Investigation 1

[wringmaster]

Investigation 1

The Cirque de l'Ardeur is always so pleasant. The sky is always bright, the clouds are always fluffy, and there's always a slight breeze that feels invigorating to anybody waking up.

This time there's an important difference -- one that will underscore something is abnormal today. The breeze carries the scent of something burning. It's a strange, strong, and unpleasant scent, and it feels foreboding due to how out of place it is in the otherwise crisp morning. It won't take long to see the smell of burning items isn't the only anomaly today, as there's visible proof in certain areas that something is afoot.

Looking around it doesn't seem either of your hosts is nearby. Going to the ringmaster's tent to ask what's happening will find it once again has that pesky magic that bounces you away if you try to enter. It seems that, if you want answers, you'll have to find them on your own.

Come one, come all! It's time to begin the first performance of your stay in the Cirque de l'Ardeur!

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[guidedstars]

Good morning.

[He also doesn't seem terribly concerned right now, but maybe that's just how he is all the time.]

I'm not sure yet.

[Yet. Hopefully it's just a clown car and Nothing Else.]

[wringmaster]

[Nothing is as devastating as losing a friend. And indeed, what better friend could you have in a place like this, where murder is demanded of you? Where betrayal can lurk around every corner?

And yet someone has betrayed this friend today, as they lay half-embedded in the bottom of the pond with their large frame protruding out of the water, with their face stuck in a rictus grin as they sit there looking unsightly and graceless. Perhaps it could even look menacing, if the sight wasn't so pathetic, but either way there's probably nothing that can be done here.

The clown car is dead(?)




Incidentally, there's no one visibly inside even if they look, so it's probably best to leave a friend to rest in peace for now and look elsewhere.]

[walktodeath]

My, my... it seems last night got rather lively.

[ She's going to try her best to peer into the car even deeper, because she almost can't believe there isn't a corpse here. Then she'll be ready to move on.

Rip to the car though. ]

[wringmaster]

[She will certainly see there are some things that are off if she looks inside, but that's a task for another time, probably!!]

[guidedstars]

[Poor clown car, you will be missed...

Well, with the car found and out of commission, Novio will look back at the teens.]

Well, there's nobody inside. Perhaps we should go to the start.

[So time to follow the tracks back to Double A.]

[doored]

[Goodbye, clown car. We hardly knew ye. Minato sticks around for a couple minutes after Tokiko and Novio leave to confirm with his own eyes that no one is in the car before following the tire marks to Double A.]

[wringmaster]

[The Double A tent is... well, there's honestly a lot going on here, but maybe the prone person lying near the entrance might catch their attention first?]

[doored]

[Easily. Minato's attention is immediately diverted to the person lying by the entrance, dropping onto his knees to assess their condition.]

Hey...!

[guidedstars]

[Oh, dear.]

[wringmaster]

[All things considered, it's pretty hard to miss. Even if it wasn't for the scattered props and the tent's cheerful backdrop creating such a sharp contrast, anyone would have noticed what was wrong with the picture here.

It is, after all, rather difficult to mistake a corpse for anything else.

Collapsed on the ground with their face kissing the dirt, strands of their long dark hair drape onto the bloodied ground, leaving their back exposed for all to see. And it certainly is a sight, because while the dark outfit might make them a touch difficult to notice, there certainly appear to be five distinct wounds at their chest and abdomen area, arranged symmetrically like the pips on a die. And if that wasn't enough, then the quantity of the blood soaked into the ground underneath is grand enough to reveal everything.

Calm and mild was the impression they gave in life, so perhaps that quiet serenity is all the more fitting when in the silence of death. Either way, whatever light that remained in their eyes remains no more.

Fujino Asagami is dead.]

[walktodeath]

[ Tokiko is going to come over with a loooot less distress than Minato is displaying. She crouches in front of the body, studies its features... and smiles, softly. ]

So it's beginning. I am surprised it took this long.

[ And then after another beat: ] Quite gruesome though.

[doored]

[Tugging Fujino onto her back reveals those grave wounds, but it's Tokiko's words that stand out starkly in contrast to them. How can you say that?, he wants to ask, but the words don't make it off Minato's tongue. Instead—]

...Novio. Please watch Fujino's body while I tell the others.

[He's going to inform the people in Double A and let the word spread from there.]

[fourtuity]

[ CLOWN CAR NOOOOOOO!!! OH THE HUMANITY ]