Third Trial

[thecastle]

THIRD TRIAL

Saturday, Week 3

UNCOVER THE GUILTY PARTY


No one can resist the tug that urges them forward and into the Great Hall. There's no point in lingering within the safe confines of your bed or loitering in the castle halls. Neither will shield you from these tedious trials nor will they keep you from witnessing the ghastly scenes that follow. Most of you have reluctantly accepted this as your reality. Right now, it probably feels like there's no stopping the course you're on. All you can do is hold on tight and wait for Sunday to come. If you can just get through this trial, surely next week won't end in disappointment and tragedy.

It's only when all twenty-two of you are present that the doors in the Great Hall fly open, allowing everyone to enter into the trial room. The only surprise here it is if anyone's still shocked by the display.

As soon as you enter, it's easy to see that the only difference from last week is there are less of you to fill the seats around the table. Likely because of how spacious the room is, with so many of your number missing it's starting to feel a little lonely. With a quick glance, you can see the profiles still lining the walls. Their presence serves as a grim reminder of those whose lives have been lost, just in case the absence of their voices wasn't enough.

When everyone settles into their respective seats, The Sage's cold voice seeps in through their pendants.

"It is time, my warriors, to meet the challenge head on. Thus far, your quick wit and perseverance have prevented these trials from meeting an unrighteous end. As you come upon your third tribunal, I can only ponder if this trend will continue.

May you be blessed with only the best of fortune. You will need it."

As soon as the Sage finishes speaking, five images flicker into sight as if brought to life by a projector. Seeing how there's no such device present, it may not be a stretch to consider magic is at work here.

Soldier on, Warriors.

22 REMAIN

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Comments

[maddogs]

I thought so too?

[ there are several ???? in this ]

But Mako said maybe she just didn't know how a salad worked so I went with it.

[breakingthrough]

...right. Yeah, if it was Natalia that's not impossible.

[BUT YIKES GIRL.]

[maddogs]

That'd be a fuckin' weird salad.

[breakingthrough]

I take it you haven't seen any of her personal works before.

She was pretty impressive in a really bad way.

[maddogs]

[ he laughs fondly ]

An' yet she hated octopus. What a gal.

[fedorascout]

It's true Natalia-chan was not a very good cook. Did you see the soup she made on Thursday? It'd have been great as a murder weapon. If it wasn't for the fact mandrake was found in the wine, I'd have considered Natalia-chan accidentally added mandrake to her salad, not knowing what it was.

[But the mandrake being in the wine shows a clear intent of something, yeah]

[maddogs]

I'm pretty sure she took it wantin' ta numb the pain before dying.

[ there are many things going around in circles rn but he feels like this doesn't need to be one of them .]

[fedorascout]

Aren't you taking for granted that Natalia-chan was okay with sacrificing herself for someone else's sake?

If she's as selfless and altruistic as you say she is, wouldn't she at least have taken measures for the killer to not be executed for her death? If she and a killer had worked together, wouldn't she at least tried to make sure the person who so kindly helped her wouldn't die a horrible death mere hours later?

[Kizakura shrugs]

I just find a bit hard to believe she'd just let anyone die because of her, if she was willing to die for her kingdom.

[maddogs]

Ya know she killed her father, right?

[originallutece]

Perhaps. Or perhaps she thought the ends justified the means.

[She shrugs.]

One or two lives aren't worth much if you think you're saving millions.

[browbeater]

The lemon juice was a dressing, not actually in the salad.

[pause]

.... but honestly, it's still a weird flavor for a salad.

[coinflipped]

I wonder if the lemon was used to cover up a smell or a taste, then. I know it's useful for cooking when you want to get the fishy taste out of... fish.

[browbeater]

I thought it was to cover up the taste, but it effectively covered up the smell too.

[irrationalities]

It could've been used to cover up the smell or taste of the mandrake. Same goes for the basil and mint.

[Or...]

Alternately, it was to make the salad too sour to taste good, so she'd want to have a drink to help down it.

[A drink... like the wine laced with mandrake.]

[browbeater]

Which would have had to have been laced after it was poured.

[irrationalities]

It could've been prepared in advance too, if all the food and shit was set out beforehand. She could've been dressed up because she had a dinner date with someone too.

[browbeater]

But it still would have been laced directly into the cup.

I also wonder if the original theory, that Natalia wanted to die, works with this? I don't think it does.

[irrationalities]

Depends how you see it. She could've taken it knowing what was in there while they were just dining together, if the taste of the mandrake seemed that bad.

[But he does agree that it honestly it makes it look a lot sneakier than it should be if it was just simple suicide.]

[browbeater]

[he's doubting the suicide more and more, honestly, as time goes on.]

Yeah...