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  "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." "However, it is unfortunate that you have neglected your stockholders. It's also horrible that you were unable to solidify your base when you became stock-listed. Before you realized it, some bad-natured colleagues of yours had bought up a huge share of your company's stock, didn't they?" "...H... how could you know something like that..." "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...  The greatest advantage of being in the stock-holding system was that, by selling stock certificates, a large amount of financing could be gained. That amount was far greater than the actual profits from the business. This made it an extremely effective way to gather the massive funds needed to grow his company even further. 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... Because the general body of all shareholders has the power to dismiss the management and nominate new management. That power is determined based on the majority decision of the stockholders, and people who hold more stock get to cast more votes.  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. However, since Hideyoshi's company had only recently become stock-listed, he hadn't had the time to strengthen those defensive measures. No, maybe Hideyoshi himself was so engrossed in the management of his company that he couldn't realize the dangers of being stock-listed. It's hard to say whether he should be viewed as a kind-hearted and skilled manager immersed in management, or a foolish manager who had his feet swept out from under him... 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. At that point, even Hideyoshi noticed and started to buy back the stock, but the stock holders, who realized that the company was undergoing an acquisition maneuver, demanded a ridiculous price for the shares that Hideyoshi was trying to buy back. They continually tortured Hideyoshi, who had no leeway in the negotiation of the price. 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.  "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. "That's right. In this world, anything can be settled with money. After all, it can even buy back the broken bonds between siblings! America is very fussy about the violation of rights. But with money, anything can be settled. Long live capitalism. Although it's rumored that the settlement money can reach several million dollars, isn't it?"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. 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!!"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. "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."Krauss's elated words were horribly blunt. The other siblings could do nothing more than listen, grinding their teeth. If they could think of a sponsor that convenient, they wouldn't have kept up this charade. They had entered this huge battle specifically because they had exhausted all other options. "...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!" "...E, Eva..." "...Don't make me laugh... As if I could borrow from you...! Don't make me laugh, don't make me laugh...!" "...If... if we relied on you, how would you help us..." "I told you, didn't I. All I can do is find other sponsors for you. Of course, I will negotiate for the largest interest rate possible. Hehheheheh, gahahahahahahahaha!!" "...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!"  BGM: Rose  "...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." "...Yes. Krauss-sama exposed that Eva-sama and the younger siblings all had an urgent need to get money." "Hmph. Can you really call something of that level exposing? That incomplete, incompetent man. What are they doing now?" "...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...!" 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." "It is because magical power is decided by risk. If the number of people who try to discover Beatrice's gold is great, and the danger of that happening is great as well, then assuming that the bet is successful despite those long odds, the magical power will bring about a grand miracle... In other words, magic is a game. It is not true that the most superior person will become the winner. The winner is superior because he is granted magic. Do you understand? The miracle of life can be granted only after winning against the divine odds of several hundred million to one. Is this a little difficult for you to understand?" "...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." "It's all right, leave me. There is a bag of sweets on the liquor cabinet. You can take some with you as a reward." "...I'm fine. Because I'm... furniture." "...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.  He was already unable to trust anyone excepting, not the sons who shared his blood, but those servants who called themselves furniture...  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." "Since long ago, when Kinzo-san played chess, he would always prepare his moves according to some far-reaching judgement. Yes, sometimes even to make moves I couldn't understand. For an average person like me, it was impossible to see through to whatever it was he was planning..." "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." "..." However, both Nanjo and Genji realized that at least that much was definitely impossible. As those who held the longest relationship with Kinzo, even though they were more trusted than his blood relatives, they could not guess at Kinzo's true motive... "...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?" "...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. "...My beloved hometown, the sweetfish river running through it. You who seek the Golden Land, follow its path downstream and seek the key..."That which is written on the epitaph of the portrait of my most beloved witch Beatrice is as follows:     
Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 02:36 on Oct 31, 2016 |
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Sep 22, 2016 13:41
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This post is here because of a planning error Did you know that SA posts have a maximum length of 50k characters? I did not know this
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Sep 22, 2016 13:42
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That is easily my best fuckup yet.
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Sep 22, 2016 18:28
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I generally prefer making the links from the TOC go to just that post, without the thread surrounding it. If people would prefer I didn't, I can redo the links.
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Sep 22, 2016 19:25
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I called it a murder mystery in the first post, so the cat's out of the bag on that one, yeah.
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Sep 22, 2016 22:47
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I knew a grown rear end college student who did the third person talking thing when I was living in Tokyo, so I guess it varies. (If you want an anime that does a good job of portraying a child as something other than a weird, stupid adult, maybe give Sweetness and Lightning a shot.)
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Sep 23, 2016 05:22
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If my math is right, this will push the update onto the next page by itself.
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Sep 23, 2016 13:24
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 October 4th, 1986, 3:00 PM  BGM: Hope 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?" "For sweetfish in Odawara, it'd be Hayakawa. It's famous for its mountain stream fishing." "Uu-. Maria hates fi-sh." "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!" To the contrary, it seemed she was having fun joining in on the conversation with people of a similar age. When I asked, I heard that she was a live-in worker. So normally, the only person close in age to her was Jessica. I get it, that must be pretty wearisome. "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." "Ah, I think I might have gone to Odawara castle on a field trip once. It really was a wonderful castle." "Yes, I also went to Odawara castle. Even though I live in a western-style house, it sure is true that Japanese people feel calmer with Japanese style!" "Uu-. To Maria, castle is bo-ring. Amusement parks are better. Uu-!" "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?!" "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..." "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?" "...Uu-...There sleeps the... key to the Golden Land. Uu-! I could read it!" "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." "Well, I doubt it's Sogakishi. It could be talking about some house that Grandfather lived in when he was a kid that we don't know about. After all, the first line mentioned his beloved hometown. Shannon, you've fed a lot of sake to Grandfather, haven't you? Hasn't he ever told you about his hometown?" "...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." "If the so-called beloved hometown isn't referring to the Ushiromiya family's roots, then the Odawara theory is wrong from the beginning. Of course, this doesn't remove any possibility that it was Sogakishi. For example, he could have lived in Odawara when he was very young, but then moved far away later." "Uu-... I don't get what you're talking about. Uu-."Maria had been completly left out of the conversation, and she now sat puffing out her cheeks in boredom.   "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.  "At the first twilight, you shall lift up as sacrifice the six chosen by the key... It sure does get horrible quickly." "At the second twilight, it says to tear apart the two who are close. Does that mean to make them break off their loving relationship? Or does it mean to literally tear them apart? I don't know, but either way, it's pretty disgusting." "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!" "...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." "And with that, the following tenth night becomes the goal. If everyone's dead, it'd be pretty hard to reach the Golden Land." "...I'm not sure whether or not the traveler who holds the key would be included in the 'none shall be left to live' part." "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." "The witch must be busy killing, reviving, breaking up, and reuniting people." "Not to mention waking up and sleeping. Hahahahaha." "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!"  "Uu-! The witch is awesome! She can do anything with magic! Even kill. Even bring back to life. Even give love, even take it.Can fly in the sky, can become invisible, can even make gold and bread out of nothing! Uu-! Uu-! Uu-uu-uu-!!" "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. Dancing in the sky, crossing a rainbow, dancing around all night with a teacup and a teapot that would never get empty no matter how much you poured out of it. With a flourish of her staff, the stars in the sky would become candy and pour down, and flowers that produced sweets would bud by the roadside. ...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.   "To Maria-chan, this is not something that points to the hiding place of the gold, but magic to revive the witch."So it was the single link between Maria and the witch. 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." "...Yes. It has been passed down since the mansion was built on this island. The servants of that time whispered that the mansion had two Masters, one of the Day and one of the Night."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.   "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.  "In addition, some servants have also seen will‐o'‐the‐wisps and glittering butterflies dancing around. Kanon-kun also saw something like that when he went patrolling one night. And recently, the servants have been talking about strange footsteps inside the mansion near midnight. We have whispered together that the Beatrice-sama from the portrait sometimes makes herself invisible and walks through the mansion. It happened a long time ago, but I have also heard those kinds of footsteps while patrolling at night." "...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..." "Uu-... Anger will definitely be brought down on Battler and Jessica... Uu-..." "I, I, I'm sorry! I don't want her anger brought down upon me! I apologize, Maria. Of course, I also apologize to the witch. I'm sorry, Beatrice-sama. Please forgive an outsider's nonsense." "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. I had thought it was just a simple scribbled diary, but it turned out that there were also several pages that looked like they had come from a book on black magic. In the midst of those, several of what looked like magical circles had been copied and seriously compared to each other. In any case, it looks like that black magic hobby wasn't limited to Grandfather alone. 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. After a while, she took out various pieces of junk - although they were probably important magical items to Maria - and repeatedly threw them back in, saying they were wrong. It was all a little humorous, just like when Dora*mon took out the wrong tool. 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-!" 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. There were two. Probably one for me and one for Jessica. However, considering the odd fact that there were two of them, they looked like cheap manufactured goods, and it was quite hard to think of them as magical items.  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.  "...Ah, I've heard about that from some of the other young servants. Something about how the scorpion is drawn as a magic repelling symbol in sorcery..." "Huh, really...!" "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." "Uu-! Wear it on your arm when you want a peaceful heart. If you put it in your wallet, your money won't decrease! If you hang it from a doorknob, bad things can't get in! It's a really convenient charm!" "What an incredible effect. If Maria-sama is confident in this charm and recommends it, I am sure it will be reliable."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.  "Is it already time for you to return to your work?" "Yes. For allowing me to enjoy some time together with everyone, thank you very much." "Tell Kumasawa-san thanks for the cookies. Alright everyone, help out with the cleanup."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. "Okay, let's head back to the guesthouse. We can watch television or something and relax a little." "Uu-! Watch TV! Watch TV, uu-!" "Then it's decided. Let's head back and everyone can watch television together." The wind had become very strong, and roses shook throughout the garden like ripples on the water. This might be our last chance to see these beautiful roses... Tonight's typhoon was sure to ruin them... "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... "Maybe it wasn't here... Let's try spreading out a bit in our search." "Sounds good. Let's go for strength in numbers. Hm? What's up, Maria."As we made to split up and search, Maria tugged on my jacket with an unhappy face. It felt like her intention was to stop us from going to another place. "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?" ...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.  "...Uu-. Uu-...! Not here. Not here! Not here! Uuu--!!"Maybe she's saying that it should be here but isn't. Maria became increasingly ill-tempered... "...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.   Video: The Missing RoseRosa: Ami Koshimizu. In the direction she was waving her hand, aunt Rosa'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. Aunt Rosa was coming from the mansion. She quickly noticed her daughter's voice and came over.   "Maria's rose?" "We found an unhealthy rose around here and marked it." "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-!!" "How many times do I have to tell you to stop saying 'uu-uu-' before you will understand! Mama will look for it, so stay quiet!!"I was a little surprised to see aunt Rosa, who I had only ever seen as gentle, get angry. Aunt Rosa 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, aunt Rosa 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-!!" "Then someone must have pulled it out! Anyways, stop saying that 'uu-uu'!!" "Uu-uu-uu-!! Who pulled out Maria's rose, who did!! Give it back, give it back!! Uu-uu-!! Uu-uu-uu-uu-!!!" "How should I know!! Stop it, stop saying 'uu-uu-'!!" BGM: Fortitude 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. "Uu-uu-!! Uu-uu-uu-!! Maria's rose! Maria's rose!! Uu-uu-uu-uu-uu-uu-uu-!!!" "Didn't I tell you to stop that weird habit!! That's why all of the kids in your class make fun of you!! Cut it out!!"Once again, her palm slapped Maria's cheek. This time she didn't go silent. She choked as she started crying, and began to bawl in an increasingly louder voice... Aunt Rosa was clearly irritated, and lifted her hand once more to try and shut her daughter up...  I tried to cut in with a bitter smile, rubbing my hands together, but aunt Rosa 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? I need to have a little talk with Maria." "Uu-uu-uu-!! Nobody believes in Maria's rose!! Even though it was here!! Uu-uu-!! Look for it!! Look--for--it!! Here, it was here!! Uu-uu-uu-uu-!!!" "But it's not here!! Then did you confuse it with somewhere else?!" "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-'!!Aunt Rosa once again raised her hand and, overrun by emotions, slapped Maria's cheek. It was so strong, it knocked Maria over. "H, hey... aunt Rosa, even if she is your daughter, you shouldn't be violent like that..." I stepped between them to protect Maria, who was still on the ground, crying 'uu-uu-'. I knew that problems between parent and child were none of my business as an outsider. But I wasn't brought up to just silently observe something like this... "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?!"It seemed that my reckless words had brought aunt Rosa's wrath down upon me. She grabbed my collar with a terrifying expression...  "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!!"Aunt Rosa struck Maria's quivering head from which an increasingly unsatisfied voice was rising. I tried to stop it, but she thrust me away... My back hit George-aniki.  "...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... "Battler-kun, didn't you ever have any bad habits as a kid that you couldn't fix and got you in trouble?" "...Well, one or two. On Parent's Day, I always got in trouble in front of everyone, and it was so embarrassing, I couldn't stand it." "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?" 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...  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. 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. It had definitely been there. Even so, it wasn't. Even though she knew the place and even though it had been there, it wasn't. Maria, while bitterly staring at the place it was supposed to be, thought frantically. 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.  BGM: Witch in Gold  "...So, shall we start? Let us begin banquet of miracles of ours. Even now this island has been cut off from the world. Now there is no one who can interrupt my ceremony. There are many fitting sacrifices for you. Four of my children. Three of their companions. Four of my grandchildren. Me and my guests and my servants! You may eat up as many as you please. The key of fate will obey the roulette of demons and choose the sacrifices. If that roulette chooses me, even I will become your sacrifice. However, because of that... because I will bet on that madness, I will definitely create a grand miracle." 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. 
Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 02:38 on Oct 31, 2016 |
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Sep 23, 2016 13:30
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After some of my past LP thread-running experiences, I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised that this one isn't full of people trying to defend Rosa's actions here.
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Sep 23, 2016 19:57
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Jessica's voice performance is one of my favorites in the game, actually. Her range over the course of the game is really impressive.
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Sep 24, 2016 01:25
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 October 4th, 1986, 6:00 PM  Of course, the harshly beating raindrops on the window were much more convincing. "...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?" "If the boats don't come, I stay home. Still, it's not as good as it sounds. Usually, I'm ordered to study by myself, and it's not that fun with someone standing right behind you watching everything you do." "During the rainy season, does the weather ever stay bad for a long time and make you miss a bunch of days in a row?" "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." "Thick-skinned tourists say that kind of thing all the time. I've had enough of island life. I really want to quickly graduate high school and say goodbye to this island." "Even for high school, there should be places where the students live in dormitories. Why did you go to all of the trouble of choosing the school on Niijima?" "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..." Maria had so far not returned to the cousins' room. She had probably been brought back to the mansion by aunt Rosa. It had to be pretty boring for Maria, all by herself while the adults are having a confusing conversation. ...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." "Just when I was getting hungry. Let's go."George-aniki turned off the television and stood up. "My stomach's been growling for a while! I've always been a huge fan of the main family's dinners! And didn't Gohda-san say it was calf steak or something? Oohh, I can't wai~t!!" "It's even more fabulous on the day of the family conference. Even I'm looking forward to it! Let's go, let's go."As we left the room, Kanon-kun bowed silently and respectfully.  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 aunt Rosa?" 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.   "...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. "...It is slightly after 6:00."Rosa gave her head a little shake as she realized that, even though it had felt like she had slept for a long time, not much time had actually passed. Even though she didn't feel rested at all, the drowsiness that wrapped around her felt very deep.  "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.  BGM: Hour of Darkness Rosa knew her daughter's nature well. She had always known. Maria was stubbornly honest, and if she was ordered to find something that didn't exist, she would look forever and ever. ...Even if rain was pouring down...!!  "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. 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 aunt Rosa 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. "Enough arguing around here, it'd be faster to just check it out directly...Aniki, why don't we race over there?" "Do you plan on beating me now that you've been growing for six years? Alright, let's see who wins...Let's go!!"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...?!   "...Uu-."Her face, which had turned bright red from her crying her eyes out, was dirtied with water and mud. It was a truly pitiful sight. "You idiot... are you still looking?!" "...Uu-... Can't find it... Maria's rose... Can't find it... 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'm sorry... I'm sorry for being such a bad mother..." "...Aunt Rosa, why don't we head back to the mansion for the time being. Maria will catch a cold like this." "...You're right. Maria, let's go. If we don't get you cleaned up, Grandfather will get mad at you." "Uu-... I'm hungry." "It's already time to eat. Maria did a good job holding out. Once the weather gets better, we'll all go search together." 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. ...Aunt Rosa 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!"It seemed that some caring person had somehow brought her an umbrella. A normal girl would look for shelter once it started raining, but there was no way that stubborn Maria would lose heart and do something like that. ...So maybe that person gave up recommending that she find shelter, and at least had her take an umbrella.  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.  "...Kinzo-san. I am also hungry. Won't you come down and eat?" "In that case, you can go by yourself. Let me consider this next move for a little longer. We are going to finish it tonight... Otherwise, it looks like we won't resolve it until the world ends." ...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...  Nanjo crooked his neck with a completely defeated expression. Krauss raised his fist once more and banged on the door, shouting.  "...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. ...It was reaching him. However, he ignored it anyways. However, unlike the time he was being called down for lunch, he did not get into a rage. Kinzo was now simply calm at heart... it was almost as though he had gained a far-sightedness by turning himself over to fate.  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.   "...Umbrella? What's going on?" "Umm... A short while back, when Maria was in the rose garden and it started raining... it seems she borrowed a white umbrella from someone, and I wanted to thank them..." "It wasn't one of us. After Rosa went out, 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. Aunt Rosa said that she wanted to thank that person." "...Uu-. Beatrice..."Maria, her mouth a thin line, said the witch's name in a small voice. Aunt Rosa explained the situation one more time. As she did, Kumasawa-san cackled.  "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." "...Re-ally? How thoughtful. That's right, it would be rude to chase us outside in the middle of this rain." "Could ya' give it a rest..." "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--!!" "...Then, Natsuhi nee-san?" "I'm sorry. After everyone's 'friendly' chat, my headache was so bad that I have been resting in my room. Therefore, I did not go outside." "...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 you..." "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." BGM: Lure "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?" "Then, who? Genji-san? Huh? Um, wait a second, don't get me wrong. It's not like I'm searching for some culprit or anything. All I want to do is, as a mother, thank that person who gave Maria an umbrella in the middle of the rain...!"...Giving an umbrella to a girl loitering in the rain was something to be praised, not hidden. Despite that, no one raised their hand.   "...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.  "Of course! Just like Rudolf-kun said. Maria-chan, tell your uncle! Who lent you the umbrella?" "Hahahaha. I see, Beatrice, the witch of the forest, felt pity and lent her an umbrella. What a nice story. Rosa, there you go." "...Nn... Nnnn."Rosa couldn't believe it. Even though she just wanted to say thanks for the umbrella, why did everything have to be so clouded in smoke... "Uu-! Just like uncle Krauss 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.  "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... "No way. She's always been frank and serious. Hasn't she always just swallowed up jokes that were supposed to be obvious lies? I've never even heard of her cracking a joke."Aunt Rosa probably knew that better than anyone. It appeared that because of this weird situation, she had no idea what was going on anymore. "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." "Then what's going on? Are you saying that Genji-san or someone put on that fancy dress from the portrait and gave Maria the umbrella?" "...I'm not sure about that... Actually, that's what I want to know."Jessica shrugged jokingly, but her expression wasn't completely joking.  Kumasawa and Shannon, pushing the serving cart, ran into Genji and Kanon on their way to the kitchen. "...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?" "Maybe he went walking down the corridor for some reason, when, by coincidence, he saw Maria-sama in the rose garden without even an umbrella..." "...The Master does not particularly like Maria-sama." "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. 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. "Alright, everyone. When serving a dinner, proper timing in setting the table is essential. Please immediately see to setting out the soup. Genji-san, the women are in the middle of an important job, so please don't get in their way." "..."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..."  "...Genji-sama. Did Beatrice-sama really... return?" "...I don't know." "...I will inform the Master." "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 darkness of night that now surrounded Rokkenjima was ruled, not by the Ushiromiya family, but by another master. Did this Master take pity on Maria when she was alone and pummeled by the rain in the rose garden, and lend her an umbrella...? Kanon looked at the rose garden's lights, dimly visible beyond the window. The dim lights were not enough to illuminate the surrounding area. 
Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 02:38 on Oct 31, 2016 |
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Sep 24, 2016 14:27
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Mercury Hat posted:I do wish there was a place to chat about the game on a re-read-through, I'm sure there's a lot of build-up I'm missing. I came into the series so late, there wasn't a whole lot of discussion going on anymore. This isn't a bad idea. I could toss together a room if there's interest.
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Sep 24, 2016 14:38
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All right, I've created a Discord chat for open-spoiler discussion of the LP. Remember, don't click that link unless you're ready to be spoiled for all eight episodes of Umineko.
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Sep 24, 2016 21:51
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Once again it's time for a new update and we're right at the bottom of the page!
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Sep 25, 2016 13:26
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The discord chat has so far been a big success. I just hope it doesn't drain all the energy out of the thread itself.
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Sep 25, 2016 13:26
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I'm very curious about what the thread is going to think of Maria over the course of the second half of this episode. Anyway, update follows.
