![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alias_sqbrMasterlist
Two chapters in out of ??, so far it's a fun romance and a fun if sometimes darkish fantasy plot which goes at an enjoyable clip with lots of twists and turns.
And yes the chapters are labelled "withered flower", not your typical romance route name and I'm still curious what it's referring to!
Some of the warnings for this section spoil the plot so I'll put it all under a cut. I found the content a little disturbing but not actively distressing.
Cannibalism, child harm, major character death, violence from love interest in a non-romantic context
We start with a creepy little children's story about an evil witch that looks awfully like Anastasia being captured and killed by a wonderful Prince who looks like Conrad. It's very Utena.
Anastasia is in the castle, trying to remember how she got there after talking to the witch. And then she remembers: The witch made the sky black and Conrad invited 'special' people (including her as a recent winner of the games) to shelter with him in the castle and be protected by his blessing as a scion/descendent of the Goddess. She snuck out to search the room of one of his lackeys.
She is attacked by a highly competent shadowy male assassin. Lucien comes in and the assassin vanishes, Lucien says it was Conrad's 'Hound' and helps her make an unseen escape.
The next day she is suddenly summoned by inquisitors and dragged down to the dungeons, where she sees... Crius refusing to confess in a kinda flirty way while being whipped by Tyril?? Ok :D
It's obvious to the player but not Anastasia that Tyril is putting on a show for the watching Cardinal. Tyril says Crius is too masochistically kinky to torture(!!) and offers to torture Anastasia instead to make Crius talk, 'happening' to drop her noble surname, which of course makes the Cardinal back down.
It turns out the Witch Of Ruin has created a ritual called The Carnival. The last ritual happened 50 years ago, and details are slim, since knowing too much can drive you mad.
One of five marked suspects/Sacrifica has had their conscience removed, and last night was given magic powers as long as they agree to kill someone of their choosing. If the inquisitors can arrest and kill the murderer/Membrum in time, they win. Otherwise the Membrum will kill again, and again.
Last night, a priest witnessed Crius kill... Lucien, aww. I'M COMING TO SAVE YOU ONE DAY, LUCIEN. JUST LET ME FINISH SMOOCHING THIS GUY FIRST.
The suspects all have magical chains around their necks, as evident on Crius... and the Cardinal.
Anastasia: Then how do we know it wasn't you, and the priest is just lying?
Cardinal: I am PROTECTED BY THE GODDESS!!
Tyril: Show more respect for the church! *whips her and it really hurts*
She angrily asks to investigate things herself and he mutters "About time, dumbass" and recruits her to be his subordinate. It's subordinate/mentor romances the whole way down I guess!
Anyway what follows is a delightful SHIPPY MURDER MYSTERY INVESTIGATION with a whole new CLUES TAB!! Tyril is very clever and knows it, while Anastasia is more earnest and less bright. But as much as her hotheaded earnestness contrasts and conflicts with his snarky cynicism, they both recognise that they add up to a good team, and learn to respect and value each other more and more as the day progresses. Tyril is incredibly cynical about human nature, including the corrupt Church and Inquisitors, but is sincerely dedicated to his job, and is decent and kind deep down. If you ask the right questions he will tsundarily praise Anastasia's competence, and whenever she earnestly looks up to him as her Murder Solving Sempai he gets really tsundere and blushy which is cute.
I'm not a HUGE fan of Inquisitors as justified pursuers of genuinely evil witches, but as with most Japanese stories it's clear the game is not a HUGE fans of the Catholic Church or it's fictional analogue, and in-universe it does make sense to be dedicated to the job.
There are five suspects ('Sacrificia'): Crius, the Cardinal, Conrad, Hugo, and Sammy, an adorable little orphan boy who Lucien used to visit at the orphanage. IT BETTER NOT BE THOSE LAST TWO (Crius can die, it would be sad but they already killed LUCIEN and at least I can assume Crius gets a good end on his route)
You only have time to interview four suspects. In each interview you can learn useful facts and topics for the upcoming trial.
The first time I did everyone but Conrad, assuming he was just going to lie anyway, and this was a Mistake. Tyril and Anstasia got eaten by the puppet monster THE END.
Since there were zero useful clues during the Hugo investigation I skipped him the second time and the game let me continue, hooray!
