|
tiistai posted:sacrifice sheep to god Oh. I still don't see how that relates, but you know what? Whatever. It's cool. I no longer care. So, are the Ushiromiya family so hosed up that they have their hired help refer to themselves as "furniture"? Because that's exactly what I'm seeing. Kinzo seems to be channeling Archer in this regard, because no one else would have their goddamned servants think of themselves as sub-human.
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2016 02:29
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 02:44 |
|
|
bman in 2288 posted:Because that's exactly what I'm seeing. Kinzo seems to be channeling Archer in this regard, because no one else would have their goddamned servants think of themselves as sub-human. Hey, don't be so harsh to Kinzo. Nanjo and Gohda don't have to refer to themselves as objects  (Also the non-sequitur stuff is engrish bits from the anime ending)
|
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2016 02:53
|
|
|
It's honestly kind of painful to see how much both Eva and Natsuhi buy into the patriarchal bullshit that fills the family, just in different ways. The Ushiromiya family is massively hosed up.
|
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2016 03:42
|
|
|
You'd almost think the head of the of such a household name clings romantically to old patriarchal ideas of another cultures history to fulfill some twisted fantasy to escape their own demise and reunite with a magical creature only they have claimed to meet, but that would just be silly.
|
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2016 04:22
|
|
|
Fabulousvillain posted:You'd almost think the head of the of such a household name clings romantically to old patriarchal ideas of another cultures history to fulfill some twisted fantasy to escape their own demise and reunite with a magical creature only they have claimed to meet, but that would just be silly. Butterflies totally exist in real life though, so maybe Kino can finally meet up with Beatrice the Butterfly.
|
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2016 08:34
|
|
|
Assuming those last few screens are everyone's locations at midnight, I have one question. Why is Nanjo alone against a black background? Even Shannon (who it looks like is about to get loving murdered) gets a properly drawn background, so why not him?
|
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2016 08:55
|
|
|
vector_to posted:Assuming those last few screens are everyone's locations at midnight, I have one question. Why is Nanjo alone against a black background? Even Shannon (who it looks like is about to get loving murdered) gets a properly drawn background, so why not him? His eyes are closed too, so I think it just means he's asleep somewhere.
|
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2016 11:14
|
|
|
   Maybe the rain had died down a tiny bit since the previous night... But it didn't look like the thick rain-clouds were planning to let any trace of the morning sun get by. The morning was dim, and far from refreshing.  Kanon finished checking his appearance, and exited the washroom. In a normal schedule, it was rare for anyone to have to suffer going straight from a midnight shift to a morning shift.There was a special system for the two days of the family conference. But then, as long as the typhoon didn't leave today, the relatives' stay on this island would last until tomorrow. Kanon thought that it was best to be prepared for the special schedule to be extended one more day. The two of them left the guesthouse, opening their umbrellas. The rose garden had been devastated by the wind and rain last night. Even though they had spent several days making it beautiful to welcome the guests, it had only taken one stormy night to ruin it. Kanon sighed. The two headed for the mansion. They were supposed to meet up with Gohda and prepare breakfast. Gohda was such a perfectionist that he had probably already woken up, and was probably already preparing a breakfast both exquisite and as elegant as glasswork.  Genji took from his pocket a bundle of several keys, and used it to unlock the front door. There was nothing on Rokkenjima outside the Ushiromiya family mansion, so, in the past, they hadn't been in the habit of locking up. However, Natsuhi had ordered that the mansion would be locked up from midnight to early morning. After that, unlocking the door in the early morning had become part of the servants' morning shift. This task had been given to Genji and Kanon so that Gohda could begin the preparations for breakfast as soon as he woke up.   "...Well then, let us begin the morning chores." "Yes."The two of them split up and began opening the curtains throughout the mansion. If the curtains remained closed, the inside of the mansion would still be dim, as if it hadn't managed to escape the previous night, and they wouldn't be able to clean. Kanon, in a well rehearsed procedure, went around the mansion opening one window after another without having to retrace his steps once. Even with this horrible weather, by opening the curtains, it began to feel just a little bit like morning. While doing that, he passed in front of the kitchen. Even though he knew that he wouldn't be able to smell it yet, his stomach started aching for some of Gohda's much bragged about cooking.  The kitchen was darkly lit, and there was no fan for ventilation, much less curtains to be opened. Since it was still cold without a hint of a fire, it was obvious that no preparations for breakfast were taking place. Even though it wouldn't be permitted, maybe Gohda had overslept. Even servants are human. They can sometimes be late when they are unable to wake up. In the rare case when that happened, clamoring to hide the unsightly scene, casually smoothing it over, and making sure that the presence of such a mistake was never noticed by the master were just some of a servant's virtues. Kanon took the receiver of the phone that had been fitted to the wall and dialed the number for the extension line to the room where the servants slept.  Kanon tried picking up the receiver again, but even so, he couldn't hear the usual dial tone. He tried dialing again, but it had no apparent effect. Could it be that the lightning last night had done something to one of the machines and broken the extension phone? The equipment in this mansion was all worn out. Kanon fully understood that even the smallest thing could have caused it to break down. Kanon gave up trying to wake him with the phone, and dashed over to the room where the servants slept.  Her sleep was always light, and she wouldn't even have been able to sleep at all without medicine. To Natsuhi, sleeping was definitely not a happy thing. When she looked outside, she saw that it was still pouring. If she hadn't sensed a tiny amount of light, she might have mistakenly thought that it was still last night. She herself was one of the hosts, so she mustn't wake up later than her guests. Urging herself on, she raised up her body, which still hadn't completely recovered from yesterday's weariness. While she was inside this room, no one would torment her. Her headache wouldn't get any worse than it already was. This room was her only peaceful space. So when she left, it meant returning to the world of her husbands' siblings probing each others' minds.  BGM: Moonlit Night ...Even though most of the time she would carelessly call Kinzo names for staying locked up in his own room, the truth was that she actually longed to do so herself. Natsuhi gave her head a small shake, and her fantasy was replaced by the reawakening of her usual headache. When she reached for the doorknob, trying to leave the room, her hand touched the scorpion charm that she had hung from it before going to sleep the previous night. It was Maria's charm, that Jessica had given Natsuhi. Surely, Jessica had said something about it having the power to repel magic, and that she should hang it from her doorknob. Maybe it was thanks to the charm that at least this room had been protected from her husband's siblings' malice. As she thought this, her mood began to get a little more cheerful.  Natsuhi opened a drawer on her dresser, and she took out an antique accessory case that she had treasured when she was a child. Inside, there were many small objects that Natsuhi had thought were valuable at the time. From amidst those, she pulled out a red pouch. Inside was a small, round mirror about 10cm across. It looked quite old, but the design on the back of the mirror was very ornate, and it felt like something with historical value. At the very least, it looked much more effective when compared to the other charm, which looked like a plastic scorpion key-holder. She had heard that this mirror was a spiritual mirror to ward off evil spirits, and she had been given it specially by her Grandmother when her grandfather's mementos had been distributed. It had been believed since long ago that a strange power slept in that mirror. It was believed that, in the same way it reflected light, it also deflected misfortune and malice. Natsuhi returned the mirror to its pouch. It would probably be a fitting object to hand over to Jessica. Just as she was placing it in her pocket, the sound of someone knocking on the door suddenly echoed throughout the room.  No servant had ever come to her this early in the morning, nor had they come to her directly. Maybe something bad had happened. For example, maybe some fatal oversight had been made during the preparations for breakfast and the household had been put to shame in front of the guests, or something. Natsuhi took a deep breath in anticipation for whatever troubles she was about to be told of... When she opened the door, Genji once again said a morning greeting to her while bowing deeply. Natsuhi tentatively responded.   "The extension telephone has been interrupted? That will be troublesome. Will it be possible to repair it?" "...I am afraid that we don't know the location of the damage. I would like to call an expert and have him repair it." "Does that mean that we will be unable to repair it until the typhoon has passed? Which means that the guests will be unreachable for the duration of their stay. Will there be any problem for our guests?" "...We will do all we can to make sure there is none." "That is fine. I will be counting on you to make sure that there are no blunders."Natsuhi let out a small sigh of relief. She had been prepared for the worst, but damage to the telephones wasn't the kind of trouble she was worried about. But then, even this would probably be enough to spark sarcasm from Eva. Natsuhi gave her head a light shake.  