Scenario:Unbound Asterism - Chapter 4: Exposure - Episode 2

Unbound Asterism - Chapter 4: Transit - Episode 2

Locked up in an underground cell, (Captain), Lyria, and Vyrn exchange words with Lavirita. Intrigued by his lack of hostility toward them, they ask about his obsession with money and learn about his wish. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew decides to use Troue's Gift of Visions to track down the Auditors, but discovers Cupitan dead in the infirmary before getting the chance to set out.

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The clear, metallic sound of a coin rings out again and again.

(Captain), woken up by the sound, looks through a set of iron bars and finds Lavirita endlessly flipping a coin.

Lavirita: The dull gleam of money... Doesn't it just soothe your heart?

Lavirita: But this innocent light has killed more people than anything else you'll find in these skies.

Looking around, (Captain) sees that Lyria and Vyrn have woken up too and realizes that they're locked up in a dungeon somewhere.

Lavirita: No need to be so on edge. Well, I suppose that's a hard ask.

Lavirita: You see, I simply follow the money. Would you like to hire me to set you free? It'll only cost you one trillion rupies.

Vyrn: We're not Accordants. How's this supposed to help you collect Horoscopes?

Lavirita: The Chairman's plans are a mystery to me—a state of affairs I'm perfectly content with.

1. ...

Choose: ...

Lavirita: You seem to be wondering why you haven't been disposed of.

Lavirita: Even if the plan was to use you as bait like we did when we kidnapped Miss Kolulu, there shouldn't be any reasons to keep you alive...

Lavirita: They have no intention of killing the observer, I imagine. And perhaps more importantly...

Lavirita thinks for a moment, then smiles slightly.

Lavirita: You must be hungry. I happen to have some very nice bread on me. It's from one of those famous bakeries that people wait in line for hours at, you know?

Lavirita: Come, let's eat together.

Lyria: ...

Lavirita: Not eating?

Lavirita: Oh, don't worry about paying me. It's a business expense, so I'll have them reimbur—

Lyria: Um... I'm sorry, but you are a member of Navis, right?

Lavirita: Excuse me? Yes, I have been given the honor of being named as Auditor Quinto, for what it's worth.

Lyria: It's just that... I don't feel any hostility or any kind of malice coming from you.

Lavirita: Well, of course not. A man who acts only for money is no more malicious than money itself.

Lavirita: Not to deny that I am a villain, of course. It's how I make my money that determines that.

Vyrn: Yeah, didn't you tell Kolulu that you'd let her go for 900 billion rupies too? What's got you itching for money so bad?

Though they initially only hoped that Lavirita would let some important information slip if they engaged him in conversation, the three have begun to take an interest in the mysterious Harvin.

Lavirita: ...
My parents died of sickness when I was a young boy.

Lavirita: It was a common ailment, and there was treatment available. But as their only remaining family member, I needed to earn the money to pay for it by myself, and I failed to do so.

Lavirita: All because I failed to understand my own value. If I had understood the demand for young Harvins, I would have done a much better job pricing myself.

Vyrn: ...

Lavirita: When I became a successful merchant, my peers often asked why I never invested in anything.

Lavirita: But... I don't get anything out of making my money work for me. I want to work for it, to suffer for it.

Lavirita: Only when I let money control me, enslave me, dominate my heart and mind, can I feel like I'm being punished for letting my parents die.

Lavirita: It's still not enough! The more this dull gleam grows, the more solace my punishment brings me.

Lyria: How can you think that? It's not your fault that they di—

Lavirita: Surely you are right. Nevertheless, that is my wish.

Lavirita: It was my fate to receive punishment from Navis, together with this gun.

As he speaks, Lavirita lovingly strokes the Bird Eye's barrel.

Lavirita: Right then... I have answered your questions free of charge, so I suppose it would be only fair for you to do something for me in return.

Lavirita: Ah, but first, please have some bread.

The members of the crew are strategizing in their room.

As they try to figure out how to rescue their friends, Fiorito poses an interesting question.

Fiorito: What's Navis's goal here in the first place?

Troue: Their goal here... You mean their reason for the kidnapping and everything else that's happened on this island?

Fiorito: Yeah. If we can figure that out, we can make some educated guesses at what they've done with (Captain).

Tikoh: I was wondering about that too. At first I assumed it was to keep us from learning more about Horoscopes, but they didn't try to stop us from reaching those ruins.

Manamel: Plus, there's no way we would have all survived the explosion on the ship... or the attack in my sleep if they really wanted to stop us.

Randall: Accordants are valuable assets, right?

Randall: I'm thinking that their plan was for us to survive everything they've done.

Fiorito: Their plan...

Fiorito thinks about Randall's statement for a moment, then comes to a realization.

Fiorito: Of course! Their plan was never to stop us!

Troue: What do you mean?

Fiorito: Think about what all this has resulted in. How all these suspicious happenings have affected us.

Feather: Well... We all started suspecting each other of being a traitor.

Tikoh: Now I get it... Making us lose our trust in each other was Navis's main objective!

Fiorito: Exactly. The main gist of their overall plan is to make Accordants fight each other.

Randall: So they wanted to make us so suspicious of each other that fights break out?

Fiorito: Even if we didn't go that far, they'd have an easier time fighting us if we're divided.

Kolulu: Then that means the kidnapping was for that purpose as well?

Kolulu glances around the room as she thinks and discovers something lying on the floor.

Kolulu: Look, hair from one of the wolves that Auditor commanded.

Fiorito: Right... I bet they were using monsters to get around to stop Troue from tracking them with his Gift of Visions.

Randall: Wait a second! They used the monsters to carry our captain away, but I'm pretty sure the Auditors weren't riding anything when they left!

Troue: Ah, you're right! I might be able to track the traces of their emotions.

Manamel: That's weird though. Why would they leave a track for us to follow?

Randall: Even if it's a trap, we've got to go for it.

Feather: Yeah! If they're lying in wait for us, we'll just have to give them a beatdown!

Tikoh: ...
I have no intention of making the same mistake twice.

Having finished preparing, the group meets in the lobby. Suddenly, Fiorito notices something wrong.

Fiorito: Hold up, where's Cupitan?

Feather: Hm? That's odd, she was with us earlier.

Manamel: She must still be getting ready... or maybe she's feeling sick.

Tikoh: Wait here everyone. We'll go check on her.

Tikoh and Manamel make eye contact and head up the stairs.

Tikoh: Oh? The infirmary door is closed.

Tikoh: I've been keeping it open to make it easy to keep an eye on my patients, so how...

Manamel: ...
I don't like the look of this.

Exchanging a silent signal, the two burst into the room simultaneously.

Tikoh & Manamel: ...!

What awaits them behind the door is a still, cruel scene.

Cupitan: ...

Surrounded by bottles of medicine, Cupitan lies unbreathing, her skin the distinctly pallid color of a corpse.