Next up, the witch gathers the suspects and they have a chance to try and convince a jury of 300 people of their innocence. If the correct suspect is not executed tonight, there will be another death every day until that happens.
So! Might as well lay out the Clues and see what I can come up with.
Tyril leaked information to a newspaper for money, to spook the suspects and inform the populace. The article makes Crius sound like a bit of a con-man womaniser. Also he was illegitimate!
In the past, witches sent everyone to sleep at the time of the murder.
Last night, Conrad organised his big party to 'protect the important people of the city' eg drum up support for both his innocence and later bid for the throne, since popular as he is, he's the only suspect who actually had a motive for killing Lucien. He claims to have been awake all night along with everyone else. The guests (including Orla who is SO happy to see her sister) claim not to have slept or seen him leave but it's clear that many if not all would be willing to lie. Anastasia spends the whole time trying to hide her bloodlust, and has a full body shudder when he refers to her as his 'beautiful cousin'.
Lucien didn't go to the party but went to bed. The next morning he was found in the greenhouse, stabbed, with his internal organs removed, surrounded by flowers?? Lucien's corpse has been removed but the greenhouse is full of blood and little Lucien chunks D:
Crius says he went to bed alone and fell asleep very suddenly. Talking to him raises his standing with the populace.
The Cardinal also claims to have been asleep. Anastasia manages to draw him into talking about his love of paintings, especially when they capture a beautiful woman in her teens before she gets gross and old, blech. She bribes him into agreeing to help her by saying she can introduce him to his favourite painter, the real Maes Diaz (assuming there is one and it wasn't always the witch??). Tyril pisses off the Cardinal by obliquely referring to Something that happened involving Crius and the Church 13 years ago, eg around the time he left home to join the knights.
Sammy is sad and weird in a somewhat suspicious way, randomly jumping at the thought of his principal and saying he 'tried to become Lucien' and failed.
Hugo is out trying to clear Crius's name. This is very unhelpful for my clue gathering.
Tyril thinks Conrad and the cardinal are working together to get Crius executed, not because they really think he's guilty or because they're necessarily guilty themselves but just to make sure they don't get killed tonight, and he's the easiest target.
Mannnn.... more for reasons of narrative than Clues, I feel like Conrad and the Cardinal are being set up as "it would be nice if they were guilty but sadly probably not", Sammy is being set up as the obvious tragic murderer, and Hugo is the real tragic murderer, which is why we didn't get to talk to him and see how OOC he has become.
Haaa. Maybe not. Sammy got into trouble for stealing another child's clothes because he got his own clothes dirty while "cooking".
WEIRD PUPPET GUY SHOWS UP except it's just a well intentioned Inquisitor who hired a costume for popular children's character Mr Endy to try and connect with Sammy, after Tyril told him it was important to make sure Sammy is as prepared for the trial as possible.
Tyril goes on a rant about how self sacrifice is STUPID and he knows Anastasia is a big fan but if she even THINKS about it he will BEAT HER HIMSELF. Him being violent towards her can be uncomfortable, though it's always coming from a sort of... tough love tsundere boss place and there is a sort of weird respect to him not toning himself down for a woman.
At the trial, the Witch of Ruin explains that the Inquisitors are like court officials, not in charge of making arguments or judgements but just responsible for making the trial run smoothly. If they succeed, he'll give them a wish. If they break the rules, they die. He's all creepy and smug as he explains, but then is briefly thrown off kilter when Tyril says "Huh, I get it now, you only have significant magic power through people you make deals with, which is why you never kill anyone directly".
Despite his earlier speech, Tyril bargains for a way to make the trial easier, even though it means that since he was paid in advance the trial MUST be perfect or he will DIE. The details of the bargain are organised inside Tyril's head and he is left shaken.
Surprisingly, instead of going after Crius, the Cardinal focusses on making Conrad look bad for being impious and cutthroat. Apparently Lucien was very religious! Anastasia has never had much connection to the church, after realising early that the Goddess would never help her.
Hugo is the son of a different Cardinal, and has to push back against the assumption he'll follow in those footsteps. He hasn't said much else so far except earnestly promising to protect Crius.
Lucien is at various points described as both 18 and 19. Bad writing, or Clue?? Also he's described as having a reputation for being ruthless, which is a change.
