Alright, time for the Golden Deer to play. This was a fun chapter to write! I hope you all enjoy!

Players: Claude - Brown. Lorenz - Dark Blue. Hilda - Pink. Raphael - Yellow. Ignatz - Dark Green. Marianne - Light Blue. Lysithea - White. Leonie - Orange. Balthus - Black. Cyril - Light Green.

Map: Skeld.

"I am ready to make some enemies today!" Claude said as everyone was running around the lobby, waiting for the game to start.

"So, do we all know how to play?" Leonie asked.

"I do!" Raphael said. "Whenever I get a chance to go home, I'm gonna teach my little sis how to play," he added with joy in his voice.

"You're gonna have to win the game first before you do any of that," Hilda said. "I'd rather be killed first though, so I can just enjoy the game as a ghost."

"That doesn't sound like a fun way to play," Cyril said. "Don't you want to join in the discussions?"

"Hmmm, maybe…"

"I'm looking forward to the tasks. I've seen other people play this, and it looks fun," Ignatz said.

"Unless you're an imposter," Lysithea pointed out. "Then you'll have no choice but to kill everyone."

"I'd rather not…" Ignatz said with a hint of sorrow.

"Don't worry, I'm the King of Grappling, I'll save all of us from the imposters!" Balthus said.

"I'm not sure how effective that would be," Lorenz said.

Claude was about to start the game when he noticed someone wasn't there. "Marianne, are you in the lobby?" he asked. It took another second to see Marianne's character appear in the lobby.

"I really don't think I should play," she said quietly.

"One game, please?" Hilda asked. "It will be fun and I promise that if I'm an imposter, I won't kill you."

"I won't either," Claude added. There was another pause before Marianne spoke again.

"I guess one game wouldn't hurt," she said.

"Alright! We're all her, let's get started!" Leonie said. Claude chuckled and started the game.

"I'll be seeing all of you!" Hilda said as everyone muted. Claude looked at the screen and saw that he was an imposter, along with Leonie.

"Alright, time for some scheming!" he said as the game started. He walked down to Admin, along with Balthus and Hilda. The three ran to the card swipe task, which Balthus and Hilda did, and Claude faked. "Okay, what's my plan for this." The three ran out of Admin, with Balthus heading North into Cafeteria, and Hilda and Claude going South, seeing Raphael go towards Communications. Claude ran around and started faking the gas task, while Hilda ran towards Electrical.

"You know what?" Cluade quickly ran towards Communications, where he saw Raphael doing the download task. He quickly walked up and killed him before running back to Storage. Suddenly, an alarm went off.

"Okay Reactor, nice timing Leoine," Claude said as he ran towards the Reactor with Hilda and Ignatz coming out of Electrical. "No, too many people here," he said as he ran up. The three had just gotten to Reactor, with Leonie and Marianne entering from the top when a body was reported. Claude unmuted as the discussion started.

"Lysithea's body was found in the Oxygen room, by the task where you have to clean out the leaves," Cyril said.

"Oh, Raphael is dead too," Lorenz said.

"I just saw him going towards Communications. I was doing my gas task and I saw Hilda going towards Electrical," Claude said.

"Yeah, I was with Ignatz in there," Hilda said.

"So If he's dead, it's probably somewhere over there," Claude continued. "Did anyone see Lysithea last?"

"I saw her when I was doing Weapons, she was heading South towards Oxygen and Navigation, and if she was dead in Oxygen, then I didn't see anyone because I left for Cafeteria right after I was done," Leonie said.

"I did see you when I was doing my download task," Marianne said. "I didn't get killed by you though."

"Oh, I wouldn't kill you. Not like I can because I'm a crewmate," Leonie said.

"Um… thank you," Marianne said. "We went together when the Reactor went off," she added.

"I was in the Medbay, doing my scan… though no one was there," Balthus said. And then I started my sample task when the Reactor went off."

"I did see you exiting there when we passed by," Leonie said.

"I did a task in Oxygen, and Lysithea was still alive. When I left, Lysithea was still there, and I went into Navigation. Cyril came up from the South, and came into Navigation with me," Lorenz said.

"So that means the only one who was in the area was you Lorenz," Cyril said.

"I can assure you that it isn't me. You were also in the area," Lorenz said.

"Well, it's between the two of them for me," Claude said. "Or you know what, maybe it's the both of them, since they were the only one on that side of the map, and that's where both of the bodies are," Claude said.

"Hang on, how do you know where the other body was?" Ignatz asked.

"I don't. I'm just saying that the last I saw Raphael, he was heading towards Communications, so he's probably around there somewhere," Claude said back.

