Day Five: Cursed Trust

Raid Event: Doomsday Getaway

Episode 6

Day Five: Cursed Trust

Previous Quest

Day Five: The Victor's Choice

Next Quest

Final Day: And Then...

Summary

Norwin has finally found the key to the mystery! Taking advantage of the workings of the island, the group traps Carmen and manages to revive their fallen comrades. The party then begins the decisive showdown with Scylla, who is furious that her scheme has gone awry.

Dialogue

The culprit is... You, Amane.  ! No way. Amane?! You're wrong, Norwin. It's not me. No, you are the one who killed Mikoto— and Patia as well. Elisanne is also likely your fault. But why did you kill everyone, Amane? I didn't kill ANYONE! Norwin is just misunderstanding something! She's right—she didn't kill everyone. I, for example, killed Cleo. ...What? I don't know the situation with Luca, but based on the circumstances, I believe Elisanne was the one who killed Ranzal. I am very confused right now. I will explain in order. First, my theory is premised on the fact Scylla has NOT, in fact, disguised herself as one of us. But the note we found said she did! It said she did so for THAT particular person in THAT particular game. We merely assumed the same situation applied to us in the here and now. You seem very confident about that. Let me pose a small thought exercise: Assume that, for the sake of argument, I am Scylla in disguise. In this case, where is the actual Norwin? Well, I suppose Scylla killed you before pretending to be you. No, but wait. That means the number of dolls doesn't match up. Right. If she'd killed someone to take their place, there would have to be one more doll than there is. Okay, so Scylla's not here. That's groovy. But then how is everyone's soul being vacuumed outta their body? Indeed, I have never heard of such a skill in all my wanderings. For that, we look to the island's curse. You mean the story you told us the first night about an evil villain who lives here devouring souls? Correct. If that was a warning about Scylla, then we can't ignore it. And the exact tale of the curse was... "This island is a place of suspicion. One must never let the words tempt them." "A place of suspicion"? So we're SUPPOSED to be suspicious of things here? Because if so, I am WAY ahead of you. Yes, and I believe the second part is a warning regarding that. It's telling us we must maintain suspicion. Specifically, the tale of the curse is a warning not to let "words" tempt us into abandoning suspicion. That is, we are not to reply to words of TRUST. Can you maybe explain this slowly? Pretend I'm not all that bright. On this island, there are words that serve as a trigger for death. And those are the words we aren't supposed to reply to, correct? The ones specifically about trust? So if someone says they trust you, and you reply that you do as well, then you die? That was my initial suspicion—and when I heard the conversation between Amane and Mikoto earlier, I became sure of it. I believe that to be the reason people say this island is cursed. If that is the case, it means I was the one who triggered things for Mikoto, Patia, AND Elisanne. And I triggered it for Cleo. Luca might have been my fault. We were having a conversation that night, and I'm sure the subject came up. Well, weeeell! What a bunch of smarties! ...So whatcha gonna do about it? What? You figured it out, yaaaay. So what now? You don't think this actually CHANGES anything, do you? DO YOU NEVER SHUT UP?! SERIOUSLY! No, she's right. We may have figured out how the game works, but that doesn't mean our problems are over. Even if the game ends right now, we'll still be trapped on the island. But it DOES mean we can stop people from dying, which buys us some time to figure out a solution to that issue. You DO realize you're just accepting Norwin's random hunch about the whole "don't say you trust people" thing, right? I mean, heck! What if another word is the trigger? What if a BUNCH of words are? Oh man, if I were you, I'd be reeeally worried about dying tomorrow... I knew you would say something like that. Luckily, proving it is simple. We just have to try the method and see what happens. So somebody has to AGREE to die?! No need to worry: I trust everyone here. Even if I die and turn into a doll, I will eventually be revived. Amane... I appreciate your determination, Amane, but we're getting ahead of ourselves. If we're really going to test this theory, we need to establish the parameters of our experiment. How so? For example, it needs to be a reply, but does context have any bearing? Does a person actually need to MEAN it, or is simply saying the phrase enough? There are many possible permutations to this curse that must be considered. So you want to know if the words will trigger the trap even if they are a lie. I see no point in confirming that. Oh? Why not? Empty trust has no meaning—it's absurd to think such a thing could kill us. Now THAT sounds like a challenge! Why not go ahead and try it, mmm? Try it? Try what? Say it! See if you die even if the words are a lie! Heck, I'll even start you off, since I don't really care what happens to you. I'll tell you that I trust you, then you reply to me and we'll see if you croak! Oh Amane... I trust you soooo muuuch! Wh-what have you done...? Come on, don't chicken out now! Say it! Say it, say it, saaaay iiiiit. ...I already did. Wuh? Oh my gosh. She's right. You didn't pose the words, Carmen—you REPLIED to them. Muuuuh? I said but a moment ago, I believe in everyone here. ...EVERYONE, Carmen. And that includes you. So when you said you believed in Amane, you triggered the curse on YOURSELF. What the...? Wait, you tricked me! We are the game pieces; you are the board. If we wish to forcibly quit this game, our only choice is to flip the board over. Oh, you are gonna REGRET this, big-time! Oh, and Car-Car? If you're hoping to get help from Scylla, you'll want to do it fast. Indeed, the time between saying the words and the curse going into effect is not a set one. For all we know, you could drop dead in the very next moment. I'll never forgive... I'll NEVER forgive... Never... Neeev...eeeeer... Carmen disappeared! See ya in heck, sister! There's no way Scylla is going to take this development well. An earthquake?! Everyone, outside now!

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I won't forgive you for spoiling my fun! Scylla! WE'RE the ones who won't forgive YOU! How dare you treat us like utter rubes! That's enough. The game is over... so I'll tear you to shreds MYSELF! Hrk... Her mana is on a totally different level than when we fought her before! The hell, guys? Why is Scylla here? Oh my gosh, I KNOW that voice! GUYS, LOOK! LOOOOK! THEY'RE ALL BAAAACK! Save the celebrations for later! First, we must defeat Scylla. I don't know the specifics, but it looks as though you've done beautifully—so all that is left is to end this abomination of nature. My frustrations have been building up non-stop since we got to this island, and I'm going to vent them all on HER! Fools, all of you. Your deaths would have been so much easier had you just obediently become my dolls... At least I'll enjoy the sounds of you screaming in regret as you die!