Kirumi Tojo's Palace | The Ultimate Maid's Failures

[kandata]

By now everyone may be used to find themselves in bizarre locations, between going into palaces and visiting Nekyia. It might not come as a surprise that it has happened again.

What might come as a surprise, though...is how empty this place is.

All around you there's nothing more than a large, gray, featureless expanse. In the distance there seem to be bars, curving upwards to gather so, so high above you, possibly hundreds of miles above, so high it’s hard to distinguish.

It’s a cage. So unfathomably large. You could escape, were you to get to the edges of the cage, but...it would take forever. No matter how you look at it, you're trapped. The atmosphere is so...hopeless. Devoid of anything even remotely positive.

Not that you want to hang around for long, do you? After all, this is someone's palace. Not a place to stick around at. What to do, though?

It’s all so...empty. Silent. Featureless. A flat expanse of hard gray tiles.

Gather together, everyone. Gather and choose a direction. North, East, West, South. All directions look completely identical, but could it affect your time in this place, somehow? Probably not. But all treks start with the first step. Perhaps, if you get moving, you'll progress?

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[kandata]

[Kirumi is here.

The door opens and Kirumi enters. She's carrying a bunch of rags and a couple bottles. The mood is somber, she’s keeping her head down. She doesn't see Shalem at all.

Kirumi cleans the music room with the effectiveness one expects her to have. Once she gets to the piano, she gets to working on it. Tuning, oiling, cleaning, leaving it so well polished she can see her reflection on its surface.

Once Kirumi is done with the keys, she stops, staring at them. She tests a couple of those]

...I am sorry.

[Kirumi murmured. It's like she’s talking to herself, but it's not directed at herself]

At the time I could not think of how you felt. Solving the case and protect us all was all that mattered. I shall carry the responsibility for your death forever. I will not...I will not forget I aided in causing it.

[Kirumi has to take a moment to gather herself]

We promised to you we would hold strong together. I will do all in my power to ensure we all live.

I will not allow any deaths anymore.

...we promised...

[Kirumi takes out a funerary band, which she places on the piano. She made it herself, of course. Once she has taken a moment of silence for the deceased student, she gathers her stuff and leaves.

The music room is left filled with a forlorn air, commemorating someone who isn't here anymore.]