prof | Let's Play Umineko Chiru, Episode 5 Scene 9: The Motive

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October 4th, 1986, 10:47 PM
25 hours, 13 minutes remain

If someone wanted to contact Natsuhi, they could have used the internal phone line.

So why a knock at the door?

Uh oh. What's going on?

Eva doesn't want to be deflected. She demands to be let in at once.

Both of the keys to the study are on the inside. The door cannot be opened.

Natsuhi picks up the receiver.

That IS bad.

Krauss swiftly approaches the third floor, Genji in tow.

The two have a heated argument with Eva. At a key moment, Krauss gives a small knock.

The barricade remains secure. For now.

Eva insists on being allowed through. Isn't this an emergency?

Only Genji is able to get her to eventually relent.

In the spirit world, Beatrice is shocked by the news. Battler? Really?

There's the issue of furniture to consider. Battler is now the head, but he certainly isn't interested in inheriting a bunch of weird demons.

Does that mean they're relieved of duty?

Not quite. One more day, okay?

Until this ordeal ends, Ronove, Gaap, Virgilia and Goldsmith will continue to serve Natsuhi.

Some time later, Battler shows the family the secret of the hidden gold.

There is no longer any need to squabble about inheritances. Everything they need is right here.

As the family leaps to heap praise on Erika, she insists that they praise Battler, as well. After all, it was their joint intuition that unlocked this secret.

Battler rejects Erika's impulsive claim. He has no interest in leading the discussion.

Eva is the first to speak up.

Natsuhi immediately objects. Where is it written that the one who finds the gold is the head?

The arguments about the inheritance have begun again. As usual, the three younger siblings form a united front against Krauss and Natsuhi.

Uh oh.

A subdued Erika and Battler watch from the sidelines.

Battler had expected this would happen, but the reality of it is even uglier than he had imagined.

Nobody can think straight in front of that mountain of gold. Back to the mansion.

Erika's done for the night. Rosa and Rudolf apologize for the ugly display.

Natsuhi and Krauss offer to provide her, despite her claims of not needing any credit, with a certain portion of the gold as a gift.

Erika reassures them that she doesn't need it and won't tell anyone about it. Their secret is safe.

Battler would rather retire to the guest house, but no can do. Not given the circumstances.

BGM: Worldend Solo

...

When you were the Game Master, we'd always get those letters. 'Try and solve the epitaph'. 'If you don't, I'll kill all of you'.

...

What does Beato gain by the family finding the gold?

Does she gain anything? Does she lose something?

Are you sure that's all right? Using red like that without her permission.

This child most likely wishes for it.

In the past, I sometimes guessed that the reason Beato was trying to make us solve the epitaph was that she wanted to make us find the gold's hiding place for her, so that she could snatch it away. Is that wrong, too?

Yes. In the first place, the gold of the Golden Land belongs to her. She had absolutely no need to make you find it for her or to snatch it away herself.

In that case, I'm understanding this less and less. I understand the epitaph murders. It might be revenge against the Ushiromiya family, or else a ceremony to revive her powers as a witch. After all, she's probably doing it because of some reason or goal of her own.

...

But what's the point of her telling us to solve the epitaph? Whether we solve it or not, she has nothing to gain at all. In other words, the whole issue of whether the epitaph is solved or not is immaterial in Beato's eyes.

You're right. Whether the epitaph's riddle is solved or not, this child stands to gain nothing at all.

It doesn't matter whether it's solved or not. In other words, could we say that the epitaph's riddle itself is immaterial to Beato?

...You're right. The epitaph's riddle doesn't have any meaning for her. Even if you take it to an extreme and call the riddle immaterial, it may not be possible to argue against your claim.

...

Why does she promise to stop the murders if the riddle is solved?

The murders and the epitaph seem to be of equal weight to Beato. And yet, she stands to gain nothing from it being solved.

X = Y.
X is the value of the murders.
Y is the value of the riddle.
Y = 0.

