The family conference may have been over for the night, but the day's most important event was just about to start for Rudolph. He sighed. He and Kyrie were just about to leave their guest room in the mansion. Kyrie had been trying to guess what he could possibly have to say, but she was surprisingly wrong in her guesses.

"At the very least, it should be able to wait until morning, right?"

"Nah. I've been putting this off for way too long. It's time I finally stopped running away from my past and faced it like a man. The sooner the better."

Kyrie thought his wording was very odd, but she said nothing. Rudolph opened the door to their room, and yelled.

"Ahh!"

Rudolph paused. "Oh, Kumasawa-san. You scared me."

Kumasawa chuckled. "Ohoho, I was just going to knock and see if their was anything you needed. I'm sorry for troubling you."

"Thanks, but we're fine. We were just about to head over to the guest house. Don't worry about umbrellas, we have our own." Rudolph smiled and motioned to the umbrellas that he was holding. "But thanks anyways."

Rudolph turned around towards Kyrie. "Hey, while she's here, is there anything that you think you—"

"Rudolph, watch out!" Kyrie ran forwards and tackled Rudolph to the ground. It was just in time. Just above them, a blue sword flew past. It had the words 'Smothered Mate' written on the side.

...Had Kumasawa just tried to attack him when his back was turned...?

He looked up from his position on the ground. Kumasawa was gone. In her place, there was some woman with straight gray hair and a calm demeanor. She spoke: "You skillfully avoided my attack this once. I am the witch Virgillia, I work under the Golden Witch, Beatrice."

Kyrie stood up. Of course, she knew better than to take this witch on directly. Rudolph was still on the ground, too stunned to do anything except for watch the scene play out in front of him. There was no way witches could exist, right?

Kyrie backed herself against a wall. There were multiple suitcases around her. "Our host doesn't even want to meet us herself? That's bad manners for a witch, isn't it?"

Virgillia smiled. "Beatrice-sama is quite occupied enough without having to work on something as trivial as the first twilight. All of the family is seperated, so no alibies can be confirmed. It's quite simple."

Kyrie fell on her knees and opened a suitcase. She had no idea what this woman was talking about, but she knew they could get out of this predicament if only she could stall her for a little bit longer...! "The first twilight? Does that have to do with father's epitaph?"
"You are wise, Kyrie-san. I have been instructed to sacrifice six victims in order to revive Beatrice-sama to her full power. I hope that you don't intend on pulling out a pocket knife or something else, by the way. Such simple toys mean nothing to a witch with as much power as Beatrice and I."

Suddenly, Rudolph snapped out of his trance and looked back towards Kyrie. It was as if he finally realized what she was trying to accomplish. Virgillia's smile dissappeared. She didn't like the implications of what was happening.

"No matter. I am to end this show quickly, due to Beatrice-sama's demands. I hope you understand." Several beams of light formed around Virgillia. It looked like she was preparing for another attack.

However, Kyrie didn't give her enough time to do so. She pulled out a large revolver from the suitcase, removed the safety, and pointed the barrel at Virgillia and pulled. Virgillia did not expect such a move. Then again, it made perfect sense. Rudolf was a western fanatic just like father. It was plausible that he brought the gun over to get on Father's good side and eventually settle the matters of the inheritance among them.

That wasn't what the gun was being used for now, though. The gun was used as a method of murder. Kyrie shot Virgillia straight through the head. The magic around her instantly dissappeared. Virgillia never even had a chance to speak. She fell to the floor, knowing that she had failed her master. Her body started glowing, and changed back to the form of Kumasawa.

Suddenly, Rudolph stood up. Tears were forming at his eyes. "K-kumasawa-san!" He ran up to her. "Oh god. We killed her. We killed Kumasawa. What have we done?" Rudolph started crying. It seemed that, throughout his years on Rokkenjima, he had kept a soft spot inside of him for the old maid.

Kyrie walked up to the corpse. "Don't worry, we didn't kill Kumasawa."

"The corpse is right there!"

"Still. I'm telling you, we didn't kill Kumasawa." Kyrie was as calm and composed as ever. Rudolf stopped crying and stood up.

He had enough faith in his wife. If she said they didn't kill Kumasawa, then she was right. Still, he wasn't happy about her death. "You were a good woman. You always told the best stories, too. It stinks that you never even got a last request. We'll make sure to give you a proper burial."

Kyrie looked at Rudolf. "This might be bad. I'm worried about Battler and the other children. If this strange woman appeared, then who knows who else may have shown themselves over there?"

