☆ THE FINAL TRIAL

[raisingproject]

The Final Trial

Week 7

At eight in the morning, all throughout the town, a loud school chime can be heard. Those who are familiar with it will know it as Winchester. It is the dawn of the final day, the final trial. It is now the beginning of the end. The voice that speaks up is not the familiar, feminine tones of "M", but rather a voice that hasn't spoken up in a while. You'll recognize it by the familiar tics at the ends of their sentences.

"Good morning. pon! As announced, the final trial shall begin, pon. This will be a retrial of the death of Eliza Owens, as well as a trial to figure out both the murders in the last week as well as the other secrets of the town, pon. The gate to the trial area has been opened, pon. You will not be teleported, so please go there in through the inn." And if they check the stairs going down, they will definitely notice that the gate has been opened up for them. Going downstairs will reveal the trial area they've been in this whole time. It seems that's where it was the whole entire time. But the four of them are not alone. Not in the slightest bit. There's a young man just chilling around, too, sitting on one of the branches of the large tree behind the fountain.

Noticing him, Fav speaks up again. "We have a special guest, pon. His name is Ozuma, pon. He can assist you in certain areas, but he will not be the one to make you succeed, pon. As for the second trial, you have all been given a video on your magical phones of everything that's happened, pon. Good luck, pon."

4 REMAIN

---

↪️️LOCATIONS
↪️️ROOMING ASSIGNMENTS
↪️️PROFILES
↪️️TASKS
↪️️ITEMS
↪️️PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS
↪️️FAV CONTACT
↪️️BONUS AC

Comments

Eliza's killer

[imitationsoul]

Let's get the easiest thing over with first: the matter of who killed Eliza.

The idea that either I or Dahlia could have committed the crime is laughable. A naginata is not a weapon that could be handled by small girls with no combat experience. Even if our magical states give us the power required, the precision of the kill would require a more solid grasp on its handling than either of us would have.

This leaves Szayelaporro and Kaine as the possible suspects. Szayelaporro is also unlikely - he may have known of the naginata, but in Eliza's death letter she apologized for not being able to put his advice in using it to good use. Why would she say this to someone who has slain her with that exact weapon? Eliza has no reason to shield him.

Meanwhile Kaine... He was never cleared by the combat.

In the past week, I have had various interactions with the ghost world. Eliza dropped the book Killer Crabs in the library for me to find. I'm sure I don't need to remind anyone of who Crabby Copycat is and how incriminating the word 'killer' is in this context. I spoke to Dahlia later and she confirmed that Kaine is the killer.

Both Eliza and Dahlia want to revive. By lying to us about this matter they would doom themselves.

Kaine killed Eliza.

[buylowsellhigh]

I.... I trust your judgement Miach. So... unless anyone can make a better case for anyone else, I think Kaine makes the most sense.

[crossingout]

I voted for Kaine-san during the original trial, so I won't go back on my word and disagree with that much. If anyone has any objections, I suppose we can hear them now. If not, let's move on.

[She wants this trial done and over with.]

[enthrallingly]

....

[Ugh. Well he's already dead now so it's not like disagreeing will help anything. So, with that thought--]

Very well. It seems like you have enough information to back that up. Seeing as they want to be brought back, I can't see why they'd lie now.

[She won't cause any trouble this time.]

The Magical Girl Hunter

[imitationsoul]

The more complicated issue is the identity of the one who has been slaughtering seven of us last week, but I have a theory to propose here as well.

The hints given to us were that they were not one of us - as Hinata said - and that we had seen them before - as M said. Additionally, they arrived when the barrier was broken.

And what do you know, there is one person whom we know and who has been seeking a way in through the barrier: Snow White.

The hint Dahlia gave me was a book named What is precipitation? - the answer to that is of course various things, but she later referred to it as a book about winter. So what is precipitation in winter? Snow.

Of course, Dahlia and I could not converse in direct terms as to not violate the rules, but when I insinuated winter would kill crabs by its low temperature, she gave the answer "winter is a cruel mistress."

We know who the crab is. And he was killed by the Magical Girl Hunter.

Thus I propose Snow White is the culprit, despite all her claims to wish to help us.

[crossingout]

So that would mean that Snow White killed her seven dwarves. [Someone had to say it.] But what exactly is her motive for doing so?

[enthrallingly]

[While she might not have thought of it on her own, with Miach's ideas, Seraphina is reminded of something.]

Hoho... She did say she had that weapon that killed Fav when she contacted us before.

now for something completely different:

[raisingproject]

[Ozuma jumps off his branch and raises his hand by way of greeting. If you've only seen him as a child, he's all grown up now.]

