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Many thanks for the voice acting. Kinzo is the best old man. Maria is the worst child.
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Sep 16, 2012 07:58
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| # ? Jun 3, 2024 17:26 |
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It's still Sunday where I am. Barely. Part Nine: The Banquet of Miracles Begins (Section A)    : "...The story about a witch who gave him the gold and so forth, we obviously don't believe. However, there's no mistake about the gold." : "The fact that Father obtained gold bars from an unknown source can be confirmed in several ways. We heard that, before the president of the Marusoo company died, Father showed him a large amount of gold somewhere. Father used that claim to prove that that there were 10 tons worth." : "That's just the nonsense of a senile old man. Along with Father, he was just fabricating a story. You can't take it seriously." : "If that gold didn't exist, he wouldn't have been able to gather so much funding...! Before the president died, he was a person with such a sincere personality that he gathered the respect from many in the business world. He couldn't have become a partner in such a fraud...!" : "Almost instantly, the Ushiromiya Legend of the Gold spread amongst the fixers of the business world. Gold from an unknown foundry has a poor rate of conversion into money. Thinking that it was a chance for decisive profits, they accepted it as collateral, and as a result Father was able to receive a giant loan...": "Isn't there a limit to how ridiculous you can get? ...How old are you people? Are you still taking that nursery tale you heard as a kid seriously? Where is the proof that this 10 tons worth of gold even exists? Isn't it just the lies of Father and those who were closest to him?": "...Of course it's just a story. But still, Aniki. The amount of money that Father raised required a suitable quantity of collateral. Even if the gold was just a rumor, that he must have shown them a treasure of comparable worth is an unmistakable truth." : "In that case, are you saying that the gold never existed, and that Father made it all up?": "Of course. Therefore, after he was sufficiently successful, the illusion of gold became inconvenient. So Father made up that absurd story about the witch and black magic and made the whole thing seem less believable. In other words, he revealed that the illusion of gold was fabricated. If he says that he received the gold from a witch, no one would believe that it exists at all, right? He possibly said it for all of your sakes. Nevertheless, some stupid offspring wanting to divide up this non-existent gold with the rest of the inheritance have appeared. ...Rosa, don't tell me that even you believe this kind of a fabrication...?"Or they'd believe, say, that he can't reveal its actual source for some reason and waved it away with some bullshit about witches. Or maybe they'd buy it as is, if any of them had the same kind of magic obsession.  : "...I can't prove whether or not Father really has the gold. However, as one of father's four children, I just want to claim my rightful share." : "Aniki, maybe you have already found the 10 tons of gold bars. It sure looks that way to us.": "Ridiculous. Something like that never existed in the first place." : "Then explain yourself. Embezzlement of Father's assets or Father's hidden gold. How could you have gathered so much funding if you didn't use one of these?"But...doesn't the latter just fall under the former? The gold counts as an asset if it's real, right? : "I also have many friends in the political world and the financial world. I have done nothing more than gain their assistance. ...And as to that, I have no responsibility to explain it to you. You understand, don't you? There are some topics that can't be talked about." : "...If you insist on it, that's all right. But Aniki, Father doesn't have long. Nobody can ensure that he will live to see this day next year. When Father dies, the inheritance will be passed on. We will all set up impartial lawyers and accountants to inspect Father's financial and political status." : "If, at that time, the fact that our brother has unjustly interfered with Father's money comes to light...you understand, right?" : "In short, even though you are our brother, we will have your financial situation investigated to determine whether or not you are hoarding the gold.": "Isn't this a good opportunity. Prove the existence of this backup from friends and acquaintances that you mentioned. That way we can sportingly apologize for foolishly doubting you. Right, Rosa?" : "...That's right. Krauss nii-san, you are the one who's avoiding the topic. If you were guiltless, you could just prove that you were in the right. Yet you aren't even trying to respond.": "However, Aniki, we still have to consider your position here. As Father's representative, you're probably bearing a larger share of the burden than we are. It wouldn't be fair for the rest of us, who have been living terribly relaxed lives until now, were to complain without taking that into account.": "...Ho. Until just now I've been busy being spoken ill of and being flattered. Please get to the point." : "Consultation? Ho.": "...When the inheritance is distributed, you will be rewarded for your years of hard work taking care of Dad by an agreement that is generous in your favor.": "Don't misunderstand us, Nii-san. It's not like we are saying that we will abandon our rights. It's just that when we claim what we deserve, it wouldn't be bad if we allow a generous understanding from your position. That's what we mean.": "In other words, if you'll accept our conditions, at the time of the division of the inheritance, we won't mind leaving the investigation of Father's financial status to you, Krauss nii-san."All of the siblings from Eva downward suspected that Krauss was trying to steal their father's wealth. In that situation, letting Krauss report on the state of their father's wealth by himself was extremely contradictory and a huge concession.  : "...Hoh. After mistrusting me completely, you now say that you're willing to restore your confidence in me as the eldest sibling? And what are you asking for?": "Just what we deserve as siblings. ...You aren't the kind of person who would steal Father's property. However, there is no patron financing you. ...Considering all that, there is a certain explanation that would satisfy the rest of us.": "...Nii-san, you found 10 tons of gold and used that as collateral to gather some funding. ...Yes, just like Father did in the past, right?"So basically the only explanation that will satisfactorily explain away Krauss's funds and doesn't involve him embezzling Kinzo's assets is...him embezzling Kinzo's assets. They've established that the gold totally is an asset, after all. Or, well, I guess they could maybe try to have him admit getting ahold of a totally separate 10 tons somehow, but how the hell do they explain that without just running with “witches did it!” again? And why limit the find to gold if they're pulling imaginary witch money out of their asses? Why not 10 tons of, say, silver? Sapphires? Pink diamonds? Emeralds? Bitcoins?  : "If that's the case, there won't be any funny bits in Father's finances. You've always been a good son, lookin' after Father. Why would we mistrust a person like that?": "...You're being so roundabout I can barely understand you. Say it more clearly and practically." But no, they're sticking to Kinzo's funds and having him prove his innocence by doing exactly what they're accusing him of.  We aren't even to the murders and the accompanying crackpot theorizing and the game is already dipping into the crazylogic. : "Our second condition: Regarding the gold, take each sibling's portion and pay it to us.": "How foolish. With the non-existant 20 billion yen of gold, that would be 5 billion yen per person. Are you telling me to pay a total of 15 billion yen? ...Ridiculous!": "Keep listening 'til the end! We know that much money can't just appear. We're not asking you to make an impossible deal! Of course, regardin' the portions of the gold, we plan to reward you sufficiently for your hard work until now in our calculations." : "...That portion makes me so grateful I could cry. So you're saying, for the sake of the gold that doesn't exist, I must pay you 7.5 billion.": "What's wrong? Nii-san, your share is five times the size of ours. That's such a good condition, I'd be jumping for joy. Uhuhuhuhuhu...": "Our fourth condition: The divided gold will be included when the inheritance is distributed at the time of Father's death. However, as a deposit, 10% of our portions will be paid to us promptly. The payment must be made before March of next year.": "...What do you think, Krauss nii-san? This is an ideal chance for you to restore the trust you need to run Father's assets, isn't it?! Of course, it might be impossible to get a whole 7.5 billion before Father dies. However, you can't say that you couldn't manage a deposit of 750 million, right?": "Paying 700 million in half a year might be slightly bothersome, but Aniki, who has many friends in the political and business spheres, should be able to manage it."  : "...So my right to investigate the status of Father's assets is being sold to me for 750 million. ...Fu, fufufu. Isn't that great? You all sure have grown. I never thought you all would become capable of offering a deal to me.": "Nii-san, If you accept these, the rest of us siblings will leave the investigation of Father's assets to you. However, the results of that invesigation will be subject to protest....It's only natural, right? We'd be sad if you adjusted our portion of 7.5 billion downwards.": "As a general rule, we wouldn't complain. As long as you do it neatly, it's fine. ...As long as you don't do anything significantly obvious, we don't plan to aggravate anything. We just want the inheritance quickly. We don't want it to get all drawn out and led astray.": "...In the case of a complaint, who would do the second investigation?" Brilliant! If he fucks you with distribution, just hand him a do-over and call it good. Surely that can't possibly go wrong. That Krauss was completely not trusted as the oldest sibling is so obvious at this point that there's no need to explain it. The formerly tyrannical oldest brother would always abuse his privileges and violate the other siblings' shares. ...Compared to that, the other three, who had become adults, were only now striking back at him for the first time, and only by working together... : "I'm sorry, but the conditions still continue. Our fifth condition: This decision must take precedence over Father's will. ...Later on, we don't want some will to appear and make this decision completely useless.": "...You are quite scrupulous. ...Then let me ask, if the gold really were found, what would you do?" : "As long as you settle this matter with the corresponding payment, the rest of us 'really' don't care whether the gold appears or not. ...You can think of our share as an advance payment." : "...Let me add a 7th condition before I accept. In the situation that any sibling other than myself finds the gold, they will immediately turn it over to me.": "Yes, yes. Of course, we'll hold onto it for you. *giggle*!"It was a play on words. The others, who were forcing Krauss to pay money for some nonexistent gold, would of course not ensure Krauss's portion if they actually found the gold. From the beginning, this deal had been nothing more than a threat directed at Krauss. While the truth might be different, the possibility that Krauss was embezzling his father's assets was extremely high. When at last Kinzo faced death and the inheritance would be distributed, surely some unpleasant facts would be established. That situation would likely be a fatal wound to Krauss. They had snatched up that weak point and, under the veil of compromise, were threatening their brother to try and wring out a huge sum of money.  Krauss, noticing that Eva, sure of her victory, could not hide her smile, relaxedly let out a gloating laugh as he spoke. : "Hahaha. Isn't that a great story? ...I also have felt a deep pain in my heart at my estrangement from the rest of you. If by accepting these conditions, the relationship between the siblings could once again become friendly, I would be quite pleased. I'll join in on this with pleasure. ...Be happy, Rosa. The deal is concluded.": "..."Rosa's expression dimmed. ...When her brother started talking like this, the conversation would never change for the better. ...Eva was also sensitive enough to realize this. Therefore, even though Krauss had obediently accepted the deal, she was unable to wipe away her feeling of insecurity.  