>>17815

I've created this classic gameboard to challenge Anon-kun.

-Once the game is complete, any number of blue truths can be used to determine how the crimes were done. However, only one attempt at naming the culprit will be allowed.
-Once the game is complete, information about the crime scenes, the suspects, and really any facts may be requested. However, it is purely my decision as to whether I respond.
-I'm not going to use honorifics. Sorry, I'm just bad with them.
-I will have MYSTERY or FANTASY (or UNIMPORTANT) at the top of every section.
-MYSTERY sections will be 100% fact. Anything said, done, or shown actually happened. Anything not said, done, or shown is up to interpretation.
-FANTASY sections may or may not be 100% fact, but could be. However, I will have leave to lie or alter absolutely anything I wish to. Skip them if you want, but they may have hints and clues in them.
-UNIMPORTANT sections are utterly unimportant, they are just there for comedy and because I like having my games reference each other somehow.
-This may take me a while to fully type out. It will be done when the post includes THE END. Until then, feel free to interject with lighthearted commentary, but please, no blue theories until the gameboard is complete.

Have fun!

>>17816
FANTASY

October 4th, 1986. 5:30 P.M.

"-at do you meeeAAAAAANN?!" called out a girl's voice as she materialized from a cloud of golden butterflies about five feet in the air. Unfortunately, she materialized in a reclined position, so she immediately fell onto her bottom on the hard stone path in the Rokkenjima rose garden. She stood in a most undignified fashion, rubbing her butt in pain, before realizing that there was a drenched little girl staring at her with wide eyes.

"Uuu! Beatrice! Wait, you're not Beatrice, but you can use magic too! Who are you? Can you help Maria find Maria's rose? It was sick, so George tied a piece of paper around it, but now it's gone. Uuu..."

"Wait, we're at this part already?" asked the newcomer. "Dammit. I don't have a card or anything! Listen Maria, this is important, I'm a messenger for Beatrice and she has something you need to tell the others after dinner is done. She says that she is the Ushiromiya family alchemist, and that the time has come to end her contract with Kinzo and she's going to take everything from the Ushiromiya family. Even your lives. That is unless they manage to solve the Epitaph of the Golden Witch. If they do, then she'll give back everything she's taken and, um, everyone will live happily ever after. Can you do that for me?"

Maria nodded, then shivered. "Maria's cold. Do you have an ummbrella, Miss Messenger?"

Asmodeus looked at her incredulously, then gestured at her demonic maid outfit. "And just where would I be hiding an umbrella? Don't answer that," she said, since it looked like Maria was about to try.

At that moment, they could hear Rosa starting to call from the entranceway of the mansion. Maria called out to her and then turned to Asmodeus. "Don't worry, Miss Messenger. You can count on Maria! Uuu! But you should run. Mama has a lot of anti-magic toxin."

Asmodeus nodded her thanks and ran off as fast as her feet could carry her.

Last edited at 15/07/17(Fri)18:52:40

>>17817
MYSTERY

October 4th, 1986. 5:35 P.M.

Rosa ran up to Maria and held her tight, covering her with her umbrella. "Oh Maria, you're soaked! I'm so sorry that I got angry with you and left you here all alone! I'm a terrible mother!"

"Uuu...Maria's rose is gone...uuu..." said Maria sadly.

Rosa placed her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Don't worry, Maria. I'm sure that your love made it strong and healthy again, strong enough that it didn't need George's paper wrapper to keep it warm any more. It's just so healthy now that you can't tell it apart, but it knows you, and it thanks you."

Maria looked up at her mom and smiled, and it was hard to tell whether the water at the corner of her eyes was rain or tears of gratitude. "You're right! It's all better now. Besides, there's important stuff that's going on! Maria met Beatrice's messenger, and Beatrice is coming back!"

Rosa, not wanting to cause her child's sudden mood upswing to turn, nodded. "Alright dear, but lets get you inside and dried off first. After all, a message from a witch should be delivered with ceremony, don't you think? Plus Gohda is going to serve dinner soon! Can you smell it?"

The two walked back into the house, smiling and holding hands.

7:30 P.M.

Dinner had been delicious, and Gohda had lapped up the praise like a thirsty dog. It had even served to ease the siblings' mood from the tense atmosphere that had been pervading the island all afternoon. Of course Kinzo did not come down from his room, but that wasn't really anything that unusual, and Genji had left, saying that he would take some up to him shortly.

In the lighthearted mood after dinner, Rosa decided to remind Maria about what she'd mentioned in the garden.

"Oh, Maria said that she talked to a mystical fairy messenger of Beatrice out in the garden, didn't you, dear?" asked Rosa, smiling and winking at her daughter.

"Uuu! It wasn't a fairy, Mama! I think it was a demon. A girl demon, dressed in really weird and tight clothes!"

Rosa blushed, and Rudolf laughed. "Sounds like the kind of demon I'd like to see myself!" he said, then grunted softly, rubbing his shin under the table.

Kyrie smiled innocently, then looked to Maria. "Go on, Maria. What did this girl demon say?"

"She said that Beatrice was going to come take everything and kill everyone unless we solved the riddle!" replied Maria, happily.

The room went silent in shock, everyone looking at each other. George, ever one to try to act as a bridge between adults and children, let out a forced laugh. "Well, that would certainly make for an interesting family conference, wouldn't it? A great battle between a witch and us humans?"

Battler nodded, joining in. "Oh absolutely. It'd be like one of those slasher films that are popular in America right now, except we'd know she was coming, so we'd fight her off easily!"

"But what would it look like, I wonder?" asked Jessica. "I mean, surely a witch could use magic, right? How could we fight against that?"

Hideyoshi chimed in. "The trick would be to find the most defensible position and hold our ground. I imagine Maria knows all sorts of magical defenses. Right, Maria?"

"Uuu! Maria does, Maria does! Scorpions, spidewebs, charms, all sorts of defenses!"

Just like that, the tone relaxed again, as the family talked and joked about how they'd defend the house against an invasion of magical creatures.

Gohda sighed. It looked like it might be a while before he was asked to bring dessert, and he was really looking forward to it. He had a special surprise planned.

>>17818
FANTASY

Kinzo had crossed his arms and was impatiently tapping his foot on the ground of his study.

"Alright, Beatrice. There's fashionably late, and then there's now. Are you going to say we should just delay the ceremony another year. I was raring to go last year too, but you didn't appear either. Maybe you really are just in my head..."

Just then, he heard a tapping, as of someone gently rapping, rapping at his...window. Running over, he unlocked it and flung it open. "OH BEATR-"

"Gah! Careful you old geezer!" exclaimed Asmodeus, desperately hanging onto the wall. She was drenched, scratched, and spotted in mud. "Get out of the way and let me in, will ya?" she asked, breathing raggedly.

In shock, Kinzo stepped aside, and the demon girl climbed in carefully, brushing herself off. "You aren't Beatrice," he stated.

"Oh please tell me this isn't going to be a running gag," replied Asmodeus. "No, no I am not. I'm a demon, or a paperweight, or a forgotten servant. Generally the epitome of underloved and underpaid lackey. But do you know what I am right now?" Kinzo shook his head. "I'm tired and sore. Someone orders me to fly, I fly. But when it's just me? Nooo, I have to climb the wall. Three damned floors out there on that wall. This is not the right body or outfit for climbing, Kinzo! Not at all." She rested back against his desk.

Kinzo blinked. It had been some time since anyone had spoken to him like that. "Um...I'm...sorry?"

She looked up at him, a little stunned herself. Then she smiled. "It's ok. Just the way this game is working out. Thanks though. I appreciate it." They stood there by the window, warlock and demon, in a moment of mutual respect.

"Master, I have brought your dinner," said Genji as he unlocked the door and walked in.

"Oh crap," said Asmodeus. She shoved Kinzo, who, with a strangled cry of surprise, tripped and fell out the open window. "Oh crap!" she said again, as she and Genji ran to the window and looked out. There on the ground three stories below lay Kinzo, unmoving.

"I was going to use him for the 8th twilight! Easiest freebie, you know?" said Asmodeus to an uncomprehending Genji. They both seemed to suddenly realize the position they were in, and Genji leapt back, drawing a knife from his coat.

"You have killed my master, girl! I shall avenge his death. Your head will roll!" With a battlecry like a samurai warrior, he charged her.

"Heads will roll? Heads will roll! Oh Genji, thank you! You're a lifesaver!"

Spinning, a blue blade of energy sprouted from her arm and caught Genji on the neck, cleanly decapitating him. His body fell, and she neatly caught his head in her hands.

"I, however, am not." She carefully aimed the head and dropped it out the window, using Kinzo's body as a cushion. Locking the window, she made sure that the lock was engaged in Kinzo's study...and then realized she couldn't get out.

"Hold it, I'm gamemastering this game," she said to the empty room. "I'll just do this."

The scene changed.

Last edited at 15/07/19(Sun)21:44:53

>>17819
MYSTERY

October 4th, 9:15 P.M.

"Thank you for your help, Kumasawa," said Gohda as he lined up the three covered silver platters on the counter in the kitchen. "I was hoping that Genji would help me with the dessert presentation, but he's still not back from serving Kinzo, and with Shannon and Kanon over at the guest house making sure it's all ready and serving the Master's grandchildren, you're all the help I have."

"It's not to worry, Gohda," replied Kumasawa with a warm smile. "I'll be all the help you need. It's too bad that the cousins won't be here to see your presentation, though. Will they get some dessert taken to them later, then?"

"Yes. But Maria was getting tired so they decided to go play a few games with her before she fell asleep. At least Nanjo got over his stomach troubles and is with the other siblings in the dining room now. I hope this dessert isn't too rich for him." He handed her the first platter carefully and turned back for the second.

"Oh ho ho, I don't think he would let it stop him, even if it was," said Kumasawa. "Not with his appetite."