Natsuhi was indignant. To her, this was a much bigger problem than the phones not working. And despite that, this piece of information was the part that had been postponed. Why did everything go well most of the time, and then come to something like this when the relatives were visiting... Natsuhi smacked her head with her hand and nodded distractedly. "I guess everyone oversleeps sometimes. Anyway, it doesn't matter who, just hurry with the breakfast's preparation. Wha-"Natsuhi exited into the hall and turned around for a second to close the door to her room. The unpleasant "thing" that she saw there silenced her completely.   "Wh... what kind of prank is this...? How awful...!" "...I also just noticed it as I came to call you. I will clean it later." "...P, perhaps, a vulgar joke by one of the guests. Disgusting, truly disgusting...!"Who in the world would pull such a childish and disgusting prank! Natsuhi had a pretty good idea, but of course there was no proof, so even if she pushed the issue, it would just seem as though she was making a fuss about nothing. On the contrary, after having such a prank played on her, it would definitely be better if she didn't notice it. Natsuhi gave the order to have it cleaned, and headed off to the parlor with a squeak of her heels. When Natsuhi and Genji arrived in the parlor, Eva and Hideyoshi were already there.  Natsuhi returned Eva's gaze, which was fiercely competitive even though it was early in the morning, with a weary expression. Then, Kanon jogged in. After bowing in apology to the relatives for running inside the mansion, he noticed Genji and told him something in a small voice. "...Kanon. Have you still not found Gohda?" "...My apologies, Madam. I went all over the inside of the mansion and the guesthouse, but I still haven't..." "Where in the world has he gone? For now, breakfast is a higher priority than finding Gohda. Quickly, take care of it." "...Yes."Kanon glanced at Genji. It looked like he had something else to report, but that he was asking Genji whether he should say it himself. Genji nodded, and he decided to give the report himself.  BGM: Lure "Yes. I thought I would report to him before Madam about the lack of preparation for breakfast, and visited his room, but I did not find him there. Furthermore, it was not only he who was missing. Rudolf-sama and his wife, as well as Rosa-sama are nowhere to be found." "Not even in the guesthouse? Not in the mansion?" "...Yes. They are also not in their rooms in the guesthouse."When she had heard that Gohda alone was missing, she had thought that he might have slept in or was loafing around somewhere, but once she heard that several of the relatives were also missing, her optimistic way of thinking began to change. Could last night's family conference have continued all night and still be going on? It was also imaginable that they had wanted to cool off their heads after being in that stuffy room, and had all gone off on their own walks through the rain. ...The part about 'cooling off their heads' really sounded like something Krauss would like to say. Probably, Gohda had been called to go with them to aid them with something. Gohda was not a man who lost track of time. He had to have understood that, if he did not return, the preparations for breakfast would be hindered. Even so, there had been that inescapable atmosphere, so maybe that conference had continued to this very moment. ...I see, thought Natsuhi. To her, this was an extremely persuasive theory. Natsuhi remembered the illusion that she had felt that morning of being sucked into a continuation of the previous night. When she learned that the feeling wasn't just an illusion, she once again took a deep, weary breath. Because that banquet of filthy vultures circling around Kinzo's property was still continuing.   "Nii-san and Rudolf sure are tough. Maybe it's just youth in Rosa's case? The two of us were so tired that we had to go back to bed just after midnight. I do remember that Nii-san and the rest were still having a heated discussion at that point. Men sure are nasty when they get excited."Natsuhi snorted, her face still blank. "Kanon, search outside. If you find Gohda, tell him to return immediately and begin preparations for breakfast." "...Certainly." "Natsuhi nee-san, they aren't necessarily outside, right? Couldn't they also be inside Father's study?" "...I see, that wouldn't be impossible to consider. I dunno what they've been discussin', but there's also a decent chance that they've moved to Father's study and included him in the discussion." "...I can't imagine that Father would be so pleased at that detestable topic that he would invite them into his study." "You really think so? Well, then there's nothing we can do. I'm sorry Genji-san, Kanon-kun, but could you search outside? I'm sure it wouldn't be odd for Nii-san to propose that they go outside for a walk to cool their heads. Even in this weather. I will go to Father's study. Maybe there's still some chance they'll be there, isn't there?" "...Eva-san, a guest such as you mustn't trouble herself. I will go. I can also tell him good morning." "Really, then I'm counting on you, alright? But I somehow doubt whether he will return your greeting. Natsuhi nee-san, have you always been on such good terms with Father?" "...I don't know whether it could be called good terms, but I am sure that I have gained his trust as the wife of the successor to the Ushiromiya family." "Then I'm sure that he will at least answer you, right? I want to at least eat breakfast with Father. I wonder if you could convince him to come down and join us? It seems that he thoroughly despises the rest of us, but I'm sure if his trusted Natsuhi asks, he will surely listen." "...If you can't convince father after speaking to me so sharply, and have to come down by yourself... I'm sure you will never again be able to say that you're trusted by him, right...? *giggle* *giggle* *giggle*!" Eva's mean-spirited and unreasonable demand made Natsuhi clench her fists slightly. When Genji realized this, he softly spoke to her over her shoulder.  "...Madam. If you would, please take this." "This is...?"Genji handed Natsuhi a sparkling gold key of ornate design. It was the key to Kinzo's study. The study would always lock itself, and couldn't be unlocked as long as Kinzo forbade entrance. However, since Genji was especially trusted by Kinzo, he was allowed to carry a key to that door... "But, if this key is used, won't you also receive the blame...?" "...When the master is sleeping deeply, simple knocking on the door will not reach his ears... And when persuading the master to leave his room, it would be more difficult if you must talk through the door. Please use it..." "...Genji..."Until now, Natsuhi had thought of Genji as a cold servant who, since he worked directly under Kinzo, would not do anything for her. But it looked like she would have to alter her understanding of him... She wanted to communicate her feelings of thanks, but by then, Genji had already turned his back on her, and was walking down the corridor with Kanon. ...The words that reached Natsuhi from behind her as she watched them go were sneering. "Then, you must bring Father with you, right? After all, it's his son's cute wife who's asking. I'm sure he'll listen to you. *giggle* *giggle* *giggle*. We are guests, so let us leisurely relax here." "Quit it, Eva, ya're talkin' too much. Sorry, but Natsuhi nee-san? We're counting on you about Father..."Natsuhi, without answering, forcefully spun around on her heels and quickly left that place.   "..."As she rubbed her sleepy eyes and looked around, the loud snoring coming from the three cousins continued. For a while, Maria had to think about what had happened. After that, she realized that her mother was not with her and quickly got lonely. Maria left the cousins' room, trying to head to the room that had been arranged for her and her mother. Paying no heed to the three who were sleeping soundly, she made a loud banging sound. In response, Battler mumbled and rolled over in his sleep, but it wasn't enough to wake him up. After a while, Maria returned, once again opening the door with a lively bang.  "...Uu-."When she had left the room, her face had been sleepy, but after returning, she now looked discontent. After that, she climbed up on Battler's bed, which happened to be the closest, and started yelling and jumping on it like it was a trampoline.  BGM: HANE After making sure that I was awake, Maria moved over to George-aniki's bed and started jumping on that too. In that manner, the three of us were all greeted with an extremely pleasant awakening.  "Thanks, Maria-chan, for waking us up. You stopped us from sleeping in after that late night... But maybe it would be better if you could be a little more gentle..." "...George nii-san, you really are an adult, I respect that..." "It'll be 7:00 soon... Well, it's not really a bad time to wake up. *yaaawn*." BGM: None  "No-t he-re!! Uu-uu-! Uu-! Ma-ma-! Uu-uu-uu-!!"Maria kept groaning 'uu-uu-' and looking unhappy. It seemed like she wasn't simply lonely because she couldn't find her mother, but actually unhappy because her mother wasn't in the place Maria thought she was and this made her feel like she'd been tricked. She might have been satisfied just to hear where her mother was, but unfortunately, as long as aunt Rosa wasn't here, we had no way of knowing where she was.  "Anyway, it's time to go to breakfast, so let's head over to the mansion." "That's right. Maria, will you go to the mansion with us? I'm sure aunt Rosa will also be there." "Uu-? Mama's in the mansion? Then I'll go. Uu-." "That's right, let's go to the mansion. Our parents have probably already gone there."Maria, as though her earlier temper had been a lie, regained her usual composure. We got dressed, left the room, and headed for the mansion.  ...Even though he was the head -- no, especially because he was the head, he couldn't fail to make an appearance. I wonder if I can convince him myself? Natsuhi readied herself, and, using the key that she had borrowed from Genji, opened the door... Even though she was prepared for the sweet stench that seemed to eat into her brain after pouring out through the small crack in the door, she couldn't help but grimace. Thinking that he might still be sleeping, Natsuhi entered the room quietly...  