prof | Let's Play Umineko Chiru, Episode 6 Scene 8: The Pointless Battle

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Furudo Erika

The Witch of Truth (temporary). she is also the detective, and one who calls herself an intellectual rapist.

She participates in Battler's game as a player for the human side.

She possesses several skills that qualify her to call herself the detective. These can be acknowledged by Bernkastel and elevated to the level of red truth.

Whether she wins or loses, this will be the last game, and there will be no further use for her.

BGM: Apathy

W... Well... I don't know why, either.

I am the Golden Witch, Beatrice. And you are?

I... am also Beatrice. I was born for the purpose of serving Ushiromiya Battler.

I am the Golden Witch and the ruler of Rokkenjima's night. I know Ushiromiya Battler, but I have trouble imagining why I would have to serve a brat like him.

The two of us are surely one and the same. Almost like twins.

No, that is not so. You are my little sister. I have been here since long before you were born.

Huh? Is that so...?

I... I want to know about you.

I also wish to know. I understand that you are also 'me'... why is it that you speak that way, and why must you serve Battler? As long as we cannot understand that, it seems both of us will remain immature.

I... want to become a complete Beatrice.

Until you were born, I was complete. However, now that you have appeared, I believe that accepting you is my obligation. I also wish to know about you.

Where are we? Is this the hall of the mansion? Oh--

Precisely. This is the hall of the Ushiromiya mansion. The night is my time, and the nighttime mansion is mine as well. That fool Kinzo is still so desperate to catch me or revive me. How truly ironic. Here I am, openly controlling the mansion every night.

So... what do you do here?

I have lost my body, and due to the effects of that hateful shrine, I have no magical power. However, I am reviving that magical power bit by bit every day. I can't wait to under go a spectacular resurrection at the end so that I can taunt Kinzo. I can't wait to tell him that I've succeeded in escaping from his cage! I have become a ghost wandering about and killing time every night just so that I can look forward to that smile.

Can I come with you?

Of course! After all, you are a part of me. How could a left hand refuse the company of the right hand? Why should I refuse. I shall be pleased to have you, my little sister, the new Beatrice.

Thank you very much, big sister.

A somewhat embarrassing name, but it isn't bad. Come, let us take a walk through the nighttime mansion. Let me introduce you to my boring everyday life.

In the human mansion, Shannon and the cousins reminisce about her younger, clumsier days.

Erika's there, too.

Shannon never exactly saw Beatrice, but strange things happened sometimes...

Back then, the new Beatrice was learning from the old Beatrice. Human observation weakens them, but they are already so weak that it has little effect on them. Still, it's best to avoid the field of vision of humans.

That's why Kinzo doesn't burn them - he's already acknowledged Beatrice's existence, so his anti-magic toxin is much weaker.

The Beatrice from the first four games was truly amazing. A witch who can appear before people and summon minions freely is powerful indeed.

Their current mission: Sneak around behind servants as they lock the doors and windows, and unlocking them.

It's a simple action, but one with a lot of potential power carried within it.

By opening locks, they leave behind evidence that they exist.

By leaving behind that evidence, they get people to acknowledge them.

By getting people to acknowledge them, they weaken the anti-magic toxin.

It does sound credible, in a way. When humans are frightened to hear that they've entered a ghost hot spot, they're likely to start yelling 'ghost, ghost!' at the drop of a hat.

That's right. All phenomena are fundamentally neutral, indifferent, and dull. If one wishes to have them accepted in a certain manner, they must first create a suitable environment.

If a person has charisma, people will interpret what they do in a positive way, even when they screw up. I guess in that sense, the Beatos' small efforts aren't for nothing.

If it was just the mansion locks being undone, everything could be resolved by saying that someone forgot to lock up or that it was some kind of prank. However, the rumors of a witch wandering about the mansion night after night slowly began to take shape as the existence of the witch.

An environment was established so that, if anything strange heppened in the mansion at night, it would all be viewed as the work of the witch. I get it. If you follow that reasoning to an extreme, it means the same thing as a witch existing in the mansion at night.

A result without an observer can possess an endless number of ways in which it might have occurred. Humans, who can't grasp anything more than a single possibility, are unable to imagine anything.

However, people who believe in the possibility of a witch can imagine that it was a witch's prank. When that happens, the scene of the Beatrices' prank that we have just seen is etched into the Fragment as a fact.

...That's one of the fundamentals of magic. Decorating the process.

...Not all magic is bad. Maria was right. Good magic exists, too.

The power to repel evil magic may be necessary for a child of man. However, it is the nature of love in the human world that it does not burn away and defile love-filled magic.

Well, good magic is the only kind I can forgive. For all other kinds, the best remedy is to deny them and burn them away.

Heheheh. A typical answer for a child of man.

Getting back to the point. Knowing this much, I guess this means that the ghost Beatrice, who was called the ruler of Rokkenjima's night, doesn't really exist. It's nothing more than a general term for any inexplicable occurrences that took place in the mansion at night. In other words, Beatrice isn't the name of a person, it's the name of a phenomenon.

That all piles up until we reach 1986. This is the veil that the true culprit is hiding behind. And the person behind it is, without a doubt, a human.

