prof | Let's Play Umineko Chiru, Episode 7 Scene 16: The Last Tale

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The servants coming from the Fukuin House had switched. There weren't specific grades like in school, so there was no rule saying how long a servant could work before quitting.

On one hand, a suffocating atmosphere. On the other hand, pay and influence.

Most leave after two or three years.

All of the other servants quit at once, leaving only Yasu behind. They won't be particularly missed.

If only they'd stop using that name. Not that it matters, now that they're leaving.

They don't have anything to do with this life from now on. What matters are Yasu's two closest friends, Shannon and Kumasawa.

Inevitably, new servants come.

Yes. Usually, kids with good grades and behavior were selected.

How were they selected? Who did it?

The board of directors came and interviewed them. And other things, like watching their everyday conduct...

So as long as they acted like good kids in front of the adults, they could pass?

Well, umm... there were times that they passed because the adults thought they looked suitable...

All of the children who came from the Fukuin House were highly individualistic. They polished that attitude while they worked as servants, and eventually grew to be servants that would not shame the Ushiromiya family. However, encouraging this behavior was the role of the more experienced servants. Since I was the only one with experience, it was my responsibility to guide them.

What were the new kids like?

They were the elite, of course! Of irreproachable conduct!

...I think they were like that when Madam and Genji were around. However, when their superiors weren't around... well, they didn't take things quite as seriously.

Yasu was treated with harshness at first, but doesn't want to pass that harshness on to the next wave of servants. The result is that they don't take Yasu seriously at all.

The new maids don't believe in Beatrice at all, of course.

...I thought they were just pranks. No, it was just easier to think of it that way...

Do you think the witch Beatrice actually existed?

I don't believe it.

...I don't know if it was Beatrice, but I do think that something that wasn't human... really did exist in that mansion.

Do you think there's a chance that this non-human thing was Beatrice?

Ridiculous.

I wish I could say it was ridiculous.

Did something happen that couldn't be explained away as a prank?

...It was persistent. And creepy.

What sorts of things happened?

Things I set down would disappear as soon as I looked away for a second.

Didn't Yasu just hide them?

I thought so at first. It was only natural to think that. But i started getting this feeling that something wasn't right. I kept thinking... could such a timid kid really get away with something so obnoxious?

Can you tell us what happened?

Maybe Yasu just pulled that one key off while you weren't looking?

But a single key just vanished without a sound. At that moment, I finally realized. this wasn't Yasu trying to get back at me. It was something... worse...

And where did you find this disappearing key?

It was... in my locker.

Berune is pretty careless herself... Are you sure you didn't just take that key off and put it in your locker?

I may be stupid, but I'm not that stupid! I don't forget about things I do that easily! And anyway, I know I ad my key with me when I entered the room! Otherwise, how could I have unlocked the door?!

Okay, then... Yasu, careful not to make any sound, slipped the key off, and hid it in your locker. That has to be it...

That's what I thought at first! I jumped at Yasu, telling that kid not to mess with me! But even as I said it, I realized, isn't there something completely wrong here?!

The key really was there in the beginning! I was the one who unlocked that room! So it must have been there! And then, I went into the room! I'm stupid, and since I hate having the keys clattering around, I placed the ring on the bed! Then, when we finished cleaning, I picked up the ring, tried to lock the door, and it was gone! I may have turned my back on the ring, but it was right next to me! So, if someone tried to pull a prank by removing just one key, I'd have heard the clinking! And yet, just the key for that room vanished and appeared again in my locker!

Yasu was with you the whole time, so there was no chance for Yasu to put the key in the locker?

Did other strange things like that happen?

Yeah, they did. And not just things disappearing... over and over... I started getting nervous and made sure not to put things down in places like that... but that didn't help. At first, I was angry at Yasu, but at some point, I managed to realize that I was mistaken. One time, a key even disappeared from a ring that was in my pocket! These weren't Yasu's pranks. The same thing that happened to Yasu was now happening to me!

C-Calm down a bit... I think some of those were Yasu's fault, and the others were just you being clumsy. It's true that the mansion's always dark and eerie, and it does feel like the sort of place you'd find a curse. I'm sure that's what made you scared like that...

What do you mean, something white?! Have you ever seen either of them wearing something like that?! And besides, that VIP room is always locked! They don't have keys to it! That had to be some kind of ghost... no, the silhouette of a witch!

Still, I had to be careful about what I said. I mean, I realized that this wasn't something I should talk about carelessly. All ghost stories and curses sound stupid to outsiders, but to the people who believe in them,, it's absolutely not a joking matter. It really wasn't a joke.

Asune didn't believe a word of what I said, so I eventually stopped telling Asune about it, and confessed to Yasu instead. I told Yasu 'I thought you were the culprit, but it couldn't have been you.' I said that something strange was happening to me!

And what was that kid's answer?

Yasu said that the same thing happened many times already, but everyone they told didn't believe any of it! The older servants always made fun of Yasu, but that kid clearly wasn't as clumsy or stupid as they said. I hated being treated like an inferior by a younger person, so I always resisted, but Yasu always got the work done flawlessly. I've always thought it was strange that people made fun of Yasu for losing things! Some strange, inhuman thing existed in this mansion!

And that was the witch, Beatrice?

B-But still... it did freak you out for a while, but then you got a lot better... after all, all that fuss about you losing things went away, right? So it must have been your imagination all that time...

You're wrong! I talked to Yasu, Shannon, and Kumasawa about it! And they said that the witch really did exist... The old servants all made sure to respect her! They said I had been cursed because I'd stupidly gone around saying that Beatrice didn't exist! So I reformed! Yasu taught me how to give offerings to the doll in the VIP room! I asked Genji and prayed at the shrine by the sea! And then it all stopped, all at once! You were okay, Asune, since you stopped making fun of the witch, but if you'd cluelessly gone on making fun of her, you would surely have been cursed next!