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Sep 25, 2016 13:27
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 Dessert was some kind of chocolate cake accompanied by pear sherbet. Gohda-san enthusiastically explained the recipe as soon as this final dish was presented, but I quickly forgot the details. The guest of honor, Grandfather, was absent, the weather was horrible, and the person who had lent Maria the umbrella was still a mystery. When dinner ended, no one felt even one bit refreshed. It was too late now, but we realized painfully that taste wasn't the only important part of a meal. The whole atmosphere was also critical. Gohda-san, the supposed conductor of this musical piece called dinner, did his best to enliven the place, dropping little jokes left and right, but apparently not one of them succeeded. After taking orders for after-dinner coffee, tea, and orange juice, he left for the kitchen. As soon as he disappeared, uncle Krauss spoke.  "Ho. I want to know why you feel that way. Sometime later, allow me, as your older brother, to help cheer you up."Aunt Eva grimaced slightly. I had already heard that she was not on good terms with uncle Krauss , but now I could clearly feel it. When I looked around, I noticed that my father and aunt Rosa were also grimacing. Anyhow, it looked like there was something besides the weather that was troubling all of them. "...Both aunt Eva and my father... they aren't looking too happy." "Really? I don't think so."I asked aunt Natsuhi, who was sitting on my right, but it looked like she was also in a bad mood. She snapped back as though she was absolutely not interested.  "Well, our adult conversation got a little complicated. It's not something that kids like you need to worry about, Battler-kun. Hahahahaha, Right? Natsuhi-san? Kyrie-san?"Uncle Hideyoshi laughed as he spoke, but without his usual brightness, so I could vaguely imagine just how complicated their adult conversation had actually become. On top of that, even aunt Natsuhi and Kyrie-san, the people he had directed his comment to, ignored him as though they hadn't heard anything. I didn't know what kind of conversation they had been having while the kids were away, but it reminded me of how Father had said he had stomach cramps when we had arrived at the mansion. The family conference might have been a playful reunion to us kids, but it was definitely different for the adults... When uncle Hideyoshi was ignored by the other adults and an awkward silence fell over the room, Kyrie-san spoke up.  "Hey! Wait a sec... Kyrie-san, if you start talking about something like that in the middle of a meal, it won't digest well and we'll all get constipated, ri~ght?" "Wahahaha! That's right, that's right! We were talking about Battler-kun and Jessica-chan's careers! Ya can't take the future too seriously! Wahahaha..."Hideyoshi heartily agreed as if they really had been talking about that, but that was probably wrong. Kyrie-san had been obviously trying to avoid talking about something. However, if Kyrie-san had determined that this was the best course of action for now, then she was probably right. Taking this into account, I'll cast aside my suspicions as to the cause behind aunt Eva and Dad's bad moods... At long last, the serving cart returned, filled with coffee and tea. Kumasawa-san and Shannon-chan served it to everyone. Gohda-san then explained that, with this, tonight's dinner was over. If I had been able to eat in a more cheerful mood, it might have been the best dinner in my life. It was a shame that this best dinner couldn't have been had under the best conditions. "Uu-! George onii-chan, is dinner over now? Over?" "Yes. With this, dinner is finished." "That's not ladylike. Stay in your seat, and calmly drink up." "...Uu-."Maria looked like she was really excited about the occasionally crashing thunder. Maybe she wanted to quickly finish eating and run over to the window. She had been fidgeting for a while, waiting for the meal to end. Some people are afraid of thunder, while others find it interesting, and Maria was apparently one of the latter. Therefore, when she heard from George-aniki that dinner was over, a huge smile broke across her face. She then stood from her seat, took out her hand bag - which she had set under her seat, never having left it even while she was eating - and began fishing around inside of it. No one seemed particularly concerned with this behavior... "...What's this? This, where did you get it?"George was the first to notice it. As he spoke, Battler also noticed.  On the front of the envelope, the Ushiromiya family crest - the One-winged Eagle - was done in gold leaf. Furthermore, the fact that it was sealed with dark-red wax made it clear that this was not something that Maria could have brought as a prank.  "...Maria-chan, what is that?"It seemed that Natsuhi had also noticed the strangeness of the envelope that Maria was holding. Because her voice sounded too serious to be admonishing a small child, the other relatives around her finally noticed.  "What happened, Natsuhi nee-san?" "...What is, that?" "Maria... where did you pick that up...?" "That envelope has... Kinzo-san's..." ...In other words, it could only mean one thing. This envelope contained a message from Kinzo. "Ho...What is an envelope like that doing here...?" "...It... it looks like something interesting has jumped out at us." "...Ju, just show it to me...!" "Uu-!! No way, Maria will read it! Maria was told to read it to everyone!!"Uncle Hideyoshi tried to snatch the envelope out from Maria's hands, but she protected it as though hugging it, and didn't let go. "Hideyoshi-san, you can't use all of your strength against a child. Maria-chan, where did you get this envelope?" "Messenger...? Ihihihi, the witch of the island sure likes to mess around."Battler tried to joke about it, but no one went along with him. "...I, I wonder what's written inside of it. Maria-chan...?" "Uu-. Read it! Uu-!"Maria casually opened the envelope. It was sealed only with wax, so she just had to remove the sealing wax to open it. That sealing wax fell onto the desk. Hideyoshi hastily picked it up and stared fixedly at it. He then set it in the center of the table, where Natsuhi, Kyrie, and Nanjo glared at it. In the sealing wax, the Ushiromiya family crest - which was also Kinzo's personal crest - the One-winged Eagle was imprinted.  "But, in this mansion, couldn't there be several identical seals? For example, if there was some kind of stamp for wax seals, couldn't someone other that Kinzo-san have sealed it?" "No, Kinzo-san would always use a ring on his finger, his "Proof of the Head of the Ushiromiya family", when he sealed the wax. This shape and complex design is definitely Kinzo-san's seal..." "That is not necessarily so. Anyone in the family must have received a letter from Father at least once. We can't eliminate the possibility that someone, using that wax as a model, created a fake seal to pass themselves off as Father." "I agree with Aniki. No matter how the seal resembles Father's, we can't prove that it is the real thing. Therefore, it doesn't prove that this envelope came from Father." "I feel the same way. I cannot approve of arbitrarily deciding that this is Father's letter only by the seal in the wax. Doctor Nanjo, couldn't you use more discretion with your vague words...?!" "...I apologize... I said too much..."One after another, all of the siblings, from Krauss on downwards, rejected Nanjo's statement, saying that the envelope that Maria was holding had not necessarily been sent by Kinzo. They were afraid. Kinzo's intentions were written in there, and they feared from the bottoms of their hearts that it might be some decidedly unfavorable announcement regarding the inheritance. "...Maria... The person who gave you that envelope was the same person who lent you that umbrella, right...?" "Uu-!" "I don't know what 'uu-' means! Is it true?!" "Uu-...Yes. Uu-." "So, in other words, the witch, Beatrice, gave Maria-chan that envelope along with the umbrella...?" "Uu-!"Maria nodded forcefully. "...I, I agree with my husband. It's a dubious letter handed over by some suspicious person. It's not even worth reading." "There's nothing wrong with just reading it, right?"Battler said it to Jessica in a small voice, trying to act tough, but Natsuhi heard him clearly and glared at him with threatening eyes. "A, and then, err... Beatrice told you to read it after the meal was over, right Maria?" "Uu-!" "...It's alright, everyone. This isn't Grandfather's envelope, it's Beatrice's. Who cares who wrote it, why can't we just hear what's inside before we decide?" "Th... that's right. Even if Father didn't necessarily write it, I'm still concerned about its contents. Maria-chan, I'm sorry I tried to take it from you by force earlier! I apologize, so will you read it aloud in front of everyone?" "...Maria. Read it." "Uu-."As all of the relatives stared fiercely at Maria, she spread the letter open with a rustle...  "That's right. Maria, a messenger? That's seriously not one of his hobbies... Rosa, could this be Maria-chan trying to surprise us with some kind of hidden talent...?" "...Well, Maria's not really a kid who is capable of something so clever." Video: The LetterBGM: Fishy Aroma "I welcome you to Rokkenjima, members of the Ushiromiya family. I am serving Kinzo-sama as the Alchemy counsellor for this house, and my name is Beatrice." "...How silly...!" "Shut up!" "I have been serving him as stipulated by a long-lasting contract; but this very day, that contract has been pronounced terminated by Kinzo-sama. In consequence, from this day on, please acknowledge my resignation as Alchemy counsellor for this house." "...How foolish, what nonsense...!" "I, I can't stand to listen to it...!" "R, ridiculous!!" "...I, it's been ridiculous from the very beginning..." "That must be the main point, right? Doesn't it sound just like one of those contracts with the devil? Like, when the contract is ended, it comes back to collect interest. Is she trying to grab some retirement money for her old age or something? What a cheeky witch." "Battler-kun, you shouldn't make fun of it now..."Battler made a face as if to ask, "If I can't make fun of this, what can I make fun of?" At the same time, some of the adults' faces were pale, while others looked completely shocked.  "...A special clause...?" "Wh, what is it...?!" "Special clause. When the contract is terminated, Beatrice is within her rights to recover the gold and interest accumulated. However, should someone discover the aforementioned gold, Beatrice shall renounce all rights to its recovery for all time. From now on, the collecting of interest shall take place; however, if but a single person fulfills the special clause, I will give back even the interest that I already took. Furthermore, as the first step of the collecting, I have taken possession of the symbol of the inheritance, the Ring of the Head of the Ushiromiya Family. I ask you to please confirm this by the wax seal." "...Does it really say that...?! That Father would relinquish his ring is unthinkable...!"Krauss was staring at the sealing wax as though he was trying to burn a hole through it. Eva and Rudolf were doing the same over his shoulder! "I, I'm sure I had the odd feeling that something was missing from Kinzo's finger when we were playing chess..." "Doctor Nanjo! Don't say something so careless just because of a vague memory!" "We can't prove its authenticity here. We can only determine whether Father has really handed over his ring and whether this letter tells the truth by asking him directly." "Th, that's right. It's just as Kyrie-san says..." "...Do you really think... that Kinzo-san will tell you...? After all, that person's thoughts are sometimes impossible to predict using common sense..." "No matter what happens, it's still nonsense! In the first place, the illusion of gold itself is a fake. If you want to talk about nonexistent gold, leave me out of it!" "But, this is the witch speaking, right? About how the inheritance and all of the assets would be handed over to the one who finds the gold, right? So, could this mean that Beatrice-sama is Father's legal advisor, or maybe in charge of his funds...?" "W, we can't possibly trust some strange person who entrusts such a suspicious paper to a child!" "Aniki... let's be frank. Is it possible that someone you don't know is actually handling Father's assets?!" "N, no, that's impossible! As the agent to the head, I am in control over all of Father's assets! There shouldn't be anyone who can freely do that without me knowing it!" "So, in other words, there are some assets that you are not in control of, Krauss nii-san?" "How foolish, there's no way something like that exists!" "...It does exist. Some of Father's property that Nii-san doesn't control." "There is no way that something like that exists!!" "No, it does. That'd be Father's, no, Beatrice's hidden gold!!" "Let me make it simple. In short, Father has some trusted confidante that Aniki doesn't even know about. Furthermore, this person has always been in charge of watching and managing the gold. It's possible that this person is a dilettante of a very rich family who provided his financing in the first place under the guise of a devil's contract." "...Could it be that this confidante called Beatrice is trying to test which of the sons and daughters is most fitting to be financed by her gold?"What Kyrie said was something that all of the siblings wanted to be made clear. Upon reflection, they realized that Kinzo's strange epitaph had always hung in the hall beneath the portrait of the witch, and while it had long been whispered that the one who solved the puzzle would receive everything, no one had ever clearly stated it. It was just something that everyone had hoped might be true. That had, right here, right now, been clearly expressed by Beatrice's letter! It clearly specified that everything of the Ushiromiya family would be given to the one who found the gold.   The door to Kinzo's study was being violently, violently beaten against over and over again like a percussion instrument. The screams coming from the other side were Krauss's, Rudolf's, and sometimes Eva's voices. It was the siblings, who were trying to intrude upon Kinzo's study to question him about the truth behind that mysterious letter. Kinzo was eating. An elegant tablecloth was set over the desk, and the fabulous dinner that had colored the table down in the dining hall was once again laid out. Kinzo continued his meal in silence. Shannon, taking away an empty plate, looked uncomfortably between the door being beaten on and Kinzo's face. "...Everyone is calling for you, but...but what should I do...?" "...Leave it. God and I value silence during dinner." "Should I silence them?" "There's no need. It does not even reach my ears."Kinzo coolly tasted his food. Genji quietly lowered his head and took a single step back. As he did, Kanon, who stood in reserve like a shadow behind and to the side of Genji, opened his mouth. "...Since Maria-sama received a letter from Beatrice-sama, I wonder whether they want to test its authenticity." "...Hahahaha... Those fools, did they start already? ...Come, Beatrice. There's nothing lacking in the coins that have been wagered. Shall we enjoy this night to the fullest? ...I don't feel like losing. Your smile is mine for all eternity. If I could see it one more time, I wouldn't regret losing my wealth, my honor, or even my life."
Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 02:39 on Oct 31, 2016 |
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Sep 25, 2016 13:31
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Hmm! Thread poll time. Tindeck or Youtube?
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Sep 26, 2016 01:28
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If I go with youtube, I will be continuing to polsy it.
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Sep 26, 2016 01:36
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Thread has spoken, I will keep using Youtube links.
