>>14185
I casually bury the guns under the gold while everyone is distracted. Removing the ammo if possible without noise and taking it with me.

After I guess I go over to Kumasawa. "Hey, not to be rude or anything, but do you know where Amy and I will be sleeping? I'm not really interested in the family's affair after all."

You follow closely behind the cousins. Battler calls out to George, but he doesn't stop until he reaches the top of the stairs and dashes into the main hall.

You follow the group out of the secret door. George has fallen to his knees and started panting.

"George..." Jessica starts to approach him, but George waves her away.

"Is this supposed to make things better?" he asks. "You die, but it's all fine because I get gold and wealth? To hell with that!"

Most of the adults are shooting questions at Genji, so Kumasawa has the oppurtunity to tell you where you'll be sleeping. Your room is on the east wing of the second floor, last room on the left.

Last edited at 14/03/24(Mon)21:29:21

"George, I know it is hard to think about right now. But you need to look beyond the sadness, you have to think about the future. If we don't... then we'll only draw up sadness. And the people who care about us wouldn't want that."

>>14269
Before leaving I'll see if the parents have decided on anything important, or anything of interest is being said.

If not then I'll head to the second floor and give it a survey in order to examine the layout and the number of rooms on the floor.

"I'm sorry," George says. "I think that I need to be alone at the moment. I have a lot to think about."

Jessica looks at him sadly. "George, you can talk to us."

He smiles softly. "I know. I just need time to myself right now, okay?"

"We'll be here if you need us," says Battler.

George hurries down a hallway.

"Geez," says Battler. "Is the family conference this eventful every year? I should have come back sooner."

"No, this is all a first..."

Last edited at 14/03/24(Mon)00:30:02

When Genji refuses to answer further questions, the family continues quibbling.

"If these are really Father's wishes, then shouldn't we respect them, Nii-san? Or is this why you've been hiding his death from us for all this time?"

Krauss scowls. "In any case, we'll have to consult a lawyer. Father may not have been in the correct state of mind, even if he did write this. "

"You can consult your people and I'll consult mine," says Eva. "The point is that you clearly know more about this than you're letting on. Do you think that we're going to just let you get away with hiding our father's death from us?"

"How dare you!" says Natsuhi.

Natsuhi and Eva start fighting about children and family and whatnot while their husbands try to calm them. The rest of the family looks as if they're in thought.

Last edited at 14/03/24(Mon)03:06:32

>>14299
I head to the second floor and survey it assuming nobody stops me on the way there.

"One would hope every conference isn't this busy. Buildings getting destroyed, people showing up, gold getting found. It would really make for a crazy lifestyle."

I'll excuse myself from the cousins and head to the servant room.

You walk up the stairs to the secret entrance. As you enter the main hall, you see Battler and Jessica.

"Oi, Ozaki-kun," says Jessica. "Battler and I had the idea to play cards. I think everyone could use a stress reliever after all that's happened. Wanna join?"

Last edited at 14/03/24(Mon)12:34:05

The cousins don't object. As you leave, they start a discussion about what they should do.

After some wandering around, you find yourself in what appears to be the servant's room.

>>14304
"Ah well I wanted to check out my room first. Tell me where you plan to play and maybe after I'll show up for a few rounds."

I would then continue examining the second floor assuming they don't say anything else to stop me.

After finishing my adventure in the servants room. I head back to the secret room with the gold.

Jessica tells you that they'll be in her room. If you go up the stairs and take a left, it should be the last door on your right.

You walk up the stairs to the second floor. The layout is as follows, with the '???' being locked doors.

You walk back down the stairs to the gold room. When you're halfway down, you hear a large group of footsteps coming up.

"Hey," says Rudolf. "We're all done in there for now. We just have adult stuff to deal with. Why don't you go play with the cousins?"

It seems that they aren't going to let you down.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that. You see I have something of vital importance to discuss with all of the adults of the Ushiromiya family. This is why I've headed back to this room, where you were last were. So let's head down, as I said it is of VITAL importance. It can't wait, so let's go down. If the location is what is a problem we can all gather in another one. But as I said it is an immediate matter."

>>14323
I take a look at the guestrooms to remember the layout. After I guess I'll go see what the cousins are talking about.

"Huh? Is it really something that important? Well, they should be coming up pretty soon any--"

Before Rudolf can even finish his sentence, the other adults walk up the staircase as well. Nobody seems to be missing besides Battler, George, Jessica, and Ozaki.

"What is everyone doing?" asks Natsuhi.

Last edited at 14/03/25(Tue)16:09:54

"I'm sorry to bring this up, after all that has happened today, but it simply must be done. For you see I have respect for the dead and as such I like to ease their burdens and understand them."

I say this to Natsuhi and the others. "If you don't mind I would like to ask some questions about the deceased Shannon. Because I want to find out who killed her."