OH MAN. So there was a bunch of clever twists and turns and places where I had to pick the right topic or clue, and if I picked wrong the witch got annoyed and murdered Tyril, which was very motivating!
Haaaa the Cardinal was only 'doubting' Conrad as set up to being 'convinced of his innocence', I see.
The witness who supposedly claimed he saw Crius kill Lucien JUST HAPPENED to fall deathly ill before the Inquisitors could talk to him. If they can prove everyone but the murderer was asleep, it means the testimony was fabricated.
Conrad and the Cardinal: Yes, witches have used sleep magic in the past, but not this time. And anyway Conrad made himself and the witness immune with his Royal Family Goddess Powers.
Tyril: Interesting. I call the witch to the stand :)
Witch: Sup! I for sure used sleeping magic. Can't say if Conrad was immune without testing, which will require a Deal. I sure would like to hurt you though, Conrad :) ... but that's not relevant to this trial :)
Anastasia: I use my wish. Do whatever you want to Conrad as long as you don't kill him.
Conrad: Wait wha- *is thrown up into the air and dragged about, screaming, to the delight of Anastasia, the witch, and me*
Witch: Look at that, I can use my magic on him just fine. Guess he and the Cardinal were lying. Well, bye ^_^
Cardinal: I KNEW HE WAS GUILTY!!! HE ALWAYS HATED HIS BROTHER!!
Conrad, with an incredibly creepy smile: You're under a lot of stress :) So I'll forget you said that :)
Cardinal: ...thank you sir >.>
The witch at some point comments about "you" hating the royal family, and Anastasia realises it's directed at Tyril.
OH THAT'S RIGHT. When she makes the deal, she collapses, because the witch is having to fight against the fact she is 'protected' (presumably by Rune)
Tyril: Take this medicine. *kisses her to transfer... something?* OK. WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT WAS MEDICINAL. YES??
Hugo: It looked more like you were kissi-
Tyril: >:(
Hugo: Yes! Medicinal!
This was cute and also seems like proof Hugo has zero romantic interest in Anastasia, hooray: he seemed very surprised, but not jealous. He kinda comes across as having a crush on Crius, though I don't ship it since he's even more cluelessly earnest than Anastasia.
Though it occurs to me that this game does seem to possibly have secret routes, I guess he could be one of them? IDK, though, he's nice enough but a little bland and not drawn like a Hot Boy compared to the actual LIs.
Once Hugo realises Crius hasn't seen the evidence reports etc he hands them over and Crius Silently Realises What Happened. He and Tyril have a very cute unspoken communication and cooperation, with Anastasia as competent but slightly less clued in helper.
Once it becomes clear that the murderer liked Lucien, Conrad cheerfully flips to admitting he did hate his brother. But since they now have no obvious suspects, he says the only logical choice is for one of the two knights to sacrifice themselves: aren't they supposed to protect the clergy, children, and the crown?
Hugo: WTF?? >:(
Crius: Please forgive Hugo he is a cadet.
Conrad: Then I suppose we only have one knight :)
Up until now, everyone has generally avoided bringing Sammy into any of the debates because he is clearly barely following anything, and they either genuinely don't want to stress out a little kid or don't want to appear unkind.
Anastasia has one last shot to pick the right debate topics. And so... I picked the ones that slowly drew Sammy into describing what he'd done the previous day... when he got his clothes 'dirty' getting 'meat' for the orphanage. You see, he wanted a way to help everyone escape their fate as slaves. He'd heard that if you eat horse meat you become fast like a horse. So surely, if they were to all eat a kind, powerful prince...
Nnng. I guessed most of that (lol to him being a red herring I guess the game isn't that complex) but hadn't figured out the cannibalism. And the other children already ate the stew D:
Cardinal and Conrad: EXECUTE THE MONSTER BEFORE HE KILLS AGAIN!! SEND HIM TO HELL!!!
Hugo: He is EIGHT. There must be another way!
Game: Help Him or Do Nothing?
Me: Well I guess I gotta help him. But I have no idea how that's going to-
Sammy: Everyone's being mean. I don't want to go to hell! Mr Witch, if I let you eat me, will you send me to where my mommy and daddy are? *vanishes*
Me: ...I guess that works.
That was all a little emotionally manipulative but it overall worked reasonably well and kept me engaged.