The color of Rudolf's face darkened. He heard it as 'I have an idea at the same level as yours'. That gave him a sense of urgency. Trying to bring this near-finished discussion to a conclusion, he rushed to wrap it up.  : "The seventh condition that Krauss nii-san proposed will, of course, be added from now on. Don't worry.": "Aniki, will you use a pen?"Rudolf took a fountain pen out of his breast pocket and offered it to Krauss. Krauss made as if to accept it, but then, with a small laugh, drew back his hand without taking it and spoke. : "...Actually, in order to make sure this agreement is definitely effective, I would like to propose a single amendment."When Krauss said that one sentence... ...All of the siblings felt as though something annoying was creeping up their backs at the same time. : "...Tha-, that won't do. We've already decided, haven't we? Quietly sign it." : "The part about promptly paying 1/10 of each portion, 750 million yen. As you pointed out, my political and financial status is not prosperous. While I can ensure that I will definitely collect on various future investments, at this time I have no choice but to admit that I am very poor. In short, I have absolutely no money that I can move around right now. I am incompetent, and my business skills and senses are dull. Since I am as weak as you all have said, I have no power to move 750 million in just half of a year."...He knows he's terrible at this and he keeps doing it. What the hell is wrong with this guy's pattern recognition. : "Tha-, that can't be true. Are you trying to deceive us with such a careless trick?": "At the time of the division of the inheritance, I will liquidate everything at once. Remove the condition that I quickly pay you 1/10. ...That is the only condition under which I will sign." Hideyoshi had a humble expression on his face and was rubbing his hands together, but his eyes were not calm at all. ...Krauss had already seen through the shadow in the depths of those eyes. : "...Hmph. Why are you all so hurried? Or are you possibly afraid of something? .....Rosa, won't you tell at least me? ...Secretly, without telling the rest of the siblings.": "...It, it's not like I..." : "Quit it, Aniki. All we're asking is whether you're going to sign or not. Just forget about making any strange deals or anything suspicious.": "...Hoh? So I have no margin for negotiation. ...Do you claim that my position is so weak that we are not in an even relationship...?" : "Shouldn't this deal be made on an even footing? To me, this deal will restore the long lost trust of my younger brother and sisters and deepen the love between us siblings. And there has been an uneasiness in my heart to have this resolved quickly. I would be very happy if it could be resolved today. ...But you too would be very happy if this deal were quickly resolved, wouldn't you...?"Krauss stared at each of the siblings. ...They avoided his gaze with animal-like instinct. Only Hideyoshi was slow avoiding it. ...So he was caught in Krauss's gaze. : "Hideyoshi-san. I hear that your company has been going extremely well recently, hasn't it? With a swift rhythm it has become listed as a stock, and both its performance and stock prices have soared. I am truly jealous.": "...M-, my husband's situation surely has nothing to do with this." : "The same way as Hideyoshi-san. If you can collect evidence proving that no one would offer a loan to me, then I can collect evidence on Hideyoshi-san. Hahaha, is it really that strange of a thing?"Krauss grinned broadly. ...In contrast, Hideyoshi's face was turning obviously pale... Hideyoshi's company was a fast food chain management company that he had started from nothing. Through Hideyoshi's management efforts, performance of the business repeatedly rose and magnified, and recently a petition to make it a stock-listed company succeeded.  However, in exchange for financing the company, the stockholders had certain rights. That was, in order to give the company that they had financed even greater profit, they had the right to observe and control it. ...That right was guaranteed to all stockholders, and they would sometimes use it to dismiss ineffectual management. It was the 'right' to prevent the money they had spent financing the company from going to waste by watching the management of the company. However, if they use this right forcibly, they can eject the former management and take over the company.  In other words, if some person or group holds a majority of the stock, they can freely chase out the old management and make the president anyone they would like. If they want, it is also possible for them to make themselves president. In many companies, their stock gets bought up by malicious people and, in order to prevent their position from being threatened, they make their own employees or people close to them buy a lot of stock certificates. To prevent hostile action from being taken by the majority, they try to take some kind of defensive measures.  ...There were people out there who would not let him get away with that naivety unscathed. They began repeatedly buying up Hideyoshi's company's stock and suddenly gained such strength that they couldn't be ignored. They then sent anonymous documents to the shareholders and began to capture the majority. The documents read: 'The current management continues to make pointless investments and is ignoring the needs of the stockholders. Let us force the current management to retire, cut the current wasted investments, and let this company be born again as one that gives more back to the stockholders.' It is very difficult to make the actual state of a company's management known. ...The success created by Hideyoshi's tiny amount of sleep and his constant concern for his company was cruelly twisted, and he lost the trust of his stockholders. Their efforts had almost collected a majority of the stock in the company.  One of the certainties of capitalism is that value will rise when both parties vie for the same thing. And one of the certainties of democracy is that the majority controls everything. So in the end, whoever manages to buy up the most stock wins. ...So whoever has the most money wins.  So Krauss has the worst instincts possible for investment timing, Hideyoshi started handing out stocks without really getting how they work at all, and we already know Rosa just can't be assed. 3 for 3 on total business incompetence so far! Let's see if we can go 4 for 4... : "And you, Rudolf, you've been in a lot of trouble lately, haven't you? They say it's scary overseas, but it seems that's really true. American trials are settled quite emotionally. They won't give a generous judgement to a foreigner. ...Weren't you advised by your lawyer that making a settlement with the other party would be more economical in the end?" : "...What are you talking about...?": "...Well, it's some trouble from work. It's no big deal. It'll be settled with money..."Kyrie quickly recognized what Rudolf's complicated expression meant. ...Her husband had gotten wrapped up in some kind of trouble without her knowledge, and had been suffering alone.  Rudolf had been building a large amount of wealth with a certain type of niche market. ...However, a niche is a niche. It's definitely not a sunny job. An American corporate giant was trying to accuse Rudolf's company of violating their rights. ...And they just...don't give enough info to be sure. Honestly I don't recall off the top if they go into much more detail on Rudolf's business issues later. Or what he even does. For various reasons, it was thought that winning the trial was extremely unlikely, and Rudolf went for an all-out surrender. ...But even that was a path resolved with money. If he could only pay that money, though it might be painful, he could still pick himself back up.  : "...Rosa, you're a good and noble little sister. You wouldn't even touch a dangerous money game. ...However, your softhearted nature was your ruin, wasn't it...? I wouldn't think one should agree to become a co-signer so lightly." : "Nn, ...umm, ...Th-, that has nothing to do with you, Krauss nii-san!!"But, to make up for the possibility of Rudolf merely being unfortunate, Rosa's screwed herself over in two different ways. Rosa uncharacteristically lay bare her emotions and yelled. ...There's no way he could know. As Krauss watched, he let slip a muffled laugh...  In other words, the situation had been reversed. Because only Krauss, who they were threatening, had no urgent need for a large sum of money. Compared to that, the three who were threatening him wanted money quickly, no matter what the cost. So Krauss was able to control this deal however he liked. Krauss was very sly. He had known of their Achilles heel from the beginning. Even so, he had not been certain. Therefore, he had hidden that until the very end, and, upon closely and completely examining their attitude, he had struck back. Krauss' one genuine skill: dragging everyone else down with him. : "If I could, I would love to raise some money for my cute brother and sisters in their time of need. ...But unfortunately, I have nothing on hand....If you have any sponsors in mind that can raise a whole 750 million, I suggest you try there first." : "...If you're still set on relying on your older brother, you can use my influence to find a sponsor. ...Oh wait, you already said that I have no influence. Well then, I can't do anything, can I? ...Hehheheheheheheh!"Krauss's low, gloating laugh began to fill the parlor. The younger siblings who had, until now, been driving the oldest brother into a corner, could do nothing more than grimace and grind their teeth... : "...E-, Eva...": "...Don't make me laugh... As if I could borrow from you...! Don't make me laugh, ...Don't make me laugh...!" : "...drat you...,taking advantage of us...": "...Honey. Please calm down.": "I am calm. I'm extremely cool...You bastard...!"Kyrie grabbed her husband's hand. But that action made him feel even more pitiful, so Rudolf shook it off. ...Krauss laughed as though seeing that made him extremely happy. : "In times like these, it sure would be nice to find Father's hidden gold. If you did, you could split it up into 2.5 billion yen portions right now. How sad, how sad. How very sad! How extremely totally truly hopelessly sad! Yes, clearly the best way to solve a riddle that's stumped everyone for two years is through the teamwork of a bunch of drunks who hate each other. Genius! ...Or maybe a legitimately brilliant idea, if they're trying to figure it out from a new angle by getting into a workable approximation of the state of mind Kinzo was in when he wrote it (drunk, full of loathing for everyone around him, fixated on Beatrice).     : "...Yes. Whether or not Krauss-sama actually discovered the gold, he would pay Eva-sama, Rudolf-sama and Rosa-sama a total of 7.5 billion yen for their shares. However, 1/10 of that would be paid before March." : "Fu, hah-hah-hah-hah-hah-ha... Krauss, you dunce. That he would have his feet swept out from under him by his younger siblings... Isn't that truly pleasant....But it seems their trap was naive?" : "...That conversation has been interrupted for now. Now, Beatrice-sama's epitaph is being discussed.": "So, they are trying to solve the riddle and find out where my gold is hidden?": "...Yes."Kinzo set down his glasses and snorted. : "...Will the miracle be fulfilled first, or will those fools expose the gold first? ...What a sight. ...If those fools solve my puzzle, at that time I will be completely defeated. They can suck my corpse down to the last fragment of bone. Great magic can house a miracle from the fools' greed. ...And yet!! If the fulfillment of the miracle comes first...If it comes first! Beatrice will be resurrected again!! That smile which I have been chasing half my life will be restored...! Except absinthe. Nothing, not even Beatrice, is worth giving up his absinthe. Kinzo choked, apparently in great pain. Kanon got closer and tried to pat his master's back, but Kinzo signaled that he didn't need to. : "...Do you know why I went to the trouble of exposing the hidden location of the gold so that everyone could see it?": "...No." Does it really count as that great a risk when most everyone trying to solve the riddle is incompetent, though? : "...My apologies.": "That's fine. It all comes down to this. To the one that solves the mystery of Beatrice's epitaph, I will give all of that which I have built up. Wealth, honor, gold, and the inheritance of the Ushiromiya family. Everything that I have established! Since tackling the riddle is the only condition, it is not limited to my children. For example, if you succeeded in solving it, that would make you qualified to gain everything.": "...Yes. However,...I couldn't possibly understand such a difficult riddle.": "Of course. I made it difficult. ...But you must also challenge it. That will become the seed with which the miracle of my magic will be summoned. If everyone challenges it, and everyone fails, that will be that. However, if the miracles are gathered and the magical power is born, it will happen then! Beatrice will revive. Therefore you too must challenge it. Everyone must challenge it. And in doing so, they must give strength to my magic!! Do you understand?!": "...Yes. ...I will try."And when most of the rest are apathetic? For a long while, Kinzo repeatedly muttered to himself, agitated and grabbing onto his head. Kanon stayed where he was, alert and unmoving, until he was given the next order from his master. ...Kinzo finally realized this.  