The Detective's Pocketbook

The notebook seems to be kind of old. It has Naoto’s name in the first page, looks like she owned this. Around half of the notebook is filled with what a detective apprentice had to say to herself, nothing really useful for your murderlodge experience, unless you feel like reading about Naoto’s life.

There are new pages, though, and they seem to be written recently. The handwriting is the same than in the rest of the notebook but it seems more organized and mature. Looks like it’s information Naoto thought was more important than the rest, which is why she wrote it all in an object she cherished.

Seems like it’s information about weekly meetings with Juri.

Week 1: I consulted Juri-san about the discrepancies between my physical appearance and age and what my memories told me. He confirmed it was accurate, and while my body doesn’t show signs of being held under cryogenics, or coma, or any other similar procedures, I have reasons to believe a certain amount of time has passed.

The question is, is part of my memories missing? Since I’m not the only person with physical changes, I assume it’s a possibility. Then what happened back at home? Why did these memories get taken away? I’ll try to get Juri-san to say something else about it.

Week 2: I have been thinking of the best approach to have with Juri-san. I figure talking to him directly is the obvious choice of action. I didn’t expect him to be forthcoming with information about himself, but he was unexpectedly generous regarding information about his past.

I asked him if he came from this world or if he was brought from somewhere else. “No, I'm from this place. Always have been.” I see no reason to doubt that. He seems to not to be particularly willing to talk about this world, though.

Juri-sn is used to watching over groups of people. Whether it’s a lie or not...that remains to be seen. I don’t think it’s a lie, though.

I asked about the lodge. “Was it made specifically to restrict any type of skills and magic...with you being the only exception?” The answer is that the lodge has nothing to do with it. I expected my Persona powers to not to work, due to the nuances of my powers, but abilities such as McDougal-san’s powers would need some sort of suppression mechanism. If isn’t the lodge, then what could it be?

Afterwards we talked about banalities. I requested some books. “It's not like this whole thing is anything personal - I don't hate you guys or anything”. I see no reason to antagonize Juri-san. With some luck, a common agreement could be reached.

Week 3:

I think having coffee with him every week is going to turn into a routine activity for me.

I decided to take a risk and show Juri-san the makeup compact I found. I put it in a box with some vending machine trinkets, but he immediately inquired where I had obtained the compact. He seemed...rather rattled. This compact can be a valuable clue, who did it belong to? He did hurry to agree with me when I suggested it could be Aligula-san’s. Something is wrong.

I don’t think I’ll obtain any further information by asking him, though. He’ll get his guard up.

He’s not a fan of parties, and seems taken aback by Bathory-san and Aligula-san’s enthusiasm. I agree with him on that regard.

Week 3 – second visit:

Kirisaki-san attempted to kill Juri-san in a rather hard-headed way. I passed by to make sure he was okay, but he seems to be having no adverse effects to the cyanide poisoning other than mild symptoms. What is he?

There’s something clear, though: killing him won’t be advantageous in any way. Not that I trust anyone to listen to me on that regard, several people are asking for his head on a platter, some of them literally, I'd say. They all should take a moment to think: if we kill him, how are we supposed to get out of this lodge? How will we obtain new rooms? Who will restock our provisions? As much as I hate to say it, the best course of action is to let the game continue and keep an eye open for new developments.

Week 4:

I asked for details about this world, and about his past. He didn’t have ‘a life story’ to tell, and about his world he said “the thing that's special about it's probably how people come in from all over. We don't discriminate on who we take in; people come to us from all areas of life.” It sounds like a hub, or a place for homeless people to go to. Could it mean everyone here came to this world voluntarily? What happened back at home? We stopped Izanami, it should be fine...unless a worldwide tragedy happened, in which case, why am I alive and in this world?

I asked: “If someone wanted to come to this world, how would they achieve it? Would they need someone from here to help bring them in?”, and his response was “That's one of those things I can't tell you. You'll find out eventually, maybe, but not now.” It sounds like it’s a question with answers available to us somewhere in the lodge.

As embarrassed as I am to admit it, I got a tad worried about the state of my world, and voiced my concerns of what I could do once this macabre game is over. His response was mysterious and strangely welcoming, which I didn’t expect. “...Somehow I doubt you'd want to stay with me, which would probably be the most logical way to handle that, given how things work here. I mean, I wouldn't mind having you.” I’m not sure what to think of him, but my actual opinion is that there may be something more than a mere overseer. This is a person, and that’s something I shouldn’t forget.