BGM: Rose "S, so you're awake... Good morning..." "...How did you get in?"Kinzo spoke with his back still facing her. His voice was not harsh, but calm, and Natsuhi was slightly reassured. However, even though he had been awake, he was at least in a bad enough mood that he had ignored the sound of all of that knocking. Natsuhi wasn't able to break the tension. "...My sincere apologies. I asked Genji-san, and he allowed me to borrow the key to the study..." "Ho... Genji did? If my friend thought it was that important, then I have no choice but to listen. Tell me, what business do you have?" "Y, yes... Breakfast will soon be prepared, and I would greatly appreciate it if you would join us..." "I will eat here. Have it brought here like always." "But Father... This is the annual family conference. Please, at least let them see your face." "...Go back downstairs. Are you asking me to join in on the discussion of how they chew my inheritance to bits after I die? How foolish. They can keep talking about that kind of thing as much as they like without me. And if that's what you call a family conference, it's nothing so important that I should leave my room for it. I am busy. Do not bother me." "...Is that so...? Understood... I am sure that everyone will be sorry to hear it, but I will tell them."Natsuhi decided to give up. Bowing silently, she tried to leave the room before Kinzo's spasmodic temper could fire up. As she did, Kinzo spoke to Natsuhi. Compared to the usual Kinzo, this voice was calm and gentle, like it came from another person.  BGM: White Shadow It was definitely not an exaggeration. Natsuhi had been that determined when she had taken the name Ushiromiya. That was why she was so sorrowful that, despite all of her fruitless effort, she was not even accepted by her husband. "...If Krauss were a woman, and you were his husband... No, I won't say that." "Wh, what do you mean by that, Father?"Natsuhi was shocked. If Kinzo's words just now had been meant literally... To Natsuhi right now, those words would be more than enough to make up for all she had suffered up to that point.  "...Forget it. It's just the nonsense of an old man."Kinzo once again faced away from her. He had told her to forget it, but Natsuhi couldn't help feeling a warmth in her heart...  "...Father. Even though I, Natsuhi, am not connected to you by blood, I am still your daughter. The honor and glory of the Ushiromiya family, and everything that you have left... I, Natsuhi, will definitely show you that I can protect it...!"  Without saying anything more, Kinzo remained with his back to Natsuhi. However, Natsuhi couldn't help but feel something warm well up inside her that she hadn't felt since long ago, when she had been just a child. Natsuhi bowed silently to his back and left the room...  When Natsuhi left the study, she saw Eva climbing the stairs and their eyes met. Eva, thinking that Natsuhi would leave drudgingly after failing to convince Kinzo, was smirking unpleasantly. However, the way Natsuhi was now, such a frivolous laugh would not disturb her. She was not permitted to wear the family crest on her clothing. But she was permitted to wear it in her heart. So she spoke calmly, clearly, and confidently with the dignity of the one who would protect the glory of the Ushiromiya family. "Father said that he would not join in on the family conference. He says that he has no interest in such an obscene topic." "...I'm sure he said something like that. If you weren't able to persuade Father, say so frankly." "...How pitiful. I'm beginning to understand Father's feelings of regret." "Wha, what do you mean by that..."Natsuhi did not answer. Just as Kinzo had done earlier, she showed Eva her back as she headed down the stairs. Eva finally realized that she was being made fun of, and that something had happened to quickly bolster Natsuhi's confidence. Even so, she didn't have the courage to risk Kinzo's wrath. Unable to even knock on the door, she could only scratch at the air in front of it, cluck her tongue, and follow after Natsuhi. "S, so, were Nii-san and the rest there? Did Father tell you about them?" "...I didn't get the chance to ask, but they were not inside the study. It is impossible that Father would let them into the room for such a lowly conversation, so there was no way for him to know where they went. Let us go downstairs and wait for the servants to return from their search. Breakfast may be late, but how about some tea, Eva-san?" "...Th... that would be fine."Eva couldn't hide her confusion over the complete difference in Natsuhi's appearance. She was acting so boldly, and while Eva hated to admit it, she even had a sense of dignity about her. Unable to find fault with anything, she could only follow Natsuhi back to the parlor. When the two of them returned to the parlor, not only Hideyoshi, but the four children and Nanjo as well had gathered there. Genji, who had been talking with Hideyoshi, reported the current situation when he noticed that Natsuhi had returned.  BGM: None The clock read a little past 8:00. 8:00 should have been the time to start breakfast. Normally, going over that time limit was a disgrace to the host.  "...Kanon is now searching outside. Furthermore, no one has seen Shannon." "Even Shannon? Seriously, how many people does my husband have to order to go with him when he wants to go for a walk?"How many people couldn't be found? After the number of people had grown so large, it was starting to feel truly unpleasant, as though they were the only ones being left out on something interesting. At the very least it looked like the children, no, Maria especially felt the same way. She was indignant, her stomach grumbling, almost as though her mother and the others had left her alone to go off and eat something delicious without her. Trying to fix her bad mood, the other children were flipping through the channels on the television, trying to find a program that might interest Maria. Nanjo was sitting in the sofa, gazing blissfully at the children while reading a book. It must have been a book about chess. The sound of footsteps came rushing towards them with a pitter-patter. There was only one set, so they realized before they saw the source that it was not Krauss and the rest, but probably Kanon. "...Madam, excuse me." "Judging by your appearance, you still haven't been able to find them." "...My apologies. I still haven't..." "That will be enough. You've worked hard."She didn't know where they were, but they had to be somewhere on this island. They hadn't put anything in their mouths since last night, so their stomachs must be growling about now. They would surely saunter in any time now. Natsuhi was already dumbfounded, and she had begun to think that there was no urgent need to find them right then. "I will go to the kitchen to prepare some tea for all of the guests. Thanks to both of you for all of your hard work so early in the morning."Natsuhi, acting as though the release in tension had caused a new surge in her headache, left the parlor. Kanon tried to call to her back, but Natsuhi left swiftly.  Kanon sounded evasive. He still didn't know where they were, but maybe he had found something with some relation to that. When Eva and Hideyoshi noticed this exchange of words, they came over. Maybe Kanon had noticed something that looked strange. "What's goin' on, Kanon-kun? Did you find Krauss nii-san and everyone else?" "...Actually... Something looked odd about the rose garden storehouse." "...Something looked odd... what do you mean by that?" "...It was, um... how should I explain it..."Kanon once again hesitated. He wasn't speaking anything like you'd expect from the usually fearless Kanon. Eva and Hideyoshi looked slightly doubtful at his appearance... "What do you mean? They aren't inside the storehouse, are they?" "No... I am going to inspect the inside now. I was just returning to bring the key, but... umm..." "I don't really get it, but it sounds like everythin' will be fine if we just investigate inside it. Where's the key to that storehouse?" "...It is in the servants' room. I will go check the storehouse immediately."Kanon dashed off to the servants' room and returned with the key. Genji left the parlor, saying that he would go check, but Eva and Hideyoshi also followed. What was this 'something odd about the storehouse' that had caused the usually fearless Kanon to hesitate? It was still pouring outside, but their curiosity over this 'something' that Kanon couldn't talk about won out. While the children made a big fuss watching television, Kanon and the rest dashed over to the entrance...  It was definitely not a pretty building. Because of its appearance, it had been built hidden in a corner of the rose garden. Kanon, Genji, Eva, and Hideyoshi came cutting across the rose garden holding umbrellas. They entered a small path just off the rose garden, which was normally off limits for those appreciating the garden and only used by those maintaining the garden. As they dashed along that as well, the front of the storehouse came into view.  Eva and Hideyoshi arrived at the storehouse long after Kanon and Genji.  "Ha... ha... You two sure are fast...! I thought my heart was gonna explode..." "I guess they did build a storehouse over here... bu, wha... what is that...?"When Eva looked at where Kanon was pointing, she was at a loss for words. Noticing this, Hideyoshi also followed Kanon's finger and was likewise too shocked to speak. The entrance to the storehouse was a kind of shutter. And there... Everyone there suddenly realized why Kanon had been unable to find words that could describe what they now saw. On the shutter, which was completely filthy from being exposed to wind and rain for so long, stuck right on it...  There were no words that could describe it. Some kind of mark was drawn, ...with a ghastly substance meant to look like blood, in a shape meant to suggest something ominous. Two circles were drawn there, and inside them was a design that looked like a cross. The four ends of the cross were widely exaggerated, and it looked like some kind of crest from somewhere around Europe. And in the cracks between these shapes, written closely packed together, were some unfamiliar characters, or possibly symbols... "...What a vulgar scribble... Could this be... one of those? One of those magic circles used in demonic ceremonies?!"It was only natural that Hideyoshi would say that about the ghastly shape, drawn with a deep-red, dripping substance. "When was this written...?!" "...Last night, I came here before it started raining, but there was nothing drawn here at that time." "...We must do something before anyone else sees this. If they laid eyes upon it, it would cause them great discomfort..." "That's right... Even though it's just a shed, I don't want to leave such an unpleasant scribble alone for even one second." "There is some paint inside the storehouse. Let us paint over it temporarily as an emergency measure, than repaint it again someday when the weather is good..." "Kanon-kun. Let's remove this scribble quickly and return, alright? Even though it's just a storehouse, it's really irritating to have graffiti around the home I was brought up in." "...Yes. I will take care of it immediately..."Kanon squatted in front of the shutter and unlocked it. He then lifted it up with all of his strength. A boisterous noise resounded, and the eerie shape drawn on the shutter began to get sucked in through the top as the shutter was raised. At least for the time being, that sign of misfortune disappeared from their direct gaze, and they all breathed a sigh of relief...  