Rudolf agreed, and the two rushed to the guest house without umbrellas. They didn't meet anyone on the way there. The rain soaked them head to toe.

When they arrived, Rudolf tried the door. However, it would not open no matter what he did. He turned to Kyrie. "It's locked!"

Kyrie closed her eyes. "Then that means there's only one way to get ourselves inside."

"What do you mean?"

"Magic."

A sudden gust of wind blew at them at that moment, and the two turned to golden butterflies and slipped through the cracks in the door.

When they formed inside, Rudolf saw that nobody was inside. He had no idea what was going on anymore, He just knew that he wanted Battler to be safe. He raced towards the steps...when he suddenly noticed the form of a small girl. He stooped dead in his tracks.

"...Greetings. This is the first time we have met, I believe. I am the witch of Miracles, Bernkast—" Before she could finish, Rudolf raised the pistol he took from Kyrie and pulled the trigger. But there was no effect. Somehow, the bullet missing, even though he shot from point blank! It truly was...a miracle.

"How rude," Bernkastel smiled, laughed, and consumed the whole room in a blue light, creating a loud BANG in the process. "Now, I wonder how I can have fun with you two...It's my turn to be the endless torturer, Beatrice!"

Meanwhile...

Battler waited for the longest time at the guest house, waiting for his father and Kyrie-san to show up to talk to him about whatever it was that they wanted to say. However, they just weren't showing up. He had almost dozed off several times.

"I guess that old bastard forgot about me after all. It must not have been important, then." Battler grabbed his master key then went back up the stairs to the 'Detective's Room' as Erika called it. As she had said, the door was locked from the inside. Battler shrugged, and used his key to unlock the door...

When suddenly a huge bang erupted from downstairs.

…
…
…
…
…
…
A minute passed, and Battler decided that the crash had nothing to do with him. She shrugged once more, opened the door, then stepped inside. The room was pitch black. He closed the door, locked it from the inside, then placed his master key on a table.

He stumbled over to his bed. 'I wonder what dad and Kyrie-san are doing right now. Oh well. It's none of my concern.'

A golden Butterfly appears in the Detective's Room. The butterfly quickly turns into a human shape with white hair. The girl looks around the room sadly. "There is nothing I can do on this Rokkenjima. I have no part to play. But just like always, Battler will not believe in me. No matter what, he will not remember...I have given up on him. I am sorry."

Beatrice looked out of the window.

"Oh, I am one, yet I am many. I have no desire to play on this game board. I am but a piece with no moves available. I can only wish both sides the best of luck...and you too, Ushiromiya Battler."

The woman quickly dissappeared as if she was never there at all.




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

Amy-san stirs in her bed. Her head hurts like crazy. The area around her is pitch black.

Rooks advance. Your move, Rosa.

Who is in the room right now?

"Nuh-uh, no supernatural investigating. The area is dark. See for yourself~"

Fine.

I get up and look around the room. Who do I find?

It's too dark to see anything. You know where the light switch is, though.

Troll!

I turn the light in the room on, then look around the room. Who do I see?

Would you hate me if I said the light switch didn't work? Nah, just kidding.

You get up from bed. Your head hurts, and you stumble to the light switch and flick it on. The light blinds you for a few moments, and when you look around the room you see a terrible sight...!

There are six corpses inside of the room! The people are Rudolf, Kyrie, Kumasawa, Maria, Jessica, and George! The first three died from bullet wonds to their skulls, while the last three appear to have died from being beaten to death by a blunt object. Their bodies were bruised and some of their skin was torn up. Blood is spilled all over the floor. It is truly...a murder scene, worthy of the Golden Witch, Beatrice.

The light wakes up Battler and Erika almost instantly. Battler rubs his eyes, but when he sees the sight in front of him he literally jumps out of bed. Battler lets out a loud roar in the air. Then, he begins screaming: "Aaaaagh, what the hell?! George, Jessica! Who did this to you? Maria-chan, why? You're only nine years old, you have so much to live for! Dad, you old bastard! Why'd you have to get killed? You even brought Kyrie-san with you! And...Kumasawa? You weren't a bad person at all! Why? Why did all of you have to diiiieeeeee?! Battler lets another roar out into the room, then breaks out in tears.

Erika doesn't let Battler see, but she is smirking. It seems that she is more than ready to solve this mystery. She looks at you in the eyes and grins. It seems that she plans on challenging you.