Gohda chuckled as he handed her the second platter and went for the third. "True. Though I have always said that a couple inches around the waist is the biggest compliment someone can give a chef." He handed her the final platter and turned back to the counter, making sure to grab a long, wickedly-sharp knife while he was checking to be sure he hadn't forgotten anything. Placing the knife on the serving cart beside the three platters, he took the handle and carefully guided it out into the hall while Kumasawa held the door open for him. Together they entered the dining room to the smiling faces of Natsuhi, Krauss, Eva, Hideyoshi, Kyrie, Rudolf, Nanjo, and Rosa.

"Thank you for waiting!" said Gohda, grandly, as he and Kumasawa placed the platters evenly along the long table. "I present to you," he began as he pulled off two of the covers and Kumasawa pulled off the third-

Last edited at 15/07/17(Fri)20:41:36

>>17820
MYSTERY

Rosa screamed first, but only by a bit.

There on the platters were human heads. On the ones on either ends were the heads of Shannon and Kanon, and the one in the center had the head of Genji. All three had their eyes and mouths open, with their tongues hanging out obscenely.

Nanjo threw up.

Rudolf stood. "Wh-what's the meaning of this, Gohda?"

"I don't know!" Gohda cried as Kumasawa slumped against the wall, apparently overcome with shock. Hideyoshi ran over to her and tried to keep her conscious.

Krauss stood and grabbed Gohda's jacket. "Don't lie to us after this obscene display! Why did you kill them?"

"I-I swear! Those platters held cake! I spent five hours on those cakes! Why aren't they cakes?!" Gohda shouted, tears of confusion and terror streaming down his cheeks.

"Maybe...maybe it's like Maria said," said Rosa, quietly. Despite the volume, everyone turned to look at her. She was staring directly into Kanon's lifeless eyes. "The witch of Rokkenjima is coming for us all. If...if she got Kanon and Shannon..."

The siblings all had the same thought at once. "George!" shouted Eva as she stood and ran. Hideyoshi left Nanjo, who was still recovering, to care for Kumasawa as he chased after his wife. Krauss and Natsuhi were next, followed by Rudolf and Kyrie, and finally Rosa. Gohda stayed behind with Nanjo and Kumasawa, whispering something about how they should have been cake.

Last edited at 15/07/17(Fri)21:07:14

>>17821
FANTASY

Nanjo heard it first. "Do either of you hear that?" he asked. Kumasawa and Gohda fell silent. There was definitely some kind of metallic banging sound coming from somewhere.

"The furnace!" said Gohda. "The witch must be down there!"

Nanjo stood tall. "Then we must go fight her." Kumasawa stood as well. Despite looking a little shaky on her feet, her face showed firm resolve.

Gohda, however, shook his head. "No. No no no. We need to wait for the others. She's already killed three people. Three more wouldn't trouble her at all.

"You are just a coward, Gohda," spat Nanjo. "Genji was my friend for decades. I will avenge his death. Magic isn't real, and I know this. Kumasawa, you should stay here though."

This time she shook her head. "Genji has been my friend nearly as long as he was yours. I may be only an old woman, but I will do my utmost to let his spirit rest in the knowledge that he was avenged."

Nanjo nodded, and Gohda could only hide his head in shame at his cowardice as those two walked off to the furnace room.

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

Once there, they unlocked the door with Kumasawa's master key and carefully descended the stairway. What they found was unlike anything they had expected.

Tugging in vain at the handle of the furnace door was a bedraggled and frustrated girl in a skimpy and torn outfit. Laying on the ground beside her was the broken body of Kinzo, battered and covered in mud, blood, and rain.

She turned to them. "A little help? You would not believe the day I am having."

Cautiously the two approached her, but she didn't seem to be threatening them in any way.

"So, I kill Kinzo, right? Whoops. Not a huge kink in the plan, but annoying nonetheless. Then Genji. 'Hey, that worked out well,' I think. "I can do that thing that Gaap wanted to do in her game, kind of." But I have Kinzo here, who needs to get in the furnace."

"The...furnace...?" asked Nanjo.

"Yeah. 'S the rules, see?" She held out a small booklet that she'd tucked in the inner pocket of her jacket. "Right there. 'Kinzo. Burned in the furnace or not found.' But it turns out they call it 'dead weight' for a reaason. Corpses are heavy! So I swing by the guesthouse and ask Shannon and Kanon to help. But it turns out they've gotten all uppity and 'we're human now' and whatnot, so I have to kill them too! I mean, yeah, more heads, but it doesn't really help me with my corpse problem. Thanks, by the way."

"Um, don't mention it," said Nanjo, feeling obligated to help her open the furnace door. The heat from inside dried their faces, and the demon girl took a quick break.

"So then," she continued, "I had to walk all the way back in the pouring rain to Kinzo's body, drag it down here all by myself, and then the damn handle was stuck. I don't know what I would have done if you two hadn't come along."

Kumasawa bent down and grabbed Kinzo's shoulders, too stupefied to do anything else, as Nanjo grabbed his feet. They lifted him off the ground and moved him towards the furnace door.

"Ahh! My back! Ah...Wah...AIIIEEEEEEE!" screamed Kumasawa. Her injured back had acted up, causing her to drop Kinzo and, off balance, fall back into the furnace. Before Asmodeus or Nanjo could save her, she was consumed in flames.

Nanjo stared at the furnace in shock, until he felt an incredibly sharp slash across his throat. Grasping at his neck before the open door, the last thought he had was that the fires off of Kumasawa's corpse were actually somewhat soothing.

Asmodeus sighed and smiled. "Well, at least that's the first twilight done, and I didn't need to use you yet, Kinzo." She grinned down at the corpse at her feet, but her grin was slowly replaced by a frown. Sighing, she reached down, grabbed the deceased family head's wrist, and started tugging him towards the back entrance of the furnace room.

>>17822
MYSTERY

October 4th, 1986. 9:40 P.M.

Inside the guesthouse, there was mass confusion. Adults had come bursting into the cousins' room, clamoring to make sure that the children were ok and talking all at once about how there'd been killings and that the witch really had come and had they seen Shannon and Kanon.

"N-no," said Battler. "We thought they'd be over here when we got here, but we haven't encountered them. We thought they'd been called over to help with the mansion. Why? Are they missing?"

George got a terrible premonition. "Are they...?"

Hideyoshi nodded. "They're dead too. Genji, Shannon, and Kanon... How terrible..."

"Kanon..." whispered Jessica, her voice catching in her throat.

George rested a hand on her shoulder. "We'll have time to grieve later. Right now we need to handle this."

Battler nodded. "Right. We should see if there's any clues in the servants' quarters here."

"Didn't you check there a while ago?" asked Kyrie, but Battler shook his head.

"The door was shut, and we didn't hear anything, so we figured it was empty. Come on."

Together they all went downstairs to the door to the servants' quarters. It was locked tight. As none of them had a master key, Rudolf and Krauss battered it open.

Inside was a horrific sight. Sitting on opposite couches, a chessboard mid-game between them, were the headless corpses of who could only be assumed to be Shannon and Kanon, though only their clothing really helped to identify them. In each of their pockets, a master key was discovered and taken by George.

Turning away from the corpse of his beloved, George held the keys. "Alright, has anyone seen this witch?"

"No," replied Natsuhi. "Except Maria."

"Uuu! Maria didn't see Beatrice. Just some messenger! UuuUU!"

Jessica lost her cool. "Maria, we don't have time for this. Did you see someone else? Rosa, can you...where's Rosa?" she asked, looking around. Everyone else looked around as well but she was nowhere to be found.

"Here I am," she called, jogging into the room. "Sorry, I...I didn't feel well, so I went to the restroom. Forgive me. They're right though, Maria. We need to know what this person looked like."

The others were preoccupied with trying to remember if they'd seen Rosa with them since they'd left the house, until Maria replied, "Uuu, she looked kind of like Jessica!"

With all eyes suddenly on her, Jessica held up her hands. "H-hey! It wasn't me! Right, Maria?" she asked, smiling sweetly. "It wasn't me!"

"No, not you, just looked like you. The hair was different, and the face looked a little different, and the eyes were different."

"Different how?" demanded Rudolf.

"A little...um...uuu... Maria can't remember." Maria stuttered to silence as Rudolf threw up his hands in exasperation.

Kyrie placed a hand on his back to calm him. "Alright, well, at the moment I think it would be best to get back to the mansion to get Nanjo, Kumasawa, Kinzo, and Gohda. Hopefully Kinzo lets us in." She smiled slightly. "It seems all those talks we had about defending from a witch's attack might come in handy after all."

Gathering themselves up and making sure everyone was around, they left as a group and made it back to the dining room without incident. When they got there though, they found Gohda, sitting alone and staring off into space. A strange smell was drifting up from the furnace room as well.

Hideyoshi walked over and shook Gohda. "Gohda. Gohda! Where are the others?"

"They went down to the furnace room to confront the witch. And then that smell started coming out," he replied in a deadpan voice, then met Hideyoshi's gaze. "We're all going to be killed."

It was the matter-of-fact way that he said it that sent shivers up everyone's spine. Hideyoshi gripped Gohda's shoulder tighter. "Come on. We have strength in numbers, now. Let's go see if we can find out where they are, and go get Kinzo too.

Gohda looked around at the others, then stood. Whether he saw them as allies or human shields no one could say.

MYSTERY

October 4th, 10:30 P.M.

The group made it to the doorway down to the boiler room, and George unlocked it with one of the master keys he'd gotten from Kanon and Shannon. The room was lit by the orange glow coming from the open furnace door, which spilled over the still form of Nanjo and shone off of the pool of red surrounding him. Inside the furnace could be seen a burnt human shape, and Jessica let out a little squeak of fear at the tableau. They carefully descended the stairs and walked across the room, surrounding the furnace and the corpse, each one carefully examining that area. They couldn't find any clues in the immediate vicinity, however, so they instead tried to figure out as a group how to get the corpse out of the furnace. During that time Jessica felt like she they were being watched, but when she turned to look at the top of the stairs that led back into the hall, she didn't see anything. Finally using some tools and odds and ends scattered around the room, they managed to pick the corpse out. As they did, two deformed pieces of metal got dragged out with it, falling to a floor with a couple of clangs. Upon closer inspection, it seemed like they were keys, but both were now unusable.

