trusthell | Take Responsibility.

The time allotted for investigation this week is a bit longer than normal - not due to anything done wrong on the part of the Apprentices, but perhaps due to a basic understanding that two corpses are going to be decidedly more difficult to handle than one. However, at the end of the time period you've been given, the elevator is waiting for you, as cold and sterile as always in its journey up to the courtroom; you're down to almost half of your original number, and if anything is going to indicate that this shows no signs of stopping, it's probably this week.

The deceased have had three more join their numbers since you were here last - Gold, Varric, and Viktor's portraits have been greyed-out and set atop their spots in the podium circle, the podiums themselves draped in black fabric.

As always, the lectern above stands empty.

Whether he's with you or not, however, once everyone has found their place in the circle, the Wordsmith's voice can be heard throughout the room.

"Welcome back. Two more Apprentices are missing from your number today, and I have little doubt that weighs heavily on your minds. Balanced and Capricious have been lost to you, so that the guilty may have a chance to leave the academy and possibly even gain something otherwise impossible to attain.

If you wish for your fallen Apprentices to receive justice in death, then you know what to do: yet again, hold the guilty accountable."

Sixteen Apprentices remain. However many leave here at the end of the day has yet to be seen.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

How should I know? I'm just saying that yes, it's possible that Tethras killed Viktor.

[Estelle's back at her podium and looks defeated.]

Given the circumstances, it could be likely that... Varric is the one who killed Viktor.

The one who killed Varric could... have done so in revenge.

Revenge, huh?

[ That... doesn't sound right to her. But she lets it rest in the air, it's a fair enough theory.

Honestly, she's just throwing out possibilities. She's a bit lost, herself. ]

Varric would not have been motivated by the motive, and he already told me that the only reason he would have killed anyone here is if someone he cared about was being attacked. Unless you're suggesting that Viktor was also attacking someone, I find it unlikely that Varric would have killed him.

I can't say I knew Viktor all, but would he have done something like that? Did he have anything that would motivate him to that degree?

He told me he was going to get married, but that seems like more of a motive to not murder anyone.

...Oh, really?

[...Oh, that's...well. Not what she expected.]

Would his fiance be in any danger?

Viktor's world sounded surprisingly normal, compared to others here. So I would guess no?

....You know, if Varric-san wasn't willing to hurt anyone he cared about...

What if he didn't kill Viktor-san, but the person who did was someone Varric-san cared about, and let himself be killed too?

[He shakes his head.]

What would Varric dying even do? It's not like he would let the rest of us die so that the killer could go free.

Do you think he would have been able to bring himself to kill the culprit if that were the case?

It's more likely that he would have tried to talk to them, I think. Or maybe he would have fought them, but tried to catch them instead of killing them. But I don't think he would have just said 'kill me' and left it at that.

[So like Watanuki given which two of you it is discussing this?

I hope you know and understand this flat look Elda is giving you ]

[He's rather pointedly not looking at Elda right now.

Look he understands, but that time and this time are different.]

Take Responsibility.

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