(no subject)

[very_good_end]

[After being shoved back in her room she turned right around, indignant.]

You've got to be kidding me! I didn't break any rule! I am not 'exploring the school,' I'm 'confirming alibis' you rabid little freaks!

[POUND POUND POUND on the door.]

Give me back my duct tape!!

[She pounded on the door to her room a little more, before realizing it was hopeless...]

Hm.

[Her attention fell to her nightstand, which she discovered hid a hole to the next room behind it.]

Hey... who's there?

[Maybe she could confirm one alibi with this. It would be easier than putting her ear to the wall and listening to them breathe.]

Comments

[very_good_end]

...That was a rhetorical question.

I see. One moment.

[she fiddled with her tablet.]

It says here you're an 'Ultimate Spear Fisher'. Elaborate.

[cluelesscavewoman]

My father taught me how to survive in any circumstance. As such, I am a capable hunter.

[very_good_end]

Really? He taught you to survive in the wilderness and catch fish from a stream with naught but a pointy stick?

[Though she could understand having some pride with how one used wooden utensils.]

That's not enough information. Elaborate more... please.

[cluelesscavewoman]

Yes. You wait then use accuracy and speed to strike.

[It's really simple, what else needs explaining about that?]

[very_good_end]

[she pauses, smirking, not that it'd be obvious through the hole in the wall]

Have you seen any fish worth spearing at this place, Futayo-san?

[cluelesscavewoman]

There is not even a pond to fish in here...

[She actually sounds pretty sad about that.]

[very_good_end]

...Metaphor is lost on you, isn't it?

[lets out a groan of disgust]

I'm asking how easy it would be to apply your skills with a spear to killing a human being.

[cluelesscavewoman]

I was primarily trained to be the strongest samurai, my survival skills are secondary.

[That doesn't exactly answer the question but with her likes and skill set...]

[very_good_end]

Samurai...? As in, a feudal samurai?

[she rolled her eyes.]

Never mind. I've heard enough.

Well, Futayo-san, I think I'm getting the picture: I'm trapped in a remarkably stupid mystery. Until I see evidence to the contrary, I'm going to need a suitable assistant. ...That's you.

[a deep put-upon sigh.]

If the raccoons are really so adamant about me not leaving without a body-guard, you will be that body, starting tomorrow. Any objections?

[cluelesscavewoman]

Yes. My father Tadakatsu Honda was also a samurai...

[That name might mean a little more.

But there's a long silence as she thinks. That woman told her to make her own choices... Then there's a thud as she kneels near the hole.]

Judgment.

[A shame someone burnt the library and the book explaining that.]

[very_good_end]

[she strained her ears to hear more after that thud, then realizes she... fell over?]

...Good. We'll be announcing it, of course, in case you have any ideas of betrayal.

[cluelesscavewoman]

Jud, this means we are friends.

[very_good_end]

...Hm. You're focused on that concept, aren't you? If it'll save time I'll play along... consider us 'friends'.

[the way she said it, you could practically hear the quotation marks.]

[cluelesscavewoman]

My father told me to see the world and make friends.

[Like it was the simplest thing in the world.]

[very_good_end]

Fascinating. You will see the depths this mystery will take us, at least.

[pause, small sigh.]

I suppose I had better start revealing any clues to you for your appropriate reflection...

Did you make the acquaintance of one Kaiba Seto?

[cluelesscavewoman]

A mystery? ...Like the Lost Noble incidents?

[It's a mumble. She's whispering more to herself than for Erika to hear, just not very well.]

No. I did not.

[very_good_end]

I encountered one Kaiba Seto-shacho, who introduced himself as a CEO and duelist. ...He wore a dashing trenchcoat, but declined to do much. He refused to voice his observations regarding the other players here and who was in his opinion likely to committ the murder act. The way he spoke, he was clinging to a delusion that he was somehow 'above' the events that were sure to unfold here. --Though he did confess expectations of a fleeting amusement at the potential failure of my investigation.

What do you make of that? Is this person suspicious? You needn't over-commit your opinion, but what is your impression, hearing that?

[cluelesscavewoman]

You wish to hear my opinion?

... Such things are not normally asked of me.

[She fidgets on her side of the wall.]

... Jud.

One who refers to themselves as both a duelist and a CEO openly would be a fierce opponent.

There would be nothing unusual if he had only called himself a duelist. There are many who live for battle and use that title.
Any person with influence, such as a CEO, would have enemies. They would either hide their rank or have guards...

Which means that they are in hiding or he is confident in his ability to protect himself.

[very_good_end]

They are now, so get used to it.

[She listens, though.]

Hm... That's your impression? Interesting... I would have thought the opposite. A CEO would be comfortable in their social position, and therefore risk-averse to changes that would threaten that position. Any claims to 'duelist' would be posturing on his part... though perhaps you are right.

[Thinks that over.] Yes, yes... I see now it was fortunate that you should become my assistant.

At any rate, his potential culpability in a potential murder cannot be overlooked, though it's by no means certain.

Let's continue.

[cluelesscavewoman]

So he is suspicious?

[She's nodding her head like, it can't be seen buts she's doing it.]

... What else do you need to discuss? We were told to go to bed for the night...

[very_good_end]

Everyone is suspicious... potentially.

There is no rule saying we must be asleep. And I am certainly not going to miss this chance to confirm your alibi for tonight. Especially when it is the only thing I'm allowed to do. --A detective who can't detect is useless, you know?

[soft, ladylike laughter]

I have not observed you asleep. I cannot, therefore, continue observing you until you wake up. I cannot confirm you won't leave your room, because the raccoons confiscated my duct tape and ripped the seals I had placed. I cannot definitely confirm your room is identical and does not have some connection to another room, or that you are truly alone in there. I cannot confirm you won't use some manipulation to construct a facade of being in your room while you sneak away, unseen.

...Therefore, the only way for me to confirm your alibi with one-hundred percent certainty is for us to continue to stay awake and talk. All night. Without letting any of our dialogue lapse into predictable, repeatable, phrases. In that manner, I can conclude you are definitely innocent, Honda Futayo-san.

--Of course, you can conclude I am as well. It goes without saying, given that the detective cannot be the culprit, but no doubt some characters I've observed will be contrary and argue that point for the sake of arguing... therefore you become my trump card for that as well.

Understand, Futayo-san? Therefore, we cannot sleep.

[cluelesscavewoman]

... Judge... You speak like Four-Eyes...

[There was a whole lot of words there. And she didn't entirely understand. There's a small problem with that though.]

I have nothing to talk about.

[very_good_end]

Four-Eyes...? Is that someone here?

Well, then I will simply have to manufacture things for us to talk about.

[cluelesscavewoman]

No. He is a writer in my class...

[Waiting...]

[very_good_end]

[shrugs] It's of no matter then.

Let us proceed to talk of the detective you described.

I encountered one Akechi Goro-san. He matched your description, and I believe he is the man you talked about. He described himself as something of an amateur detective, and even made the notable claim of having, himself, solved a small number of mysteries with the help of the local police. I must say... he very much impressed me.

Yes, he even began to quote Knox's Decalogue, entirely from memory and without any prompting from myself. It was a rather unique meeting.

...He turned down my offer of his becoming my assistant. That left the position vacant, to be filled by you.

What is your impression, hearing that? Is that congruent with what you know of Akechi-san?