ritualization | [pcs] ray of sunshine

[THANKS HE HATES THAT.

but after he takes a moment to recover from that--]

... it'd be better than them being with Cunning, at least. The last thing we need is for them to be going around unseen.

Do you have a lead on who I may need to watch for, then?

Well, they could be with Cunning. To be honest, I don't have much evidence supporting which alignment they chose—just that they've commented on Merriment's powers being appealing before, and Merriment did gain a follower this week since one supposedly left.

[...]

I suspect Luna.

Edited 2019-03-12 13:49 (UTC)

Luna-san...? We haven't spoken very much, so I do not know her very well myself, but...

[his brow furrows, there.]

May I ask what led you to suspect her?

[please throw away my braincell so i can stop tl;dring]

First, thanks to Ai, we know that Fortune's killer was likely from Ruin. Adding her wound onto Madoka's from previously, we can see a pattern behind Ruin's last ex-follower. Namely, they have a penchant for disturbing messages.

Next: Disorder implying that Fortune's killer was a good actor. That likely means it was something who actively spoke about Fortune's death. Among the most active, I'd include Takaomi, Senri, Connor, Catra, Yu, maybe Mizuki, Luke, and her—and myself.

I'll give Takaomi and Senri the benefit of the doubt, for reasons you can probably understand. Yu is taking additional risks to solve Fortune's murder, so same goes for him. I have reasons for clearing Connor, in that it would have been a pragmatically bad idea for him to kill that week. Mizuki's god wasn't one of the suspects. Luke was with Fortune when the offering was given, so he has a plausible alibi. Catra... well, I can see her killing, but I don't think the Equivalent Exchange messages are her style, as well as the fact that when we were thinking of writing Ruin off, she spoke out against it.

... On the other hand, none of that applies to Luna. Not only that, but nearly everything she said or focused on, when it comes to Fortune's killer, eventually became obsolete. For example, the time wasted on accusing Takaomi. Her comments to Ambition are also suspect—at the very least, she's one of the people who talked about Fortune's killer to her.

[...]

Then, throw in her general questionable behaviour—nothing egregious, but she's always been hard to read and a bit off—and the fact I think she pretended to be cursed back then, when accusing Madoka of following Ruin.

-I wondered about the last bit, myself. She certainly wasn't doing it prior to that incident that I was aware of... and I've had a similar opinion of her, really. I do not dislike her, but she is fairly opaque, as a person.

[A sigh, and-]

...she told me once that while she does not like the presence of death, it was... part of what she must do, for now. It's possible that...

[this is what she meant. maybe he should've seen that sooner.]

I will see if I can confirm her. I knew there was another with my ability because Merriment said so himself, and that if their identity were puzzled out, he might be able to say whether it's correct. That may apply here, if she does have it.

Do you know if the one who left is the one who afflicted Nito?

Edited 2019-03-12 15:05 (UTC)

Yeah, they're the one.

... In any case, if I'm right, and if she kills Ruin this week, that means we can get her at the trial. I got the reward from Indulgence—thanks for that—and hopefully our migrants to Cunning picked Art of Deduction. Even without those, I might have the help of someone with Lie Detection.

[ishikirimaru... looks even more tired than usual at that.]

Then there might be two unaccounted for, without that one. We could still have the one he mentioned, though he said they haven't used their ability or spoken to him-- and then a new follower. That would make three of us confirmed to have All Nighter without the new one factored in.

[so there might be four, actually, and that's Just Great.]

...if anyone does act, my intent this week is to try to follow Ruin herself to find out if anything happens. I may be able to let you know more on Friday.

Of course, I may also fail or be killed, so I would not rely on it.

[someone save ishi.

he nods.]

... Try not to die. The others would be a mess if you did.

I intend to do my best not to, but there are never any guarantees. If I end up unable to assist you in trial, I will wish you luck.

[after a pause, he adds-]

... I do have to ask. Was it you who had to leave?

... Leave Merriment, you mean? Do you really think I'd give Senri the chills when it made him ten times whinier than before?

If you had a reason to, yes.

[he waves a hand, though--]

But it's just curiosity. You were certain of that person leaving, and said before you didn't want to see him out of the game yet. You can see why one might wonder.

... I'm honestly a little surprised you don't know, unless you're playing dumb right now.

I did tell you before I have fairly few confirmations. My focus has been on keeping roughly... four or five different people from death, at least.

[people hand him info but not their alignments, okay.]

It's not what I'd have assumed of you, no, which was another reason to check.

[...]

I've been told it was Sasuke. Probably shouldn't tell anyone I told you that, though.

Then I suppose he got what was coming to him, having it passed on to him like that.

[there you go, like the one time he'll be directly unkind about a person.]

Yeah, pretty much.

[thanks, kid, you are a bro.]

Mm, while we're sort of still on the subject-- I wanted to thank you for speaking with Piety before, as well. He let me know you two met.

... It's nothing. I'm glad he wasn't wrong about his final follower sticking with him.

I'm more worried about that one being forced to defect than I am about them doing it on their own.

-he mentioned he told you about the agreement he's made, as well.

With Cunning?

Yes.

I suppose it's a reasonable enough move to make, much as I wish he'd focus more on his current position.

[piety literally never stops being concerning.]

I doubt that's going to happen.

... I know. And his follower isn't exactly good at this, either, so I've told them to leave things to me, but-

[he exhales a heavier breath, there. reasons ishi is tired, #53.]

I'll just have to convince someone proactive enough to help. He's at least not out of this yet.

Piety needs to stay in this competition for as long as possible.

... Just don't overextend yourself.

[pcs] ray of sunshine

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