His situation is radically different. Staying, leaving, it doesn’t matter to him. This is vital:

“I woke up here a long time ago - I couldn't really tell you how long, because I don't know, but I know I didn't have anything. No name, no history, no idea who I was, no idea what I was supposed to do with myself short of a dream I may or may not have had at one point that gave me a vague idea.

I don't have anywhere else to be.”

If I can find an answer to that, this game could end peacefully. Maybe. Depending of the answer this could sway him and convince him to end the game without any more deaths. It seems like an impossible challenge, though. I’ll try, but I’m not confident about the odds of finding anything right now.

...I have realized I’m not going to do it merely because it’d mean the end of this game. I’m also doing this out of empathy towards Juri-san. I’ll be back next week.

Week 5:

His lack of consideration towards our situation is rather distressing. I scolded him for leaving Fern-san wounded and laughing at it, and his response wasn’t encouraging at all. Once I calmed down our usual conversations continued, though.

...he provided some reassurance that I’m not doing anything wrong, or that I’m missing something important. Are these hints of preferential treatment? I don’t think it is. There wouldn't be advantages to such favoritism, and he's not the type to do that. I won't insult him by thinking about that any longer.

Perhaps he simply hated Fern-san? Does he have some sort of complex regarding mothers, or the color green? I don’t know. Maybe it doesn’t matter.

Week 5 – Investigation attempt:

I noticed Juri-san left his office, so I sneaked in to check what he may be hiding in his desk. My incursion into his office went without any problems, but there weren’t worthwhile results regarding finding a way out or about the people who employed Juri-san. There were a couple things to note:

1.       Juri-san made drawings of the victims and culprits so far, as well of Kirisaki-san. Are these mere doodles or could it have a deeper meaning?

2.       There are notes that use our titles. Those are lists. I couldn’t pinpoint a pattern. There must be something important about it, but for the time being I haven’t found out what it is.

[What follows in the next few pages are three lists of the players’ titles! Some have dead players, some don’t...there’s no clear pattern. Naoto seems to have thought long and hard about all that, there are many scribbled tiny notes – so tiny you can’t read what it says – arrows as if Naoto tried to move titles, and other similar actions.

There was no success]

Week 6:

I asked Juri-san what happened to the survivors of past games. If I remember right, his exact words were “I know a bunch of them died after the game - I think some of them decided to die, I don't really know for sure. But a lot of them are gone, either way. I don't know what the living ones are up to now. I obviously don't exactly keep in touch with any of them, and what they do with themselves once they're out of here is none of my business.”

I should have asked if they returned to their worlds. I got careless there. At the time I was concerned more about what happened to the ‘life energy’ of the victims of past games. He doesn’t keep them. Anyone who dies is doomed. I asked if it could be possible for him to resurrect anyone at the end, like he did to Yang-san during her execution, but it isn’t an option...and not because he doesn’t want to.

It’s worth noting Juri-san may be getting attached to people, but that won’t stop him from continuing his work. I’m not sure how to proceed. The loss of more people he esteems could lead to a rougher treatment towards those who remain.

Week 7:

I asked Juri-san about Alena, and while he’s aware of her existence in the other side, he isn’t concerned about that, nor he seems to really care. There didn’t seem to be worthwhile reactions other than a silence when I asked.

He still doesn’t know who he is, and doesn’t seem to be very concerned. What's known for sure is that he can't die. Literally. Sometimes I believe I’m more worried about it than he is. There could be something I can do. It's the least I can do. I can't say with certainty he considers me something more than a mere participant, but he says I'm 'easy to talk to' and I'm getting the impression he likes when I visit.

To be completely honest...I like it too. It's not what I expected when I started working on trying to find out about him, or create a plan where he could be of use, but I can't complain. I'm not going to use the word 'friend', because I'm sure he won't accept friendship of any type, but I feel we have reached a certain level of appreciation towards each other.

I won't let this budding amity get in the way of my investigation, just like he won't let it get in the way of continuing this game.

I have been thinking about my next action. The keys Bathory-san and Lowell-san found may be of something in his office, I could ask Lowell-san to distract him so I can enter—

[The text ends there. Looks like at that point Naoto got interrupted by Aymeric]