>>13113
"You may be right, but if we don't then they may be in danger."

Natsuhi hesitates, but you and Jessica convince her. Your group hurries down the hallway, through the main hall, out outside of the front door.

You don't see anything or anyone on the way to the guest house. Even when you're inside the guest house, there's no sign that anything changed.

"There's nobody here!" Leon says.

"Obviously!" replies Natsuhi. "They must be somewhere else. We have to hurry!"

Last edited at 13/09/15(Sun)09:02:56

>>13117
"What about that chapel then? George mentioned it earlier, maybe they went there?"

Last edited at 13/09/15(Sun)10:17:42

Your group heads back out the window, intending to go towards the chapel, but when you get outside you see a figure running at you from the distance. It's too dark to make out who it is.

Natsuhi points her gun towards the figure.

>>13119
I call out to them and warn them to stop running and calm down or Natsuhi may shoot.

The figure slows down. When it does, you can see that it's Gohda.

"Natsuh-sama, Ozaki-sama! I'm so glad it's you!" He falls to his knees and grabs your legs. "It's so awful!"

>>13121
"Gohda, what are you taking about?"

"The garden shed-- in blood, you have to see! Rudolf-sama is trying to get it open now!"

"Get it together, man!" Leon says. "What are you blabbering about?"

"It's that witch's ceremony! It's continuing after all!"

>>13123
"Calm down, we'll need to assess the situation. Is Genji and Kumasawa there with Rudolf? Besides right now did you split up from them at any time?"

"Y-yes! Something like that happened. I had a hard time keeping up with the others. It's not that I'm nonathletic, I just have big bones that make it hard to move, you see. I was looking around in the dark desperately until I saw that on the garden shed! When I found Rudolf-sama, he tried to shoot the lock off of the shed! It didn't work, so he's hitting it with some kind of rock."

He says that he doesn't know where the other servants are.

>>13125
While we follow Gohda to the shed I ask a few more questions to everyone.

"Where is the key to the shed normally located? While we are at it how about the Guesthouse key?"

"That's right! This morning, we took all the keys from the servant's quarters after we found out that everyone was missing. The one who has the key to the garden shed...isn't that Kumasawa-san? The guest house key was missing in the morning, but it's normally on the key rack with all the others."

Your group comes across the garden shed at last. You see Rudolf hit the padlock one last time with the stone in his hands and it breaks.

On the wall, you see words written in red: PRAISE MY NAME.

Rudolf opens the door to shed. He doesn't know what he expects to find, but when he does, he falls to his knees.

"No...no way. No!"

It's too dark to see from your distance.

"What is it, Rudolf-san?" Natsuhi asks. Rudolf keeps sobbing.

>>13128
I move in closer to see everything.

You move in closer to the scene. Moving beside Rudolf, you can see two people inside of the shed. One's sitting on a chair while one lays on his back.

Even in this low light, you can identify that the people are definitely Battler and Genji.

"Battler, what were you doing in a place like this?"

Battler's in the chair. His head looks like some large object had once been pierced through it. It's the same situation with the back of Genji's neck.

In addition to his head wound, Battler has been restrained against the chair with ropes around his wrists and ankles. His body is also visibly bruised in multiple spots. It looks like someone decided to do a number on him before finishing him off.

-----------------

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL5BYyHdFKc&list=PLC5CFB12676AD195A

In the sky, Battler and Ronove floated above the land of Rokkenjima.

"Hey," says Battler. "What's going on?"

"I'm terribly sorry, Battler-sama. It appears that you have died. Your time on Rokkenjima has come to an end."

"..."

"Beatrice eagerly waits your arrival. If you would allow me, I shall take you to her."

"...Beatrice. Do I know anyone by that name?"

Ronove pauses, then laughs. "Pukuku, I daresay you shall have plenty of time to figure it out. Please, come this way."

Both of the men disappear in Rokkenjima's sky.

