Such edgy.

Kanbade Game Master

>>17978

I've created this classic gameboard to challenge...well, myself, really. I made an Umineko musical! Yay me! That being said, anyone and everyone is invited to try to solve it once it's done.

-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 per player 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.
-Blue Truth and Red Truth given in the story hold full weight (i.e. the Red is fact).
-UNIMPORTANT sections are utterly unimportant, they are just there for comedy and because I like having my games reference each other somehow.
-I have included audio for the songs. Keep in mind that this was done by two untrained singers on separate sides of the country with free software and whatever microphones we could use. Listen at your own risk, and be kind. If you could do better, do so! (No seriously, if we got a whole ensemble for this I'd think it was awesome.)

Have fun!

Last edited at 15/10/14(Wed)20:07:46

>>18340

MYSTERY

“Why don’t you just admit it, Natsuhi?” asked Eva, hiding her face behind her fan. “All the rest of us suspect it anyway. Father is dead, isn’t he? That’s why he didn’t come downstairs during last year’s family gathering. That’s why he isn’t coming downstairs this year. I bet we won’t see him at dinner tonight, or at breakfast tomorrow, or even when this storm passes and we all pile ourselves onto that boat and head back! We won’t see him until you and that fool brother of mine have spent every last bit of Father’s money and left us all destitute!” She closed her fan with a snap and slammed it on the table.

Natsuhi flinched and looked away like she’d been slapped, and the excuses that had been practically pouring out of her mouth did not resume.

The parlor was filled with a silence so thick that it could have been cut with a knife. The only relief from it was the sound of heavy raindrops falling against the windowpanes. Eva, Rudolf, and Kyrie all glared intensely at Natsuhi and Krauss, noting their reactions and waiting for them to crack. Rosa, who had grown up witnessing these types of family squabbles between Krauss and Eva, fell back into her old habit of standing off to one side and trying not to be too involved, even though she was the one who brought the briefcase full of evidence of Krauss’ financial missteps and the large tape recorder they had intended to use to tape Krauss’ and Natsuhi’s confessions. In one hand she nervously crumpled and toyed with the receipt from the store where she’d bought Maria candy, and in the other she held onto that now-empty briefcase, its existence forgotten by everyone else in the room. Hideyoshi meanwhile, ever the peacemaker, came up and placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder while looking at Krauss.

“Krauss, surely you see why we’re suspicious. This should be a simple matter. You say that Kinzo is alive, but the fact that you and Natsuhi keep objecting to us seeing him makes it seem like you’re hiding something. Yes, if Kinzo demanded that we don’t see him, he’ll be mad that we’ve disturbed him. But as bad as that is, is it worth having the Ushiromiya family tear itself apart trying to avoid it?”

Natsuhi straightened up. “Father is old, and he tasked us with making sure that his last days-"

“Natsuhi!” interjected Krauss, sharply. Natsuhi’s eyes widened in surprise and confusion as she looked at her husband, and he continued, “Enough is enough. We’ve tried to keep Father safe from these crows, but there’s nothing more to be done. Go tell Father that we need to see him. If he is not well enough to attend dinner, then we shall see him afterwards.”

“But, dear…” she began. He cut her off with a glance, and she bowed her head and turned to leave.

Eva laughed to hide her surprise and nervousness at Krauss’ declaration. “Don’t worry, Natsuhi. I’m sure a borrowed womb is easily able to talk to an imaginary man.”
Natsuhi slowed slightly at the door, hoping to hear her husband come to her defense, but he said nothing. Grasping her head in apparent pain, she left at the same time that Shannon and Gohda entered with a tray of tea.

“Dinner will be ready in an hour,” said Gohda as Shannon placed the tea tray on the table and picked up the teapot, using a light towel to shield her fingers from the heat. “In the meantime, please enjoy this superb black tea fr-"

The teapot slipped from Shannon’s grasp, and in the quiet parlor the crash and clatter the teapot and teacups made was a veritable cacophony. Hot tea splashed everywhere, and while it wasn’t hot enough to scald it was certainly hot enough to sting a bit. A rather large amount ended up on Eva’s favorite dress that she’d purchased in China, and she let out a louder shout than all the others.

“Clumsy girl! Look what you’ve done! It’s ruined! Why on earth were you made part of the staff to help us?”

Shannon looked like she was about to die of fright. “I-i-I’m sorry, milady. I’m v-ver-"

“Tch.” Eva cut her off as she pressed the napkin on her dress. “Gohda! Where’s that other one, the boy from last year?”

Genji, who had arrived after hearing the crash, answered for a speechless Gohda as Shannon desperately tried to pick up the broken pieces of ceramic off the floor. “I apologize, milady. Kanon was not feeling well, and so requested these days off to rest and see a doctor.”

Eva frowned as she tried in vain to dry her dress. “I hope it wasn’t a ‘Clumsiness’ disease, or else this girl may have caught it too.”

Gohda, who seemed to have finally found his voice again, blurted out, “I’m so sorry, and I beg your forgiveness. I will put on more tea right away.”

Krauss shook his head as he dabbed at his trademark gold tie with a napkin, trying to get out a spot of tea. “No, Gohda. I doubt any of us are in the mood for tea any more. You can resume preparations for dinner.” He pointedly did not acknowledge Shannon’s existence as she picked up the last of the ceramic and placed it on the tray, shaking and with tears barely contained in her eyes.

“I…I understand. I will do so.” Gohda and Shannon exited, with Gohda glaring daggers at Shannon’s back for making him look the fool.

Genji, still in the doorway, bowed. “I beg everyone’s forgiveness, and I assure you that Shannon will be disciplined. Is there anything anyone might require?”

Everyone still in the parlor shook their head or mumbled a negative. With that, Genji bowed and excused himself, leaving everyone in the parlor with a dark atmosphere surrounding them.

After a couple moments of silence, Hideyoshi said, “Come on, dear. Let’s go back to our room. My chefs taught me a trick for getting tea stains out of fabric a few years back.” Eva assented, giving Krauss one last dirty look as they left.

“I should probably check on Maria, make sure that she and her cousins are doing alright,” said Rosa, hurrying out of the room.

That left Rudolf, Kyrie, and Krauss in the room together. Rudolf broke the silence, “It’s a shame that business isn’t like poker, big brother. You’re really good at bluffing.”

Leaving his face impassive, Krauss replied, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Rudolf smiled. “Father, of course. He’s dead, and by midnight tonight we’ll all know it.”

Krauss smirked. “And you’re so certain I’m bluffing. Since when did you trust your reasoning so much?”

“I don’t,” laughed Rudolf. “I trust my wife’s.”

Kyrie finally spoke. “I’ve looked at this from every possible angle, Krauss. I’ve turned the chessboard over again and again. The only way these past two years make real sense is if Kinzo is dead. You and Natsuhi have bought as much time as you can, but the game is already over.” She started walking out of the parlor with Rudolf at her heels, but she turned at the doorway. “It’s checkmate in two moves. Good game. <Have a nice day.>”

After they’d gone, Krauss gritted his teeth and slammed his palm down on the table. Then he sat, held his head in his hands, and tried to think of any last way he could obey his father’s wishes.

Last edited at 15/10/13(Tue)01:21:30

>>18341

MYSTERY

In the guesthouse, George, Jessica, Battler, and Maria had spent the last few hours catching up with each other’s lives and joking around, while Nanjo read a book in his room across the hall. Maria had just finished recounting how Battler had acted on the boat ride over.

“Ahahahaha!” laughed Jessica. “Always the tough guy, eh Battler? Glad to see you haven’t changed a bit since the last time you were here!”

“H-hey, knock it off! So I get a little worried on boats and airplanes. That’s not too strange, right?”

“Uuu uuu! Going to fall, going to fall! Uuu! Battler should have asked Beatrice to save him!” said Maria, happily.

Battler rolled his eyes. He’d heard more than enough about Beatrice when he’d asked about the portrait and the strange epitaph in the entrance hall. “Yes, Maria,” he said wearily. “Surely the witch would have saved me.”

Despite being young, Battler’s voice was dripping with enough sarcasm that even Maria caught it. “Battler still doesn’t believe in witches…” she said, quietly. Her voice was different enough that all the other cousins looked at her, confused. “Kihihihihihi! Battler better hope that Beatrice doesn’t wake up tonight, or he’s in trouble!” She turned her gaze to Battler, and her expression was downright frightening, almost as if she had been possessed by some otherworldly demonic entity.

“H-hey, Maria, how about we play some card games while we wait for dinner?” asked George, and in an instant Maria was back to her normal self.

“Uuu! Card games! Card games! Maria’s on George’s team! Uuu uuu!”

“Alright,” said Jessica, forcing a laugh out and trying to put the spooky moment behind them all. “But first I need some water. I’ll be right back.” She stood and exited the room while George began shuffling the cards.

Last edited at 15/10/13(Tue)01:23:27

>>18342

FANTASY

A figure stood alone in an otherwise empty room. Although it was dimly lit by a few flickering candles set in tall candelabras, it was easy to see one thing: everywhere was the glint of gold. The floor was covered in gold sheets. The walls were covered in gold leaf. Even the lacquer of the wood on the four-poster bed and the sofa seemed to glint gold in the candlelight. Nowhere, however, was there more gold than in front of the room’s occupant. There rested brick upon brick of solid gold, stacked in a pile worth several million yen at least.

Most people, when confronted with such a sight, would surely laugh for joy, or stagger back in shock, or go mad with gold fever, or any other of a number of over-the-top actions. This figure, however, merely stood there and gazed at the pile of gold with a frown upon their face. Slowly, they reached out and picked up a solitary brick, holding it before themselves and gazing at their own reflection. They stroked the brick, feeling it’s coolness under their fingertips, but were surprised when droplets of water fell upon it. Reaching up, they felt their cheek, and realized they were their own tears. As they put the brick of gold back, music seemed to magically start playing, and they began to sing to the empty room.

“The gold shines bright in this chamber tonight
But its comfort is so cold
It cannot buy my freedom
Shall I forever be controlled?

The rain is falling like the teardrops from my eyes
I can’t keep my word, can’t maintain the lies.”

The figure began to gesture grandly, as if imitating Kinzo.

“‘Don’t let them know that I am dead’
‘Just a few years until you can be head’
‘Be brave to save the ones you love,’
That I don’t love!

I am free, I am free
Kinzo’s wish can’t be fulfilled
I am free, I am free
It’s past time that he was killed

I don’t care
‘Bout the price I’ll pay
So I’ll lose it all
The gold never bothered me anyway.”

Quickly the person began to pace around the room, talking to themselves.

“How can it be that honor
Can bind us all in chains
But now those bonds are broken
And resolve flows in my veins

It’s time to take what I am owed
They’ll reap the whirlwind that they sowed
The blood, the pain, the endless nights,
I’ll fight!

I am free, I am free
I’ll bring this house crashing down
I am free, I am free
Let no one wear the crown!”

Stopping in front of the pile of gold bricks, the person fell to their knees and bowed their head in reverence.

“Here I wish
And here I pray
Let them lose it all-“

In a whirlwind of shimmering golden light, butterflies swirled around the person, lifting them up into the air and cloaking them in a regal dress of black, red and gold as their form began to glow with an intense inner light.

“The magic fills me from my head down to my toes
My mind is blossoming with deadly magic no one knows
And deep in my soul I now make this sacred vow
I’ll do the ritual
The witch’s time is now!”

With one last explosion of light, the mysterious figure became Beatrice, the Golden Witch from the portrait.

“I am free, I am free
My resurrection is at hand
I am free, I am free
They’ll die at my command”

Beatrice turned and walked towards the room’s exit, her stride purposeful and confident.

“Spin the wheel
‘Cause it’s time to play
Let’s see who’ll lose it all!”

She sang as she threw the door open and stepped through.

“The gold never bothered me anyway.”

She finished, slamming the door behind her as the candles flickered out, leaving the room in total darkness.

Last edited at 15/10/13(Tue)01:24:27

>>18343

MYSTERY

In the kitchen, Gohda was cutting up a fish with all the skill that years of training had given him, and all the speed that desperation to make up for Shannon’s mistake could impart, his gloves not slowing him down in the least. Kumasawa brought over a large serving plate, covered in a beautiful and intricate design. She watched as Gohda sliced the exposed white flesh of the fish with his most precious knife into paper-thin slices and began arranging them on the platter. Each slice was so thin that the design of the platter beneath could easily be seen. Gohda had sliced many fish, and soon was stacking slice upon slice, creating an arrangement that resembled a white puffy flower in bloom, or a bush covered in snow. Although he had worked hard on this dinner and had prepared many dishes, this was to be its centerpiece, and it certainly looked the part.

“Oh Gohda, it looks marvelous,” said Kumasawa in heartfelt praise.

Gohda, who had been trying to figure out where to put the last slice of fish, smiled. “It took me many years of training to be able to create this specific meal. It was my signature dish when working at the hotel…” He sighed, reminiscing, then silently offered the last piece to Kumasawa.

Kumasawa looked surprised. “Really? Thank you, Gohda. Don’t worry about what the Master’s children say. You will always have a place amongst us servants.” She took the slice of fish between her thumb and forefinger and gingerly bit into it. She chewed it thoughtfully for a moment, then smiled. She finished off the piece and laughed. “Oh ho ho ho ho! It’s magnificent. The taste, the texture…it’s excellent. My mouth is tingling from it! Gohda, you must never tell a soul, but I think your sashimi has just replaced mackerel in my heart! Oh ho ho ho ho!”

“Then truly I, Gohda, am the greatest chef in all the land,” replied Gohda, his good spirits finally returned thanks to Kumasawa’s jokes. The pair fell silent however as Genji and Shannon entered.

“We have fetched those who were in the guest house, and everyone has gathered in the dining room. Is dinner ready?” asked Genji in the same serious voice he always maintained.

“Yes,” replied Gohda. “Assuming no…incidents,” he said, looking pointedly at Shannon, who turned away from his gaze, “I believe this will be a meal fit for the Ushiromiya family.”

“Very well. It must be. The family is quite agitated this year, and they must be calmed so that Lord Kinzo may remain undisturbed.” Knowing that that was enough to say, Genji walked to the counters and began picking up items to be placed on the serving carts. None of the other servants spoke, as they too began their tasks. When all was ready, they left for the dining room, Gohda carrying his masterpiece before him proudly.

>>18344

MYSTERY

Dinner had gone off without a hitch, and despite the continued feeling of tension between the family members, everyone had made sure to compliment Gohda on his excellent work and the exquisitely prepared food, although none had said that part of it was that they were glad that they had something to think about besides their current troubles. As predicted, Natsuhi had relayed that Kinzo would not join them, and true to that he had not appeared. Nevertheless, the children were in high spirits, and the adults had the good grace to not devolve into petty squabbling while they were in earshot. Still, all the adults knew by unspoken accord that after dinner the verbal battle would resume. Nanjo, likely to avoid getting dragged into it somehow, was the first to excuse himself from the dinner table and head back to the guesthouse. Shannon and Kumasawa were in the kitchen, cleaning up, while Gohda was preparing after dinner refreshments and considering which type of tea would pair well with the pâté he was making. Genji was in the dining room, attending to the family for as long as they wished. George suggested that the cousins return to the guesthouse as well, and Genji said that he would send Shannon over to them once she was done helping in the kitchen.

As they left, Rosa said to her daughter, “Now, Maria, don’t let your cousins keep you up too late. I will be over in a few hours to make sure that you’re asleep.”

“Uuu, Maria promises! When Mama comes by, Maria will be all wrapped up in her blankets! Uuu!” replied Maria, happily. Rosa looked annoyed by her daughter’s use of that childish sound, but she stayed quiet as they all left.

After they had gone, Krauss stood and looked at those who remained at the table. “Very well. Now that the children have left, let’s retire to the parlor once more. I can see that you wish to continue your accusations against me. You especially, Eva.”

Eva had opened her fan to cover the predatory grin on the lower half of her face, but it did nothing to hide the intensity in her eyes. “If you insist, brother. Though I do agree that it would be a shame to spoil the memory of such a rare meal with the taste of scandal, so perhaps a change of venue would be best after all. Lead on, since I imagine Natsuhi will need to go play her farce of checking up on Father again?”

Natsuhi had already risen from her chair and looked like she was heading out the door that would lead her to the stairs to Kinzo’s study. She frowned and looked like she was about to object, but Krauss held up his hand. “It’s alright, Natsuhi. I would rather father have a few more hours undisturbed anyways, and I believe I have something that might keep us all busy for those hours. Genji, could you please go to my study and get that item that Father entrusted to me a year ago? I keep it in the bottom right drawer of my desk.”

Without a word, Genji bowed and left. It took Natsuhi a moment to think about what Krauss might mean, but then she seemed to understand and her eyes went wide. Eva, Hideyoshi, Rudolf, Kyrie, and Rosa all seemed to be confused, but didn’t bother to ask what he meant as they all followed Krauss and his wife to the parlor.

>>18345

MYSTERY

Genji stopped by the kitchen before going to Krauss’ study. He seemed concerned Kurasawa was nowhere to be seen. “Shannon, when you are done with the kitchen, go to the guesthouse and see if Nanjo or the children require anything. Where is Kumasawa?”

“Ah, she was saying that the storm was making her back hurt too badly to stand and clean plates, so she was going to rest for a while…” replied Shannon as Gohda scooped the pâté into a serving dish and put a light dusting of paprika on the top, with a garnish of parsley. There was a little left over, which he put in a simple bowl.

Genji’s frown deepened, but he nodded. “Very well.” He looked to Gohda as Gohda moved the pâté to the fridge to chill. “Refreshments will be ready later tonight?”

Gohda nodded as he carefully placed the serving dish on a shelf in the fridge, then the leftover portion beside it. “Yes, as long as they don’t wish for it right away. This pâté has to chill for at least an hour for the flavor to develop and the right consistency to develop. I’ve also found a dimbula tea that should pair excellently with the spiced flavors. If they want something now, I could brew up a pu-erh that would give an excellent kick, though. Or brandy?”

Genji shook his head. “I do not believe they want anything yet, but that is good to know.” He turned to leave.

“G-Genji?” asked Shannon, timidly. He turned to look at her. “A-about my…punishment…?”

Genji nodded solemnly and walked over to her. He looked into her eyes, appraisingly, then said, “You were clumsy and made a mistake. These will be a stressful two days. Stay focused. Do not make mistakes. You have now endured a vicious but fitting punishment, suiting the level of your folly. Understood?” he asked, looking at her as well as at Gohda.

Gohda pursed his lips, looking over at Shannon, who had been trembling with fright when Genji had approached her. He nodded.

Shannon didn’t seem to understand right away that she was being let off the hook, but once she did, she smiled. “Y-yes, I understand!” Then she quickly tried to force her face into a look of dismay and regret, with only mild success.

“Very well. I must resume my duties,” said Genji, his own face never losing its serious look as he turned once more and left the kitchen, heading towards Krauss’ study.

>>18346

MYSTERY

Krauss held up what Genji had just delivered to him. Genji had excused himself afterwards, saying that he had to discuss a schedule change with Kumasawa. No one else in the study really cared, as they were all too focused on what Krauss now held.

It was an envelope which bore the crest of the One-Winged Eagle, and the wax seal upon it had been made with Kinzo’s ring, the ring of the head of the Ushiromiya family.

“In this envelope is Father’s Last Will and Testament. He prepared it over a year ago when his health took a downturn. It is fully legal, and has been witnessed by Doctor Nanjo. It, of course, does not go into effect until after he passes on, but I imagine all these accusations of yours stem from wanting to know how much of the family fortune you’ll all get. So, I thank you, Rudolf, for giving me this idea.” Rudolf looked surprised, but Krauss continued. “Right now, it’s like we’re playing cards without knowing how many chips we have to work with. Even I don’t know what’s in this Will. Father entrusted it to me, to be opened when he was dead, but if we were to open it now we would know where we stood.”

The others took in this information quietly, looking around to see how everyone was reacting. Kyrie was the first to speak up, however. “That’s an interesting thought. Not something I could see you proposing without an addendum, though. What are your conditions?”

Krauss chuckled. “True. My conditions are simple. First is this. Mutually assured destruction. You all know you came here to essentially blackmail me. So we stop beating around the bush. You admit that you’re trying to blackmail me, and I confess the things that I have done wrong.”

Everyone else started talking at once except for Kyrie, and loudest was Natsuhi: “No! Dear!”

Krauss held up his hands, and after a few seconds the room calmed. Kyrie had walked over to the nearly-forgotten reel-to-reel tape recorder, and was idly running a finger along one of its edges. Before Krauss could continue, she spoke. “Recorded, of course. That way we have evidence of your confession, and you have our admission of blackmail.” Krauss nodded, and she murmured, “Mutually assured, indeed.”

Eva glared at Krauss, “You’re the only one who’s done anything wrong. Embezzlement, concealing the death of our Father, possibly even his murder! Why should we admit to anything?”

Smirking, Krauss replied, “Because we’re family, like it or not. If we’re tied together in this, I’m giving my guarantee to help you all in whatever ways I can. I’m offering this so that I can get the same guarantee from you.” Eva stammered, trying to come up with a response, but eventually she fell silent.

“You said you had conditions, but you’ve only given one. What’s the other?” asked Hideyoshi.

“Whatever the contents of this Will are, we agree to abide by them as best we can once Father passes away. Fighting it would only cause the legal system to get involved, and no one wants that,” replied Krauss. Eva looked away in annoyance when Krauss insinuated again that Kinzo was alive, but no longer objected.

“And if you happen to know the contents of the Will and know you get absolutely everything, we’ll have the tape recording to act as the blackmail it’s meant to be, to make sure you help us like you say you will,” concluded Kyrie.

Krauss nodded with finality. “Yes. So, if you all agree, we can do all of this, and then I will personally take us up to see Father.”

Eva, Hideyoshi, Kyrie, Rudolf, and Rosa gathered together and conferred, until finally Kyrie, whose position of mastermind had become apparent, turned to Krauss. “We agree. Rosa, get the documents and switch on the tape recorder. Then maybe go tell one of the servants that we’ll need something to drink at some point. Tea, probably, for the caffeine. This might be a long night.” Rosa did as she was bid, and then went out of the parlor towards the kitchen. Krauss calmly sat in a chair, while his wife stood behind him, a hand resting on his shoulder supportively. He laid the envelope on an end table next to him and began to talk about his failed business prospects and the shady characters and deals he’d worked with and made.

>>18347

MYSTERY

Gohda turned as he saw Rosa enter the kitchen, and his eyebrows raised. Raising his hands from the sink where he was helping Shannon with the very last dishes that he’d used to make the pâté, he quickly dried them. “Yes, Miss Rosa, can we be of assistance?”

Shannon also turned as Rosa nodded. “We were hoping to get refreshments in the parlor. Tea. Probably in about fifteen minutes or so? Something strong.”

Gohda bowed. “I was already preparing something, Miss Rosa. Tea and pâté, and the pâté should be ready just about then. Both should be excellent pick-me-ups,” he said with a level of pride that made Rosa smile in response.

“I don’t doubt it, after that wonderful meal.” Rosa looked to Shannon. “Shannon, I thought you would be with the children by now.”

Shannon bowed. “My apologies, miss. Kumasawa wasn’t able to help with the dishes, so it took longer than expected. I’ll be going shortly.”

Rosa nodded. “Good,” she said, curtly. Then she sighed. “I’m sorry, this night has us all on edge I think. It’s probably this storm. It feels…unnatural. I should go check on Maria…” Shaking her head, she left to head back to the parlor and then to her daughter.

Shannon shivered a little, though possibly not from the cold. Noting this, Gohda whispered to her, perhaps inspired by Genji’s generosity earlier, “Hey, Shannon. I made a little extra pâté, and I need to make sure it tastes alright, even though it hasn’t chilled quite enough. How about you try some before you head over?”

She looked at him in surprise, then nodded happily. If they were to be trapped in an unnatural storm, she figured, at least she’d get to try something she’d never had before. She tasted some of the exquisite pâté and grinned. “It tastes wonderful. They’re going to love it, Gohda. Th-thank you for letting me have some.”

Gohda smiled slightly, but tried to keep a stern look on his face. “You’re welcome, and thank you for the praise. Now run along to the guest house. They’ll probably be needing something soon, and who knows where Genji and Kumasawa are now.”

Shannon nodded and left the kitchen, getting items that she’d need to brave the storm that had cut the island off from the outside world.

>>18348

MYSTERY

In the parlor, Krauss talked on, with occasional clarifications for questions asked of him. Rosa had stopped in for a few moments to say that she was going to check on Maria and make sure she was asleep, now that a resolution, no matter how odd, had been reached.

After about fifteen minutes, as Krauss’ confessions were winding down, Gohda had entered pushing a tray of tea and a fine liver pâté and crackers, which he managed to drag out into a couple-minute long presentation that made it all sound mouthwatering enough that they paused the recording for a moment to enjoy the snack after he had left. Hideyoshi joked that if the tape were ever used in court, they’d have to bring in Gohda to make the pâté for the judge. Everyone got a good chuckle out of that, and for the first time in years it almost felt, in this strange scene, that they were truly becoming a family again.

Once the snacks were done, the recording started up again. Each of the other people in the room gave a simple, solemn confession: They had made this recording with the intent to blackmail Krauss Ushiromiya. Just like that, it was done, aside from Rosa, who they all agreed they’d just add to the recording when she came back so they didn’t have to wait. They left the recorder running to capture the Will in another form.

It was time to open the envelope. Krauss was the one to do the honors, as his father had entrusted it to him and so it was up to him to break that trust. Although he tried his best to be composed, he was surprised to find his hands shaking and his heart racing as he broke the seal. Everyone else was seated, no doubt to hide their own nervousness as he pulled out the papers within and set the envelope aside.

