That is exactly what I said. Would it kill you to say I'm right once in a while?

Ha ha ha ha hah! You set fire to someone's house? The strait-laced prosecutor has a past, how about that.

Please tell us about the time that you, Barok and Lord Gingerson all drank an entire bottle of Welsh whiskey in one sitting?🙏 Did you get up to any fun shenanigans??

Anonymous-

Mostly, we drank and listened to Lord Gingerson's stories of their childhood and exploits with their late husband, Osian. At least, on that occasion. Barok and I can match shots quite well, and if we were never charged with arson during any drunken exploits, it is because no one can ever catch us in any wrongdoing.

Whiskey is a terrible thing, and unlike wine, cannot be combined with a trial. The results are... simply to die for.

Yours in ataraxia,

Prosecutor van Zieks

You really are something else, Ryunosuke.

It's 000901. I took it upon myself to memorise last time you lost your pin, after the two hours we spent waiting in the office for you to get it replaced. Even the secretary resolved to learn your number by heart just to avoid going through the university records again.

Quick - what's your student ID number?

-Kazuma (@kazuma-asogi-blog)

...Well...Funny you mention... that. It seems to have slipped my mind...

Good. We made it back. I'm glad you found the watch, Detective Lestrade. Go wind it up.

Ryunosuke Naruhodo, don't tell me you lost your pin again. What is this, the fourth time?!

Iris? Are you all right?

[The ferny path leads you out of the fog entirely and seemingly back to the material world, mostly noticeable by the scent of London's industry sneaking back in. The path eventually ends in what appears to be a rose garden and a single grave, for a man named Klint: looking behind you reveals only the van Zieks manor.]

[By his headstone is an impossible flower, closed, the size of Iris' torso. It shines in a rainbow of colour. When touched, the petals open, revealing the missing pocketwatch, and... Ryunosuke's Yumei pin?] 🌠

OI!!!! ITS THE BOSS'S WATCH!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭

an—an—wots all this? a, a pin or summat...?? is this... does it belong to @ryunosuke-naruhodo-blog...?

....ah, who gives a toss, i got the watch!! time to give it a good windin!!!!

cheers, @kazuma-asogi-blog!! big thanks @iris-wilson-blog!! 🥹

Good work. Let's go.

[You follow the path the wolf isn't blocking through the fog for a while. The graves fall away, and it's just the gravel path and the fog. There is singing in the distance, something choral but hard to discern. Eventually, you come to a crossroads, with three potentials paths.]

[The leftmost path is beautiful, a straight cobblestone road in a sweet-smelling garden. The centre path is a dark trail through a wood of bramble and shadowed trees. The rightmost path is a mix of the two, a winding desire path beside a bubbling stream and a clover's field. Between the three is a sign, with words inscribed upon it.]

[Do you see the narrow road, so thick beset with thorns and briars? That is the path to blinded fates, though after it but few inquire.

And see you next the broad, broad road that lays across the lily lawn? That is the path to certainty in blood, though some call it the path to heaven.

And see you not the bonnie road that winds about the ferny bank? That is the road to choices made, or the very least, choices one will make.] 🌠

Three paths. And another blasted riddle. Hmm, I don't like the look of the left path.

@iris-wilson-blog Do you see anything?

@inspector-gina-lestrade You said you're good at riddles, didn't you? What do you make of this?

[You follow the path the wolf isn't blocking through the fog for a while. The graves fall away, and it's just the gravel path and the fog. There is singing in the distance, something choral but hard to discern. Eventually, you come to a crossroads, with three potentials paths.]

[The leftmost path is beautiful, a straight cobblestone road in a sweet-smelling garden. The centre path is a dark trail through a wood of bramble and shadowed trees. The rightmost path is a mix of the two, a winding desire path beside a bubbling stream and a clover's field. Between the three is a sign, with words inscribed upon it.]

[Do you see the narrow road, so thick beset with thorns and briars? That is the path to blinded fates, though after it but few inquire.

And see you next the broad, broad road that lays across the lily lawn? That is the path to certainty in blood, though some call it the path to heaven.

And see you not the bonnie road that winds about the ferny bank? That is the road to choices made, or the very least, choices one will make.] 🌠

Three paths. And another blasted riddle. Hmm, I don't like the look of the left path.

@iris-wilson-blog Do you see anything?

@inspector-gina-lestrade You said you're good at riddles, didn't you? What do you make of this?

I did not send the ask, and you don't know where I live.

*baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws*

Why-

Why is this happening-

@pray-forgive-meow Darling, please tell your apprentice to control his pet.

to whom this will concern,

have you ever made a silly mistake that you stressed over?

- A. Spellmeyer

To whom this will concern?

There is nothing silly about mistakes. Mistakes are to be learned from so you never do them again.

That being said...I once stumbled over my words so badly that I lost a speech competition I otherwise had locked down.

But I have never forgotten it! That is why I will never make the same mistake again!

You must be joking. You think a pet could write an ask like this? Obviously not, let alone devise riddles.

...Wait a minute, you don't mean @raymondshields?!

So your brother cheated death to make a blog solely for harassing the living. Maybe you should get him under control.

*baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws* *baps you with my paws*

Why-

Why is this happening-

@pray-forgive-meow Darling, please tell your apprentice to control his pet.

Hm? Wh— Where did you get that?

All right, you sound certain. Lead the way.

