazuma didn't react as badly as he did to the reveal of the purpose of the game, the fate of Alita was still jarring to say the least. He doesn't linger long after the trial either, but it's mostly due to the fact that he was getting a bit antsy being cooped up in the conference room.

And when he comes back to his room to see the state that it's in well...he just sighs before starting to put it back together again. When someone as large as Bull goes through your room, it's not all that surprising to find that it's a bit of a wreck. But he's not dead at least, so that's a plus.]

This is almost as bad as when Nine came into my room...

Comments

[antietam]

[ Adam left the conference room quickly as well, going to his room to write down the details of what occurred to Alita. When he's done with that, he's not entirely satisfied. He's used to being able to bounce ideas off of friends. Kazuma is the first one who comes to mind, probably because he feels bad for suspecting him even for a moment.

So he finds his room and knocks. ] It's Adam. [ He knows he might be skittish about letting people in, certainly Adam would be. But no one would commit a murder right after that, right? ]

[mnasthai]

[ Even back in Ishana Kazuma rarely had people over, so hearing the knock on the door now is strange. But then he hears that it's Adam, so that makes a bit more sense.]

Ah, one moment! [ The sound of papers being shuffled and what sounds like furniture being moved can be heard before Kazuma opens the door.]

Hello— you can come in if you'd like, but it's a bit messy, I'm afraid. [ Though he's managed to mostly put his room back together, there's a pile of papers on his desk, and an errant mage school uniform on the floot.]

[antietam]

Oh, don't worry about it. Thanks. [ His friends live in far more hideous messes. He steps in and looks at the disarray, which seems different than one of just messiness. ]

Right, you had people going through your stuff. That must be annoying. Let me help.

[mnasthai]

Thank you. It's not the first time someones come bursting into my room, but I hope it's the last. [ He shoots Adam a quick smile before organizing the papers on his desk into a neater pile, and tucking them away in the drawer.]

If you could hand me those clothes over there... [ He points to the discarded outfit on the floor.]

[antietam]

[ Adam nods and grabs them up, folding them instinctively before handing them over. ]

I'd say we should ask them to be more considerate about searching, but considering some of the people here...

[mnasthai]

They haven't destroyed anything I think, so it's actually an improvement in my case. [ He stows the folded up clothes away before turning to face Adam.]

I doubt you came here to help me clean though, did you need something?

[antietam]

[ What a horrible standard... ]

Oh, right. Well, I guess I wanted to ask what you thought about the case. I tried to write down what happened, but it was all so complicated.

[mnasthai]

[ Unfortunately, he is a bit used to it.]

I tried to keep notes as well, but it was a bit hard to do so while being questioned. [ He takes a moment to open up his desk and pull some papers from the drawer, which are his hastily written notes from the trial.]

Miss Alita didn't seem the type to have a lot of enemies, but she must have for her to act. She was also the only one out of the suspects that didn't have combat abilities, which I think made her suspicious in her own right.

As for the actual murder...I'm afraid some of it was lost on me, as I don't know much about medical healing.

[antietam]

Yes, that's true. [ He really didn't suspect her given her lack of abilities, but now he realizes he can't judge people like that anymore. ] So we should look for the similarities in the suspects and then try to find the odd one out. To either implicate them or even find them innocent. Obviously, whoever sets up the suspects is trying to trick us.


[ That's something to keep in mind. ] Do you mean the salve? We don't have anything like where I'm from, but it's probably going to make these things much harder to find.

[mnasthai]

[He nods.] She also did her best to implicate those who were stronger and had weapons, unlike herself.

I do. The only healing I've known is a fusion of magic and traditional techniques. The items here seem to exceed that in some ways.

What did you think of the case?

[antietam]

It seemed very simple at first. I thought it was a clear case of meeting in the daycare and a stabbing, but it ended up so much more complicated. I have to think that's what we'll be getting from now on.

[ A pause. ] Do you think the murderers are getting help from the people who run this?

[mnasthai]

They might be. They have an interest in seeing us kill one another, right? I don't think they'll be passive observers for too long. [It was just a feeling he had...]

[antietam]

No. [ And now he is finally able to talk about what's concerning him. ] The rules talk about third-party individuals. People who have separate goals from us.

Have you heard anything?

[mnasthai]

I haven't, but I doubt those involved would want to be exposed. Do you suspect anyone?

[antietam]

I wondered at first why they wouldn't want to tell us. Maybe we could help each other—but it's gotta be something involving murder. Or they're being sworn to secrecy, but for what purpose?

[ He's just frustrated. ] I don't have any idea yet. But I think it's important to keep an eye on people.

[mnasthai]

Maybe they struck a deal with them, somehow? If they were guaranteed safety like the motive, as long as they cooperated then...

It might be something like keeping an eye on certain individuals too. I know they have surveillance, but it's not quite the same thing. [ Kazuma usually isn't this serious, but talking about it all reminds him of something that hits a bit too close to home for him to maintain his usual demeanor.]

[antietam]

That's true. If they accomplish their goal, they might get to stop playing. [ 'Might' because he isn't sure if he can trust them. ]

Do you think they'd try to get us to think a certain way? Maybe vote for the wrong person or something?

[mnasthai]

That's a possibility as well, or get us to distrust each other.

[He thinks back to the trial:]

Thinking of it, Luke was a bit strange in pushing his theory until the very end. Though it's possible he's just a stubborn individual.

[antietam]

Luke? [ Adam does have some thoughts about him. ] I kind of thought he wasn't the smartest, but it could be an act.

[ A sigh. ] Anyone could be acting. That's just going to make it that much harder to find the real murderers.

[mnasthai]

I thought that too, but he was quite insistent. [ Kazuma wasn't too sure either way.]

Do you think it's just a matter of time until someone gets away with it?

[antietam]

Probably. [ His jaw clenches, not really fond of the idea of letting a murderer on the ship get away with it. ] We went up to the last minute on this one.

And then we're all murderers.

[mnasthai]

Mmn. [ His expression is hard to discern given the fact that he's not smiling, and that his eyes aren't visible.]

I can't say I expected myself to be in a situation like this...