Battler checks the corpse's pulses. "Dead...they're all dead...who the fuck could have done this?" Battler looks up at you. "What the hell happened? I locked the door from the inside last night! Who could have gotten in? Why did they all die? Someone, get Dr. Nanjo!" Battler continues weping over the deaths of his loved ones. Some blood is smeared on his clothes. But even though it's a gruesome scene, he doesn't look away.

He's too sad to be scared.

Status on the windows and the door.

If you won't give me it, I'll just go and look at all of them myself.

You look at the cousin's room window. It is still broken, and the seal remains.

The cousin's door is locked from the inside. Two master keys are on the inside of the room.

Every window you check is still broken and sealed.

You check the front door. It still appears broke. Oddly, it is now sealed from the inside using some kind of super glue along the cracks. You can't budge it.

>>375
Hmm.. Well this is a puzzler. The window couldn't have been used, and the door couldn't have been used.

I'll go get Nanjo from his room.

Of course. You gave me a challenge by trying to defend the guest house, and I took it with open arms. Ready to accept magic?

You get Nanjo from his room. He asks you what is happening. He hears Battler's cries.

Nope; no magic. I have a few ideas as to how it was done. And a few likely suspects.

"Nanjo-sensei why are you still here in this room?"

"I was asleep. The rooms in the guest house are sound proof unless you knock on the doors, or, of course, the doors are open."

What he's saying about the rooms is true.

"You have to come quick Nanjo-sensei something horrible has happened!"

Nanjo nervously nods, and follows you back to the cousin's room. When he sees the sight, his eyes widen. "Battler-san, step aside!" Nanjo rushes up to each victim and does a check.

He pauses. "I'm so sorry...they are dead. But, doesn't that mean they were murdered? Someone, call the main house. The family needs to know about this." When Nanjo examins Kumasawa's body, a tear drops from his eye as well. He quickly regains his composure.

Request: Nanjo's statement is true and these 6 are indeed dead.

Now why would I confirm something like that? It would only damage your detective pride by having to go for supernatural means. I refuse.

Fine I check the corpses myself. Are the living or dead.

How do you plan on doing that? Well, you can't feel a pulse on any of the victims.

Alright I'll go to the nearest phone and pick it up, and call the main house.

You pick up the phone in the detective's room...and there is no dial tone.

On the table the phone is on, however, you see a letter.

Was that letter in the room when I woke up?

It was, but you asked about bodies, not letters and stuff.

I'll tell everyone about the letter before openning it and reading it out loud.

Greeting, Uninvited Guests,

Welcome again to Rokkenjima. I hope you find your stay here pleasant yet intellectual. By now you have probably noticed the first six corpses of my sacrifice. Don't bother getting Nanjo, those corpses are long dead. Also, there is something very important that I urge you to remember:

This crime was done by magic.

You seem to fancy yourselves as detectives. Rather than trying to solve something that is impossible, you should be praising my name and begging me not to make you sacrifices. When the
typhoon passes, a boat will probably come. The police will come as well.

Even the seagulls that enliven the docks will return.

That's right, when the police come, they will resolve everything.

Even if you do nothing, when the seagulls cry, everything.


That is, if even one of them is left alive when the seagulls cry...

What is expected from you is neither a search for the culprit nor detective work.

When will you believe in me?

That is all that matters.

If you want to do some detective work, go ahead.

If you believe that there is an answer, go and continue to search.

This is eternal torture that will not end until you can believe in witches. The culprit is a witch. All alibis and tricks are magic. This is not a mystery, but fantasy!


I want to see you surrender and say that while crying bitter tears.



Dr. Nanjo spoke: "We're all going...to die?"

"No don't worry Nanjo-sensei. This isn't magic by any means. It is a trick, and the culprit is a human. Erika and myself will find the culprit. We won't let another incident happen, but first we must get out of the guesthouse and go over to the main house."

I request the following information. A discrition of the windows lock before and after we broke them.

The windows were all locked when you broke them. They were unable to be opened when you broke them.

Suddenly, you notice a small slip of paper fall out of the envelope.

Well that cuts off one of the things I thought of.

I'll pick up and read the slip of paper, though not out loud.

If you want to see real magic, go to the chapel.

-Beatrice.

I read the note aloud and convience everyone to head over to the chapel. We break a window on the first floor to leave the guesthouse, and head over to the chapel.

Erika suggests that she go over to the mansion and tell the family what happened while you investigate the chapel.