Oh, hey, +1 for the list of people Kinzo doesn't totally despise. Actually, we may as well just bump it up by two, since even though they haven't interacted onscreen yet, the tattoo already indicates Shannon has his favor too. So the list currently stands at... -Genji -Shannon -Kanon -Beatrice -Absinthe -Sometimes Nanjo : "...Hmmm. ...So furniture doesn't eat things like sweets? ...Indeed. In that case, leave me.": "Yes. ...Excuse me."Kanon bowed and left the study. As the door was closed, a heavy locking noise resounded. But that was not the sound of Kanon locking the door. It was the door locking automatically. No one could enter without Kinzo's permission, and once they left, they could not enter again. ...It was a mechanism that Kinzo, unable to trust his blood relatives, had created to lock himself up in his own study and isolate himself from the outside world.    He overheard that bit about their agreement overriding the will and has spent the time since then lingering outside, silently cursing his failure to steal the fortune. For the most part, Genji also understood the family's situation. ...It must have made him want to frown, knowing that right now in the lounge, the master he served was being discussed so disrespectfully. But it would have been very difficult to gather that from his indifferent expression.  : "...But, ...I don't understand. ...Why did Kinzo-san have something so provocative written, I wonder."Nanjo looked at the portrait of Beatrice. ...No, he actually directed his gaze beneath the portrait, at the plate with the epitaph.  : "...I don't presume to understand the Master's thoughts. However, I have realized that those thoughts are very deep." : "Sometimes I wonder whether this is not some kind of will from the Master. ...Would he entrust his assets and inheritance to whoever could solve this riddle?": "...Then maybe he hoped to force the four siblings to work together and solve the riddle before some outsider like myself solved it. It might be something like that. Kinzo-san might rudely abuse his children, but he may also hope that the siblings repair their relationship.": "..."If, as Nanjo said, this epitaph had been written to repair the relationship between the siblings, that would be extremely pleasant.  : "...The Master is always saying that it doesn't matter whether they're a member of the family as long as they have the qualification of solving the riddle. ...What about you, Doctor Nanjo?": "No, no...It's a little too hard to understand for this senile old man. ...Actually, I wrote this epitaph down on my notebook at one point in time. Night after night, I would try to solve it before going to sleep, ...but, hahaha, it really is hard. It looks like there might be some free time to relax and consider it before someone comes to get us. What do you say, Genji-san?"You know, one has to wonder what would happen if the two of them or the group of siblings all solved it. The person who pulls it off is supposed to get everything, but how is it divided up in that case? Multiple headships with equal cuts? Some kind of weird rotation? Or can there be only one and they have to determine the one true winner by, I dunno, high stakes RPS or a dance off to the death or some poo poo? Something to ponder, that. : "...I am nothing more than furniture that serves the Master. Gold and assets are useless to me.": "My, my, you are a humble person. ...That's probably why Kinzo-san trusts you so much.": "If so, I am honored..."As Nanjo lightly laughed in response, he once again looked at the epitaph.  And now we get to actually see the epitaph in full.  My beloved hometown, the sweetfish river running through it. You who seek the Golden Land, follow its path downstream and seek the key. If you follow the river downstream, you will find a village. In the village, look for the shore the two will tell you of. There sleeps the key to the Golden Land. He who lays hand upon the key shall travel under the rules below.  At the eighth twilight, gouge the leg and kill. At the ninth twilight, the witch shall be revived and none shall be left alive. Nine lines about ritual mass murder and Battler quotes how much Kinzo loves Beatrice and his hometown when he calls it disturbing. Battler has some weird ideas about what qualifies as disturbing. At the tenth twilight, the journey shall end and you should reach the village of gold.  So Kinzo's set up an elaborate riddle/murder ritual to...try and kill absolutely everyone so he can resurrect Beatrice, only to put her right back to sleep forever almost immediately and undo everything he just accomplished, unless someone proves themselves qualified to inherit everything by being really good at riddles. That is...certainly a plan! Also, so we've got our first mystery now in the form of the riddle side of this. Finally.        : Uu-! Trying to perform ritual at home so wrote it exactly! Uu-!There was a notebook inside the handbag Maria was always carrying around, and Beatrice's epitaph was copied onto it. Thanks to that, we were all able to challenge the puzzle of the epitaph while walking down this beach. Jessica and the rest had already tried to solve it several times, and had already gotten bored with it. However, since this was a first for me, I was so excited that I couldn't stop. It really tickled my man's sense of romance!  : "Let's start with the first line. My beloved hometown, the sweetfish river running through it. Where was Grandfather's hometown again?" : "I heard that, before the war, the Ushiromiya family had a mansion near Odawara. So, that said, anyone would want to know about the sweetfish river that flows through Odawara, right?": "Because that river would be the starting place. Anyone searching for the golden land would head down that and search for the key. What's the name of the river in Odawara? Does it have sweetfish swimming in it?" : "Ihihi, Maria, you'll understand when you get o~lder! Licklicklick salty roasted sweetfish! Yummy~! Even though we just ate, I'm getting hungry again." : "...Umm, shall I bring you a biscuit?": "Huh? Oh, sorry. That's not what I meant, don't mind it!"goddammit Battler could you stop innuendoing at the 9 year old already Shannon-chan, since she didn't have any afternoon chores for a while, was faithfully keeping us company. I would have thought that, as a servant, accompanying us would force her to take care of us and tire her out, but it seemed that it wasn't so in her case.  : "All right, so I get that the sweetfish-filled river near Odawara is Hayakawa. In that case, we have to go down it! Don't you find anything if you head down Hayakawa river?": "Ummm, ...if you follow it downstream, you'll arrive in the ocean.": "Of course, you'd reach the mouth of the river! And then the third line of the epitaph was 'If you follow the river downstream, you will find a village.' By the way, since long ago, the mouths of rivers have been key points in transportation, and large cities tend to be built there. That would be the next checkpoint."  : "Hmmmmmm. That's a pretty good theory. Just like you imagined, in ancient times, there was a very prosperous old city there. That's where Odawara castle is." : "I see, I see. Alright, alright! If we find the gold, the great Battler-sama will generously reserve a whole theme park for a day and let you play in it~!...Still, Odawara castle. The hidden gold of Odawara castle... Oho?! That sounds pretty good, doesn't it?!"Though there's the question of why the hell Kinzo would store his giant stash of gold in a place that's both fairly distant, and a public landmark with tourists no doubt crawling all over it. How the hell do you even quietly get 10 tons in there, let alone make sure no one finds them without going through your crazy riddle? And if it was always there, why didn't he either try and snap that up back while it was still basically a ruin or move it elsewhere? Hell, that was even where the Ushiromiya head house used to be, he could have just rebuilt that and barely had to move it all. It would go beyond “crazy” into “kind of stupid.” : "Hahahahaha! Well, two years ago, we figured out that much. The village down the river where the sweetfish swim in Odawara. We figured that it was probably somewhere near Odawara castle. The problem is the next line. Alright, let's see where Battler's strange reasoning can take him."Jessica grinned broadly. It was like she was saying that, if the puzzle could be solved so easily, she would have found it long ago. ...drat it, I'll definitely find it and keep it all for myself!  : "Huh?! Wow, you sure know a lot! So~, what does that mean? Shannon-chan, are you also after the gold, and trying to solve the riddle~? That makes us rivals!": "I, it's not like I'm interested in gold... It's just that...George-sama told me about it before..."Shannon and the other servants know something the rest don't. There's nothing left to find anymore. Someone has to keep all that gold nice and shiny, and given decades and enough of them thinking that surely no one would notice one missing ingot, well... Or, well, doubtless Kinzo knows as well, but as far as he's concerned it's just the cherry topping of his final “gently caress you” to the family he spawned. : "That's because we reached the same conclusion two years ago. We even went to the trouble of laying out a map and looking it up!": "It was about five kilometers to the north of Odawara. We definitely found a place called Sogakishi there....However, after that, we don't know. The fifth line doesn't say where the key is hidden in that place. Maria-chan, could you read it for us?" : "Sogakishi is probably large, and there wasn't ever any house built there by the Ushiromiya family. There are no hints as to where the key is hidden in this huge area, so this is where we give up.": "You're right. ...And without the key, we can't advance to the next line. George-aniki, what kind of place is Sogakishi?": "Let's see... I've never been there, so I don't really know, but according to the map, it's in the mountains. I'm pretty sure it was at the base of Asama mountain.": "...Hmmmm. That's a little annoying. Couldn't a puzzle for the hiding place of a treasure be a little more exact? Anyways, I get the feeling that Sogakishi is definitely the right place." Jessica needs to pay more attention to her family. For all my lack of booze knowledge, even I know that sake and absinthe are very different beasts. ...Unless she's using it in the general sense, I guess? Goddamn weird language ambiguities... : "...The Master almost never speaks of his past. ...However, he speaks of the Great Kanto earthquake as though it was someone else's story, so he may have been living far away from the Kanto area.": "The Ushiromiya family may have been living in Odawara, but the branch family was not limited to that. Grandfather often called himself part of a branch of the branch family, the least connected to the successor.": "So that's what you mean! The beloved hometown might not even be Odawara at all...": "I've never even asked about Grandfather's hometown. I doubt that I'd get an honest answer if I did."(continued in next post) Shiny777 fucked around with this message at 19:55 on Sep 17, 2012 |
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Sep 17, 2012 08:40