With that being the case, they turned their gaze back to the corpse. It was unable to tell who it was just by looking at it.

"Kumasawa, we're sorry that we couldn't protect you. You served the family well," whispered Natsuhi after a while deep in thought.

"How can you tell the corpse is her? It's burnt beyond recognition, I can't even tell that whoever it was was a woman" replied her husband, gently.

"That poor corpse has to be Kumasawa. She still has her...her head. That means it can't be Genji, Shannon, and Kanon."

"I suppose he could be Father," said Eva, uncertainly.

Natsuhi shook her head, then seemed to regret it as she brought up a hand as if to ward away one of her recurring headaches. "Father has six toes on his feet due to a very rare genetic condition. The corpse has five per foot. One of those keys also looks like it was the VIP room key. I gave it to Kumasawa earlier so that she could clean the room before the family conference, just in case we needed it for something. Everyone else is here. Kumasawa is dead..." She trailed off, looking down at the corpse that she was certain had been a kindly old woman only a couple hours before with a look that spoke of regret.

"It could be the messenger girl," Rosa said from the back.

Natsuhi nodded. "It could be. I hope it is, but I don't think we should count on being that lucky."

Krauss put an arm around her. She may have only been a borrowed womb, to use Eva's phrase, but Krauss loved her, and at that moment he was incredibly proud of her and how she was seemingly able to figure all of that out without any more evidence than the rest of them. However, he was the heir, or quite possibly the new head of the Ushiromiya family, and it was his duty to take charge.

"Alright, my wife is right. We can't relax just yet. We need to get to Kinzo's study, but we also need supplies. I think we should split up to cover more ground quickly. Jessica, take Battler, George, and Maria with you to the guesthouse. Get your things."

Jessica nodded, but Rosa started to object. Krauss held up his hand. "I know what you're going to say, but we need groups, and right now Gohda is on his own. Maria will be safe than any of us. She'll have three people protecting her. So Rosa, go with Gohda to the kitchen, get us some canned food and anything we can use for weapons. Rudolf, Kyrie, I know you two love those rifles of Father's. We could use them, so track them down. Eva, Hideyoshi, check the first floor and lock everything down except the front entrance. Lock that when everyone's inside. Natushi, you and I will go to your room and get that mirror you mentioned, the one that is supposed to repel evil. If we really are dealing with a witch, we'll need all the help we can get. We'll all meet at Kinzo's study in ten minutes. Go!"

Emboldened by his words, the Ushiromiya family split up and went to their assigned tasks with vigor.

Last edited at 15/07/19(Sun)14:24:59

>>17824
FANTASY

Asmodeus crawled out from under the stairs in the furnace room, then rested against the wall, her head in her hands.

“Guns? Already? I have to kill seven more of them, yet! Well, six, thanks to Kinzo. Oh Beato, I am so going to pay you back for this one. What am I going to do? I can’t do this all by myself, especially when I can’t become a stake!”

As if in answer to her question, she watched as another form materialized on top of Nanjo’s dead body.

“Nyeh, what’s up, doc?” asked Chiester 410, munching on a carrot. Then she burst out laughing as she pulled a clipboard out from behind her back and made a little note.

“4…410!” exclaimed Asmodeus, causing the bunnygirl to leap up in surprise.

“Asmodeus! My targeting said there wasn’t anyone here!”

“There’s not. Why are you here?”

“There’s not, nyeh? But…what…? Oh. Oh I see. Ihihihihi! As for me, I got some leave from the Corps so I thought I’d check a few things off of my personal to-do list, see, nyeh?” she asked, shoving the clipboard in Asmodeus’ face before pulling it away so fast that the demon didn’t get a chance to read it. “Number 42: Emulate a personal hero. Done! Ihihihihi!”

“On leave? You mean you’re on vacation?”

“Nyeh, of course I am. I’m out of uniform, see?” She pointed at her head, where her ears were indeed poking out of holes in a floppy wicker hat. Everything below the neck was her standard uniform though.

“In that case, could I ask you a favor?” asked Asmodeus, flushing with frustration at having to ask for help.

“Depends on what it is, nyeh,” replied 410, taking another bite of her carrot.

“I’m running this gameboard but…” she sighed, “I think I’ve gotten in over my head. I didn’t have any time to come up with a real plan, you see, and now the humans are going to get guns and hole up in a fortified position. I need to take them out.” Seeing that Chiester 410 was hesitating, Asmodeus quickly added, “And since your battle skills are legendary, I know that it would be incredibly easy for you to do so!”

“I suppose I could lend a paw, nyeh,” replied Chiester 410, smiling. “Who’s up?”

“Alright, I’m thinking I can take out Krauss and Natsuhi. Mirrors may be bad for spirits, but I shouldn’t have any problem with it. Kyrie and Rudolf are heading for the guns. I think in this gameboard they’re in a military-style foot locker in the storage shed. Can you take them out before they get them?”

“Leave it to me, nyeh!”

The two girls smiled at each other and started dashing up the stairs to the mansion.

“Hey 410?”

“Nyeh?”

“Why did you say ‘lend a paw?’ You’re humanoid.”

“It’s cute. Shut up and roll with it.”

“Ok.”

>>17827
MYSTERY

October 4th, 1986, 10:33 P.M.

Natsuhi and Krauss arrived in Natsuhi’s room without incident. Unlocking the door and entering, they flipped on the light, and didn’t see anything out of place. Natsuhi walked over towards the large vanity chest where she kept the mirror, while Krauss stepped inside and locked the door behind them. Just to be safe, he set the chain lock as well. It wasn’t a very secure defense, but it would at least give them warning. Then he walked over to his wife and gently laid his hands on her shoulders. She smiled softly, then turned in his grip. In her hands she held a small box.

“Here it is, right in here.”

Krauss smiled, and kissed his wife. Then he chuckled. “I never thought that you coming from a family of Shinto priests would be a matter of life and death.”

She laughed as well, and kissed him again. Turing back to the vanity, she withdrew the small key for the box from where she kept it and unlocked it. “Yes, well, life is full of twists that we never see coming. The amount of time it took to conceive our Jessica, Father’s death occurring at precisely the wrong time, and now we’re getting chased by a witch. For a family renowned for our luck, most of it seems to be rotten, doesn’t it?” She smirked as she withdrew the mirror from its cover and held it over her heart. She then felt the arms of her husband encircle her and hold her tight.

“No matter what comes of this night, I will never doubt my good luck. I know I don’t say it as often as I should, but without you I’d be lost. Being married to you makes me the luckiest man alive.”

“Dear…” whispered Natsuhi, happily, as tears welled up in her eyes.

At that moment, the lights went out in their room. Suddenly tense, the two turned around to face the room as their eyes desperately attempted to adjust to the darkness. Lightning flashed, and for that instant they saw the silhouette of what seemed to be some humanoid form on all fours on the ground, between them and the doorway. There was also something grasped in its hand. Something metal.

“Tear apart the two who are close…tear apart the two who are close,” the shape muttered. Then it charged. It scrabbled along the floor for a bit, before managing to rise to a more normal. human stance for the last few steps.

Krauss and Natsuhi were frozen in shock and horror as the dark shape charged at them, but Krauss managed to snap out of enough to turn and interpose himself between the attacker and his wife. His boxing training kicked in, and he snapped out with a fist. The attacker, however, ducked under the punch and rammed the metal thing it was carrying into his stomach. Without pausing, the attacker slashed upward to Krauss’ sternum, spilling his guts onto the floor. His diaphragm punctured, he could let out little more than an anguished gurgle as his life bled away.
Natsuhi’s eyes were wild with terror, and she shoved the attacker away, finding them surprisingly light or off-balance. She dashed towards the door of the room, but was bowled over as the murderer pounced on her from behind. Her fingernails scratched at the floor and her body twisted, but she couldn’t seem to dislodge the other person. She managed to work the mirror out from underneath her and held it pointed over her shoulder in the vain hope that it would repel the killer. Lightning flashed again, and she saw the reflection of her executioner. “You! No! Help!” she screamed, and the attacker laughed while they struggled.

“Your own fault for getting your room soundproofed because of your headaches. Yes, you should really blame them. You were killed by your headaches!”

With that, Natsuhi felt the cold sharpness of a metal blade jam into the side of her neck, get pulled out, and jammed in again. The last words she heard were, “Hope I killed them before Kyrie and Rudolf got killed. Twilights have to happen in order, yes. Have to.”

>>17828
FANTASY

Asmodeus looked down at her uniform, or what was left of it. It had been drenched, torn, splattered with mud, and now there was blood everywhere.

“My dry cleaner is going to have so many questions,” she muttered, looking around at the inside of Natsuhi’s room. “Krauss with his moon rabbits I could have almost anticipated, but Natsuhi turning out to be half-goddess and summoning angelic energy beings to fight at her side I definitely did not see coming.”

Right then, two more demons, Zepar and Furfur, appeared at her side.

“Oh, Furfur,” began Zepar without preamble, “It seems something really bad happened here.”

“You’re right, Zepar!” replied Furfur. “The censors are calling for Asmodeus’ head! What a predicament!”

Asmodeus looked at them. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“It seems your epic battle scene never actually happened!” started Furfur.

“Indeed, it was left on the cutting room floor. But why?” asked Zepar.

Together, the two demons answered, “The cost of the special effects was too high!”

“Wh-what? So that whole thing happened in MYSTERY mode? Oh no… Alright, um, I can handle this.” She reached down and grabbed the metal blade, which revealed itself to be a mighty katana. Unlocking the window of Natsuhi’s room, she flung it out as hard as she could into the night sky before looking at the drop to the ground that she faced. She sighed. Turning to the other demons, she asked, “Do you mind locking up after me? I don’t have time to figure out a nice trick for it. Thanks!” With that, she leapt out the window.