He quickly began skimming the document, but then paused. “The one who solves the riddle of the epitaph…?” he murmured. At the confused and shocked expressions of those in the room with him, he got ready to start from the beginning. Swallowing, he began, “I, Kinzo Ushiromiya, being of sound mind and unsound body, do hereby convey this message from Beatrice, the Golden Witch, and note that it should be taken as my Last Will and Testament…”

>>18349

FANTASY

No one immediately noticed the golden butterfly as it crawled out of the forgotten envelope, but as it took to the air all eyes were drawn to it. Krauss’ voice faltered and died as he watched it flap its way over to the parlor doors. It hovered in front of them for a moment, and the light breeze caused by its flapping wings was somehow enough to gently blow the doors closed. As they did, the butterfly dissolved and reformed into an elegantly-dressed young woman with golden hair. All immediately knew her, because she was the splitting image of the woman from the portrait. She was the Golden Witch, Beatrice. However, they felt frozen in their chairs by the shock of what they had just seen, and the fact that music suddenly seemed to come from every shadow in the room did not lessen their amazement at all.

Beatrice turned from the door and smiled charmingly at them, and the lights elsewhere in the room seemed to dim, making the parlor seem almost like an unworldly and beautiful restaurant.

“Welcome, Ushiromiya Family,” she spoke. “It is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that I welcome you to my island, and I invite you to play a part in an intellectual and yet elegant night dedicated to solving my epitaph, but first I am proud to present – your murders!” she finished with deeply felt glee.

She then began to sing to each and every one, walking around the room and between the chairs.

“Here’s the pitch:
To get rich
Solve the Riddle of the Witch
See, the first one gets the gold, my dears
It doesn’t matter which

Wise gets praised
Love gets saved
And the family’s debt gets waived
Take it all if you’re ambitious
But give up and I’ll get vicious!

You can run, you can hide,
But I’ve got magic on my side
And making closed room murders really is my niche
So go and work those grey cells
Or else say your farewells
To get rich
Very rich
Stop the witch.”

She waved her hand, and out from the shadows stepped monstrous humanoid forms that resembled black goats, and each one stood beside one of the humans, leaving them paralyzed in fear as Beatrice continued:

“The hometown, loved a ton
Sweetfish river there will run
Float downstream just like a dream
But see my scheme has just begun!
You’ll see two, they’ll tell more
Of the village and its shore
Then this part, most tantalizing
We begin the sacrificing
At the start, we need six
They’ll be ones that the key picks.”

The goats all joined in at once.

“And we’re here to make you die without a twitch
The First Twilight is you
There’s not a thing to do
It’s the sitch.”

Beatrice cut in as Rudolf started to uselessly struggle against the goat that was now holding him firmly.

“You can’t ditch
‘Cause this island is bewitched!”

The goats resumed:

“By the Witch, for the Witch, Golden Witch!”

Suddenly, all the lights in the room went out, yet strangely there was a beam of light from the ceiling that highlighted Beatrice like a spotlight. She lay across the coffee table like a lounge singer might lay on a piano, and a microphone had appeared in her hand.

“Life is sad and tragic
For a witch who’s lost her magic
Just a soul that’s left to stroll the empty halls
Ah, the good old days when I was living
Walk the beach and hear the seagull calls

For decades I’ve been waiting
Doing little more than hating
Wanting your respect, a simple bit of praise
The shrine upon the rocks was unforgiving…”
Shrine just up and vanished
Now my power can’t be banished!”

She hopped off the table with the last lines as the lights came back on, revealing another witch dressed in black and with long blue-grey hair, as well as seven young women, each wearing a strange maid outfit and playing instruments. The other witch, who was named Virgilia, sang.

“For the witch, for the witch
Death to song, now that’s a switch!”

She turned to the young women, who were the Seven Sisters of Purgatory.

“Have a ball and kill them all
Make sure there’s no one left to snitch

Now Rosa, and her brat
Twilight Two we’ll get them at
As the humans get to praising
Make the next twilights amazing!”

As the Sisters saluted her command and started to dance around the room, Virgilia started to count off items on her fingers.

“First the head, then the chest
Stomach, knee, and leg are next
Gouge and Kill
It must be done without a glitch!

We can’t have any slack
To bring my student back
The endless witch!”

The goats chimed in:

“Golden witch!”

She sang back:

“For the witch!”

And they all sang together:

“For the witch!”

The goats and Sisters sang together in a great chorus.

“For the witch, for the witch
We’ll scrub the floors or dig a ditch
We can slaughter all of Rokkenjima now, or when you wish

With a stab, with a slash,
Or maybe with a mighty crash
All the terror we’ll inspire
Kinzo’s body found on fire!”

The Sisters and goats formed a long line, and began kicking in time with the music as Beatrice stood in front of them, stealing the show.

“Corpse by corpse
Kill by kill
Until at last we break their will
And in the end the Golden Doorway will unhitch

We know they’ll gaze in wonder
‘Fore they’re six feet under
At the witch
She’s a witch
Endless Witch!”

As they prepared for the end of the song, the Sisters turned into metal stakes and began bouncing around the room. The gusts of wind this caused was enough to blow the papers around the room, including the envelope and the Will. As the note was held, each one slammed into the head of one of the six Ushiromiyas in the room with enough force to practically destroy their faces.

“The Golden Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch!”

As the music ended, the envelope and Will landed, as if by magic, in the hand that Beatrice had stretched above her, and the room went dark, with only the silhouette of Beatrice faintly visible.

Last edited at 15/10/13(Tue)00:14:57

>>18350

MYSTERY

Genji and Kumasawa were the first to discover the scene, as Genji had just woken Kumasawa from where he had found her napping and was going to the parlor to see if the family had any further needs. Upon getting there, he found that the door wouldn’t budge, which was very odd as the parlor doors had no lock on them. Leaving Kumasawa in front of the doors, he walked around to the outside and peered in through the windows. Although the lights were off, a flash of lightning revealed human figures sprawled in various positions around the room. Genji quickly tried all the windows of the room, but found them all locked. Desperately he rammed his elbow into a window pane, then reached through to unlock it. Opening it, he climbed in and carefully walked towards the lightswitch. Flicking it on revealed a horrible scene. The six Ushiromiyas lay sprawled on chairs and couches, each one’s face having been turned into a bloody pulp at best and their skull nearly completely disintegrated at worst. There was no need to check to see if they were dead. Papers had been scattered around the room, and many were splattered in blood. The door had been barred by a hat rack that he recognized from the entrance hall. Removing it, he set it aside and stepped through, much to Kumasawa’s surprise. Pulling a knife from inside his coat, he handed it to her. Without answering her frantic questions about what had happened, he told her to stay put and guard that door with her life while he went to get people from the guest house.

“B-but, I thought you always said that the head servant must be on call at the mansion to serve!” she said desperately.

Genji paused and then said, “There’s nothing more I can do for anyone here. I’ll be back as soon as I can. If you see Gohda, tell him to stay with you, but be careful.” With that, he ran out towards the guesthouse, leaving her to wonder if he meant she should be careful with Gohda, or careful because of Gohda.

As Genji made it to the guesthouse, he went through the unlocked front door and found no one waiting in the main room. Looking into the servants’ quarters, he found Gohda working on a crossword puzzle. “Gohda!” he said, startling the other servant. “Who is here?”

“When I got here I went around and asked if anyone needed anything. Battler, Jessica, and George were in the far guest room on the second floor, getting ready to play a round of cards. Maria and Rosa were in the cousins’ room, and Rosa was tucking her in for sleep. Doctor Nanjo was reading in bed in the room across from the cousins’ room. None of them needed anything, so I came down here. I haven’t seen anyone leave, so I think everyone’s still here. Why?”

Gohda shook his head. “I’ll explain later. For the moment we need to get Rosa and Doctor Nanjo. Come with me.”

Together they ascended the stairs. All of the doors were shut, though voices and laughter could barely be heard through the farthest door. Genji knocked on the cousins’ room door, but there was no reply. He knocked again, then tried the door handle. It was unlocked so he pushed it open. On one of the beds by the window they could see two forms, one larger than the other. Lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled.

The larger form, Rosa, shifted and sat up, blinking. Seeing Genji and Gohda silhouetted in the doorway, she stretched a bit and stood. “I’m sorry, I must have fallen asleep! Did they send you both to get me?”

Maria stirred and murmured a soft ‘uuu’ before sitting up on the bed and rubbing her eyes sleepily. “Mama? What’s going on?”

Genji’s eyes flicked over to Maria, then back to Rosa. “Miss Rosa, there’s been an…incident. Please come with us to the mansion. I will explain on the way.”

Rosa frowned and walked over to them. “Genji, what happened?” she asked quietly. Gohda leaned in as well, so that he could finally know. Softly, Genji explained what he had seen. Rosa went pale and gasped in shock, and Gohda seemed about to explode in a scream until Genji placed a hand on his arm and glanced over at Maria, where she continued to sit on the bed.

Rosa nodded and walked over to Maria. “It’s ok, Maria. There’s just been a problem at the mansion. I need to go check on it. You stay here, alright? Right here in this room. And once I leave, lock the door. Don’t let anyone in except for me, understand? Not even your cousins.”

“Maria wants to go with Mama! Uuu!” said Maria.

“Maria!” said Rosa, loudly, before gaining control of herself. “Maria, please listen to your Mama. Please.” She turned to go, then paused. Turning back, she knelt and hugged Maria. “I love you, Maria.”

“Uuu…Maria loves Mama,” replied Maria, confused but happy.

With that, Rosa, Genji, and Gohda left the room. They waited until they heard the click of Maria turning the lock, then walked over and knocked on Nanjo’s door. After some shuffling sounds, Doctor Nanjo opened the door. His look of confusion instantly dissolved to one of concern as he saw the faces of those waiting for him. Turning, he grabbed his medical bag, since he knew there was only one reason a gathering of anxious people would come find a doctor at this time of night. “Who, where, and how bad?”

Last edited at 15/10/13(Tue)00:19:03

>>18351

MYSTERY

Doctor Nanjo stood from the last corpse. “There’s no way it could be anything else but murder. They were killed by...honestly, I’m not sure. It’d be almost something like a mace. Blunt impact with a rough and bumpy surface.”

Kumasawa said, shuddering, “But…but their faces, their heads…they’re…”

Nanjo nodded. “Multiple strikes per person. It’s the only way that it would work, I imagine.”

Rosa, her eyes red from crying, sniffed and said, “But…how could someone do this? Krauss, Rudolf, Hideyoshi…one of them should have been able to stop this, or at least tried to. But they’re…sitting down…”

Nanjo shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe they were unconscious? I can’t tell more with what I have here.” He walked over to Genji and handed him the key to Kinzo’s study that he had taken from Natsuhi’s body.

Genji nodded. “Thank you, Doctor Nanjo. Could any of them be a suicide?”

Nanjo shook his head again. “They’d have passed out before they would have died, and even if that was the case, I don’t see anything around here that would have worked to cause these wounds.”

Kumasawa looked to Genji. “Then…who could have killed them? You said the windows were locked, and we couldn’t get in the door because of the hat rack. There’s no other way into or out of the room!”

They all fell silent as they considered the problem, which is when Gohda heard something. “What…is that whirring?” he asked, nervously. Everyone looked around, and then Rosa spotted the tape recorder.

“It’s still running!” she said, hurrying over and stopping the recorder. The tape had apparently run out completely, and she needed to reattach it to the other reel. She set it up to play, flipped the switch, and they all listened. The only sound that came out was static. She fast forwarded the tape, but it was all the same. “Something ruined the tape. Maybe it was demagnetized… There’s nothing.” With that, she turned the tape off.

Kumasawa had walked over to the table. Resting on top of it was an opened envelope which bore a broken seal of the Ushiromiya family. “Genji, is this…”

Genji nodded. “Master Krauss asked me to bring it so that it could be read.”

Rosa walked over slowly and held out her hand. Kumasawa gave her the envelope, and Rosa withdrew its contents. Taking a breath, she began to read, “’Welcome, Ushiromiya Family. It is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that I welcome you to my island, and I invite you to play a part in an intellectual and yet elegant night dedicated to solving my epitaph, but first I am proud to present these murders as a backdrop for your consideration. You have had years to work on the problem, and are no nearer a solution, so I have instituted a time penalty. If you cannot solve my epitaph in a more timely fashion, this fate awaits you all. Do your best. Beatrice the Golden.”

She read it all out, and then they stood there in silence for a couple moments, each alone with their thoughts. Finally Nanjo said, “We need to tell the children.”

Rosa nodded. “And Shannon. Where is she?” She noted the others in the room looking at each other helplessly. “Does anyone know where she is?”

Gohda replied, “She was supposed to be at the guesthouse, but I didn’t see her when I got there. Not in the servants’ room, and not with the cousins. Maybe she was in the restroom? I thought she came back to the mansion.”

Frowning, Genji said, “I have not seen her, and she is to check in with me if she is returning to help with the mansion. Gohda. Kumasawa. Stay here and search for her, as well as all the possible rooms. Miss Rosa, if you will permit me to go with you to the guesthouse and collect the children?” Rosa nodded.

“I will stay here and see if I can learn anything more,” said Doctor Nanjo.

Showing what respect for the dead that they could, they relocked the broken window, and the four who were leaving left in silence, while the doctor sighed and continued his examinations.

>>18352

MYSTERY

Genji knocked on the door to the far room, where voices and laughter could still be heard.

“Come in!” called Jessica’s voice, and so Genji opened the door, excusing their entrance and allowing Rosa to enter first.

The cousins did not take the news of their parents’ deaths well, not that they could have been expected to. George looked down, hiding the pain that was almost certainly in his eyes. Jessica was rendered speechless for once. Battler raged and carried on. He gripped the lapels of Genji’s coat and demanded to know why he hadn’t protected them. He accused Rosa of doing it so that she could gain all the inheritance. He shouted that he was going to find the culprit and kill them. Finally, his rage spent, he collapsed to his knees and cried.

“So we do not have any clues yet?” asked George, quietly.

“No,” replied Rosa. “I mean, Nanjo examined…” she trailed off, helplessly. That’s when Jessica leapt up and bolted out of the room and down the hallway, tears streaming from her eyes.

“J-Jessica!” called George, running after her, with Battler hot on his heels.

Genji looked to Rosa, and she nodded in their direction. “Go, I’ll get my daughter and meet you all back there,” she said, and Genji bowed and jogged after them as fast as he could manage.

Rosa walked next door and knocked on the door. “Maria? Maria, it’s me, it’s Mama. It’s alright, you can open the door.”

>>18353

FANTASY

There was the click of the lock, but the door remained shut. Confused, Rosa opened the door and stepped inside. She was stunned to find Maria, not inside the room, but outside the window, hovering in thin air in a bubble of golden light. Although she seemed to be furiously screaming and pounding on it, no sound was made. Rosa ran into the room and to the open window, but as she did the door behind her shut, and the lock engaged once more. She barely noticed. As she looked out the window towards her daughter, a woman floated down beside her and smirked in a truly demonic fashion. It was Beatrice.

“Hello Rosa,” the witch began. “How nice of you to join us. Maria and I were just having a tea party, like we used to have. Isn’t this nice, Maria?” Maria looked to Beatrice and glared, which caused the witch to laugh. “Alright, I know, I’m sorry. It doesn’t quite measure up in elegance. I do hope you forgive me though. You see, this is so that we can test how fit of a mother your Mama really is.” She turned her gaze back to Rosa, and the intensity of it caused Rosa to shudder involuntarily.

“Wh-what do you mean, witch!?” asked Rosa.

“I know you, Rosa. I’ve watched you these many years. I’ve seen you hurt Maria. Your own flesh and blood. You feel remorse when it’s done, but that never stops you from doing it again. And again. Every time I wish you would change like you promise yourself you will. You never do though. So I think it’s time we see if you’re even carrying the kind of love a mother needs for her child. A love where you’re willing to throw it all away on the slim hope that you can help her even a little bit. That, dear Rosa, is what I mean.”

She floated back away from the window slightly, and Rosa could suddenly hear Maria’s yelp of fear as the golden cocoon-shaped light floated back as well. “Maria!” she cried, vainly reaching out of the window even though her daughter was much too far away.

“Mama! Mama help!” replied Maria, looking down at the ground over two stories below her with fear.

“Give her to me!” demanded Rosa.

Beatrice only rolled her eyes, then lightly ran her finger against the light. It flickered for an instant, and then almost imperceptibly began to fade. “Do you know anything about magical seals?” she asked, but continued before Rosa could respond. “Some of them, like this one, have a very simple design. When they’re touched, they begin to fade away. Some of them take an hour. This one only takes about fifteen minutes, though. That’s fifteen minutes until this bubble pops and your little Maria has to be bound by the laws of physics again.”

Rosa ran back to the door of the room and tried to unlock it, but the lock was jammed shut. She shook the handle with frustration as Beatrice laughed.

“No, no ladders, no simple little human tricks like that, Rosa. Magic comes from the heart. From desires so strong that they can be made real by that alone. That is what you need here, Rosa. I’m going to test to see if you can bring about magic, for the sake of your daughter.” She flew around to the other side of bubble. “I need you to do a leap of faith. If you reach your daughter, then I’ll let you both down gently. If not, well then the only magical force you’ll need to be worried about is called gravity, but at least your daughter will fall after you so you won’t have to witness the final result of you failing her again.”

Rosa’s expression became resolute. “I could just land and catch her. It’s not that far a fall,” she said with far more confidence in her voice than she felt looking out the window.

Beatrice frowned. “Always trying to weasel your way out of things, aren’t you? It’s plenty far enough, and just to make it certain, I’ll add this. No one can leap from the second floor of the guesthouse to the ground and survive.”

Rosa knew it was true. She didn’t know how or why, but she suddenly knew that if she leapt from that window, missed her daughter, and hit the ground, she would die. The false bravado she had cultivated collapsed, and she paced in front of the window and around the room. She leaned out and tried to figure out her odds of climbing onto the roof for extra height.

As she floated beside Maria, Beatrice was joined by Virgilia, who dissolved into existence beside her. She was also joined by a handsome man in a butler’s outfit. He was known as Ronove, and was Beatrice’s demon butler.

“Why won’t she jump?” murmured Beatrice.

“I don’t think she believes in her own ability to make magic. It’s the same phenomenon you once had, dear child,” replied Virgilia with a light chuckle.

Beatrice, however, was not in the mood for reminiscing. “Oh come now, Rosa, we’ve been over this enough,” she said, annoyed as she watched the light continue to fade around Maria. “If you reach her, then I’ll let you both down safely. Your touch can break my magical hold on her. But all magic involves risk! So you need to jump. I’d say you have at least…alright, don’t think of the odds, but it’s possible. So do it already! I’m running low on time, and so is she.”

Rosa continued to hesitate, however, and Ronove let out a small cough to get Beatrice’s attention. “Miss Beatrice, even in situations like this, humans are governed by what they believe to be possible and impossible. Magic, they believe, is impossible. You have not set the proper mood that she might consider it possible.”

Beatrice pouted. “I’m floating in the rain. You and Teacher are floating in the rain. Her daughter is floating in the rain surrounded by magical energy. What more mood could be needed?” Then she sighed. “Besides, why do I need to set the mood? That’s your job as my furniture, isn’t it?”

Ronove chuckled lightly. “I suppose it is, yes. Do I have your permission to set the mood for this Twilight?”

Smiling as she realized she’d been played, Beatrice nodded. “Go ahead, you scene stealing demon.”

“Very well,” he replied, then he clapped. Virgilia drifted to his side, and the Seven Sisters appeared before him in a traditional orchestra arrangement, each carrying string instruments, which they quickly tuned. “Is everyone ready?” he asked, holding his hands up like a conductor. “At Miss Beatrice’s request, let us create…the mood.”

“Lighting!”

Music began to play, and Virgilia cast a quick spell. All around, the world turned a hazy and unreal purple color. The rain slowed down slightly, and the drops sparkled like diamonds.

“Demons!”

The Seven Sisters began to play.

“Wings!”

A beautiful swirl of golden butterflies seemed to spring up from the ground, from within bushes, from behind trees, and even from midair. They began to fly around in beautiful patterns.

“Words…” he finished, floating over beside the window and gesturing out towards Maria.

“There you see her
Floating there out in the air
But even though you must beware
This girl is your daughter
Although you can’t fly
Without you, she’ll die
You’ve got to save your girl.”

The Seven Sisters floated over and added their voices to his.

“Yes, she needs you
Trapped inside that gold cocoon
And here within this cursed typhoon,”

Virgilia came and joined in as a counterpoint.

“You’ll find love you once knew
Though the risk is steep
If you take the leap
You might just save your girl.”

Ronove smiled and held his arms wide to the world.

“Sing with me now.”

And the chorus began:

“Mama, Mama, Mama
Dear oh dear
Seems she’s too full of fear
She will not save her girl
Mama, Mama, Mama
I guess she’ll drop
Her little life will stop,”

And for emphasis, only Ronove sang,

“And you’ll just mourn your girl.”

The demons and Virgilia floated back, and the sound of rain dimmed, allowing Rosa and Maria to call out to each other.

“I’m coming, Maria! Mama is coming!” said Rosa.

“Mama! Mama, I’m frightened!” replied Maria.

“I know, Maria. But I’m going to get you down.”

“I…I know, Mama. Mama always saves me, no matter what.”

“Yes,” said Rosa, with tears in her eyes. “Yes, Maria, that’s right. Your Mama will always save you. Even now. I’m going to reach you.”

The golden cocoon flickered once more, and Ronove and the Sisters flew back in. Ronove continued to sing, with the Sisters acting as accompaniment.

“Time has grown short (Yah yah yah)
Your little girl’s gonna fall (Yah yah yah)
It’s time for you to stand up tall
And the ball is in your court (Yah yah yah yah yah yah)
So can you be her mom
And act with aplomb
And try to save your girl?”

As the music rose, the butterflies began to spin and twirl and dance around the area in a massive and beautiful golden tornado. Much to Beatrice’s surprise, even they joined in on the song, shouting encouragement to Rosa.

“Mama, Mama, Mama
Show your love
Here as she floats above
Now you can save your girl (Whoa whoa!)
Mama, Mama, Mama
Prove your worth
Of all those on this earth
You want to save your girl (Whoa whoa!)
Mama, Mama, Mama
Little jump
Oh don’t be such a chump
Go try to save your girl (Whoa whoa!)
Mama, Mama, Mama
Magic night
So maybe you’ll take flight
If you go save your girl!”

Gathering every ounce of her determination, Rosa charged and leapt out from the window, her fingers outstretched toward her daughter. Time slowed down, and the demons drifted along beside her as she slowly fell through the air. Virgilia had drifted back up beside Beatrice and sang her encouragement.

“(You’ve got to) save your girl
(Fly out and) save your girl
(You’ve almost) saved your girl!”

Ronove took the last line of encouragement himself, willing her to make it.

“Come on and save your girl”

As the music ended, Rosa’s fingertips touched the very edge of the cocoon.

Last edited at 15/10/13(Tue)01:26:39

>>18354

FANTASY

A few moments later, the demons, the witches, and the butterflies looked down at the two corpses below. Rosa had made it far enough to break the magical seal, but in a cruel twist of fate had not then reached far enough to touch her daughter, so both had plummeted to the earth together.

Shrugging, Beatrice turned to look at one of the butterflies flapping in the rain beside her, as she drifted over and gently shut the window. “You never told me you could talk, much less sing.”

The butterfly replied, in a gruff accent very unlike his singing voice, “Yeah, you never asked us, lady. That’s management for ya, eh? To you we’re all just convenient window dressing that you can summon and unsummon at will. You know what kind of life that’s like for our families? And what about hazard pay? Steve got impaled by a throwing knife last month! We’re thinkin’ of formin’ a union. I’ve got a set of demands here, and don’t you dare think about making me disa-“

His words were cut off as Beatrice waved her hands, causing them to disappear. Then she turned to Ronove and nodded to him as they all started to fly off into the storm. “Thank you for your assistance with this one, Ronove, but shouldn’t we be worried about the body presentation? It seems far too clear what happened.”

Ronove smiled in an almost condescending fashion. Beatrice could never decide if she found that smile charming or infuriating. “Do not worry, Miss Beatrice,” he replied. “It’s been too long since the wolves had something that tasty to snack on, and they are an excellent way to obfuscate a crime scene.”

Beatrice’s eyes widened in shock. “There ARE wolves on Rokkenjima?!” She looked back at the corpses behind them, a surprised expression on her face. “That lying little floozy!”

They flew on, and in a lightning flash, they were gone.

>>18355

MYSTERY

Genji caught up with Jessica, George, and Battler as they stood outside the once-again open door of the parlor. It looked like they had been frozen at the horrific sight of their parents, and had simply remained motionless at the entrance for the half-minute or so that Genji had had them out of his sight. Nanjo was standing off to the side, staying respectfully quiet. As he walked up, Genji could only say what he had said already to Battler. “I’m sorry that I failed them.”

This seemed to shake them out of their stillness, though none of them acknowledged him. Jessica entered first, slowly walking over to the corpses of her parents. She knelt by them, unable to lift her gaze to look at their horribly damaged faces, but she took their hands in hers and held them silently, crying.

Battler stumbled over to Kyrie and Rudolf, staring at them for a moment before slamming his fist into a wall with a cry of rage and despair. George, however, seemed determined to remain calm. He walked over to the corpses of Eva and Hideyoshi, which were only really able to be determined as such because of Eva’s dress and Hideyoshi’s shape, and after bowing his head in silent respect for a moment, began to carefully examine the area around them. Once he was done with that, he proceeded to examine the rest of the room, ignoring everyone else. His shoes crunched on the glass beneath the broken window as he examined it and its lock, and he let out a small ‘Hmm.’

“I broke the glass to unlock the window, sir,” said Genji. “The door was barred with a hat rack and so I needed another way in.”

“I see. Good thinking, Genji,” replied George, flipping the little lever that set the window lock to the left and right.