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Part Nine: The Banquet of Miracles Begins (Section B)  : "Uu-... I don't get what you're talking about. Uu-."Maria had been completely left out of the conversation, and she now sat puffing out her cheeks in boredom. : "Right, so in short, if we can't decide upon the starting place for the gold's dice game, we can't even begin to play....But wait? In the first five lines the thing we're searching for is a key? Even without a key, we should be able to bust right through any door. Can't we just throw away the first five lines and start figuring out the rest?": "Ooh... I hadn't thought of that. Oh well, we're just wasting time anyway. Let's hear the rest of Battler's reasoning!": "...But in the next part it quickly becomes disturbing..."Shannon-chan frowned slightly. After looking back at Maria's notebook to recall what was written there, ...alright, I agree.  Considering who and what we're dealing with here? Almost certainly both! : "Even if we ignore the meaning of that second line, at the first twilight it's six people, and at the fourth through eighth twilights it's five people, so at least 11 people must become sacrifices.": "Uu-. Sacrifices to revive Beatrice!"And of course the thing that makes her finally perk up from boredom is a subject change to human sacrifice. Creepy little poo poo. : "...I see, sacrifices to restore the witch... That's what it would mean. As a result, the witch will be revived at the ninth twilight...That last part is guaranteed.": "...At the ninth twilight, the witch shall be revived and none shall be left alive. ...So everyone will die in the end." : "But at the end, something pretty interesting is written. The lines about how, after reaching the goal, the four treasures will be given by the witch. One shall be all the gold. The problem is the next one. It says the resurrection of the souls of all the dead, right? Doesn't it seem like this refers to everyone that died in the earlier lines?": "...If you put it like that, the next one, the resurrection of the lost love part might be referring to the pair torn apart at the second twilight.": "That's right. And the fourth one refers to the ninth twilight. The fourth treasure is putting the witch, revived at the ninth twilight, to sleep." : "If we interpret that favorably, it'll be hectic with people dying and breaking up, but it will all be made well in the end. The awakened witch will once again sleep, and all that will be left is plenty of left-over gold." : "Oh well, just when the tale of the hidden gold was getting interesting, as soon as the witch's story is tied in, it quickly gets pretty shady.": "Too true. Ahahahahahaha!"I laughed along with Jessica. After all, a witch was just ridiculous. ...Of course, once we started laughing like that, Maria, who believed in the witch, got angry.  : "Erk, oh no... My bad...it's just a joke!"Jessica apologized, sticking out her tongue, but Maria didn't accept it. She grabbed her notebook back out of my hands and, opening to the other pages, tried to prove that the witch existed. Those pages had colored illustrations of witches drawn on them, and conveyed the fantastical image Maria had of witches well. It was not the normal sinister image of a crooked-nose hag flying around on a broom, but a dreamlike person with unnatural powers that could do anything and wore a beautiful dress. It was just what you would expect from an imaginative young girl. In fact, there's not a single witch in this with a broom or pointy hat. ...It never occurred to me to find this at all odd until now.  ...To Maria, a witch was a unique concept, an embodiment of the magical dream that so captivated her. As she grew up, this was the last thing that gave richness to her dull and plain everyday life. That is why Maria believed in witches. She didn't want that dream to be insulted. And, she didn't want the epitaph, which affirmed the existence of the witch, to be insulted. Because the witch Beatrice is Maria's dream...  Maria was very angry and clung onto George-aniki. Jessica and I scratched our heads and apologized. ...It might not be possible to smooth things over again like the time she got mad in front of the portrait. Maria didn't want to be easily consoled. Unlike Jessica and I, who hung our heads wondering what we had done, Shannon-chan timidly opened her mouth. : "Umm, ...Maria-sama, did you know...? There is a ghost story about Beatrice that has been passed down amongst the servants.": "...Uu-?": "A, ah, yeah, that's right! Shannon, tell us about it. I don't really know, but it's apparently pretty famous amongst the servants.": "What is this? A ghost story?": "Yes. It seems it's a story from before we were born. I also heard it from my mother." The tale that Shannon told was just like a typical campfire ghost story. If there was a forest with a witch living inside it, ...then there's no reason the witch couldn't pay the mansion a visit. At some point, this ghost story naturally sprouted up between the servants.  Beatrice: All the powers of a god. Nothing better to do with them than gently caress with servants in minor ways.  : "Uu-! See, she exists! Beatrice exists!!": "Yeah, she exists. I remember often being unable to find my shoes before heading to school..."Maria puffed out her chest with an 'uu-uu-' as though this was the final proof that the witch existed. If I opened my mouth, Maria would probably be hurt again, so I didn't. ...I mean, you hear that kind of story everywhere. Depending on the place, it might be blamed on a dwarf or an elf. It's just that, on this island, they call it the witch. Of course, you would expect that walking around a vast, elegant mansion at night would be a little unsettling. It's an island devoid of people. Since the mansion is so drafty, walking around on the night of a thunderstorm would certainly be eerie.  : "...Whew. That's scary...": "Ah, ...but, there's nothing to be afraid of, right? Beatrice-sama is another ruler of this mansion separate from the Master. Therefore, don't be strangely afraid. If you respect her, she won't do anything bad.":"However, it would be dreadful if you didn't respect her, right?": "...Yes. I heard that, just before I began working, someone who spoke badly about Beatrice-sama fell down the stairs and quit after receiving a large injury to their back. Because of that, there was a rumor between the servants that Beatrice-sama's anger had been brought down upon this person..." : "I'll apologize as well. I'm sorry, Beatrice-sama. ...Will the witch be able to forgive us now?": "...Uu-. Don't know. The witch is fickle, so she forgives when she forgives, and doesn't forgive when she doesn't forgive. Uu-!": "That's no good...Maria-chan, isn't there some kind of good luck charm that could prevent Battler-kun and Jessica-chan from having Beatrice-sama's anger brought down upon them? Some kind of amulet or something?"By relying on Maria, who was proud at knowing the most about witches, George was able to revive her self-esteem. ...I was once again forced to admire his ability to comfort children. Maria, seriously pondering and crossing her arms, began flipping through the pages of her handbook as if there were obviously some charm capable of protecting Jessica and myself from the witch's wrath.  When she finally found what she was looking for, she vigorously closed the notebook with a snap and threw it into her handbag. She then began fishing through that bag's contents. It seemed that various jumbled up things were in there.  The sheer amount of random magical stuff she's managed to fit in that little thing is the first hint that Maria is considerably more dangerous than she looks. We've already seen her spellbook, and if she's managed to make herself a Handbag of Holding, she's gotta be at least 9th level, with all the versatility and power that implies. Maybe even higher, since we don't know what else she's got in there yet... Finally, it seemed that she had discovered what she was looking for. With a face unimaginably clearer than the difficult expression she had worn until now, she stuck 'them' out to Jessica and me. : "Uu-!"As I reached out to grab it, I noticed that it was a very cheap-looking charm. It looked like a bracelet made from a plastic rosary, with a scorpion motif medal attached. I mean, you often find cheap accessories that correspond to the constellations. It felt like a gift that you might win in the crane game at an arcade. It really looked like something like that.  : "You're giving these to me and Battler?": "Uu-! With these charms, even Beatrice is no problem! Because the scorpion has the power to block magic!"Beatrice: almighty master of life and death, capable of bending the laws of physics over a desk at a whim, essentially a god. Powerless against the right type of arachnid. : "Huh, really? Didn't know scorpions could do that.": "Uu-, Battler doesn't believe! Uu-uu-uu-!"I had inflamed Maria again because I said too much... Maria took out her notebook again, and while pointing out various pages, went on and on about how the scorpion had holy power, and that it had been drawn in magic-repelling magical circles since ancient times.  : "Uu-! The scorpion protects against bad magic and misfortune. And emerald brings peace to the heart. Therefore, the effect is double! Uu-!": "It's true. The scorpion wraps around the emerald and protects it. I see, that seems very useful."I really wanted to make fun of this worthless looking charm, but as I watched Maria explaining the charm with all of her heart, and realized that she had prepared them out of consideration for us, it felt as though, even if it were just a prize from a game center, it would still be beneficial. The material quality of the charm wasn't important. The strength of her feelings was. Even I wouldn't plan on ruining everything by making fun of it. : "Okay, thank you. I apologized to Beatrice-sama, but, even in the worst case where I'm cursed, I'll be safe now thanks to Maria's charm. Right, Jessica?": "Ah, that's right! Thank you, Maria." Wait. Wait what. Your money won't decrease if you shove a scorpion emerald thing from some arcade in your wallet. Holy poo poo who cares about the gold it's a loving infinite money amulet. Okay so this merits immediate testing to see if this is a legit glitch in reality or whatever. If I abruptly disappear for months without word after I post this update, assume it totally is and the LP is over because I am too busy wallowing in impossibly obscene, economy destroying decadence to keep it up. If that happens, I'll see you all again in the ruins after hyperinflation destroys society. I'll be the one in the platinum rocket hovercraft fueled by diamonds and angel tears, heralded by a pack of genetically engineered cyborg hunting velociraptors, cackling maniacally and chugging Satan's own personal absinthe stash as I hunt the hordes of the poor for sport with a gatling gun that fires solid gold bullets. Alternately, with the Maria is a Wizard theory, if she's casually handing out infinite money items she is probably terrifyingly high level. As Shannon-chan clapped her hands together, Maria stuck out her chest. She was completely vigorous again. If it would keep her in this good of a mood, it would probably be worth it to let Maria lead the discussion for a while longer. When you think about it, she hadn't shared in our excitement when we talked about the gold's hidden location, so I think she had gotten a little bored. While eating the cookies Kumasawa-san had baked, Jessica and I asked Maria this and that about black magic. Maria happily chatted away in response to our questions. For each one, George-aniki and Shannon-chan would act surprised and agree with everything she said. The color of the clouds in the sky grew progressively heavier, but the cousins really enjoyed communicating freely after one year of separation...  As George-aniki rubbed his forehead, he looked up at the sky. Considering the color of the sky and the dampness of the air, it wouldn't have been odd for a raindrop to fall down. It also seemed like the wind had gotten a little stronger. : "Uu-? Maria didn't feel a drop. Only Maria didn't. Uu:"Calm down, neither did I. Anyways I'm sure that it'll rain so much tonight that everyone will get the same amount of raindrops.": "That's right. Maybe we should head back soon...?"Shannon-chan looked down at her watch. It was already well into the evening.  Shannon-chan declined our help, saying that this was a servant's job, but picking up a dropped fork before the waitress has to is like my purpose in life. We folded up the blanket, gathered up the trash, and helped clean everything up. : "Uu-! The trash is getting awa-y! Uu-uu-!!": "I won't let it get away. I'll take it before Maria does!": "Uu-!! Maria will pick it up! Uu-uu-uu-!": "Maria-! Don't get your shoes wet, you'll get in trouble-!"To Maria, chasing after some trash that the strong winds had sent flying was just like another game. When we finished cleaning up, the wind had started blowing very strongly. It looked like a good chance to head back.  : "Genji-san is very rigorous about time. If you aren't at the right place at the right time, he can be very strict.": "We'll see you later. Do your best with your work.": "Ye, yes! ...Then if you will excuse me."After making a respectful bow, Shannon-chan ran over towards the rose garden.    : "These roses might be done in by tonight's winds.": "You're right. Don't you think the roses were lucky? After all, they got to welcome all of you before the typhoon.": "A flower will always lose its petals at some point. However, because of that, we can admire them even more when they are in bloom.": "That's right. ...Maria, burn this image into your eyes. At this moment, they are the best roses of the year.": "Uu-. Burned into eyes."Right then, Maria suddenly clapped her hands. It looked like she had remembered something.  