-----------

On the ground, the only sound is Rudolf's robbing.

Last edited at 13/09/15(Sun)11:17:20

>>13130
I check both Genji and Battler's eyes. After two hours the cornea goes cloudy, compared to only filming over after a few minutes. So if there was a difference within that time frame I can slightly pinpoint their time of death.
I also check Rigor Mortis, so if Battler was killed over three hours ago I can tell.

I confirm that the wounds were stab wounds and not gun wounds.

I survey the rest of the room. Also checking if there are any windows and checking those locks.

Neither Battler nor Genji's eyes reveal that they were killed more than two hours ago. In the same vein, Rigor Mortis hasn't kicked in yet.

You check the wounds, but it's hard to tell how they started. If they were bullet wounds, they were pretty well covered up. You don't see any bullets lodged inside of them. But if they were stab wounds, that's hard to tell as well. Battler's body is scratched in other places, but it looks like those wounds have started to heal up. You can't find a murder weapon.

There is one window to the shed, but it's locked from the inside with a latch.

The padlock is broken, you observe, to to the force of Rudolf's rock. It was just a simple padlock before.

"W-what happened?" As you investigate, you hear Kumasawa's voice from behind the group. In a moment Rudolf and Natsuhi's guns are aimed at her.

>>13132
"Kumasawa, do you by any chance have the key to this shed?"

"The key? Yes! It's right here!" Kumasawa pulls the key out of her pocket. "Just take it, I'm not resisting, I swear!"

"Have you had that key for the entire day?" Natsuhi asks.

"Yes, madame!"

"You're absolutely sure?"

"Yes, it's been in my pocket all this time, you have to believe me. What's happening?"

----------------------------

A layer of gloss forms over Rokkenjima. Lambda approaches you. She looks exhausted.

"Where are we in the story? I don't suppose you're ready to name a culprit, yet."

>>13134
"Yeah, haven't pinpointed yet. I can probably guess it but the detective usually solves everything at the end so I think I'll do that.
...Are you alright?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wZHeQL-cVg

"Me? I'm fine. You're the one running around with all the crazies." She gives a long, exasperated sigh. "I found my friend, you know. Time works a bit differently here. A lot has happened."

Lambda's eyes trail towards the floor. "You know, I've been running from it, but it's true. I don't get a happy ending.Bern and I are going to have to fight, and we're probably going to have to kill each other."

She floats around for a moment in silence. "In case you don't see me again...in case I can't finish this game, do something for me, all right? Fight for your happy ending."

Tears form at Lamda's eyes. Not her usual, childish tears, but understanding ones.

Last edited at 13/09/15(Sun)11:44:19

>>13136
"...can I ask you something?
Why did you start this game anyway? You said it was your job, but now it seems like that was just a cover."

"It's an antithesis," she says. "A place where Beatrice's ideas diverge from my own. I wrote it because I thought that's what that girl wanted from me."

She laughs. "Except, in the end, it looks like I'm on Beato's side after all. If you want more information than that, solve it yourself. You're the detective, aren't you?"

Lambda disappears. The layer of gloss fades away from Rokkenjima.

---------------------

"Kumasawa!" says Natsuhi. "You're the only one who could have set up that crime!

Last edited at 13/09/15(Sun)11:56:54

>>13138
"No wait. I have an idea. Let me see the key for a second."

I attempt to get the key.

Kumasawa hands over the key. Natsuhi allows it, wondering where you're going with this.

>>13140
I find the lock that Rudolf broke. Assuming its only the bar that broke then the locking mechanism should still work. I attempt to use the key on the lock. I also check to see if the lock is new or rusty.

You test the key on the lock. It works perfectly, the mechanism still being in place. So much for that idea. The lock isn't new, but it's not what you'd call rusty.

Last edited at 13/09/15(Sun)12:09:35

>>13142
"Anyway, the shed could have been left open by accident, if not that then the locks could have been replaced to make it seem like you had to have used the key. It's too soon to blame Kumasawa for this."