Zepar and Furfur walked over and closed the window as curses and whimpers of pain floated up into the night sky. They locked it before returning to the door of the room.

“She forgot that in the fantasy version the chain lock got undone by the super-megablast of that one dragon, but it’s still locked here, Furfur,” said Zepar.

“And that pillowcase that was supposed to be used to catch the flying energy daggers is still there and whole, Zepar!” replied Furfur. “That’s because, despite her complaining, she loves this game, and it’s blinding her to everything else.”

Zepar grinned, “Oh how amazing is love. Even though we’re just making a cameo, I think we should help!”

“Because we love this game too!” said the two MCs, undoing the chain lock on the door and causing the pillowcase to vanish before disappearing themselves.

>>17829
MYSTERY

October 4th, 1986. 10:35 P.M.

Kyrie and Rudolf had run to the servants’ quarters in the mansion and gotten the key to the storage shed. Now they were out by the storage shed, getting drenched in the rain as Rudolf knelt by the lock while Kyrie kept watch.

“Got it,” said Rudolf, pulling up the large metal door to reveal the interior of the shed.

“Good, I was starting to get worried. I thought I saw someone, but it just turned out to be some rabbit in the bushes. Come on, let’s get those rifles and get back to the others.”

“Right,” replied Rudolf, shutting the door behind them. Realizing that the inside of the door also had a hole for a padlock, he took the padlock from outside and locked it on the inside, so that they couldn’t be caught by surprise.

Kyrie tugged on the tiny chain to get the overhead lightbulb on. Looking around, she chuckled. “You know, if we were smart we would just wait here. It’ll be two days tops before the police come. We’d have rifles, all of the exits covered, and I can’t imagine the witch would have this place high on her places to search.”

Rudolf nodded. “You’re right, but my family is out there, Kyrie. Our family is out there. Battler is out there. I can’t just leave them at the mercies of some murderer, witch or no. Not if I want to keep calling myself a good man.”

Kyrie laughed as she crouched by a military-style foot locker. “I know that. That’s why I never asked if we should. Like you said, they’re my family too, and there are even times in chess where you have to make a risky move in order to win. So stop posturing and get a crowbar please. We don’t have time to figure out what key opens the locker."

Rudolf stood over the locker, working at the lid with the crowbar, while Kyrie remained crouched beside it. Soon the lock broke, and the lid opened.

>>17830
FANTASY

There was a loud boom, and Kyrie and Rudolf turned around in shock to see that there was a large hole blasted in the metal door of the shed. Standing there was the silhouette of a girl with bunny ears and a floppy hat.

“Ihihihihihihihi! Forget magic, nyeh! A little plastic explosive does the job just as well! Ihihihihihihi!”

“Who are you? What are you?” demanded Rudolf, taking the rifle that his wife was cautiously handing him. By its weight he could tell that it was fully loaded.

“Chiester 410 of the Chiester Sisters Imperial Guard Corps, nyeh, though I’m currently off-duty.”

“And what do you want with us?” asked Kyrie, standing and holding her own rifle casually. “Have we come into conflict with the…Corps?”

“Nyeh, nyeh! No! I said off-duty, nyeh! See the floppy wicker hat? The floppy wicker hat means off-duty! Nyeh, nyeh!” 410 took a breath and relaxed, then chuckled. “I’m just doing a favor for a friend. Plus I’ve always really wanted a chance to properly duel the both of you. Ihihihihi.”

“A showdown, eh?” replied Rudolf. “Just like the O.K. Corral. You’re risking a lot, challenging those of the Western film-loving generation to such a match, and without a rifle of your own.”

“I have a weapon, nyeh, don’t worry.”

Kyrie smirked. “If it matches your outfit it’s probably one of those magical weapons that takes fifteen seconds of stock footage to fire. We’ll shoot you down long before then, silly girl.”

“Ihihihihi. Normally you’d be right, but I had a couple friends drop by to bring me something before I came to see you. So really, I want to see what you two have. What do you say, nyeh nyeh?”

Kyrie and Rudolf looked to each other and nodded before looking back to her. “A true Western duel. Us versus you. Since you’re outnumbered, you call ‘draw.’ Agreed?”

“Sure, nyeh! I’ll gun down you wily varmints yet! Ihihihihi!”

Kyrie chuckled and Rudolf groaned as if in pain from hearing Chiester 410’s attempt at Western dialogue. Then both sides fell silent, watching each other, waiting for any sort of muscle twitch.

“Nyeh NYEH nyeeeeeh…” sang 410 quietly, getting herself ready. On cue, a tumbleweed rolled by.

“Draw!” shouted Chiester 410. Rudolf and Kyrie snapped their rifles into position, and 410 pulled from behind her back a pair of magical flintlock dueling pistols. While shooting rifles for sport and watching Western films did impart some training to Rudolf and Kyrie, Chiester 410 was part of an actual Guard Corps, so it really wasn’t a surprise that she got her shots off first.

One shot pierced Kyrie right between the eyes, and as she fell backwards her finger finished pulling the trigger, firing a shot up into the ceiling of the shed. Her body twisted as it fell, and she ended up face down in the foot locker.

The second shot caught Rudolf in the chest, and he too fired up into the ceiling as he spun around and fell onto his back. He didn’t die instantly, but the shock and pain from getting shot left him with only enough presence of mind to keep shooting. He fired off two more rounds from his back, which ended up connecting his and Kyrie’s bullet holes in a line, before he died.

Chiester 410 blew on the muzzles of the two flintlocks, twirled them around, and holstered them. Then she pulled out her normal weapon. Concentrating, she fired a single shot, which stitched out and through the hole in the door. After a couple moments, the metal door of the shed was completely whole. “I knew all those stitching metaphors meant it was good for something, nyeh. Alright, nyeh, hope that helped, Asmodeus. Now I’m off to see what happens if you actually remember to make a left turn at Albuquerque. Ihihihihihihihihihi!” She dissolved in a burst of butterflies.

>>17831
MYSTERY

October 4th, 1986 10:45 P.M.

“Father, Father, it’s Eva, open up!” called Eva yet again, knocking on the door to Kinzo’s study. However, just like every other time she’d tried, she got no response.
Rosa shook her head in dismay. “Even now he won’t respond? I think something’s happened to him. If Genji was killed while taking food to him, it’s very possible.”

Hideyoshi nodded while the cousins came up the stairs. “I think you’re right, but what can we do. You can’t open the door, right Gohda?” he asked as he and Eva welcomed their son back warmly.

“No, I am sorry,” replied Gohda, who seemed to have recovered somewhat from the broken state he had been in earlier. “Genji was the only servant allowed to have a master key for the study, and since we haven’t found his…body…” He trailed off.

“It’s alright, Gohda,” said Battler. “We just have to keep going. I see you and Aunt Rosa did well with the canned goods. Good job.” The praise seemed to perk Gohda up a bit as Battler turned to the others. “We got what we could from the guest house. Where’s Dad and Kyrie?”

“They still haven’t come back,” said Rosa, quietly. “Neither have Krauss and Natsuhi.”

“What?!” exclaimed Jessica. “And you haven’t tried to find them? They should have been here first!”

“We know, Jessica,” said Eva, trying to calm her niece down, “But the plan was…”

“Forget the plan! Gohda, give me your key or come with me.”

“B-but-"

“NOW Gohda!”

“Hold on, Jessica,” said George. “We’ll all go with you. They should be nearby, so if Kyrie and Rudolf come back while we’re looking they shouldn’t have to wait too long for us.”

So it was that everyone went down to the second floor and over to Natsuhi’s room. Upon knocking they received no response, and so Gohda unlocked the door with his master key. As the door swung wide, they were treated to a truly horrific scene. Only a few feet away, Natsuhi lay on her stomach, her neck having been repeatedly stabbed and slashed. One hand held the mirror that they had come to the room for, facing up towards the ceiling. Across the room, Krauss lay on the floor in front of the vanity desk, facing them. He had been disemboweled. The group carefully checked over the room, but couldn’t find any sign of the culprit or the murder weapon. Furthermore, they confirmed that all of the windows were locked, and that they couldn’t see any other ways out of the room.
They returned to the door of Kinzo’s study, with Jessica quietly sobbing and looking quite defeated. Kyrie and Rudolf still hadn’t returned.

“So what should we do?” asked Rosa, holding Maria’s hand protectively. “I don’t think he’s going to let us in, and I don’t feel safe in this hallway.”

“We should go find Dad and Kyrie,” said Battler, but Eva shook her head.

“No. If I was certain that any pair of us would be able to fight this witch, it would be those two. We need to focus on keeping ourselves safe first. I think we should head to the guest house, if we can’t get into Father’s study,” said Eva. “After all, breaking in would make it rather useless as a fort afterwards, wouldn’t it?”

“It would,” agreed George. “Alright mom, we’re with you. Let’s get to the guest house.”

“Uuu!” spoke up Maria. “We need to solve the riddle! We can do it there! Uuu!”

None of them could actually think of a better idea of what to do with their time while they were waiting, so they agreed that they’d give it a shot. All of them, being Gohda, Rosa, Maria, Jessica, George, Eva, Hideyoshi, and Battler, headed through the storm to the guest house. Once there, they locked all the doors and windows, made sure they were the only occupants aside from the two headless corpses in the servants’ quarters, and settled in for an uneasy night of riddle-solving.

Unsurprisingly, they made no progress on it.

>>17832
MYSTERY

October 5th, 1986, 2:00 P.M.

Time was passed for the group in fitful slumber, half-hearted attempts at solving the epitaph, or hushed conversations. They had had a morose breakfast of canned food, and a despondent lunch of the same. Gohda didn't even suggest that he try to make something special out of it. Then again, he hadn't been looking well since the previous night. His face looked pale and had taken on a sheen of sweat. No one voiced their concerns though, and he didn't mention any issue. Frankly, there were bigger problems at hand, and any sickness he had could be dealt with after the murderer was captured.

Battler was the only one who still seemed full of energy. Aside from a brief nap he had taken in the early hours of the morning, he had barely stopped pacing, and when he did it was only to stare out the window through the rain.