Nanjo sat on a sofa by himself, passing the time by reading quietly. They heard hurried footsteps coming from the hallway. They were footsteps from a single person. Did that mean that it wasn't the group of four that had just left? Genji was the one who had returned. It was very rare for Genji, who considered being out of breath a violation of a servant's virtues, to be gasping for air. He had probably come dashing back from outside the mansion. His shoulders were soaking wet, and he didn't have his usual smart appearance. When Genji noticed Nanjo looking at him, he gave a small, silent bow and quickly approached him. "...Doctor Nanjo, my apologies. Please, come with me, quickly." "Wh, what has happened?"As Genji whispered something into Nanjo's ear, Nanjo's face changed color. He stood from the sofa, trying not to be noticed by the children who were still engrossed by the TV, and the two of them rapidly left the parlor, muffling their footsteps. Just when they were about to leave the parlor, they came across Natsuhi, who was pushing a serving cart loaded with a tea set. Genji whispered something into Natsuhi's ear, and Natsuhi's face too changed color, shocked. Then, leaving the serving cart where it was, the three of them started dashing towards the entrance... George noticed them running down the rose garden through the window.  "...What is that? Genji-san and Doctor Nanjo and, and that's aunt Natsuhi, isn't it?" "What's up, Aniki?" "...Maybe something has happened. They looked horribly flustered."Jessica and Maria also realized that something had happened from the fact that Eva, Hideyoshi and Nanjo were no longer in their seats, and because the serving cart had been abandoned in the entrance to the parlor. "Could there have been some kind of accident...?" "...Let's go check it out. It's no fun if we're the only ones left out, right? Ihihi!"For some reason, what Battler said sounded extremely indiscreet. But they couldn't deny that they were a little insecure and concerned after seeing the adults run off into the rain regardless of appearance.  "...Let's check it out, alright? I'm worried something might have happened..."Jessica's insecure words spoke for all of them. "Hey Maria, are you coming too? Or will you watch TV?" "Uu-! Maria wants TV! Uuu--." "Then only the rest of us will go. Maria-chan, we'll be back soon. Stay here watching TV." "Uu-!" It felt like the wind suddenly got stronger. The malicious sound of thunder began to ring out like it had the previous night. It felt like an eerie something had surrounded the island, and was trying to stop us from moving forward.  "Jessica, is there something over this way?!" "I'm pretty sure there's a storehouse for gardening tools or something." "What in the world could there be in a place like that..."Just as Jessica had said, they began to see a storehouse in front of them. They could also see the adults there. The shutter to the storehouse was open, and several adults looked as though they were searching for something. For some reason, only Natsuhi was outside the storehouse. Without even holding an umbrella, she looked like she was hanging her head, and her back was facing them... Genji, Nanjo, and Natsuhi, who had just left. Since Kanon, Eva, and Hideyoshi, who had left earlier, were also there, it appeared as though there was a large gathering of people, but there was absolutely no bustle of activity. When Natsuhi realized that the children had come, a terrible expression rose to her face, and she ran at them with her arms spread wide.  Inside the storehouse with the shutter wide open, a flickering fluorescent light shone down. And over there... 
Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 03:36 on Oct 31, 2016 |
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2016 13:29
|
|
|
And there go the 6 chosen by the key. Wow, the cast sure did shrink quickly. I wonder if Natsuhi was supposed to be one of the 6 but the charm worked and got them to pick someone else, or what. So next up would be Eva and husband? Are any other 2 close?
|
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2016 22:15
|
|
|
Natsuhi might be bad at the whole mom thing but I can't help but like her
|
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2016 23:10
|
|
|
Huh. Four-pointed magic circle? That seems kind of low on the scale.
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 04:10
|
|
|
Less Ushiromiyas can only be a good thing. Except for Natsuhi. She can stay. 
EagerSleeper fucked around with this message at 07:51 on Sep 29, 2016 |
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 07:48
|
|
|
Not gonna lie, seeing Kinzo act like a decent human being and be nice to Natsuhi warms my heart. I mean, he's still a dick, hiding up in the study and whatnot, but slightly less of one.
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 10:53
|
|
|
  Video: The StorehouseVolume warning. Marina Inoue has some serious lungs. BGM: Golden Slaughterer "George, take everyone and return to the mansion!!! Quickly!! Right now!!"When Natsuhi had spread her arms, I had thought that she was trying to prevent us from advancing any further. However, right now, that wasn't why Eva was spreading her arms. She was trying to hide that terrible scene from the kids. It was her mother's heart, trying to protect the eyes and hearts of us children by attempting to block our view of that terrible scene by at least the width of one of her arms!  "...Is this some kind of joke? Is it...?!"I had seen this kind of cheap scene all too often.   "Dad, DAD!!!" "You mustn't, Jessica!! You mustn't go in!! You mustn't look!!!" "Dad, Dad!! HyyaaaaaAAAAAAa!!!" "...So what does that mean? Just killin' 'em wasn't enough, they went on to do somethin' like this!! The devil, this here's the work of the devil!!"Aunt Natsuhi caught Jessica in her arms and aunt Eva caught George-aniki... so I was the only one who could approach the entrance to the storehouse. Aah... if only there had been someone there to catch me too, I wouldn't have needed to have this horrible, evil scene burned into my eyes... ...No, that's not it. It isn't that there's no one here to catch me... The people who should catch me, they're right there, aren't they!! Just as Jessica had said, it did look like a storehouse used to keep gardening tools. A lawn mower with extra blades, a grass sickle and a hammer, a saw and some construction tools... Piled up potted plants and bags of fertilizer. And treated just the same, the corpses of several people had been laid to rest there. No, had been thrown in there!  I didn't know whether it had been one of these gardening tools, which if used for something other than their intended purpose could definitely be wielded with a naked brutality, or whether some horrible tool had been brought in here specifically for this. Anyways, the bodies which had been tumbled into here, each of them had been given an atrocious makeup. ...It wasn't makeup, it was more like... their faces had been plowed...!   "...UwooooOOOOoooooooohh!!! Daaaaaaaaaaad!! I always thought you were going to hell?! But still, not like this, right? You weren't such a son of bitch that you should have to suffer so brutally!! And even Kyrie-san, didn't I tell you to stop going out with this guy... even you, there was no reason for even you to go through this, was there..." ...There's no face... there's no face... drat it drat it drat it drat it, hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!" "...Battler-san, you mustn't look any more... There's no way that your mother and father would want you to see them like this...! For your mother and your father's sakes, you mustn't look any more!!" "Dead people are supposed to have faces that look like they're sleeping peacefully, right?! There's no face, my dad and Kyrie-san have no faces!! I don't even know what kind of faces they were wearing when they died!! What's wrong with me!! Will I have to see these faces, smashed up like they're monsters, every time I remember Dad and the rest?! That's just great, I don't even want to remember that old bastard's smug face, just great, just great!!"   "...Stop it, Battler-kun...! Just stop it...just stop it...!" "Aniki, Aniki!! UoooOoooOOOooooooooo!!!"Disregarding age and appearance, I fell to my knees, clinging to Aniki's waist and sobbing. It was as if I was crying on behalf of everyone there... Representing the feelings of everyone there, I screamed over and over...  BGM: None "...No. There are six people. There's... one more person..."The body that Hideyoshi was looking down on now was hidden in the shadow of a mountain of random objects, in a blind spot to George, who stood by the entrance. So George couldn't tell... whose body it was... ...Therefore, George cursed himself. He cursed himself for always imagining the worst...!  "...So, ...the one lying at Father's feet is, ...Sha, ...Shannon, isn't it...?" BGM: Worldend (solo) George was completely silent. He shook slightly, his lower lip trembling... He wanted to run up to his beloved, screaming and crying. But, before rashly running up to her, he mustered up all of his strength, and asked his father.  "...Is Shannon also, ...the same as, ...uncle Krauss and the others?" "..."Hideyoshi deeply understood the meaning of those words. So he couldn't give George an answer. No, he thought that, to George right now, that was the only possible sincere and loving response. When George had asked whether she was the same, he had meant to ask whether her body was the same as the others. ...Since Hideyoshi hadn't denied it, it meant that the body was just as horrible.  "...Can I, ...look at Shannon...?" "...No, you can't." "...Why...? After all, I won't be able to see Shannon's face again, right...? So, why can't I see... her last face...?" "...The last time you met Shannon-chan was yesterday?" "...Yes." "I see...when you left her, what kind of face was she showin' you...?" "...I see. .Then, Shannon-chan must also have wished to leave you with that smile."...Hideyoshi looked down upon Shannon's body lying at his feet. Just like the other bodies, it was in such a horrible state that it would make anyone want to cover their eyes.  Without thinking, Hideyoshi slapped his hand over his eyes. How cruel... Even though it was smashed, if only all of it had been crushed, he might have been able to deceive George's heart for a while by saying that it was just someone else wearing Shannon's clothes. Even so, half of the face was left...! It caused the body so much humiliation, and also made it clear that this body wasn't someone other than Shannon! How inhuman, how unjust... Trying his best to burn the image of the remaining half of Shannon's expression into his eyes, was Kanon. Kanon was not crying. Tears had risen to his eyes, but they did not drip down. But that didn't mean that he wasn't feeling as much sadness as everyone else. Losing Shannon, who had lived with him in the same orphanage, who he had loved as a sister, must have been just the same as losing a blood relative...  "...I understand. I understand, Father... I understand..."George leaned against the outside wall of the storehouse, sinking down powerlessly. "...Father. I have a request." "What...?" "...I want you to look for me. On Shannon's finger... is there a ring...?" "...A ring...? ...Let me see..." "...Yeah... there is. It's a diamond ring. With a valuable diamond. This would fetch a pretty good price..." "And... which hand, which finger is it on?" "...Hmm, the ring finger of her left hand. I see, was Shannon-chan... engaged...?" "...George...You, it couldn't be-" "Eva!! Right now that doesn't matter!! A man made a lifelong promise to Shannon-chan...! A man promised her happiness for life... Who could possibly be in the wrong here!?" To most of the people there, Hideyoshi was simply disturbed by this extraordinary situation and was blurting out strange things. But, to those who knew the truth about George and Shannon's relationship, everything he said made sense. "...I see. Thank you, father."George stood up. The traces of tears still streaked his face, but his expression had returned to its usual calm...  "...Let's go. Battler-kun, Jessica-chan. If we stay here any longer, we'll get in the way of the adults." "...Sniff. You're right..."Jessica sniffled once, and showed her mother, who had been holding her the whole time, her face, trying to say that she was alright. When she faced George again, she once again had on her usual face... Although she still couldn't smile.  "...Battler...don't lose heart..."Battler kept on crouching in front of his parents' bodies...  Battler's face was still bright red from the tears, but even if it was a bitter smile, he had at least recovered enough to fake a smile. "...Kanon. You too mustn't remain here any longer. Take the children and return to the mansion."Natsuhi, unable to take a step into the storehouse, had been standing under the rain the whole time. Maybe she had her own way of grieving, different from Battler's. She realized that she had to take on a sense of responsibility now that her husband was dead, so she gave Kanon those orders. "...Yes. Madam."Kanon rose silently, and turned to face her. His face was pure white, almost as though his own heart had died along with Shannon, there was no life in his expression. On an ordinary day, if he had been told to guide the children through the rose garden, Kanon would have led the way and guided them. But now, there was no distinction between Kanon and the children. They were now just kids of about the same age... with the wounds of having lost someone close to them. Natsuhi ordered Genji to see that the children returned.  When she heard that, Natsuhi remembered. That's right, the telephones were out today, weren't they...? However, since it had been assumed that there could be trouble with the phones on this isolated island, a radio had been installed. ...Anyways, let's contact the police and receive their instructions. Everything else can wait. "...Doctor Nanjo. Is there anything you can do here anymore?" "Unfortunately... I cannot do anything..." "...Understood. Genji, could you at least cover their faces with something? Exposing them like this is humiliating to them as well..." "...Yes."Genji picked up several dried up towels from inside the storehouse, when Eva stopped him in a shrill voice.  Natsuhi glared at Eva, offended. Objectively speaking, Eva was right. Even so, she glared at Eva as though accusing her of refusing to do those tragic corpses, which had been humiliated even after death, the simple kindness of covering their faces. However, Eva had spoken both calmly and correctly. This horrible state was definitely not an accident. It was a crime. Someone had killed them. It was a murder case. In that case, they should be careful not to further disturb the site. They had to aid the police at least this much, so that they might hand over a clue that could be used to find the detestable culprit. "...I agree with Eva-san. Until the police come, we should leave everything be..." "...What do you say, Madam?" "...You're right. Understood. Close it up... And, just in case, we should put a different lock on it." "...A different lock?" BGM: Stupefaction "...I am sure it will be worthwhile to submit it to the police as evidence, but Kanon-kun usually has it, and uses it to open this. It will probably also have Kanon's fingerprints on it. Also, that key was handed to Genji just now, and he took it with his bare hands. It doesn't look like it will be very useful as evidence." "...That was careless of me. My apologies..." "Genji-san. Are there other keys to this storehouse?" "...No. Only this one." "Which means that the culprit walked out of the servants' room with that key, and then conscientiously returned the key to where they found it, right...?" The actual place where the six were killed wasn't necessarily here, but it was normal to think that they had been killed somewhere on this island, carried to this storehouse, and hidden to delay the discovery of the crime. But that graffiti drawn on the shutter that looked like an eerie magic circle had eloquently indicated that the corpses were hidden here. It didn't specifically say that they were here, but after six people had gone missing, by making such an obvious scribble and even returning the key to open it, it seemed almost as though someone had wanted the corpses to be discovered here. "...Anyways, we can't trust only a lock that the culprit has opened once before. If we want to protect this place from the culprit's hand, I think we should put a new lock on." "I think that is a good plan... I agree."Genji fished around inside the storehouse, and unsealed a brand-new padlock which had been inside a small box. "What should I do with the key...?" "...I will take it. I will take responsibility and hand it over to the police."Natsuhi took the key to the padlock from Genji's hand. After that, they all exited and lowered the shutter. Because of that, the corpses were once again sealed behind that shutter, covered with that gruesome magic circle. Genji crouched down in front of the shutter to fasten the new padlock. In addition to the main lock on the shutter, there is sometimes a place where you can attach your own lock in front of it. This was one of those types. In the midst of the roar of thunder and the pouring rain, the storehouse stood there, ominously... With its closed shutter still covered in a blood-like, creepy substance, it swallowed up the bodies of the six. To Natsuhi, putting the new lock on wasn't mainly to preserve the scene for the police, she might have felt like she wanted to shut that mouth for all eternity, to prevent the victims from being swallowed any more by that eerie demon... "...Come on, let's go, everyone. Doctor Nanjo, thank you very much for your work. Genji, quickly, contact the police." "I will contact them as soon as I return..."The adults left the storehouse. 
Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 03:37 on Oct 31, 2016 |
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 12:53
|
|
|
The character profiles page has been updated.
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 12:58
|
|
|
Golden Slaughterer is one of the songs everyone should listen to.
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 13:00
|
|
|
ProfessorProf posted:sickle and a hammer
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 13:30
|
|
|
Be sure to check out those profiles
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 14:23
|
|
|
"...So what does that mean? Just killin' 'em wasn't enough, they went on to do somethin' like this!! The devil, this here's the work of the devil!!" This line accidentally has Jessica's portrait when it should be Hideyoshi's.
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 16:54
|
|
|
Fixed.
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 16:56
|
|
|
Oh hey there Beatrice. Nice handywork. 
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 18:30
|
|
|
Hideyoshi basically just telling Eva to shut up and that this is NOT the time to give George poo poo warms my heart, you know? Also, Battler posted:I guess I just got passed the gene that makes you cry when your parents are dead! is probably the best excuse I have ever heard. It's all genetics, you know?
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 18:41
|
|
|
Typical, you wait 14 updates for a murder and then six come along at once.
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 18:41
|
|
|
Welp. Hmm. Seriously. I got nothing. This came way out of left field.
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 20:32
|
|
|
bman in 2288 posted:Welp. What, are you surprised about how many murders happened at once? It's like you guys didn't even READ the epitaph.
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 21:04
|
|
|
So I guess the demon roulette came up Red. As did the walls, the floor, and possibly the ceiling. Still that narrows down the cast list somewhat. If they keep up this rate of attrition we'll be in the golden land by the middle of next week!
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 21:14
|
|
|
Assuming the key to the shutter is always in the servants' room, this makes the servants look pretty drat shady. Also noteworthy is the smashing in of the faces. I was gonna propose that the culprit did this to disguise someone's corpse as someone else's, but I think everyone is accounted for right now, right?
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 23:15
|
|
|
vector_to posted:Assuming the key to the shutter is always in the servants' room, this makes the servants look pretty drat shady. Some thoughts on this: We can't discount the possibility of body doubles or unknown people on the island, at this point, so it is entirely possible that someone--say Rudolph for instance, faked his on death and is now hiding on the island somewhere. By that logic, you could say that Shannon, who still has an identifiable face, is the only confirmed kill.
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 23:28
|
|
|
Oh goodie, found this thread at the best time. Subsequently, but I want to thank Shiny and the last thread for making me read through the whole thing, after these years I might still remember what actually happened. Also it might be too much to ask, but could you include some of the more "distinct" sound effects later on? My favourite is that jump scare sound effect played every time something scary happens (I thought it plays when they find the bodies in this scene, but no).
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 23:53
|
|
|
Heads up, the keyboard on the laptop I do all my LP work on just died. Fortunately I have a nice fat backlog, but in the worse case we may briefly be back to MWF updates.