Just wanted to pass on a short message: the dead are counting on you. That's what they said.

[enthrallingly]

...no pressure, as it were. [Seraphina laughs.] Still, that's fine. I will ensure we end this properly.

[................................such a useful Overlord.]

[buylowsellhigh]

O-ozuma?!?!?!?!?!?!?

[WHEN THE HECKITY HECK DID YOU GET SO BIG FRIEND?!?!?!?]

[imitationsoul]

Ozuma.

There is a question I have for you. When we found the book about the ritual 'use Ozuma' was listed as a last possible option for revival of the dead. Do you have anything to say about that?

[enthrallingly]

...hey. Can I ask you something? What kind of person is the master you've served?

[buylowsellhigh]

Hey Ozuma?

[Give her a second to look back at you and away from Zange's everything.]

I don't think I ever asked you if you know anything about Cerise, huh? We're probably in her pocket dimension though, right?

[Also..]

Is Zange really the person you're working for?

[Finally.]

Another thing... Does Hakua sound familiar to you?

AN ANNOUNCEMENT:

[raisingproject]

You guys all have four hours until the end of the trial, pon. If you have decided on who did it, let me know, pon.

There will be a final vote once you have finalized that much, pon. And more importantly: you still need to figure out the mysteries of the town.

[buylowsellhigh]

Four hours?!

[RECETTE FEELS LIKE THEY HAD MORE TIME BEFORE]

Okay, right. We can do this. No tripping at the finish line.

[That'd suck so bad.]

Fav, how many mysteries are there? I mean... I bet you won't be specific, but can you like give us an number at least?

[enthrallingly]

It would seem we are all in agreement that it is Kaine who was responsible for Eliza's death. As for our huntress-- I have to agree with Micah's version of events. Snow White is the most logical choice.

Town Secrets

[enthrallingly]

Well I don't know if I'm certain what exactly they are looking for as town secrets go, however... it may be an appropriate time to show you all this.

[Seraphina pulls out a note. The one she found in TV Station. If they want to see it it reads--

Magical Girl Raising Project! Congratulations on your 10000 year anniversary!
For many years, there have been many murdergames shown to us and we have enjoyed seeing these characters come back to life in this crossover series. Thank you very much for picking these twenty from the popular vote. We hope for a great season!]

It seems that our adventures were televised. And it was a very popular program to say the least. None of which this was the first installment of, it would seem.

[imitationsoul]

[ UHM. ]

.... this implies that all of us were previously on this program already.

[ Which..... is really fucking weird, thank you very much. ]

[buylowsellhigh]

Televised...?

[Excuse Recette as she flashes back to Beyond Birthday explaining TV to her in the first week they were here.]

Um..... What.

[Recette's learned an new move! Deadpan!]

Mastermind

[enthrallingly]

Now. Knowing a bit about the history of this, we lead ourselves to one other very important question.

Who is responsible?

The obvious answer would be either myself or Zange, due to our years. As I have nothing to hide, I think the most logical solution is a proper strip search. If it's true that the hunter was looking for the Mastermind among us, then it's very likely that she believed she would find proof on their body. And if the Mastermind's phone was truly so important, it could be nowhere else. Or they would risk it being taken or found-- or simply not having it when they need it.

So? Why don't we try solving this right now, hmmm?

[crossingout]

There's no need for that.

[She goes through her pocket and reveals the master console that was stuffed in her pocket as she transforms and takes out the naginata-- one that they'll recognize as the same one that killed Eliza.]

I suppose we should start the real trial, shall we?

CHOICES

[enthrallingly]

As much as I'd love to revel in a good ending... it seems like we have one more thing to settle. Our choice-- life or death, as it were.

While I'd love to roast her as much as any, I have a feeling we're being played yet again. Whatever her attitude, she is a goddess, a being not unlike the holier-than-thou creatures I'm familiar with.

Ritual or no, I believe she is the key to reviving our dead allies. Also... as she mentioned rules herself... I don't believe now that she has full control. If it were her own game she could do as she pleased but that is not the case.

Must as I'd like to see her pay, I think we would be foolish not to choose life. There are things worse than death after all.

VOTING

[raisingproject]

[ MAKE YOUR DECISIONS HERE -- VOTE FOR LIFE OR DEATH OF THE MASTERMIND, zange's not allowed to vote, fyi ]

[enthrallingly]

Life

[This is the answer she has found, right or wrong, and she is going to trust it.]

[imitationsoul]

>>Death

[ She smiles at that, but what exactly she's thinking doesn't become apparent. ]