Both guest rooms seem similar in that they look like two parts of a recently renovated study. In your room, there's a thin wall to your left and a half of a wall blocks a horizontal section of the room. Behind that is a twin bed.

You don't find much else of interest, so you walk down Jessica's room. You can hear some voices inside.

"Kanon-kun quit recently too, didn't he?"

"...Yeah, he did. Exactly when Shannon died. He never even said goodbye or anything. He just handed in a resignation letter and I never saw him again."

"Ehhh, wait! Were you and Kanon-kun..."

"Huh? Oh, no! We weren't dating or anything like that."

"But you loved him?"

"I don't think so? Ha, I don't even know what the hell love is. Until tonight, I was at least sure that my family loved me and I loved them. That's how it's supposed to be, right? But those assholes hid Grandfather's death completely! Who the hell does that to their dad?"

"Is it really that hard to believe? From what I've heard, Grandfather was never such a loving person to begin with, right?"

"He...wasn't as bad as everyone made him out to be. When I was little, I wanted to learn how to play the guitar more than anything. I asked mom and dad every Christmas and birthday for one, but she thought that it wasn't proper for a 'lady'. Still, I thought, if she knew how badly I wanted it, she had to give in. Birthdays and Christmases came, and no guitar. One birthday, I was so angry that I took the make-up kit that my mom bought and flushed it down the toilet. They grounded weeks and locked me in this room. I must have been crying really loudly, because Grandfather came in asked what was wrong. When I told him, he just sat there for a few moments.

I thought he was mad and that he was going to yell at me too, but he just said 'Natsuhi's right. It isn't proper for a young lady to play a guitar.' Then he left the room."

"Yeeeah, he sounds swell."

"I'm not finished! He came back about ten minutes later with a package in his hand. He made me look him in the eyes and he whispered, 'If I always did the proper thing expected of me, where would I be?' and laughed like some kind of mad man. I opened the package and a guitar was inside. I'm pretty sure he was going through some kind of punk phase at the time, but it made me happy. Actually..."

There's a pause. Her voice sounds choked up. "Here it is! I still keep it as a memento. I guess now it's all I'll be able to remember him by."

***

"Pffft," Bernkastel scoffs. "Kinzo did something like that? You should lend me a pair of those Rose-tinted glasses, Ange. It must be a fun way to see the world. Why would someone who regularly insists that women are lesser creatures do something like that?"

"When did Grandfather do anything like that?" I ask. "Those weren't my games. This is. Unless you claim to have better knowledge of my family than I do, quiet down."

***

The voices in the room stop and you just hear a gentle sobbing.

>>14331
I figure I probably shouldn't interrupt them at the moment so I go explore the third floor for now.

"What?!" Gohda nearly jumps. "Someone k-killed Shannon-san?"

"What in the world are you talking about?" Eva asked. She and everyone else looks suddenly flustered.

Natsuhi looks like she's fuming. "Young lady, if this is some kind of sick joke, we have no time for it!"

"Maybe I should have chosen my words a little better. When I say killed, I don't mean that they actually 'murdered her.' That was not my direct intention. I mean to say what drove her to suicide. And saying the person who killed her, I mean the person who caused her to want to kill herself. I want to understand why Shannon killed herself. I believe the deceased would want someone to understand her."

You walk up to the third floor. It's small and the only room appears to be locked. You don't hear any sounds from inside.

"Why are we listening to this?" Eva asks.

"Amy-san," Natsuhi says. "You are a guest here. I know you've been through an ordeal, but I won't allow you to desecrate the name of our family."

Rudolf tries to be amiable. "Maybe you need some rest, kid. She's probably just not thinking straight. Don't everybody gang up on her at once."

"She's insinuating that one of us made Shannon kill herself!" Rosa says, covering Maria's ears.

"I know, I know." Rudolf whispers. "I'm just saying, she's clearly not right in the head. Come on, there's no need to attack her."

Natsuhi looks back at him. "I understand, but Amy-san needs to know her place as a guest. Right, dear?"

Krauss sighs. "Gohda-san, please bring Amy to her room to sleep. Give her anything she requires."

"Y-yes sir," Gohda takes you by the hand and starts leading you up the stairs.

Last edited at 14/03/25(Tue)18:05:00

>>14335
I guess I head back down and see if Jessica and Battler have resumed talking again. ie stopped crying. If so I'll knock on the door after listening to any conversation I might hear.

I'll allow Gohda to escort me up the stairs, but at the top I'll stop and say.

"Very well, I'll accept your fury and your scorn, and I'll go to my room like a good girl. But I will say that I found 'it.'"

I'll then exit the stairway.

Last edited at 14/03/25(Tue)18:14:24

You walk back to Jessica's room. You hear some soft talking, so you knock on the door.

Jessica shouts, "Come in!"

You walk in the room.