It seemed that Maria remembered where the rose was. She ran at full speed. The rest of us followed her. : "...Uu-? Uu-.": "Where was that again...? I'm sure it was somewhere around here."We searched everywhere around that area, but, after all, it was only a single flower amongst all of these roses. Even though we knew it was somewhere close by, we weren't able to find it. The winds that made up the front lines of the typhoon were making the roses throughout the garden undulate. It was almost like it was teasing us by making the location of Maria's rose impossible to find...  : "What is it, what happened?": "...Uu-. Maria's rose is here. It's here...!": "But it's actually not, is it...? Maybe it was on the other side of the flower bed. If we all look, we'll find it fast, right?" : "Uu-!! It's here! Maria's rose is here!! Look for it! Look--for--it!! Uuu--!!"Maria stomped her feet in irritation. ...She had pointed out this spot and said it was definitely here, but it actually wasn't. Having said that, Maria got mad when we went to go search elsewhere. ...We couldn't help but be puzzled. For a while, we would have to stay with Maria, and pretend to search through this rose thicket.   : "...Oh man, Maria is really losing her temper.": "Maria sometimes starts to really care about really pointless things. If she gets what she wants, that's alright, but..." :"You can't find something that isn't there... That's not good..."Just when we were at a loss as to what was going on, Maria raised a loud voice. : "Mama-!! Uu-uu-!!"In the direction she was waving her hand, Rosa oba-san's figure was visible. Maybe she wanted to look at the garden one more time before the typhoon came, or maybe she had some business at the guesthouse. Rosa oba-san was coming from the mansion. She quickly noticed her daughter's voice and came over.  : "We wrapped a candy wrapper around it. ...But Maria, if I remember correctly, it was growing right in front and really stood out, didn't it? Unless it grew legs and ran off somewhere, it must have been somewhere else. Did Maria remember it wrong?": "Uu-!! It is here!! It--is--here!! Battler doesn't believe! Uu-uu-!!"...Wait. Does this mean... The rose is Beatrice?  Rosa oba-san began searching as well, so we went along with her for the time being, but we were already more than sure that it wasn't around here. ...Therefore, Rosa oba-san also soon realized that it wasn't here. : "The rose isn't here. Did you mistake this place for somewhere else? There are so many roses around,": "Uu-!! Uuuu---!!! That's wrong!! It is here!! Mama doesn't believe! Uu-uu-uu-!!!" : "Didn't I believe you and look hard for it?! But it isn't here!": "Uu-uu-!! But it is here!! It is here but it isn't!! Uu-uu-uu-!!"   Hey, so remember how it's been emphasizing that Rosa is the sweet, pure, gentle sibling? It has taken all my restraint not to call bullshit before now. It is complete bullshit. In that instant, Maria was shocked into silence. Of course, it was only for an instant. When Maria realized that her wish was being rejected before it could be fulfilled, she started yelling with an increasingly louder voice.  Once again, her palm slapped Maria's cheek. In addition to the stuff I noted in the OP, Umineko is actually about one more thing! Horrible, horrible parenting. The plot is like an ongoing competition to see who can be the worst at it, and Rosa is one of the top three contenders. And she is probably the least awful at it, of the three. This time she didn't go silent. She choked as she started crying, and began to bawl in an increasingly louder voice... Rosa oba-san was clearly irritated, and lifted her hand once more to try and shut her daughter up... : "Ro, Rosa oba-san... Now, now...She's just a little kid. There's no reason to get so serious...ihihi."I tried to cut in with a bitter smile, rubbing my hands together, ...but Rosa oba-san threatened me with a serious face which told me not to butt in. : "I'm sorry, would Battler-kun and the rest of you return to your room? Oba-san needs to have a little talk with Maria." : "Uu-uu-uu-uu-!! It is here!! It is definitely here!! Uu-uu-uu-!!": "Then it has disappeared!! Give it up!!": "Why?! Why did it disappear? Why, why?! Uu-uu-uu-!!!": "I don't know that!! So stop saying 'uu-uu-'!!Rosa oba-san once again raised her hand and, overrun by emotions, slapped Maria's cheek. It was so strong, it knocked Maria over.  : "Don't you think it's weird, Battler-kun? Do you have any girls at your school that mutter 'uu-uu-'?": "Well, I am in high school... But for an elementary schooler, I think saying 'uu-uu-' is pretty cute...": "Cute? Saying 'uu-uu-' is cute? Cute?!" they even have the same voice actor apparently It seemed that my reckless words had brought Rosa oba-san's wrath down upon me. Oba-san grabbed my collar with a terrifying expression...  No seriously look back at that image. There's a future right there, Rosa! She can just sort of...exist, and you can ditch whatever your current business is, start making anime, and create a bunch of generic shitshows to be vehicles for girls modeled after her. She's a generically cute young girl who makes a weird cutesy noise, your country eats that poo poo up with gusto. You can create moe a couple decades early and start raking in the cash from creepy otaku! It's a horrible idea from any non-cash-based perspective and you would be pretty much the worst parent for doing it, but I'm sure you wouldn't care. Especially once you've installed the swimming vault. : "Uu-uu-uu-uu-uu-!!! Uu-uu-uu-uu-uu-uu-!!!": "I told you, stop saying 'uu-uu-'!!! Didn't I tell you to stop it!!"Rosa oba-san struck Maria's quivering head from which an increasingly unsatisfied voice was rising. I tried to stop it, but Oba-san thrust me away... My back hit George-aniki. Well, at least you tried. George, Jessica, either of you gonna step up? : "...A long time ago, Rosa-san also thought of it as nothing more than one of Maria-chan's baby words...but she is now midway through elementary school, and the fact that it hasn't been fixed has bothered her a lot recently...": "It's not like it matters what kind of words she uses...": "You can't grow up to be like that. ...Therefore, even though it's not a pleasant scene to watch, ...this is a problem between parent and child." : "...Well, I also often get in trouble from my mother about how I speak."If you look at it that way, maybe an outsider shouldn't interfere with this even though it's painful to watch...  : "Well then, you can understand Maria-chan's feelings right now. ...I'm sure she doesn't want us to be here now. ...Do you understand as well, Jessica-chan?": "...I don't think anyone likes to be seen when they're being punished.": "Let's go. Let's return to the guesthouse. Then, after Maria-chan comes back, let's welcome her as if nothing happened. That's probably for the best, isn't it?"...So that's a no, then? Because we thought that George-aniki's point was probably correct, ...we were fine with using that correct-sounding reason to justify retreating as long as it would ease the pain in our chests. Jessica and I nodded at George-aniki, and we all left. We called towards Maria that we were going to head to the guesthouse, but since it didn't seem to reach her ears, we also had shamelessly guilty consciences...  Yes. Not only did she just slap the poo poo out of her 9 year old daughter, but now she's leaving her outside alone in a typhoon. For making Maria probably viewed that as a cold gesture meant to injure. But from Rosa's perspective, that was not her intention. ...It was because the hand which she had so emotionally struck Maria's cheek with was still numb. And only because she's too numb to keep bitchslapping. And we're just scratching the tip of the child abuse iceberg, folks! It gets worse. so so much worse It was because, if she stayed there screaming, she might again be taken over by her emotions and continue slapping her daughter's cheek over and over. After Rosa left, only Maria was left alone in the rose garden. The wind began to blow stronger and stronger, and every once in a while, a raindrop would fall on her forehead. ...However, Maria couldn't leave that place. Not until she found that poor, withering rose.  Maybe the angle I'm looking from is wrong. Maybe the height I'm looking from is wrong. ...While gazing at a single point, Maria repeatedly stood up, changed her position and continued to stare.    Kinzo, as if being summoned by the sound of the rain, approached the window. The sound of the rain is a sound of silence. That sound feels quieter than any silence and makes humans remember that, in the end, they are alone from when they are born to when they die. : "...You're late, Beatrice."Were those words directed at the rainy sky...? No one could be seen in the direction of Kinzo's gaze.   There's something in the phrasing of a lot of these rants that makes his specific choice of Mephistopheles kind of interesting. Can't really go into detail until another character shows up in a bit, but all the talk of odds and miracles seems oddly more in line with a different sort of “benefactor.”  : ...Come, devour as much as you wish...!! I will overcome that roulette. Yes, I'll put everything on the line. First, I'll return the inheritance of the Ushiromiya family. Accept it!!"As Kinzo violently opened the window, he ripped off a golden ring stuck to his finger and forcefully threw it away. ...At that time, thunder resounded, giving the illusion that the lightning had accepted the ring. Well, that's...certainly a twist. Not content with pulling the rug out from under Krauss by setting up a riddle to determine the successor, now Kinzo's decided to quietly throw that away and make a loving typhoon the new family head! A typhoon that may or may not be Beatrice after abandoning her previous form as a rose!     Holy poo poo there's finally actual TIPs in the TIPs section! It's just the epitaph again for easy reference, no differences in the wording. So uh, full disclosure. It's...not really fully solvable at this point because this episode doesn't even have some of the clues necessary to really figure it out. And even then, it requires English/Japanese/Chinese trilingualism and some knowledge of Asian geography. And the original Japanese game, basically, as it involves a bunch of character reading fuckery that doesn't really convert to English well. Don't take this as discouragement from throwing around speculation even if you don't have all that assorted knowledge, mind you. Oh, and Chiru uses a slightly different translation of it. A couple of the changes it makes are to match the character readings more closely, but the rest are pretty much arbitrary. Can't criticize them too harshly for switching translations, though, since the one used here was done well before the episode that actually explains the solution came out. ...But I'm getting way ahead of myself here.    Next time: The Witch's Letter and Umbrella. For anyone wondering, there are two or three more updates between where we are now and the start of the murders, depending on exactly how I split things. Shiny777 fucked around with this message at 09:57 on Sep 17, 2012 |
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Sep 17, 2012 08:41
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Oh yay, we can finally talk about how Rosa is a terrible mother. It's not Umineko without that. I do really like that scene though, it's pretty much the first time the game flat out says Maria isn't ~kawaii~, but there's actually something serious there.
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Sep 17, 2012 09:28
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Cake Attack posted:Oh yay, we can finally talk about how Rosa is a terrible mother. It's not Umineko without that. Rosa gets her moments with Maria, specially scolding her hard. It goes both ways though, later on.
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Sep 17, 2012 11:12
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Shiny777 posted:Yes, clearly the best way to solve a riddle that's stumped everyone for two years is through the teamwork of a bunch of drunks who hate each other. Genius! You say this like this isn't always Kinzo's state of mind.
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Sep 17, 2012 12:40
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With the last update and this one, we're finally getting into the meat of the game. I must say, this update is the first one where I've thought new backgrounds were missing something compared to the old ones. The garden looks out of place with all that sunlight when apparently it's cloudy, windy and slightly raining at that point. Not a big deal though, and I'm expecting new backgrounds for when the typhoon actually hits.
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Sep 17, 2012 13:25
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The most important thing about the last update is Hope(ver1.00). Click it and listen to it. Listen to it forever.