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2016 00:27
|
|
|
oath2order posted:Some thoughts on this: We can't discount the possibility of body doubles or unknown people on the island, at this point, so it is entirely possible that someone--say Rudolph for instance, faked his on death and is now hiding on the island somewhere. By that logic, you could say that Shannon, who still has an identifiable face, is the only confirmed kill. Not the only one, since Krauss "at least has half of his face left" too, from what Battler's screaming. The character profiles corroborate it as well.
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2016 00:52
|
|
|
I do enjoy speculation. It's a shame I can't cause I followed the old lp. Well I can wait till we get back to that part.
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2016 00:54
|
|
|
Yeah, the part where it specifically mentions the teeth screams dental records to me, but on the other hand that leaves the question of who these corpses are, and where the killer got a bunch of fakes/body doubles.
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2016 02:13
|
|
|
tiistai posted:Not the only one, since Krauss "at least has half of his face left" too, from what Battler's screaming. The character profiles corroborate it as well. Oh wow, those character profiles are creepy. "We'll be able to see her again. No need to feel lonely."
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2016 09:17
|
|
|
 October 5th, 1986, 8:45 AM  BGM: At Death's Door In other words, what greeted them as they returned dumbfounded from that horrible, bizarre scene was the voice of Maria as she rolled around laughing at the television... Without knowing how explain to Maria that her mother, Rosa, was dead, those who returned to the room couldn't manage any more than a suffocating silence. At first, Maria returned their stares with a dubious look, but when she realized that they weren't trying to blame her for anything, she ignored them and again immersed herself in the television program. The children wordlessly sat down on the sofa... Their minds were probably blank from their state of shock. Everyone had already cried and mourned so much... but now they just vaguely sat there, their faces expressionless. Only Kanon had returned to his usual calm expression. However, that probably didn't mean he had been able to wipe out the shock. Nothing was reflected in his eyes as he stared into the emptiness... Hideyoshi, fidgeting as he remembered that horrible scene, kept muttering, 'Unbelievable. That can't be somethin' of this world, it's the work of the devil.' Every once in a while, he tried to ask a question and bumped into Nanjo, but Nanjo, in a calm doctor-like manner, kept repeating that nothing could be understood by only glancing at the scene, and that until the police arrived, he wouldn't know anything. However, Nanjo only appeared calm next to Hideyoshi, who was agitated and fearful to the utmost. Maybe it was because of their attitudes that Natsuhi tried to rise to the challenge and take control. Natsuhi was apparently unchanged from her normal attitude. She briskly gave directions.  "I wonder if you would allow me to tag along, Natsuhi nee-san? Since Krauss nii-san is now gone, the task of aiding Father has been left to me. It would be improper of me to relax here while relying entirely on Natsuhi nee-san."Natsuhi was struck speechless by Eva's aggressive actions in a situation like this. It seemed that she was claiming that, with Krauss dead, the one to take responsibility should not be his wife, but herself, the next highly ranked in the family. Possibly, she had not been happy at all when Natsuhi had ignored her in this extreme situation. Naturally, Eva's mind had been blank from the shock until just now. She only returned to herself after Natsuhi started giving orders. "...Just do as you like."Natsuhi, without saying anything more, walked out. Eva followed behind her. As they did, Kumasawa ran into the parlor. Since she normally wasn't the kind of person to run around, anyone would guess that something had happened, ...but since everyone had been stricken by that earlier shock, this level of a disturbance didn't overly trouble them.  "If you're lookin' for Natsuhi nee-san, she went to see Father. She'll probably be back soon. What happened, Kumasawa-san?" "Th, that is... in the dining hall, blood... blood...!"Everyone in the parlor turned to listen. Everyone thought the same thing. 'I hope I misheard that.' Just like how any container has a limit to how much you can put in it, no one felt like they could accept any more tragedies beyond what had already happened. So they all thought it. I hope I misheard that... "Wh, what happened... in the dining hall...?" "When I went to the dining hall... to set up for breakfast... Awawawawawa... wawa..."George ran straight for it. His harsh footsteps jogged Hideyoshi and Nanjo to their senses, and they chased after him. Battler and the others followed.  However, Kumasawa, who had followed them, pointed it out. There really were some traces of blood remaining on the floor. Compared to that terrible scene, it was not very impressive. However, if you calmly thought about it, this definitely indicated the loss of a lot of blood. "...Blood has also gathered here. What in the world..." "...It appears that a great deal of time has passed... Probably, last night... it might be appropriate to view this as the place they were killed..." "I, it would seem to mean that... We'd been talkin' together in the dinin' hall until late into the night... After that, someone must've broken in..." "Dad, when did all of you finish their meeting and go to sleep...?" "...Hmm... It was a little past midnight... Therefore, sometime after that... is probably when it happened..." "...Seriously... gimme a break..." "Milady, get a hold of yourself..." "...Hehehehe... After seeing that hell on earth in the storehouse, I think I can handle this much..." "...Really? Great for you... I feel like my head's gonna explode... This is the dining hall, right? This is where every day I would eat, complain about school, complain about homework, talk to my parents about my grades... that's what this place is to me..." "...Milady. It wouldn't be good to remain here any longer. Let's return to the parlor." "...Everything is just as Battler-san has said. There is nothing more to be gained from remaining in this room."Nanjo spoke while looking at everyone's pale faces. Even though that horrible scene in the storehouse had felt like something not of this world, at least then we had been able to leave, to cut ourselves off from that place and run away. Everyone had shared in that feeling. However, this dining hall was different. It was in the main wing of the mansion, and as Jessica had said, the inside of the mansion was supposed to be the one place where we could feel secure. It was the same place that all of the relatives had eaten lunch and dinner yesterday. The shock of seeing this place smeared with blood reminded us of that horrible spectacle in the storehouse, and forced us to accept that we really hadn't been able to run away from the scene of that tragedy... "...Hmm. I also agree... The culprit might have left traces in this room! Amateurs like us shouldn't stir the place up. Let's leave quickly. Quickly, quickly!"Hideyoshi also understood the meaning of what Battler had said, and pushed everyone to hurry out of the dining hall. The way we were then, looking at that blood any longer would have been too harsh. Nobody went against his words. Everyone raced each other out of the dining hall. It was almost as though the last person in the room would be trapped in there, all alone. Once in the hallway, we helped Kumasawa, who was still trembling and leaning against the wall, and we all headed back to the parlor together. Then, Genji returned.  BGM: Lure "What... you didn't contact the police...!! You tried the phone and the radio and both failed!?" "...My apologies. A boat will be arriving on Monday morning, and I believe we will be able to borrow their communications equipment." "Isn't there a boat on this island?! Can't we just take a little trip out to the Niijima Police Department?!" "...Hideyoshi-san, that would be impossible with this weather... At the very least, we can't do anything until the typhoon passes by us." "Krauss-sama's boat is being repaired and is not on the island... Therefore, we must wait for the boat coming on Monday..." "H, how could this happen...?! Six people are dead!! The phones and radio aren't working, and there's no boat! Until the typhoon passes and the boat comes... in other words until tomorrow morning, will we just have to stay here on this island without being able to contact the police?!" "...That certainly follows. The culprit who killed everyone is still here on the island." "S, ...so the bastard who killed Dad and the others, without being able to escape the island, must still be hiding somewhere... drat it, damnitdamnitdamnit!!! I'll find that bastard, no way I'll hand him over to the police!! I'll slice him into bits myself...!!! Whaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!" "..."Maria had finally realized that something was odd in the parlor. Rather than noticing something odd, it was probably better to say that she felt unhappy and neglected since everyone was getting so excited about something only she didn't know about.  ...Jessica probably didn't like that. As though trying to say 'Can't you tell just by looking at me, overwhelmed with grief!', she flared up against Maria. "They all died, everyone, everyone!! My dad and Battler's parents!! Gohda-san and Shannon!! And even your mother, too!!" "Stop it, Jessica-chan...!! You aren't the only one who's sad...!" "...Maria-san... I know this will come as a shock, but please listen. Your mother has... died." "...Mama is dead? Uu-...?" "...Yes, someone killed her. I know it's sad, but stay strong..." "...How many people, died?" "Six people!! Six people! Dammitdammitdammit! How could you do something so cruel!! There's a limit to how cruel you can be, if you're a human...! I don't know who it is, but the culprit isn't human!! There's no way their blood is red!!"  "Huh? ...Hey, Maria, did you say something just now?"Maria had just said something, but since the words were so remotely separated from the flow and context of the conversation, for a second, I couldn't understand them. When I tried to ask her to repeat it again, I was shocked by the sudden sound of aunt Natsuhi's loud voice coming from the entrance to the parlor. It looked like aunt Natsuhi and aunt Eva had returned from their trip to see Grandfather.  "Wait, don't you have one of those boat signaling devices that makes a flashing light? Couldn't you use that to contact the next island?" "...We do not have such equipment... My apologies..."Just then, Kumasawa came pushing a serving cart loaded with breakfast. Since there was no way we would be able to eat in the dining hall, Hideyoshi ordered her to take it to the parlor. "Why are we eating breakfast here?" "...Aaaahhh, Natsuhi-san... I'll tell you later. More importantly, Eva, how was Father?" "Judging by the fact that he is not with you, he won't even leave his room for a situation like this..." BGM: Witch of the Painting "...Did you say that the Master has left his study...?" "...That's right. I am also surprised... I wonder when he left his room... Do any of you have an idea?"Natsuhi looked at Genji and Kanon as she said this. Maybe she was trying to ask whether the servants who served directly under the One-winged Eagle would know of a place he might go. However, it was probably the other way around. Their faces made it clear that those who knew Kinzo best realized even more than the rest how impossible it was for him to leave his room. "...Even we have no idea." "...As you all know, within that study, the Master had everything set up from a place to sleep to a bathroom. I couldn't imagine him leaving that room except for a significant reason." "...In that case, what? Isn't it natural to think that one of those 'significant reasons' came up...!?" "We still don't know whether that is the case! Anyways, he is a fickle person, so it's possible that he went for a walk by himself without knowing the current situation. If that is the case, we have to tell him what has happened and ask for instructions as fast as we can." "...That's right. Although I don't want to think about it, it's possible that something has happened to him, isn't it...?" "I don't even want to think about something that ominous...!" Everyone had lost their composure at the extremely sudden tragedy. Everyone felt a heavy silence. Everyone was impatient. Even though they needed to do something, they couldn't think of anything, so some of them held their heads in their arms while others got irritated. Right now, no one could explain what was occurring on this island, Rokkenjima... After that, we ate the breakfast that Kumasawa-san had made. It felt dry and tasteless. Of course, this was right after something like that had happened. No one felt particularly hungry. However, we realized that not eating would weaken our bodies. It would also be rude to Kumasawa-san, who had made the breakfast. Kumasawa-san had taken the tasteful western vegetables, ones that Gohda-san had probably ordered to make the meals feel more elaborate, and cooked them in a Japanese style, making them turn an unpleasant color. As to what Gohda-san had been planning to cook with those ingredients...right then I couldn't even imagine it. If I did think about it, I would be reminded of the way Gohda-san had died, and the inside of my mouth would be filled with a sour taste... For the time being, everyone pretended to eat, but no one was actually going to move their chopsticks.  And despite that, without being able to use phones or radio, we still couldn't contact the police. So until the typhoon passed, there was nothing we could do. Furthermore, Grandfather, who we had hoped might be able to show a little leadership in this kind of a situation, had disappeared some time ago. Gohda-san hadn't made breakfast, so Grandfather's stomach must have been empty, and if he had just been taking a casual walk, we should have been able to hear him whining about how hungry he was about now. And despite that, he hadn't appeared. There was more than a small chance that he had become caught up in the earlier crime. Aunt Natsuhi and aunt Eva had said that, on their return trip from going to see Kinzo, they had called out to him on every floor, looking for him, but were not able to find him. ...If you think about the timing of it all, it was probably best to think that he had been caught up in the crime. If the culprit had taken the trouble to move the corpses of Dad and the rest, who we figured had been killed in the dining hall, all the way to the storehouse, maybe they had already killed Grandfather, moved his corpse to some strange location, and we had simply not found it yet. No one actually said it, but this theory seemed extremely convincing...  Aunt Natsuhi followed the servants, Genji-san, Kumasawa-san, and Kanon-kun, out of the parlor. All that was left was aunt Eva, uncle Hideyoshi, Doctor Nanjo, and the four of us children for a total of seven people.  "Let's all stick together, maybe watch some television while we wait. Unfortunately, I don't think that there'll be any good shows on during the middle of the day on Sunday."Uncle Hideyoshi tried to stir up this gloomy atmosphere, acting cheerfully. "Uu-. Good show, watch it, watch it. Uu-uu-!" "Oh, really? Will Maria-chan watch television? Then, come and watch it with me."Maria was the only one who played along. Even though Maria had been told of her mother's death, she didn't show the slightest flicker in her emotions. Maybe it was because Maria was only nine years old, and was still too young... Everyone else's mood failed to improve, and they each sank absentmindedly into their sofas...  "...Just now in the storehouse. You said something about Shannon-chan and a ring. Did you give that to her?"George-aniki didn't answer, but he hung his head and closed both of his eyes. There could be no clearer response. "Quit it, Battler. Figure it out yourself." "...You're right. I shouldn't have asked that." BGM: Worldend (solo)  "...Well, I... several years ago, I had a talk with Shannon. About you, George nii-san." "...I wonder what she could have said." "...So I handed her the engagement ring, and then... it was all over." "...A sense of value varies with the person. But being proposed to by a man... can, in a way, be the high point of a girl's life. So I'm sure. Last night, I think Shannon was, from the bottom of her heart... no, more than she ever had been since she was born, truly happy..." "..."...George-aniki, without raising his head, sighed deeply... Or maybe tears had risen to his eyes. "...It seems that Shannon was on duty in the guesthouse last night. But, because she was too embarrassed to go back to the guesthouse with me... she went over to the mansion." "...Think about Shannon's feelings. She had received an engagement ring, and no matter how much she had been prepared for it beforehand, it was perfectly normal that she got so excited that her mind went blank. Her being embarrassed was only natural." "Aniki. That's wrong. That's definitely wrong. So don't cry any more." "...Aaaahaaaaaa..." Misplaced words of comfort might actually hurt him. Jessica sat down next to Aniki, and put an arm around him. Maybe only Jessica, who had known about Aniki and Shannon's love since the beginning, and who had discussed that relationship with Shannon, could comfort Aniki now. I went over to aunt Eva and sat down in the opposite sofa...  "Battler-kun, you really are strong... It looks like you have kept a good hold on yourself." "...Umm, well, look, the depth of the love becomes the depth of the wound, right? After all, it's not like how that old bastard died has anything to do with me. I feel bad about Kyrie-san, but... well, she wasn't actually my parent." "My, my. But on the other hand, you were crying a lot back then, right?" "Well, I did think that at least that much crying was due as gratitude to the parent who raised me... Hehehe..." "...The speed of that changeover and that dry tone must have come from Rudolf. That kid would always get violently happy, sad, and angry, but he would always regain his cool immediately afterwards." "...It's nothing like that. I haven't really been able to get over the shock yet. I think it's just that the emotions that rose up in me were different from everybody else's." "What do you mean?" BGM: Suspicion "...Rather than sadness, it's more like I'm irritated. What bastard did this and where? It's kinda been eating at me that I didn't get a chance to smack him upside the face."That was what I really wanted to do. It was like I couldn't allow myself to just sit here, overwhelmed with sadness and hugging my knees. "...Since the time Dad and everyone else were killed, this island has remained covered by the typhoon. In short, that means that the bastard responsible for all of this is still somewhere on this island." "It sure does mean that. I wonder if they're hiding themselves somewhere in that dark forest even now?"...I felt like I'd had a very similar conversation with Kyrie-san the night before. That's right. After the letter from the person who claimed to be Beatrice appeared at the dinner table last night, ...we had talked about whether or not a 19th person actually exists. "Aunt Eva. This murder... do you think it has anything to do with the letter from Beatrice last night?" "...Aah, that one? Well, I wonder. All of the siblings were in agreement that the mysterious letter had been sent to further complicate the problem of Father's inheritance. As to whether that and the case this morning are related, it's impossible to tell at this stage..." "Was that letter really given to Maria by some witch called Beatrice?" "How could it be? All of it was a farce devised by Father, wasn't it? He made someone like Shannon-chan wear the dress from the portrait and deceive Maria-chan, right? Isn't that just like the kind of intricate prank Father would pull?" "There's no one else but us on this island, you think...?" "Obviously, right? Are you saying there could be someone else here other than us? No one is on this island except us. There are only 18 people. So the one pretending to be Beatrice has to be one of those 18."Kyrie-san had denied that there was a 19th person by 'turning over the chessboard'. Even though aunt Eva hadn't constructed an argument that complicated, her opinion at least was the same. Except, if that were the case, our situation would start to look very ugly... At the time of Beatrice's letter, the matter could be easily settled since it hadn't seemed to be anything more than a prank. However, now the matter couldn't be settled by simply denying the existence of a 19th person. In other words...  "..."Aunt Eva smiled meaningfully. It looked like she thought that this conclusion should have been obvious from the very beginning. "The culprit carried the bodies of those six into the storehouse. But they sure did a good job getting into that storehouse, didn't they? That shutter is always closed and locked, right? In other words, in order to carry them into the storehouse, the culprit would need to unlock the shutter. Understand?" "...Is there any possibility that the shutter was left open by mistake that day?" "The servants said that it is always shut. In other words, unless they brought the keys out of the servants' room, they definitely couldn't have opened the storehouse." "Is the only key the one in the servants' room...?" "Genji-san said that was the case. Which means that the culprit knew where that single key was stored and took it out. Just now, I saw Kanon-kun return the key to the servants' room. The wall was packed with keys, and I don't think that a novice would know where and to what those keys went to. The culprit was magnificently able to select the key to the storehouse from all of those." "Furthermore, even though the key didn't have a tag or anything sticking to it, they knew it was the key to the storehouse behind the rose garden... And that means that they also knew where the storehouse was. I'll say it even clearer. The culprit knew the inside of the servants' room well." However, if there was only one key to the storehouse in the servants' room, and it was stored with such a large group of keys, a novice would not be able to tell them apart. This meant that the culprit was someone who could normally enter the servants' room, and knew where the key was well. The family didn't normally go into the servants' room. Which meant that...  "The culprit... no, culprits in the plural, would have more than enough weapons in their arsenal if that were the case. You see it, don't you? They had to assault the four in the dining hall and kill them, drag a total of six bodies all the way to the storehouse beyond the rose garden, and scribble that disgusting makeup on their faces. There's no way that a single culprit could carry all of this out on their own, right?"It was impossible. It might not have been if a single person had enough time, but that would have taken ages. It was probably best to think that a significant number of people had been part of it. "...Erk. So what you mean is, maybe all of the servants were in cahoots." "Please keep it quiet, okay? It's still just a guess, so it would be bad to say it. And if it really is true, what would you do? They might not let us return alive. This is an opponent who had no trouble killing Nii-san and the three others. Right now, the only people I can count on to fight with me are the three people in my family and maybe Battler-kun, as well, which comes to a total of four people, right? The situation is no different than it was last night. In short, it would be easy for the culprit to massacre the rest of us."I had been playing detective with aunt Eva, trying to expose the person who had killed Dad and the rest before the police did. If only I could skillfully penetrate the culprit's identity, I wanted to stick proof that it was them in their face. I had been so sure that, just like in one of those detective movies, the culprit would then give up and surrender. However, the culprit would only surrender if there was no way for them to fight back. The culprits behind these cases on the island were far from helpless, and might even be able to massacre all of the remaining people on the island. And on top of that, this island was like a giant locked room, cut off from the outside world by the typhoon, so they had a full day, until tomorrow, to kill, scheme and camouflage themselves. In short, it wasn't a safe atmosphere where we could get very far by playing detective... To the contrary, we were at a stage where we had to be scared stiff, since playing detective might displease the culprits, and cause them to repeat another mass murder...  "Someone behind all of this? Hmm... why do you say that?" "It's just a feeling. Think about what the word servant literally means. It means someone who serves as someone else's arms and legs, right? Everyone who was killed had some relation to the Ushiromiya family. So naturally, it was someone who had some interest in that result."This was also plain and clear... It all went straight to the discussion that had been taking place in the Ushiromiya family about how to distribute the inheritance when Grandfather died. If this case followed the standard form of any classic mystery novel, it was definitely a crime by someone with ties to the Ushiromiya family and who was entangled in the inheritance problem... aunt Eva had probably also read a few books in that genre. Aunt Eva's argument had a few one-sided conclusions to it, and it was probably a shortcut that anyone could have reached. I think anyone would have doubted the servants, even if their logic was different. Especially the story about the key to the shutter. That was enough to make it easy to suspect that one of the servants was involved in the case...  Because it was an easy guess to reach. A guess that anyone could reach. And I just couldn't accept that. If I tried 'turning the chessboard over' like I had learned from Kyrie-san, that was exactly why it was impossible for a servant to be the culprit. If the servants really had been the culprits, they wouldn't hide the bodies in a place that was tied to themselves. There were other places besides the rose garden storehouse, whose key they themselves controlled. The police would probably immediately pursue whoever had been in control of the key. That would create a danger for exposure. If we were to assume that they were the culprits, they had no reason to carry the bodies into the storehouse. If you twist that around, why did they purposefully put them in the storehouse? No, that definitely didn't make sense. When the police come and inspect the site, several things will probably become clear. No matter how deeply careful the culprits were in carrying out murder, some kind of traces will definitely be found. So, in summary, they had everything to lose and nothing to gain. If you think about it this way, and look at the game from the culprit's side, it would seem pointless for them to let the corpses be found. If the bodies were found, a report would be sent to the police, the remaining people would become even more cautious, and they could start looking for the culprit... anyways, none of these things would make the culprit feel any more comfortable.  ...Right now, no one knew where Grandfather was. We didn't know whether he had already become a victim, or if he was one of the culprits, but this state of confusion had to be beneficial to the culprit. By showing us the bodies that obviously, and making us all realize there is a murder case going on, the culprit had absolutely nothing to gain. Right, that was where we could 'turn the chessboard over'. So the culprit's goal was to clearly show us the bodies. So, at the very least, to the culprit, the appearance of the corpses there meant more than the deaths themselves. In other words, the culprit wanted to display this murder. To who?  At the current time, none of us could grasp anything from this vulgar mass murder except malice. Malice towards everyone, perhaps. Each one of the survivors had some kind of connection to one of the six who had been killed. Uncle Krauss's death brought Jessica the grief of losing one of her family. The deaths of Dad and Kyrie-san brought me sorrow, while aunt Rosa's death brought Maria sorrow. Gohda-san's death probably influenced his fellow servants, and Shannon-chan's death brought grief to George-aniki, who had proposed to her, and Kanon-kun, who had loved her like an older sister. Everyone now on this island had received an equal amount of sadness. Aunt Eva had claimed that the servants were definitely in cahoots... but then how could you explain the deaths of Gohda-san and Shannon-chan?  BGM: Scar Sound It was very possible to doubt aunt Eva herself, who was acting like she was outside the net of suspicion, and who might have been trying to point that suspicion at the servants. In the first place, she had managed to avoid suspicion and place it on the servants with that argument about the key to the shutter... but if you looked at it from a perspective of motive, about who would gain something from the murders, aunt Eva's name floated to the top of the list.  "I'm the one who would gain the most from these murders. Since I'm going to be suspected anyways, I might as well get it out in the open myself."I had tried to trick her by joking around, but it looked like it hadn't worked. "The inheritance will be divided between the siblings. But right now, the four siblings are just me. All of the assets of the Ushiromiya family will become mine. Eheheheheh." "If uncle Hideyoshi heard you, he'd say 'Could you give it a rest, it's not a joke'..." "I'm sorry? No matter how I try to smooth it over, I'll just be suspected anyways, so I was just fooling around. So I've been thinking, from my point of view, this murder might have been planned to cast suspicion on me. Unfortunately, my alibi for last night is weak." "Could you tell me about it? About last night?" "...Can anyone other than uncle Hideyoshi prove that? No, wait aunt Eva, it's not like I'm suspecting you or anything, ri~ght? Hihihi!" "My, what do you mean? *giggle*. I don't know if it counts as proof, but when we returned to the guesthouse, we were greeted by Genji-san and asked if we needed a towel. I think that should be enough to prove that we had returned to the guesthouse a little after midnight. Of course, if my theory was correct, the servants would all be in cahoots, and that wouldn't actually make for an alibi, would it?" "Is that really true? That'd mean that, right now, I'm playing detective with the real culprit, right? Ihihi!" "However, let me say this for my honor's sake: if my goal was the inheritance, I wouldn't have needed to commit this weird kind of murder, right? After all, if I just wanted to make them forfeit their rights to the inheritance, the method of their deaths wouldn't have mattered. On the contrary, you'd expect that I would try to make their deaths look like an accident, wouldn't I? If I had roped in the servants, and carefully planned everything out, I would be even more capable of doing that." "You're right about that If you were killing someone to make a profit, you definitely shouldn't make it look like a murder." "That's it, right? So from here on, I'm in a very blue mood. I'll probably be treated as the person behind this by the police, and harshly investigated. Oh no, oh no..."Aunt Eva shrugged with a bitter smile. Just like it was easy to think of the servants as suspicious, it was also very easy to think of aunt Eva as suspicious. So if we 'turn the chessboard over', did that mean it was impossible for the culprit to be the easily doubtable aunt Eva...? However, if we used that method with impunity, then motive wouldn't count for anything.  ...I don't know, I don't know... Every time I turn the chessboard over, it keeps flipping from front to back and back to front... Were my thoughts closing in on the truth? Or were they... Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 03:38 on Oct 31, 2016 |
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2016 13:39
|
|
|
The profiles page has been updated.
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2016 13:42
|
|
|
quote:
I'm not sure if the first one should be George. The other two should be obvious, or are you trying to say that Rosa isn't really dead
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2016 16:17
|
|
"My, my. But on the other hand, you were crying a lot back then, right?"
|
I don't have the game or my notes in front of me, so I'll have to wait until after work to fix that one.
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2016 16:26
|
|
|
Oh, regarding SFX - it's something I'll give a shot, but I'm probably not going to go back to what I've already written up and fill them in there. Look forward to it in EP2.
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2016 20:58
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 02:44 |
|
|
Right then! So we have the Servants, who have the ability to do it easily, and Eva, who has the Motive to do it. On the other hand, none of them would make that magic circle. But then again, a witch totally would. Ergo, Beatrice did it.
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2016 23:26
|
|