The trial ends. Even Tyril looks shaken and says he's going to collapse in his office. Anastasia follows him, bringing food, and says she's going to borrow his couch. She doesn't have a sprite but something in her face or voice makes Tyril say "I'm no good at consoling people", then sit down next to her and let her cry on his shoulder, saying they did everything they could. Exhausted, she rambles.
Anastasia: It's only been a day, but I'm glad I got to be your subordinate. You have a beautiful voice, you'd make an excellent singer.
Tyril: If you want to hear me sing you'll need the country's entire treasury.
Anastasia: If I was as experienced and powerful as you, maybe I'd be able to take him down...
The fall asleep next to each other and are woken the next day by Crius coming to see if she's there, since Maya was worried.
Happily, neither he nor Tyril make any overt comments about it being unwise for a teenage girl to fall asleep next to her male boss. But there is a subtextual conversation which goes over her head, along the lines of:
Crius: Just to double check, did you sleep with my favourite cadet?
Tyril: Maybe, what you going to do about it :D
Crius: You're lucky I know you're just messing with me.
Tyril asks Anastasia to join the Inquisitors and I have the chance to say no and stay with the Wings of Garuda, lol, I wonder how that goes.
Tyril: I am going to SHOW YOU THE MEANING OF HELL AND SUFFERING >:D Now go home and tell your family you're safe, I'm sure they're worried.
Anastasia: Yes, sir :)
Crius: You're my friend and I trust you, Tyr. But the dark shadows in your past may be too much even for her. Just promise you'll make her happy.
Tyril: That's up to her.
Anastasia goes home to see Maya, who presents her with an unmarked letter. Which turns out to be... from Lucien!!!
:D :D
Man, poor Lucien. There he is carefully balancing the threat of his brother and the expectations of his father etc, and then he gets EATEN by some RANDOM ORPHANS for being NICE.
But yeah I am having a good time! I don't like the EXTREME power imbalance (not just him being older and her boss but the Vibe) but this feels like the kind of story where that's going to shift, if only because Tyril seems too principled to get involved with Anastasia with the dynamic as it is now.
I'm curious if the other routes have Carnivals too, the mechanic feels too in depth to just use on one route, but noone else is an Inquisitor.
Two chapters in out of ??, so far it's a fun romance and a fun if sometimes darkish fantasy plot which goes at an enjoyable clip with lots of twists and turns.
And yes the chapters are labelled "withered flower", not your typical romance route name and I'm still curious what it's referring to!
Some of the warnings for this section spoil the plot so I'll put it all under a cut. I found the content a little disturbing but not actively distressing.
Content Notes, spoilers
Cannibalism, child harm, major character death, violence from love interest in a non-romantic context
We start with a creepy little children's story about an evil witch that looks awfully like Anastasia being captured and killed by a wonderful Prince who looks like Conrad. It's very Utena.
Anastasia is in the castle, trying to remember how she got there after talking to the witch. And then she remembers: The witch made the sky black and Conrad invited 'special' people (including her as a recent winner of the games) to shelter with him in the castle and be protected by his blessing as a scion/descendent of the Goddess. She snuck out to search the room of one of his lackeys.
She is attacked by a highly competent shadowy male assassin. Lucien comes in and the assassin vanishes, Lucien says it was Conrad's 'Hound' and helps her make an unseen escape.
The next day she is suddenly summoned by inquisitors and dragged down to the dungeons, where she sees... Crius refusing to confess in a kinda flirty way while being whipped by Tyril?? Ok :D
It's obvious to the player but not Anastasia that Tyril is putting on a show for the watching Cardinal. Tyril says Crius is too masochistically kinky to torture(!!) and offers to torture Anastasia instead to make Crius talk, 'happening' to drop her noble surname, which of course makes the Cardinal back down.
It turns out the Witch Of Ruin has created a ritual called The Carnival. The last ritual happened 50 years ago, and details are slim, since knowing too much can drive you mad.
One of five marked suspects/Sacrifica has had their conscience removed, and last night was given magic powers as long as they agree to kill someone of their choosing. If the inquisitors can arrest and kill the murderer/Membrum in time, they win. Otherwise the Membrum will kill again, and again.
Last night, a priest witnessed Crius kill... Lucien, aww. I'M COMING TO SAVE YOU ONE DAY, LUCIEN. JUST LET ME FINISH SMOOCHING THIS GUY FIRST.