Let us say that this holds true at this point in the witches' tale of the past. However, I doubt you an use that argument alone to fight all the way through 1986, don't you?

Counter-argument! That window would come unlocked all the time, even when servants other than Shannon were doing the rounds.

There was even one instance of a magic circle appearing in the kitchen.

Beatrice doesn't exist, remember? Magic is fake, and so are witches.

Maria loses her cool. Beatrice exists! She meets her every time she comes to Rokkenjima, and always shows her magic!

Maria presents Beatrice's magic: Making tons of candy pour out of an empty cup.

Anyway, this is just a kid talking. Shouldn't we move on already?

Erika slams a cup down upside-down and slides it over to Maria. Your move.

The two butt heads, and the wall between reality and illusion cracks.

BGM: Death (From Stupefaction)

Lady Erika, this opponent is not worth your TIME. This battle is not worth FIGHTING.

Shut up, murder doll! All right! How do you claim that the overturned cup was filled with candies?!

Just turning the cup over won't make candies come out! You have to use magic to make them come out! Beato can use magic because she's a witch!

Oh yes, magic, she used magic! How did she use magic?! Did she swing a magic wand and tap the cup to make candies pour out?! No, that can't be it, right? Right?!

Beato is a witch, so she used magic! Magic is when you say an incantation and cause a miracle! You can't use the magic that makes candy unless you say the incantation!

Come, try and picture it! The inside of the cup is filled with candies! Try and picture such a wonder!

Ooooh? And then whaaaat?

Look, the inside of the cup is filled with candy!

Good! Is this what you call Beatrice's magic?! Dlanoooooooor! Beat her to deaaaath!

...As you WISH.

I won't let anyone deny Beato's magic! After all, magic is magic!

Repetition DEMANDED. Failure to respond will be a violation of Knox's 7th.

Ahahaha, I'll respond! This is the truth! This story really happened!

This wouldn't have anything to do with a trick in the actual cup or table, making this just a sleight of hand, right? That would be against the rules, wouldn't it?!

Hidden devices and tricks are in violation of Knox's 3rd. However, if and only if foreshadowing has been presented, these are permitted by Knox's 8th.

UNDERSTOOD. By Knox's 9th, we acknowledge that Lady MARIA witnessed MAGIC.

Ahahahahahahahahahahaha! That's right, with the 9th at least! Observers are always allowed to speak their personal opinions! Otherwise, mysteries where the culprit is dressed up as a woman and it's written 'I saw a woman' would all be disqualified! Sure, that's fine, claim that you saw magic all you want! All truths are nothing more than claims! So, I'll make a claim separate from yours and smash right through it! That is the detective's duty, and the time we shine the mooooost!

You can't break through this, this is magic!

Since it is magic, only witches can use it, right?

That's right, only witches can use it!

So, if a human like me could use it too, that would mean it isn't magic, right?

You can't use it! Only Beato can use magic!

Good! Then why don't I show you?! I'll make candy appear from out of this empty cup!

If you think you can, just try! Impossible, impossible, useless, useless! There's no way a human can do it!

Then please, please, please just relax and watch! Okay, here we have an empty cup. It is, isn't it? Then we turn it over on the table like this!

Okay, can you say the incantation for creating candies? In fact, why don't we say it together? Come, try and picture it! The inside of the cup is filled with candy! Try and picture such a wonder!

Humans are stained by the anti-magic toxin! If a lowly human saw it, the miracle of magic would be wiped out of existence! That's why there's a rule that says lowly humans have to close their eyes when using magic!

I see, I see. Okay, I understand the protocol used by humans performing magic! In other words, not once have you ever witnessed the moment the magic happened! Isn't that right?! Look, it's done! Please, try and lift the cup, okay? After all, I've used the magic to make candies appear.

There's no way someone who makes fun of witches could use the candy magic!

But if it actually did work, all the better.

See? This is magic, right?

Erika... you can... use magic too?

See? It's magic, isn't it? What I did there.

Y... Yeah!

So, in other words...

A barrier deflects Erika's blue onslaught.

However, you also can't prove that it could only have been done with magic, you rotten stuffed animal!

You damn scraps of paper! Why'd you have to butt in at the good part?!

That is ENOUGH. Lady MARIA has been shown that the magic which makes candy appear in a cup could possibly be a trick that she misunderstood to be MAGIC. Therefore, her claim that it was magic is DISMISSED.

However, it might really have been magic when Maria saw it! Just because it can be done by a sleight of hand doesn't disprove magic!

Well done, Lady Erika. Congratulations on crushing Lady MARIA's Illusion of the WITCH.

A battle ends when your opponent surrenders, but that's not enough for Erika.

She wanted to crush everything Maria believed in, all at once.

Erika punches Dlanor in the arm, but only succeeds in hurting her own hand.

Diplomatic Immunity. Battle over.

Did you say something?!

She did NOT. Let us WITHDRAW. Lady MARIA is no enemy of yours, Lady Erika. There is no need to pay any attention to small fry such as THIS.

Hmph. You're right. How childish of me, tearing a kid's dreams apart. I'm really sorry, okay? I apologize for my momentary lack of elegance. Let's go.

Before leaving, Erika turns back for one last comment.

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