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Sep 26, 2016 13:29
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 October 4th, 1986, 10:00 PM  Maria was repeatedly barraged with questions by aunt Rosa and the other parents and became increasingly ill-tempered when they refused to believe her. If I tried to raise my voice in this kind of situation, I would just be ignored. Our parents were all stirred up, firing back and forth about the distribution of the assets, and completely forgetting that we children were even there. Even though I'd already figured that they had been talking like this in the shadows, I hadn't thought they would be so blunt. It gave all of us kids a considerable shock. From what we could overhear, all of the parents wanted more money as soon as possible. Back and forth about Grandfather's inheritance. Back and forth about the distribution of the gold if it was found. About advance payments and cash. It was so despicable, I couldn't bear to watch, even though one of them was my father. It looked like Jessica felt the same way. Since no one particularly needed us, we left our seats and went to hang out somewhere apart from the parents.  "Well I'm already completely disillusioned with that old bastard. There's no way I could think any worse of him. Ihihi!" "Th, that's exactly the same as me! However... that freakin' shocked me. Shocked me to the bottom of my heart..."Jessica looked down at the floor, irritated. She was always talking about how bad her parents were, but maybe she hadn't really felt that way deep inside. I could realize that from the depths of Jessica's shock.  "...You are all minors and were brought up by your parents, so you might not understand, but getting money is neither a simple nor a pretty thing. Since you are minors now, I won't try to force you to understand... But still, I want you to realize that your parents are just doing their best in their own way." "...Oh great, George-aniki's gotten all mature." "I know that George nii-san has become a full-fledged member of society and is working hard, but does that mean that once you start talking about money and assets, you turn into an shameless, greedy vulture...?" "...If you're talking about me, no, I wouldn't want to do that. However, when your family and your employees, your subordinates and their families are all counting on you, there are some times when you must fight." "...I hate that kind of fight. That back and forth about Grandfather's inheritance, it just makes me wanna puke."Jessica pretended to spit violently. That harsh reaction made the depths of her pain very clear.  "...Let's stop talking about this. All of this about Grandfather's hidden gold, about property and inheritance is our parents' problem, not ours." "I agree. At the very least, I think that being considerate and staying out of the parents' way when they're talking is the duty of their children." "...Heh... Sounds pretty boring..." It looked like the shock that Jessica had received was even bigger than I had thought. This girl, she was always talking badly about her parents, but it looked like she hadn't changed at all on the inside since long ago. Even now, she was still a pure-hearted and delicate person who couldn't doubt others. I'm sure she respected her parents as much as anyone else did... And then her parents started raging about, going 'Money money inheritance inheritance, my money!' right in front of all of the other parents and the children. It was no surprise that the shock of hearing that was so big... "...Jessica-chan. Please don't start hating your mother and father. I won't ask you to understand them, but at least don't hate them." "I get it, just leave me alone a bit...!!"Six years ago, I would have further taunted the dejected Jessica... I guess I really have grown over six years. I realized that it would be better to leave Jessica as she was right now... Jessica suddenly looked away sulkily and left the parlor. She probably wanted to be left alone for now. I could do nothing but wordlessly watch her back as she left...  Maria, who truly looked up to witches, had expected that coming in direct contact with Beatrice and receiving the letter as proof would be an event that would surprise everyone and make them happy. However, the adults had doubted its authenticity, and without swallowing Maria's story, had thoroughly bombarded her with questions. It was hard for me to imagine how much that must have hurt Maria. I couldn't speak to Maria or Jessica. In the end, George-aniki and I just abandoned ourselves to the sound of the falling rain in the dark night... "I wonder what's happening with that typhoon. Maybe there's some news."George-aniki started walking over to the corner of the parlor where the television was. He hadn't called me over, and I really couldn't have cared less where the typhoon was on the sea now. So without going over to the television, I loitered around the window.  "...That stomachache of a discussion could continue all night. It will get nasty." "Well then, please enjoy playing vultures to Grandfather's property as much as you'd like. It's disgusting." "I'll agree with you on that. If I could just slip away like you, I would do it. Unfortunately, I can't. Even if I'm not allowed to speak. My partner needs me, right?"Kyrie-san took a deep breath, smiling bitterly. That's right. They probably wouldn't let Kyrie-san, who married into the family, speak. Still, as Dad's partner, she had no choice but to stay by his side and support him. She must have had to bear the full brunt of this mental pressure, much more than I did. I wasn't going to apologize, but, realizing that I had spoken too harshly, I cut the sarcasm for the time being... "So how does it look? Are they still stuck on the topic of the mysterious witch, Beatrice?" "...More or less. Those four siblings are always piling up secret agreements when they come together to discuss the distribution of Grandfather's inheritance after his death. They're saying that some unknown fifth person has appeared and is trying to make things even more complicated, and there's no way that'll make for a peaceful conversation. Just when you think they're snarling at each other, they'll set up a common front. Natsuhi nee-san's not the only one getting headaches."On the one hand, they all want a larger portion than the other siblings, so they are all rivals, but on the other hand, they don't want one yen to be snatched up by anyone other than the siblings, so they are also all allies. I haven't been told the details, but they argue on and on about their ceasefire agreement and rules to prevent anyone from getting ahead, under which their portions are protected, and which can, in the worst case scenario, even become grounds for legal action. That they would go this far to preserve their shares was more than shocking... "So, basically, Beatrice is like an assassin sent by Grandfather. He probably wanted to scare the hell out of his children for just talking about the distribution of the inheritance without him. Ihihi!" "Well, obviously I don't think she's a witch riding around on a broom... But she was surely a mysterious person who rated being called a witch." "If only Maria-chan would go into more detail about that... Even though she's just a little girl, everyone has been just chewing her up over this. They really scared her, and some things that they might have asked now can't be asked. I wonder if those people have ever even read 'The North Wind and the Sun'." "What is for certain is that Maria received a letter from a person who took the name Beatrice. Entrusting Maria with a letter and hiding away even now, when she could have just appeared and talked to us directly... she sure is shy for a mystery person. Hahahahaha..." "...Hey, Battler-kun. Do you think that someone called Beatrice actually exists?" "Who knows? Doesn't it really seem like a false name? Like she's Grandfather's representative, so she was permitted to take the name of the witch from his delusions?" BGM: Stupefaction "Do I think that a 19th person exists, you say... What exactly do you mean?" "Just what I said. It looks like the person who lent Maria that umbrella was not one of us 18. Therefore, isn't it valid to think that a 19th person exists, and that this was the person who lent Maria the umbrella?" "...Well... that does make sense." "Then, where exactly is this person now? At the very least, she must have been on this island when it started raining. And since that time, the weather has become progressively worse, so taking a boat out would be pretty much impossible. In that case, that person must still be on the island hiding from the rain somewhere... And without being spotted by any of us?" "...Certainly, all of us have been randomly prowling around all over the mansion and the guesthouse, but no one has bumped into a 19th person... Even so, this island is huge. There might be other places to hide from the rain outside the mansion and the guesthouse." "If Beatrice was really her name, this person would definitely be the most honored of guests. The most honored of confidants, trusted by Grandfather. There's no way that Grandfather wouldn't give that kind of person a warm reception. She would surely have been ushered into the mansion. However, we haven't seen anyone." "Wait a second, isn't this line of reasoning a little too hasty? Yes, no one spotted them, but that doesn't mean that you can deny the possibility that a 19th person exists, right?" "Maybe, for some reason, they landed on the island stealthily and have been hiding ever since. It's what they call the Devil's Proof. It's easy to prove that something exists. If this Beatrice appears in front of us all and says hi, then everything is resolved. However, it's impossible to prove that there is no 19th person." "...Yes. Battler-kun, your way of reasoning isn't bad. In the current situation, there's not enough information to either accept that a 19th person exists or deny it. But if you turn the chessboard over and think of it that way, we can be nearly sure that the existence of a 19th person is impossible." To this day, I don't know why the translators used 'turn over' and not 'turn around'. When you got stuck trying to find a move in chess or Shogi, by turning the board over and looking at everything from your opponent's standpoint, you could often see a strategy that would give you the upper hand. It meant turning things around and putting yourself in your opponent's shoes. "...You see? Let's say that that a 19th person called Beatrice actually exists. That person must have managed, without being seen by anyone, to stealthily arrive on this island and remain hidden since then. Maybe they had some reason, okay? In that case, why did they go to all of the trouble of appearing before Maria and handing her the letter?"It really was a contradiction. If they had some reason for hiding themselves, then they should have stayed hidden the whole time. But even so, they had appeared openly in front of Maria. "Then... wait, Maria even said it. Didn't she say that she had been made a messenger? Since Maria was the youngest and looked the most innocent..." "Why would they need a messenger? If they just wanted a letter delivered to the family conference, they could have mailed it. If they mailed it to each of the four siblings, they would be unable to ignore it. There was no need for them to carry it themselves and secretly hand it over." "...That really... does sound pretty weird." "In the first place, if Beatrice existed, and she wanted to make her presence known to everyone, then she could have just openly presented herself to all of us. Despite that, she chose the vague method of appearing through a little girl called Maria-chan, and only gave us an indistinct impression of who she was. Contradiction. Let's go a little deeper, shall we?" "She appeared in front of Maria, trying to give us the impression that a 19th person existed, and yet, she still hasn't appeared before us and is hiding somewhere at this very moment. These are contradictions. By keeping these in mind, you turn the chessboard over." "...If this person wanted to hide, then they wouldn't have made their presence known. And if they wanted to show themselves, they wouldn't have used the roundabout approach of entrusting someone with a letter... Which means...?" "It's simple. Beatrice is one of the 18 people. Which means that they want to create the illusion that there is someone outside of the 18 people. The 19th person was revealed so spectacularly. The only person who could profit from this would not be some 19th person in hiding. It would be one of the original 18 people. Of course, this reasoning is full of holes. If you turn over even a few of its premises, it will simply fall apart. But I think it is almost certainly correct."This quickly became an pretty creepy topic. Someone had lent Maria the umbrella and handed her the letter. This couldn't have been one of the 18. And yet, Beatrice was hidden amongst those 18. What was that person planning, hiding their true form and pretending to be Beatrice...? "I had suspected that it might have been Maria-chan playacting, but the contents of the message were extremely complicated, so it's hard to think that Maria-chan prepared it herself. However, I can't deny the possibility that Maria-chan is working together with someone." "W, wait, a sec... Maria's a nine year old kid, right?! What could she possibly be planning, and with who?! And what about her serious, too honest, and obedient character?!" "Yes, I also understand what kind of a person Maria-chan is... But I think that's exactly why it's possible. That girl's a dreamer who can't help but look up to and blindly accept the existence of witches. So if a person appeared in front of her and said they were the witch Beatrice, Maria-chan would be so happy that she would just swallow it up, I think." "...So you're saying that if someone disguised themselves by wearing that fancy dress from the portrait, tricking Maria wouldn't be that hard?" "Of course, with that reasoning, all of us women would become the primary suspects. Anyways, did Maria-chan encounter someone? Learning the details of that question would be the best key to solving this riddle." "...But this key is being obstinately closed up inside her heart. Everyone denied the existence of the witch without listening to her, and barraged her too much with questions about who Beatrice actually was. Maria-chan probably won't open her heart to the adults now." "...Uu-... Uu-... No one believes Maria met with Beatrice! ...Uu-... Uu-... Even though I showed them the letter Beatrice gave, they still don't believe...! ...Uu-... u, u... hic... hic!" BGM: None "Battler-kun, I think that a kid like you would be better at cheering her up than an adult like me. After she's feeling better, try asking... I know you don't care about all this back and forth on the distribution of the inheritance, but don't you think this rich western mansion mystery situation is exciting? Who in the world is this person who gave Maria-chan the letter? It makes your intellectual curiosity ache." "Even though it's connected to that boring money problem, it's pretty exciting and a really tough problem... Adults can be pretty horrible."I shrugged, surprised... But she had noticed it. She had noticed the dejection I had felt because I had overheard our parents' turbulent discussion, and was probably trying to turn my mood around. She had at least managed make me feel good enough to hurl abuse. She wasn't my real mother, so I never felt like calling her Mom... But it did make me think 'she's a real adult'.  BGM: Moonlit Night "Hehehe, I'm sure everything was all peaceful and harmonious."Kyrie-san poked the weak spot under my arm with her elbow. "...We decided to take a break to cool our heads a little. It looks like it'll last all night. Makes me want to cry."His way of talking hadn't changed, but he couldn't completely hide his fatigue. I couldn't say I was sympathetic, but he looked pitiful compared to his normal, energetic self. "Still, that rain's just awful. I really don't want to go back to the guesthouse. It looks like Natsuhi nee-san made preparations for us to spend the night here in the mansion. What'll we do?" "...We don't need to think of it until you're done, right? If you run out of enough energy to head back to our room, then we can let them take care of us." "That's right. We can think about it later. What about you, Battler?" "If I stayed, I'd just get in the way. I'll be nice and go back over there." "...Is that so? Will you go back soon?" "I dunno. It'd be lonely to head back by myself. I'll gather all of the kids and we'll head out." "Alright. That'd be good. So, Battler. You won't just be going to sleep that easily, right?" "Yeah, I'll probably be up talking with the cousins. Sound like we'll be up all night, doesn't it? We'll have to do something about that." Apparently, Kyrie-san was thinking the same thing. 'What are you talking about?' She asked him in a small voice. Anyhow, it looked like Kyrie-san also didn't have a clue what Dad was talking about.  "...I also want to talk to Kyrie about it. I'll tell you later, so don't ask now. Please." "...?"I don't think there's anyone who ignores their family as much as this old bastard... And this was the guy that was asking us to have a talk as a family. Both Kyrie-san and I couldn't help but get wide-eyed. "Don't make that scared looking face. I'm the one that should be scared. Anyways..."At that point, he swallowed his words for an instant. Even though putting on airs of importance wasn't much like my dad. "...You're freaking me out, Dad. Everyone in the family's gathered here now, right? Don't make a big deal out of it and spit it out." Dad's expression, brightly illuminated by the lightning, was burned into my eyes. Dad face, which always looked so sure of itself and which always wore a taunting expression... was for some reason that I couldn't explain, strangely frail. It was so worn out that he looked like a different person. "Wh, what...?! ...What are you talking about, that doesn't sound like you!" "*giggle*. I agree. What happened? You look so timid all of a sudden. It's not like you." "...I'm going to go fix my makeup. Don't follow me."Dad turned away, weakly. After that, only Kyrie and I were left, still wide-eyed. "What did he say...? Tonight, he'll be killed? You don't think that mysterious letter scared him? Hasn't he been watching too many serial murder movies?" "...Hmmmmmmmm."Kyrie-san didn't answer my lighthearted words, and continued to stare at my dad's disappearing back... "...Battler-kun, when you told Rudolf-san to say something, he left without telling us anything. Even though he said that he had something to say to everyone, he didn't answer you. Why? Turn the chessboard over... And when you do?" "There's the contradiction that he said he wanted to talk but then couldn't. What, can you see anything by looking from Dad's perspective?" "...*giggle*. Yes, I can see something. He wants to talk about something. However, he doesn't have the courage to bring it up. So he actually means 'In that case, chase after me and talk to me, and ask me about it yourself'. By saying 'Don't follow me', he actually means the opposite. He actually means "Follow me and force me to answer." Seriously, what a spoiled brat." "Whaaaa-?! Can you really reason it out like that?! Th, that's ridiculous." "Fufufu, can great detectives deduce the emotions and feelings between men and women? They can't, right? Figuring out the feelings of the opposite sex is an even more advanced art than exposing the tricks in difficult crime cases. If you ask me, romance novels have much deeper mysteries than masterpiece mystery novels." "I... I see. Is that how it is..." "I stand alongside that spoiled brat. He normally loves to bluff, but tonight he's completely tired out from that heated discussion. He probably wants someone to lean on at the moment. And responding to that need is the duty of his partner." "Ha--. Sounds passionate. Then I'll leave that old bastard in your hands." "Yes, leave it to me."I called out to Kyrie-san's departing back. "...Huh? What?" "Um, I wanted to say thanks. Thanks to you, my gloomy mood has cleared up a lot." "That's good. Communication is important."After answering with a wink, Kyrie-san followed after Dad...  BGM: At Death's Door The discussion that had just taken place between the relatives in the dining hall was repeating itself inside Natsuhi's mind... Beatrice had proclaimed that in addition to the gold, all of the inheritance and property of the Ushiromiya family would be given to the person who could solve the riddle. In other words, she planned to undermine the absolute guarantee that Krauss, as the oldest brother, had to succeed the family head. Originally, the other siblings had absolutely no chance to succeed the head. To them, this 'proposal' by Beatrice was extremely desirable. It was obvious that they would accept Beatrice's proposal. There was no need to play that clumsy detective game. She knew that this so called 19th person, Beatrice, couldn't exist. Naturally, Beatrice was nothing more than a fictional character used to pass a message that Kinzo had written himself. The proof was that Kinzo remained stubbornly neutral as to that letter's authenticity. He was completely ignoring these reckless claims that he shouldn't be able to ignore: that he had given up the head's ring. In short, Kinzo had wordlessly admitted that the letter held his own message. Most likely, one of the servants had given Maria the letter. Kinzo had probably worked out an elaborate plan where the dress from the portrait would be prepared, and someone, probably Shannon, would be made to wear it and deliver the letter and the umbrella. By doing that, he could make it seem like the witch from the portrait actually existed. No, if anything, from that alone you could conclude that Kinzo was behind all of this.  ...Now it was certain. Kinzo had listened in on the siblings' discussion in the parlor earlier that day. So he had known how Krauss had staved off the attack by the other three, and to make the scales of the battle go back into balance, he had sent out this strange letter which benefited the other three. He was trying to push this crazy theory so that Rosa, who had a weak position among the siblings because of her age, and Eva and Rudolf could join together, and with three against one, could overwhelm Krauss yet again. And by doing that, he gave them the power to resettle what had once been a nearly decided conflict. They had now started repeatedly pressing Krauss to pay them a large amount of money... Using the condition that all of the siblings would guarantee Krauss the succession to the family head, talk about the advance payment which had once been denied was being brought up again. Of course, even without the story about the hidden gold, the Ushiromiya family's store of wealth was vast. Just that store was worth more than enough by itself. Even if the hidden gold was buried forever along with Kinzo's death, there would be more than enough to satisfy. Therefore, even if they weren't that interested in the gold itself, Kinzo had managed to instill the lifelong fear that, on the off-chance that someone found the gold, that person would be granted the position of family head. And this kind of Achilles' heel would definitely be taken advantage of by someone sooner or later. The only person with this fatal weakness was the successor to the head, Krauss. The other siblings had found... no, they had been told by Kinzo about something that only Krauss could lose, and they had thoroughly taken advantage of that. Natsuhi, as Krauss's only ally in his painful position, and as his wife, wanted to fight alongside him. She kept trying to explain to him that the existence of the gold itself was a farce and that there was no need for him to compromise. Krauss had always told Natsuhi. He had told all of the siblings. He always, always said that the hidden gold was nothing more than an illusion created by Kinzo. Therefore, Natsuhi had believed that as his wife, and on that foundation had supported her husband.  Even though Natsuhi had fought so hard and had lent all of her strength, he continued to fight by himself, and was trying to compromise with the other three siblings. Natsuhi sadly and weakly wondered why she could not be of use to him, and started getting angry. It had happened when everyone decided to take a short break to cool their heads. Natsuhi had flared up against Krauss. Enraged, she had asked why she could not be useful to him. He had then told her that he wanted to talk about something, and invited her into a room that she was normally not allowed to enter. That room had been sealed with a heavy-looking padlock, and just looking at it had given her an uncomfortable feeling...  Krauss removed the padlock on the door. He then motioned for Natsuhi to enter. "Enter." "Wha... what is this?" "There's something I want to show you. This is the first time I've shown it to anyone."Natsuhi timidly opened the door with a dubious expression on her face... It was pitch black. She searched for a switch to turn on the lights, but since this was her first time in the room, she didn't know where it was. Krauss entered behind her, pushing her in, and when he closed the door before turning on the lights, the two were swallowed up by the darkness. Only the sound of Krauss locking the door rang out through the dark.  "...Th, that is...?"Natsuhi had her breath taken away. The room had no windows, and at a glance, it appeared to be empty. In the middle of the room, a small, round table had been set, and the lights brightened only that table, as if it were the leading part in a play. On top of the table, a red tablecloth of elaborate design had been set out, covered with dust... and on top of that, 'something' about the size of a grown man's arm had been set down. That something took Natsuhi's breath away.  BGM: Witch in Gold It was a ingot of solid gold. Even in the faint light, it sparkled with a noble and dignified gold glint... "This is not a proper ingot. I don't even know whether it was cast inside or outside the country."It took a high level of skill to make the purest of solid gold ingots. And in order to verify that purity, it was standard to have the original foundry and the name of the bank that guaranteed it imprinted on the gold. However, this ingot did not have that kind of seal. This mysterious gold bar had come from an unknown foundry. "Look here. There's nothing to be afraid of. It's just a bar of gold."Natsuhi, following Krauss's words, timidly approached the ingot... "Right there."Krauss pointed at the surface of the ingot. Natsuhi concentrated on that section...  "That's right. This is the legendary ingot that Father said he received from the witch, that the president of Marusoo witnessed and was allowed to select at random to take back with him, that gained the trust of the fixers in the business world. I had to use all possible means to find it. I found it before the other siblings could." "...How could... Then... the legend of Father's gold is..." "It actually exists. The gold that Ushiromiya Kinzo received from Beatrice actually exists." "How could...! H... how could it really exist..."Natsuhi was shocked... Krauss had always said that Kinzo's gold was just a fabrication. So she had believed it as his wife. However, the reality was different. Since he held definite proof, he had been more certain than any of the other siblings that the Legend of the Gold was true. Because of this, Krauss was deeply frightened at the possibility that someone other than himself would find the gold that he had failed to find, costing him everything.  "...Ha... have I been... so undeserving of your trust...?" "...I didn't mean it like that. It was only that there was no need to mention it." "I... is that all a... a wife means to you...?!" Krauss grimaced, looking annoyed... His expression effectively communicated how much he disliked this part of Natsuhi...  "...It doesn't look like... I will be of any use to you anymore..." "Hmmm, that's fine. I can resolve the troubles with the siblings by myself. I don't need your help." "That's wrong!! This is the Ushiromiya family's problem! It's true that I am not permitted to have the family crest imprinted on my body! But I am still your wife!! Even so, are you saying I'm not capable of helping you...?! Are you...!!!?" "...I especially wouldn't want to risk getting you involved. It would probably make your headaches even worse than they are now. Take a rest for today. The siblings will deal with the siblings' problems. It has nothing to do with you. That is all." BGM: Fortitude ...Even if I am Natsuhi... I am not Ushiromiya Natsuhi. As a borrowed womb, I am despised and abused for not even being able to take care of that... even so, I have tried to properly perform the duties of a wife... but have been rejected even by my husband. I did my best as though raising my daughter was the last job left to me... However, my anger and sadness, having no place to go, caused me to subconsciously strain that relationship too... Because I have been excessively strict in Jessica's education, I am thoroughly disliked by her. Jessica despises me for not being interested in anything but grades. There is no longer anything I can do for the Ushiromiya family... No... that's no good. Even so, I must help my husband dislodge the schemes of the other greedy siblings. The head won't be around much longer. Eventually, Krauss will succeed the head. And the next successor will be Jessica... Strictly speaking, the man who enters the family by marrying Jessica will become the next head, but it all comes to the same thing. I have to make Jessica an excellent successor who everyone will accept as worthy to take over the Ushiromiya family. In the days to come, that greedy Ushiromiya Eva will probably be plotting to find some fault with the main family, so that if all goes as she plans, Jessica will be dragged down from the succession, with George in her place. It is regrettable, but George is a man, and even more, has matured as a person. Compared to Jessica, who is right in the middle of her rebellious period and whose grades are slightly below average, it can be seen at a glance who is more fit to succeed the head. So in order to secure Jessica's position, I need to turn her into an excellent person. After doing that, I want to find her an excellent husband worthy of the excellent person she will have become. A wonderful man who will truly accept Jessica, and stay with her through all of life's joys and sorrows.  She had tried to block that from her memory. She had consciously forgotten that, and had actively attended to the life she had been given as Ushiromiya Natsuhi... and had built up a new life. But it felt like, just now, all of that had been casually rejected. "...How should I think as I live my life? ...I don't know."Natsuhi helplessly rested her head against the glass of the window... The glass, which was cool thanks to the raindrops beating against it, was somehow refreshing. Even though it should have been emotionless, right then it seemed to be the only thing that could understand Natsuhi... At that point, even if someone had appeared, Natsuhi probably wouldn't have cared in the state she was in. But she did care. Because it was her beloved daughter.  BGM: Steady Pace "...Jessica. I'm sorry, Mom's headache is awful. Please leave me be." "...Really..."Jessica was slightly disconcerted when she first spotted her mother's feebleness. Until just now, she had been filled with contempt for all of the parents, including her mother. But now, only a tiny bit of those feelings remained. All of it had been wiped out by her mother's completely exhausted face. In its place, the words that George had told her floated back up in her mind. The parents are doing their best in their own way. And since they were supporting their family, they couldn't afford to keep everything pleasant, and had a heavy responsibility to fight. Couldn't her mother have been standing around in this dimly lit hallway because no one had tried to understand that...? Jessica didn't like her mother, so it would be hard to give her mother words of kindness even if she looked a little frail... Therefore, when she tried to talk to her mother kindly anyways, she had to gather up the words from deep in her heart, both fists clenched. "I... it looks like you really have your hands full with that discussion..." "...It has nothing to do with you. Please go somewhere else." "...Is your headache bad? Sh, should I go get some medicine...?" "...You don't have to trouble yourself. I'm asking, so please leave me by myself."Natsuhi was not being unsociable. She just wanted her daughter to go far away so that she didn't have to bump into Natsuhi's own short temper... But there was no chance that her intentions would reach Jessica. "...Y... yes."Jessica hung her head, looking sad. Looking at that expression, Natsuhi realized that Jessica was trying to muster up the strength to be kind to her mother. She gave her head a small shake to drive away her own unkind feelings... "Then I'll leave. I'll be with the other cousins so I don't get in the way of the adults. See you later..." "...Wait there."She called Jessica, who was trying to leave and looked lonely, to a stop.  "...You were worried about me. I'm alright now. I will go."'If I stay here any longer, my feeble expression would actually make my daughter feel more uncomfortable.' Thinking this, Natsuhi left Jessica with words of gratitude and made to depart. ...This time, Jessica called out to her mother's back. Natsuhi stopped and turned around, asking what business Jessica had with her. But Jessica herself didn't know why she had stopped her mother, and for a while, she smiled wryly、muttering to herself as she hesitated over what to say. She was poking around in her pocket when her hand touched something, and she took it out.  It was the scorpion charm that Maria had given her by the beach that day. Although she had heard of its various effects from Maria, right now, Jessica's mind was blank, and she was just barely able to say even that much. Jessica, thinking that her mother probably wouldn't accept it anyway, immediately drew back the hand she had stuck out, grasping the charm. So when Natsuhi came back to take it, she was extremely shocked...  "...What is this? Some kind of giveaway...?" "W, well it's, I think it's something like that... You couldn't really expect a charm that looks like a toy to be effective..."But her mother grasped that hand and accepted the scorpion charm. "Thank you. I'll take good care of it. Sometime soon, in exchange, why don't I give you a charm that was important to me when I was a child?" "...I, it's not like that's why I gave it to you. But, well... if you really say so..." "Then I will rest for now. My headache is awful. Try not to stay up too late." "Sure..."
Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 02:40 on Oct 31, 2016 |
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Sep 26, 2016 13:38
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 At that point, Jessica returned. Her face was still blank, but it looked like she had calmed down a little since she had left. "...Is Maria still in front of the portrait?" "Nope. She just came back, and she's sleeping over there on the sofa. It is getting pretty late for her."Looking at the clock, it was a little past 10:00 PM. Even if we were going to stay up all night, it was about time to head back to our room. "My mother had a room prepared for us in the mansion for the time being, but... what'll we do?" "I think I'd rather head back to the guesthouse. Judging by our parents' appearance, I think it would be better if we weren't in the mansion." "I agree. It feels like they're telling us kids to mind our own business and stay out of their way. Let's do that, like good little boys and girls." "Aunt Rosa, if you're looking for Maria, she's over there on the sofa." "Thank you. My, she's out cold. We must move her to a bed." "If you would like, I'll carry her over to a bed." "Thank you, that would be wonderful. Will all of you return to the guesthouse? Or will you stay in the room Natsuhi nee-san had prepared?" "We were just talking about that. We had just decided to head over to the guesthouse." "Really. Then I wonder if you wouldn't mind taking Maria with you. I think it will be much more comforting if all of the cousins are together."It seemed that, in the shadow behind those words, there was some regret that the adults, herself included, had deeply hurt Maria's feelings... "Leave it to us. After all, we do have an expert at comforting Maria with us!" "A, are you talking about me? I couldn't do it myself. We'll need everyone together." "That's right. Battler, weren't you the one who hit it off with Maria when you were messing around earlier?"As we said this, aunt Rosa smiled, looking truly happy. "Thank you, everyone. It looks like our meeting will last until very late. Therefore, I'm sorry for the burden, but I'll be counting on everyone for Maria's sake." "She's really out cold. It'd be bad to wake her." "Right, I'll carry her." It was raining hard outside, and Aniki couldn't hold an umbrella and carry Maria at the same time. It looked like aunt Rosa would come with us as far as the guesthouse to help out. However, when she heard uncle Krauss's voice call out to her, she had no choice but to return. "...That's too bad. I have to go back now." "...Is everyone returning to the guesthouse?"After we left the hall on the way to the entrance, the door to the servants' room opened and Shannon-chan stepped out. "It has become very dark, so allow me to guide you." "That would be great, Shannon-chan. George-kun is going to carry Maria there. Could you hold an umbrella for him?" "Yes, certainly."Shannon-chan brought umbrellas for each of us and a flashlight to guide the way.  "Aniki, is she too heavy? Want me to carry her?" "It's alright. I can at least carry Maria-chan." "...I'm truly grateful. Please take care of Maria." "Right, we understand. In that case, goodnight." "Then I will see them over there and return here." "Yes, please..."Aunt Rosa saw us off.   "Ahh, if only I'd applied for the position of Maria-carrier! Then I'd have been able to rub Shannon-chan's huge breasts all over with my arm!" "Ththth, that's not why I did it, it's a misunderstanding...!" "I, I thought that if I didn't, George-sama would get all wet..." "C'mon, quit babbling and go in!"After being nudged by Jessica, Shannon folded up her umbrella and went into the guesthouse.  "Huh? Who had the night shift on today's schedule?" "I believe there has been a special schedule during the family conference. I think there were a few changes, so I will go and check..." "Wait, if you have to go all the way back to the mansion to find out, don't force yourself." "Ah, it's alright. I can find out from the servants' room in the guesthouse. Please excuse me for a short while."Shannon-chan gave a quick bow and went into the guesthouse servants' room. The rest of us headed for the cousins' room and put Maria in the bed for the time being. Maria was sleeping very deeply, and there was absolutely no sign of her eyes opening... We got some drinks out of the room's refrigerator, and spent some time playing cards while drinking...  "...Hmm. Gohda-san has been changed to the night shift at the mansion. You and Kanon have the night shift in the guesthouse. Kumasawa-san and I have been ordered to spend the night in the guesthouse... Just now, a phone call came, saying that you are also to remain here." "Huh...? Th, that's quite a large modification... The shifts at the guesthouse and the mansion have almost been completely reversed, haven't they...?"Originally, Shannon and Kanon had been given the night shift in the mansion, while the night shift in the guesthouse, where all of the relatives were staying, had been assigned to Gohda, who had an abundance of experience in entertaining. Kumasawa should have been staying at the guesthouse, while Genji should have been staying in the mansion. However, it seemed that Krauss had suddenly ordered that the schedule be modified. The shifts at the guesthouse and the mansion had all been reversed, and Genji was spending the night in the guesthouse. "...It's probably because of Beatrice-sama's letter." "...Why 'probably'?" "When such a mysterious letter appeared, it was only natural that Krauss-sama would suspect one of us. We serve directly under the Master, so Krauss-sama tried as best he could to keep us far away from the family conference." In reality, Kinzo would seldom let anyone other than them enter his study. You could probably say this sudden shift change clearly expressed the sense of mistrust that caused. Considering the time Kinzo had left to live, this would definitely be the last family conference before the problem of the inheritance would come up. On top of that, the mysterious letter that claimed to be from Beatrice had dropped in out of the blue. Krauss definitely wanted to keep Kinzo's loyal subjects away from the table of such a delicate and important discussion... "...If you would excuse me, I will go rest. If anything happens, call me immediately. For the Master, tonight is special..." ""Yes, certainly, Genji-sama.""Genji nodded back, went behind a screen, took off his jacket, and slowly began to relax after a day's worth of tension...  "Yes, probably... I'm only saying this because Genji-sama isn't around, but I'm a little happy I was sent to the guesthouse... I think..." "Oh? Why's that? Because you can stay away from Madam and Eva-sama, those bullies? Or do you have another reason?" "I... it's not like I have... ...another reason...!" "...I see. Then, let's do our best together with our midnight shift. I'm counting on you, Nee-san." "Ah, umm... Just now, I was asked to go to the children's room and play with them..."Shannon hung her head apologetically, gazing at Kanon uncertainly. Kanon didn't try to meet her eyes, and spoke curtly as he sighed. It looked like he didn't plan on indulging his 'sister'. "...You can't. You were assigned the night shift. And besides that, it is not necessary for furniture like us to respond to an invitation to play. You understand, right?" "Y... yes, I do understand... Nnnn."...She had already expected that Kanon, who considered rules to be very important, would probably say something like that, but even so, she was a little discouraged. As Kanon turned over a diary, he spoke without facing Shannon. "...In that case, the children will be waiting for you. You will have to apologize and tell them that you have the night shift and won't be able to stay with them. Go and come back." "Huh... ah, yes! I'll go apologize and come back..."Shannon hurriedly stood from her seat before her brother's mood could change, and flew out of the servants' room after giving a quick bow... As he watched her back go, Kanon took a single deep breath... Genji's voice came from beyond the screen.  "...No, that's not something that I need to do. Kids who are people may have a need to play, but... we are... only furniture." "...Is that so." "...Nee-san is also... furniture. Even if she pretends to be a person, it will only hurt her later. I understand that, so I try not to get too close to people."Genji did not say anything after that. After a while, he stood up and used a pot of hot water to make powdered cocoa, and served some to Kanon as well.  His voice caused Maria to turn over once, but she soon fell back into a deep sleep... Jessica gave him a jab, and he lowered his voice. "Still, seriously... now that I've heard about it, they really did have that kind of atmosphere, didn't they... Haa, now I see, that George-aniki..."George could not be seen anywhere in the room. A short while ago, when Shannon had come into the room, George had suddenly said that he had forgotten something in the mansion and needed to go back and get it. Shannon had said she would guide him, just like she had on the way to the guesthouse, and the two of them had departed together. "...Yeah, they've really been showing signs for a long time, haven't they? Asking what the other person liked, asking what their hobbies were. And somehow thinking they could pass it off as nothing more than a passing interest!?" "Come to think of it, I get the feeling that George-aniki has always been overly nice to Shannon-chan... No-w I get it..." BGM: Praise "Hahaha, I already knew that the typhoon would be coming beforehand. Just in case, I made sure that I didn't have any plans for Monday, so it's all right. I may not look like it, but I really am the type who can plan ahead in his schedule."George puffed out his chest, acting proud. Compared to the normally calm appearance that George always had as the oldest cousin, he now looked amusingly like a little kid. Shannon chuckled at this gap. "It's no surprise that someone who will soon make his company prosperous is so well prepared." "...Well, making a company prosperous really is a tough job. Money isn't the only thing that's important. I learned that well by studying from my father. Making a company prosperous is like having a castle and leading your subordinates." "My dad, Hideyoshi, really loved reading about great leaders during the warring periods of Japan. Much of his philosophy on managing businesses comes from talking about them. Did you know? Takeda Shingen, who was feared as the leader of the strongest cavalry corps in the warring periods, started out with his troops in complete disarray, and didn't have the kind of strong leadership necessary to utilize them well." "Is that true? That's a little unexpected." "In order to unite his troops, Shingen utilized several strategies. For example, when a soldier succeeded well in battle, he would immediately honor them with a medal. Normally, that kind of thing was put off until after the war and they were all awarded at once." "He also worked diligently while on the field of battle, and when he immediately showed his appreciation for his troops' military exploits, he motivated them in an extremely significant fashion. After that, whenever one of his troops was brought down by an illness, he would be the first to rush up to them and care for them, things like that. Takeda Shingen wasn't just the man who led the strongest calvary corps in the warring period. He was the person who cared the most for his troops throughout the warring period." "...Since he was that kind of person, all of his troops went along with him."The truth was, Shannon had already heard this story several years ago. But when George started to tie his father in with one of these stories, he would always be beaming, looking like he was having a great time. So Shannon just smiled without interrupting, urging him to continue. "Of course, in a capitalist world, the power of money can build up a large stone wall. But did you know? You can't build up a castle or succeed in war by yourself. That kind of thing can only be created with the support of many subordinates, by borrowing their strength. After understanding this, when I look at my father's back, I realize how immature I am. I see how much my father has cultivated his character by working hard, and understand well how he was able to build up all that he has until today." "George-sama, you truly look up to your father... I'm jealous." "A, ah, sorry... that's not exactly the way I meant to say it." "I, I am sorry... I also didn't mean it that way..."The two of them awkwardly looked at their feet.  