The suspects all have magical chains around their necks, as evident on Crius... and the Cardinal.
Anastasia: Then how do we know it wasn't you, and the priest is just lying?
Cardinal: I am PROTECTED BY THE GODDESS!!
Tyril: Show more respect for the church! *whips her and it really hurts*
She angrily asks to investigate things herself and he mutters "About time, dumbass" and recruits her to be his subordinate. It's subordinate/mentor romances the whole way down I guess!
Anyway what follows is a delightful SHIPPY MURDER MYSTERY INVESTIGATION with a whole new CLUES TAB!! Tyril is very clever and knows it, while Anastasia is more earnest and less bright. But as much as her hotheaded earnestness contrasts and conflicts with his snarky cynicism, they both recognise that they add up to a good team, and learn to respect and value each other more and more as the day progresses. Tyril is incredibly cynical about human nature, including the corrupt Church and Inquisitors, but is sincerely dedicated to his job, and is decent and kind deep down. If you ask the right questions he will tsundarily praise Anastasia's competence, and whenever she earnestly looks up to him as her Murder Solving Sempai he gets really tsundere and blushy which is cute.
I'm not a HUGE fan of Inquisitors as justified pursuers of genuinely evil witches, but as with most Japanese stories it's clear the game is not a HUGE fans of the Catholic Church or it's fictional analogue, and in-universe it does make sense to be dedicated to the job.
There are five suspects ('Sacrificia'): Crius, the Cardinal, Conrad, Hugo, and Sammy, an adorable little orphan boy who Lucien used to visit at the orphanage. IT BETTER NOT BE THOSE LAST TWO (Crius can die, it would be sad but they already killed LUCIEN and at least I can assume Crius gets a good end on his route)
You only have time to interview four suspects. In each interview you can learn useful facts and topics for the upcoming trial.
The first time I did everyone but Conrad, assuming he was just going to lie anyway, and this was a Mistake. Tyril and Anstasia got eaten by the puppet monster THE END.
Since there were zero useful clues during the Hugo investigation I skipped him the second time and the game let me continue, hooray!
Next up, the witch gathers the suspects and they have a chance to try and convince a jury of 300 people of their innocence. If the correct suspect is not executed tonight, there will be another death every day until that happens.
So! Might as well lay out the Clues and see what I can come up with.
Tyril leaked information to a newspaper for money, to spook the suspects and inform the populace. The article makes Crius sound like a bit of a con-man womaniser. Also he was illegitimate!
In the past, witches sent everyone to sleep at the time of the murder.
Last night, Conrad organised his big party to 'protect the important people of the city' eg drum up support for both his innocence and later bid for the throne, since popular as he is, he's the only suspect who actually had a motive for killing Lucien. He claims to have been awake all night along with everyone else. The guests (including Orla who is SO happy to see her sister) claim not to have slept or seen him leave but it's clear that many if not all would be willing to lie. Anastasia spends the whole time trying to hide her bloodlust, and has a full body shudder when he refers to her as his 'beautiful cousin'.
Lucien didn't go to the party but went to bed. The next morning he was found in the greenhouse, stabbed, with his internal organs removed, surrounded by flowers?? Lucien's corpse has been removed but the greenhouse is full of blood and little Lucien chunks D:
Crius says he went to bed alone and fell asleep very suddenly. Talking to him raises his standing with the populace.
The Cardinal also claims to have been asleep. Anastasia manages to draw him into talking about his love of paintings, especially when they capture a beautiful woman in her teens before she gets gross and old, blech. She bribes him into agreeing to help her by saying she can introduce him to his favourite painter, the real Maes Diaz (assuming there is one and it wasn't always the witch??). Tyril pisses off the Cardinal by obliquely referring to Something that happened involving Crius and the Church 13 years ago, eg around the time he left home to join the knights.
Sammy is sad and weird in a somewhat suspicious way, randomly jumping at the thought of his principal and saying he 'tried to become Lucien' and failed.
Hugo is out trying to clear Crius's name. This is very unhelpful for my clue gathering.
Tyril thinks Conrad and the cardinal are working together to get Crius executed, not because they really think he's guilty or because they're necessarily guilty themselves but just to make sure they don't get killed tonight, and he's the easiest target.