“How the hell can you be so calm?!” demanded Battler. “Our parents have been murdered by some lunatic!” Angrily he stormed over and shoved George, making him topple over onto his side.

George sat there for a couple seconds, then stood up. He looked Battler in the eyes, and though his face was calm, his eyes bore enough ferocity that Battler took a step back. “Yes, Battler. Our parents have been murdered. And the murderer is on this island with us. So I will catch the murderer. And then I will take revenge for my mother and father in ways that will make them wish they’d never been born. Then, and only then, will I have time to grieve. So I’m going to find out who did this now. If you’re going to help, I will be glad for it. If you’re going to keep whining, then get the hell out of my way…” George brushed past the stunned Battler and walked to Genji. “Where is everyone else?” he asked. “Shannon, Grandfather, Kumasawa, and Gohda?”

“Kumasawa and Gohda are attempting to fetch Shannon,” Genji replied. “Master Kinzo has not yet left his study.”

George’s jaw clenched, but his voice stayed quiet. “Do you know where Shannon is?”

“No. She was supposed to be at the guesthouse, but no one saw her there. We did not discover this fact until recently,” said Genji, remaining stoic.

Eyes narrowed, George glared at Genji, who returned his gaze passively. Jessica, her own eyes red from crying, walked up beside him. “George…she’ll be all right…”

He looked away from her, tense, but exhaled. “What’s important right now is that we make ourselves safe and get everyone together. I think I once heard your father say something about rifles in the guest house?” he asked Jessica, looking back to her.

“Yeah, there were four that are in a storage room there. Father was going to take me shooting with them soon…” she replied.

“Alright,” said Battler, rejoining the conversation. “We should get those and hunt this bastard down!”

“It would be wiser to pick a defensible room, such as Grandfather’s study, and wait, but that’s a discussion for later,” said George. “The longer we stand around here the more time the killer has. Let’s go. Genji, you stay here with Doctor Nanjo and wait for the other servants. We’ll be back with the guns. You still have a key to Grandfather’s study, right?”

“I have them both, now that the Lady Natsuhi has passed away.”

George nodded. “Good, then there’s no way this murderer could get inside. Let’s go.”

Having taken charge, George led his two cousins back out into the storm to the guesthouse.

Last edited at 15/10/13(Tue)00:33:38

>>18356

MYSTERY

They reached the guesthouse without incident, or seeing another living soul. Once inside they got the guns from the storage room and made sure they were all in working order. Battler and Jessica were getting ready to leave, but George quickly suggested they stop by their room to get anything they might need, like Jessica’s inhaler. So instead of leaving they jogged up the stairs at a quick clip, only to find the door to the room they were staying in locked.

“Wait, that’s right. Maria was sleeping in here,” said Battler.

“Yes, but Aunt Rosa was going to get her to unlock the door and then they were going to meet up with us. Why didn’t we…see…them…” replied Jessica, trailing off as she felt a nervousness building inside of her that was reflected on her cousin’s faces.

“Maria! Aunt Rosa! Maria! Open up!” shouted George, pounding on the door. However, there was no reply.

“Stand back!” said Jessica, using the gun to blow the door’s handle apart once George had moved away. They quickly went inside, and found…nothing. The room looked like it had previously, aside from a new hole in the floor several feet away from the door where Jessica’s bullet had impacted.

They walked into the room, naturally gravitating towards their own items. They rifled through things, looking for clues as well as grabbing the things they might need. Jessica grabbed a small bookbag and started stuffing some things in it as well.

Battler, whose bed was furthest from the door, was more interested in what he could find about where Maria and Rosa might have gone. Yet he hadn’t found anything by the time he reached his stuff. “I don’t even know what I might need,” he muttered, kneeling down.

“Hmm?” asked George, giving Battler a suspicious look as he put something in his pocket.

“All I brought with me were a couple sets of clothes and some bathroom stuff. This was supposed to be a normal trip. I guess nothing’s ever normal with this family is it. Useless, it’s all useless…”

Jessica looked up from a scrap of paper she had found. “Yeah, well, welcome back to the family, Battler…” she said, discarding the scrap in a disinterested fashion.

“No offense, but now I’m wishing that… Hmm? Why is it wet here…?” asked Battler, feeling the floor by the window. Getting up, he noticed what seemed to be a footprint on the windowsill. Pressing the window open, he looked outside to the ground below. Lightning flashed, and he let out a cry of shock.

The other two cousins ran over, gripping their guns tightly in their hands. Looking out, they could make out what Battler had seen. On the ground was a human-sized lump, though it was hard to tell much about it from where they were. Rushing out into the rain, they rounded the corner of the house and came upon the mangled form that at once had to have been human. The clothes had been shredded almost as badly as the body. The flesh had been ripped and torn, as if by hungry animals, especially in the torso region. The face was mostly torn away too, but the brown hair, black clothes, and feminine figure made it seem apparent that the last of Kinzo’s children had died and then been ripped apart by dozens of razor-sharp teeth.

“Everyone…” said Jessica, calling their attention to a spot a few feet away. There, lying on the wet grass was a small black crown, a bloody scrap of a once-pink shirt, and a few chunks of auburn hair. There was also quite a bit more blood, as well as what seemed to be drag marks in the ground, leading off towards the nearby forest. “Even little Maria…”

“Why would they have jumped?” asked Battler, not expecting an answer.

“They must have been pushed,” replied George, gritting his teeth. “Come on, let’s get back to the mansion.” George carried two guns, while Battler and Jessica each carried one.

>>18357

MYSTERY

Battler, George, and Jessica returned to the mansion. There they found Genji and Nanjo still in the parlor, and they had been joined by Gohda.

“Where’s Kumasawa?” demanded George, instantly.

“A-ah, well, sir, just like I was telling Genji just now, Kumasawa and I decided to split up to make searching faster. I got the second floor, and she got the first, so that she wouldn’t have to go up the stairs. She’s probably still searching, since I just got back,” replied Gohda.

“Where’s Miss Rosa?” asked Genji, and Battler and Jessica looked away.

George, however, replied emotionlessly, “The killers got her and Maria too, it seems. We found her body and some of Maria’s clothes.”

“W-what?! Killers?!” asked Gohda, moaning in despair.

George thrust a rifle into his hands, which he almost dropped in surprise. “It probably has to be, at this point. We haven’t seen them, so either it’s one person who is incredibly skilled, or more likely a group of people. This house might be under siege.” He seemed to look to his father’s corpse for guidance for a moment, then sighed. “If that is the case, we must treat this place like a fort. I’m going to see if I can find Kumasawa and make sure that there’s no possible entrances still unlocked. You all stay here in case I miss her somehow and Kumasawa comes back. If I’m not back in five minutes though, go up to the study and lock the door. If anywhere is safe, it’s there.” Without giving them a chance to argue, George ran off.

Immediately afterwards, Jessica gripped her rifle tightly and turned to face them. “He’s right, but I’ll make sure that no one’s waiting for us. Stay here.”

“Wait, Jessica!” shouted Battler, but she was already gone, running up the stairs. Battler gripped his gun and looked at Gohda, who was sweating nervously, as well as Genji and Doctor Nanjo, who seemed as confused as he was. “Why would they…?” he started to ask, but then fell silent. Instead he joined the others at watching the clock. Five minutes suddenly seemed like a very long time.

>>18358

MYSTERY

Jessica stood outside the door to Kinzo’s study, and thought back to the slip of paper she had found amid her stuff back at the guesthouse. On it were hastily scribbled the following words:

I’m here. I’m hiding in Kinzo’s study. Don’t trust anyone. Knock twice, then once, and you’ll be able to get in.
-Kanon

She nervously gripped her gun, then knocked twice on the door of the study. Then she knocked once. She waited a couple moments, but no sound came from inside. Not expecting much, she reached out and gripped the door handle. She gasped in surprise as it turned in her grip, and then she pushed open the door.

>>18359

FANTASY

Inside was a vista that was incredibly unlike the one she was expecting. Row upon row of golden flowers stretched off into the distance, divided by paths that twisted and turned amongst them in wonderfully enigmatic patterns. Off to the side she could see hills covered in cherry trees with golden petals, and she felt a falling petal brush by her leg and flutter down into the hallway. A couple dozen feet away was a pavilion not unlike the one in the rose garden outside the mansion, and in that pavilion sat Kanon, reading a book. He looked up at her, closed the book, and got up, walking towards her.

“My lady, I’m so relieved that you made it here. I was worried that you’d be hurt…or worse…” he said, looking concerned. “But I knew you were strong.”

“Kanon…what…where…” she tried to ask, setting the rifle down against the wall beside the door, afraid to step inside.

Kanon stopped a couple feet away from her and smiled slightly. “This is the Golden Land, my lady. A magical paradise that can keep us safe from the sorrow and pain of the rest of the world for as long as we wish. Come in, my lady, and we’ll both be magically protected from that evil witch forever.”

“But, the others…” Jessica began, and Kanon looked sad.

“We cannot do anything more for them. They cannot be trusted, and this Golden Land is fragile. If the wrong person were to come inside it would shatter. This Land is for us, my lady, and us alone.”

Jessica bit her lip and tentatively reached out with her foot, but then withdrew it. “Is it safe?”

Kanon chuckled and nodded. “It is, my lady. Do you trust me?” He held out his hand to her.

Jessica nodded, and reached out as music began around them, “Yes…”

Kanon grasped her hand and began to sing.

“Come, take hold of my hand
Trust me, follow me, inside
‘Til, my lady, we’ve arrived
At the paradise you’ll see.”

He pulled lightly on her hand, and she stepped inside beside him, wondering at the feel of grass beneath her feet. He continued to sing.

“If you wish it to be
We can stay here forever
Here where time can’t be measured
You and I are finally free.”

He gestured grandly, encompassing the magical place they were now in, filled with golden flowers, a sky of swirling purple, and an aura of peace and beauty unmatched in the real world.

“The Golden Land
Where we can be just who we are
A boy and girl in love, what we’ve dreamed of
And wished for for so long.”

She began to sing back to him, in wonder.

“A Golden Land
Could it be a step that’s too far?
But as long as you’re here, to hold me near
I’ll stay in this Golden Land with you.”

He held her close as he echoed her last line.

“I’ll stay in this Golden Land with you!”

Soon they were running through the place, with Jessica especially marveling at how fantastic it was.

“Shining magical lights
Golden wonderful flowers
Holding, kissing, for hours
‘Neath a gorgeous violet sky!”

She blushed and let herself be held by him from behind as they looked out from beneath a golden cherry tree on a hilltop at the glorious land stretching out around them.

“The Golden Land (All your tears will be dried)
Neverending places to explore (No more witch, no more sorrow).”

She turned to face him.

“I will not turn away
It’s come, this day
The miracle that I have waited for.”

She rested her head against his chest as he held her.

“The Golden Land (I’ll be here by your side)
Where anything you want is true (Now and every tomorrow)

They looked each other in the eyes, and though their eyes glistened with unshed tears they were smiling as they sang together.

“And if now is the end
We will ascend
I can spend eternity with you.”

“The Golden Land (The Golden Land)
Just you and me (Just you and me)”

Kanon smirked.

“We’ve had our fun.”

Jessica nodded to him, smiling broadly as she leaned closer to him.

“Our lives are done.”

Then they sang together one last time.

“Our hearts are free.”

As the music died away they kissed gently, and the door of Kinzo’s study closed, keeping the lovers safe for all time in their Golden Land.

>>18360

MYSTERY

Five minutes had passed, and neither George, Kumasawa, Shannon, nor Jessica had returned.

“Should we wait longer for them?” asked Nanjo.

Battler shook his head. “No. George knows where we’re going, and he has a rifle. We’ve waited as long as we can for Shannon and Kumasawa too. George is right, we need to get safe, and we shouldn’t leave Jessica alone at the door.

With that in mind, Battler led Gohda, Genji, and Nanjo up the stairs and down the hallway to the study, shutting the door to the parlor behind them. When they got to the study though, their hope and resolve dwindled. Jessica wasn’t there, but her rifle was, leaning against the doorway. Other than that gun, there was no sign that she had been there, nor any sign of a struggle. Battler walked up and tried the handle of the door, but it was securely locked. He knocked at it, calling for both Jessica and Kinzo, but there was no response. Genji walked up beside him and unlocked the door, then picked up Jessica’s rifle.

Battler pushed open the door carefully and looked inside. The light was on, but as far as he could tell there wasn’t anyone inside. He took a couple steps in, with Gohda, Nanjo, and Genji behind him closely. He checked to see if anyone was hiding behind the door, but even there was clear. As his eyes scanned the room, he finally saw something that made his heart plummet in his chest. There was a deep red rug on the floor of Kinzo’s study, but on the center of that rug was a large spot of darker red. He walked over to it with a strange combination of shock and tiredness, and crouched beside it. Gingerly he touched his fingers to the spot, and they came away red and wet. If it had been earlier in the night, he might have screamed. Now he just moaned in despair and disbelief. “Even here? Grandfather’s study?”

Nanjo ran up beside him, but he couldn’t do much as a doctor with only blood and no body. Gohda walked up beside them both, shivering with nerves. “B-but is it Master Kinzo’s? Or Jessica’s? Or…or…”

Genji came up behind Gohda and placed his hand on his shoulder. “We cannot know. But this room is not as safe as we believed, it seems.”

Battler rose and faced Genji. “How could they have gotten in?” he demanded. “You said you had both keys!”

“I do,” replied Genji, pulling them from a pocket and showing them to Battler.

“Then it was you!” he replied, pointing his gun at Genji.

Genji looked down the barrel calmly. “I was with you in the parlor, sir. It couldn’t have been me.”

“Yeah…but…but…” said Battler lamely, before lowering his rifle. They stood in the study in silence, blood drying by their feet.

>>18361

FANTASY

George awoke in darkness. He wasn’t immediately aware of where he was or how he had gotten there. However, he quickly realized that he was bound by his hands and feet, upright and spread-eagled. His shirt had been ripped open as well, exposing his midriff.

“Master George! George!” came an old, croaking female voice. In his groggy state it took him a moment to realize who it belonged to.

“K-Kumasawa…?” he asked, trying to focus. As he blinked, he realized there was a soft flickering orange glow in the room where he was, and he finally realized it was the boiler room. The light was coming from the door of the boiler, which had been thrown open to allow the flames to light the room. He was bound by chains that were driven into the ceiling and the floor, and Kumasawa was bound in a similar fashion beside him.

“Oh thank goodness. I thought you were dead. What is going on, George?”

“I…I don’t know,” he replied, tugging with all his might at the chains. “How did I get here?”

“You just…appeared! I looked over, and when I looked back, you were there! Like magic! Where are the others? Will they save us?”

George looked to the top of the boiler, as he noticed a form coming into existence on top of it. “I don’t think so, Kumasawa…” he replied. She looked to where he was and wailed in fear.

Kinzo sat atop the boiler now, apparently not minding the heat. He let out a laugh and leapt down, landing nimbly on the ground. “Oh, what a wondrous thing is life. And how much more wondrous is living it! Challenges, gambles, risks! These are the true substance of life! For want of a challenge, I languished in my bed, but now that I have one, I feel better than I have in years!” He smiled at his two bound captives with a look that made them shiver involuntarily in fear.

“What challenge do you mean, Grandfather?” asked George, trying to steel himself.

“Why, this game against Beatrice, of course! Once more we play it, pitting our wits and the strength of our wills against each other. She has bested me often in the past. But tonight, tonight will be different. Yes,” he said, slowly pacing back and forth like a lion in a pen. “Tonight, I have decided that I have grown tired of our game. It is time to change the rules, and it is time to change the stakes. Tonight, Kinzo Ushiromiya is going all-in, and the reward will be beyond imagining! And you two!” he said, turning and pointing at George and Kumasawa. “You both will be instrumental in my plans! I never could have predicted it, but it is so! So here, now, I thank you.” With that, Kinzo pulled a knife from behind his back and slashed his palm dramatically. Dropping the knife, he dabbed his fingers in the flowing blood and began drawing strange sigils on the side of the boiler.

“Grandfather! Kinzo!” called George, desperately trying to reach the man he believed to have gone completely insane. “How are we supposed to help you? Why us? Who is Beatrice? Let us down, and we can talk about this?”

Kinzo, however, did not react to his grandson’s pleading, and George’s eyes widened in shock as he realized that a sound he thought was a background sound of the boiler was actually a chorus of demonic voices gradually building in volume. Even more to his surprise, Kinzo began to speak in rhyme.

“I never thought I’d need more support
Beyond my Beatrice
Yet I can’t overstress the import
Of the part that you now each play.”

As the boiler began letting out gouts of steam, the demonic chorus strengthened, and Kinzo pulled a chessboard out from the shadows where it had been hidden. He moved a piece on it, then looked to George.

“This game is beyond comprehension
For those who are merely my pawns
You’re witnessing here my ascension
Be honored you get to look on

I had you trapped here for a reason
You’re doomed now to never get loose
In this game of witches and demons
Even humans can sometimes have use!”

He grinned maniacally, holding his arms wide in front of the boiler, as the orange glow brightened.

“I can now summon my army
The moment I sacrifice you
Just think of the monsters
This ritual conjures!”

George interjected, saying, “You’ve gone insane Kinzo!”

Kinzo waved his hand dismissively, like waving away an annoying gnat.

“It’s all for the win, so
My debts won’t come due yet
I’ll conquer this roulette
And all that I wish will come true!
And her knees will finally bend
It’s the end!”

Kinzo began a complicated series of hand gestures, and the flames from the boiler began reaching out towards him. Kumasawa asked, desperately, “It’s the end? The end of what?”

“The end of everything!” replied Kinzo, his eyes seeming to blaze with their own inner light.

George, shocked, asked him, “You’re going to destroy the world?”

Kinzo rolled his eyes and spit out, “No, you fool! I’m going to take it over with my sorcerous powers.”

“Why? Why would you want to do that?” asked Kumasawa, terrified.

Kinzo gathered the flames in his hands, twirling them between his fingers. “When I am in charge, I’ll have unlimited magic, and Beatrice will always be mine!”

In a last-ditch effort, George tried to reason with him. “Kinzo! You can’t possibly unleash a hell on Earth! Think of what you’re doing!”

His efforts were in vain. “Bah! I’ve heard enough of this! Demons of Hell, give me your most ravenous army!” With that, Kinzo thrust his hands forward. The flames leapt out and gouged into the captives, into Kumasawa’s chest and George’s stomach. Flames instantly erupted from within them, and they screamed in agony for the moment they remained alive, as humanoid demonic Goats crawled out from within the flames of the boiler. The Goats began to chant.

“We swear to serve Sorcerer Goldsmith
And serve as his army on Earth.”

Kinzo looked at them, ignoring the corpses behind him.

“And you, my new thralls, must forthwith
Start killing to show me your worth
This island is filthy with targets
It’s primed for a great murder spree
So go out and begin your harvest
And bring that witch back here to me!”

He dramatically began singing upwards towards the heavens, blind to everything, including Beatrice, who materialized behind the boiler and began twisting knobs.

“It’s the end of the era of science
It’s the end of this curious game!”

He continued to sing as the Goats continued to climb out, forming regiments as they provided backup.

“She’ll be bowing and scraping (Though they cry)
She’s never escaping (They must die)
My power is endless (They will fall)
My will is relentless (Eat them all)

I’ll rule over this land, all men will worship and
Praise my most noble of names
Yes, against me they cannot defend-
It’s the end!

The sorcerer and his demons sang as one.

“Yes, against us they cannot defend-
It’s the end!”

Kinzo let out a maniacal and wicked laugh. As the music faded, though, a feminine voice cut in from behind him.

“Apologies, Kinzo, but this game is mine, too! Checkmate!” said Beatrice with a laugh before dissolving into golden butterflies. Kinzo gaped at where she had been, then looked to the boiler, which was now shaking with pressure. Steam burst from the pipes, and the flames blazed out of control.

“BEEEAAAAATRIIIIICE!” he had time to cry out in frustration, before the boiler blew, vaporizing the demon army.

>>18362

MYSTERY

Those in the study were shaken out of their reverie, quite literally. There was the sound of a massive explosion, and the whole house quaked.

“W-what the hell?!” shouted Battler, echoing everyone else’s thoughts before rushing back out into the mansion. From down the hallway on the first floor smoke was spiraling up.

“Fire!” shouted Gohda, pressing past the stunned Battler and running down the hallway, turning into the kitchen. The others followed, and he passed Battler a fire extinguisher while he held onto another. “Genji, Doctor Nanjo, buckets of water!” he shouted as he ran to the door that led down to the boiler room, which was hanging open and which was where the smoke was coming from. Battler followed at his heels, and they both frantically began using the fire extinguishers as they could. It seemed like most anything in the room that could burn was burning, but that was less than most other rooms in the house. The floor was packed earth, and most of the items down in the boiler room were metal. Soon Genji and Nanjo showed up with the buckets of water and doused some of the more stubborn flames with them.

As Gohda and Battler continued to fight back the flames, the situation in the room became clearer. There were three corpses in the room. Two had been scorched black, but the corpse of Kumasawa was only badly burned. The boiler had exploded from intense pressure, and had actually launched itself upward, smashing through the floor of the guest room above and taking out part of the wall before tumbling out to the courtyard outside. Torrential rain had come blowing in, and was actually helping to put out the blaze somewhat.

Nanjo dropped his bucket and ran to Kumasawa as soon as it was safe, but there was nothing he could do. She would have been dead even without the flames, due to what appeared to be a stab wound through the heart. Next he moved to one of the burnt corpses. A positive identification was impossible, but it was a male of adult height, and the twisted remains of George’s glasses lay beside it. It also had been slashed across the stomach prior to being burned, though he couldn’t tell if it had had time to bleed out before the explosion.

Genji turned off the gas line, which put out the last of the sources of flame, as Battler sprayed the final corpse with his fire extinguisher to put it out. Nanjo approached it, then sighed.

“It’s Kinzo,” he said, sadly. “As his doctor, I know him well, and he had a rare condition called polydactyly. See how there’s six toes on each foot? This is certainly none other than him. There is nothing I can do for Kumasawa either, and I believe the final corpse is George…”

“How did he die, Doctor? How did my Master die?” asked Genji, solemnly.

“Does it matter?” asked Battler, staring up into the hole in the ceiling as droplets of rain blew in to hit him in the face. “He was killed. Jessica was killed. George was killed. Dad, Kyrie, Uncle Krauss, Aunt Natsuhi, Uncle Hideyoshi, Aunt Eva, Aunt Rosa…little Maria… They’re all dead. Kumasawa is dead. Hell, Shannon’s probably dead too…” he said, with a sad chuckle that soon crossed the line into crying. His tears mixed with the rain on his face, but he quickly collected himself. Turning, he faced the other survivors: Genji, Gohda, and Doctor Nanjo. “The mansion isn’t safe like we thought it was. We have to try to make a stand in the guesthouse.

Gohda and Nanjo nodded, but Genji knelt for a few moments by Kinzo. “I am sorry, Lord Kinzo,” he said, quietly, before standing and gripping his rifle. “I am ready to serve, Lord Battler.”

Battler blinked, only now realizing that he was the last person here who could inherit the Ushiromiya family headship. Then he nodded. “Let’s go.”

Once outside, they stopped by the storage shed to get flashlights, so that they could keep an eye on their surroundings. Genji had the key for the padlock on his key ring, so there wasn’t an issue. He knelt and undid the lock while Nanjo held his gun, and then he handed the padlock to Gohda. Gohda kept watch while Genji, Nanjo, and Battler went inside to gather the flashlights, as well as extra ammunition for the rifles. They then left, and watched as Gohda relocked the door. As a group, they left for the guesthouse, went inside, and locked themselves in.

Last edited at 15/10/13(Tue)01:29:03

>>18363

MYSTERY

They had quickly made sure that they were alone in the guesthouse, and had locked every door and window. They’d even checked to make sure that there weren’t any odd or hidden entrances, and had found none. At last, they were secure.

For a while they sat in silence in the main room. Their flashlights were trained out into the darkness, trying to spot any sign of movement. As time wore on though, their adrenaline began to fade, and the weariness that such a day could inflict settled in on them. In the early hours of the morning, it was suggested that they sleep in shifts, so that they could at least get a little rest to repel the attack they felt sure was going to arrive at any moment. The first to sleep were Nanjo and Genji. Battler insisted that he couldn’t sleep yet because there was something he needed to do, and Gohda said he wouldn’t be able to sleep yet because he was still too worried that they would come in the night. So it was that Gohda and Battler sat together in the main room.

Battler had begun writing frantically on a stack of blank papers he had found, but his eyes flicked upwards to Gohda, who was looking out the window repeatedly. “You know,” said Battler, “You come off as a coward sometimes, Gohda.” Gohda looked at him, too shocked to be insulted. Battler continued, “It’s true! You scream, and you quiver, and you yell. But at the mansion, when that fire started, you immediately knew what to do. You took charge and ran into that blazing room like there wasn’t a thing to be afraid of.”

Gohda sat in silence for a moment, looking down at the ground. Without looking up, he answered Battler, choosing his words carefully. “People fear what they do not understand. Have you heard that saying before, Battler? It’s a fairly common one. It is certainly true in my case. I have never thought of myself as a coward, nor am I incompetent or foolish. Whenever I know what needs to be done, or at least know what is happening, I can do it without issue. But here, now, this night…” He sighed, and looked out the window once more. “…I am terrified. I know that there is no such thing as magic, that witches don’t exist, and yet we seem to have one hunting us, one that cannot be stopped by flimsy things like walls and doors. I used to think these walls were sturdy. That they were a fact. On one side was one thing, and on the other side was another thing, and the wall kept them permanently apart. But if there’s a witch…if there’s magic…then that is no longer true. Walls of wood and stone are as useless as rice paper, and the simple facts I have clung to my whole life are slipping away from me.”