We head over to the main house then.

Battler stops. "Hold on, What if Beatrice is in the chapel? We're losing our chance to capture her! I say we split up."

Request: Can I be killed in this game?

There must be a detective, and they must detect. Amy cannot die due to another human's actions.

Alright then. I'll go with Battler to the chapel.

You and Battler arrive at the chapel. He looks at you.

"Amy-san, we need to be careful. This could be a trap set up by the culprit. Wait, isn't the door to the chapel always locked?"

You don't notice anything suspcious outside of the chapel. It is too dark to see inside.

"Battler-san don't worry, as long as well stay together and I go first you'll be fine."

I try the door is it locked?

The door is not locked. It opens without too much of a problem. Nothing appears out of place at the very entrance.

Alright I ask Battler to follow me inside. With him walking right behind me. However I ask him to face towards the door as we walk inside, so that no one can sneak up on us.

You two do so. As you enter, Battler closes the door behind him. The door slams shut, and battler sees words written in red paint on the door: HAPPY HALLOWEEN FOR MARIA.

A few seconds later, a small candy falls onto the ground. "W...where did that come from?" Another one falls. Then several at once, and soon it's raining candies in the chapel! They pelt your and Battler's heads like rocks. Each one stings like hell.

You and Battler look around, but it's too dark to tell if anyone's inside. What is happening here? Could it really be magic?!

"Are you stupid or something! Why did you close the door! Now we can't see, open the door this instant!"

"What if the culprit has a rifle or something and was planning to snipe us?! I'm protecting us!" Candies continue to hit your head. Annoyed, Battler opens the door. The candies slowly stop falling. The last one lands at your feet.

"That was why I had you face the other way so that wouldn't happen. No one could snipe us with a rifle from that distance. And if they got into range where they could actually hit us, you would see them. If you're that scared of getting shot stand in the corner, where it isn't possible for them to hit you unless they use magic."

I look up at the ceiling what do I see?

Nothing, the ceiling is bare.

Troll!

I look up at where the candies are falling from, what do I see?

You have no idea where the candy was coming from. You look all around, but find nothing out of the ordinary besides the candy of the floor~

>>413
I examine the area around the door, then I ask for Battler to give me a boost so I can examime the top of the door, do I find anything?

There is nothing usuaual about the door. Everything looks and feels as it should.

I close the door.

As you close the door, you feel the walls vibrate a bit. Nothing else happens.

>>417
So there is nothing unsual anywhere in the chapel that I can see?

Nothing at all...

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

A figure appears in the meta-world. It is the witch of miracles, Bernkastel.

"Amy-san, do you remember when I said you had to shoot the person if you couldn't create an alternate theory? I'll start now. The Golden Witch Beatrice is the culprit. She made the candy appear with her magic. Since it's not a murder, I'll use the red freely here to help a bit~."

"Bernkastel!" Ange yells. "This wasn't the dea-" Ange suddenly dissappears.[/b]

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

Without warning, a blue chain wraps itself around your body and hand. A gun materializes in your hand. Time completely freezes. The faded form of Beatrice is in front of you. If you do not make another theory, you will have to shoot this invisible being.

Good luck.

"Alright, Bernkastel. Let's rumble. There is a small hole in ceiling. I couldn't see it because it is small and the ceiling is high. Anyone could have done it."

"No openings exist in the chapel besides the windows and door."

A red chain slowly wraps itself around your neck.

"Battler or myself triggered a trap which caused the candy to fall from above. It dropped all the candy and therefore I didn't see anything when I looked up since all the candy already dropped.

You fight the red chain, but Bernkastel still tries to grip it tighter.

"There were no mechanical traps inside of the chapel.

"Mechanical? When did I say that? I wasn't thinking machanical at all. I was thinking string, thread, wire, fishing line, rope, or anything like that."

"Foolish human. You underestimate the powers of my miracles. There was no string, thread, wire, fishing line, rope, or anything like that inside of the chapel at any point!"

"Battler simply threw the candy up into the air while I wasn't looking.

"...That is an effective blue truth. For now."

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

Time resumes on the game board.

I request the following infomation. Was and candy on the floor before we entered?

The candy was not on the floor before you entered.

<Good, Good> Next question, 'There is only 1 culprit and each trick must be played by that 1 culprit, the culprit is allowed to have an accomplice, but they can't preform a trick themself.' Repeat that.