"Then what are we going to do?" Rudolf asks. "Shannon and George are still missing and for all we know there's still some lunatic on the loose!"

>>13144
"We last saw them in the mansion right? We should probably head back there as a group. George no longer has his gun so he shouldn't be a threat... Actually how many guns do you guys own anyway?"

"...Four. But I used my husband's key to lock the door! Nobody should have been able to get in without a master key."

>>13146
"But George got in somehow right. That means the final gun may be missing."

"Then that's where we need to go!" Rudolf says.

>>13148
I agree and then have everyone stick together as we go there.

You keep the group together as they venture to the mansion. Jessica opens the front door and stops abruptly.

"No! Stop it! Just stop!" Jessica lets out a high pitched scream into the air.

Inside...by the portrait of the witch, you see the corpses of George and Shannon. Poking into Shannon's skull is some kind of ice-pick like object. The same kind of object appears to be jammed into George's chest.

----------

A dark, thicker layer of gloss covers the surface of the mansion and the ground. A person you've never seen before appears in front of you. Her clothes are tattered and her hair is messed up, but she still holds a vicious persona.

"Nice you meet you. Lamda-chan told me to tell you that she couldn't be here, but I hope we can be great friends."

>>13151
"You too, Lambda only told me good things.
Anyway, If you were to describe yourself in one word what would it be?"

"Impatient. I thought this game was nothing more than a nuisance, but it seems Lamda graced with with quite the present. I won't go as easy on you as she did, so let's continue."

She gives you the grin of someone who clearly doesn't have all her sanity about her. With a wave of her hand, she resumes the game.

As the game resumes, however, you feel a faint rumbling sound.

Then an explosion.

The entrance-way to the mansion sends everyone back and crumbles. You find yourself on the ground. You hit your head pretty hard against the pavement and nearly blacked out.

>>13153
I get up and survey the area and try to figure out what happened. Also see how everyone else is doing, making sure we are all still here.

You look around, trying to assess the situation. By the time you gather yourself, the only people you see are Jessica, Maria and Leon. Everyone else seems to be gone. Did they get caught up in the explosion or did they run?

The entrance to the mansion is completely barred.

Last edited at 13/09/15(Sun)13:09:45

>>13155
"Hey are you guys alright?"

I check on the remaining people.

Last edited at 13/09/15(Sun)13:16:11

"...Yeah." Jessica says. "Hey, where did my mom go? She wouldn't have just ran off. Mom!"

Leon looks around and grits her teeth. "Where did everyone go? There wasn't even a reason to separate this time!"

"Uu, Maria's tired."

>>13157
I check the mansion, is it on fire, or is the entrance simply barred off?

You don't notice any signs of fire from where you are.

>>13159
I try to find a window to see if the corpses of George and Shannon are still there.

You try to peek into a window. As you do, a bullet shatters the glass and passes right night to your ear.

"Get down!" yells Jessica.

>>13161
Those guns take skill to reload, instead of getting down right away I move to the side as I duck so I can still catch a glimpse of the inside of the mansion.

"Ozaki-kun!"

Leon rushes into you with her shoulder. You can't help but tumble over due to her vastly superior strength. In her hands, she inexplicably has her own rifle! Where did it come from?

Leon points her gun in the window and fires. "Damn! Wait, what the hell--"

A bullet returns at Leon and knocks her backwards. Jessica screams into the night.

You faintly hear sets of footsteps disappear in the main hall.

Last edited at 13/09/15(Sun)13:39:04

>>13163
I check on Leon.

It looks like Leon was hit directly by the bullet. In her rush to protect you, she didn't even take proper cover. The bullet pierces straight into her stomach.

"Ozaki-kun..."

"Leon!" Jessica yells. "Stop! You can't die. Don't do this, don't!"

Third Thread: >>13166