Let's Play Umineko, Episode 1 Scene 14: The Detective

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Ushiromiya Kinzo?

Disappeared from his study unnoticed. Kinzo's study has everything from a bed to a toilet to a bathtub, so it is extremely rare for him to go outside.

However, he does occasionally go out on a walk for a whim without telling anybody, and his disappearance invariably leads to a huge uproar throughout the house. He usually comes back as soon as he gets hungry... usually...

---

About that magic circle.

Hideyoshi and Nanjo try to recall its structure in as much detail as possible. They're describing it to our resident occult expert: Maria.



Finally, a possible explanation for the circle. Kinzo was well-versed in the occult, so he might have known what it meant.

The mark may have been a message for the head of the house.



BGM: Fishy Aroma



She recognizes the symbol immediately, and on top of that, draws it completely from memory.



The writing around the edges is the 16th and 17th verses of the 116th Psalm from the Old Testament.

O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.
I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.



As she explains this, Maria sounds like a completely different person.



The circle wasn't for the bodies. They were sacrifices to give it power.



At the start of the incident, a letter from a witch invited all present on a journey to another world. Right now, Rokkenjima may as well be a world unto itself.

All of Rokkenjima is trapped within the Golden Witch's domain.



Battler remembers an old story. When he was young, and frightened after watching a scary movie.



According to Rudolf, people go to great lengths to make and see images of the occult because it's the only way to see them. They're popular exactly because they don't exist.



Battler chides himself for being taken in so easily.

This isn't some witch's domain. This is the real world.



When you're cornered by the enemy, their moves become easier and easier to predict.

You just need to keep a clear head, and turn the chessboard around.



So let's spin the board one more time, shall we?

The culprit knew the island was cut off by the typhoon. They knew that, if they killed someone, they would have to remain on the island for the next day. They started the crime with no escape route.

The culprit committed their crime in the most obvious way possible, marking the bodies and hiding them in a place where it would be difficult for someone to have stored them. They wanted the survivors to see it.



The bodies were defaced after death. Why? It couldn't be for their sake, so it must have been for the sake of the people who found them.

They wanted to burn that image into the minds of the survivors.



Next is the magic circle. It must have been a lot of effort to draw it, getting every letter right, in the middle of a typhoon. Why?

The magic circle is a message that could only be understood by someone with knowledge of the occult. What if the circle is the reason why Kinzo disappeared? Has he discovered it? Or alternately, what if it's a trap to make us think that Grandfather was involved?



This is a duel between us and the witch. She wants to drag us into her world of occult garbage. We want to pull of the mask and reveal her true form.

Well, why not? We have a day to kill. Let's have some fun with it!



Looking back around the room, most of them are lost in thought.

If there's no extra person, then the murderer must be somebody in this mansion. Eva. Hideyoshi. Jessica. George. Nanjo. Maria. Battler. Kanon. Kumasawa. Genji. Natsuhi.



...Where IS Natsuhi, anyway?

Before that can become an issue, she returns, but her state is one that once again brings tension back to the family.



That's Kinzo's hunting rifle. It is as real as it is poorly-drawn.



As the survivor to the eldest child of the patriarch, Natsuhi has taken it upon herself to safeguard the family. By force, if necessary.

Kinzo's whereabouts remain unknown. All windows and doors are locked.



Eva believes that the culprit is among us, but Natsuhi seems to be of the firm opinion that the culprit is an outsider.

Once again: How many people are on the island?



If you believe the story of the witch, you can trust the people around you. They're innocent. The murderer is the evil witch, Beatrice.

But if you reject Beatrice, you need to blame someone else, don't you?



October 5th, 1986, 1:00 PM



Natsuhi is playing it safe. Nobody goes out alone. We move in groups.



Kanon is exhausted. It's only 1 PM, but he had night shift, and the morning's events have been brutal.

He can't let it show in front of the family, though. Even now, a servant has his duties.



Of course, the servants have a different outlook on this crime than the family. They are all well aware of Rokkenjima's second ruler.

The six were chosen by Beatrice. It was simply luck of the draw.



Something may have tried, and failed to get into Natsuhi's room.

If she had died instead, then maybe...



Enter player one.



Kanon is reluctant to talk, but eventually Genji offers the story.



There's some pretty compelling argument to the notion that Beatrice is, or at least was, real. Kinzo's rise. Krauss's gold ingot.

Kanon believes that Beatrice is here on the island, right now. Even though none of us have seen her.



And with that, we're back in the world of the occult.

When Beatrice was alive, she looked like the portrait in the main hall. Now, she is something more than a human, but lacks a physical body. Sometimes she appears as a cloud of golden butterflies.

Those who doubt her existence meet with disaster.



The servants are dead serious as they insist Battler stop denying the existence of the Golden Witch.



They're not the only Beatrice fans here, either!



Beatrice is a thousand-year-old witch with many powers. She can command demons, and create gold out of thin air.

So Maria was told by Beatrice herself.



Battler suddenly gets the impression that the servants aren't looking quite at him.



Holding his breath, he slowly looks over his shoulder.

Nobody is there.



If Battler wasn't protected by Maria's charm, surely he would have been among the sacrifices.



Right then, Battler bursts into laughter!



There's just one little flaw with your theory, Maria:



Battler isn't carrying his charm. The only thing protecting him from the witch's curse wasn't doing anything of the sort.

Not that it needs to, of course, because Beatrice doesn't exist.



Maria gives her ultimatum: Eventually, even Battler will be able to see Beatrice with his own eyes.

Very soon, the Golden Witch will live once more.


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