...It's true that it wasn't fun any more... I stopped saying it aloud, but...

You just don't get it! You really don't! So, I made sure to teach all the newer servants as well! A witch called Beatrice lives in this mansion! If you make fun of her, you really will be cursed!

Berune...

BGM: Golden Slaughterer

Yasu's become a difficult target, but these new, disrespectful kids are still naive. An insult to Beatrice's good friend Yasu must be repaid in kind with a prank from the witch.

Yasu loses the ability to move freely. Beatrice is in control of the body now.

Yasu has become Beatrice's vessel, just long enough for her to play a little trick.

Come, key, try to remember. Where have you been sleeping?

Yasu/Beatrice points, and the key ring rises into the air. Berune doesn't notice a thing.

If the whole ring disappears, then Yasu would be a suspect. So, how about just one ring?

Beatrice casts the ring into Berune's locker, giving Yasu a perfect alibi. This is a prank impossible for humans!

The key becomes a butterfly, bursts into golden light, and disappears. It won't be seen again until Berune opens her locker.

Normalcy returns as Beatrice departs from Yasu's body. The sensation of magic lingers faintly.

Berune doesn't notice anything wrong. Did all that really happen?

Magic is real.

Yasu has a witch for a friend, but never understood what magic was until today.

Shannon is Yasu's ideal. A wonderful, loved servant who everyone admires.

But Yasu can't follow that path. Yasu won't be a servant at all.

Shannon isn't sure how to respond to this declaration.

Yasu could tell at that moment that magic is capable of anything. A different flick of the fingers, and the key ring could have transformed into a hundred different things.

It only exists in tiny, short-lived worlds, but in that space there's nothing it can't do.

There's still a bit of it there.

Even seeing it before her eyes, Shannon can't understand what magic is.

The dot becomes a butterfly. The butterfly flits about at Yasu's whim.

If Yasu were to become a real witch, this kind of power would always be at their fingertips.

Yasu will disappear from this world, and Shannon will remain in Yasu's place.

The old Beatrice will still exist, but the name of Beatrice will be transferred.

What name will the prankster witch take up instead?

The witch's story doesn't change, aside from the names. Her cackle will pass to the new Beatrice.

Beatrice is rumored to wander the mansion at night in a white dress. Why not use that?

Is this the form of the new Beatrice?!

How beautiful! Just like a noble princess!

Hmm... I've taken a liking to this form. Not bad at all.

Looking good. That's wonderful, Beato.

I like it. I truly do like this form...

Now, if you can kee this up and give me a wonderful name, that'd be great. If I have to go around nameless for too long, I'll get all sulky.

Fear not, I shall find you a splendid name! But first, there is something I must consider. What shall be the form of my magic? Hiding objects and transporting them instantaneously is your theme, so I must think of my own particular theme of magic... When I use magic, gold butterflies will flit about. I'm not backing down on that part!

Splendid. Just perfect for the Golden Witch. Then, the weaknesses such as spiderwebs and the sacred mirror in the shrine will also go to you?

Very well. Even al all-powerful witch needs a few small weaknesses to keep things interesting. Then let us do it like so: If I touch a spiderweb, it will burn me.

Then, while mirrors with sacred power will obviously be a weakness, let us make mirrors themselves a weakness too.

You often hear that mirrors have magical powers. Isn't that nice? Sounds just like a witch.

If I look at a mirror, it feels as though my magical power is being sucked out, so I try to avoid it. Hmm, it sounds quite entertaining.

You don't need to decide everything at once. It's fun to build up a world one little bit at a time.

True. I understand. I shall enjoy life as a witch as I slowly expand my world.

That tiny, dark room is no place for you to sleep now.

Indeed. I am the Golden Witch! I am the ruler of Rokkenjima's night, and the nighttime mansion belongs to me. That is where I should be living, is it not?

A room for Beatrice? Haha, isn't it obvious?!

Yeah, that's right! That wonderful room on the second floor of the mansion!

The VIP room of the witch just has to be Beatrice's room!

Then let's go, Beato. If we're going to drink tea together, we'll need a much better room than that cramped one.

Indeed. That room is too crude to welcome friends and to serve tea in. We shall change rooms. Let us go, my friend!

So, this is goodbye to Shannon.

So long, Shannon. The days I spent as a human, with you as a goal and a constant comfort, were truly fun. If I had never learned the joys of magic and awakened as a witch, everything would doubtless have remained as it was.

Shannon calls out, but... who was she calling out to?

Was she just sleepwalking?

That's right, there's only one bed in this room.

After all, there's only one person who sleeps here.

It must be. Nobody else has ever shared this room.

These troubled thoughts will soon vanish.

Good night, Shannon.

BGM: Golden Nocturne

From this night forth, I am Beatrice! The Golden Witch Beatrice, who has lived for a thousand years!

If I get tired of mystery, I can change myself into a butterfly! I can flit about the island, the mansion, the vast forest at will. I'll follow those cowardly servants as they do their night-time rounds, and when they check to see that a window is locked, they'll see me laughing at them in the reflection on the glass!

In the world of witches, the only limits to your fun are the limits of your imagination! My imagination shall become the source of my magical power! So, very well, it shall be fun! I shall expand it infinitely, and let it swallow the whole island. The island's night will be mine! Oh, how refined and pleasant are the days of a witch!

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Let's Play Umineko Chiru, Episode 7 Scene 16: The Last Tale - New Days