"Where are they?" he yet again asked no one.

This time, however, someone answered. "We can go look for them, if you want," said Jessica, quietly.

Battler turned to look at her in surprise, and then looked back to the window. "Bah. Useless, it's all useless. It'd be stupid to leave the safety of this house just to go find Dad and Kyrie. They're probably already dead."

"Battler..." said Jessica, quietly, "...I've lost both of my parents to this monster. You, though, you still have hope. They might be out there, alive, but in trouble. If there's a chance that we can help them, we should go try. Besides, say we do meet this witch out there..." Her face grew hard, and her eyes grew cold. "I think that would be fine by me too."

Battler couldn't be sure if his cousin's support strengthened his resolve or chilled him to the bone, but nevertheless he decided that he would take her advice.

A short while later, he and Jessica got little Maria off into a corner. Battler spoke first.

"Maria, Jessica and I are going to go out to find my dad and Kyrie. We don't want to put anyone else in danger, though, and we think that if we told the others they would either try to stop us or try to come with us."

Jessica continued. "That's why we need your help, Maria. We need to sneak out the door, but we don't want to leave it unlocked, because that would leave you all in danger. So when we sneak out, we want you to lock the door behind us. No matter what, don't unlock it again for anyone except the police. Understand?"

"Uuu... Maria understands. But why not just wait here? Either the police come or we all go to the Golden Land where everyone's waiting. Maria doesn't want Jessica and Battler getting hurt. Uuu..."

Battler sighed. There was no way Maria could understand something like the need for vengeance, he thought. Even if the police came, it would not be the same. Not for Jessica.

"I know, Maria," said Battler, "But this is a grown-up thing. You'll understand in time."

Maria nodded, and together the three of them crept to the front door. Gohda was asleep on a couch, covered in a blanket and whimpering in his sleep about cake. Eva, George, and Hideyoshi had gone upstairs half an hour ago to discuss something between them. Rosa was in the guest house library, trying to find some clue as to the epitaph. In short, no one saw the two teens unlock the door and step out onto the small covered porch. Looking at each other with resolve, the pair walked into the rain.

Suddenly, Battler felt something clamp around his waist. It was Maria, and she was crying.

"Uuu! Don't go, Battler! Don't go, Jessica! Maria doesn't want you to die! We have to have fun and games, and Maria has to keep promises to Battler!"

"Promises? What prom-...oh," laughed Battler, flushing bright red. Even Jessica laughed, and they both crouched down to give Maria one last big hug, all of their eyes blurred by tears.

"Don't worry, Maria. I'll be back. I promise," said Battler. The cousins broke their embrace, and Jessica and Battler resumed their walk towards the storage shed.

Maria watched them go for a couple more moments, standing in the rain. "Goodbye, Battler. Goodbye Jessica. See you in the Golden Land. Uuu..." Maria turned and ran the dozen or so steps back inside, quietly shutting the door and relocking it. The guesthouse was sealed once more.

Last edited at 15/07/20(Mon)18:37:39

>>17833
FANTASY

"You're still a pervert for having her make that promise," said Jessica, breaking their silence.

"Ah...ahahaha...It was just a joke! It's not like people would read far too much into it and start writing slashfiction if this were put into a novel of some kind. Right?...right?"

"I wouldn't bet on it."

Jessica and Battler slogged through the rain until they made it to the storage shed. The clouds made it dark enough to see that there was light coming from inside. When Battler tried to lift the door, however, it was either stuck or locked. Going around the side, they could see the window where the light was coming through, but it was too high up to see what was inside.

"Lift me up on your shoulders," said Jessica. Battler did so, the mood of apprehension being enough to crush any further perverted jokes he might have tried. Looking in, Jessica was able to see everything clearly. "I...I'm sorry, Battler. They're gone too."

"W...what?" he asked, wobbling on his feet so much that Jessica almost fell before she could get down. "Dad...and Kyrie?"

Jessica nodded. "They're by the gun locker. I mean, I can't be certain, but...there's blood and-"

"Dammit!" screamed Battler, punching the wall of the storage shed. "I...I thought Aunt Eva was right! If anyone could have survived, it was them! And now you're telling me they're dead in there, in that locked room? How? Why? Grah! Useless! It was all useless!" He collapsed against the wall, his body wracked with sobs. Jessica gently put her hand on his back. She knew the pain he was going through.

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

Gohda awoke from his nightmare with a start. For a moment he panicked when he realized he was all alone, but then he was able to make out other voices elsewhere in the guest house, so he tried to relax.

Suddenly, he heard a strange sizzling coming from the front door. Confused, he walked over and saw an impossible sight. The wood was melting.

"Wood...wood can't melt..." whispered Gohda. Yet, as he watched, a blue energy blade was melting the wood in a large circle. When it had completed its circuit, the piece of wood it had cut out was pushed inwards, and a completely bedraggled-looking young woman was standing there wearing a welding mask. She flipped the mask up and looked Gohda up and down.

"Gohda, you look like hell," she said, then turned and bent down, picking up the piece of wood and placing it back in the door. As Gohda watched, the blue blade appeared from her arm and she placed it on the cut it had just made. That sizzling sound came again, but this time the wood mended itself.

He let out a strangled cry and ran back into the main room. "You're...you're the witch!" he said.

"Nope! I'm Asmodeus. Just a demon. I am running this little shindig though. Well, maybe it's running me at this point. Still, I wonder if that qualifies me as a witch..." She stopped talking, concentrating on her work.

"You're going to kill us all!" exclaimed Gohda.

"Wrong again. I need precisely three more. Would have been two, if it weren't for that issue with the special effects earlier. Ah well, I figured out a way to work with it. Although, speaking as a gamemaster, I'm highly disappointed with you Gohda. You know how many times you could have said, "The cake is a lie!"? People would have found it hilarious. But nope, you just jumped right on over the easy joke. Disgraceful."

"Th-the cake is a lie?" asked Gohda, confused.

"Yep. It's a thing, from a thing that hasn't been invented yet from your perspective. That's what makes it funny. Don't ask me why, it just is. It's meta-humor. So, since I'm talking about this, I wonder if it's meta-meta-humor." Her job done, she stood up and looked to him. "Have you ever considered the plight of fish? They just swim around, day after day, living their little fishy lives. Swim against the currents, eat, make little fish babies, die. But sometimes a human will come along and take a predatory interest in fish. Then they catch the fish and eat the fish. Yet somewhere in the past, people decided that just eating the fish was boring. 'No,' they thought, 'just eating the fish is boring. We want flavors. We want different preparations. We want the death of this fish to be more than simple sustenance. We want it to entertain our senses, to make our lives a little less dull for a time.' And that's where chefs came in, and figured out all sorts of new and inventive ways to prepare dead fish. Chefs still experiment with new ways to do it too. When you get down to it, it's both disgusting and fascinating what humans can do with death, if they control it."

Gohda blinked. "Wh-what do you mean by all this."

Asmodeus sighed. "It's been a long game for me, Gohda. So I just wanted to say congratulations. You're a fish." With that, she turned and walked off into the guest house.

Gohda sat and did nothing.

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

Inside the guest house library, Rosa was pouring over an atlas with her daughter, whom she'd called in a few minutes prior. She was excitedly showing the book to Maria.

"See! See, Maria, doesn't it make sense?! Your mama's done it! She's solved the riddle of the epitaph!"

"Good job Mama!" said Maria, hugging her mom tightly.

"...Maria, why are you wet, like you've been in the rain?"

Just at that moment, the door to the library was pulled shut. Mother and daughter looked at it in shock for a couple moments, then Rosa ran to the door. Tugging on it, it opened only a couple of millimeters, and wouldn't open any further. It was like an impossibly strong person was on the other side, holding the door shut.

"Help, help! We're trapped in here!" called Rosa.

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

Eva, Hideyoshi, and George heard Rosa's cry for help, and they rushed out of their room. Nearing the bottom of the stairs, they saw a girl desperately struggling to hold the door shut by holding onto its door handle while holding on to the door handle directly across the hall, making herself the rope in a strange game of tug o' war.

"Alright, I did not think this through," they heard her say as they cautiously descended the last step, ready for a fight. "Still, they're three, and I just need three. Come on, Asmodeus. You are the game master. You are the witch of Rokkenjima, just this once. You can do it."

Asmodeus closed her eyes, and sang to herself as Eva, Hideyoshi, and George charged at her.

"Come, come, try and remember your true form. Stake of Lust, Asmodeus!"

Her eyes flew open wide and she let out a cackle as instantaneously her body turned into that of a flying metal stake that streaked at the three humans.

"Gouge the stomach and kill!" the stake shouted as she dove deep into Eva's stomach, her tip actually appearing on the other side before she withdrew and ricocheted off of the wall.

"Gouge the knee and kill!" it screamed in glee as it clipped Hideyoshi's knee, sending him toppling into the wall and leaving his back wide open for a killing blow, which the stake took. There was just one left.

"Gouge the leg and kill!" the stake cried in ecstacy, ramming into George's calf muscle, sending him toppling to his back where he could only watch helplessly as the stake drove itself right between his eyes.

Popping back up into a human form, her arms returned to their former positions, holding the door shut. It had all happened so fast that Rosa hadn't had time to open the door at all. George, Eva, and Hideyoshi lay piled in a heap at the bottom of the stairs, blood pooling around them.

A tear of joy trickled down Asmodeus' cheek, and she sighed with relief. "'On the ninth twilight, the witch shall revive, and none shall be left alive.' I made it. I made it..."

Asmodeus' form faded away, and in her place was a length of strong twine.

>>17834
MYSTERY

October 5th, 1986. 4:30 P.M.

Gohda looked up at the sound of tapping on the window of the room. Slowly getting up, he went to the window and saw Battler and Jessica there, gesturing urgently. He opened it, and their voices reached his ears.

"Gohda!" shouted Battler, "we looked in through a window in the hallway. George, Hideyoshi, Eva...they're all dead! And there's some twine strung across the hallway. What happened? What about Rosa and Maria, are they all right?"