Servants from the Fukuin House all took names with the character "on" (音) in them while they served. So "Shannon" (紗音) wasn't her real name. The same goes for "Kanon" (嘉音). All of the graduates from the Fukuin House were orphans. Or you could say that they were all people who, through special circumstances, had been disowned by their parents. Because of this, the graduates had been taught to think of each other as their only family. That's why it seemed so natural to Kanon when he called Shannon his sister. And while only Shannon and Kanon were working today in the mansion, there are other servants who worked in the shift rotation, named Manon (眞音) and Renon (恋音) who also inherited the '音' character in their names. However, there were not many servants who stayed with the Ushiromiya family for long. It was standard for them to quit after three years, so you could probably say that Shannon, who had been working for over ten years, was an exception to an exception to the rule. Working as a servant for the Ushiromiya family was a heavy burden to bear, but the pay wasn't bad at all. Working for a full three years would earn more than what was needed to enter mainstream society. That was why, even though the graduates from the orphanage realized what a harsh task working for the Ushiromiya family was, they still hoped to be accepted. Maybe the fact that Shannon had managed to continue for more than ten years shouldn't be viewed as her having more willpower than any of the other servants. Maybe she was made to continue working for ten years because she didn't have the courage to say that she wanted to quit. To Kinzo, who could not even trust his own blood relatives, those 'excellent' servants sent from the Fukuin House were the only ones he could trust. Because of that, Kinzo would sometimes allow them to wear the family crest as servants under his direct control, and have them work close to him...  "Have you continued working to try and meet some target sum?" "...Y... yes, that's right. I have nowhere to go outside of this mansion. I have been getting along well with Milady and the other servants' children, too... I am sometimes scolded by Madam, but... caring for the rose garden and cleaning the mansion is fun..." "Even after becoming an adult and a full-fledged member of society, I've been studying and I've learned something. A human's life is not as monotonous or short as we thought when we were kids."When they are students, everyone has certain fears that they can't shake. Wondering whether they will live the rest of their lives like they were in sleepy classes after a monotonous and boring school day, spending their time in a carefree laziness without anything interesting happening until it was all over... However, these thoughts will only arise while a person is still an underage student. Compared to a human's life, the time they spend as a student is nothing more than a blink of the eye, a period where they break through the shells of their immaturity. The inside of the shell might be a hot, suffocating and boring world, but the world beyond that shell is vast and filled with limitless possibilities. "So far, you have been living inside your shell. Aren't you making the mistake of thinking that your life will always continue like this?" "That is..."Shannon couldn't deny those words. She hadn't been able to doubt her way of life, and since she never had any hope or goal to change herself, she had continued her life of idleness. And if she were asked whether this life was satisfying, she wouldn't have been able to nod... This might have caused her to avert her eyes from the truth. As long as she wasn't admonished by George, she would have continued pretending not to notice as her real life slipped away, neglected, bit by bit... "...George-sama...Should I not... continue living... this way?" "You must not. Ah, and by the way, didn't you break one of the rules just now?"George immediately gave a strict answer, and then broke out into a mischievous smile. Shannon already knew what she was being chided for, and it seemed that it embarrassed her, as she hung her head. "Didn't you promise not to use "sama" when the two of us are alone...?" "...I couldn't obey that as a promise. But, if it was an order, I would have to obey it... Because I'm... furniture." "Then it's an order." "Err, Yes. Certainly... George-san."As Shannon hung her head, her face red, she said George's name again, this time using san... "Yes, that's fine, Sayo-chan."A smile rose to George's face praising Shannon's, no, Sayo's small act of bravery.  "...Th, that's right... I have something I wanted to show you." "...Wh... what could it be?"George, who had been speaking eloquently, suddenly started to stutter. Shannon also noticed something about his appearance. George timidly searched through his pocket. Something got caught in the depths of his pocket, and just like the stuttering George, it took a little while to get it out.  BGM: Sakura Shannon had prepared her heart a little, thinking it must be something like that. But even so, when she actually saw it, she couldn't avoid blushing once more... George opened the small box, took that thing out... and held it out for Shannon to take it. "I want you to accept this." "I... I can't accept something so valuable...!" "...You can't accept it...?" "N... no, umm... Something like that... is too good... f, for me..." "Sayo. This is not a request. It's an order, okay? Accept this ring. Okay?" "Ha... u... I, I can't... disobey an order..." "Yes, that's right. Good girl." That ring wasn't a simple accessory. It was a noble object, which since ancient times was meant to be held with a special meaning and offered to a special woman. Therefore, while George could order her to take it, he could not order anything beyond that. Anything beyond that would depend, not on an order, but on Shannon's, no, Sayo's own will. "So, from here on it's no longer an order. Sayo. I want you to answer me tomorrow, without using words. Do you understand?" "...Err... H... how..." "I won't order you any more, so this isn't an order... But a ring is something you put on your finger. If you like it, you can just put it on any finger that you choose."Shannon had only pretended not to know. She had already understood what he wanted her to do. But she was standing at a huge crossroads of her life... "...Look how late it's gotten. Let's call it a day."George faced away from Shannon, seeming slightly uncomfortable. "I probably can't order you to wear it on your left hand. You might be timid and dependent enough to actually obey that kind of an order. But I want this last part to be given by Sayo's own will. Understand?" "...Y... yes." "So, that's my order. I want you to think about it well tonight and show me your answer tomorrow." "..."Shannon nodded back.  "...We should be getting back to the guesthouse soon. If we take any longer, we'll make everyone worry about us." "...Ah, err... I'm sorry, I...! Um, I just remembered something I had to do in the mansion, so, um... I have to go back to the mansion..." "Something this late? Really?"George stared into Shannon's face as he laughed mischievously. He definitely saw through Shannon's lie. However, after noticing that feeling, it wasn't as if he couldn't understand that she'd want to be alone. So because George realized the meaning behind Shannon's lie, he accepted it.  October 4th, 1986, 11:00 PM  BGM: Hope A mixture of exaltation and uncertainty gave her a feeling that she couldn't easily describe. It swelled up in her chest until it felt like she was about to burst. After stopping for a second in front of the servants' room to take a deep breath and calm her heart, she opened the door. Inside, Gohda, who had been ordered to take the midnight shift at the mansion tonight, was absorbed in a crossword puzzle magazine, completely worn out. He looked up for an instant to see whether one of the family had come, but when he realized that it was a fellow servant, he returned to his puzzle as if nothing had happened.  "Ah, really... Thanks a lot. I was just about to go make the rounds and close up the mansion, but there's no way I could leave this place empty. Anyways, Krauss-sama and the others' meeting looks as though it will continue for quite some time. They might order some tea at any time." "That's true... Then, what shall we do...? Should I watch over-" "In that case, Shannon-san, sorry, but would you please patrol the inside of the mansion? I will stay here, awaiting the family's orders." "Ye, yes..."...Shannon was a little surprised. Despite the fact that she had come here to help out as a favor, she was being forced to do the job of the person actually on duty as though it were natural. Furthermore, after one-sidedly forcing that task on her, Gohda had once again gone back to his magazine and had become immersed in his crossword puzzle.  From the dining hall, she began to hear the tumultuous voices of the family's discussion. Someone was speaking at great length, and was then interrupted by someone else. This second person also began to speak in a very long, drawn-out fashion, until yet another person interrupted him. That kept on repeating. It was as though their displeasure was seeping out through their voices. She had been told to go to the guesthouse, so it would be bad if she was discovered by Krauss. Thinking that, Shannon quick-footedly left from the entrance to the dining hall. Then, inside the mansion controlled by darkness, she began to check that the house was all closed up, following a prearranged route. She walked down the hall, checking that each window was closed.  The metal fixtures on the completely chilled windows were freezing, and every time she went to check one them, one-by-one, it felt like the glow in her heart seemed to cool down. "...?" BGM: Lure At that time, she thought she saw something flickering across the hall. ...Flickering? Something like that shouldn't be visible beyond the darkness of the hall...  However, other than the occasional crack of thunder brightening the hallway, she was unable to glimpse any flicker again. It must have been her imagination after all. Maybe because she couldn't calm her heart, she saw something that didn't even exist. Shannon resumed checking the windows... However, in the back of her mind, a certain unnerving imagination was resurrected. It was that which had been passed down amongst the servants who served the Ushiromiya main family, that ghost story. The mansion had different Masters of the Day and of the Night. The master of the night, Beatrice, would sometimes fly around the mansion in the form of sparkling butterflies. That was the story. ...Come to think of it, didn't Kanon-kun once say that he had seen it with his own eyes...? Could it possibly... really...? The roar of the thunder gave no answer...  The clock strikes midnight.            
Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 02:40 on Oct 31, 2016 |
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Sep 27, 2016 13:35
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Whoof, 3 updates on the same page. Sorry about that.
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Sep 27, 2016 13:45
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Level Seven posted:Hey Battler, you aren't part of that conversation. Fixed. As a version comparison aside, this: is unique to the PS3 version. The old art didn't have any special full-screen scene-specific art like that, using black or generic backgrounds like the rest of the game. We'll start seeing more of those on the second day.
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Sep 27, 2016 17:37
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tiistai posted:Not that it's important, but could you add the rain sound effect to the updates? I kinda miss it. I'll look into if there's an easy way to do this, but no promises.
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Sep 27, 2016 17:50
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Second post update. Compressed the character bios, and added a section for the contents of the in-game TIPS page. Currently, that just has the Epitaph and the contents of Beatrice's first letter. Hopefully we can reach the next page before tomorrow's update.
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Sep 28, 2016 00:25
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   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 |
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Sep 28, 2016 13:29
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 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 |
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Sep 29, 2016 12:53
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The character profiles page has been updated.
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Sep 29, 2016 12:58
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Fixed.
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Sep 29, 2016 16:56
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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.
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Sep 30, 2016 00:27
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 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 |
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Sep 30, 2016 13:39
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The profiles page has been updated.
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Sep 30, 2016 13:42
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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.
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Sep 30, 2016 16:26
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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.
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Sep 30, 2016 20:58
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Messed-up portraits fixed, single Rosa icon excised from my Eva icons list, laptop replaced. Updates will resume tomorrow.