"Hmm, do I respond? No, I'll refuse. However, a culprit is responsible for the falling candy. Not a potential accomplice." By the way, if there are multiple culprits, you win if you shoot any of them."

a culprit is responsible for the falling candy. Not a potential accomplice.

So if I make some one become a culprit I can just shoot them and win right~

Not exactly. If you shoot incorrectly, I can repeat that that person wasn't the culprit in red, and you will be caught in an eternal logic error.

If you mean forcing one human to kill another, that won't work. The motive must be personal. Without a motive, somoene will not kill.

I see, I wasn't thinking of it like that, but it isn't important. I'm not doing to do it anyway.

Alright I check over all the windows, are all of them locked, and can they only be locked from the inside?

Correct. The windows are locked, and they can only be locked from the inside.

Alright Battler and I will head back to the main house now.

You and Battler start walking back the the main house.

"I don't get it," Battler says. "I just don't get it at all! First we get that murder in the guest house, then that crazy show with candy? I...don't want to think that the culprit is one of the 18, but how else could they have sealed the guest house door? Could they have used a secret passage?" Battler shakes his dead in frustration.

(Note that when Battler says 18, he says that because he naturally doesn't consider you two as viable culprits.)

"Battler-san, I don't know. I really don't know. I'm just as confused as you are? In fact I don't even remember what happened after I suddenly fell asleep."

Battler is silent. You two reach the main house, then go inside the front doors.

"Ahh, hello Battler-san, Amy-san." Erika is there. "I told everyone about the unfortunate incident, and they were quite upset, so they all went to their rooms. Don't worry. using my sensetive hearing, I confirmed that each survivor went to their respective rooms, and that there is no more than two people in any rooms. Furthermore, I sealed all of the room's windows."

I'll whisper to Erika. "What are you trying to do, tempt the culprit by going setting up groups of two? Anyway what are the list, and where are the rooms."

"Of course. Using my method, we should be able to find the culprit easily once he makes his move. All of the rooms the survivors went in are on the second floor. With all of us parolling, nobody should be able to leave from their doors without us noticing."

"Erika, did you seal the windows before the people went inside. Or did you have them go inside and then went around sealing the windows?"

"Do you think I'm a fool? All of the survivors except for me, you, Battler, and possibly Kinzo were inside of their rooms when I taped the windows."

Who is together in rooms?

"...I'm not sure. I didn't check with my own eyes which room each person went in."

So you won't tell me GE..

I'll head up with Battler to Kinzo's study.

You reach Kinzo's study. However, the door is locked. It looks quite sturdy.

I knock on the door. And then call out that Beatrice is here.

There is no response...

Alright; Battler and I will head to one of the rooms. However I have Battler stay outside with Erika.

>>469

An empty room, or a room with people?

>>470
One of the rooms with people.

Sorry I've been absent. Consider the game resumed as of tomorrow afternoon.

>>721
Wow, I didn't notice this until now.

I'm still interested in continuing GreatEqualizer, if you are. It was a lot of fun.

I'm not against continuing. We're almost getting to the good part, after all.

>>1159
Awesome. I can't wait.

I'm still here, if you still bother to check this. We need better system.

T-this site looks p-promising~

As said before I head to one of the rooms with 2 people in them. Hmm.. If they are all on 1 floor I check the first room I see. If they are on different floors. I go see the people on the second floor first.

I ask Battler and Erika to wait outside while I go inside.

To reiterate:

Dead:
Rudolf
Kyrie
Kumasawa
Maria
Jessica
George

Everyone alive(with the exception of you, Battler, Erika, and Kinzo) are all on the second floor inside their rooms

You knock on one of the doors. Eva and Hideyoshi are inside the room. Eva only cracks the door. The chain is set.

"Ah, Furudo-san... It's terrible, Battler told us six people were murdered...Even, even..." Sobs came from Eva. It was apparent she had been crying for some time. "The phone lines are out. Everyone insisted on splitting up until we found our bearings." Eva figures that even if you are the culprit, you are no threat. "Would you like to come inside? It's not safe out there."

I step inside the room and looked all around the room checking every corner before asking Eva and Hideyoshi some questions.

"Eva-san, Hideyoshi-san. Did you notice anything strange last night? I want to find the culprit who did such an awful thing and put them to justice. I'm sure you do as well, for what they did."

______________________________

Going back to your statement above. We could make sure that no matter how busy we get, we make an least 1 post a day. That way even if the game slows down, it won't stop like before.