"Who was at Reactor at the very end of the round?" Leonie asked. "Marianne and I came from the top."

Hilda, Ignatz, and I were all together at the bottom," Claude said.

"And Balthus came out from Medbay after we passed," Leonie added. "So that still leaves Lorenz and Cyril."

"Well, it isn't me," Cyril said.

"And it isn't me neither," Lorenz said. "I'm going to point a finger at you, Claude."

"Well, you're pointing it at an innocent man," Claude said as he placed his vote to skip. "Anyways, I'm gonna skip."

"We're skipping when there were two people killed?" Ignatz asked.

"We don't have a lot of information, but I still think it's one of those two," Hilda said as she placed her vote. "I'm watching you two!"

"…Alright," Ignatz said as he placed his vote. Cyril and Lorenz placed their votes.

"Um…" Marianne said quietly as her vote was placed. Leonie also placed her vote and the final tally was Cyril voting for Lorenz, vise-versa, and everyone else voting to skip.

"Whoa… this is getting interesting," Hilda said.

"Everyone, get your tasks done!" Leonie said as the next round started.

"Alright, what should I do this round?" Claude asked himself. He walked down through Storage with Hilda and followed her to Electrical. Hilda went inside and Claude went to the Lower Engine to fake the gas task.

"Okay, I think Hilda trusts me," he said as he pulled up his sabotage map. He clicked on the lights button. "Oh wait, Hilda's in there, so they'll probably be fixed fast," he realized. He ran to Electrical, with Marianne appearing from the other side. The two went in and Claude saw Hilda and Leonie coming down from the top.

"I don't remember Leonie going into Electrical at all," Claude said as the lights were fixed, and everyone scattered. Claude walked with Marianne past Lower Engine and up to the Security room and the Reactor. "I'm not gonna kill her," he said as he walked back up and into Upper Engine. "Maybe there's someone in the Medbay I can kill." He ran inside and as he did, his report button flashed.

"Oh wait," he said as he clicked on 'report,' bringing everyone together.

"I found Ignatz dead on the Medbay scanner," Claude said.

"I thought I saw someone going towards Medbay, but I forgot what the color was," Balthus said. "But I did see him enter when I was done with my Sample task."

"It looks like he was trying to do his Medbay scan and got killed in the middle of that. It's literally right on the scanner," Claude said. "I think I can clear Hilda, Marianne, and Leonie for this kill because we were all in Electrical."

"Wait, Leonie was there?" Hilda asked.

"Yeah, I had a task in there," she answered.

"But I didn't see you come in," Hilda said.

"The lights were out, I came in as they were getting fixed," Leonie said.

"Are you sure, because I thought I briefly saw you coming from the back of Electrical where I was," Hilda said.

"No, you must've gotten us all confused, because I came in from the entrance when the lights were out," Leonie said.

"I did see Orange briefly when I was entering Electrical," Claude said. I was with Marianne after the lights were fixed, and then I went to the Medbay and found Ignatz on the scanner."

"I will say, there is a vent that connects the Medbay and Electrical, so if Hilda and Leonie were both in the upper area, one of them could've vented in when the lights were off," Cyril said.

"And right now I'm suspicious of Leonie," Hilda said. "And I'm still suspicious of you Lorenz and Cyril. And since Claude was vouching for Leonie, I'm sus of him as well. Really though, the only ones I fully trust right now are Marianne and Balthie."

"Thank you," Marianne said.

"Hey, I'm honored," Balthus said.

"I trust them as well, I still think it's both Cyril and Lorenz," Claude said.

"You know what, I'm going to go out on a limb and clear Cyril, at least for this kill. I was with him for most of this round, and we didn't go anywhere near the Medbay area," Lorenz said.

"Yeah, same. But I still don't fully trust you," Cyril said. "Anyways, I think it's either Claude, Leonie, or you."

"I'm telling you, I went into Electrical with everyone. I don't know who Hilda saw going down from the top, but if she's telling the truth, and there was someone else up there, then they're the imposter," Leonie said as she placed her vote.

"I'm voting for Leonie," Hilda said as she placed her vote.

"I don't think it's her, because I saw her very briefly going into Electrical to fix the lights," Claude said. "I'm still going with my gut," Claude said as he placed his vote for Lorenz.

"I… I still don't know who it could be," Marianne said as she placed her vote.

"Everyone seems to be everywhere when it comes to all this information," Balthus said. "Right now, I think it could be Claude."

Claude laughed a little. "Well, it isn't me. I was doing tasks the entire time."