Mannnn.... more for reasons of narrative than Clues, I feel like Conrad and the Cardinal are being set up as "it would be nice if they were guilty but sadly probably not", Sammy is being set up as the obvious tragic murderer, and Hugo is the real tragic murderer, which is why we didn't get to talk to him and see how OOC he has become.
Haaa. Maybe not. Sammy got into trouble for stealing another child's clothes because he got his own clothes dirty while "cooking".
WEIRD PUPPET GUY SHOWS UP except it's just a well intentioned Inquisitor who hired a costume for popular children's character Mr Endy to try and connect with Sammy, after Tyril told him it was important to make sure Sammy is as prepared for the trial as possible.
Tyril goes on a rant about how self sacrifice is STUPID and he knows Anastasia is a big fan but if she even THINKS about it he will BEAT HER HIMSELF. Him being violent towards her can be uncomfortable, though it's always coming from a sort of... tough love tsundere boss place and there is a sort of weird respect to him not toning himself down for a woman.
At the trial, the Witch of Ruin explains that the Inquisitors are like court officials, not in charge of making arguments or judgements but just responsible for making the trial run smoothly. If they succeed, he'll give them a wish. If they break the rules, they die. He's all creepy and smug as he explains, but then is briefly thrown off kilter when Tyril says "Huh, I get it now, you only have significant magic power through people you make deals with, which is why you never kill anyone directly".
Despite his earlier speech, Tyril bargains for a way to make the trial easier, even though it means that since he was paid in advance the trial MUST be perfect or he will DIE. The details of the bargain are organised inside Tyril's head and he is left shaken.
Surprisingly, instead of going after Crius, the Cardinal focusses on making Conrad look bad for being impious and cutthroat. Apparently Lucien was very religious! Anastasia has never had much connection to the church, after realising early that the Goddess would never help her.
Hugo is the son of a different Cardinal, and has to push back against the assumption he'll follow in those footsteps. He hasn't said much else so far except earnestly promising to protect Crius.
Lucien is at various points described as both 18 and 19. Bad writing, or Clue?? Also he's described as having a reputation for being ruthless, which is a change.
OH MAN. So there was a bunch of clever twists and turns and places where I had to pick the right topic or clue, and if I picked wrong the witch got annoyed and murdered Tyril, which was very motivating!
Haaaa the Cardinal was only 'doubting' Conrad as set up to being 'convinced of his innocence', I see.
The witness who supposedly claimed he saw Crius kill Lucien JUST HAPPENED to fall deathly ill before the Inquisitors could talk to him. If they can prove everyone but the murderer was asleep, it means the testimony was fabricated.
Conrad and the Cardinal: Yes, witches have used sleep magic in the past, but not this time. And anyway Conrad made himself and the witness immune with his Royal Family Goddess Powers.
Tyril: Interesting. I call the witch to the stand :)
Witch: Sup! I for sure used sleeping magic. Can't say if Conrad was immune without testing, which will require a Deal. I sure would like to hurt you though, Conrad :) ... but that's not relevant to this trial :)
Anastasia: I use my wish. Do whatever you want to Conrad as long as you don't kill him.
Conrad: Wait wha- *is thrown up into the air and dragged about, screaming, to the delight of Anastasia, the witch, and me*
Witch: Look at that, I can use my magic on him just fine. Guess he and the Cardinal were lying. Well, bye ^_^
Cardinal: I KNEW HE WAS GUILTY!!! HE ALWAYS HATED HIS BROTHER!!
Conrad, with an incredibly creepy smile: You're under a lot of stress :) So I'll forget you said that :)
Cardinal: ...thank you sir >.>
The witch at some point comments about "you" hating the royal family, and Anastasia realises it's directed at Tyril.
OH THAT'S RIGHT. When she makes the deal, she collapses, because the witch is having to fight against the fact she is 'protected' (presumably by Rune)
Tyril: Take this medicine. *kisses her to transfer... something?* OK. WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT WAS MEDICINAL. YES??
Hugo: It looked more like you were kissi-
Tyril: >:(
Hugo: Yes! Medicinal!
This was cute and also seems like proof Hugo has zero romantic interest in Anastasia, hooray: he seemed very surprised, but not jealous. He kinda comes across as having a crush on Crius, though I don't ship it since he's even more cluelessly earnest than Anastasia.