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Sep 17, 2012 15:57
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Okay, so this riddle thing is interesting. I kind of hope that first twilight ritual is literal and 6 people are just going to turn up dead all at once. I'm also curious to see if the murders are going to happen in chronological order or if there's going to be a crazy time loop with different culprits every time like in Higurashi. (mild spoilers for Higurashi, I don't know anything about Umineko)
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Sep 17, 2012 16:09
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Cake Attack posted:I do really like that scene though, it's pretty much the first time the game flat out says Maria isn't ~kawaii~, but there's actually something serious there. I haven't seen any of the game before this LP, but I did watch the anime, and this scene firmly convinced me that, whatever else Maria's deal may be (and there's plenty of 'deal' to be had there), she's at least mildly autistic. That, and Rosa is the worst parent.
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Sep 17, 2012 16:09
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Oh hey it's the BEST MOM EVER.
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Sep 17, 2012 18:02
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Shiny, in the scene with Kanon and Kinzo, you forgot Kanon's portraits. Ah, the epitaph. Hope you all like its text, 'cause you'll be reading it a lot. I can't wait for the theories to sprout 
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Sep 17, 2012 19:44
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Confused Llama posted:I haven't seen any of the game before this LP, but I did watch the anime, and this scene firmly convinced me that, whatever else Maria's deal may be (and there's plenty of 'deal' to be had there), she's at least mildly autistic. That, and Rosa is the worst parent.
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Sep 17, 2012 19:48
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Carpator Diei posted:Shiny, in the scene with Kanon and Kinzo, you forgot Kanon's portraits. ...Derp. Fixed that. I blame him showing up so little so far that I've gotten used to skipping over him while find/replacing. MonsterEnvy posted:Also could someone help me with the ages. Checking the relevant wiki, it pegs the following: Krauss-52 Eva-50 Rosa-35 Natsuhi-47 Rudolf-40s And all the others are listed as unknown. Don't recall offhand if the exact ages of anyone so far except the cousins, Shannon, and Kanon are actually provided in game, so not sure if those are official numbers from an offhand bit later I forgot or from some obscure supplemental bit or if it's just some people guessing. But even if they're not dead on, they're at least reasonably close to the mark. Adding to that, Kinzo's definitely in his 70s, Genji and Nanjo are around the same age, and Kumasawa was noted earlier to be in her late 70s or early 80s at least. Would guess that Gohda's in his 30s or 40s, and Kyrie and Hideyoshi are both probably fairly close in age to their spouses. That's as precise as I can get.
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Sep 17, 2012 20:15
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Ya Rosa is not the best parent but she is a single parent and has to deal with Maria all the time. She seemed like so was fine with it until Maria started crying.
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Sep 17, 2012 20:26
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Wow, Eva and Natsuhi do not look their ages at all. That uu sound is pretty intolerable. If Rosa could just get that witch's gold she could take Maria to a speech therapist! 
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Sep 17, 2012 21:13
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Omniphile posted:Wow, Eva and Natsuhi do not look their ages at all. Thus are the ups and downs of being an anime woman: You always look like a gourgeous young beauty until you hit 60 at which point you immediately turn into a wrinkled old crone. But at least you still have it better than JRPG women for whom 30 is already ancient.
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Sep 17, 2012 23:08
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Shiny777 posted:Holy poo poo there's finally actual TIPs in the TIPs section! It's just the epitaph again for easy reference, no differences in the wording. So uh, full disclosure. It's...not really fully solvable at this point because this episode doesn't even have some of the clues necessary to really figure it out. And even then, it requires English/Japanese/Chinese trilingualism and some knowledge of Asian geography. And the original Japanese game, basically, as it involves a bunch of character reading fuckery that doesn't really convert to English well.  By the way, is the epitaph only solvable in the original Japanese text? If so, we will need that to start theorizing.
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Sep 18, 2012 03:00
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Here's the original Japanese epitaph if anyone wants to fail at theorizing. Because you won't solve it: 懐かしき、故郷を貫く鮎の川。 黄金郷を目指す者よ、これを下りて鍵を探せ。 川を下れば、やがて里あり。 その里にて二人が口にし岸を探れ。 そこに黄金郷への鍵が眠る。 鍵を手にせし者は、以下に従いて黄金郷へ旅立つべし。 第一の晩に、鍵の選びし六人を生贄に捧げよ。 第二の晩に、残されし者は寄り添う二人を引き裂け。 第三の晩に、残されし者は誉れ高き我が名を讃えよ。 第四の晩に、頭をえぐりて殺せ。 第五の晩に、胸をえぐりて殺せ。 第六の晩に、腹をえぐりて殺せ。 第七の晩に、膝をえぐりて殺せ。 第八の晩に、足をえぐりて殺せ。 第九の晩に、魔女は蘇り、誰も生き残れはしない。 第十の晩に、旅は終わり、黄金の郷に至るだろう。 魔女は賢者を讃え、四つの宝を授けるだろう。 一つは、黄金郷の全ての黄金。 一つは、全ての死者の魂を蘇らせ。 一つは、失った愛すらも蘇らせる。 一つは、魔女を永遠に眠りにつかせよう。 安らかに眠れ、我が最愛の魔女ベアトリーチェ。
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Sep 18, 2012 03:02
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Carpator Diei posted:Thus are the ups and downs of being an anime woman: You always look like a gourgeous young beauty until you hit 60 at which point you immediately turn into a wrinkled old crone. But at least you still have it better than JRPG women for whom 30 is already ancient. Well Eva has the excuse of doing tons of martial arts. Nat has no real excuse for her good looks.
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Sep 18, 2012 03:12
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so, after just marathoning this thread I very much want to get this for myself, but when i go to the witch hunt download page and click to download the japanese thing, it puts me to a site that says "Access Forbidden Your question/comment has been sent." Can anyone tell me either how to fix this or where else I can download it? and how much would it be to buy it in that case, this "game" seems worth getting for myself.
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Sep 18, 2012 04:00
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sokamish posted:so, after just marathoning this thread I very much want to get this for myself, but when i go to the witch hunt download page and click to download the japanese thing, it puts me to a site that says "Access Forbidden You sure you followed the right links? I did it for myself, and I ended up here, which doesn't seem to have any problems.
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Sep 18, 2012 04:03
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Cake Attack posted:You sure you followed the right links? I did it for myself, and I ended up here, which doesn't seem to have any problems. when i click on that it takes me here which says the same access forbidden for some reason. is it because i live in the US or something? i don't really know.
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Sep 18, 2012 04:12
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sokamish posted:when i click on that it takes me here which says the same access forbidden for some reason. is it because i live in the US or something? i don't really know. That's odd. Are you using a proxy or anything that could make the site think you're in some random country? Because the site is only available in certain countries, but the USA is one of them. I'm Canadian though, so I can't actually confirm that one.
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Sep 18, 2012 04:15
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Cake Attack posted:That's odd. Are you using a proxy or anything that could make the site think you're in some random country? Because the site is only available in certain countries, but the USA is one of them. I'm Canadian though, so I can't actually confirm that one. nope, live in the USA, and as far as i know i have no proxy at all.
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Sep 18, 2012 04:17
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Jeek posted:By the way, is the epitaph only solvable in the original Japanese text? I'd say that the riddle requires knowledge of Japanese and English. I know the solution, but only because they eventually tell you how to solve the Riddle because I'm terrible. I will say this, by Episode 4 the story gives you everything you need to solve it. (This applies to every mystery in Umineko, by the way  )
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Sep 18, 2012 05:21
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Dr Pepper posted:I will say this, by Episode 4 the story gives you everything you need to solve it. (This applies to every mystery in Umineko, by the way Too bad that is the point where all the nightmares begin and theories pop up. The game uses a different definition about this whole thing too.
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Sep 18, 2012 16:45
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I Just noticed that Krauss said that Rosa co signed on a loan. That means along with her poor business she is in debt. I am guessing this is another reason she is short tempered with Maria.
MonsterEnvy fucked around with this message at 02:08 on Sep 21, 2012 |
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Sep 20, 2012 18:49
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The two big scenes in the last update is when I really started to get interested in Umineko. Talks of MONEY and Rosa's relationship with Maria really got me thinking about thing.
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Sep 21, 2012 00:10
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Reading this thread is reawakening all those fond memories I have about Umineko and the grade-A insane poo poo it holds. I can't wait for the next updates. Maria is a character who would drive anyone up the wall. The goddamn uu-uu tic, the temper tantrums, and all the other behavior that might be expected in a four-year-old but not in a nine-year-old. I really hated her during the first chapter. Nevertheless, I'd urge people in the audience to withhold judgement for a while. So far as I can recall, all of the characters in Umineko have hidden depths, and Maria is no exception to the rule. By the end of the fourth chapter I found her to be one of the most interesting characters for reasons that had little to do with her black magic obsession.
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Sep 21, 2012 01:32
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Viola the Mad posted:Maria is a character who would drive anyone up the wall. The goddamn uu-uu tic, the temper tantrums, and all the other behavior that might be expected in a four-year-old but not in a nine-year-old. I really hated her during the first chapter. Nevertheless, I'd urge people in the audience to withhold judgement for a while. So far as I can recall, all of the characters in Umineko have hidden depths, and Maria is no exception to the rule. By the end of the fourth chapter I found her to be one of the most interesting characters for reasons that had little to do with her black magic obsession. Once again as I stated Rosa has to put up with her every day alone while apperntly being in debt with a failing business from everything I have put togeather. So I can understand what she did not that I support it. Still the money and riddle are interesting me. I am going to guess that Eva is going to start looking for it given it just seems like she would be the first person to start looking.
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Sep 21, 2012 02:16
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I can't say too much for spoiler reasons, but I do actually kind of feel for Rosa, though that doesn't condone what she did to Maria. And yeah no I will be STUNNED if anyone actually solves the Epitaph properly without looking the answers up, I honestly can't believe the Japanese audience pieced it together.
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Sep 21, 2012 04:56
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I really am curious how the riddle will be solved, but that really is a long way off with the way the anime handled it, I still don't understand what the solution is or how it can be approached I don't think it's a spoiler to say they just brushed off addressing HOW it could be solved at all, even when the anime ended I still had no better clues on how the riddle worked. Rosa and Maria are interesting, on some ends I feel terrible for both of them, but they can both be awful too. (Just speaking from the anime of course.)
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Sep 21, 2012 13:30
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blankd posted:I really am curious how the riddle will be solved, but that really is a long way off with the way the anime handled it, I still don't understand what the solution is or how it can be approached Once you see the solution, the anime is a good enough hint to find solve it. Hell, I can tell you the anime slaps you several times in the face with this whole thing, too bad alot of it had to be left out. And I can tell you that after reading all 8 episodes and rewatching the series.
