Let's Play Umineko Chiru, Episode 5 Scene 20: The Knock

[prof]

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Cornelia does as ordered, then Erika pushes her over from behind. She lands face first on the floor.



BGM: Black Lilliana



Erika is not happy.



There's no target number of times she's doing this. Erika's just going to repeat it until she gets bored.

However, Erika doesn't get bored. Her patience is world-class.



...Please, allow me to speak. Forgive Cornelia. She has already done enough in repentance...
Oh, is that true? Then please take her place from now on.
G... Gertrude has done nothing wrong...
Gertrude. Please stand. On one leg. Clasp your hands behind you.



You mustn't resist or hold your ground. You are not permitted to bend your knees. You are not permitted to shed any tears. Got it?
...As you wish...
Gertrude...



Gertrude and Cornelia suddenly disperse into light. Dlanor sent them back to the heavens.



No, thank you. Punishment only works because it causes pain. There's nothing interesting about an unfeeling doll girl that I can't leave a single injury on.



You may not cause a physical injury, but you do INJURE.
Hmph. As if you had a heart which could be injured. You lowly witch-hunting murder doll. Are you trying to talk back to me? Me, the envoy and double of the great Lady Bernkastel?!
...NO.
I got scolded by Lady Bernkastel because you guys are useless! Please, never fail so lamely again! Understand?!



...My APOLOGIES. Forgive ME.
Filth. Well, that's all right. I'm done. My anger has finally settled down, and my little gray cells are tingling again. Please call those two useless people back and reconstruct the crime scene. Let's start the reasoning game.



BGM: Totem Blume

Kinzo disappearing was nothing more than an added bonus for the first twilight. Okay, let's start investigating. But before that, did you realize that we were actually given a riddle before the murder case even occurred?
YES. It's the letter with the mark of the One-Winged Eagle, which appeared at 24:00 last night along with a knock by some PERSON.
That's right. For that instant, the tale creates the illusion that it was impossible for any human, making it seem like an unknown witch exists. Let's start by crushing this Illusion of the Witch. We'll first check the situation in the dining hall last night when the letter was delivered.
UNDERSTOOD. Gertrude, Cornelia. Reconstruct last night's family conference in the dining hall.
As you wish.



Let's check everyone's location at the instant the letter arrived. How did that go, again?
Please, allow me to speak. Before the family conference, Erika, George, Jessica, Maria, Nanjo, Gohda and Kumasawa left the mansion and moved to the guest house.
Please, allow me to speak. Of those who remain, only Krauss, Natsuhi and Genji were in the second floor corridor, while all others were in the dining hall.



Aha. That would mean no one inside the mansion could have knocked and placed the letter there, right? Eheheheheh.
YES. The witch side will probably say that this person is the one who wrote the letter... the witch, Beatrice.
Ridiculous. A stupid trick. There's no guarantee that the letter was placed there at exactly 24:00. It's only sensible to consider that it might have been placed there earlier.



Maybe one of those not in the parlor - Krauss, Natsuhi or Genji - simply saw their chance right after that and placed the letter there. No wait, it should be possible for the people who supposedly went to the guest house, too. We've heard that the mansion was locked and that no one outside could get in, but if someone pretended to have gone to the guest house and instead hid inside the mansion, it's perfectly possible that they could've placed the letter there.
Allow me to speak. Blue truth, effective.
In that case, the problem is the KNOCK. Unlike the letter, someone would have to exist there at the instant of the KNOCK.
I see, so this is the so-called proof that a person who shouldn't be there, a witch, existed? This is completely ridiculous. Do they think I, Furudo Erika, would surrender to something like that? Hehehehe, ahhahahaha!





Either way, I can think of many ways to make them hear a knock even if no one was on the other side of the door! How is that? My master! How is my reasoning?!