"I'm going to vote for Claude," Lorenz said as he placed his vote.

"You're wasting your vote there, buddy," Claude said.

Cyril then placed his vote the final tally was Marianne, Balthus, Leonie, and Cyril voting to skip, Lorenz voting for Claude, Claude voting for Lorenz, and Hilda voting for Leonie.

"Well, things are starting to get interesting!" Balthus said.

"I'm watching all of you," Hilda said as the next round started. Claude chuckled as he muted.

"I'm thinking I should kill someone this round… but who?" he asked himself as he walked past the Medbay, Upper Engine, and into Reactor. He went inside and faked his number pad task. "Is anyone going to come in here?" he asked. As he walked out, he saw Cyril coming in and starting his Simon Says task. Claude walked out and pulled up his Sabotage map.

"Let's do Oxygen this time," he said as he clicked on the button and started running. He ran past Lower Engine, past Electrical, and ran into Storage. He saw Lorenz down at the trash chute, and Claude quickly ran down and swiped Lorenz…

…Right as Hilda came into his view range.

Claude ran away and passed Communication as Lorenz's body was report. Claude muttered a small 'Damnit" when everyone unmuted.

"Well, well, well, that was interesting. Claude, would you like to explain yourself, why you just killed Lorenz at the trash chute?" Hilda asked.

"Uh oh," Balthus said. "Did you see it?"

"I just saw him running from Lorenz's body, which literally just fell!" Hilda said.

"Listen," Claude said, trying to defend himself. "I was running as quickly as I could to Oxygen to fix it!"

"Yeah, after you killed him," Hilda said back.

Claude was trying to figure out what to say, and eventually he realized there was nothing he could say that would clear him.

"…Okay!" Hilda exclaimed.

"Alright, we're voting for Claude!" Balthus said. Cyril could be heard laughing in the background.

"Wait… I want to see what he has to say," Marianne said.

"Same, I want to hear his defense," Leonie added.

"Okay, okay…" Claude said as everyone started to calm down. "So… My defense is that Lorenz deserved to be shot out of the trash chute as well," he started saying with everyone laughing at this statement. "That body shouldn't have been there." Everyone was still laughing and Claude sighed. "Shit!" he said out loud. Suddenly, another voice was heard.

"EXCUSE ME!? YOU'RE DEFENSE IS I DESERVED IT!?" Lorenz shouted out loud, causing Claude and the other to burst out laughing again.

"Well, that's pretty compelling evidence, coming back from the dead to spite your killer," Leonie said, still laughing as she placed her vote.

"Oh that was good!" Balthus said as he also placed his vote. Marianne did so as well.

"Sorry Claude," Hilda said with a chuckle as she also placed her vote.

"Who else did you kill?" Cyril asked as he placed his vote.

"Oh, I'm not telling you," Claude said as he voted for himself, with the final tally being everyone voting for Claude, including himself.

"Alright then, one imposter down, one to go!" Hilda said as Claude was ejected out of the ship.

"Yeah, yeah, see you guys," Claude said as he muted for the alive people and unmuted with the ghosts.

"Wow, you really went with the 'Your Honor, he deserved it' play?" Lysithea asked as the ghosts started floating along.

Claude started laughing along with Raphael. "Of course, I did! Speaking of which… Hi Lorenz," he added cheekily.

"Well, hello there Claude," Lorenz said with a hint of spite in his voice. "I deserved it, huh!"

"No hard feelings?" Claude asked.

"We'll come back to that," Lorenz answered.

"Hey, it's just a game you know," Raphael said. "This shouldn't cause a rift between the two of you!"

"Tell that to Mr. Noble's Duty over there," Claude said. Lorenz huffed in response. "Anyways, Leonie can still win this if she kills the right person. I really don't want her to kill Marianne though."

"Has everyone finished their tasks?" Ignatz asked.

"I finished mine a while ago, since I was a ghost for most of this game," Lysithea said. Claude saw in his task tab that the lights were going out. He saw Leonie coming out of Admin, with Hilda crossing paths with her.

"Oh… Oh there she goes!" Claude said as he saw Leonie kill Hilda, her ghost appearing over her body. "Okay, she still needs two kills."

"Look who was right all along!" Hilda said loudly. "Also, hi Claude."

"Hey Hilda. That was so unfortunate that you entered my view right as I killed Lorenz," Claude said.

"Yeah, that was, but hey, I'm aiming for a crewmate win!" Hilda said.

"Don't tell me you're going to say I deserved it!" Lorenz said.

"Fine, I won't," Hilda replied. "By the way is anyone going to find me body?"