Though it occurs to me that this game does seem to possibly have secret routes, I guess he could be one of them? IDK, though, he's nice enough but a little bland and not drawn like a Hot Boy compared to the actual LIs.
Once Hugo realises Crius hasn't seen the evidence reports etc he hands them over and Crius Silently Realises What Happened. He and Tyril have a very cute unspoken communication and cooperation, with Anastasia as competent but slightly less clued in helper.
Once it becomes clear that the murderer liked Lucien, Conrad cheerfully flips to admitting he did hate his brother. But since they now have no obvious suspects, he says the only logical choice is for one of the two knights to sacrifice themselves: aren't they supposed to protect the clergy, children, and the crown?
Hugo: WTF?? >:(
Crius: Please forgive Hugo he is a cadet.
Conrad: Then I suppose we only have one knight :)
Up until now, everyone has generally avoided bringing Sammy into any of the debates because he is clearly barely following anything, and they either genuinely don't want to stress out a little kid or don't want to appear unkind.
Anastasia has one last shot to pick the right debate topics. And so... I picked the ones that slowly drew Sammy into describing what he'd done the previous day... when he got his clothes 'dirty' getting 'meat' for the orphanage. You see, he wanted a way to help everyone escape their fate as slaves. He'd heard that if you eat horse meat you become fast like a horse. So surely, if they were to all eat a kind, powerful prince...
Nnng. I guessed most of that (lol to him being a red herring I guess the game isn't that complex) but hadn't figured out the cannibalism. And the other children already ate the stew D:
Cardinal and Conrad: EXECUTE THE MONSTER BEFORE HE KILLS AGAIN!! SEND HIM TO HELL!!!
Hugo: He is EIGHT. There must be another way!
Game: Help Him or Do Nothing?
Me: Well I guess I gotta help him. But I have no idea how that's going to-
Sammy: Everyone's being mean. I don't want to go to hell! Mr Witch, if I let you eat me, will you send me to where my mommy and daddy are? *vanishes*
Me: ...I guess that works.
That was all a little emotionally manipulative but it overall worked reasonably well and kept me engaged.
The trial ends. Even Tyril looks shaken and says he's going to collapse in his office. Anastasia follows him, bringing food, and says she's going to borrow his couch. She doesn't have a sprite but something in her face or voice makes Tyril say "I'm no good at consoling people", then sit down next to her and let her cry on his shoulder, saying they did everything they could. Exhausted, she rambles.
Anastasia: It's only been a day, but I'm glad I got to be your subordinate. You have a beautiful voice, you'd make an excellent singer.
Tyril: If you want to hear me sing you'll need the country's entire treasury.
Anastasia: If I was as experienced and powerful as you, maybe I'd be able to take him down...
The fall asleep next to each other and are woken the next day by Crius coming to see if she's there, since Maya was worried.
Happily, neither he nor Tyril make any overt comments about it being unwise for a teenage girl to fall asleep next to her male boss. But there is a subtextual conversation which goes over her head, along the lines of:
Crius: Just to double check, did you sleep with my favourite cadet?
Tyril: Maybe, what you going to do about it :D
Crius: You're lucky I know you're just messing with me.
Tyril asks Anastasia to join the Inquisitors and I have the chance to say no and stay with the Wings of Garuda, lol, I wonder how that goes.
Tyril: I am going to SHOW YOU THE MEANING OF HELL AND SUFFERING >:D Now go home and tell your family you're safe, I'm sure they're worried.
Anastasia: Yes, sir :)
Crius: You're my friend and I trust you, Tyr. But the dark shadows in your past may be too much even for her. Just promise you'll make her happy.
Tyril: That's up to her.
Anastasia goes home to see Maya, who presents her with an unmarked letter. Which turns out to be... from Lucien!!!
:D :D
Man, poor Lucien. There he is carefully balancing the threat of his brother and the expectations of his father etc, and then he gets EATEN by some RANDOM ORPHANS for being NICE.
But yeah I am having a good time! I don't like the EXTREME power imbalance (not just him being older and her boss but the Vibe) but this feels like the kind of story where that's going to shift, if only because Tyril seems too principled to get involved with Anastasia with the dynamic as it is now.
I'm curious if the other routes have Carnivals too, the mechanic feels too in depth to just use on one route, but noone else is an Inquisitor.