Solve for X.

Every time she performs that bizarre serial murder, she's willing to spend an incredible amount of effort on politely sending an advance notice and then killing us one by one in accordance with the epitaph without getting exposed. So all of that is meaningless to her...?

If she just wanted revenge, then why follow the epitaph? Why not just kill them in their sleep?

The more people she kills, the closer her defeat comes.

Why?

Why is she doing all of this?

Did you know? In mystery novels, they call things like these 'plotline murders'. I think you can split the possible reasons for these plotline murders into three groups.

And what are those?

The first would be the benefit the culprit receives by following the epitaph and thereby confusing the evidence and alibis. Pretending to be dead and mixing yourself in with the victims fits this pattern, as does committing murders that don't follow the epitaph and making the others get the order wrong, so that you can give yourself an alibi.

I see. So perhaps she only made it look as though she was killing them in a ceremony and following the epitaph... when she was actually guiding their thinking in a manner that benefited her. That sounds interesting.

In that case, what are the other two reasons for carrying out plotline murders?

Another one is coincidence. A crime carried out without any particular intention just happens to look similar to the epitaph, and the witnesses mistakenly think it's a plotline murder. Humans try to find cause and effect in everything they see. If we know what something is, then that's how it looks to us.

That's also interesting. However, it seems a bit odd. In this child's games, there's always an advance notice of the crime given before the murders of the first twilight. Also, I believe you find letters and circumstantial evidence that clearly shows the culprit is carrying out epitaph murders.

That's right, it isn't a coincidence. From the very beginning, Beato has been proceeding with a goal of making this look like a series of epitaph murders. We weren't mistaken about that. These are clear 'plotline murders'. THat's why this can't be the reason either.

In that case, there's only one reason left, right?

...

In other words... she performed these epitaph murders to make someone feel the fear of death?

At least... putting it that way, everything makes sense, more or less. The grotesque mutilation done to the corpses and the dark decorations were all a show to terrify someone...

To terrify whom?

Huh? Well, us, of course...

Who is the target? Is it Kinzo, the patriarch? Krauss, the next head? One of the cousins? One of the servants?

...In that case... the culprit would want to leave the person they hated most until the end. Yeah, similar to what was said by my favorite character in this novel I like. Something about how the worst way to kill someone is to 'start by killing the people closest to them. Make them feel sadness, then kill that person in the end.'

Oh my, that must have been quite a terrifying novel.

In that case, you could argue that the people who stay alive until the end are the ones Beato hates the most. However, every single time, the order people are killed in gets totally changed. If we try counting up the people who live until the last twilight every single time... even though they do die in the end...

...Let me first speak with the red. Battler isn't the culprit. Battler didn't kill anyone. This can be said of all games.

Then that... just makes it even more likely that it's me. It means the sole reason she had for bringing about the epitaph murders... was to show it to me.

That's wrong. Her goal is not to make someone experience fear. It isn't to have revenge on someone, either.

In that case, the epitaph murders really don't mean anything to her. The epitaph's riddle is meaningless, and the corresponding epitaph murders are also meaningless. X = Y = 0!

But even so, she's clearly trying to show these meaningless things to me! What could she want from me... which is worth the same to her as something meaningless? I don't get it! The more I think about it, the less I understand what she's thinking!

...

It's not revenge. It's not fear. The murders and the riddle are meaningless, but she shows them to Battler again and again.

If you put no weight on both sides of a scale, then both sides are empty. However, the scale itself has weight.

When kids play rock paper scissors, they may not bet anything. They play just to see how the game will turn out.

What matters to Beato isn't whether the murders succeed or not. It's something else.

Thank you. In that case, I'll give you some more red. Beato never committed murder for the sake of pleasure.

Try to remember it, Battler.

What was your sin, six years ago?

I still don't have a clue what she's thinking. Even so, I won't stop thinking. I've only just started turning the chessboard around. I won't give up... on this journey in search of your thoughts.

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