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37. Werewolf

A silence swallows the room. You could take a dictionary, page through it, and find no words for what the [Rabbit] and the [Horse] must be feeling. Are they shocked? Stunned? I don’t know their emotions, but I at least know mine - I feel sick.

[Yuri]: Yesterday [Horse], you said you couldn’t kill the last Wolf because of what happened to the [Dragon].

[Horse]: I don’t, I, I think, I, maybe-

[Yuri]: You gave your word to spare the final member of that team. So, it’s time to vote for the [Rabbit] and follow through with that promise.

The [Horse] flushes; she takes out her Card and stares. She hovers her hand over the panel, fingers twitching - and hesitates.

[Horse]: Snake, I-

[Rabbit]: No! No no no!

She balls her hands, bouncing them as she speaks.

[Rabbit]: I’m the Wolf.

[Horse]: You’re the Wolf!?

[Rabbit]: Yes, I’m the Wolf. I murdered the [Ox]. Give me your Card and let me vote for that liar! Then we can both be free!

I’m not surprised that the [Rabbit]’s the other Wolf.

Unlike the [Dragon], there’s no smoking gun. But there are little specks of circumstance that paint a complete picture.

[https://i.imgur.com/8L4bqZZ.png]

The walls adjoining each room are thin. I could hear the [Rat] speaking to me from his, and when Lily was murdered I heard a scuffle from her room. Why did no one overhear the [Rooster] the night she was killed?

The neighboring suites belong to the [Dragon] and the [Rabbit]. If they’re both Wolves, that explains why no one seemed to notice anything.

The [Rabbit] is always tired, too - and the Wolves are forced to be active both in the depths of the night and during the trials in the day.

And most convincing to me, the [Rabbit] always supported the [Dragon] in the Trials. She went along unquestioningly with the [Dragon]’s plan that favored the Wolves, and was close to him despite them having first met in this game.

[Horse]: I don’t, I, I, I-

The [Horse] clings to her Card, as if we’ll try to take it from her.

[Rabbit]: If you want to be a good person, then don’t fall for obvious lies. Think, [Horse], think!

[Rabbit]: Does it even make sense for the [Snake] to be Wolf?

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It doesn’t. It absolutely doesn’t make any sense.

[Yuri]: But I am the Wolf.

If you forget everything else about mafia, at least remember this - it's all about making nonsense sound sensible.

The [Rabbit] puffs her cheeks, fuming, She killed the [Ox] because she understood how obvious a Wolf she would have been even if she had tried to hide it. If the [Ox], the [Rabbit], and the [Horse] were the final 3, she’d surely be found out and executed.

[Rabbit]: You can’t just say the same thing over and over as if that would make it true!

Instead, the [Rabbit] relied on the [Horse]’s promise to let the Wolves survive. She allowed the Seer to live so that she and the [Horse] could both vote for her, the last one-hundred percent town. But-

[Yuri]: Don’t listen to her. I’m the [Dragon]’s partner, the final Wolf.

I’ll be a sheep in Wolf’s clothing. Or a [Snake] in wolf’s clothes. It’s my only move.

[Rabbit]: Like, weren’t you just saying that you were seer? You’re telling me literally nooobody in the game had that role?

[Yuri]: The [Dragon] and I both said we were Seer to confuse the town. The [Rooster], who died on the first night, must have been the real seer.

[Yuri]: You’re the one being ridiculous. I confessed first, and you mimicked what I said to save your own skin.

[https://i.imgur.com/Ldnczjz.png]

[Horse]: Stop! Stop! I don’t understand!

[Horse]: You’re a wolf.

[https://i.imgur.com/prFaox7.png]

[Yuri]: That’s right.

[Horse]: And you’re a wolf too.

[https://i.imgur.com/u8pPlRR.png]

[Rabbit]: Yeah~

[Horse]: But you’re not both Wolves.

[Rabbit & Yuri]: Yes/Yeah.

[Horse]: aaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Her shout caused a sign, precariously attached with a thumbtack, to fall from a wall. “Quiet in the library”, it says in bold.

For a few seconds, frozen with tension, we follow that rule. Just so we can hear whatever the [Horse] next has to say.

[Horse]: I need some time to think.

She says in a voice soft and meek.

[Horse]: Even before I got here, I had already decided what to do. I don’t think that decision will change but I still need some time.

[Yuri]: Huh? Wait, I need to make sure the choice you’re making is the right one!

[Horse]: Don’t worry, I- just don’t worry, Snake.

She walks out the library and leaves me standing there, half-out of my seat.

If she had already decided who she was voting for, then it probably means she was going to vote for me in the first place. Because last night, she’d thought I was Seer, and yesterday she wanted to rescue the final Wolf.

I glance at my card.

1:04:24

There’s still one hour left! If I could just talk to her, just find the right words to say, then maybe, maybe, I can get her to believe me.

Lily, the [Rat], the [Dragon], they all left me behind; if I’m just going to join them this soon, then what was the point of all this? I’ll find her! I’ll search-

I feel a cold hand wrap itself around my wrist, death-like. It tugs me back down into my chair.

[Rabbit]: [Snake].

[Rabbit]: Let’s chat.