Section 13: Tristan's Script Pitch

On another note, I'm very impressed by how much thought you've all put into your ideas.

But of course, Isidoro is a great detective, so his is bound to be just as good if not better. Right, Tristan?

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... ...

Um... Tristan?

(I'm done for...)

What's wrong? You look like it's the end of the world or something.

(I can't believe she had the same idea as me...!)

(I staked everything on my originality, and now I don't have an original leg to stand on!)

(If I say my idea was to make Master the culprit now, they'll think I was just ripping off Jeanne...!)

...Mash, being a detective is much, much more difficult than it seems.

They may appear to be author-blessed with special privileges, but at their heart, they have almost nothing propping them up.

The fact that I cannot rely on drama for the conclusion like the rest of you left me at a great disadvantage.

I see now that I should have been planting clues for the conclusion earlier in the story...

Perhaps something that would let me claim to secretly be another character's brother, or a character everyone else thought was dead...

Tristan...

By the time I found myself wishing to take on the lead role, it was already too late.

Alas, if only I had realized these feelings sooner...

Oh, also Adriana was doing almost all the actual detective work.

True. At this point, I can't tell what his character is even doing here.

Indeed. For that matter, he hasn't even justified why he's been carrying a harp around this whole time.

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The way things are going now, Isidoro will be nothing but a useless scarecrow claiming to be a great detective.

Can I truly let things end this way?

...No. No, I cannot!

Hey, spare us the whole sackcloth and ashes routine.

Though it's true that up to this point...

...you haven't done a single, solitary, detectivey thing.

Your words cut deeper than any blade!

But it's all right. I decided to come at things from a different angle, and make use of my incompetence.

Um... Tristan?

Given that, at this point, Isidoro is indeed a detective in name only...

...what if it was actually Adriana who has been controlling him all along?

Then, upon revealing herself as the true detective, Adriana could identify the culprit, and that would be the end.

Oho, so you're taking my subverted expectations idea and running with it, huh? I like it!

But if we go with that, you're gonna need a real doozy of an explanation.

Ah yes, the explanation...

At this point, I'd say any of them would do.

Huh?

As long as we keep glossing over any accidents in filming the way we have been, it doesn't matter what the truth ultimately is.

Any one of the ideas you four came up with would work fine.

Wouldn't that mean abandoning the larger premise?

No, it wouldn't. Because the conclusion I have in mind begins after that part.

Oh? Did you not just say it would be the end after Adriana solves the mystery?

I decided to try looking at things a little differently.

While you've all been preoccupied with solving the Meihousou's murder mystery...

...my case involves solving the mystery of this Hollywood Meihousou itself.

In other words, we make the out of character footage itself part of the movie.

So you'd be including our own, actual confusion in the story, huh.

That would change everything about the movie.

We should arguably never have tried to film a movie without an overarching theme in mind.

So now that we have, we could make Murasaki Shikibu's fainting incident the true mystery.

What if her fainting wasn't actually an unfortunate accident, but only disguised to look like one?

And if that were the case, who would stand to benefit from removing her from the scene?

Does that not sound like an interesting mystery?

Tch, you went the meta route, huh.

Still, that could work for a puzzle mystery as long as you take it seriously, though you're stretching this to the breaking point.

That said, you'll need to have a really good explanation, or the viewers won't accept it. What've you got?

Ah, I shouldn't tip my hand any further. All I will say is that I guarantee it will be interesting.

After all...I am this movie's detective!

So you're saving the best part for your own character, huh.

I am very curious about Tristan's idea...

At any rate, we now have five possible endings to choose from.

They all sound great, but we sadly don't have time to film them all.

I guess things turned out just like Dr. Roman said they would... What do you say, Master?

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Yes?

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