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Sep 21, 2012 16:16
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Walterion posted:Once you see the solution, the anime is a good enough hint to find solve it.
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Sep 22, 2012 21:35
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blankd posted:Welp, I'll wait until the solution shows up proper, maybe I'll feel exceptionally silly about not figuring it out- unless I'm misreading what you're saying? Don't feel silly cause it's meant to be hard, but the amount of hints they toss you is exceptionally high.
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Sep 22, 2012 23:21
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It's been...what, three weeks now? Exactly, in fact. Huh. Ugh. Sorry. Spent two weeks being crushed under ridiculously huge workloads, and got that sorted out just in time for the first week of exams. Kinda put a crimp in my ability to get poo poo done update-wise. Update was longer than this, but I've taken some advice from a friend and chopped it roughly in half so I've got at least something in reserve if the semester takes another immediate turn for the godawful. I'm pretty sure it won't, so I might be even able to get ahead a bit instead, but... Anyway, have the long-overdue update. Part Ten: A 19th Person   : "...This rain's incredible. Still, when it's raining this hard, it feels like it's going to stop soon.": "You wish! They said the typhoon's moving slow, so in the worst case it'll be like this all day tomorrow. Even a little weather'd be enough to stop the boats.": "It looks like we won't be able to head out on Sunday after all. ...Just in case, I cleared any business I had with the outside world from my Monday schedule. I'm glad I did.": "I guess this means, ihihi, it looks like we'll be skipping school Monday~. Living on an island's starting to look pretty good! ...Come to think of it, Jessica, do you have to take a boat to school every day? What do you do when the boats are closed down? Do you stay home when it rains and show up late when the wind's blowing, like King Kamehameha?" : "That also happens. Still, every single day, my homeroom teacher would call and sourly guide me on how I should teach myself and what I had to turn in.": "She can't just easily skip the way you are thinking of, Battler-kun. She has to follow the rules for people that travel to school by boat and get a good amount of studying done.": "It'd actually be easier to just go to school. In my own room, I get distracted and can't concentrate. After being made to do nothing but workbooks for several days straight, it's pretty hard to handle all that mental stress. ...When I get into college, I really just wanna go to some dorm and quickly say goodbye to this inconvenient island.": "Huh... So, by the way, what do you do when the weather's good in the morning, but then gets so bad on your way home that the boats are closed? Do you spend the night at school?": "That actually happens a lot. Because of that, they've built some lodgings there for people who can't get back to the island. I stay over there. Sometimes, when gets bad, I can't get back home for a few days at a time.": "If you look at it from the perspective of those people who have to go to school every day on a train packed to twice its capacity, going to school on a boat might seem pretty interesting and fun. Or at least they might irresponsibly think that. I guess different people have different kinds of difficulties." : "I've wanted to go to one of those from the beginning!! Still, Mom's always going on about how I need to learn manners and discipline as the successor to the head. ...In the end, I got stuck with a high school close to home. Man, I hate this island. I just want to go live in a city. I don't care if rain or even spears fall from the sky, as long as I can move to a city where I can wear casual clothes and sandals and can get to a convenience store in less than five minutes...": "Hahahaha. Hold out just a little longer. It's only a short while until you graduate high school, right?": "I can't wait a little longer. Aaaaaah..."Jessica stretched out and reclined in the sofa. Maybe because now was a bad time slot, there weren't any interesting programs on, and we had nothing to do but languidly kill time until we were called for dinner. Guess Higurashi doesn't run that late. Or early. Whichever. One of the few random anime tidbits I do know is that at one point the anime of Higurashi is shown playing in the background. What, if anything, this implies about the When They Cry verse is not explored. I'm pretty sure that actually happens in a different scene entirely, but I may not remember when we get there.  ...We thought we might head over to the mansion to see her, but after all, there was this lousy weather, and there wasn't much time until dinner, so we stayed where we were. At that time, we heard the sound of a humble knock. Jessica answered. : "Ye-s!": "...The preparations for dinner are complete. Please come to the mansion."It was Kanon-kun's voice. Had he gone to all the trouble of coming from the mansion in this rain just to call us over? Couldn't he have just called us on the telephone? ...Oh well, maybe sometimes part of a servant's duty is to go against common sense. : "Just when I was getting hungry. Let's go."George-aniki turned off the television and stood up.   : "Alright, let's go. Is the rain nasty out there?": "...Yes. Take care not to get your garments wet."After seeing the three of us out, Kanon-kun peered into the empty room. : "...Wasn't Maria-sama with you...?": "No she isn't. Wasn't she with Rosa oba-san?" Realizing this, Genji brought a blanket over to her. When he tried to spread it over her, her eyes snapped open as though she had been shocked with electricity. : "...th,...Thank you, Genji-san."When she realized that the thing that had touched her was just a blanket, and that Genji had been considerately giving it to her, she let out a sigh of relief. : "...Did I wake you? My sincere apologies.": "No, it's all right. I hadn't planned on sleeping in the first place. ...What time is it now?"When he was asked for the time, Genji checked a pocket watch that he took out of his chest pocket.  : "Thank you, I'll be fine without the blanket... I mustn't sleep at such a strange time. My sense of time has been completely thrown off. ...The rain, it really is pouring."Rosa finally realized that the peaceful sound that had put her to sleep was actually the rain that had started falling. : "The wind is also blowing hard. ...I wonder if it's finally the typhoon?": "...The television has said that is the case. Because the typhoon is slow, they said that it would be like this all day tomorrow.": "Really...? ...That wonderful rose garden, that must have been my last chance to see it."From the window, what she could see of the rose garden was completely blurred by the wind and the rain. : "...Maria...That's right, Maria?!": "...I have not seen her. Did she not return to the guesthouse?"Rosa knew her daughter's nature well. She had always known.  : "...That's wrong. The cousins left earlier, so Maria was alone...! Unless someone told her to stop, she would stay there even if spears fell down from the skies! Without even opening an umbrella!! ...AAaah, what have I done, losing control of my emotions!!"We've got two mentions of spears falling from the skies now just in this update. Uncertain if this is some kind of semi-obscure standard Japanese phrase, or just something the author came up with and felt like recycling. Even though she had known about that simple honesty better than anyone, she had once again lost control of her emotions and done such a horrible thing!! Take note of that “once again.” This isn't just an isolated incident of years of accumulated uu-related annoyance and the pressure of dealing with a family of assholes to try and dodge complete ruin making her snap. Slapping the poo poo out Maria and neglecting her is just kind of a thing Rosa does every now and then! : "Mariaaaaaaa!!"Rosa pushed Genji away and ran down the hallway.   Maybe because of some figure of the terrain, the winds were not as strong as a typhoon, so an umbrella wouldn't be torn out of one's hands. That's gotta be some damned impressive terrain, to knock it down that far from typhoon speed. Typhoons are, according to Wikipedia, 118 km/h and up, and a chart I found elsewhere pegs ~40 km/h as the point where umbrellas become basically worthless. No idea how reasonable that is for the sort of terrain Rokkenjima's got. Even so, it sure was a windy rain. There was no time to admire the roses being soaked by the rain.  We hadn't worried much, thinking that Rosa oba-san had taken her back to the mansion. ...However, when Kanon-kun had come from the mansion to call us and thought that Maria was here, we got a little worried. : "...I did not see her in the mansion, so I was sure that she was here. Since Rosa-sama was taking a nap...": "You didn't see her on your way over here?": "...My apologies. I opened my umbrella and ran as fast as I could, so I did not pay much attention."If he had cut through the rose garden on the shortest line between the mansion and the guesthouse, then he would have missed the place where Maria had been looking for her rose by a little. And it was raining this hard, too. There was a good chance that Kanon-kun had failed to notice her.  George-aniki and I flew out into the rain. Jessica and Kanon-kun followed us.   : "Where is Maria?! Isn't she with you?!": "No, we didn't meet with Maria-chan after that.": "Mariaaaaa!!!"...Six years ago, Maria had been three years old. She had been a cute and pure kid who would just accept whatever anyone said. ...But six years had passed since then! She was nine now, and going through both good and bad experiences should have rubbed off on her. ...And still, you're just as innocent and pure as you were...?! : "Mariaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"As I circled the rose bed, something white unexpectedly turned to face me. ...It was a white umbrella. Maria, holding a white umbrella, was crouching, still searching for that rose...  You'd think they'd have used one of her sad faces here. Or at least something other than “generic apathy” for being beaten and left out in a typhoon. : "You idiot,...are you still looking?!": "...Uu-... Can't find it...Can't find...my rose...Uu-..."Maria had probably been here since the rain had started pouring down. It looked like her shoulders were freezing. She looked tired to the bone, but fortunately, since she was holding an umbrella, she was not completely soaked. ...It was probably an umbrella from the handbag that Maria was always walking around with. ...Thank goodness. Seriously, thank goodness.  : "...Uu-... It's not here. ...Maria's rose isn't here... ...Uu-...": "Mama will look for it with you later... Okay? So just let it go for today. ...Okay?": "...Uu-... Let it go for today..."It looked like Maria still wasn't able to accept it, but she no longer had enough energy left to resist. Jessica and Kanon-kun caught up with us. : "...I'll have a towel ready in the mansion immediately.": "Maria... Were you here the whole time...?": "I'm sorry... I'm sorry for being such a bad mother...": "...Rosa oba-san, why don't we head back to the mansion for the time being. Maria will catch a cold like this." We couldn't stay in the rain forever. We took Maria with us as we headed back to the mansion. Maria apparently wasn't as weak as I had thought. When she remembered that dinner was calf steak, she started chanting "I'm hungry, I'm hungry, uu-uu-!", and returned to her usual healthy self. ...Rosa oba-san didn't chide Maria on her 'uu-uu-'. : "Really? She had an umbrella? Maria sure is good at packing the right stuff.":: "...Uu-. Maria didn't bring an umbrella. Uu-.": "What? Then how did you get that white umbrella you're holding?": "Uu-! Borrowed it!" : "That's right. I will have to thank that person. Who was it?": "Uu-! Beatrice!"The name that Maria mentioned very happily was that of the island's witch. Rosa took a deep breath and asked again while trying to avoid hurting Maria's feelings now that she was happy. : "Really? That's nice. So, who was it? The person who brought you that umbrella?": "Uu-. Beat, ri-ce-! Uu-uu-!"Maria, who quickly picked up that her mother didn't believe her, made an angry face once again. So Rosa stopped pursuing the subject. It looked like it would be faster to ask the person who had lent Maria the umbrella during dinner rather than ask Maria herself...  : "...Kinzo-san. Won't you at least come out for dinner? Haven't all of your sons gathered here to see your face?": "Silence, Nanjo. ...So the bishop won't work. ...One move too short..."Apparently, Kinzo was completely focused on the final battle of his long-lasting chess match with Nanjo. Kinzo's brow was wrinkled as he continued to glare at the game board through his spectacles. Krauss's voice didn't reach his ears.  Nanjo stood from his seat, hoping this would prompt Kinzo do the same, but Kinzo's eyes never left the chessboard. He knew well that Kinzo always displayed a blind concentration when it came to chess, but he had never seen Kinzo as concentrated as he was now. ...It was almost as though, as Kinzo had said, if the game wasn't finished tonight, there would never be another chance for them to continue their contest, or something like that... It looked like even if he called out obstinately, it wouldn't reach Kinzo's heart. Nanjo gave up and headed to the door that Krauss was still banging on...  : "...Father, can you hear me?! We are heading down now, but any time you feel like it, please join us. All of your children are waiting for you...!"The voice was very loud, and the door was being noisily pounded on. There was no way that it wouldn't reach Kinzo's ears.  : "I'm not interested even in dinner, even in my sons' faces. ...I will only leave here when Beatrice is resurrected or when I am chosen as a sacrifice for the key. The roulette of demons has already started spinning. What meaning does dinner have at this point..."Acting as though the painfully loud banging on the door completely failed to enter his hearing... ...and still in his philosophic state, Kinzo silently thought about his next chess move...  : "Just as always, Father is not feeling well. He truly regrets missing this once-a-year opportunity to sit together with his gathered relatives."Eva and Rudolf sniggered. Judging by Kinzo's character, he didn't regret it at all. ...and none of his relatives regretted that he hadn't appeared either. : "Then why don't we start dinner. Gohda, begin." : "Certainly. Well then, let me begin."When Gohda was told to begin the family conference dinner, his highlight scene for the whole year, he nodded, grinning broadly. : "...Umm, I was wondering, who was it that lent Maria an umbrella?"When Rosa timidly cut through the silence of the dining hall, everyone in the dining hall noticed.  : "It wasn't one of us. After you went out, Rosa, we moved over to our room and were having a 'friendly' chat the whole time.": "Haha, ...that's right. After that, the siblings had a real friendly chat."The word friendly fell awkwardly from Hideyoshi's lips, so that even those that hadn't been there realized that it hadn't been a pleasant conversation. : "At the very least, it certainly couldn't have been me, Eva, Rudolf, or even Hideyoshi-san or Kyrie-san." : "We were together the whole time, even after Natsuhi nee-san and Rosa nee-san left. The whole time until the meal started.": "Nii-san went up to the study with Genji-san to call Father. At that time, the rest of us went straight to the dining hall. So it wasn't one of us. ...Couldn't it have been a servant kind enough to lend an umbrella?": "So, Gohda-san?" At that time, Shannon and Kumasawa appeared, pushing a serving cart loaded with hors d'oeuvres. : "Then what about Kumasawa-san or Shannon-chan?": "...Yes? Have I made some mistake...?"Shannon shrunk, having come in part way and mistakenly thinking that she was being accused of making some error. : "No you haven't. When Maria-chan was alone in the rose garden, it started to rain. Someone gave her an umbrella. Rosa oba-san said that she wanted to thank that person." Rosa oba-san explained the situation one more time. As she did, Kumasawa-san cackled.  : "Hoh-hoh-ho. It wasn't us. Shannon-san and I were preparing the rooms together, so we did not go outside.": "...Yes. ...I apologize for not being able to help...": "Preparing the rooms? What do you mean by that?" : "...Because of this rain, we thought that it would be difficult for all of the guests to return to the guesthouse, so the servants were ordered to prepare the guest rooms inside the mansion." : "Yes. We received the order from Madam, and I, Kumasawa-san, and Kanon-kun were preparing the rooms. ...Then it became time for dinner, and since he was ordered by Genji-sama to go to the guesthouse and call the kids, Kanon-kun left.": "Yes. In that case, did Kanon-san find Maria on the way to the guesthouse and hand her the umbrella?": "...Uu-. W-ro-ng--!!"The person who had actually received the umbrella denied it. Rosa was troubled. All she wanted to do was give a word of thanks to the person who had lent the umbrella, but she couldn't find them. And she had thought that asking like this with everyone gathered for dinner would work immediately...  : "...Then who? George-kun and the kids? ...That can't be right.": "No, it wasn't us. We were watching television in the guesthouse the whole time.": "Actually, we thought that Maria had just gone back to the mansion with Oba-san...": "Then Kanon-kun came, and he asked whether Maria was with us. That was when we first realized that she wasn't in the mansion. In the first place, if it were me, before lending her an umbrella, I'd have grabbed her hand and pulled her under a roof." Rosa was completely baffled. One by one, the relatives and the servants were claiming that it wasn't them. ...Even though it really wasn't something anyone would need to hide. With that, by process of elimination, the number of people it could have been wasn't large. : "Of course, it wasn't me. Right after it began raining, I visited Kinzo-san's room, and was playing chess with him until just now.": "...Which means that it also wasn't Grandfather.": "Wait a sec... Isn't this starting to get a bit weird? Who's left?" ...Giving an umbrella to a girl loitering in the rain was something to be praised, not hidden. ...Despite that, no one raised their hand. ...Why? Everyone started whispering about how strange this had gotten... : "...Calm down, Rosa. Why don't we just ask the person who was lent the umbrella?"That's what everyone had been thinking since the beginning. They were all scratching their heads at why she didn't just ask Maria, who had been given the umbrella. However, Rosa bit her lower lip. After all, she already knew how Maria would answer if asked.  : "Beatrice!"The dining hall was wrapped in silence for an instant, but that soon broke and it was wrapped in laughter.  : "Uu-! Just like Krauss oji-san said. Beatrice lent it to me! Uu-uu-!": "Hahahahaha... Isn't that great? I'm really jealous of such purity. What do you think, everyone? Hahahaha..."Krauss was laughing with a face that was clearly mocking her, but Maria, apparently feeling that her claim was being believed, was overjoyed. : "...How did that work? Does that mean a witch really appeared and lent her an umbrella?"Jessica asked me in a small voice that wouldn't carry over to Maria, who was sitting across from me. : "Has Maria ever been the type to joke?"If we had heard that kind of story pop out of that old bastard's mouth, we'd have just taken it as another joke. ...However, it was hard to explain it that way when Maria said it. This was getting pretty unnerving...  : "So, if Maria says that she borrowed an umbrella from Beatrice, that definitely was Beatrice?": "...We're talking about Maria here, so I can't think of it as some kind of metaphor or joke. ...It might be best to take what she says at face value." Genji? Really, Battler? Do you seriously think...  ...Huh. Okay, yeah, I could see how she might make that mistake. He pulls it off surprisingly well. Once the hors d'oeuvres were set out and Gohda showed off his vast store of knowledge, the meal began. A couple casual chats broke out here and there, but they seemed somehow distant. In this silence, the sound of the rain snuck into the dining hall.  : "...Oh, it's Genji-san. Did you lend Maria-san an umbrella?": "...Umbrella? What are you talking about?": "Right. ...I heard that when it started raining, Maria-sama was alone in the rose garden. ...And it seems that she borrowed an umbrella from someone there, but we don't know who it was.": "It wasn't me. After all, I thought that Maria-sama was in the guesthouse. When Battler-sama first found her, she was already holding a white umbrella.": "My apologies, but it was not me either...": "...Then, you don't think,...the Master, possibly?"Everyone in both the dining hall and the place where they were standing had stated that it wasn't them. Which meant that only Kinzo was left, but...  : "I feel the same. ...I can't imagine that he would, for Maria-sama's sake, go to all of the trouble of going down the stairs to carry an umbrella to her.": "Oh, my...how troublesome. So that means that the one who lent Maria-sama an umbrella really was Beatrice-sama? Hoh-hoh-hoh-ho..."Kumasawa laughed, just like the relatives in the dining hall had laughed it off. ...She couldn't think of any other way to break through the smoke veiling the current situation. Either someone's lying, Beatrice is really out there, or there's some mysterious 19th person around. Said hypothetical umbrella distributor is going to come up a hell of a lot over the course of the game. Just then, the dry sound of hands clapping twice rung through the hallway. They all turned around at once to see that it was Gohda, who was coming out of the dining hall.   The only thing keeping this from being Kanon.jpg is that it doesn't have enough ellipses. Kanon glared at Gohda for being rude to Genji, a person Kanon respected. Genji, realizing this, patted Kanon once on the shoulder as if to warn him. Kanon reluctantly turned away, and returned his expression to normal. : "...Obey Gohda's order. Let us now hurry to prepare the dinner table.": "Come on, we have no time. Don't just dawdle around! Hurry...!"Gohda stole the serving cart from Shannon and steadily pushed it forwards towards the kitchen. : "...Then please allow us to return to the kitchen. ...After all, Gohda-san's temper is very short, ...hoh-hoh-ho.": "P, please excuse me as well..."Kumasawa and Shannon left. Only Genji and Kanon remained. Through the window, the darkness of the rainy night could be seen, along with the occasional thunderbolt.  : "That is not necessary. ...If she has truly returned, she will eventually appear before the Master of her own accord. ...Furthermore, she is a fickle person. It would be pointless to report to the Master only to find that she does not appear...": "...I wonder if this means that the Master's ceremony has already begun.": "...Probably. However, that has nothing to do with furniture like us. ...We must return the favor that we received from the Master...until our final moments.": "...Yes. ...That is furniture's...duty."The thunder crashed once more. Except for that instant when the lightning lit up the sky, all that could be seen out of the window was the darkness of night. Just as humans rule when the sun is up, the time when the sun is down is ruled by those that are not human.  Kanon looked at the rose garden's lights, dimly visible beyond the window. The dim lights were not enough to illuminate the surrounding area. Looking at those lights felt like making eye contact with the witch, and Kanon uselessly averted his gaze. ...If he didn't, it felt like his eyes would be absorbed by that light... Next time: The witch's letter. But for real this time. Shiny777 fucked around with this message at 06:43 on Oct 8, 2012 |
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Oct 8, 2012 04:23
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It seems that excrement is swiftly becoming reality.
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Oct 8, 2012 06:30
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Glad to see this is back! Be sure to play this while reading the update for maximum atmosphere.
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Oct 8, 2012 06:40
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| # ? Jun 3, 2024 17:26 |
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Welcome back, Shiny777.  While the mysterious umbrella giver can be attributed to something like split personality, it is curious that even the servents knew the witch has visited Kinzo before. Now is the time to go  I guess.
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Oct 8, 2012 06:47
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