synopsychic | backdated to the end of the tournament/after the illuminated do their thing

Seems like now might be a good time to get ourselves on the same page.

[To put it lightly. They've had days to wander around, get acclimated, listen to the gossip...and now between everyone wrapping things up to return to their places after the tournament, and the infodump so thoughtfully provided by the local mage-types, the real work begins.]

People are packing up to head home. That leaves us with a lot of possible leads to follow. I know at least a couple of us were thinking of following Jaeger back to Flamegard; Verreuil was talking about following the guy in yellow.

Westgard's hiring knights, and from the way people were talking when the notice went up, it sounds like the offer is unusually generous. Might be a good way to get in the loop on that; it's sounding more and more to me like the throne is why we're here. Keeping an eye on the nobles is probably in our best interest.

And I doubt that's everything worth looking into, obviously - that's just the shit I've already heard about. Anyone got anything to add? We're gonna have to divide and conquer here, but it helps if we know what we're dividing to begin with.

[And after a moment, he adds -]

All of mine from back home, consider reporting in here an order, not a courtesy. [Because goddamn he's got too many of you to keep track of, throw him a bone here.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Making sure everyone behaves~?

[Sorry, Hijikata. His isn't here, so you get the teasing instead. Although he wouldn't want to be in your position, himself.]

I'm going to sign on with Westguard. If nothing else, it seems like what he's offering is out of the ordinary, which could make it important.

[And fighting bandits was a good distraction. He needed one of those.]

Someone has to. [And Joscelin's a little distracted this go-round.]

If he's offering that kind of fast track promotion, he's got to be getting a little desperate.

[And even if part of him a little unsure - because he's used to thinking of Soujis of all stripes as needing a babysitter - well. This is the kind of job where Souji would be expected to be hitting a little too hard, unlike the trouble it might cause in a tournament, and Hijikata was hoping they'd be able to get at least one of the old guard veterans on each of the major leads. So it's better for it to work out this way.

Probably.]

Keep us informed.

That was my thought. I'll be sure to keep in touch.

[And it was probably true that he needed a babysitter, but he was at least trying to keep his head in the game. If only so he didn't get scoldedwhen all this was over with.]

Be careful out there. [Just because he wasn't his Hijikata didn't mean he didn't worry, a little, at least.]

You, too.

[It would be a shame if the Okita population lost the one who manages to piss him off the least.]

I always am.

[Liiiiies. But he'll try, at least.]

[Kevin will tentatively approach this guy, since Mister Hajikata has pointed him in his direction. Maybe he can learn new undercover investigator techniques. After all, the closest he has ever come to that sort of thing was pretending to be a butler and taking care of a child. After ten years playing the same role, one kind of gets a little too used to it.

Besides, the child is adorable.]

My apologies, sir. Am I right to assume you are Mister Okita? If so, we might be heading in the same direction. And er...offering our services to the same gentleman.

[Souji has no idea who this guy is, or if he's actually the Okita he's looking for, given the fact that there are three of them, but he figures he'll probably be able to work all of that out in short order.]

I'm heading out with Westguard, if that's who you mean, yes.

[Three Okitas, oh my. Good thing this Kevin is at least good at telling people apart. Usually.]

...Westguard, that is precisely so. It is an honor to meet you, sir. Mister Hajikata told me you have some experience with this sort of situation?

[Ah, Hijikata. That explained things, then. Part of him had to wonder if this was the other man's attempt to make sure he had something to occupy him, in lieu of actually keeping an eye on him himself.]

With investigations, yes. I've been on plenty of them. Not with hunting down bandits, so much, though I know how to fight.

[Well, if a flailing angel-butler person is enough to occupy him...]

I...I believe I can learn.

[Pretending to be a non-combatant is an actual combat is always tricky. How does one not smite?]

[It might be...]

Well, you may not have to.

[But Souji is definitely not the right person to teach how not to Smite. It's the only setting he has]

[Kevin will do his best!]

I can be a proper servant, though. I do that for a living.

[Certainly he doesn't have a lot of experience serving those medieval noble types, but he knows the Middle Ages. They were very special.]

That could be useful, if you can help out the Baron.

[And collect information while doing it, of course.]

I shall do my best. He seems like... the militaristic sort.

[And enjoys the sound of his voice quite a lot, so obtaining informations shouldn't be particularly hard.]

And that type is usually pretty straightforward. It should make things easy.

[Hopefully, anyway. There was always the chance the Baron was actually the scheme-y backstabbing type, but from what he'd seen so far, Souji doubted it.]

Straightforward enough that he is practically inviting an attack.

[Which doesn't seem like a bad strategy per se, just terribly dangerous.]

Unfortunately, I doubt this is going to be a peaceful journey. His grace most likely will received what he paid for.

I'm sure he's well aware of that.

[You'd have to be pretty stupid not to be, and the Baron doesn't seem to be a stupid man]

It's probably why the offer was so generous.

It would be wiser to avoid conflict altogether, I think, until we know what is our goal in this absurd world.

[Which, as far as he has learned, they might never find out, though he fears their efforts might become counterproductive, leading them in the wrong direction. What if the Baron is the force they must resist?]

There seems to be a political struggle going on. I doubt avoiding conflict is really an option.

[And might be counter to their still-unknown objective, though he's not going to say that.]

backdated to the end of the tournament/after the illuminated do their thing

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