He looked up, and his eyes were shining with tears. “You say I showed courage uncommon to me in the mansion. I say that that was only me. I do not know how to fight witches, Battler. I do not know how to fight murderers. But I am a chef, and I have fought many fires in my life. A kitchen, a boiler room, it doesn’t matter. A fire is a fire, and I know how to fight it. You say I am a coward who shows rare courage, I say I am a courageous man in a rare situation. It is not death which terrifies me. It is the impossible.”

Silence filled the room for a time before Battler finally said, quietly. “I apologize, Gohda. I was wrong. You are a courageous man, and a fine chef.”

Gohda was taken aback, but nodded. “Thank you.” To change the subject, he looked to what Battler was writing. “What are you doing?”

Battler kept writing. “I’m putting down everything that has happened here as I know it. Every fact I can think of, and everything I have seen and heard. I’m not certain that we will win, but I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that the rest of the world knows what happened.”

Gohda shivered slightly, but then clenched his jaw and nodded. “That is good.” He looked back out into the darkness, but the only movement was the rain and the plants blowing in the wind.

As midmorning approached, the shift changed, and Battler and Gohda went upstairs to sleep as Genji and Doctor Nanjo came downstairs. Although the storm still blew outside, enough sunlight filtered through that they could see their surroundings fairly well. To pass the time, as well as to serve as a distraction, they pulled out a chess board and began to play.

>>18364

FANTASY

The clock chimed noon, but neither of the players particularly cared. It just meant that they had survived this long, and had more time to go.

Genji moved his queen, and said, “Check.”

“And mate in one move!” chimed in a female voice from behind him. Genji saw Nanjo looking shocked, and he turned to see the golden-haired witch smiling at him. “Hi Genji!” she said, cheerfully. He and Nanjo leapt to their feet as around the room all manners of people started suddenly appearing in flashes of gold. To either side of the splitting image of the witch in the portrait appeared a young dashing man in a butler’s outfit, and a beautiful middle-aged woman in an elegant black dress. Behind Nanjo’s chair appeared seven girls in strange maid outfits, each one carrying a different ‘folksy’ instrument.

“Who are you? What are you? What do you want? Why are you here?” said Nanjo, his eyes wide.

The witch giggled. “Beatrice the Golden Witch. The Golden Witch. To kill you. Aaaaand to kill you!” She clapped her hands together, and then stretched. “Oh I slept beautifully last night. Better than I have in decades! It was such a weight off my chest to kill so many people!” She sighed happily, then looked at both of them. “It doesn’t look like either of you did, though. I’m sorry about that. At least you’ll be getting plenty of sleep soon though. You’ll be sleeping forever!” She strode around to the chessboard and looked it over again. “Yep, mate in one. No use continuing it then. So! Any more questions before I kill you both?”

Genji spoke up. “How did you all get in?” he demanded.

“Us? With the Golden Witch’s mystic dematerialization spell, of course!”

“What did you say?” he asked.

Beatrice smiled and the Seven Sisters lifted their instruments. With a large wind-up, she began to sing, full of energy as she spun around the room.

“Wiiiiiiith Golden Witch’s mystic dematerialization
The greatest tool for closed room murder mystery creation
And when I do it properly it causes a sensation
Golden Witch’s mystic dematerialization!”

She danced in place, kicking up her heels as she pointed at the two of them.

“You’re gonna get it and you’re gonna die
You’re gonna get it and you’re gonna die
You’re gonna get it and you’re gonna die
You’re gonna get it and you’re gonna die!”

Virgilia plunked herself down on the edge of the chair beside Genji and winked flirtatiously at him before gesturing to Beatrice.

“When I taught this skillful child
The basis of our craft
There were some times that she’d get wild
And other times she’d laugh

Until one day that I got sick
Of waiting for applause”

She hopped up onto her feet beside Beatrice, and the teacher and student sang together.

“I/She did a trick that’s very slick
And this is what it was!”

They danced together, putting on a show for the stunned humans.

“Golden Witch’s mystic dematerialization
It requires mastery of prestidigitation
Depth of will and strength of heart and great imagination
Golden Witch’s mystic dematerialization!”

Virgilia danced around and gestured at the two humans much as Beatrice had.

“You’re gonna get it and you’re gonna die
You’re gonna get it and you’re gonna die
You’re gonna get it and you’re gonna die
You’re gonna get it and you’re gonna die!”

Beatrice walked beside her butler Ronove and gestured grandly, like she was showing him off for auction.

“And furniture like Ronove
Has mastered it as well
But that’s to be expected from
A demon prince of Hell.”

Ronove leaned over towards the middle between Genji and Nanjo and sang in a false whisper.

“Although I must admit that it
Has greatest use to me
To head around the world
When Milady wants her tea.”

Then the witch and her butler sang together.

“Golden Witch’s mystic dematerialization
Always ready to be used in any situation
There’s never been a more efficient mode of transportation
Golden Witch’s mystic dematerialization."

Ronove sang as he danced a demonically-fast version of an Irish jig.

“You’re gonna get it and you’re gonna die
You’re gonna get it and you’re gonna die!”

Genji interrupted, snatching up a nearby knife from the table. “Witch or not, I shall not go down without a fight. I must avenge my master. Defend yourself, murderess!” He slashed at her a few times with the knife, which she barely managed to avoid by backing up. Although slightly nervous, Beatrice continued her singing.

“So if my plans start falling through
It’s simple to adapt (Indeed!)
And even though I’m cornered
I am never ever trapped

If I use it perfectly
Then I can take your life!”

She bumped into the corner, but looked thoughtfully at the knife Genji was wielding, and she said,

“For example, I wonder what I could do
With just that single knife?”

With that, the knife dissolved from his hand, and partially reformed in dozens of locations at once, forming a cloud of false knives which sliced into both Genji and Nanjo a single time per version, leaving them sliced to ribbons. “It’s PERFECTO!” shouted Beatrice joyfully.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a door opening upstairs, and Battler’s voice carried down into the room. “Genji, Doctor Nanjo! Is everything alright?”

The demon, the teacher, and the witch all looked at each other and sang quietly.

“Time fooooooor…

Golden Witch’s mystic dematerialization
Though there may be things like it, accept no imitation.”

They whispered,

“Even if it’s just a tool to spice up this narration.”

Finishing up, their bodies and those of the Seven Sisters formed into golden butterflies.

“Golden Witch’s mystic dematerialization!”

The butterflies dissipated, leaving not a trace as Battler started descending the steps.

>>18365

MYSTERY

Battler reached the bottom, and let out a yell. He hadn’t heard a thing, but there were the corpses of Genji and Nanjo, slashed and stabbed like how a child might randomly attack craft paper with scissors. There was a slash in Genji’s knee that seemed especially deep, and one in Doctor Nanjo’s leg that also seemed particularly vicious, but there was no way for Battler to tell if they had been alive for either of them. His first thought was that the attacking army had broken in and descended on them both with knives like how Julius Caesar was murdered by the Roman Senate. However, although he quickly and carefully dashed into the room to check, he could find no trace of any such army, and all of the windows were still locked.

“Gohda! Gohda!” he shouted, running back up the stairs and throwing open the door to the room Gohda had been using. The sight that met him only gave him greater cause to despair. The covers were rumpled, but the bed was empty. At around where Gohda’s neck would have been was a line of red covering a slash in the covers, and there was an envelope resting on the bed. It was sealed with the seal of the Ushiromiya family ring, a fact which did not surprise Battler in the least. Opening it up, he read:

Poor Gohda just couldn’t keep his head. I put him in the storage shed with my other toy, if you want to play with him some more.
-Beatrice the Golden

Battler stared at the note, and a red fury began to build in him. Crumpling the note in rage, he threw it down and ran out of the room as fast as he could. He threw himself onto his knees beside the corpse of Genji, going for the key ring he knew would still be there. Retrieving it, he confirmed that the key to the storage room padlock was still on it. Standing, he ran to the front door, unlocked it, threw it open and dashed out into the rain.

Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled as the rain pelted him, but Battler couldn’t feel anything besides the anger and pain in his soul. There were no more thoughts in his head, only the desire to beat this damned witch somehow, and in some way. Maybe, just maybe, if he could save Gohda…

Battler reached the storage room, undid the padlock, and threw it and the keyring away. He almost pulled his shoulders from his sockets as he threw the door open with a grunt of rage, and beheld what was inside.

There, plainly visible against the back wall, lit by the flickering light of a bare bulb overhead and the steadier gray glow of the stormy sky above, were two corpses, one male and one female. The male corpse had his hand resting on top of the female one, in an almost comforting gesture. Although he was headless, Battler could guess who he was. The clothes marked him as a simple servant of the Ushiromiya family, the one who had tried so very hard for the few years he had been there to earn the right to wear the One-Winged Eagle. No matter how he had tried, though, none of his efforts were ever good enough. He had died without being recognized, and Battler felt ashamed.

The female corpse was easy for Battler to hazard a guess at as well, though her head was also missing. She was dressed in a maid’s outfit, had an ample bosom, and Battler could see the golden image of the One-Winged Eagle peeking out from beneath the hem of her skirt on her thigh. Battler’s memory flashed back to the times they had spent together many years ago, of the promises he had made and broken, and now could never keep. Of the promises he had made everyone….

Standing from where he knelt at the entrance, he lowered the steel door and relocked the padlock. He left the keyring there as well, since he wouldn’t need it any more. He began a slow walk back to the guest house, only then realizing that he had forgotten his gun there, and how much he didn’t really care anymore. It would be a blessing to be caught unawares by this golden murderer and have her end his pain.

He wasn’t so lucky, of course, and he made it back to the guest house without incident. He walked up the stairs without pausing to look at the corpses in the main room. He pushed open the door to the cousins’ room and sat down on his bed without bothering to look at the body that still lay on the ground outside the window. He picked up the papers that he had been writing on, tapped them lightly to line them up, and resumed writing, adding in the latest developments and any other facts he could think of or conclusions he could reach.

It was midafternoon when he felt he could write nothing more, so he added a few last lines, signed his name, and placed them in a suitcase he had found in the room. Battler stood, picking up his rifle and the suitcase, and walked out into the storm. He walked down to the beach like it was a pleasant summer’s day and he was on his way to the pier for a simple boat ride. No one bothered him. He placed the suitcase on the beach, high enough that the tide would never touch it and clearly visible on the sand, then secured it with some heavy rocks. No one bothered him. He brushed the sand from his hands and his clothes, picked up the gun once more, and walked back up the steps. No one bothered him.

Finally, as the sky began to dim in the late afternoon, and the wind whipped around him, blowing raindrops into his face like tiny daggers, Battler Ushiromiya walked into the mansion.

>>18366

FANTASY

He wandered the hallways for hours, as the afternoon turned to night. He wasn’t bothering trying to find clues, or some secret trick for how it had all been done. He only wanted this to end, and in order to bring that about, he was making himself the best target that he could. Yet time passed, and they didn’t come.

Finally, at around ten at night, Battler found himself in the entrance hall, staring at the portrait of Beatrice, its coy smile mocking him. That was when he finally felt a presence was with him, and knew that the time had come for his final confrontation with the witch. Rather than turn, though, he continued to stare at the portrait, and the whirl of emotions within him radiated out. As if it were a last gift of the world to this weary man, Battler tapped into the miniscule bit of magic that resides in the hearts of all, and caused music to echo around the hall. So Battler sang.

“Death walks with me and I think I can see
There’s a shadow, drawing near
I’ve lost all of my family
So what’s there left to fear?

But if I am to die I must know who and why
There can’t be a witch, you I shall deny
You are some outside person X
Or a bunch of accidental deaths
You cannot be someone I know
It just can’t be so!”

He heard a woman break into song behind him.

“I am free, I am free
A person that you know well
I am free, I am free
Before I send you into hell

Acknowledge me
A witch you cannot slay
You have failed them all
Their deaths never bothered me anyway.”

Battler turned on his heel and faced his opponent. Levelling his finger at her like a gun, he fired off a blue truth.

“The six within the parlor, it was some trap that caused their deaths.”

She blocked it easily with a red truth shield, then fought back with further red truths.

“There was no trap and I was right there for their last breaths
The windows, locked from the inside
The door was barred, so exit there denied
I was not ever hidden there.”

Battler gritted his teeth and continued with determination.

“I’ll win somehow, I swear!

I’m not done, the next one
You pushed them from the second floor.”

Beatrice smirked and refuted his claim.

“So my fun’s just begun
Rosa jumped into the storm.”

Together these two eternal opponents sang.

“I don’t care ‘bout how hard you wish
(You’re not/I am) the Golden Witch.”

With a smile, Beatrice scoffed at Battler’s declaration.

“Oh really? Then what about the other twilights, hmm? I’ll break your will with the weight of the red truth!”

Waving her fingers through the air, she began weaving a web of red around him that began to bind him tightly, despite his attempts to cut himself free.

“Jessica got into and was killed in Kinzo’s room.”

“By George, who faked his death-"

“George and Kumasawa were killed just like you assume.”

“But in the guesthouse-"

“Genji and Nanjo were killed by a single knife.”

“By Kinzo!”

“Kinzo died two years ago, no need to kill him twice!”

In desperation, knowing that he was about to lose, Battler flung up his last possible theories, while Beatrice struck them down.

"Do not try, end is nigh."

"It’s Kanon, he’s the killer
The culprit of this thriller
He’s been gone the whole damn time
So he must have planned this crime."

"Kanon did nothing that would earn him blame."

"Do not cry, time to die"

"Then clearly it was Gohda
He’s slippery as a cobra
It was all about the treasure
Getting riches beyond measure"

"Gohda killed no one in this game"

Battler found himself held against the witch’s portait, unable to move or escape the red which held him fast. One last time, they sang.

“So (I/You) were wrong each and every way”
I guess (I’m/you’re) just the prey!”

She leaned in towards him, and gave him one last red, that streaked towards his forehead.

“And the gold never bothered me anyway.”

As his head was impaled by red, she shot him in exactly the same spot, right between the eyes.

Last edited at 15/10/13(Tue)01:31:54

>>17978

MYSTERY

In the morning, there were police boats encircling the smoldering remains of the island. A massive explosion had taken place, and they were looking for the cause. One of the first and only clues found was a briefcase on the beach, which held papers inside of it. Inside were the writings of someone who claimed to be Battler Ushiromiya, and they detailed a bloody massacre, possibly by some outside person or persons unknown. The last lines, however, weren’t about the massacre, but about something else.

I think I’m the last one of my family left alive on this island. Everybody’s dead. I intend to face the Golden Witch, Beatrice, and take revenge, but I do not know if I will be successful. Please, to whomever finds this, I have a sister. Ange Ushiromiya. If I’m dead, then she’s alone now, but let her know that her big brother was thinking of her during his final moments, and that he will always be looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life, even if he can’t see her. Tell her to live on, looking forward, to do her best, and to fight with everything she has. Just like her big brother did.

-Battler Ushiromiya


When the seagulls cried, nobody was left alive on the cursed island of Rokkenjima.

THE END

>>18368

The curtain rose again, revealing Goat-kun, standing there proudly on an empty stage. In a deep, demonic rumble, he spoke.

"I thank you all for coming, and I hope you found this both interesting and entertaining. However, this has a challenge just like any other gameboard. So I call all those who think they can solve it! Give me your theories, so that I can crush them! Today I reclaim my honor through victory!"

Hello, I thought I'd pay you a visit since this thread looks so lonely.

There's basically no information about the people who were found dead inside of the parlor. My theory is that Nanjo is an accomplice. The real culprit remained inside, faking their own dead. Nanjo declared them all dead and stayed alone in the parlor for a while. Then the culprit escaped and left a mock corpse inside.
This would allow the culprit to stay in the room without being hidden. The culprit would be openly showing themselves under their disguise.

Last edited at 15/10/17(Sat)14:45:46

>>18384

"Oh it seems there is one brave enough to challenge my gameboard!" said Goat-kun. The blue truth formed a fist and streaked at his chin. "A standard theory is given as well. I suppose it was only indirectly blocked in the body discovery section, so I will do you the honor of refuting it now: When Genji discovered the corpses in the parlor, he was the only living human in the room. The six corpses were very certainly dead. With that covered, I feel no need to deny that Doctor Nanjo could be an accomplice." A gauntlet of red appeared around his arm, which he used to knock away the blue fist. "Care to try again?"

Last edited at 15/10/17(Sat)21:51:30

Allow me to join the challenge... though first, I feel the need to add an applause for effort here. Those were quite entertaining fantasy sections. Too bad we're here to deny them.

Guess I'll stick to the first murder for now.

The culprit left through a window after the murder. They attached one end of the audio tape to the little lever that closes the window and left the recorder running. Tape gets reeled in. Window gets locked in the process.

That's great, but would you care to say in red whose corpses did Genji find?

>>18386

The blue truth smacked into his arm, and he let out a low grunt. Offstage, Beato flinched. Goat-kun, however, then grinned boldly. "A worthy opponent! I did not expect that method to be determined so quickly. I shall honor your skill with the red. A length of the end of the tape from the recorder was wrapped around the window latch. The tape wound up, the latch locked, and the end was wrapped up into the reel. However, I am not beaten yet! I shall fight until the very end!"

>>18387

"I have no reason to, and I do not let my guard down willingly. The culprit worked hard to obscure their faces, and we must honor that unless it becomes relevant to a theory."

Heh, it was fairly well-concealed, but just the fact that the reel-to-reel recorder was specifically defined as such and that it's even mentioned what the window latch looked like made me pretty confident this was either it or a very intentional red herring.

Can't say I'm as confident about the other ones.
I'm also wondering whether "how did the first six get killed with no resistance" is also stuff we should explain. Then again, technically there's nothing that makes that an actual mystery yet.

Time for Rosa and Maria:
Rosa entered the room and found it empty. After she entered, the culprit locked the room from the outside. Maria was knocked out beforehand and placed somewhere she's visible from the window, where she ended up getting attacked by wolves. Seeing her daughter get dragged away towards the forest by them like that, Rosa eventually resolved to jump to get down there. It didn't work out.

>>18388
Very well. Let's force it out then.
Rosa is not dead. Rosa used Shannon's corpse disguised as her to fake her own dead. This is heavily hinted by the fact Maria's corpse was not found, and therefore she's alive too.

>>18369
When exactly did the seagulls cry?

There is a nineteenth Person X on the island. Beatrice said it was someone Battler knew well. That doesn't mean it was one of the original eighteen, though! In fact, there's probably some people in that eighteen that Battler DOESN'T know well!

Rosa is alive. While anyone who LEAPS from the second story will almost surely die, she carefully climbed down instead.

>>18389

"Oh, I assure you that you should think as to why the six offered no resistance. There is a definite reason. And as for your new strike-"

>>18390

"Ah, a double-team! No matter, I can challenge all at once! I'll start with this notion that the corpse isn't Rosa first! A simple enough matter, as the red was already laid out. Rosa jumped into the storm. To clarify, she leapt from the second story of the guesthouse. That has also been given the red, saying that no one can leap from the second floor of the guesthouse to the ground and survive. There are also no nearby branches nor roof ledges to grab. Ergo, though I again honor the wish of the culprit, I believe it is clear that Rosa died with that leap, yes? As for why she would attempt the leap, it's true that Rosa would jump for her. However, I wish to strike at a different point. The door was last locked from the inside. The only other exit to the room was the window. How did the culprit escape?"

Goat-kun had deflected the blue truth strikes, but had not truly broken either attack, and he looked like he knew it. Then new attacks came.

>>18391

"Grr. There is no nineteenth person X on the island. There are no more than 18 humans on Rokkenjima during the course of this game. As for Rosa climbing down, she did indeed leap into the open air. It would be impossible for her to grab on to anything and then climb down.

Last edited at 15/10/18(Sun)17:57:37

>>18392
Ah, pity. But now a new truth is plain to see! There was an individual who locked the door to the room Maria was in from the inside. This individual climbed down from the window carefully to escape the room.

An individual by some means convinced or coerced Maria to exit the room with them. i.e. Maria did not leave of her own volition. That would be kind of weird anyway, but let's take it step by step for now. Of course, this doesn't even get close to addressing the myriad other crimes, but that bridge can be crossed once it's been arrived at.

Just so you know using spoiler tags isn't necessary, if you guys are using it for that reason. Kinda of redundant using it with blue as well.

Don't necessarily need another person in the room yet. Well, let's attack both angles at the same time.

Rosa locked the door from the inside herself for no particular reason. (murders happened, gotta be careful) She saw Maria getting attacked by wolves through the window and jumped because she thought she would have definitely been too late if she went back to take the stairs.

Last edited at 15/10/19(Mon)14:06:24

>>18392
I'm almost sure about this, but you might be using your cunning wording to confuse me. Let's try this again.

Rosa jumped from a different room, in which there was a safe method of landing available. A person disguised as Rosa, maybe Shannon, jumped under the assumption of safety but was betrayed and died. Rosa later planted Maria's clothes to make everyone believe they were both dead.

>>18395
You are just an old guy, I don't have to listen to you.

Last edited at 15/10/19(Mon)15:54:31

>>18393

Goat-kun let fly with a solid strike of red, smashing the blue. "It is impossible to climb down from the second floor of the guesthouse! And as for your second blue, it's not pertinent right now if Maria left of her own volition or was forced. However, here's one for free! When Rosa entered the room, Maria was not in it!"

>>18405

The first blue he dodged, and focused instead on the second. "Enough with the facade, fun though it was! There are no wolves on Rokkenjima!"

>>18406

The next blue was faint, almost hidden, but Goat-kun's reflexes were enough to allow him to react in time. "Rosa jumped from second floor window of what is referred to as the cousins' room. No other person disguised as Rosa made the jump!"

Goat-kun took a moment to gasp and grin ferociously at his opponents. He was in the fight of his life, and loving every second.

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

Offstage, Beatrice heard the rustle of paper and smelled the fragrance of flowers beside her. "How is he doing?" whispered a voice.

"He's not doing too badly, for a first-timer," Beato replied. "Giving too much away, though. Like I used to. He's not fighting with his head."

"No. That's not his way though...he fights with his heart..."

>>18412
It isn't necessary for Rosa's death to involve any magic whatsoever! Although Rosa instructed Maria to not allow anyone into the room besides herself, another individual by some means convinced Maria to grant them access. This was accomplished either by claiming to be Rosa and somehow disguising their voice or by simply convincing Maria that they could be trusted. Maria is young and liable to not always listen to her Mama's instructions.

After being granted access to the Cousin's Room, the individual seized Maria and by some means restrained her and took her outside the Cousin's Room to use as bait to kill Rosa.

Now, the obvious question is how the door was locked from the inside after our hypothetical individual kidnapped Maria and took her outside. The answer is surprisingly simple: the door wasn't locked. While the FANTASY sequence portrays the door as needing to be unlocked, it is never confirmed in a MYSTERY sequence that the door is actually locked. Rosa therefore simply entered the Cousin's Room through the door that was left unlocked.

After entering the Cousin's Room, Rosa locked the door behind her out of habit. As stated by others, it's dangerous with murderers around, right? Instead of finding Maria there waiting for her, though, Rosa discovered an empty room. Confused, she stepped forward, ultimately becoming able to see out the window, and through the window she saw one of two things: either the individual who seized Maria holding Maria hostage and perhaps threatening her life somehow, maybe even in the process of killing her, or some other evidence that Maria was in immediate danger, such as torn and bloodied clothing.

At this point, Rosa panicked and leapt out the window in a desperate effort to reach and save her child in time. Unfortunately, no one can leap from the second floor of the guesthouse to the ground and survive, and Rosa died on impact with the ground.

Thus was Rosa Ushiromiya killed! Witchcraft is entirely unnecessary for this particular murder!

Last edited at 15/10/21(Wed)12:12:46

>>18413

Facing the onslaught of blue, Goat-kun gritted his teeth. His fist took on a red glow, and he sent out three precise punches.

"Maria would not mistake anyone else for her Mama, and obeyed her Mama's instructions about the door completely."

"The door was locked when Rosa called for Maria to unlock the door, after Genji left to catch up to the other cousins."

"Rosa had no way to unlock the door from the outside.!"

The three red strikes impacted the oncoming wall of blue and hit with such force that, although a lot of the blue was left untouched, the theory itself was broken, and so it washed over Goat-kun like a harmless ocean wave.

"I'm glad you noticed that I hadn't decreed the door locked when Rosa got to it in a MYSTERY portion. I hope you enjoy the taste of herring!" His red eyes flashed defiantly.

>>18414
Augh, and here you had me thinking I was clever, heheh. But no matter, for I had another theory all along!

You have stated that there was nothing for Rosa to grab onto to stop her from falling to the ground after jumping out of the window. It is important, however, to note that you say she jumped into the open air. Of course there was nothing to grab!

Additionally, you say it is impossible to climb down to the ground from the second floor of the guesthouse. However, this doesn't mandate that it be entirely impossible to climb on the guesthouse at all; there just isn't a way to safely climb all the way to the ground.

I say all this as a prelude to my theory, as it involves climbing on the outside wall of the guesthouse - I only wanted to make it clear I had a reason to think it possible. But now for the theory itself!

The culprit entered the Cousins' Room via the window. They entered another room on the second floor, opened the window, and from there climbed on the side of the guesthouse to the window to the Cousins' Room. Once there, the culprit opened the window, entered the room, and either convinced Maria to leave with them (unlikely) or kidnapped/seized her (much more likely). The culprit then brought Maria to a more secure location to either be kept or killed.

Maria thereby obeyed her Mama's instructions - she didn't open the door for anyone who wasn't her.