"It was the witch," replied Gohda, his eyes not focusing on them. "I saw the witch... I saw the impossible with my own eyes... How? How could it be? I don't know... Rosa and Maria are safe. They're stuck in the library. I'd let them out, but I don't want them to die. Maybe if they stay in there they'll be safe. I think the witch is trapped in here with me. You two should run." He paused for a moment, and finally said, "I think my cake is somewhere. You should really try some. It was going to be quite tasty." With that, Gohda shut and locked the window once more. Despite their cries for him to come back, he walked over to a silverware drawer, got out a steak knife, and-

THE END

>>17835

Asmodeus walked out onto the stage, cleaned up but still looking incredibly worn out. In her hand she had a white paper bag, out of which she routinely plucked some kind of gummy candies and popped them into her mouth.

Seating herself on a large cushioned armchair placed in the center of the stage, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Alright, detective. What do you think?"

The player, who had been patiently waiting for the show to be over, appears to be disappointed. His expression doesn't show any sign of sopor, as he found the story quite entertaining, but perhaps he wasn't expecting to confront his opponent through a proxy.

"It seems that Witch made you work overtime, Asmodeus" he says, standing up.

"I'll make this easy for you, I got two questions: First, I'd like you to repeat in red the name of every person that was involved in this game, together with a red that makes clear the number of people in the island is the same to the addition of every person in that list."

"My second question is about the mystery sections. In the games here we usually have at least one person with an objective POV and that we can trust. However you're instead saying the events that happen in the mystery sections are 100% fact. Well, does that mean all of the characters there, have objective point of views during those scenes? If so, I'd glad to see it in red."

>>17837

Asmodeus laughed as she tossed a candy up into the air and caught it in her mouth. "Oh you have no idea, my friend. Don't look so down, though. I ran this gameboard, so Beato would be as lost as you. Plus at least I got candy out of it. Beelz usually takes all of mine."

She sat up and grabbed a handful of candy out of the bag. "Speaking of being lost, though, I'll answer your questions." A goat ran out and placed a small table before her before running back into the wings.

She spread out the candies, and pointed to them in turn. "During the course of this game, the family members that were involved were Rosa Ushiromiya, Maria Ushiromiya, Battler Ushiromiya, Kyrie Ushiromiya, Rudolf Ushiromiya, Jessica Ushiromiya, Natsuhi Ushiromiya, Krauss Ushiromiya, George Ushiromiya, Eva Ushiromiya, Hideyoshi Ushiromiya, and Kinzo Ushiromiya. The servants involved in this game were Genji, Shannon and Kanon (who were two physically separate people on this board), Kumasawa, and Gohda. Doctor Nanjo was also involved in this game. So, by my count...um... No more than these specific eighteen humans were involved in this game. The definition of involved means that their bodies were present at the start of the game. The state of the body does not matter." So saying, she picked up the candy that she'd used to represent Kinzo and bit its head off. As she chewed she said, "I of course cannot give a count of demons, pop culture references, witches, gender-ambiguous MCs, cakes, bunnies, tumbleweeds, people that might have died on the island more than ten years before the game began, or yourself. I hope you don't mind."

She grinned and reclined again. "Alright, as to your second point: I refuse. But I'll give you a red explanation. "All those present were normal humans, that could deceive each other or themselves just as any human could. The only person with 100% reliable perspective is you, in the mystery scenes I showed. What was said was said, but a human can lie or leave facts out. What was shown was there, but spoken interpretations can create wrong conclusions. Actions taken actually happened, but unless the motives were stated as well they can only be assumed. You have no friend on the gameboard, detective. Only your own perception."

Satisfied with Asmodeus' answers, he decides it's time to begin with the game.

"That's good enough for now. Well, I believe we should start with our business."

"So, for the first twilight, Genji faked his own dead placing a fake head inside of one of Gohda's platters. and well, even if he's really dead only two master keys were supposedly found, none of the crimes is potentially difficult to recreate possessing one of them."

>>17843

Asmodeus smirked. "All three heads were real, and belonged to Genji, Shannon, and Kanon. I thought about making one an exquisitely-crafted cake with fondant hair and red simple syrup blood, but that's more Beelz's game."

The second blue truth streaked at her, but she held up her hand. "Nuh uh. I'm not a glutton for punishment like Gaap. This was a fun gameboard, let's keep the questioning PG-13." So saying, the blue truth instead wrapped around an ankle, binding her strongly. "I'll cede the point for now that not all of the master keys were found. However, let's limit them a bit shall we? Master keys only work on rooms within the main mansion. Master keys do not work on Kinzo's study. Master keys do not work on the VIP room. Master keys do not work on the storage shed. Master keys do not work on any door inside the guesthouse, nor entrances to the guesthouse. Master keys do not work on the chapel doors."

The blue chain loosened and fell at her feet. "That's better. Have your master keys in play, if you insist. The fact that the culprit could possess a master key is not sufficient explanation for the murders."

"Fine by me, but fun as it was, it would fail to qualify as PG-13" he says, with a gentle smile.

He ponders for a little bit and then continues "Then I think I have another request. According to the rules, it seems to imply this game has a single culprit. Would you please repeat in red the number of people who committed a murder in this game?"

>>17846

Asmodeus smiled. "Normally I'd play around with this, but that would be too mean. There is exactly one murderer in this game."

The player makes a polite gesture placing his elbow on his chest, wearing a faint smile.

"Well, then this game might actually be a little fairer than the standard ones around here. The culprit used a master key to lock the servant's quarters room after throwing Kanon and Shannon's corpses. Then, after killing and/or leaving Nanjo and Kumasawa's(?) corpses, just locked all of the doors to the boiler's room from the inside and hide inside of it."

>>17858

Asmodeus chuckled and shook her head condescendingly.

"You really do need to pay attention. I've said it before and I'll say it again: The master keys do not work on any door inside the guesthouse, nor entrances to the guesthouse. To be clear, Shannon and Kanon's corpses were discovered in the servants' quarters in the guesthouse."

"Tsh, I guess I missed that one. Then The culprit used the not-found-yet key to the servant's quarters or even maybe the door to the servant's quarter wasn't even locked when Krauss and Hideyoshi found it.

>>17860

"And now comes the distrust," she giggled. "But much better!"

"For starters, the door was not locked with the servants' quarters key. Secondly, the door was locked when Krauss and Rudolf battered it open. It was stated to be locked in that MYSTERY section, so it is true. I do assume you meant to say Krauss and Rudolf, right? Hideyoshi was there, but he didn't help break it down."

She winked.

"The culprit used another key capable of locking the servant's quarters! or alternatively, the culprit last locked the door from the inside!"

>>17864

Asmodeus smirked.

"I'm not sure how much it helps you to know that. The culprit indeed last locked the door from the inside." Her own red truth entwined with the blue truth coming at her and wrapped itself around her ankle.

"Well, that makes it easier then:" he says, as he readies himself for a shotgun attack.

"Very well, for this post, every time I say 'the room' I'm referring to the Servants' quarter, and 'the door' refers to the door in the Servant's quarters that Rudolf and Krauss had to break down."

"The culprit used a string, or similar mechanism to lock the door from the outside of the room.
The door can be locked while the door is still open.
The culprit had an accomplice, and made them lock the door from the inside and then hide.
The culprit locked the door and left through a different exit."

Last edited at 15/08/02(Sun)12:27:39

>>17882

Asmodeus laughed as the blue truths flew at her, and she readied herself to knock them down one by one.

"The door can only be locked from the outside using its key. The key was not used!"

"The door must be closed in order for it to be locked!"

"No one was hidden in the room when the bodies were discovered!"

She inhaled, and then shouted, "All other exits to the room were locked!" She blinked in shock as the blue truth continued at her. "Oh crap, I forgot to lock the window."

The final blue truth turned into a chain binding her wrist to the chair. "Well, I was in a panic! Kinzo's corpse was getting wet! Can you blame me?" She sighed. "Alright, so that one wasn't impossible. What about the others, huh?"

"Hmm, really? Wasn't expecting much of the last one" he says a little surprised.

The culprit hide himself inside of the boiler room after the murders he continues his attack.

>>17935

"Well sometimes you have to hope that no one will expect the simple solution, ya know?"

She sighs as the new blue truth drapes itself loosely over her shoulders.

"Come on, detective, I won't counter that because it's far too vague. For at least some time after the murders began, the culprit was indeed in the boiler room while no other living person was. That could qualify as hiding. But after which murders? When did they arrive, and when did they leave? Otherwise it's just something for me to keep in mind," she finished, gesturing to the blue now hanging limply like a weight on her.

"Heh, that's a little mean of your part. The culprit was hidden inside of the boiler room when the family members went inside. then maybe the culprit escaped the room while the family was distracted with the corpses, as hinted by what Jessica felt. Alternatively the culprit locked the door from the inside and just escaped by the door that leads to the courtyard."

>>17945

She let out a bit of the gulp as the previous blue chain was tightened by the added links.

Frowning, she simply acquiesced on the point.

"The culprit did not escape through the back door into the courtyard, but the culprit did escape while the group was preoccupied with the corpses. I thought that hint with Jessica might have been too much."

She smirked. "Very well, detective. You've got a dead Shannon, dead Kanon, dead Genji, dead Kumasawa, dead Nanjo, and a missing Kinzo. You seem to have explained a large majority of the first twilight, though I can still see quite a lot of wiggle room for me. For instance, how did I get out of the study? We can leave that be if you want, though, if you'd rather move on to some of my more difficult work."

"I'm sorry, but is there anything to explain here? Missing Kinzo? If he were alive he could have just left and be hiding anywhere, and if he were dead his corpse could be just anywhere as well. If I need to answer something about that I'll need some red I think."

>>17948

"Tch. Well, actually I was more referring to dead Genji, but as you will. Natsuhi and Krauss? Kyrie and Rudolf? Or Eva, Hideyoshi, and George in the guest house? That one was probably my finest hour, after all. I'm quite proud of it."

