prof | Let's Play Umineko Chiru, Episode 7 Scene 15: The Last Tale

<< | ^^ | >>

That kid just didn't know how to concentrate. If you do things without thinking, it's no surprise that your actions grow careless.

Lerning to do things that everyone can do is part of growing up. I doubt the rest of you were so clever about everything when you first started, yes?

Are you kidding? If we weren't clever, we'd never have been selected to work for the Ushiromiya family.

We're supposed to be the elite! The fact that Yasu was young was no excuse.

That's right. If Yasu is supposed to learn cleverness by growing up, then that should be done before coming to work for the Ushiromiya family.

I'm sick of this. I don't get why someone as dull-witted as Yasu was chosen!

Of course, Yasu was working very hard for a child of that age. However, before long, the unsatisfied older servants started being mean to Yasu whenever they got the chance. Even after getting used to life on Rokkenjima, Yasu didn't manage to make a single friend. At least, not any human friends...

It's a witch, not a fairy, that's tormenting Yasu.

Things keep vanishing from Yasu's pockets. Beatrice is stepping up her game.

If it's the work of a magical creature, though, shouldn't a magic charm be effective?

The spiderwebs of Rokkenjima are powerful wards that repel evil. Something like this might be effective against Beatrice.

But what about things that can't always be kept on hand? Not everything can so easily be tied to the body.

If Mr. Knife is left lying around, he'll get lonely. He needs a home.

Mr. Knife's home is the knife-holder under the sink.

Kumasawa's story makes the simple act of returning the knife to where it belongs feel like a tiny adventure.

All Yasu has to do to keep the little troublemakers from wandering off with the witch is to take them home at once, so they don't have time to get lonely.

The voice of the lonely key reaches Yasu. The key goes into the pocket.

All Yasu needs to do to thwart the witch is keep making little friends.

Kumasawa's charm is working. If it weren't for that string, Yasu would've left the master key ring behind again.

Beatrice is pretty impressed to see that Yasu's learned a bit of magic. Another prank thwarted.

The witch suggests, strangely, that Yasu ought to be grateful for her pranks.

If Beatrice hadn't tormented Yasu, she wouldn't have learned this trick from Kumasawa.

Being a witch is a thankless job.

This round goes to Yasu. Beatrice will be looking for a chance to even the score.

Beatrice gives some warnings about the day's perils, then vanishes like usual.

Humans and witches are incompatible beings, but it still feels like they might be able to become friends somehow.

Thanks to the tricks and charms I use to keep her at bay, I'm able to concentrate. That could hardly be a bad thing. Those things will be useful for my job and my life, even without the witch's pranks.

Ever since then, there was an incredible change in that kid.

Because of all the charms?!

Hohoho. That's right, that was a very faithful kid. All of the charms I taught were followed flawlessly.

With strings attached to everything, and with that 'going home' thing?

Yes. They would sometimes say it out loud. It was really cute, like watching someone play house with a bunch of tools.

Just like a kid!

But it was a kid, right?

Ahahahahahahaha!

Some kids learn better when they're punished, and some learn better when they're praised.

I used to scare a neighborhood kid and tell him that a fairy would take his things if he didn't keep good track of them. Hohoho, this was the same, except the fairy became a witch...

Still, doesn't that sound like fate?!

After all, you knew this kid was Beatrice's child, didn't you?

Yes, I did know.

It must have been strange, telling Beatrice's child that the witch Beatrice would play pranks on you unless you put your stuff away neatly.

I just thought of it after the child came and told me that a witch was stealing things and pulling pranks. I took it as a sign that the late Beatrice had become a witch... and was coming to teach her child to keep track of things. That's why I thought this the best way to teach that child.

They started out with a bad reputation for forgetting and losing things, but got a lot more cheery after overcoming those bad habits.

By surpassing weaknesses, those weaknesses become strengths, and that is how people gain confidence and grow up. Those small spurts of growth made me feel as though this was my own grandchild.