[The moment you put on the masque, the landscape around you appears... clearer? There is still fog around the graves, but one of the two paths seems brighter, less dangerous. A white wolf is standing in front of the other path, blocking it, with a brown songbird resting on its shoulder.] 🌠

O-Oh!

Follow me, everyone! We need to go this way!!

#I wouldn't consider myself little

I would.

hello ryunosuke why are you such a silly little guy (positive)

-Log

Hello, Log! I'm so sorry for the late response! I don't know how to properly answer your question but I can say that I will continue to be a silly little guy and I will flourish in it!!

What the--

...Iris. You have to be strong, all right? Here, hold my hand.

Right. Let's review what we know.

Four to go south where the reaper does roam, four to catch the trail in the forest-ground loam. Four for a death, four for the family line: find the mark of death or never find what's mine.

Lord van Zieks also told me to follow the will-o-the-wisp and we'd come to a ring of mushrooms, which we did. Then to "heed the light" and "have faith in the little ones". Whatever that means.

Anything else?

[The candle leads you deeper into the graveyard, but the ground changes around you. One moment it is still encircled by forest, the next, a wasteland, the next, only fog and graves, with two potential pathways. There aren't any wisps, or other indication of which to choose.] 🌠

I- I don’t- I’m not- I-

I don’t recognize any of these graves…. Where are we….?

Did we do it wrong…? Did I make a mistake…?

I’m scared….

Lestrade! Get a hold of yourself.

Why are you asking him? We can figure this out on our own. Listen: Lord van Zieks--Barok van Zieks--said the candle was important. I think we should follow it.

[As you turn to follow the wisp out of the other side of the graveyard, the candle flares up, brightly, suddenly pointing to a third path, deeper into the graveyard. There are now three paths to follow: the wisp back the way you came, the wisp deeper in, or the candle's flame.] 🌠

wot??? wh-where are we s'posed to go then...??

... oi, @klint-vanzieks!! you listen 'ere ya smug pile o'rubbish! i dont give a cobblers if you an the boss aint the best o'chums in the great beyond!! 'is watch still needs windin, dont it! an this aint wot 'im upstairs would want. so unless yer the useless sorta git wot dont give a fig bout justus or the sensabillies o'decent folk, 'aul yer backside over 'ere an 'elp me find it!!! 😤

or... or.......!

... or ill.......!

I...

...............

what do you admire about your apprentice?

Asogi has suffered through a great deal of pain and hardships along the path he has travelled. A less determined and resilient man would likely have relented—or been utterly, irrevocably crushed under the weight of his adversities—long before he had even reached the British Empire. Yet here he is, after everything he has lived through; a surprisingly well-functioning young man who is well on his way to becoming a British top prosecutor in his own right.

He embarked on a quest for truth, lost and then reforged himself along the way. In his discovery of a horrific secret about both himself and his father, he retained his faith in the man he cherished. Overcome with hatred, he nearly led me to the scaffold, but pulled back in time to avoid a lifetime of regret. Even following such reprehensible events, he still found the fortitude and resolve to remain as my apprentice, all while harbouring a disdain—and, perhaps, a reluctant shame—towards me and all that I represent.

I would not wish these experiences upon my worst enemy, but I will say this: It takes a certain kind of strength to live through what Kazuma Asogi has lived through without irrevocably losing oneself in the process.

[Deeper into the graveyard, another wisp seems to be sitting over an older headstone. It is inscribed with the name of a man - Osian Prothero - who died some thirty years back, and a small bird in flight. The wisp seems to laugh as you draw near, then flickers out. Two wisps appear: one further into the graveyard, and one back the way you came.] 🌠

Osian…I've heard that name, haven't I? Quite recently, in fact…

I think it's clear where the path leads. If either of you want to turn back, this is your chance. There's no shame in it. But I'm going to go forward.

Klint van Zieks's will. It was written in scarlet ink. Yes, it's his brother.

Hold it. We are not doing any digging. Not unless absolutely... did you see that?

[The pocketbook only has a single page filled. It's scrawled in scarlet ink: Four to go south where the reaper does roam, four to catch the trail in the forest-ground loam. Four for a death, four for the family line: find the mark of death or never find what's mine.] 🌠

The reaper…? Is the riddle talking about Prosecutor Barry? And what’s the mark of death they’re talking about?

@inspector-gina-lestrade @kazuma-asogi-blog can you make any sense of this??

Oh. Well, that would certainly explain the "mark of death".

There's nothing to be afraid of. Take a look at the gravestones, see if there are any names you recognise.

[The pocketbook only has a single page filled. It's scrawled in scarlet ink: Four to go south where the reaper does roam, four to catch the trail in the forest-ground loam. Four for a death, four for the family line: find the mark of death or never find what's mine.] 🌠

The reaper…? Is the riddle talking about Prosecutor Barry? And what’s the mark of death they’re talking about?

@inspector-gina-lestrade @kazuma-asogi-blog can you make any sense of this??

Perhaps we're meant to go south and find a trail?

[The pocketbook only has a single page filled. It's scrawled in scarlet ink: Four to go south where the reaper does roam, four to catch the trail in the forest-ground loam. Four for a death, four for the family line: find the mark of death or never find what's mine.] 🌠

The reaper…? Is the riddle talking about Prosecutor Barry? And what’s the mark of death they’re talking about?

@inspector-gina-lestrade @kazuma-asogi-blog can you make any sense of this??