I guess I'll start with the letter. There was a knock when the bell of the large clock rang out 24:00, and when the door was opened, there lay a letter in an envelope bearing the One-Winged Eagle. It's so obvious to assume that the people who weren't in the parlor secretly placed the letter there, right? Krauss, Natsuhi and Genji did not even touch that letter!
Oho? Then, when Shannon and Kanon came in to serve tea, who was the last human to enter the dining hall? Let's say it was Kanon. Wouldn't it be easy if Kanon, the last person in, secretly dropped the letter there when he closed the door?
Not a single person in the dining hall... no, there's a simpler way to say it. Among all those inside the mansion at 24:00, not a single person placed that letter in the corridor.
So, you can't say that no one touched it?
Of course. They touched it when they picked it up! I couldn't say that none of them touched it.
I see. Then let's interpret it this way: Someone who existed outside of the mansion at 24:00 placed a letter somewhere other than the hallway beforehand. Then, it was moved by some means and ended up placed in the hallway.



Allow me to speak. Blue truth, effective. In other words, the fact that it landed just outside the dining hall door was just the culprit's good luck. At worst, it might have happened in the kitchen, the corridor, or even inside the dining hall.
Oh, good! If it had happened inside the dining hall, that would have been even more wonderful. Within everyone's sight, a letter would suddenly appear on the floor, and that wouldn't even violate a red truth saying 'no one in the closed room of the dining hall touched the letter unexpectedly'!
Well DONE. If the letter was stuck to the bottom of the serving cart, then anyone could be the culprit.
That might work okay regarding the letter. However, will that same type of argument apply to the knock as well? Let's try this again, shall we?
...Please, go ahead.





This wedge has already been knocked in, but I'll repeat it. Maybe someone other than Krauss, Natsuhi or Genji made that knock, or else a sound that could be misidentified as a knock.
Please, allow me to speak. Let it be known that at 24:00, except for Krauss, Natsuhi and Genji in the second floor corridor and all of the people in the dining hall, no humans existed inside the mansion.
Please, allow me to speak. Let it be known that in addition to Krauss, Natsuhi and Genji, none of those in the dining hall knocked on the door. In this sense, 'knock' includes all direct, indirect, intentional, unintentional and coincidental events that could create a knocking sound.



In short, this means it was impossible for any character within the mansion to be the source of a knocking SOUND. 'Any character' refers even to unobserved people that no one has noticed.
...I see. No matter how much I toy with it, it's impossible for anyone except those in the guest house group to create the knocking sound, right? Like me, for example. What if I, Furudo Erika, recorded a knocking sound on a cassette tape and used some kind of secret contraption to start it playing at exactly 24:00? Of course, I wasn't in the mansion at that time. There aren't any problems with this, are there?
No PROBLEMS. However, though the knock did serve as a way of informing them about the letter on the other side of the door, I do not think it would have worked if the letter had fallen ELSEWHERE.



However, it was announced in red that no one in the mansion placed the letter in the hallway.

I'll reword that red about 'placing it' a bit. No one in the mansion placed the letter in the hallway. This includes doing so by all concepts, such as directly, indirectly, intentionally, coincidentally and unintentionally. For example, let's assume there was a device on the serving cart that drops the letter when it stops moving. In this case, you'd think they could predict that the cart would probably stop just once when those two knock on the door to the dining hall, and by doing so, they'd be cleverly making it so the letter drops right in front of the door. But even this doesn't work, okay? The action of 'stopping the serving cart' would indirect lead to 'placing the letter in the hallway'. That would mean Shannon and Kanon, who were pushing the cart, had indirectly and unintentionally placed the letter there! So even this is no good! Furthermore, setting it up so that the letter peeled off with the passage of time would mean that the people pushing the serving cart had coincidentally and unintentionally placed the letter there. Of course, this is also no good!



Repeat iiiit? Even though I'm nice enough to give you all this red for free? Aren't you being a bit greedy? I'm not an idiot like Beato, so I won't go around saying everything my opponent tells me to repeat!
I'll give you a full body massage in a bath with marshmallows and konpeito sometime soon. Enough to rub your skin off.





