Take Responsibility.

[wordsmithery]

The ride up to the courtroom occurs, as before, after an allotted period of time for investigation; the elevator waits patiently for you at each floor - third, second, first - before sending you upwards and on your way to the courtroom high above. As always, the trip is a smooth one; granted, after everything that the morning had been, any small comfort that fact may bring is likely not helping much. There are three less of you this time around, a fact reflected in the podium circle standing in the middle of the room; Alani, Milla and Chiyuki have all joined the ranks of the deceased, their podiums draped in black and their portraits in greyscale keeping a watchful eye over the rest of the trial circle. There's still no one present in the lectern above; however, once everyone has found their place in the circle, the Wordsmith's voice can be heard throughout the room. "I can see that matters are beginning to seem dire for you, Apprentices. I am sure that you all cared for Sympathetic in some measure—all except the guilty party. And now it falls to you once again to determine who that is. For your own sake as well as Sympathetic's, hold her killer accountable and have them take responsibility for their actions." Twenty-four Apprentices remain. We'll see how many remain at the end of the day.

Comments

[foundfate]

For swelling, sure. But wouldn't a bruise still be visible now?

[He. May know a thing or two about minor injuries. Don't ask how it's a long story.]

[introspects]

Right... A bruise would make the swelling go down, but the mark would still be there.

[officerhops]

There are ways to cover things up, and we have a lot of stuff available to us where someone could have gotten creative. It all depends on the evidence, what we find was missing or out of place...that sort of thing.

[modernmedicine]

Not necessarily. A cold pack would have reduced both swelling and bruising from an injury. If the culprit treated themselves soon enough, it's possible they stopped the bruise before it could really set in.

[introspects]

Oh...oh! Right, that makes sense! If you use it early enough then the bruise won't form!

[ earth to hime, you're too privileged with your healing powers ]