After depositing either Maria or her corpse in a hidden location, the culprit returned to the Cousins' Room and waited there for Rosa. When she returned, the culprit unlocked the door for her and allowed her inside. Once they were alone together, the culprit somehow incited Rosa to some sort of passion or frenzy; my personal hypothesis is that the culprit claimed (either truthfully or not) to have harmed Maria somehow. Driven into a panic/frenzy, Rosa lunged at the culprit, and the culprit dashed to the window, going out of it to the wall of the guesthouse. Unfortunately for Rosa, she did not quite see this, and in her frenzy she simply leapt out the window after the culprit, only to fall to the ground and die below.

The culprit reentered the Cousins' Room, took care to make sure the door was locked, and then escaped the room via window and climbed to another window, through which they returned to the guesthouse's interior.

Thusly free, the culprit went outside and mangled Rosa's body to make it seem as though nonexistent wolves had eaten her. The culprit even took care to plant some evidence of a similar demise for Maria.

If climbing is impossible, there is an alternative. Rather than climbing along the outside wall, the culprit could've jumped from window ledge to window ledge. It would require precision, but would not be impossible.

Thus was Rosa murdered! Magic isn't necessary for this crime to be possible!

Last edited at 15/10/22(Thu)15:51:55

Hm, I'll go with the same idea but somewhat different.

The culprit never entered the room before Maria opened it up for Rosa.
After Maria had done so, the culprit launched a surprise attack and seized Maria. They then threw her out the window, causing the panicked Rosa to leap after her in a final attempt to save her. Afterwards, they locked the door and left through the window, carefully climbing down...

Last edited at 15/10/22(Thu)20:34:52

>>18416

Charging forward, Goat-kun let out a bellowing war cry and threw a roundhouse punch of red at the powerful blue.

"The culprit never entered through any window during the course of this game!"

The red smashed into the blue, breaking it apart once more.

>>18418

"Ah, I was wondering where you had hidden yourself! I have already stated it was impossible to climb from the second floor of the guesthouse to the ground. Just now I have said that the culprit did not enter any windows. So now I will cement the truth! The culprit did not climb out the window of the cousins' room!"

Last edited at 15/10/22(Thu)21:18:46

Not bad. But can you really seal us off for good?

I'd like to ask for some details on the window. From the narrative it seems like it was found closed but not locked. That's supposedly not something Rosa could have done if she leapt from it, unless it opens horizontally and the rain somehow closed it afterwards. Anything you're willing to clarify here?

>>18419

I got halfway through writing this great theory on how their deaths were actually suicides, but then I remembered the red about how Maria wasn't there when Rosa got to the room, so you get this instead.

The door to the cousin's room wasn't actually locked when Battler, George, and Jessica came across it after Rosa and Maria's deaths. The true culprit (I accuse none of them of specifically being the culprit yet at this time, so don't take this as an accusation where I lose my one chance to accuse) pretended the door was locked so that the others would think it was a locked room. We don't actually see who checks the door.

Alternatively, the door was just jammed, not locked, and they made a mistake. Again, we don't actually see them checking the door and making sure it truly is locked. In such a high pressure situation, they can be forgiven for erring.

I also just noticed that Battler has to "press" the window open. If I may ask, how much was the window closed? Was it partway open or latched shut or something else?

Also, further alternatively...

There's a secret passage into and out of the Cousins' Room that no one but the culprit noticed.

Probably not, but I'm starting to get desperate.

Last edited at 15/10/22(Thu)22:11:12

>>18420

Goat-kun lowered his guard slightly. "A good observation. I will grant you this in appreciation. It was possible for the wind to blow the window shut. Whether that is what happened, I will not say."

>>18421

Goat-kun seemed prepared for these strikes, and broke them easily. "The door was truly locked when Battler, George, and Jessica came across it. What is more, There is a secret passage on Rokkenjima, but it was not used in any way for any of the murders. It connect the door at the back of the chapel, the gold storage room, and the hidden submarine base. I did my utmost to leave the original gameboard intact, out of respect to the Lady Beatrice!"

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

Offstage, Beato raised her eyebrows, then smirked. "Someone's angling for a bigger part in future shows..."

"Will it work?" asked the figure beside her.

"Oh absolutely. I'm a sucker for flattery."

The culprit used magic to teleport into the Cousins' Room, seize Maria, teleport her out, and then kill her outside!

The culprit then used magic again to do the same to Rosa!

It really is a magical closed room murder mystery!

...

...

...

Fine, I'll also make a real theory.

Maria died when she jumped out the window.

At one point, the culprit came to the door and started trying to force entry. Terrified, Maria leapt out the window of her own accord in an attempt to escape.

Maria therefore still obeyed her Mama's instructions about the door: she didn't open the door for anyone else.

The culprit eventually gave up on entering and went outside, only to come across Maria's corpse. Rather than simply leave Maria's body there, the culprit decided to drag it into the forest in case they decided to do anything with it later.

Rosa eventually arrives at the still locked door to the cousins' room. When Maria doesn't open the door, Rosa panics and rushes outside to the window; she's going so fast that she doesn't see Maria's crown left on the ground. Once there, Rosa climbs up the side of the guesthouse to the window and enters.

While it is impossible to safely climb DOWN to the ground from the second floor of the guesthouse, that doesn't necessarily mean it's impossible for someone to climb UP from the ground to the second floor of the guesthouse. So that's just what Rosa did.

Once in the room, Rosa still couldn't find Maria. Panicking even more, she looked out the window and saw Maria's crown and the drag marks leading to the forest. Now more panicked than ever, she leaps out the window, trying to get down to the ground quickly enough to try and save her daughter, only to die because no one can leap from the second floor of the guesthouse to the ground and survive.

While one might think it odd that Rosa leaped out the window without thinking of the danger, it's important to note that she thought it was possible to survive the jump until after Beatrice told her so. Because the goal here is to deny that Beatrice exists, this theory assumes Beatrice never existed to tell her so.

That is how Maria and Rosa died! Their deaths require no magic whatsoever!

With free facts like these, I always wonder whether they're given out as clues or because they don't matter and will just mislead us even more. Well, let's see where this leads me.
Step 1: Maria opened the door for Rosa
Step 2: The two of them get attacked by the culprit.
Step 3: Maria is taken hostage.
Step 4: The culprit forced Rosa to lock the door, she either did so to escape or because the culprit threatened to kill the hostage if she didn't obey. She was now alone in the room.
Step 5: Rosa either tried to escape via the window (to surprise the culprit later) or she was once again forced to jump by the culprit threatening to kill the hostage.
Step 6: The wind pushed the window closed.

Also, when you say the secret passage was not used in any of the murders, does that merely refer to travel through the passage or does it also include doing anything in the hidden rooms?
I'll put it into a theory for a test.

Battler died in a massive explosion. The one mentioned at the end. It was a time bomb so no need to still be alive.

The bomb is usually triggered from the gold storage room.

Last edited at 15/10/24(Sat)06:14:10

>>18423

Goat-kun fought like the demon he was, moving so fast that there almost seemed to be more than one of him.

"I refuse to use red to break your blue theories about magic. For magic was most certainly needed! In regards to the rest, I shall give you more red to feast upon! Rosa entered the cousins' room through the door, only a few minutes before leaping out the window!"

>>18424

"And what host would leave his other guest hungry for truth?! I shall stuff you with it! Maria and Rosa were not attacked simultaneously by the culprit! Maria was never taken hostage!

"And I mean exactly what I say! The massive explosion was caused by a time bomb. The time bomb mechanism was set within the gold storage room. The mechanism was set by the culprit. However, the secret rooms and the secret passage had nothing to do with any of the murders. Battler was killed by a bullet to the head, fired by the culprit at short range."

"The massive explosion from the time bomb killed no one!"

You think you've broken me? Not a chance! No matter how absurd the theory needs to get, there has to be a way out that doesn't involve magic!

The culprit was already inside the Cousins' Room when Rosa sent Maria there to hide! Battler, Jessica, and George's luggage is in there, so there's plenty of stuff to hide under and behind. There's beds in there to hide under as well, and probably a closet, right? Plenty of places to hide!

Once Maria entered the Cousins' Room and locked the door from the inside, the culprit came out of hiding, killed Maria, and threw her out the window. So Maria wasn't in the room when Rosa entered it. The culprit then re-locked the door and waited for Rosa.

When Rosa arrived, the culprit unlocked the door but stepped back into hiding - the FANTASY section hints at this. Once Rosa was inside, the culprit attacked her, and in an effort to escape Rosa rushed to the window and intentionally jumped out, ultimately ending her life because yadda yadda, can't survive jumping from second floor to ground.

The culprit then quickly closed the window, exited the Cousins' Room via the open door, rushed downstairs, mutilated Rosa's corpse, dragged Maria's off into the woods (leaving behind a few scraps of clothing like the crown), rushed back upstairs, closed the door, locked the door, and once again hid, possibly under a bed.

The culprit waited for Jessica, George, and Battler to show up and break into the room, breaking the lock. The culprit was very fortunate to not be discovered (Rosa's corpse distracting them outside helped), and George, Battler, and Jessica soon left the Cousins' Room, allowing said culprit to simply sneak off through the unlocked door.

That's how Maria and Rosa died! There was no witch who killed them!

Also, I'd like something confirmed. It's been implied, but not directly said. All the murders/deaths were the direct or indirect result of the actions of a single individual. There is no conspiracy of persons, no accomplices, and no second culprit acting on their own.

Well, that would have been my next move as well. So... what he said.

>>18428
>>18429

Goat-kun performed a hard block on the latest strong blue strike, saying, "There was no one else in the room when George, Battler, and Jessica entered to search it after blowing the lock open!"

However, it left him open, and the unrelated blue caught him hard on the side of the jaw. He staggered back with a grunt, clutching his chin. His mouth bled, and he spit red.

"...There is only one culprit. The culprit is one who kills. There are no more than two accomplices. An accomplice is one who knows of the culprit's plans and willingly aids them in carrying them out, but does not kill."

Goat-kun straightened up and brought his fists back up into a guard. He did not speak, he did not goad on his opponents. He was serious.

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

"Tch. Why, Goat-kun? You could have just refused..." muttered Beatrice.

"That's also not his way," said the being beside her, with a hint of pride. "He is honorable to a fault. He would be the kind to let a disarmed opponent pick up his weapon. They landed a hit, and he acknowledged it."

Beato frowned. "But in here, honor like that can be a weakness. You have to take every advantage possible to make your opponent submit."

"Like you did with Battler?" inquired the other.

Beato stayed silent, biting the tip of her thumb in worry.

Last edited at 15/10/27(Tue)21:24:32

Accomplices? This simplifies and complicates matters all at once. But before I try to incorporate accomplices into my theories, I have a question: we have only one opportunity to name the culprit each, but what about accomplices? May we make multiple attempts at naming each accomplice?

And does the phrase "does not kill" also refer to inflicting death or harm upon the self?

In the meantime, it's time to test if this is truly a Locked Room Mystery™!

It is possible to lock the door to the Cousins' Room without remaining in the Cousins' Room after the door is closed! Many doors can be locked while the door is open and then shut, with the lock sort of clicking into place after the door is closed. If the door to the Cousins' Room is of this particular nature, then the culprit could've executed the plan previously mentioned with one important change: instead of reentering the Cousins' Room, they simply locked it behind them.

But perhaps this isn't a normal door but instead a Locked Room Mystery Door that can't be locked and closed in such a manner. The answer to this is simple! The culprit secretly possessed a key and was able to lock the door from the outside!

The rest of the blue truth above has not been touched! The deaths of Rosa and Maria can be caused using human means, negating the necessity of witchcraft!

In summary, the new blue truth is as follows: The culprit was already inside the Cousins' Room when Rosa sent Maria there to hide! Battler, Jessica, and George's luggage is in there, so there's plenty of stuff to hide under and behind. There's beds in there to hide under as well, and probably a closet, right? Plenty of places to hide!

Once Maria entered the Cousins' Room and locked the door from the inside, the culprit came out of hiding, killed Maria, and threw her out the window. So Maria wasn't in the room when Rosa entered it. The culprit then re-locked the door and waited for Rosa.

When Rosa arrived, the culprit unlocked the door but stepped back into hiding - the FANTASY section hints at this. Once Rosa was inside, the culprit attacked her, and in an effort to escape Rosa rushed to the window and intentionally jumped out, ultimately ending her life because yadda yadda, can't survive jumping from second floor to ground.

The culprit then quickly closed the window, exited the Cousins' Room via the open door, locked the door without remaining inside the room using one of the methods described above, rushed downstairs, mutilated Rosa's corpse, and dragged Maria's off into the woods (leaving behind a few scraps of clothing like the crown).

This leaves the Cousins' Room empty for George, Jessica, and Battler when they break the lock to force entry.

Last edited at 15/10/27(Tue)22:10:39

I'll get back to the Rosa murder if that theory fails.
...
Don't think you're getting a break though.
Genji for accomplice.
Explains the murder in Kinzo's study (he lied/slipped the key to the culprit) as well as how they had easy access to the fortified guest house later on.

Last edited at 15/10/28(Wed)15:21:26

Also, are we allowed to theorize that someone is not the culprit, or would that count as our "one chance" to identify the culprit? Or do you simply plan on doing no such thing?

For the record, if I were to theorize that someone wasn't the culprit, I don't plan on simply shotgunning it; I'll make sure to base the theory on the facts in the narrative and the red truths, like anything else.

>>18432
>>18434

"To clarify naming culprits: You can theorize that someone is not the culprit. I am under no obligation to confirm that they are not the culprit using the red. In regards to the accomplices, I shall lay out the following rules: All detectives can have as many attempts as they wish to name accomplices, provided that it is included as part of a full theory that necessitates them being an accomplice. If an accomplice is named without a theory, it does not need to be answered. You shall only get a 'who' with a 'how.' As for what is allowed for an accomplice, an accomplice can inflict harm upon themselves, but only the culprit can kill. Therefore, an accomplice cannot kill themselves in the name of helping the culprit. They can, however, allow the culprit to kill them, as long as it's the culprit causing the death."

>>18433

"As I had not outlined the rules above, I shall answer this theory about Genji. Know, though, that in the future these might not be considered adequate theories."

"Genji's key never left Genji's possession, and neither did Natushi's key after he received it from Doctor Nanjo. Genji did not unlock the door or the windows of the guesthouse for the culprit. And that is how you may name an accomplice, and I may block the theory without removing the possibility." He had calmly chopped the blue into harmless fragments, letting the core idea that Genji was the accomplice fly past.

>>18432

"And now, for the meat of the matter. The door must be shut when it is locked! The culprit did not possess a key for the door of the cousins' room, nor have any way to lock the door from the outside! Two more lightning-fast strikes, and another theory broke.

The culprit hid inside the room all along and killed Maria after she locked herself in. They opened the door for Rosa and then hid behind it. Rosa entered. The culprit then slipped past her and left the room without her noticing, then rushed to Maria's corpse. Rosa locked the door and jumped out the window, presumably because she saw Maria getting dragged away or something.
The wind closed the window.

Also, I take it if we somehow just need a specific person to have done something they could have done as both the culprit or an accomplice, we can simply make that theory without specifying in what way they're involved exactly?

Last edited at 15/10/28(Wed)21:45:24

So it IS a Locked Room Mystery Lock...

First a theory on who ISN'T the culprit, although I realize I may not get it either rejected or confirmed.

The culprit is NOT Gohda. It was declared in red that the culprit is someone Battler knows well. However, Battler incorrectly judges Gohda as a coward and must be corrected. Also, I don't think Battler's met Gohda before, or he's at least not seen him in years. Basically, Battler doesn't know Gohda well at all.

Additionally, Gohda's head was chopped off and moved to another room. Seeing as the culprit had to inflict all deaths themselves, the possibility of an accomplice moving the head for them and then offing themselves seems very slim while moving the head on their own would be an impossibility.

We can therefore safely rule out Gohda as a culprit at this time, unless it becomes more advantageous to us for him to be the culprit later! Because we're wishy-washy like that!

Enough of blues that will probably be ignored, though! This room will break before I do, even if I have to theorize that it was disassembled and rebuilt!

Hey, that's not a bad idea.

The culprit hid inside the room before Maria entered. Maria entered, locked the door, the culprit killed Maria. The culprit tossed Maria's body out the window. Culprit waits for Rosa to show up, she does, culprit unlocks the door, lets her enter on her own, then attacks her. Rosa leaps out the window to escape, only to die. The culprit then closes the door, locks the door, and then takes the door off its hinges using normal tools. Once the door is thusly removed, the culprit stepped outside the room and put the door back on its hinges from the outside. The door was therefore shut when it was locked!

Alternatively, instead of the door being deconstructed, the culprit deconstructed part of the wall, exited through there, and then rebuilt it. The cousins didn't notice any changes because they were too stressed out about a killer running loose!

FURTHER alternatively, the culprit deconstructed part of the floor and exited to the ground floor through there and then reconstructed the missing floor.

FURTHER further alternatively, the culprit deconstructed part of the ceiling and roof and exited to the roof through there. There they reconstructed the missing roof and ceiling, moved to the roof above another room, and then deconstructed the roofing and ceiling there to enter through to this other room with an unlocked door. Of course, the culprit reconstructed this part of the ceiling and roof as well.

I take it back, this was a terrible idea.

Still gonna use it, though.

Hm... I'm going to ask you to confirm one more thing for me. Something from what you said about my magic theory doesn't... sit well with me.

The culprit used strictly human means to commit this crime. Failing that, it was at least POSSIBLE to use strictly human means to commit this crime, even given all possible red truths in this gameboard, past, present, and future.

Oh, and one more thing that might actually be important:

Every lockable door on Rokkenjima must be closed in order to be locked.

Every lockable door on Rokkenjima can be locked and unlocked from the inside without a key.

Every lockable door on Rokkenjima can be locked and unlocked from the outside ONLY with a key.

Juuuuuust double checking.

Last edited at 15/10/29(Thu)05:33:42

>>18437

I kind of ruled him out because Gohda killed no one in this game, but that works too.

Oh right

...

dang

...

Wait, here's a better one!

Neither Genji nor Dr. Nanjo are the culprit! The culprit had to inflict all deaths themselves. If one of them was the culprit and killed themselves, it would be necessary for an accomplice to slash and mutilate the body postmortem. But then how does the culprit kill the accomplice? The chances of that being possible are EXTREMELY slim. Because the red truths make it implausible for either of them to be the culprit, we can safely consider Genji and Dr. Nanjo to be innocent (at least for now)!

Last edited at 15/10/29(Thu)05:38:00

>>18436

"A commendible, sensible theory. More so because your friend seems to be running out of them. Yet they are as fragile as flowers, and as easily plucked. What will you do when the field is barren? The culprit did not sneak past Rosa before she locked the door. As for your question about naming a person, you can name them in the theory if it does not involve them causing a death. If it does, then they would be the culprit, and it would be you naming them as such."

>>18437
>>18438

Goat-kun was about to reply, but then the other detective pointed out the red that was already stated. "As stated. As for the rest, I feel insulted at the mere insinuation that I would make such an unfair game! I am no low charlatan who would do such things in order to win!"

"However, I understand the need to clear all possibilities in this sort of game, so I shall humor you this time."

"No doors, walls, floors, or ceilings were deconstructed and then reconstructed during the course of this game. To do so in an undetectable fashion in the allotted time would be impossible. The only damage done was caused by the explosion in the basement."

"It is possible for a single culprit and no more than two accomplices to have committed this crime, sticking to the red truths outlined in this gameboard. This includes the red presented during the game itself, the red presented currently, and any further red I may give. It also includes everything described in the MYSTERY sections."

"Every lockable door on Rokkenjima can be locked and unlocked from the outside only with a key. Every lockable door on Rokkenjima can be locked and unlocked from the inside without a key."

"The only lockable door that can be 'set' to lock while open is the door to Kinzo's study, which has an autolock mechanism that under normal circumstances will make the door lock any time it is shut, whether or not anyone actively tries to lock it. It must be unlocked from the outside with one of the two existing keys, or from inside."

>>18439

Seemingly out of spite, Goat-kun spit out, "You are forgetting a few things. In this particular closed room, it could have been possible for one of them to be the culprit, kill the other, mutilate themselves, dispose of the weapon, and then die of exsanguination, as both of the deepest gashes occurred in non-vital areas."

Goat-kun's blue theory formed itself into a familiar blade on his arm, which he used to slash at the incoming blue truth. They struck together and negated each other, both currently being valid.

"If you admit that you are stuck on the second Twilight, you could try the others and come back to this one. After all, there is only one culprit."

Last edited at 15/10/30(Fri)22:35:17

Not being stubborn has cost me in the past, but I guess in this case it's mostly just postponing the issue (who knows, maybe the other detective will have dealt with it). I'll see if I can clean up the others first.

The culprit rigged the door to Kinzo's study so it'd stay open. It was only after that that they put Natsuhi's key back on her corpse. They then later returned the door to autolocking properly and stayed inside Kinzo's study. This presumably happened after the second twilight, during which they placed a note to lure Jessica there later. When Jessica arrived, they unlocked it from inside and killed her, hiding her body for unknown reasons.

...And now for some fun things you probably don't have to deny, unless they count as theories for Battler's murder or are just things you want out of the way.

Kanon - just as stated - isn't even on the island, leaving room for an extra human.

Kanon doesn't add towards the count of humans on the island (you know, the usual reasons), leaving room for an extra human on the island.

I will admit that my last theory was definitely stretching it, but you forced my hand by crafting such an impressive locked room. I'm not giving up on it, though!

You said that Maria wasn't in the cousins' room when Rosa entered it, but I'm wondering if it's possible I allowed this to mislead me. My new theory is that neither Rosa nor Maria's deaths were murders.

Maria knew more about the present situation involving a mass murderer than she let on. Her eerie references to Beatrice foreshadow this - what she knew about the possibility of a mass murder taking place she attributed to the manipulations of the Golden Witch Beatrice. This knowledge is what motivated her tragic actions that night.

EDIT: For now, I don't think it's necessary to get into the specifics of why Maria did what she did. Let's just say she had her reasons. But what DID she do? Well...

When Rosa came to check on Maria, Maria was still inside the room. She unlocked the door but didn't open it, just as the FANTASY section hinted. Once the door was unlocked, Maria rushed to the window and jumped out intentionally, ending her own life because no one can jump from the second floor of the guesthouse to the ground and survive. This was done before Rosa realized Maria wasn't opening the door and so before she had a chance to open it and actually ENTER the room. So by the time Rosa entered the room, Maria was not in it. She was outside.

Rosa then entered the cousins' room and locked it behind her from the inside out of habit. Gotta keep the crazy murderers from getting in, right? She quickly realized that Maria wasn't inside, and then she saw Maria on the ground through the window. One of two things happened there: either Rosa in a panic leapt out the window to try and reach Maria as quickly as possible (the FANTASY scene provides a very nifty parallel to this idea), or Rosa followed her daughter's example out of despair.

The culprit later came across Maria and Rosa's bodies. The culprit mutilated Rosa's body (didn't get a chance to kill her so might as well) and moved Rosa's for their own unknown purposes.

The wind/weather closed the window.

On the whole, a very depressing theory. However, it enables the door to be locked once George, Jessica, and Battler arrive, the door is locked when Rosa arrives earlier, and Maria isn't in the room when Rosa enters the cousins' room. Furthermore, while you said that the culprit is the one who kills in red, you did not say that every death involved someone being killed directly or indirectly by the culprit. So suicide is not out of the question.

The deaths of Rosa and Maria are possible without magic! There need not be any Golden Witch!

Also, there's something I didn't quite get cleared up. You stated in red that it is possible for humans to have committed this crime. However you did not say that it was possible using human means. So if I may check that again...

The culprit and accomplices used strictly human means to commit this crime. Failing that, it was at least POSSIBLE for them to use strictly human means to commit this crime, even given all possible red truths in this gameboard, past, present, and future.

In other words, these deaths CAN have taken place without the involvement of magic.

Also concerning your refutation of my blue about neither Genji nor Dr. Nanjo being the culprits...

While you are right that the culprit could've killed the other and then themselves, there remains a problem! Battler was still alive after Genji and Dr. Nanjo were dead (this was indicated by the MYSTERY narration). Battler was also shot by the culprit (that was stated in red). Because the culprit must still be alive to kill Battler, neither Genji nor. Dr. Nanjo can be the culprit.

While I can buy the possibility that Battler might've missed one of them still being barely alive, one must recall that Battler then spends the next several hours (from a little after mid-morning to mid-afternoon) writing documents that the police find. I find it very hard to believe that the culprit could last so long after mutilating themselves and still find the strength to confront Battler and win the ensuing fight.

Last edited at 15/11/01(Sun)08:54:54

>>18441

The blue streaked in, and though a couple body blows connected, Goat-kun managed to block the hardest hits. "A good theory. I will give you this: The culprit placed a note in Jessica's things to lure Jessica to Kinzo's study. This was done in the same timeframe as the second Twilight. However, Natsuhi's key never left Natsuhi's possession until her death, at which point it passed to Genji after being carried briefly by Doctor Nanjo. I can also say that the culprit did not unlock the door for Jessica when she came to the study."

He grinned at the blue theory about Kanon, and nodded. "It's true that I need not deny it, but it is a valid point. As you say, I would not mind getting it out of the way. Kanon did nothing to earn him blame, because at the time of the beginning of this gameboard, he no longer existed. Shannon and Kanon were the same person, but only Shannon remained by October 4th, 1986."

"To clarify, then, the living humans on the island at the start of this gameboard were as follows:

Krauss
Natsuhi
Jessica
Eva
Hideyoshi
George
Rudolf
Kyrie
Battler
Rosa
Maria
Genji
Kumasawa
Shannon-who-was-Kanon
Gohda
Nanjo

Kinzo died two years ago, but his corpse was present. However, despite the fact that it leaves room in my initial count, these are the only humans that were present on Rokkenjima on October the 4th and 5th of 1986."

>>18442

"A good theory from you as well. Much better than the previous. However, Maria did not commit suicide. To be clear, Rosa did not commit suicide either."