Please, allow me to speak. The letter never existed on the ceiling of the hallway.
Please, allow me to speak. Know that the letter never touched the serving cart.
Wh-Who cares about that?! Anyway, someone outside the mansion used some kind of trick to place the letter there! If you try to use that letter and the knock to argue that Beatrice exists, it definitely won't work on Furudo Erika.
Please, allow me to speak. It was impossible for anyone outside the mansion to influence anything inside the mansion around the time of the family conference.
Then someone outside the mansion set up some kind of device before the family conference. Something other than the ceiling or the serving cart!
Allow me to speak. Blue truth, ineffective.
Why?! That's the only way, right?! Someone outside the mansion used some kind of device other than the ceiling or the serving cart!
A-Allow me to speak. Unless you can specify or theorize what that something might be, the blue truth will not be acknowledged.
Allow me to speak. All of Lady Erika's blue truths regarding the letter have been lost.



Miss Erika. Why don't we postpone the riddle of the letter for NOW? Your blue stake about 'someone outside the mansion playing it with a cassette tape' is still EFFECTIVE. If it was possible for sound, then perhaps it wasn't impossible for a letter as WELL.
That's right, my blue truth regarding the knock is still effective! It's not true that everything's been denied! My master! I will solve the riddle of the letter without fail. Please allow me to postpone that! However, I will definitely figure out the riddle of the knock here! I've hit you with the blue truth that someone outside the mansion set things up with a cassette tape or something to make a knock sound play!
Eheheheheheheheheh! You really are a cute kid, piece of Bern's. Very lively. Anyway, she's yelling that you forgive her because she's solved one of the two riddles, even though she resigned on the other. So, will you forgive her?
...Sure. Normally, I'd never forgive my own piece for the shame of surrendering, but if you've managed to solved one of the riddles, I guess I'll let it slide for now...







Huh? What's that supposed to mean?
Misidentifying a knocking sound means this: They would not mistake a sound very similar to a knocking sound for a real knocking sound. Hitting a pillar to make something similar to a knocking sound is no good. When you record a knocking sound on a cassette tape and play it back, it becomes the sound of a tape with a knocking sound on it, and not a knocking sound. So that's no good either!
In other words, all of them would correctly distinguish a knocking sound of something truly hitting the door, and they definitely wouldn't mishear it. It's totally impossible that any sounds except hitting that door directly would be misinterpreted as a knock!



Yep, they don't exist. After all, the Golden Witch Beatrice hit it. Hahahahahahahahahaha!
So in other words, there's no way to fake it, and you have to hit the door. So what about this? There was some kind of device that could knock on the door. There was something like an automatic door knocker, and that made it possible to knock without touching the door with your hands.
'To knock' means someone hitting a door with their hand, right? I won't accept hitting it with some device, eheheheheheheheh! THey heard a knock at the same time as the 24:00 bell. At that time, everyone inside the dining hall definitely heard it! And none of them misinterpreted a knocking sound. Krauss, Natsuhi and Genji were not involved with the knock. No one else existed inside the mansion. That knock refers to the action of standing directly in front of a door and hitting it with a hand.



...Hehehe. Ahhahhahhahhahhahaha! Interesting, truly interesting, Lambda! Wouldn't have it any other way. Yes, interesting! Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!



Gah... M-My master... Don't worry. If you give my little gray cells some time, I will definitely reach an answer to this pitiful red...!
You're nothing but a piece. Your absence wouldn't hinder my progress in this game in the slightest. If you can't think of any theories in particular, just go back to the piece tray and gather dust or something. It's painful to even remember useless pieces.
After all, Bern is pretty forgetful. If you don't try a little harder, Bern's gonna forget you, okay? You'll collect dust in that forgotten piece tray, awaiting your turn that will never come. I imagine that'd be pretty harsh, don't you think?
D-Don't worry, Lady Lambdadelta, and my master! I promise that I'll keep you entertained and never let you down again!
Oh, how reassuring. I guess you're my double after all. Then make sure you really are giving it your all, in various ways. If you don't make an impact, I might forget all about you...






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