"Hey, Ozaki." Battler says. He gives you a polite smile. "You ready to play?"

You hear the family mumble behind you, but you can't make out what they're saying.

Gohda leads you up to your room on the second floor. It's the second to last room to left on the east hall.

"If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask," Gohda says before walking off.

>>14341
"Sure, what games do you have in mind?"

I take a look around the room for anything of interest.

"Gohda wait!" I call out to him. "If you would, I would like to go to the chapel. I want to pay my respects to Shannon. Even if I didn't know her, all life is precious. Don't you agree?"

You don't see anything of real interest around Jessica's room.

"I lost my cards," said Jessica. "So Battler and I thought it would be fun to play 'Truth or dare'! Your turn first, Ozaki-kun. Truth or dare?"

"That's...I'm not sure if madame would approve..."

>>14345
"Oh boy, this is making me feel nostalgic. Well then, I'll say 'truth' first then."

"She would get upset at someone paying respects for the dead?"

"What's the most embarrassing way you've ever screwed up?" Battler asks.

"Of course not! It's just that you're supposed to be going to sleep..."

"If that is the case then she would't mind me staying up a few more minutes to pay my respects for the dead. Once we go the chapel I'll be a good girl and go to bed. I couldn't possibly sleep before paying my respects to the dead, Shannon and my family and pray for them in the chapel."

>>14349
"Most embarrassing eh? That's a hard one, just because I tend to forget about those. I guess the one that sticks out is that I once forgot to convert the distance I run from kilometers to miles one time and when it came time to practice it looked like I had just been lying.

"Ahh, is that right?" Jessica asks, sounding rather unimpressed. "Well, it's your turn. Ask one of us."

>>14353
"Like I said, literally cannot remember moments like that. I probably just don't get embarrassed easily.

If you want something more exciting then how about this? Battler, how far have you gone with a women?"

"Well...I suppose it wouldn't hurt. If you would follow me."

Gohda leads you down the stairs. He grabs an umbrella and leads you through the rain and inside the chapel. He flicks on a light for you. The chapel has a broken window on the right side of the wall. Glass and water is spread around the area under it.

"If you need anything, I'll be right outside." He then steps out of the door.

"Eh? Gross!" says Jessica.

"Ihihihihi, you didn't ask truth or dare. Oh well." Battler proudly holds up the number three with his fingers. "[Third Base]!"

"Must've been a busy six years," Jessica says. "Who are you even with, anyways?"

"Oh, you know, people here, people there." Battler grins. "Anyways, Jessica, truth or dare?"

"Dare!"

"I dare you to...make out with your mirror!"

"What?"

"Come on, it's a dare! Don't tell me you've never wanted to make out with yourself. Everyone has."

Jessica blushes and approaches her mirror. She softly places her lips on the glass and moves them awkwardly. The mirror fogs up quickly.

The door opens. George stands there. "Uh?"

>>14356
"Its OK George, its not what it looks like. We definitely were not playing true or dare. Jessica just announced her new found talent at licking mirrors clean. Battler and I are the judges. Come, feel free to grab a seat and spectate," I say with a completely serious face.

"Gohda, if you don't mind me asking just how did Shannon kill herself?"

George lets himself chuckle. "If you say so."

As soon as he sits down, another person stands in the doorway.

"Hey, brats," says Rudolf. "Oh, Ozaki-kun, you're here too, huh? Your friend was stomping up a storm earlier, saying..."

His eyes dart to the cousins and back. "Well, she was saying some pretty wild stuff. Anything we should know about her?"

Last edited at 14/03/25(Tue)20:50:01

>>14359
"Amy was? Well to be honest I haven't seen her for many years. We were just part of a sort of club like group back then and didn't really talk to each other much either. She liked to mess with my Mexican friend but otherwise I can't remember much. What was she saying anyway?"

I leave the chapel and then smack Gohda upside the head I mean ask him my question.

Last edited at 14/03/25(Tue)22:13:13

"That was such an awful day," Gohda says. "I heard the news from Krauss-sama soon after it happened. I had just baked a delicious batch of brownies and I was in such high spirits. Then, he gathered us up and informed us that Shannon-san died of an overdose of sleeping pills. Now, I wonder... if she really did call herself Beatrice, was she trying to follow the last line of that epitaph? 'Sleep peacefully, my most beloved witch, Beatrice.'"

Gohda shudders. "It gives me goosebumps just to think about. Why are you so interested?"

"I'll tell you about it later. Actually, I came here to talk to my son."

"What's up, old man?" Battler asks.

"Not here," Rudolf responds. "In private. It's important and I don't want anyone else hearing about it yet."

Battler's demeanor turns from lighthearted to weary. He leaves the room with Rudolf.

"I wonder what that was about," Jessica says when they're gone.

Second Thread: https://archive.seacats.net/gameboard/res/14367.html