She casually reached out with her free hand and snagged another gummy.

"Let's continue with Krauss and Natsuhi's murder. Let's see, it seems like a very normal closed room, but you somehow seem proud of it, so let's try this.

The culprit attacked Krauss and Natsuhi from the outside of the room!, perhaps from the ceiling."

>>17951

Asmodeus sighed. "Well, if the special effects budget had lasted, there was going to be this meteor that came down at one point, but no. The culprit did not attack them from outside of the room. Remember, Krauss and Natsuhi's murder occurred in MYSTERY mode."

"Well, well, since they couldn't clearly see their attacker I thought that could work" he says, thinking about it for some seconds.

"Well, the master keys work on Natsuhi's room right? So, "The culprit waiting inside of Natsuhi's room, killing them by surprise and then locking the room with one of the master keys from the outside.

>>17954

The chain wrapped itself around her midsection, but she still seemed to be comfortable.

"It would be possible to lock the door from the outside using a master key, however Krauss set the chain lock. The culprit's hands were covered in blood. Trust me, I know the amount of blood that they spilled. And yet, there was no blood on the chain lock! Sure, the culprit could have locked the door from the outside, but first they would have to get through it! I present you with a rare lock, the lock of evidence!"

She cackled.

"Wait, what? I fail to see how is that a problem.

The culprit used a tool or an object to remove the chain lock without leaving blood traces.
The chain lock was unset during Natsuhi and Krauss' murder struggle.
The blood stains were cleaned from the chain lock."

>>17962

She fired back quickly:

"The chain lock was intricate enough that a living hand would have to directly manipulate it to set or unset it. No other grasping or hooking device was used."
"It was not unset during the struggle, despite what that fight would have shown."
"Blood was not cleaned from the chain lock."

"See the problem now, detective?"

"I still see an easy loophole there:
The culprit broke the chain lock! So they could get out without having to unset it!"

>>17965

She cackled.

"Easy though it may be, it's wrong! The chain lock was completely undamaged!"

"Hmm, I'd like to ask for a clarification. What do you exactly mean with a living hand?"

>>17968

"Tch. Fair enough, I suppose. I just wanted to stop any line of thought that might come about using wordplay and the hands of the corpses. A living hand simply means a hand belonging to and attached to a living person. No corpse hands, no mannequin hands. Just a normal hand on a normal person. Or a gender-ambiguous demon. You get the point."

"Well, since we don't have to name people...
Someone else than the culprit unlocked the chain lock before the group arrived.

It might have been either Krauss or Natsuhi. It could have been someone else inside of the room who wasn't the culprit, or it could have been someone else from the outside of the room."

>>17972

"It's true. You don't name people, but you don't need to! No one entered or left the room between when Natsuhi and Krauss entered and the time the group discovered the corpses, aside from the culprit. At the time of Krauss and Natsuhi's deaths, the chain lock on their door was locked"

She seemed to take on a more relaxed posture once again, and resumed snacking on candy.

"Alright, let me elaborate:

Someone who wasn't the culprit, unlocked the chain lock from the outside of the room, maybe with the door opened as much as it can with the lock set.

Or maybe another person who wasn't the culprit was already inside of the room and they unset the lock."

Last edited at 15/08/14(Fri)15:50:06

>>17974

She snarled.

"Curses, foiled again!"

Then she winked and continued, "...is what I would have said if you were right. However, dear detective, the chain lock could not be set or unset from outside the room, and at the time of Krauss and Natsuhi's death, they and the culprit were the only humans that existed within the room. I do believe that that, combined with my earlier red, neatly ties up your 'other person' theory. Is that so?"

"Hmmpt, well, I'm going to try this just to rule it out.

The culprit used a cloth, or any other kind of material to avoid leaving bloodstains in the chain lock."

Last edited at 15/08/14(Fri)17:51:44

>>17976

"Wrong again! Not a single scrap of fabr-!"

She was suddenly interrupted by Furfur, who ran out from backstage to whisper in her ear.

"You did what?! But that pillow case had nothing to do with what the Fantasy scene was supposed to portray!"

Furfur shrugged comedically, and canned laughter erupted as the MC demon ran back off the stage.

Asmodeus sighed. "Fine. So maybe there was a suitable bit of cloth for hand covering that was missing from the crime scene. I can't deny it."

The blue chain joined the others, leaving her immobile below the waist.

"Another round to you, detective. But the best is yet to come!"

"Alright, let's continue with Rudolf and Kyrie's murder. Could I get some information about where they died and perhaps information about their looks? "

>>17980

Asmodeus thought carefully for a time, then nodded.

"That's a fair request, I suppose. Kyrie is dead. Rudolf is dead. They both died in the storage shed. Kyrie had a hole through her head, right between her eyes and out the back of her skull. Rudolf had a hole through his chest and out the back. I assume that's what you meant by their appearance. I mean, if you meant how they looked, I'd say they were far too attractive to be the parents of a teenager. That's kind of a running theme with the Ushiromiyas, though, isn't it?"

She giggled.

"I guess that it is" the player admits, somewhat confused.

"Okay, what about the storage shed, what makes this murder a mystery?"

>>17982

"Ah, now we're getting to the heart of the matter. Very well. The door of the storage shed was locked from the inside with a padlock. The key for it was in Rudolf's pocket. All the windows were shut."

"The next ones could be a little trickier since I can't see the rooms by myself" he ponders for a little.

"Okay, simple first. One of the windows was locked, but it was broken or maybe it would be possible to lock one of the windows from the outside of the storage shed.

>>17984

"Oh, is that your worry? Well here, come on down to the stage if you want."

She gestures, and goat servants run out, quickly recreating the interior of the storage shed. They even dump two lifelike corpses of Kyrie and Rudolf, making the whole scene look like it did at the end of the FANTASY scene. "Ask me what you want, or feel free to come up onto the stage and take a peek yourself. In regards to the current blues, though, none of the windows were broken, and it's impossible to lock the windows from the outside."

"Thank you" the servant replies while making a polite bow "You have acted as a rather fair Game Master, is this really your first time?" he questions, in a lower volume.

"Either case, I'll begin my investigation now."

Then, Kanon moves closer to the windows and inspects them, then he mutters "the culprit removed one of the windows from the inside of the room using a crowbar or similar tool, then once he left, he placed it again in its position".

>>17986

"Well, I've been a part of Beatrice's games plenty of times. Though what you call 'fair' she'd probably call 'lenient.' I'm probably going too easy on you, since it's my first time." She winked.

The windows showed no signs of damage or tampering, and were, in fact, all locked. Therefore -

"The windows remained in their position throughout the game, and were never removed."

"Good, now the next thing. I'd like to be able to inspect the contents of the foot locker where the guns supposedly where inside."

>>17988

Asmodeus nodded. "I can't stop you."

It's obvious that the lid of the locker had been pried open by the crowbar near the corpses, judging by the damage around the locking latch. The foot locker seems to be rather badly packed, or possibly like someone was rifling through it before the murder. It's also possible that it hadn't been opened for a while, since you feel something that could be a spiderweb brush your hand as you lift the lid up.

There are four Winchester rifles inside, but they're stacked haphazardly, and actually laying against each other in such a way that would have made the lid impossible to close, had Kyrie and Rudolf been alive and tried to. Well, that and Kyrie's head being in the way. It's almost reminiscent of a campfire log setup, the way the gun barrels are leaning against each other and propping each other up. Beneath the rifles are boxes of ammo, which also seem to have been knocked around a bit by something shifting around, knocking them towards the outside edges of the locker.

"I see" the player mutters after his examination.

"One of my theories seem to have a decent chance now

Kyrie and Rudolf were killed by a trap set by the culprit. Once they managed to open the lid, the guns shot them.

I believe it also makes sense with the culprit's line about the order of the murders" he adds.

>>17990

For once, Asmodeus didn't seem to have an excuse.

"So it does, so it does. Well done, detective. This one I'll hand to you 100 percent. Rudolf and Kyrie were killed by a trap. The culprit predicted that someone would go for the guns, and rigged a trap to cause the guns to face upward and fire when the lid was opened. Kyrie, who was crouched down, got shot in the head, while Rudolf, who was leaning over it, got shot in the chest. All four guns were fired, leaving the line of four holes in the ceiling."

She quickly ate the last gummy before the blue chain wrapped around her free arm. Now completely bound to the chair, she sighed.

"That just leaves my shining moment, detective. Do you really have to try to deny me that?"

"I'd be willing to stop, but I doubt you would want to let your better mystery left unsolved" he says, performing a slight shrug as he speaks.

"Now, would you please allow me to investigate the place where George's family corpses are. I believe they were saw in the Hallway?"

>>17992

"Heh. True enough, I suppose. I think I'm getting to understand Beato a bit better. A mystery isn't as fun without someone trying to solve it."

She nods to the stagegoats and they once more came out, replacing the interior of the shed with the interior of the guesthouse. Corpses were brought out and laid at the foot of the staircase.

Eva's was facedown, her feet resting on the right side of the bottom step and the rest of her body on the floor below. She had been pierced through by some sort of pointed cylinder, so much so that there was a small exit wound on her back to match the one in front.

Hideyoshi's corpse lay facedown as well, though his left arm, which was nearer the wall, was trapped underneath him. He also was a few feet beyond where the staircase ended. A cylindrical piercing object seemed to have jabbed the side of his knee, and there was another cylindrical stab wound in his back, which was likely his cause of death though it was not nearly as deep as Eva's.

George lay back against the stairs. His right calf muscle on the back of his leg had been pierced clear to the bone with enough force to actually fracture the bones themselves by what seemed to be the same cylindrical pointed object. Furthermore, he had a round hole in his head, right between his eyes. It too seemed to be made by the same object.

