Ritsuka giving gold water to Mash—declaring her as "Good"—was both a terrible move... and a brilliant one.
Sakatsuki had already explained the bad part: it was crude, lacked any tactical finesse, and clashed with Ritsuka's identity as a Master.
But where was the brilliance? Simple: Ritsuka wasn't wrong.
Judging from Mash's behavior thus far, she was indeed aligned with the Good side. This meant that Ritsuka's claim stood on solid ground; her reasoning, fundamentally speaking, was valid.
It was only Sakatsuki's metagame perspective—the kind born from knowing the players themselves—that exposed the cracks in Ritsuka's play. Without his input, or without considering off-table dynamics, only the real Seer revealing themselves could challenge her claim.
Yet despite all of that, Draco's sudden "confession," and her dragging Sakatsuki down with her as a "confirmed Good," completely threw the scales back out of balance.
Obviously, Draco's actions had drawn suspicion. No one in their right mind could fully trust her after that performance.
And so it followed—if Draco's Seer claim was shaky, then what about Sakatsuki, whom she had cleared? Could he be trusted?
Thinking one step further: was Sakatsuki's takedown of Ritsuka just a calculated werewolf move—fabricated accusations meant to smear the real Seer?
At that thought, Sakatsuki gave Draco's leg an annoyed little pat. She promptly caught his hand and tugged it—lightly, without force, smug satisfaction written all over her motion.
Sakatsuki could already see her proud little smirk.
Damn red dragon…
And with that, he twisted his arm back, reached behind her, and gave her a swift, not-too-hard slap. Then he withdrew before her tail could catch him.
A murderous glare was thrown his way. Sakatsuki grinned, raising a finger.
"Shhh~ It's Ritsuka's turn to speak now. Rules are rules, you know~"
After successfully turning the tables on Draco, Sakatsuki settled into a better mood—and turned his attention to Ritsuka's statement.
"...Yeah, okay, I admit checking Mash Night 1 probably wasn't optimal," Ritsuka began cheerfully. "But hey, it's been ages since I last played Werewolf! And more importantly—this is vacation, people! Take it too seriously and you ruin the fun!"
Just as Sakatsuki feared, she followed her excuse with a pointed counterattack:
"Compared to me, isn't Player 14 far more suspicious? Player 1—Sakatsuki—did it ever occur to you that just because he understands the game doesn't mean his teammate does too? If a wolf is going to fake a Seer claim, they're at least going to try to sound convincing, right?"
"Draco's claim? Way too barebones. No logic, no support. If she and Sakatsuki are both wolves, then this whole 'clearing Sakatsuki' stunt is just a power play—to push me out and take control."
"What kind of real Seer gives a name drop and nothing else? No reasoning? No read analysis? That's not how you win trust."
"And if she is the real Seer, why didn't she contest the sheriff vote and go for the badge? Why jump out on Day 1 like that if she wasn't planning to claim early?"
Her words hit their mark. Many players quietly nodded.
Ritsuka hadn't said anything that was technically wrong. Choosing Mash might've simply been emotional attachment to her kouhai. It was... understandable.
But Draco? Her behavior reeked of red flags. Her claim was so shallow, her clearing of Sakatsuki so casual—it gave people zero reason to believe her. Even if she wasn't a werewolf, she was being so reckless that voting her out seemed like the safest option.
With her statement complete, everyone instinctively turned toward Sakatsuki, breath held, waiting to hear his rebuttal.
But before he could speak, Player No.3—Cú Chulainn—cut in and stole the spotlight.
"Yeah, I totally agree," Lancer said, nodding sagely. "Sakatsuki—er, Player 1—his logic checks out, sure. But I dunno… the more he talks, the more wolfy he sounds. And after Player 14's claim? It really starts to look like a trap play."
"Besides, since when is our Master ever wrong? She says it's true, it must be true. I say we back her up!"
Cue immediate reaction.
Sakatsuki broke into a snort-laugh.
Ritsuka's face didn't move—but inside, she sighed heavily.
Because the truth was all too clear:
"Hey, Player No.3… did you just say 'trap play'?" The quiet 2nd player—Sasaki Kojirou—chimed in with a chuckle. Watching Lancer freeze, then pale visibly, Kojirou grinned like the cat who caught the canary.
"Yeah. You're screwed, buddy. Welcome back, E-Rank Luck."
"No need to play the 'oops, I misspoke' card," Kojirou said coolly, utterly ignoring Cú Chulainn's desperate, pleading glance. "All the rules of Werewolf were directly implanted into our minds by the Holy Grail. You'd have to try to forget them."
He continued in that calm, deliberate voice:
"The term 'reverse hook' is used when a wolf who hasn't fake-claimed as Seer tries to side with the real Seer in order to throw off the Good team's perspective or to hide their identity."
"But here's the thing: you're saying Sakatsuki's the one reverse hooking? That'd only work if the Seer were real—and if Sakatsuki hadn't even spoken yet."
"Also, if you're claiming both Sakatsuki and Draco are wolves… how could Sakatsuki be reverse hooking anyone? Wouldn't that make him Ritsuka's ally?"
That line got the whole table laughing.
Impossible, obviously. Everyone knew Sakatsuki won the sheriff badge by directly tearing down Ritsuka's logic. If he were her ally, that entire play would be insane.
Kojirou, at least, had the decency to only deliver a single verbal stab. Sakatsuki, on the other hand, wasn't feeling so merciful—he immediately followed up with the finishing blow.
"Don't bring the Master card into this," he said sharply. "This is Werewolf. The roles are randomized, and unless you're the Seer—which you're not—you've got zero grounds to call Ritsuka Good. The only ones who know who's who are the wolves who meet each other at night."
Sakatsuki had still been fretting over how to save that troublemaker Draco... but then Doggo came charging in, offering himself up on a silver platter.
A chance like that? He wouldn't dream of missing it.
"Everyone, let's set all the other discussions aside for now," Sakatsuki said firmly. "Player 3's mistakes are just too blatant. No matter what, my vote's going to him."
And just to twist the knife a little deeper, he threw in a final jab at Ritsuka:
"Oh—and don't even think about lynching Player 6 during the day. If she is a wolf, she's most likely the Alpha. Killing her might trigger her retaliation ability, and that'd be disastrous."
That was the power of the sheriff badge. While everyone was still digesting Sakatsuki's logic, the voting had already begun.
And the outcome was as one-sided as it gets.
Cú Chulainn had made far too many mistakes—mixing up terminology, trying to hide behind "trust the Master" logic, practically spelling out "I'm a wolf" with his expressions. Even his own teammates wouldn't be able to save him.
[Voting Results] Players 1, 2, 4, 5, 7–14 voted for Player 3. Player 3 voted for Player 1. Player 6 abstained. Player 3 has been eliminated. Please leave your final words.
"Lancer dies again!" Sakatsuki declared triumphantly.
"You people have no heart!" Ritsuka chimed in with mock outrage, joining in immediately instead of mourning her teammate.
The roundtable erupted in laughter, the mood full of mock tragedy and a very Fate-style sense of despair.
"Ughhh! I told you I'm no good at this backstabbing game!" Cú Chulainn groaned, clearly on the verge of tears. "What's wrong with a little good old-fashioned fighting and stabbing? This kind of game just gives me a headache!"
Clearly, he'd given up on defending himself. Not even trying to deny the werewolf accusation.
[Punishment will be drawn during tomorrow's Day Phase.] The Holy Grail System delivered its cold judgment.
[Night has fallen. All players, close your eyes.]
A new round had begun.
***
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