The day's cleaning is complete. Everything is in its place... except that someone forgot something.

It's not hard to guess who it is.

Settling this is easy - whoever doesn't have their key ring is the culprit.

But it's not Yasu this time, is it?

Genji praises Yasu's prudence.

While making mistakes happens to anyone, Genji does reprimand the maid for trying to shift the blame onto someone else.

Unseen by the others, Beatrice mocks the unlucky servant relentlessly. Yasu asks her to not prank anyone else - one person is enough.

And what happens when people grow?

First, they find some latitude. Jobs that used to make them scared, that made them worry about whether they were doing things the right way or not, can then be carried out with confidence.

That's right! Once things are easy, that gives you some latitude!

And what happens next?

It gives you a chance to enjoy your time and relax more.

If you're tense all the time, that just wears you out! It's good to relax a bit, if you can!

You mean, you learn so much that you can start slacking off on the job?

It sounds bad when you put it that way, but there's nothing wrong with skilfully carrying out your tasks quickly and using your free time to enjoy yourself. Times like that are what make a human's life rich.

Playing a bit and refreshing yourself can also be good for your efficiency. You might say that inventing dishes combines work and play. Even Genji slacks off when no one's looking. He'll watch TV or swipe some of his master's drink, and he reads complicated books.

Even Genjiiiii?!

Ha! In short, it's all about cleverly using the gaps between jobs to play. If it goes too far, it can turn to laziness. However, people only become mature when they learn to balance work with pleasure. Simply put, it all you care about is work all the time, you're not fully mature.

So that kid learned how to play between jobs?

It's hard to imagine that serious kid slacking off at work!

It started with interaction. They formed a relationship with Kumasawa, the person who was always kind, and started borrowing books from her and talking together about them.

Even I had friends at school, but because of my work, there was no chance to deepen our friendship. Jessica was always kind and modest, but there was Natsuhi's stern order to think of, so we couldn't play together very much. So, at that time, Kumasawa, the one who was always as kind as a mother to me, was the person I felt closest to.

Kumasawa was old enough to have grandchildren. They couldn't exactly run around and play together, but you developed an interest in her hobby.

The kid wanted to find out what sorts of books they were and started reading them?

That's right. The nice thing about mystery novels is that you can talk about them while you read them. Even Kumasawa, who already knew the answer, must have enjoyed listening and hearing what sorts of theories a young intellect could create.

Of course, I didn't start right away with the complicated books Kumasawa read. First, I asked for her recommendations and got books from the school library. I would even bring them into the servant room and read a bit during every break. Every time a new theory popped into my head, I told Kumasawa about it, and she, who already knew the answer, would nod at my theory and grin. That was a lot of fun for me.

Yasu's become a total mystery nut, devouring the classics voraciously. The setting of the book - an island isolated by storms - strikes home for someone living on Rokkenjima.

Beatrice rambles about the old days, when such pleasures were not known to mankind. She can't help but take some interest in Yasu's books.

The witch keeps trying to question the idea that there's necessarily only ten people on the island. Why can't there be a secret 11th person? Who decides on all these rules?

Of course a magical being would consider the idea that the culprit had magic powers to be a fair solution.

The difference between mystery and fantasy is only at the very end. If you remove the explanation of the human culprit, then what remains is a story of witches and sorcery.

Witches are the entities that exist in the valleys between truths. Whatever is unknown belongs to them.

It's also a fight between mystery and fantasy. If you can't come up with a logical explanation, then what remains is the realm of witches.

Yasu's opponent in this game isn't the book - it's Beatrice herself.

Yasu has one theory, but it's not about the culprit:

What if Beatrice is lonely, and wants to play around with Yasu?

In the end, Yasu lost that duel. The end of the book came too fast. If it weren't for the final chapter, they would have had no choice but to accept U.N. Owen as a witch.

<< | ^^ | >>

Let's Play Umineko Chiru, Episode 7 Scene 15: The Last Tale - Days Enraptured