I was going to level up enough to see the guard (by the way, the connection between the full gauge and being able to lie to the guard is unclear. Had to read your text tutorial to understand that part), but the game got stuck on a black screen.
I reloaded it, tried to get further, but on a second play the gauge feels an eternity to fill xD. After that I read your spoilers of the end.
So you did all the art yourself, wow, very good job!