"It is possible for a single culprit and no more than two accomplices to have committed this crime, using purely human means and sticking to the red truths outlined in this gameboard. This includes the red presented during the game itself, the red presented currently, and any further red I may give. It also includes everything described in the MYSTERY sections."

Goat-kun considered the new theory about Genji and Nanjo carefully, then nodded. "Your reasoning is sound. I could argue that Doctor Nanjo, with his medical knowledge, would be able to make it seem like his wounds were much more severe than they were, but that would be stretching credulity. What is more, their identities were not difficult to discern in any way, so even Battler could positively identify them. If the culprit made no effort to conceal their identities, I shall not either. Neither Genji nor Doctor Nanjo are the culprit."

Ah, the old Shkanon trick. Or however that's spelled. But it's of no concern to me, at least not until I crack this locked room. Have two different blue theories, one absurd, and the other only slightly less so!

Also, thanks for confirming the possibility of human means. Just wanted to make sure, y'know? Can't have any magical golden pocket watches throwing us off, right?

When Jessica shot the lock to the cousins' room, the narration says "The room looked like it had previously, aside from a new hole in the floor several feet away from the door where Jessica’s bullet had impacted." While it has been said in red that there was no destruction of architecture followed by reassembly by the culprit, there does seem to have been some damage done to the Rokkenjima property.

The exact size of this "hole" is never described, and the precise nature and capabilities of Jessica's gun aren't explained by the narration either. Therefore, it is possible that the "hole" described by the narration was large enough for the culprit to escape through! With this assumption in mind, the events as they took place are very clear!

The culprit was already hiding in the cousins' room when Maria locked herself in as per Rosa's instructions. The culprit killed Maria then, probably disposing of her body and cleaning up the scene of the crime before locking themselves in the cousins' room again.

Rosa then showed up. The culprit unlocked the door and allowed Rosa to enter, only to attack her, leading to her trying to flee by leaping out the window, only to die on impact with the ground as the red states would happen. The culprit then went downstairs out the open door, mutilated her body, went back upstairs to the cousins' room, and locked the door behind themselves, locking them in the cousins' room.

The culprit's original plan was to lay in hiding there, but their plan had to change when Jessica, George, and Battler came and shot the lock. Their act of shooting the lock informed the killer that they were armed, and so the culprit realized that they had to retreat and regroup, so to speak. Fortunately, Jessica's shot left a convenient hole in the floor they were able to escape through before the three cousins could enter the room!

The door was locked when Rosa knocked on it! No one was still in the room when the three cousins entered it! The door was actually locked when the three cousins came to it!

That is how the culprit caused Rosa and Maria's deaths. No witchcraft is necessary!

However, I do find it hard to imagine that this is the true solution. What kind of gun would Jessica have to have carried?

But perhaps the solution involves a little more hardware of a different nature?

While the culprit did not secretly possess a key to the door of the cousins' room and it's only possible to lock the door without a key from the inside, it is not necessary to be in the room to lock it from the inside.

The culprit did the usual. Was hiding in the cousins' room when Maria locked herself in, killed Maria, disposed of her body, locked themselves back in the cousins' room, opened it for Rosa, tried to kill Rosa only for her to try and escape through the window, dying on impact.

The killer then set up a mechanism, probably made of string or thin rope, by which they could pull the lock on the cousins' room door and lock it. They set this up, arranged the string so it trailed out the window to the ground, and then exited the room, closing the door.

The culprit went outside and used the string/thin rope mechanism they had prepared to lock the door. The mechanism was also designed such that it could be yanked and undone, allowing the culprit to pull the string/thin rope out the window, removing all traces.

The culprit mutilated Rosa's body, and the wind/weather closed the window.

Alternatively, if a mechanism that can be disposed of in the manner described is impossible, it was instead destroyed when Jessica shot the lock on the door.

With this possibility in mind, the existence of a witch is unnecessary for these deaths to have taken place!

There we are. And if you don't like them, hey, you're the one who designed such an impregnable locked room. I've got a few more items of business, though.

Heh heh heh...

Neither George nor Kumasawa are the culprit! It was stated in red that they were killed as Battler assumed, which is to say that they were at least dead after the fire was put out. Since the culprit must be alive to shoot Battler, neither of them can be the culprit, as they were already dead when Battler was killed!

Jessica is not the culprit! There are two reasons. It was stated in red that she was killed in Kinzo's room. The presence of blood there suggests that this happened well before Battler was killed, meaning that Jessica was not alive to shoot Battler at the end. By that reasoning, she cannot be the culprit! However, it is also possible to interpret the red differently, supposing that she was killed by herself in the room after shooting Battler and that the blood was from some other death. However, it was also stated in red that the culprit left a note for Jessica to lure her to Kinzo's study. If this is true, then it makes no sense for Jessica to be the culprit, as she would have no reason to lure herself anywhere!

Maria is not the culprit! She's nine and far too small to overpower anyone else on the island in a confrontation.

Rosa is not the culprit! It was stated in red that she definitely did die after jumping into the storm, so she wasn't alive to kill Gohda, Nanjo, Genji, or Battler at the least.

In retrospect, these all seem kind of obvious, but I think it's still good to get this taken care of, if possible. Furthermore...

It is possible Shannon wasn't dead when Battler found "her body" in the shed. He only recognized her by her eagle tattoo, maid outfit, and "ample bosom," as Battler puts it. However, there is no guarantee that no one else had a similar tattoo or something that looked like a tattoo, and the vague qualifications of general body shape and clothing are insufficient to accurately identify a body. Shannon might've still been alive!

I just realized that Shannon being Kanon somewhat complicates the idea of corpse switcheroos. Since Shannon is Kanon, in this gameboard does Shannon have a biologically male body or a biologically female body? Or do you not plan on telling us either way? Additionally, how thorough was Dr. Nanjo's analysis of the corpses in the parlor?

For the record, the culprit was one of the following individuals:

Eva
Kyrie
Natsuhi
Hideyoshi
Rudolf
Krauss
Shannon
Battler (or perhaps more accurately, a witch-like personality in Battler's mind)

No one else could've been the culprit!

Wait, wait, wait. If I theorize that the culprit is one of a group of people, does that count as naming the culprit?

Last edited at 15/11/01(Sun)18:04:23

I suppose it's true that Jessica heard no sound of the door unlocking, so I could have seen that coming.

The door to Kinzo's study was manipulated in advance to stay open. The culprit didn't necessarily need possession of the key. Genji or Natsuhi opened the door for them. It might be sufficient for one of them to just unlock it and walk away. (if the autolock is only triggered when you actually open and close the door after unlocking it)
If that doesn't suffice, the culprit did something to the lock to temporarily jam it. (this wouldn't necessarily make one of Genji/Natsuhi an accomplice as it could have been done in secret while the door was open)

Therefore the culprit didn't need to unlock the door for Jessica - it was already open.
After Jessica opened the door, they followed her inside and killed her. They then had the door lock itself and hid the body somewhere. (Maybe gold room. But anything works.)

>>18452

Goat-kun batted the new theories away like they were minor annoyances.

"The hole left by Jessica's bullet is small, and insignificant to this gameboard except to prove that she really did shoot the lock."

"As stated previously, the culprit did not have any way to lock the door to the cousins' room from the outside. This includes mechanisms, contraptions, and tricks that would allow the culprit to lock the room while standing outside of it."

After blocking the two large blues that came at him, one managed to slip past and strike his side. He flinched, and nodded. "I will confirm it: As Battler did not examine the corpse he believed to be Shannon closely, it is possible that he misidentified the remains."

" As for your theorizing about who isn't the culprit, I invoke my previous red truth: You can theorize that someone is not the culprit. I am under no obligation to confirm that they are not the culprit using the red. Believe what you will about those whom you have named innocent, if you think your reasoning sound. In regards to saying that the culprit is one of a group, I decree that players are allowed to theorize that a culprit is one of a group, but the mystery is not solved unless one in particular is named as the culprit, and I am under no obligation to confirm or deny the theory with the red. In essence, you are free to think out loud, but I need not comment on it."

>>18458

As he was considering the new rules, he only just barely noticed the new blue strike coming from the corner of his eye. Although it clipped him, he managed to throw up a hasty block. "The culprit did not follow Jessica into Kinzo's study!"

I hope you didn't think that would be enough to fend me off.

The culprit was already waiting for Jessica inside the room then.

Both theories are still possible with this:

In the version where they used something to block the lock, they simply didn't undo it until after killing Jessica (I'm assuming this wouldn't contradict the red about the culprit not opening the room for Jessica. If it does, there's always the option that one of their accomplices set it up for them)

In the version where the door was left unlocked but not opened, thereby not triggering the autlock mechanism, there's a small timeframe in which this could have been done, too:
When the cousins were away discovering the second crime, Genji could have gone upstairs, let the culprit enter the study, and leave the door unlocked.

Last edited at 15/11/03(Tue)10:39:33

It's true you're under no obligation to respond to all questions. But I know that you are an honorable fighter, Master Goat, so you'll surely respond to a blue truth of a similar subject?

Dr. Nanjo responsibly examined the six original victims' corpses thoroughly and would've noticed anything obviously off about them. As such, it is important to consider who our only possible "fake body" is.

Shannon plays an important role when it comes to obscuring the identities of victims. Shannon is the only individual to go missing early on and is thus the only "spare body" available to fake someone's death in the first twilight.

Kinzo's body cannot be used to fake anyone's death. He is not only much older than everyone else on the island, but he also has six toes on each foot, and that's a trait no one else on the island possesses.

You have stated that Shannon is Kanon. Because Shannon is Kanon, Shannon's body is actually biologically/superficially male, and Shannon's female attributes are prosthetic.

With this in mind, we know something very important: Shannon's corpse couldn't have been used to fake the death of Natsuhi, Kyrie, or Eva, as Dr. Nanjo would've quickly realized that the body was male rather than female.

Neither Natsuhi, Kyrie, nor Eva can be the culprit, as they were dead from the start!

There's a fun one, though I might be making too many assumptions. But it doesn't quite break our locked room, does it? I've been leaving out accomplices for awhile. Maybe it's time I involve one?

Genji is an accomplice to our killer! Their plan was as follows:

The culprit was hiding inside the cousin's room before Maria locked herself in per Rosa's instructions. The culprit kills Maria somehow and then disposes of the body, perhaps by throwing it out the window for Genji to dispose of, maybe by just unlocking the door and carrying her to the woods themselves. Either way, once Maria is disposed of, the culprit locked themselves back into the cousins' room and waited for Rosa.

When Rosa arrived, they unlocked the door and allowed her to enter on her own. Once she was inside, the culprit attacked, and Rosa fled out the window in an attempt to escape, only to fall to her death. The culprit then closed the window, stepped outside, and closed the door.

This is where Genji truly comes in. He had a key, so he locked the door for the culprit. Genji then returned to the mansion to meet up with everyone else. The culprit then mutilated Rosa's corpse.

Keep in mind that he didn't keep pace with the cousins! He ran after them "as fast as he could manage" from Rosa's perspective. Perhaps it took him so long to catch up because he doubled back to help his co-conspirator kill Rosa?

That is how Maria and Rosa died! Magic is unnecessary for this crime to be possible!

Tada! Though this reminds me of something. There's a blue truth we've been using a lot, but I don't remember if it was ever confirmed or denied. I suppose you can always refuse, Master Goat, but couldn't you do us the honor of response?

Let us not look at Maria and Rosa's death as a single crime, but two. I will now theorize as to how Maria died.

The culprit was already hiding in the cousins' room when Maria locked herself in the room. Once Maria locked herself inside, the culprit killed Maria.

The locked room was never locked for the culprit at all!

And there's something I can't quite figure out from reading the narrative and the red, so I'll say it in blue.

There are two master keys to the mansion on the island. No other keys to any doors or windows on the island exist.

That's how it is on this board, right?

As I see it, we've eliminated the following as culprits:

Rosa
Maria
Kumasawa
George
Jessica
Genji
Dr. Nanjo
Gohda
Kanon-who-doesn't-exist-anymore
Kinzo

Which leaves us with only a relative handful. Hm...

Last edited at 15/11/03(Tue)18:52:52

While I'd agree with that list... I'd still be careful with some names until we have a better picture of the howdunnits. But for completion's sake... ruling out Battler is a pretty safe bet.
The only way the scenes at the end would still make sense with him as the culprit would be convenient amnesia (heh...) or split personalities. Even if we DID assume that he kept up the act while nobody was watching him (which is already pretty far-fetched), we get quite a few of his inner thought processes in MYSTERY segments. Now, I'm assuming 100% fact means that it's not just 'an interpretation based on observation', but fact. So if a character is stated to be surprised or make a guess, they're actually surprised or guessing. (on the other hand, if they only 'seem' surprised, it could be taken both ways. And there are also lots of instances where it's heavily implied a statement is just what the people in the scene are assuming to be the case, so that ending up wrong would probably still be fair as well.)
Then again, maybe I'm not supposed to take it that literally, but Battler faking all of that at the end for no real reason would still be pushing it.

Last edited at 15/11/04(Wed)13:29:11

>>18466

You've got a point about being careful until we're sure how people were killed. For Battler, though, I never thought that he was acting. If he IS the culprit, it's a case of split personality. Some sort of witch-like personality residing in Battler's mind without his knowledge.

It's still pretty unlikely just because of how absurd it is, but he makes for a really convenient culprit. Especially at the end: the red states Battler was shot by the culprit from close range. What better way to be shot from close range by someone than to, well...

Then again, he seems to have been with George and Jessica in the guesthouse at the time of the first twilight, so I suppose it's also safe to rule him out by virtue of alibi, regardless of split personalities.

Last edited at 15/11/04(Wed)13:42:57

Did you solve this yet? I still think Rosa is the culprit.

No solution yet. We got kind of stuck on the second twilight. I'm still trying to crack it while Rune is focusing efforts on Jessica's murder. I'm getting the feeling Rune's close to figuring out how the killer got Jessica, though.

As for Rosa, isn't she kind of... dead for that? It's also been said in red that she didn't commit suicide, so her coming back to the guesthouse later to jump and die after killing Battler isn't an option either...

The culprit convinced Maria to play a halloween prank on Rosa.
After unlocking the door for her mother, Maria rushed to the window, standing kind of on the ledge outside so it doesn't count as her being in the room.
Rosa gets inside and locks the door, then sees Maria. This is when Maria jumps... Rosa quickly rushes over and jumps after her, catching her in mid-air. The two of them land on the culprit, who initially wanted to just catch Maria.

Rosa jumped into the storm. However, she landed on a person, not the ground. Since you're only guaranteed to die if you jump from the window straight to the ground, the two of them survived the fall. The culprit was knocked out as a result. After realizing the situation, Rosa decided to just escape the island and went off with Maria to find a boat.

When the culprit came to, they decided to not bother and just fake the death of the two using another corpse (Shannon maybe) and Maria's crown which she lost during the fall.

Rosa is alive and still best mom.

Why am I doing this
Easy.

Last edited at 15/11/04(Wed)18:54:11

There's no red for Rosa being dead, just a lot of conditionals that make us assume she is. Shannon is never found out, as Rune said, so that would allow us to use her corpse to fake Rosa's. And the most suspicious fact is that nothing else is found from Maria but her little crown.

I could try looking for a loophole later, but I guess there's still a chance that this is just a red herring. I don't believe so, though.

Goat-kun was forced back under the furious blue assault. Although he fended off what he could, more than one struck home.

>>18464

The blue about Kinzo's study landed a solid body blow, and he grunted out the red truth. "The culprit blocked the lock on the door with an item strong enough to keep it from locking while it was open. The culprit waited in the study for Jessica. When Jessica opened the door the object fell down past her leg. After Jessica was killed, the culprit left and picked up the object, letting the door lock normally."

>>18465

"You can theorize that someone is not the culprit. I am under no obligation to confirm that they are not the culprit using the red. However, I will confirm that Shannon's physical body resembles the form of Yasu or Lion from other gameboards. In other words, most of the feminine physical attributes are prosthetic, and Doctor Nanjo could tell Shannon apart from from everyone else."

"Genji is not an accomplice."

"When Maria locked the door after Rosa left with Genji and Gohda to get Doctor Nanjo, Maria was alone in the room."

"There are many keys on this island, that exist for many doors, such as the door to the chapel, the door of the storage shed, and the like. However, I shall at least grant this, which I believe is what you were looking to confirm. There are six master keys, which are designed to open any lockable door in the main mansion except for Kinzo's study. They do not work on any locks in the guest house, the chapel, the storage shed, or any other lockable door that may happen to exist on Rokkenjima. However, the master keys are not important to this gameboard."

>>18470

"It is true that that would technically get around the red truth. So let me close that loophole. Maria was not caught by and did not land on the culprit. Rosa was not caught by and did not land on the culprit after jumping from the window."

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

There was a gasp from the figure beside Beato.

"Another room down," Beatrice sighed. "It won't be long now. You shouldn't watch."

"...no. I want to watch until the end. He made this for me, and I owe it to him." Unshed tears glistened in the darkness.

Last edited at 15/11/05(Thu)19:31:05

Thank you for gracing us with the red, Master Goat. We now know that much more.

...Although knowing is quite painful in the case of the second twilight. This locked room has a deadly beauty to its impenetrability, especially now that he explanation to Maria's murder has now been cruelly dashed.... You've probably noticed that I'm running out of ideas.

But I have a few left!

The cousins' room is missing a wall! There are no secret passages, and the killer didn't enter through a window, and the door was locked, but since the room was very obviously missing a wall (making it not secret), the culprit was still able to get in and out of the room!

No one mentioned this in the MYSTERY sequences just because!

I'm sorry for that one. But here's one I think is a bit better!

While Maria didn't open the door for anyone, she did open a window to get some fresh air. Because of this, the culprit was able to use some Method X to grab Maria through the window from the ground. I would guess a lasso. The culprit lassoed (or something else-d) Maria out the cousins' room through the open window, much like how Beatrice had Maria kidnapped out the open window.

The moment of lassoing happened just after Maria unlocked the door for her Mama. When Rosa entered the room and locked the door behind her, she saw the culprit making off with Maria towards the forest (this would be kidnapping, not a hostage situation, since the culprit made no attempt to use Maria to force any action). In a panic, Rosa leapt out the window after them, ultimately falling to her death.

After killing Maria in the forest, the culprit returned to the guesthouse and came across Rosa's corpse. The culprit mutilated it, and left.

The window was closed by the wind/weather. The door was locked when Rosa came to it and has been left locked for the cousins to find it.

It's possible to commit the murder without the use of magic. Witchcraft need not be real!

More hardware. But have another theory, because they are probably ALL wrong somehow, anyway!

While Rosa told Maria not to open the door for anyone but her, this doesn't exclude the possibility of her leaving the door unlocked for someone else to open. Maria for some unknown reason X departed from the cousins' room. It's possible she grew worried about her Mama and left to search for her. When she left, the door naturally had to be left unlocked, as Maria had no way to lock it from the outside.

The culprit later came across the unlocked door and decided to set a trap for Rosa by waiting inside. The culprit entered the room and locked the door. Rosa later showed up, and the culprit sprung on her, attacking. In trying to escape, Rosa leapt out the window, only to die on impact with the ground.

The culprit then exited the cousins' room and then had one of their accomplices enter it, lock the door behind them, and leap out the window to their death, thereby locking the room.

The culprit then mutilated Rosa's body. The culprit also disposed of the accomplice's body somewhere else. Maria was killed later. The wind/weather closed the window.

It's a perfect locked room with no magic whatsoever!

Alternatively, the accomplice could've waited in the room and attacked Rosa. Since Rosa died by leaping out the window herself, it'd count as the accomplice not killing Rosa. The accomplice then did the same as before to lock the room by locking the door from the inside and jumping out the window, only for the culprit to later mutilate Rosa's corpse, dispose of the accomplice's body and kill Maria later while the wind/weather closed the window.

And I don't think Rune's theory is quite as dashed as you make it out to be, Master Goat. Let's generalize a little.

There was some unknown Thing X that Rosa landed on after jumping into the storm out the window of the cousins' room. Be it a mattress, person (aside from the culprit), car, or flower, this Thing X helped soften Rosa's fall, preventing her death. This does not violate the red, as one only dies if one jumps from the second floor of the guesthouse to the GROUND.

Last edited at 15/11/06(Fri)05:48:22

Well, I'll just go on ahead while leaving that second one to the other detective. I'm assuming I don't really have to figure out what the 'item' was that blocked the door. There are still some open questions, but nothing I couldn't wager a pretty solid guess on. So~

There is no mystery about the fourth crime. The culprit killed George and Kumasawa and placed them in the boiler room together with Kinzo's corpse. They closed some valves or something, causing the boiler to explode a bit later.

But just speculating about this one won't satisfy me right now - unless it somehow turns out there's more to it - so let's include the next one.
This is all getting into "everyone had an alibi/is confirmed innocent, who even is the culprit?" territory. If that's something I'm supposed to account for, well... that'd get tricky without accusing someone specific, unless I'm allowed to just go with "they faked their death at some point" for now.

The guest house. Gohda opened the door for the culprit. Together, they'd have had an easy time taking out Genji and Nanjo without much of a sound. The blood in Gohda's room was merely planted there to make it look like he died, which explains much better why Battler didn't hear a thing.

When Battler discovered the scene, the culprit was hiding inside the guesthouse, explaining how everything still was locked. They exited after Battler left for the shed.

They might've had to leave briefly at some point here to do things in the storage shed, but one crime at a time.

Goat-kun continued to be driven back, battered on all sides.

>>18473

"The cousins' room is not missing a wall, and even if it was, the 'cousins room' would then include the area bounded by what walls surrounded it."

"Maria was not pulled out of the cousins' room window via Method X, lasso-like or otherwise."

"Maria obeyed her Mama's instructions about the door completely, to the point where she would not even unlock the door for herself, no matter the circumstances, unless her Mama told her it was alright. Furthermore, the accomplice did not leap out of the second floor window."

Then the last blue came in, and struck Goat-kun hard in the cheekbone. He stumbled back, his eye immediately beginning to swell up.

Steadying himself, he faced the detectives with grim determination. "I acknowledge the hit. Rosa landed on a person who was not the culprit, and as such was not killed by the fall."

>>18474

Goat-kun managed to throw up a solid red block to the first blue.

"At the time George's stomach was gouged, the culprit was waiting for Jessica in Kinzo's study. It was impossible for the culprit to be in two places at once!"

"To avoid naming the culprit, if faking their death is part of your theory, you may just say that."

The next blue formed a three-punch combo that left Goat-kun momentarily on his knee, but he stood quickly, spitting out a tooth with another bit of red. "I acknowledge the hits. Well struck. Gohda unlocked and opened the door for the culprit. He assisted in the murders of Genji and Nanjo so that they could be killed quietly. The blood on Gohda's bed was planted. The culprit hid in the guesthouse, and used the note on Gohda's bed to get Battler to leave without searching the guesthouse thoroughly first."

"Gohda is an accomplice."

Goat-kun clenched his fists, building his strength. Then, with a demonic roar, he struck.

"There are many more mysteries to solve, large and small! Do not think you have beaten me yet!"

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

"All it ever takes is a single thread, and it all unravels..." whispered Beato, hearing the sound of paper crumple slightly in someone's grip.

Huh... the part with Rosa actually happening like that was unexpected. I didn't really think she was that suspicious, but now I should probably reconsider.

Time to backtrack to the fourth crime... I see. So that's what he put in his pocket.

George was lured to Kinzo's study in exactly the same fashion as Jessica. (using Shannon's name on the note instead of Kanon)

The blood on the floor was actually George's... or both George's and Jessica's. He was actually killed in the same place.

Five minutes isn't a lot of time, but might be enough to drag the two bodies out of the room and out of sight. George's body was then brought to the boiler room.

I was definitely NOT expecting that to be right. Um... okay. First, congratulations, Goat. Your instincts were right despite all the "evidence." In this case, Rune's theory is definitely not as dashed as it seemed to be.

When Rosa came to the door of the cousins' room to get Maria, Maria unlocked the door but then rushed to the little ledge outside the window so as to be "not in" the room when Rosa entered. When Rosa opened the door, entered, and locked the door behind her out of habit, Maria jumped out the window. This was not an attempt at suicide, because there was some Person X waiting below who told Maria they'd catch her, possibly an accomplice, though it's also possible it was someone not affiliated with the crime and its commission.

Upon seeing Maria jump, Rosa rushed forward and jumped out the window and into the storm. She caught Maria in mid air and landed on the Person X, breaking their fall.

Then, for some Reason Y, Rosa took Maria and fled the island before the seagulls cried, perhaps using some boat to escape. The culprit (whoever it may be) faked their deaths using someone else's corpse and Maria's crown. Alternatively, Rosa faked her and Maria's deaths herself, to throw the culprit off. Or something.

Alternatively, they were killed by the culprit later, later being as short or long as it needs to be.

The wind/weather closed the window. The door was locked when Rosa came to it and when Battler, George, and Jessica came to it.

This locked room require no magic at all!

But in case that doesn't work the way I want it to...

The "locked room" of the cousins' room is not very mysterious after all. Some person unlocked the door for Rosa. This person was probably Maria. Rosa entered the door, locked it behind her, and both the person and Rosa jumped out the window. The door was left locked, the window was closed by the weather.

It's actually not very strange at all.

So there's a few theories... but I have some lingering questions.

It's been stated in red that no one was left alive on the cursed island of Rokkenjima when the seagulls cried. That makes it sound like everyone was killed, but it's actually pretty vague. Try these blue truths on for size!

Rokkenjima isn't cursed, so the red truth is talking about a DIFFERENT island called Rokkenjima. Some people were left alive on the island at the gameboard's end!

The seagulls didn't cry for many, many years, long after anyone remaining would've passed away naturally. So while everyone was dead when the seagulls cried, there were still some people alive on the island right after the murders.