"Leonie is with Balthus and Cyril," Raphael said. "I don't know where Marianne is."

"She's still in Electrical," Ignatz said. "And she's leaving right now. So if she finds your body…"

"But Leonie could get a second kill this round," Claude said as she followed the two of them into the Cafeteria. "Oh never mind, they're going to find the body," Claude said as he watched the trio run up to Hilda's body and report it. Once they did, Claude noticed how high the task bar moved. "Oh, they might get a task win," he said quickly as he listened to the meeting.

"Hmm, who fixed the lights?" Cyril asked.

"I did," Balthus said. "I fixed them and Leonie came in afterwards."

"Yeah, I was coming from the Reactor when the lights went out and I saw you fixing them," Leonie said. "I only saw Hilda briefly at the beginning of the round."

"Okay, so I'm currently suspicious of Leonie because Hilda was placing hard accusations on her, and now she's dead," Cyril said.

"That's a bold accusation to make against me. Where was Hilda found, by Admin I'm assuming?" Leonie asked.

"Yeah, we were all running down there and Cyril reported the body," Balthus said.

"Marianne, where were you before the lights went out?" Cyril asked.

"I was doing a task in Navigation, and then I was going through Shields when the lights came back on. I went into Electrical to finish do my last task, and I once I was finished, I walked out and was heading back up to Admin when the body was reported," Marianne exclaimed.

"Okay, I did you going that direction at the beginning of the round," Cyril said. "And I'm pretty trusting of Balthus, he hasn't done anything super sus, so I still think it's Leonie."

"It could be, but you were also really quiet when Claude was caught, and you asked who else he killed, almost like you were trying to make yourself look like the innocent," Balthus said. "Although Leonie wanted to hear his defense, even though he was caught red-handed."

"Well, I knew that, but knowing Claude, he was going to say something super cheeky, and so I just had to hear it," Leonie said.

"And I was quiet because… well I wasn't sure what to say because Hilda was taking the lead there, and I didn't want to interrupt anyone," Cyril said.

"Um…" Marianne started. "…How many of us still have tasks to do?"

"I have one more, and it's the one where you have to go back and pick out the sample," Balthus said. "I can get it done super quickly. I'm pretty sure it's the last one."

Claude gasped a little at hearing what task it was. "Oh yeah, we're not winning this."

Marianne continued. "I think we can skip here and have Balthus complete his task, and we can win," Marianne said. She placed her vote after speaking.

"Huh, you got a point there, I'm cool with that," Balthus said. "I can finish that before the killer's cooldown is finished."

"Are we sure about this?" Leonie asked. "Wouldn't it be better if we find out who the imposter is right now?"

"Yeah… but at the same time, a task win would be nice," Balthus said. "You're not just saying that because you're the imposter, are you?"

"No, I just want to know if that really is the right play. I honestly think it is, and I just wanted to make sure we're all in agreement," Leonie said as she placed her vote.

"Good, let's get this done," Balthus said as he placed his vote.

"…Alright," Cyril said placing his vote. The final tally was three to skip and Cyril voting for Leonie. "I still think it's you, but if we can win by tasks, then it doesn't really matter," he added.

Leonie could be heard chuckling as the alive people muted, and the ghosts unmuted.

"Alright, GG guys," Claude said.

"Thanks Claude," Hilda said as the ghosts watched the alive people followed Balthus to the Medbay. "Who knows, maybe she can get one more kill before he completes the task."

"No, the cooldown won't run out before then," Claude said.

"Sorry Claude," Ignatz said.

"Don't be. I should've been more careful when I killed Lorenz," Claude said. A second later, the screen faded and the 'Defeat' screen appeared, with all the crewmates on the screen.

"Yeah! We did it!" Raphael said.

"Good job everyone!" Balthus said.

"Well, we tried Leonie. Hilda wasn't in my line of sight when I killed Lorenz," Claude said.

"Well at least I deserved it!" Lorenz said with sarcasm in his voice.

"As soon as I saw the task bar in that last meeting I was like 'no way we're winning this'," Leonie said.

"I'm… I'm glad I wasn't killed this game," Marianne said.

"I couldn't kill you," Claude said. "And I'm glad Leonie didn't either."

"Are we going to play another game?" Lysithea asked.

"I can't right now, but I'll be able to later," Ignatz said.

"How about we get some of the other houses to play with us?" Claude asked. "And if they don't, I have a few schemes I can use to persuade them," he said with a smirk.

"I'm already sus of you," Hilda said, which caused Claude to laugh.

Next time, I'm going to mix it up!