If Hideyoshi could have stood, he might have just been barely able to see Gohda in the parlor, but the staircase itself wasn't visible from the parlor. Further down the hallway past the parlor was the front door, which was only hidden from view from the parlor partially, by a half-wall. Going the opposite direction down the hall were two doors, one to the servants' quarters, and one to the library. A strong twine of some sort was strung between the door handles, and as both doors opened into their respective rooms, this would serve to hold both doors shut. Although the servants' room door did look somewhat damaged from when it was battered open earlier in the investigation, checking it would reveal that it was still sturdy enough to resist a hard pull in a direction it was not meant to go. At least, as it appeared by the time of the final MYSTERY portion.

"Hmmhm" the detective says, while checking the whole scene.

"So the murder weapon is nowhere to be found. Very well" he says, as he moves to gives a closer inspection to the two doors connected by the twine.

>>17994

The door to the servants' quarters is damaged, especially around the area of the doorknob. Although the wood of the door itself has splintered a bit, the door seems pretty sturdy still. Most of the damage from bashing in the door was done to the frame around the handle. However, you would guess that pulling hard enough to rip the handle off would break the twine before then, but just barely.

The door to the library seems perfectly intact and undamaged, beyond the normal wear and tear that doors get over the years it's been in the guest house.

Neither door appears to be locked, as each one can be opened about half an inch if the other one is fully shut. This leaves a crack just barely wider than a slip of paper between a room and the hallway, if the door is open as much as possible. Not enough space to look into the room, but enough for sound or to break an airtight seal. Since neither door is locked, possible to open one and cause the other to close, which would probably make quite a bit of noise.

The twine is sturdy and tied expertly, at just the right length to make all the above true. There is no additional slack on the line beyond that small amount that allows someone to barely open one door at a time, and it shows no signs of being broken and repaired. Both ends seem to have been cut from some longer spool at some point, likely with a knife.

Still immersed into processing all of the information, the detective will look around the stairs and the exit door. The details to pay attention are, blood or other liquids, any notable wear on the materials and smells.

>>17996

No particular smells stand out, aside from the standard smells that a person dying creates.

There is a small amount of blood three steps up on the left side of the stairway, in line with Hideyoshi's body, as well as a bit of a scuff mark on the wall, which coincides with a bit of a tear on his left sleeve. All other blood on the stairway seems to come from George, either from his leg wound or his head wound. If Eva's blood is anywhere on the stairs, it's been covered up with George's.

At the bottom of the stairs there is a great deal of blood, mostly from Eva's lower abdomen wound. Hideyoshi's back wound seems to have sprayed some blood on the nearby wall, but once he died it seems to have oozed from his knee and mouth in equal measure, just due to positioning.

The front door is locked and bolted from the inside, and does not appear to have suffered any damage, nor have any blood on it. Beside it in the entryway is a pair of small child's shoes with an umbrella, both drenched from the rain, which has the unfortunate effect of creating a small puddle in front of the door. The puddle seems undisturbed, but it's hard to say for sure as smaller bits of water may have evaporated by now.

"Okay, I got a question for you, Asmodeus.
What did Gohda mean when he said Rosa and Maria were stuck inside of the Library? Did he lock the door from the outside?"

Last edited at 15/08/19(Wed)12:34:25

>>17999

"The door to the library where Rosa and Maria were is not locked, if you'd care to check. It's the one on the other side of the hall from the servants' quarters, currently being held shut by the twine. It's quite possible that Gohda simply heard them shouting from in there. You could ask him, but he is dead tired right now."

She laughed at her own joke.

"Heh, you seem confident. Okay, I'll need to force some red out of you.
The culprit attacked the victims directly using a sharp weapon and then went to hide somewhere else."

"So, how do you like the wording of my blue?"

>>18001

"I like it just fine. After all, I would consider that somewhat self-evident. As the culprit is not standing next to the bodies, they hid elsewhere. The fact that they were attacked by a sharp object is also a pretty easy leap, considering the wounds."

She smirked. "Confirmed. The culprit attacked the victims directly with a sharp object and went to hide somewhere else. Wherever that somewhere else may be, even the parlor where Gohda was found, I leave up to your imagination. How do you like my wording, detective?"

Last edited at 15/08/19(Wed)17:51:23

"Then that's it. Case closed" the player sarcastically says with a smirk, patiently waiting for Asmodeus to prove him wrong.

>>18003

"Yet if I let you try to name me now, you'd surely get it wrong..." she said.

"Alright, I'll admit this for free. Gohda was right. At the time the game ended, the culprit was inside the guesthouse. Just to spice it up a bit more, I'll give you a shell game, as well. Three rooms, though, instead of three shells. The culprit is in either the guesthouse library, the guesthouse parlor, or the guesthouse servants' quarters at the time the game ends."

"If you think you can name me, detective, I am prepared to let you try. Though I recommend you think through every aspect of this game. I'm worried that there are some questions that you've overlooked. If, however, you'd like to keep laying out theory after theory as to how the culprit did it, I will be happy to keep shooting them down with red."

"Haha, I wasn't expecting you to get so acted up. No, in fact I can't be sure of the identity of the culprit yet." he says, in an apologetic voice.

"However, there's a solid red about it. And I'll need a clarification here.

So, let's see. At 10:30 PM, before George opened to door to the boiler room, tell me everyone who was in the group right then!"

>>18005

"Ah, noticed that did you? Damn..."

She hung her head in defeat and sighed. Finally she looked up, and said:

"No."

Letting out a mad cackle, she continued, "Do you think I'd give the game away so easily? I have no obligation to give you every bit of information you wish. I've given you the MYSTERY section dealing with that particular discovery, as well as the red that you so cunningly spotted. I think that's enough charity for that particular event, don't you?"

She laughed again, in a fashion not unlike Beatrice.

"Yeah, then you might not be able just to tell me that. Then let's return to that one I skipped" he says in a confident tone.

"Genji and Kinzo's murder. They couldn't find their corpses, but this genre of mystery needs a corpse, and you know, the deader the better. Would you find telling me about theirs?"

>>18007

"I suppose I could do that..." she said, muttering.

"As you would expect of being decapitated, Genji is dead. He died from decapitation. There are no defensive wounds on his body. As for Kinzo..."

She sat deep in thought for a couple moments, then nodded. "Kinzo is dead. He died of natural causes, being either old age or long term illness."

"I hope you're satisfied with that, detective, but I doubt you are," she finished with a smirk.

"And again, you're right, I'll also need to know when did Kinzo die. Oh, and what about Kinzo's studio? Can I investigate that place?" he asks, while he continues deep in thought.

>>18009

"I refuse to tell you when Kinzo died, only that he is dead by the time the game ended."

"As for the study, I won't let you look inside, but I'll tell you this: The door and windows are locked, and no other entrances or exist from the study exist. There is a button at Kinzo's desk that can be used to lock or unlock the study door, if the study door is closed. Otherwise, the door can only be locked or unlocked from within the room, or from outside the room with its proper key. It is impossible for a person to use an 'autolock' mechanism to open the door from within, step into the hallway, and then have the door automatically lock itself behind them."

Last edited at 15/08/20(Thu)17:22:50

"So? Was the key not used to lock the door again? For now I'll say that The culprit made someone unlock the door for them or was already inside. Then the culprit set a simple mechanism that would allow them to activate the locking button, or that would eventually do it without the need of someone being inside."

Last edited at 15/08/20(Thu)17:45:07

>>18011

"I need to stop thinking so much like a witch and start thinking like a Stake of Purgatory, maybe," she said.

"A single pointed denial should stop enough of that blue to be worthwhile. No mechanism was ever used or set up to push the lock button at Kinzo's desk."

"No dry ice? How disappointing" the detective claims.

"Then the key was used to lock the door the last time."

>>18013

"Actually, just as an aside, you would be amazed at how long it takes dry ice of any reasonable amount to actually disappear. Using dry ice for killing is required learning for demons nowadays. To the matter at hand, though, no. The key was not used to lock the door after Genji's death, and Genji still possessed the key when he died."

"So, no mechanisms, the key was inside with Genji and Kinzo died out of natural causes?

Then Kinzo himself locked the door after the culprit left! Then some hours later he died!" the detective exclaims while pointing his finger, perhaps more excited than with his previous answers.

>>18015

"Ha! A good theory," she exclaimed. "That one is good enough to deserve one hell of a rebuttal! Kinzo was not in the study when Genji died!"

Still in the mood, the detective continues on the offensive.

"Then if you're that confident, try to deny this! Genji's head was retrieved from the outside of the room! This was through a different exit from where a person wouldn't be able to leave, or through the window, but making sure the window get locked from the inside once the head is out!

>>18017

"Wrong again, detective! Genji's head was not retrieved from Kinzo's study through a window or any opening that would not normally be considered an entrance. The last time the windows in Kinzo's study were locked it was from the inside by human hands."

It was clear that if she wasn't chained to the chair she would have been jumping around with cruel joy.

"Then someone else rather than Kinzo stayed inside of the study after the culprit left!"

>>18029

She nodded. "A workable theory, though I'd ask you to name who it could have been. However, I'll just take it off the table. The culprit was alone with Genji at the time of Genji's death, and no one else came in the time it took for the culprit to escape the scene of the crime and seal the room with Genji's corpse inside of it."

She exhaled, then stayed still, keeping her eyes on the detective. Rather than the rampant energy of earlier, she showed a focused intensity.

"Right, that beats my blue, but only if Genji was killed while inside of Kinzo's studio!

Genji was killed in a different location! Then the culprit or someone else placed Genji's corpse inside of the studio and locked the room from the inside!"

>>18031

Asmodeus let out a growl, like a caged tiger.

"Fine, you want me to say it? The last time an entrance to Kinzo's room was locked, making it a closed room, was from the outside!"

"I have no idea if you're just messing with me, Asmodeous. But this challenge has been very fun so far" he admits.

"I'm going to say it was the window. The culprit or an unwilling accomplice created the closed room by locking the window from the outside.

>>18033

That gave her pause. Then, she let out a soft chuckle.

"You know what? I've had a lot of fun too."

She added, almost as an afterthought, "The windows of Kinzo's study cannot be locked from the outside."

Last edited at 15/08/20(Thu)21:16:05