A person or persons simply left the island before the seagulls cry. While there aren't any living people left on Rokkenjima, that's not to say there are no survivors.

Now that Rosa is alive to kill everyone else, she suddenly makes for a pretty good culprit. Not naming any names yet, but she was in the cousins' room to plant Jessica's (and possibly George's?) note, was "napping" during the first twilight, and being dead gives her the greatest alibi in the world for the remaining deaths. I don't want to make any accusations yet as this could just be another red herring, but I do retract my blue that Rosa CANNOT be the culprit.

And Master Goat, I know you are an honorable fighter, but forgive my paranoia here:

The cousins' room is the room in the guesthouse George, Jessica, and Battler's belongings were in and is the room Rosa and Maria were sleeping in when Genji came to fetch Rosa after the first twilight. In other words, both rooms are one and the same. It has a door that can be locked and is surrounded on all four sides by walls that cut it off from the rest of the guesthouse. It is definitely not defined as the guesthouse or multiple rooms in the guesthouse or the hallway of the guesthouse or anything other than what it most obviously is to the casual reader of the gameboard.

Hm... I wonder...

Because Shannon is Kanon and Kanon did nothing that would earn him blame, Shannon didn't do anything that would earn her blame either. Because they're the same person, she can't have done anything that would earn her blame, as that would violate the red about Kanon not doing anything that would earn him blame.

I think... that's enough for now. Yeah.

Last edited at 15/11/07(Sat)07:12:10

>>18476

"You should trust your instincts. Five minutes would be too short a time to take two bodies out of sight from Kinzo's study. George was not lured to Kinzo's study, was not attacked there, and was not killed there. George was killed in the boiler room. He had been lured to the boiler room by a note similar to the one Jessica received. I gave you that last to acknowledge your observation about him putting something in his pocket. Well spotted, though the imagined contents were incorrect.

>>18477

Suddenly Goat-kun came under a strong attack from the other detective. He thought he'd been prepared, but there was too much to face. He fought as though his life depended on it.

"For ease of reference, the windowsill counts as being in the room. So therefore Maria would still be in the room in this theory." He bashed the first theory, letting its pieces fly by as he faced the next.

"If 'that person' were Maria, she would be in the room when Rosa entered. Maria was not in the room when Rosa entered. Where was Maria then?" Suddenly he sent out a quick one-two of his own. "Maria did not jump or intentionally fall from the window! Maria did not fall from the window by accident! So that leaves being thrown, yes?" he asked, then let loose a roundhouse. "Rosa did not throw Maria out the window!"

Behind that came a swarm of blue strikes, floating like golden butterflies but stinging like bees.

"There is only one island Rokkenjima, definition of 'cursed' notwithstanding."

"The seagulls cried when they returned to the island, the morning after the storm had passed."

Then the third of the group came in, and struck him in the solarplexus, causing him to crumple. He gasped for air for a moment before standing shakily.

"I acknolwedge...that that is how the explosion killed no one... At least one human was left alive after the final murder, and then escaped the island in the night, before the seagulls returned to cry" He coughed again. "A solid hit. I acknowledge you as a worthy opponent."

The next blue he managed to simply reverse the direction on, changing it's color. "The cousins' room is the room in the guesthouse George, Jessica, and Battler's belongings were in and is the room Rosa and Maria were sleeping in when Genji came to fetch Rosa after the first twilight. In other words, both rooms are one and the same. It has a door that can be locked and is surrounded on all four sides by walls that cut it off from the rest of the guesthouse. It is definitely not defined as the guesthouse or multiple rooms in the guesthouse or the hallway of the guesthouse or anything other than what it most obviously is to the casual reader of the gameboard."

As for the last one, he caught the solid strike in his palm, and nodded. "The reasoning is sound, and I acknowledge it. As Kanon did nothing to earn him blame, and Kanon and Shannon are the same, then Shannon did nothing to earn her blame either. Even dropping the teapot, as Genji stated, was a simple mistake."

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

"There's almost nothing left..." whispered the figure in the shadows.

"Actually, there's quite a lot," whispered Beatrice. "Why the adults in the parlor did not fight back. The truth about the boiler room deaths. What happened to Shannon. Where Jessica's body is. How the corpses got into the storage shed, which I know he was so proud of. And, of course, the whydunnit."

"The whydunnit?"

"Oh yes. A friend of mine once said that he would never accept any theory that ignores the heart. And Goat-kun would never craft a mystery without a heart. I only hope the detectives can find it while they're dragging out the guts."

"...that's really a disgusting metaphor."

"Yeah, I was just thinking that myself."

Last edited at 15/11/08(Sun)10:56:31

Heh heh heh... this closed room is very impressive, Master Goat. If I am a worthy opponent, you are far worthier, as you had me grasping for the most desperate of theories for a while there. But now that the trick's been exposed, the red only leads me closer to the solution!

When Rosa came to the door to the cousins' room, Maria was indeed inside it. Maria unlocked the door and opened it for her Mama. Instead of entering, though, Rosa asked Maria to step outside for her. Maria did. THEN Rosa entered the door, locking it behind her. Although Maria unlocked the door for Rosa, Maria was not inside when Rosa entered!

Rosa then jumped out the window of the cousins' room intentionally. This wasn't suicide, though, as Rosa knew there was some person below who would catch her/who she could land on, softening her fall and preventing her death.

Maria didn't jump out the window or fall and wasn't thrown out by Rosa. She exited through the door!

Rosa then escaped with Maria. It is possible they left the island at some point. Alternatively, they were just killed later. I'm leaning towards the former, though.

Their deaths were either faked by themselves using a corpse (Shannon's, probably) and Maria's crown or by someone else (probably the culprit) using the same.

The wind/weather closed the window.

When Rosa came to the door it was locked. When Rosa entered Maria wasn't inside. When Battler, Jessica, and George came to the door, it was locked.

That is how Rosa and Maria's "deaths" took place and how the room was locked. No magic was necessary to make this locked room possible!

I like that blue truth the best, and it's the one I'm most confident in. But let's play it safe and go for multiple theories, shall we? You said that Rosa didn't throw Maria out the window. What about someone else?

When Rosa came to the door, Maria was inside the cousins' room and unlocked it for her. Rosa then stepped aside and allowed the culprit to enter and throw Maria out the window, killing her. Yes, Rosa is an accomplice! Then, to create the locked room, the culprit left through the door, and Rosa entered through the door and locked it behind her. The culprit went outside and stood below the window. Rosa jumped out the window and landed on Maria. Or rather her corpse. But NOT on the culprit. Either way, Rosa's alive because she landed on a human, not the ground.

The culprit then did one of two things. The culprit either killed Rosa right there anyway, OR they faked Rosa's death using someone else's corpse. Maria's body was also disposed of by the culprit.

The wind/weather closed the window, and the door was left locked for Battler, George, and Jessica to find.

But maybe Rosa ISN'T an accomplice. The theory can still work!

When Rosa came to the door, Maria was inside the cousins' room and unlocked it for her. Rosa then stepped aside and allowed some Person X to enter and throw Maria out the window. This did NOT kill Maria, as either Rosa or some Person Y stood below the window and caught Maria, preventing her death. The Person X then exited the room and allowed Rosa to enter it. Rosa locked the door behind her and jumped out the window, but was caught by someone/landed on someone, be it X, Y (who doesn't necessarily exist), or Maria.

The wind closed the window, the deaths were faked using someone else's corpse (or the culprit caught up to Rosa and killed her there), no magic necessary, etcetera.

Hm... wasn't actually expecting that Shannon and Kanon blame one to work. Well, it's a pleasant surprise. But to try and prevent surprises in the future...

The motive for the murders is not such that one would not be able to blame the killer for it. In other words, murder is still an act that would earn one blame, regardless of the motive.

Shannon is therefore not the culprit!

Also...

While it's true that it was POSSIBLE for Battler to be mistaken about the corpse he assumed to be Shannon's in the tool shed, that doesn't necessarily mean that he really WAS. In fact, he wasn't mistaken, as Shannon is the only individual on the island to have a tattoo of a one-winged eagle on their leg. So it really was Shannon's corpse.

An extension of that would be as follows:

In fact, any corpse that was Shannon's and was sufficiently scrutinized would easily be identified as Shannon's because of the tattoo of a one-winged eagle. So all of the six victims of the first twilight really are dead, because if Shannon's corpse were used to fake their deaths, Dr. Nanjo would've recognized the body as Shannon's because of the tattoo.

And, hm... Let's throw this one in.

If someone jumped or fell from the second floor of the guesthouse and landed on Maria or Maria tried to catch someone doing so, Maria would be killed, as she is far too small to catch anybody else on the island safely.

Last edited at 15/11/08(Sun)13:10:46

Looks like I missed the mark. Well, that complicates things, but given what we know there shouldn't really be many ways for this to work.

There was a trap that shot George in the stomach when he entered the boiler room. Seeing as just about any construction of wood and string would have burned in a fire like that, it is plausible that nothing remained to be found.

That's probably the expected move. But who knows, maybe it's the right move?
...
Now for something I suspected for a while but never got to actually try. And now that we have it confirmed Gohda is an accomplice, I probably should.

Gohda's pâté contained sleep-inducing drugs of some kind. That's why the six in the parlor offered no resistance. It's also why Shannon - the only other person that got to try it - never reached the guesthouse.

>>18479

The blue slammed itself into Goat-kun's side, and a rib could be heard to crack as he fell. The further blues flew over his head, because they weren't necessary. He lay on the ground for a moment, then stood, shakily, holding his side, before resuming a fighting stance.

"I acknowledge...the hit... Maria unlocked the door for Rosa, opened the door, and exited the room. Rosa then entered, locking the door behind her. A couple minutes later, Rosa willingly jumped from the window, knowing that there was someone below to catch her. The wind closed the window. The culprit had faked their deaths at the time when the cousins discovered the scene together. That is how the closed room of the Second Twilight occurred."

Despite his injury, he kept fighting, though more and more hits landed.

"No motive would be so strong as to make the murderer not earn blame. Shannon is not the culprit."

"Shannon is the only inhabitant of the island to have the Ushiromiya crest tattooed on her leg. Any corpse that was sufficiently scrutinized could be identified as Shannon's because of the tattoo on the leg. Shannon's corpse was not used to substitute for any corpse in the parlor."

"Maria did not catch anyone jumping from the second floor of the guesthouse."

>>18480

Whirling, Goat-kun tried to block the next blue, but was too slow, and it caught him in the kidney.

"Grr. I will not fight you on every detail, as it would be dishonorable. You struck well. There was a trap in the boiler room that gouged George's stomach and triggered the explosion a few moments later. The fire burned most of the evidence, and the rest was cleared up by Gohda while fighting the fire."

The other blue flew in, but was met by a solid block from Goat-kun. "Do not thing that means I am done, though. No drugs, poisons, or toxins were added to any food or drink prepared. Not the tea, not the fish, not the liver pate, not any other named or unnamed dish. If the pate was used, it would have to be in a way in which no drugs, poisons, or toxins were added."

YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!!!! FINALLY!!!!!

At last! Thanks again to Goat for your stubbornness and to Rune for the first theory involving Rosa's survival. While your red truths were carefully crafted, Master Goat-kun, (too many goats) it was the fact that you specifically said that Rosa didn't land on the culprit that made me worry something was up. I figured it was a red herring at first, but, well...

Anyway, as you said there are still many more mysteries to solve, so let's get started!

Seeing as the culprit had to fake their deaths, Rosa and Maria are, in fact, still alive, and are among those who escaped the island before the seagulls returned to cry.

That's not very pertinent to the whole witch, thing, though, and it's time I finally talk about something other than Rosa and Maria and the second twilight. Let's tackle Kumasawa's death!

Kumasawa was killed by the same trap in the boiler room that ended George's life. She was either lured there or forcibly brought there.

Alternatively,

Kumasawa was killed much earlier, and her body was simply left in the boiler room before George and Jessica were killed.

Sometimes the simplest answers are best. We'll see if these hold up or not soon enough. But there's also the matter of there being no struggle from our first victims. Before I try to strike with blue, I'd like to ask a question. What defines a "drug" or "poison" or "toxin?" Does it have to be something synthetic? Does it have to be something that has the express purpose of inducing sleep?

But I won't be satisfied with just that! Being crushed time and again has given me a taste for massive assaults. Let's get ourselves ready to strike at the heart of the matter.

Confirmatory blue: The killer's motive had nothing to do with the gold. This can logically be extended to say that the killer's motive had nothing to do with money at all. In other words, the killer's motive had no financial or monetary basis or origin.

With no culprit even named, I won't go any further than that. But speaking of who the culprit isn't...
In spoilers because I know you probably won't confirm this in red. I'm just thinking out loud. The culprit PROBABLY isn't Natsuhi, Krauss, Kyrie, Rudolf, Eva, Hideyoshi, Shannon, Kinzo, Jessica, George, Kumasawa, Maria, Genji, Nanjo, Gohda, or Battler.

There is one person who maybe could be the culprit. Hm......

One last blue.

Because Shannon has done nothing that would earn her blame, Shannon also isn't an accomplice. Willingly going along with the culprit's plan would certainly earn one blame.

That's all for now. I must say, this is a devious gameboard, Master Goat-kun, and it has been a thrilling fight. But know that I will never give up until every locked room is broken!

Last edited at 15/11/10(Tue)13:23:42

Good, that was a funny loophole there. It seems like you won't need me anymore. Have fun.

Well, I could have thought up a more specific trap, but I couldn't find any clues that'd suggest a certain direction. Ah well.
I'm afraid food isn't my strong point, so I'll retreat from that one for now.

Now for the storage shed... technically i could have you confirm something first to make this an actual mystery, but I feel it's fairly obvious the simple solution won't work. So... take this!

Gohda most likely couldn't have pretended to just lock the shed after the group got flashlights as the others watched him.
However, what he COULD have done is switch the padlock with another while he was holding it and the others were inside to get stuff. And that's just what he did. He then later disposed of the original padlock somewhere the culprit would find it.

The culprit had the key to the second padlock, so they unlocked it and placed the two bodies inside. They then obtained and used the original padlock to lock the shed. (as it's just an open padlock, no key required).
It was only AFTER that that they committed the guesthouse murders.
But how does that work for Gohda? Simple, "Gohda's body" in the shed wasn't actually Gohda's body. His head was missing, and if he was wearing the gloves Gohda wore when he was cooking, his body would have been completely covered by his clothes. So even if it was one of the charred corpses, it would have been hard to tell. All the culprit needed was a second Gohda outfit, but as we're talking about a chef it's quite likely he had some spares somewhere.

>>18482

Goat-kun tried to block and dodge as he could, but his rib was proving too painful to ignore completely.

He dodged the first blue. "I stated only that the deaths were faked at the time of the discovery by the cousins. I need not confirm Rosa and Maria's whereabouts thereafter unless it becomes intrinsic to a theory."

He dodged the second blue as well, but it left him open for the third. With a grunt of pain, he said, "Kumasawa was killed earlier in the boiler room, before George and Jessica were killed."

"In this case, the definition of a drug, poison, or toxin is any synthetic or organic substance that has the specific and intended purpose of creating a chemical reaction in those it comes in contact with, whether it be sleep, paralysis, hallucinations, death, or otherwise. The definition of 'added' is 'to include in the food or drink in a way that is not required by the recipe. If there were a berry pie and arsenic were baked into it, the arsenic would be 'added'. If the berries themselves were poisonous, they would not be 'added,' as berries are required by the recipe, poisonous or not."

Goat-kun smiled at the next blue. "Recall, the gold never bothered the culprit anyway. So your reasoning is sound. Gaining wealth was not the direct motive for these murders. I will not say it played no part, as money always affects the destiny of a rich family, but the final motive is not money."

"And yes, willingly going along with a culprit's plan makes one an accomplice and earns one blame, even if no direct action is taken. Shannon is not an accomplice."

>>18484

After all those smaller strikes, Goat-kun found himself blindsided and slammed back by the other detective's truth. Getting up from where he had landed, he shook his head in disbelief.

"To think it would fall so easily. I acknowledge that masterful strike. Gohda switched the padlock while the others were inside, and then locked the shed with this second padlock, which the culprit had the key for. The culprit placed the corpses inside before the guesthouse murders. The corpse that Battler believed was Gohda was not Gohda, but was wearing Gohda's uniform. Such skill must be rewarded, so I give you this: Battler was not completely blind, only viewing the corpses from a few dozen steps away. There were no gloves, it was not a charred corpse. It was an adult male, of approximately Gohda's build."

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

"Mate in one move..." whispered Beatrice, recalling her line from the musical.

Beside her, tears silently fell to the stage floor.

Out-of-Game Note: Alright, I think just about everything has been solved, aside from why the adults didn't fight back, which is not technically necessary as the closed room has already been broken. So you can continue to post theories to nail down exactly what happened before the end (like the reason they didn't fight), or you can go for broke and just go for the solution.

Just wanted to offer this as an Out-of-Game thing: Bonus bragging points if you guess who the figure beside Beato is in your solution post (probably not that hard, just put it in spoiler tags at the end), before I reveal them.

I'll make one last try to solve the lingering mysteries of this gameboard before I go for broke and try to hunt down the very human identity of our mysterious Golden Witch. Be prepared, Master Goat-kun, for I am going to bring an end to this mystery and shed light on the truth once and for all!

You specified that a drug, poison, or toxin has to be something intentionally added to a food outside its recipe with the express purpose of inducing a chemical reaction in the consumer. To get around that, there was simply some Ingredient X in the dish that induced drowsiness. Be it something in the pâté, the dimbula tea, the crackers, or anything else those in the parlor ate, it put them to sleep. With Gohda as an accomplice, this can be explained as him knowing enough about the cuisine to know what sort of ingredients could put someone to sleep reliably. Alternatively, if not sleep, it was some sort of incapacitation, be it paralysis or merely crippling pain.

Further alternatively, maybe it was not a single ingredient, but some combination of the ingredients. Alone they would do nothing to a consumer, but together they incapacitated the six original victims.

Those are the answers I can come up with that are dependent upon the loophole that exists with the definition of drugs, poisons, and toxins in mind. But since this is probably a devious trick and you seemed to give away the specifics of what drugs, poisons, and toxins were, is it perhaps a red herring? In the which case, have my other alternatives!

Gohda hypnotized the six victims in the parlor! He spends an inordinate amount of time describing his pâté to the adults in the parlor, and it's almost suspicious. Seeing as he's an accomplice, perhaps he slipped some hypnotic suggestion into his descriptions of the pâté? Some sort of hypnotic suggestion that had a sort of delayed reaction and would, at the appropriate time perhaps when part of the will was read aloud?), incapacitate the six by putting them to sleep or whatever else hypnosis is capable of.

Heh. Maybe a little out there, but there are no drugs, poisons, or toxins, right? But why leave it at that? In fact, there's another loophole with the drugs, poisons, and toxins!

While no drugs, poisons, or toxins were added to any FOOD, that doesn't mean they weren't USED. At some point, the six victims were poisoned or drugged, and that caused them to be incapacitated.

It could've been before the gameboard began, with the drug intended to have some kind of delayed reaction. Natsuhi does mysteriously have a headache at the gameboard's start.

It could've been while they were in the parlor; if someone - perhaps an accomplice - opened the window "for some fresh air," the six could've been shot with a tranquilizer gun through the window.

Maybe the culprit and two accomplices (one being Gohda) could've quickly overpowered the victims and chloroformed them.

Whatever the true nature of the Method X of drugging, the victims were still somehow drugged!

Maybe I'm getting carried away, but I'm having fun coming up with all sorts of solutions. But I wonder: will they all still be crushed? I don't know. Next up, we have the solution of ignoring the problem entirely!

The six victims were only made to LOOK as though they hadn't fought back. The truth is that they DID fight back, but all evidence of the struggle was cleaned up after the six were killed, and the victims' corpses were posed in the positions Genji found them in. Incapacitating the victims was never necessary at all!

And finally, the generic one.

There was some Method X that the culprit or an accomplice to the culprit used to incapacitate the victims of the first twilight. Be it an ingredient, hypnosis, or a mind control ray, it wasn't magic, and witchcraft hasn't been proven to be real! Alternatively, there was some Method Y that the culprit or an accomplice to the culprit used to make it appear to those who say the room that the victims of the original twilight had not struggled.

There, that's about everything I can think of for that puzzle. But there's a few things left, aren't there?

The corpse dressed up as Gohda was either Rudolf or Krauss. I believe Krauss is the most likely candidate, though; based on the sprites, Krauss looks like he most closely matches Gohda in build. Battler never goes back to the parlor to see the original six victims, so it's a possibility.

EDIT: Obvious mistakes about George and Kinzo were obvious and have been edited out.

Anything else? I don't want there to be a single truth left hidden!

Shannon's death is no mystery. She was killed while going to the guesthouse by the culprit, and her body was hidden, perhaps in the forest, until the culprit needed to make use of it. It was probably first brought out to fake Rosa's death (with mutilation of the body preventing it from being recognized; additionally, since no one examines the body, they all just easily missed Shannon's tattoo and later put in the shed for Battler to find.

One more...

Battler's death is also no mystery. He intentionally sought out the culprit and, as you said in the red, was shot and killed at point blank range.

And not a death, but...

The culprit probably escaped the island during the night before the seagulls came to cry, possibly with some companions. One might be Gohda. It makes more sense to be an accomplice if it doesn't require that you get killed, right?

If my theories on how the six in the parlor were incapacitated falls through or my theory on whose body "Gohda" was, I think I'll just go for the solution anyhow (if my theories on Shannon or Battler fall through, that'd be a problem, though). I don't think I'll be able to think of anything more than what I've got here. Maybe Rune can think of an even more devious trick than those I've hypothesized?

Either way, Master Goat-kun, next turn I'll be coming after your precious Golden Witch "Beatrice!" Be prepared!

_______________

I'll save my guess as to the identity of Beatrice's conversational partner for my solution post. If Rune guesses, I don't plan on reading it; I'll see if I can maybe get it myself, though I don't know Umineko even a fraction as well as most people on this board, so I could just end up being way off the mark. We'll see, I suppose.

Last edited at 15/11/11(Wed)06:19:34

>>18486

Goat-kun was struck in the liver by the first blue truth, leaving the rest to break against him harmlessly. He was swaying on his feet, battered and bruised, but not beaten yet. "I acknowledge that there could have been an ingredient in the pate that was poisonous, which could then have incapacitated those who ate it, being the 6 in the parlor and Shannon."

He panted with exhaustion, but fought on, even as another blow landed, then another. "The corpse that stood in for Gohda in the shed was Krauss Ushiromiya."

"Shannon was killed by the culprit on the way to the guesthouse."

Then, Goat-kun's eyes flashed, and he roared with defiance. "However! Battler only discovered Shannon's corpse once, recognized as her or not! Furthermore, there is a body confirmed to be lying in the spot where Rosa's corpse was presumed to be in Battler's final Mystery section! So I challenge you! WHERE IS SHANNON?!"

Goat-kun stood tall and punched out with the blue at one detective. "YOU CANNOT SOLVE THIS MYSTERY!" Then he pulled his arm back, and punched out again at the other detective. "YOU CANNOT SOLVE THIS MYSTERY!"

Last edited at 15/11/12(Thu)21:19:12

Heh. An excellent move, Master Goat-kun. I'm afraid I simply can't let this mystery go without at least trying to crack the conundrum!

We CAN solve this mystery!

Since you've already confirmed that Shannon is the only one on the island to have a tattoo of the Ushiromiya crest on her leg, I have two solutions. Pick your poison, Master Goat-kun, for all are meant to be as lethal as they come!

The first is the sensible solution. Shannon is in the shed. Either Natsuhi or Kyrie's corpse is where Rosa's was presumed to be. No one ever examined "Rosa's" corpse very thoroughly, and the parlor was left alone after the bodies were first examined. The culprit or an accomplice with the necessary tools to get in reentered the room and took one of the bodies out to use in faking Rosa's death. No tools are even needed, in fact, as Genji has already broken the sealed room by smashing a window!

The second solution makes a little less sense from a mystery perspective and abuses loopholes. Shannon is in the shed. Shannon was used as a fake Rosa and then later moved to the shed for Battler to find. Shannon was left there, and SOMEONE ELSE'S corpse was deposited in the place Rosa's corpse was presumed to be. Battler never goes back there and, in fact, doesn't bother to look out the window to see it, so we never find out WHOSE corpse it is.

We CAN solve the mystery, and we HAVE!

I'll hold off on the solution, because I'd like to send a message to Rune. (message in the spoilers so as not to distract so much from the gameboard and its business)
Do you want to cooperate in any way on tackling the full solution, culprit included? We've both been attacking this gameboard, and I don't want to just post my own theory, as I feel I'd be kind of stealing your thunder, especially since most of this gameboard was figured out by you, if memory serves.

I'd like to figure out some way for us to BOTH posit the solution. Either that or we posit our own distinct solutions, though I'm suspecting we might just end up with very similar blue truths, as I suspect we're on similar trains of thought as far as who might be our killer.

Anyway, maybe I'm worrying over this too much. Let me know what you think, and I can roll with it.

And... I actually think I will guess who Beatrice's companion is now. I don't know if I should expect a response or not, but... (in spoilers in case anyone else wants to try at it on their own)
Beatrice is talking to Ange. The figure says the board was made for them, and this baord seems to portray most of the Ushiromiya family in a very normal, positive light, with the narrative describing even the events in the parlor as sort of bringing them all together as a family. Ange, from what I understand and know about her, values and loves her family and would certainly appreciate a gameboard that didn't drag them through the mud like many others do.

Last edited at 15/11/12(Thu)21:44:15

Okay, that's unexpected. I don't think a body from the parlor could have been used, at least for the first instance where we'd need Shannon's body. Well, we're not out of spare bodies yet.