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Oct 1, 2016 17:45
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 As I looked over the parlor, I saw George-aniki and the others gathered, talking. It looked like they were talking about the magic circle that had been painted onto the shutter. As uncle Hideyoshi thought back to that time, he started drawing the shape in the margins of Maria's notebook. I see, since Maria was second only to Grandfather in knowledge of the occult, she might understand what it meant.  "...After that, around the top of the circumference, there was a small mark. Five small circles arranged in a plus sign, and straight lines connecting them..." "Ah, yes, there definitely was somethin' like that drawn there... Yep, there's no mistakin' the shape. I don't understand the thin characters, but the arrangement was nearly the same."Everyone was staring down at the shape, so I stared down at it too.  "...The only person who would want to draw something this confusing is probably Grandfather. Seriously, where did he go?! I wanna grab him and ask what the hell this is supposed to mean!!"Jessica's voice contained impatience and anger. She hadn't gone so far as to say that Grandfather was the culprit, but it looked as though she thought that Grandfather definitely knew the culprit's background. Of course, if you were searching for the link that bound the Ushiromiya family and the occult together, our Grandfather's name would probably come up... And, to a person who knew nothing of the occult, this strange mark would have no meaning. Which meant that this might have been something addressed to Grandfather... That's right, and the reason the crime had been shown off to the survivors was so that they would find this. In that case, where had Grandfather, as the essential recipient of this message, disappeared off to...? "Does this shape ring any bells...?" "...Uu-."Maria looked at the shape with a serious face.  "...My first impression was that the design resembled a German swastika..." "Aah... It certainly does have that kind of design. Does that mean it has somethin' to do with Germany?" "The swastika was originally a crest from a religious order of knights and was supposed to protect pilgrims traveling to sacred places..." "...So in other words, this magic circle might have some religious meaning? This is starting to sound like gibberish..."When I looked over at all of them, preparing to jump into the discussion, something shocked me. Maria was laughing, an eerie and incomprehensible expression on her face.  BGM: Fishy Aroma   "Kihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihi. That's completely wrong, everyone. Kihhihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihi... Can't you tell just by looking? Kihhihihihihihihihihi."While everyone was scared out of their wits, Maria, alone, kept on cackling happily... After a while, that laugh was suddenly and abruptly cut off. But her expression was still like someone completely different from Maria.  Maria stole the writing materials from the stunned Hideyoshi's hand. She then started drawing another magic circle with a rustle, right next to the one that Hideyoshi had drawn... "...See? Was it this kind of shape?" "u... Hmmm... It was..." "...Ma, Maria, incredible... You really do know a lot..."Jessica tried to smooth things over by praising Maria. Maybe she wanted to make sure that this was still the Maria who everyone knew so well... But Maria didn't answer her in any way in particular. With a rustle, Maria began writing characters that seemed familiar to her in the corner of the shape. When uncle Hideyoshi and Doctor Nanjo saw them, their eyes immediately began to open wide... "Written on the top and bottom and left and right are the names of the angels who preside over wind, fire, earth and water. Chasan, Arel, Phorlakh, and Taliahad. And in the four corners are the names of the four great kings. Ariel., Seraph, Tharshis, and Cherub. Do they match?"Even if they hadn't been able to correctly write what they had seen... when they were once again shown something identical, it wasn't difficult for them to realize that the two were the same. When Maria asked them whether it matched, uncle Hideyoshi and Doctor Nanjo nodded over and over again. "There's no mistake, that's it. I'm sure that those kinds of characters were written there...! How can you write something like that...?" "Th, there were also characters written around the circumference..." "I know. Like this, right?"With another rustle, Maria began to surround the circumference with more Hebrew writing...  For a while, everyone, including me, was at a loss for words. A little later, George-aniki returned to his senses, and slowly managed to speak. "...That's incredible, I'm surprised... So, what meaning does this magic circle have?" "It's a magic circle to borrow the power of the sun. He who wears it as a talisman drawn in gold shall be able to break free from the bonds of any prison, and receive the power to gain freedom." "...Break free from the bonds, gain freedom...? It sounds deep..." "The word 'bonds' is not limited in its interpretation to some kind of physical object. Therefore it does not only hold meaning for people locked up in an actual jail. It can also refer to the release from mental bonds such as ties of obligation and inescapable fate." "...Ties of obligation and, inescapable fate, you say? That's also pretty deep." "But I really don't understand... What does this have to do with those six bodies? Far from bein' released, they were killed and stuffed in a storehouse, weren't they?!" "It's not like the magic circle was drawn for their sakes. The six of them were there for the sake of the magic circle. It is truly pitiable... Kihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihi." "What do you mean? What in the world do you mean when you say the six of them were there for the sake of the magic circle?"Maria lifted up her pointer finger and waggled it as if she were making fun of us.  "See, you say... I have no idea what you're saying." "...You're saying that... they're sacrifices?"If the part that Maria had just read aloud was the vital part of the magic circle, then it was saying that the benefit of this magic circle required sacrifices to be offered in exchange. So inside the storehouse, where the magic circle had been drawn, the sacrifices had been offered... It looked like everyone had slowly arrived at the same conclusion. Some people were shocked, others spat something out furiously as they punched their knees... This was starting to become a seriously disturbing story. And since we couldn't accept it, we couldn't understand it. ...I don't care what kind of magic circles or curses other people believe in, I won't pick a fight with them. But did they really kill Dad and the rest as sacrifices for crap like that...?! I just couldn't stand that feeling. After this, I'd rather still be disgusted over that theory about fighting over the inheritance...! As I started getting pissed off with a feeling between anger and sadness, I broke from the circle everyone was in and returned once again to the window.  That letter from the witch, Beatrice, that Maria had read aloud at last night's dinner. After that point, it felt like we had... no, like this whole mansion and this whole island had started to become shut up in some kind of mysterious world... That's right. When I think back on it, that letter was an invitation from the witch. The ruler of the nighttime island had invited us inhabitants of the day into another world. The phone and the radio had been interrupted, the island was shut off by the typhoon, you could now call it another world cut off from the real one. That's right, right now, on this island, now that the witch has sent her letter, having sacrifices offered for a magic circle is perfectly natural. So what will happen next? Will some weird people wearing goat masks start doing the Bon Festival dance or something...?! Aah, it's hopeless, it's hopeless, I don't get it... The inside of my head's all screwed up, and I don't even know what to think... Anger, sadness. The opposing emotions all swirled up together, and they started to suck me in. Unable to resist, I could do nothing but cover my eyes with my hands and trust to my mind and body as I started getting sucked in... ...As I started losing heart, I began to recall a memory from when I was small. It was from when I was very small. I had unfortunately seen a scary occult movie on TV, and for a while, I hadn't even been able to go to the bathroom by myself. That old bastard had given an exaggerated laugh and said this:  It's because they don't exist. Something that ridiculous can't be found anywhere on the planet. Because they don't exist, people want to see them and go to a lot of effort making them. That's why those occult movies just make me laugh. If I were forced to choose, I'd say, rather than demons and monsters, this year's earnings call and angry wives are 100 million times scarier. BGM: Core ...Seriously, why have I been acting so drat thickheaded. I was totally taken in. Don't try to mess with me, this is the human world. I don't even care about witches, demons, magic circles and sacrifices. The human who killed Dad and everyone else is still on this island. That's all there is, right...?! The next thing that started speaking to my heart was Kyrie-san.  In other words, when you are completely cornered and you think you have no moves left, that is the moment when it is easiest to read your opponent. However, when a person is forced into a defensive position, they can't help but lose their ability to think clearly, so they aren't able to get their minds around their opponent's moves. That's when you 'turn the chessboard over'. With us put on the defensive, we couldn't even guess at the culprit's scheme. If you turned it over and looked at it that way, just how far could you see? First off, at the time the murders were committed by the culprit, they knew that the island was cut off by the typhoon. Therefore, they should have understood that even if they carried out the murders, they wouldn't be able to get away until the next morning. In short, the culprit had begun without securing a way to escape. Furthermore, that bastard had tossed the corpses in the storehouse, almost like they were politely telling us 'They are here' with that weird scribble. In other words, since we would probably find the corpses sooner or later, they wanted to show us them. If we had all been dim and hadn't noticed the storage shed, the culprit's goal would not have been achieved, would it? Hehe, if you think about it this way, that bastard of a culprit... Since this morning, he must have been watching our every move with bated breath. After all, if we hadn't been so kind as to discover what was on the storehouse, all of that hard work and preparation that they had done last night would have just gone 'poof'.  The defacement of the bodies had occurred after death. So it hadn't been the means by which the culprit had murdered. It didn't mean anything to those who had been killed. It did have meaning to those who found the bodies. The culprit wanted to make it appear that they had been killed so brutally. Ha! After thinking this way, I really want to tell that bastard to stop taking me so lightly. Who would just dance to that tune? If you're told 'Please be scared', you can't just say 'Really? Sure thing!' When someone tells the great Ushiromiya Battler 'the entrance is right here', I'm the kind of guy who'll start wanting to sneak in through the window!  They must have drawn that thing in pitch-black darkness, taking a lot of time and holding an umbrella in one hand. Isn't that amount of hard work and perfectionism impressive? What purpose would have been worth all of that effort? If we were looking for a fan of the occult in this mansion, most likely, all of us would naturally doubt Grandfather. Did they want to 'make us think Grandfather was involved?' But if that was all they wanted, they could have just drawn any old scribble that looked like a magic circle. It wasn't like any of us amateurs could be able to tell the difference between genuine and fake. However, this magic circle was genuine, and furthermore, it had even been written in Hebrew. So this magic circle had a message that could only be understood by someone with knowledge of the occult. This message was a form of communication. By sending it, they were hoping for a reaction. Reaction? For some reason, we couldn't find Grandfather now. I couldn't know how Grandfather might have seen the magic circle on the shutter, but had he chosen to hide himself in reaction to that sign...? No, was it a trap to make us suspect that Grandfather had participated? You could read it either way, drat that's annoying. What kind of reaction was the culprit hoping to get out of us by showing this imitation of the occult...? Somehow, that felt like the culprit's weak point...  Isn't that interesting? This is a battle of wits between us and the witch. Will we be sucked up by her occult game first? Or will we pull off her fake skin first? There's a whole day until the typhoon passes. Why not enjoy ourselves...?!  BGM: None Everyone had sunk into their favorite sofas, some deep in thought, some irritated, some acting depressed. Maria was once again enjoying the television as if she had never left it. It looked like she found the commercials more fun than the boring program, and was happily yelling 'uu-uu-kya-kya-.' I stared at each person's appearance in turn. If there wasn't a 19th person, the culprit must be in this room.     Right now, aunt Natsuhi was searching the mansion with the servants though, wasn't she? Then it shouldn't be 'in this room.' 'In this mansion,' is what we should say. After all, there was also the possibility that aunt Natsuhi was behind this, and we still couldn't deny that one of the servants could be the killer. Anyone could be the bad guy. Still, aunt Natsuhi and the rest sure are slow... Of course, it's not a small mansion, but isn't this taking a little too long just to walk around, checking the windows and doors? Just as I thought that, aunt Natsuhi and the rest returned. Not one of them was missing... But our relief was short-lived. Everyone looked at aunt Natsuhi, shocked... ...The story I had been told by aunt Eva started to creep back into my mind. The possibility that the culprits had enough in numbers or weapons to kill all of those six at once.  BGM: Scar Sound At a glance, its silhouette looked a lot like a hunting gun, but it was unusually short, and kinda looked like a kid-sized gun. However, it had a thickness to it which revealed that this was definitely not some kid's toy. "...Is that Kinzo-san's gun...?" "Did you know about it? That's right. I remembered that it was in Father's old collection, and I managed to find it." "Whoa! Awesome... aunt Natsuhi, is that thing real?" "Yes, it's real. It can fire live ammunition. Long ago, Father used it to chase wild birds." "...Ah, I remember. Where could that have come from... No matter how much I asked him to let me touch it, he never let me lay even one finger on it." "Oh... Grandfather had one of these...? I didn't know." "Long ago, Grandfather was really addicted to cowboy films. That generation really liked this kind of rifle." "Is that a Winchester? But I've never seen something that short before." "Ah--! I remember, that gun! That really takes me back. That's the one Steam McQueen fired off in Wanted: Alive or Dead!! Father sure has good tastes...!" "...Long ago, the Master had that brought over specially from America. As you can see, it is a real gun, so please don't tell anyone about this..." "He was quite fond of it right after he managed to acquire it. It seems the workings that ejected the cartridges were more interesting to him than shooting it, and he played around with it back in the forest all the time. Hoh-hoh-hoh-ho..." "...Still, it's the real thing. Are you sure you should be dragging this out?" "This is preparing for the worst. There's probably more than one of them. Furthermore, they are horrible people who killed six of us, including my husband. I have the responsibility to protect everyone until tomorrow in my husband's place."As Natsuhi-san said this, she slumped down into one of the sofas and took a deep breath. She had been trying to find Grandfather as well as check the doors and windows. Since Grandfather was not with her, apparently his whereabouts were still unknown.  There was a dangerous atmosphere between the two of them. If you think about who was the most suspicious from the inheritance problem standpoint, aunt Eva was the obvious answer. However, there was no proof that aunt Natsuhi was innocent... No, if you view Beatrice's letter as Grandfather's complicated prank, and think of this case as just an extension of that, there was more than enough evidence to doubt even Grandfather. So aunt Natsuhi thought that the criminal was on the outside... But aunt Eva thought the criminal was on the inside.  So was the culprit among us, or not. And did Beatrice exist, or not. If you assume that something as stupid as a witch couldn't exist, it was the same as saying that one of the these relatives here, who shared a common bloodline, was the culprit. If you didn't like that, it would be much more comfortable to simply accept the fairy tale about the witch. And the witch? Did she draw that weird magic circle and sacrifice those people? If I accepted that rubbish, I would be able to completely trust everyone in this room. 
Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 03:38 on Oct 31, 2016 |
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Oct 2, 2016 13:38
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All right thread, I've got some further info, so I'd like to revisit the EP2+ format discussion! So, here's what episodes 5+ are going to look like:  That part isn't negotiable - once we get to Chiru, we're gonna have to deal with the text box format. That's just the way of things. Now, for episodes 2-4, we have not two, but THREE options.  Option 1: Continuing as we already have. This keeps all of EP1-4 consistent in style, shows a bit more information per screenshot (multiple people can be talking on one page), and doesn't obscure the bottom halves of people.  Option 2: PS3 Style. Resolution is higher, background isn't darkened, text looks nicer, videos will have lip flaps during dialogue, and it shows the names of songs as they play, which will be a big effort saver for me in composing updates.  Option 3: Boxless PS3 Style. Shows more clear detail in the bottom half of the screen, at the cost of text readability being a little rough on busier backgrounds. So, let's settle this once and for all with a thread vote! Put Option 1, Option 2, or Option 3 in bold in your post. I'll tally up the results tomorrow morning and make a final decision.
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Oct 2, 2016 16:04
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As an aside - I now have a full text dump of EP5-8's scripts, meaning there are no obstacles to finishing the LP other than my own Determination. 
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Oct 2, 2016 17:09
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 11:50 |
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By an overwhelming majority vote, I will be proceeding with Option 2.
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Oct 3, 2016 13:33
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