The body assumed to be Rosa is actually Shannon.

Meanwhile, the body assumed to be Shannon is actually Jessica.

To calvinball:
Well, both ways work for me. Feel free to just go ahead and post it. I've solved a fair bit of this, so I'm satisfied no matter what. As you said, we probably have more or less the same thing in mind anyway.

Okay, cool. I think for simplicity's sake, I'll just put up my own solution (assuming we figure out this final twist) and you can put up yours. Thinking about it, any further coordination would probably be somewhat time consuming to figure out.

>>18488

As swift as the coursing river, Goat-kun slashed the first blue to ribbons. "Nanjo remained in the parlor from before Rosa's death until after the corpse that was believed to be Rosa was discovered. Genji remained there from the time he got there with the cousins until after the corpse that was believed to be Rosa was found. There was no way to get any body from the parlor without a person that was in the parlor noticing!"

With all the force of a great typhoon, he smashed the second truth to pieces. "If Shannon were both the original Rosa and the corpse in the shed, Battler would have discovered her twice, even though she was not recognized. As stated, Battler only discovered Shannon's corpse once, recognized as her or not! Therefore, this theory is impossible!"

With all the strength of a raging fire, Goat-kun sent one more additional red at the detective. "Before you start wondering if Nanjo was an accomplice, the culprit did not kill anyone that was an accomplice!"

With one last punch, Goat-kun ended it. "You have not yet solved this mystery!" Goat-kun stood tall, and it seemed that what happened to Shannon would remain as mysterious as the dark side of the moon...

>>18489

...and then the other detective spoke, and Goat-kun was unable to block. It wasn't a particularly damaging hit, only striking him in the shoulder, but it was the one place on his upper body that really hadn't been hit yet. He grunted and remained silent for a time, then smiled slightly, looking up at the lights of the stage.

"I...acknowledge it. The corpse in the shed is Jessica's. The culprit had a few hours while the survivors were barricaded in the guesthouse, and used that time to decapitate Jessica, dress her in Shannon's clothes, and paint a family crest on her thigh. The corpse was never properly scrutinized, so the fact that the design was not actually a tattoo was never realized."

He took a deep breath, centering himself, then exhaled. Looking at the pair, he executed a perfect bow. "I am known as Goat-kun. I am a demon brought forth from the minds of the Children of Men, and I have been a faithful servant of great witches and sorcerers. I am the Gamemaster of the Musical of the Golden Witch. I created this gameboard to challenge myself, and to regain my honor after the defeat I suffered at the hands of Krauss Ushiromiya. Let it be known that I, Goat-kun, thank you both for being my opponents. It has been an honor to fight you."

Only then did he rise up from his bow, and resume his fighting stance. "It shall take a mighty blow to fell me. Do not hold back, detectives!"

Master Goat-kun, rumor has it that you'll never craft a board that ignores the heart, and I hope you find my theory on what the heart is sufficient for the Musical of the Golden Witch. Give my regards to your Beatrice before she vanishes, for my final solution removes any necessity of her existence!

Rosa Ushiromiya is the best. Mom. Ever.

Or she tries, anyway. You wouldn't believe how hard she tries. Life isn't easy for them, but Rosa endeavors to provide Maria with the best possible life anyway. She's fiercely protective, and Rosa would quickly destroy anyone who tried to hurt Maria.

The short of it is that the rest of the Ushiromiyas hurt Maria.

And would Rosa be the best mom ever if she let that slide? No. Not in her eyes.

Maria wasn't always so creepy, so “spooky” as the narration puts it. She used to be a perfectly ordinary little girl who liked perfectly ordinary little girl things. She wasn't into witches, she didn't say “Uuu,” and she didn't behave so much younger than she really was. Rosa was so proud of Maria. She knew Maria would go on to do great things, things far greater than that which her Mama had done.

...But a few years ago at a family conference, this all changed. Rosa didn't know what had happened, but Maria changed. She didn't get along with her friends as well as she used to. She never grew out of certain immature quirks, she started saying “Uuu.”

And she believed in Beatrice the Golden with every fiber of her being.

Rosa didn't understand it. Couldn't understand it. What had happened to her darling Maria? Rosa loved her daughter no less, but it was as though someone had clipped an angel's wings. Rosa couldn't be sure of Maria's future, the way she spoke and acted, creeping out schoolmates and scaring neighbors. It scared Rosa a little, try as she did to resist feeling such a horrible thing about her only, beloved daughter. Rosa tried in vain to discover the reason, but the psychologists she contacted could tell her nothing definitive, and being in such dire financial straits, Rosa had to choose food and shelter over further psychological analysis. For the time being, she was in the dark.

That changed just after Kinzo's death. Rosa was designated heir to the Ushiromiya estate and was secretly sent a letter telling her of such. Giving her directions to the gold. Telling her to keep his death a secret for another few years, to wait for the gold for another few years, because he needed something to happen.

He needed something to happen for “Beatrice.”

Rosa bristled at the mention of the witch's name. And the more of the letter she read, the more she understood what had happened.

Her father and others of her family had done something to Maria. They'd indoctrinated her or brainwashed her or traumatized her somehow with the legends and stories of this “Golden Witch!” And the effect of that had never gone away! Kinzo Ushiromiya might be dead, but Maria was mentally scarred by this “Beatrice” for life!

Rosa was enraged. Furious. What was she supposed to do with gold when her family had betrayed her and Maria?! Her loved ones... she couldn't love them, not anymore, not after what they'd done to her Maria. It was her family... her family was to blame...

The very concept of “Ushiromiya” was at fault, and the island of Rokkenjima was forever cursed. Rosa wanted vengeance not on any one person, but on the very idea of Ushiromiya: the entire clan and island.

Rosa couldn't act immediately. She needed time. Time to prepare, to plan. She needed to scout out the manor, so she'd wait until Kinzo's appointed day and use the interim conferences to determine how she could carry out the murders on that island. And wouldn't it be oh-so appropriate to use Beatrice the Golden to bring about vengeance upon Kinzo's legacy, the very legacy that tried to invent her in the first place, the very legacy that poisoned Maria's mind with the idea in the first place?

Finally, the fateful day came. Rosa suggested the reel-to-reel tape recorder to Eva. She persuaded Gohda to join her in her plan, as Gohda was an outsider to the Ushiromiyas, having been hired not by Kinzo, but by Krauss and Natsuhi. He was not already infected with the Golden Witch. And since she already knew Kinzo was dead, she was able to convince Genji to allow her into his study, where she blocked the autolock mechanism. All the pieces were in place.

Kinzo's will had arranged for “Beatrice's” letter to come to those in the parlor, and Rosa knew of this thanks to Kinzo's private correspondence to her after his death. Rosa cleverly excused herself to “check on Maria” and then conveniently “fall asleep.” In reality she doubled back and killed the six after Gohda's dish had incapacitated them, and she used the recorder to seal the room, creating the illusion of the Golden Witch Beatrice.

Soon after, she faked her death with Gohda's assistance. Gohda convinced Kumasawa to go with him to “search for Shannon.” In reality, he lured Kumasawa away from safety and placed her in a position where Rosa could kill her. Either that or he incapacitated her and hid her for being killed later. Then he went to the guesthouse where he caught Rosa when she jumped out the window, allowing her to survive. The wind closed the window, which was a stroke of fantastic luck that made the illusion even stronger. Around this time, Gohda also brought Shannon's corpse out of hiding so it could be used to fake Rosa's death. Rosa had Gohda take Maria and hide in the woods (or somewhere else hidden) so that Maria wouldn't have to be around for the rest of the deaths.

The rest of the hunt was simple. While Gohda was taking care of business, Rosa went to the mansion to continue the murders while Gohda went to retrieve the guns and set up the padlock trick. Assuming Kumasawa wasn't killed sooner, Rosa killed her then and hid her in the boiler room. She then set up her trap for George, after which she went to Kinzo's study to wait for Jessica. She murdered Jessica and hides her body, and the trap for George set off a fire that distracted the remaining survivors. Gohda took charge of the firefighting and cleaned up the debris from the trap, erasing the remaining evidence.

Battler then proposed they make a stand in the guesthouse, but this was no problem. Rosa hid the necessary corpses in the shed and replaced the original padlock, and with Gohda in their ranks as a mole, she easily gained access to the guesthouse. Rosa killed and maimed Dr. Nanjo and Genji and planted the blood and note for Battler to find. With Battler distracted, the culprit and Gohda could sneak out of the guesthouse.

Battler's death was simple. He sought out the killer, and when he found Rosa, she killed him on the spot.

Finally, it was time to leave. Rosa activated the time bomb in the gold room, and she, Gohda, and Maria fled the island on a boat. Their lives were in ruins, but so was the Ushiromiya legacy. Rosa had taken her revenge against the clan that created the Golden Witch that cursed Maria.

That is my final answer! Here are the culprit, the method, and the motive: your brain, your guts, and your heart! The “Golden Witch Beatrice” you so revere, Master Goat-kun, is none other than Rosa Ushiromiya!

(To clarify, the time frame between the change in Maria and Kinzo's death is probably very small, given Maria's age. My theory on Rosa's motive has been largely derived from “I am Free” and the attention paid to Rosa loving Maria and Maria being “spooky.” I go way into the darkness of speculation and guesswork with this one, so I don't know how my theory will compare to the actual solution, but I can't wait to see!)

But before I close, a final "theory."

It has been an absolute honor to fight you in this gameboad, Master Goat-kun. This has been a most entertaining and elegantly intellectual engagement. Thank you for offering such an intriguing and thrilling battle of wits. You have indeed reclaimed our honor, so accept the victory that is rightfully yours for the very creation of this beautifully devious board!

__________

As for the identity of Beatrice's conversational partner, I'm starting to lean away from Ange, since my theory paints the Ushiromiya family as actually NOT being that great of a family. So... I dunno. Maybe Rosa, 'cause she's the culprit? So Goat-kun made it for her, so she could be the star, perhaps.

Last edited at 15/11/15(Sun)16:51:52

My guess for the person next to Beatrice is Krauss. Because I want manly tears to be true.

>>18492
>>18493

The “Golden Witch Beatrice” you so revere, Master Goat-kun, is none other than Rosa Ushiromiya!

The blue theory hovered before the detectives, starting as a soft glow, but slowly coalescing and growing ever-brighter with each passing moment. Goat-kun watched it do so, his own eyes glowing their soft red.

The “Golden Witch Beatrice” you so revere, Master Goat-kun, is none other than Rosa Ushiromiya!

Goat-kun thought back to a few months prior, to the moment he had first thought of this gameboard. How it had appeared in his mind, a perfect vision of a game the likes of which hadn't been seen before. Then came the work. Night after night agonizing about how to put murder to rhyme. The flashes of inspiration that allowed him to craft the closed rooms. The joy and camaraderie he had felt during the hours of rehearsal the group had undergone to bring his dream to life. He had found a family. Yet, to his real family, his parents and siblings, he had always been a troublemaker. His big brother, whom he'd always envied and tried to live up to. His little goat sister, who had always looked up to him and whom he'd always teased. Even his childhood friend, whom he'd secretly loved but never had the courage to confess to. He felt saddest of all when he thought of her, and yearned to be able to apologize to her most of all. He recalled how much she loved to sing growing up. Hopefully she might hear these songs someday, at least.

The “Golden Witch Beatrice” you so revere, Master Goat-kun, is none other than Rosa Ushiromiya!

He looked upon the blue words, now glowing as bright as the sun, illuminating every corner of the theater. He gazed at them...and Goat-kun smiled slightly. He began to speak, and his words of red wrapped around the blue, shaping it like how a master craftsman might take steel and shape it into a legendary blade. Although some of the details were off, the soul of the theory was true, and that was what mattered. They had won, and Goat-kun would reveal all.

"Several years before 1986, Kinzo Ushiromiya put the Epitaph of the Golden Witch on display, as a test to determine who would become the head of the family after he had died. He had not counted on the cleverness and determination of Rosa Ushiromiya, who solved it rather quickly. In order to prevent confusion and a power struggle, Rosa and Kinzo agreed that they would keep it a secret until he was about to die. Then Rosa would take her place as the head of the Ushiromiya family, and continue to lead them with intelligence and honor."

"At least, that was what Kinzo wished. Deep in her heart, however, Rosa had no wish to become the family head. Her life growing up had been hell, tormented by her siblings far more than Kinzo knew, and she carried within her the dark secret of the Beatrice of Kuwadorian, and her tragic death at the cliffs. She had wanted to get out from underneath the shadow of the Ushiromiya name all her life, and had started up her own fashion company, AntiRosa, as an attempt to make a name of her own. Yet now she was to become its head. Despite her misgivings, Rosa was a dutiful daughter, and felt obligated to agree. As the years passed, the stress within her built, especially as her instincts to dote upon her daughter warred with her sudden need to mold her into a suitable successor. She cursed herself, and she cursed the Ushiromiya blood that coursed within her and within her daughter that bound them to this life."

"Then Kinzo's health took a turn for the worse, and Kinzo called Krauss, Natsuhi, and Rosa to his study one evening. There he explained to Krauss that Rosa would inherit the family headship. However, he also revealed to Rosa that he had been trying to help Krauss with his business endeavors as his son had come to him asking for aid after digging himself in deep with shady people, and that if his death were to become public now it would mean the ruin of the family. As such, he asked Rosa to do her best to help Krauss and Natsuhi hide his death for a year or two, long enough to find a way out of it. Now Rosa was asked to help the very sibling who had tormented her the most when she was younger. Though it didn't sit easy within her, she might have been able to do it."

"Then her father died, and Rosa stumbled across something she though she would never find again: love. Rosa fell in love with the new servant that Natsuhi had hired, Gohda. That simple flowering of emotion would soon bring about the downfall of the Ushiromiya family, for Rosa finally realized that she had the strength and the reason to break free from the chains of obligation to her lineage and truly make a new life for herself, her daughter, and Gohda. So it was that the noblest feelings gave rise to the foulest of deeds."

"I acknowledge it: In Rosa's eyes, the very concept of “Ushiromiya” was at fault, and the island of Rokkenjima was forever cursed. Rosa wanted vengeance not on any one person, but on the very idea of Ushiromiya: the entire clan and island."

"She and Gohda planned it all. It started a few days prior. Rosa suggested the tape recorder to Eva and Kyrie. Gohda suggested the meal of fugu, a dish of prepared pufferfish, famous for being both very tasty and potentially poisonous if improperly prepared."

"After Natsuhi left to 'talk with Kinzo', Rosa excused herself to 'check on Maria.' At that point she went upstairs and conversed with Natsuhi in Kinzo's study, reassuring her that she'd make sure that the tape would not be able to incriminate her husband. As they left, Rosa secretly blocked the autolock using the folded-up receipt from the store where she'd bought her daughter candy, as paper folded multiple times was small enough to not be noticed and strong enough to block the locking mechanism."

"Gohda prepared the main course perfectly, with only a nonlethal hint of the tetrodotoxin the fish was known for left in its flesh. An interesting fact about the pufferfish, though, is that the highest concentration of this potent nerve toxin can be found in the liver. Yes, Gohda prepared his liver pate with pufferfish livers, making it into an incredibly poisonous dish. One of the primary symptoms of tetrodotoxin poisoning is paralysis, which made it easy for Rosa to kill the incapacitated Shannon between the mansion and the guesthouse, and then take ten minutes to dress her up in a spare set of Rosa's clothes. Rosa was very surprised to learn that most of Shannon's attributes were fake, and later on it led to her having to improvise with her corpse, mutilating it much more than she'd originally intended."

"A short time later, the tetrodotoxin allowed her to reenter the parlor and kill off her siblings and their spouses without any apparent resistance. It's true that the poison would have killed them eventually, but she bashed their heads in first, getting out years of resentment. Incidentally, the weapon was a meat tenderizer. After she had killed them, she took the original note from the envelope and replaced it with the one that the others found. The original note was written as a declaration naming Rosa the Ushiromiya family head, as declared by both Kinzo and 'Beatrice,' as she had been the one to solve the epitaph. So Rosa took it so as to not draw attention to herself, sow confusion amongst the survivors, and set the stage for the continued killing. After the murders were done, she blocked the door, replaced the tape in the recorder with a blank one she had brought with her, and exited through the window. The tape recorder closed the window as described, and she disposed of the incriminating tape, funnily enough keeping her promise to Natsuhi. She then went to the guesthouse, and Gohda provided her with an alibi when Genji came looking for her."

"To fake her own death, she had Maria open the door for her and then go wait outside with Gohda as she entered the room, locked the door, and planted the notes in George's and Jessica's items. Battler coming to the island had been a surprise, and as he didn't have any attachments that she knew of that she could exploit, she let him remain a wild card and hoped that he wouldn't interfere too much. Then, with the stage set, she leapt out from the window into the waiting arms of Gohda, and let the wind shut the window. Gohda let her know that Kumasawa had been knocked out in the boiler room, just as planned, and Gohda and Rosa prepared the fake corpse as Maria hid. Gohda and Rosa returned to the mansion, Gohda distracting those in the parlor while Rosa snuck down to the boiler room to stab Kumasawa in the chest, set up a simple tripwire trap, and to begin building up pressure in the boiler. As a flourish, she added Kinzo's corpse to the fuel. Afterwards, she went up to Kinzo's study to await Jessica."

"The cousins returned to the mansion, and Jessica and George split up. George made it to the boiler room first, and tripped the tripwire trap while running forward in an attempt to stop the boiler from exploding. Jessica, meanwhile, entered Kinzo's study, the receipt brushing by her leg like a petal as it fell, and was killed by Rosa directly. Rosa then lowered her body out the window to the ground below before shutting the window and escaping via the door, picking up the receipt from where it had fallen. She escaped the mansion while everyone else was up in Kinzo's study, and used the chaos of the fire to make sure she could retrieve Jessica's body unobserved. During the fire, which he was prepared for, Gohda removed the remnants of the trap that killed George. Later on, at the storage shed, he switched out the original padlock with a different one, so that Rosa would be able to get into it later, and leaving the original to be found."

"During the night, Rosa got Krauss' body from the parlor, decapitated it, and placed it within the storage shed, wearing one of Gohda's spare uniforms. She also took Jessica's body, decapitated it, and dressed it in the uniform she had taken off of Shannon, before painstakingly painting a fake tattoo on her leg. Her job done, she put the original padlock back on and went to wait for the guesthouse to be unlocked for her."

"In the morning, once Battler was asleep, Gohda signaled her, then went down to open the door. Together they took Nanjo and Genji by surprise, Rosa killing Genji quickly while Gohda used his strength to restrain the out of shape doctor long enough for Rosa to kill him as well. She then mutilated the corpses, and used the bloody knife to fake Gohda's decapitation on his bed. She considered just killing Battler then, but Gohda told her about what Battler was writing, and they decided to let him live to finish it, as it would provide them both with good alibis. So instead she wrote the note to draw Battler out, let Gohda out to begin preparations for departure with Maria, and hid inside the guesthouse. Once Battler had run out, she left as well, and went to go help Gohda and her daughter. Together they worked on making sure the ship that they had stashed in the secret submarine bay, sheltered from the storm, had plenty of provisions and everything they would need to start a new life together. Once that was done, Rosa returned to the surface and found Battler wandering around, looking for her. She shot him in the head at close range, from behind. The last thing he saw was the portrait of Beatrice. He never knew the truth."

"In the early dawn hours, at low tide and when the worst of the storm had passed, Rosa, Maria, and Gohda embarked on a long ocean journey, leaving their old lives behind them to start fresh in the Golden Land, or rather the Golden State, California."

"The Golden Witch Beatrice, for this gameboard, is Rosa Ushiromiya."

With that declaration, the red truth infused the blue theory and made it a perfect strike, one which flew in and struck Goat-kun under the chin with titanic force.

".......I gave it my all......"

As the sparkling drops from his eyes scattered in the stage lights, his massive form tipped and fell backwards onto the stage, where he lay unmoving.

The curtain lowered. The game was done.

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

And this is why it was bonus points, heh. Comes from watching the Goat-kun scene too many times.

A figure approached the unmoving Goat and knelt by him. It was a female Goat, and she was carrying a bouquet of flowers to give to the director.

"I know you gave it your all. You were always so stubborn... It used to annoy me so much...but it's part of what I love about you," the female Goat said, gingerly stroking Goat-kun's face.

His eyes refocused and looked up at her. "Y-you're...here..."

She smiled, her eyes bright with tears. "Of course I am, idiot," she replied, softly. "Like I'd miss this. It was wonderful. A story of love. A story of family. A story of letting go of the past and starting fresh, becoming someone new. Beautiful. Well, except for the murders." She giggled.

Goat-kun struggled to his feet, allowing her to help support him. "I'm glad you heard my message," he said, smiling despite the pain.

She nodded, holding him close. "You've never been able to hide your feelings from me. I've always known them. All of them."

He looked stunned as the implications of that sunk in, and she giggled. Just then Beato walked up, clapping softly. "Bravo, my friend," she said, warmly. "I'm happy for you, and I'm glad that you convinced us to do this. It was a marvelous time. Now, I suggest you take some time off. You look a little, um, bloody. Just let me know when you're well again and maybe I'll have you run another game."

Goat-kun seemed about to reply, but then the female Goat answered, "Oh, he should be fine sometime after the honeymoon."

"Honeymoon?!" said Goat-kun, incredulously. The female Goat responded only by giving him the kiss he had been longing for for years. Those who were backstage shouted and hooted in appreciation.

"It's perfecto!" announced Beatrice, and her inelegant but delighted cackle could be heard throughout the theater.

Last edited at 15/11/16(Mon)23:03:29

It seems that in the end, the motive was simpler than I expected. I guess I didn't need to quite make it so complicated with Maria being brainwashed/indoctrinated/traumatized to believe in the Golden Witch. And Rosa trying to escape the crushing pressures of the name Ushiromiya and also having had a terrible life because of her siblings fits with the sentiments expressed in "I Am Free" a little more naturally than my theory.

Rosa and Gohda being in love I didn't expect. It certainly does explain why they end up working together to commit murder; to be an accomplice to murder, your relationship would have to be pretty strong, huh?

And a female goat-head makes a bit more sense than Rosa, I'll admit. I was just guessing, really.

Out of curiosity, what gave you the idea to make an Umineko musical? Or did it just come to you one day? It was a very amusing gameboard, and it was nice being entertained in between the scenes of grisly murder.

And you said we could request information after the game is complete. Well, while the solution's out of the bag, I am curious: how did Rosa and Gohda end up meeting and falling in love? It sounds like a very interesting story.

And speaking of interesting stories, any info on how Rosa, Maria, and Gohda are doing in the "Golden Land"?

Heh, I should have really guessed the bit with the receipt. Overall, a very entertaining game.
I liked the foreshadowing for everything, and how all the locked rooms were different in some way so getting the solution wasn't just guessing around.
...
I also never would have guessed Rosa and Gohda being in love. Was there anything in the story that was meant to hint at it? Well, it DOES make more sense than her just 'hiring' him or something. (and caring enough not to kill him like the rest)

Well, thanks for this gameboard.

>>18529

The idea for the musical? In truth I was just driving to work one day, with my music on shuffle, and Let It Go was followed by Birth of a New Witch. I remember thinking, "Heh, the gold never bothered her anyway." After that, one thing just led to another. I do owe a lot to Cheshire, though. If he hadn't groaned at the line when I brought it up in Skype, it may never have come to pass. If I make someone groan, that just tells me I'm onto something, and I can't just, ahem, let it go.

Strangely enough, there's not much to tell about Gohda and Rosa's romance. It was very simple, which is one of the reasons why Rosa liked it so much. Gohda was hired, they met, hit it off, and fell in love. Rosa had to spend much more time on the island helping Natsuhi and Krauss maintain the illusion of her father, so there was plenty of time for romance to bloom. Lots of secret walks in the forest and along the beach, a few romantic dinners in the Golden Room, things like that. He also was a good surrogate father for Maria, much better than any of the failed romances Rosa had been in since Maria's real father left. In short, theirs was a simple and pure romance, except for the whole serial murder thing.

As for how they're doing? Well, I haven't found any evidence of them, but that isn't surprising considering they changed their names. However, I like to think that they're doing just fine. Maybe Gohda is a celebrity chef. Maybe Rosa is a successful designer. Maybe Maria's gotten all grown up and had children of her own, though I hope she still practices her special magic and has passed it on. Who knows? I'm content letting them have their own catbox, so that they can always be happy.

>>18531

I'm glad you liked it!

Yeah, there wasn't much to hint at the Gohda/Rosa relationship in the story, which I felt a little bad about, but then again they were trying to hide their relationship, so there wasn't much I felt I could do. If you could have seen the parts that I had to cover with magic, you'd have actually seen quite a bit more romance, especially when he caught her after she jumped from the window. As it was, though, the best I could do was have a bit of an ambiguous smile in the scene where they're with Shannon in the kitchen. The pride was felt by Rosa, but it was the fact that she loved him that made her smile at it. Other than that, it was more relying on the idea that, as Calvin said, it made for a much stronger motive than just persuasion or hiring him.

Last edited at 15/11/17(Tue)17:57:58

I just noticed something. The final FANTASY scene ("Finale") describes Battler as being shot in the forehead. In truth, he was shot from behind. While Battler's death was certainly the least mysterious of the bunch, it does lead me to think about the other clever tricks played and misdirection executed. Such as how Maria doesn't open the door for Rosa in the FANTASY segment. I got so hung up on that as a "clue" that I ignored alternate possibilities for awhile.

Basically, this board had some really great misdirection. Even the red was always very carefully worded to avoid spoiling the truth. You gamemastered the board very impressively in my opinion.

Well... there's not much more to say. Thanks again for this gameboard. It was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed coming up with theory after theory, even if I wasn't the best at cracking some of these locked rooms. So long for now, and hopefully I get to engage you in some more gameboard-style debate soon.