banquet of the golden witch; chapter 5 (rosa and the witch of the forest)

[endlesswitch]

"......Beatrice. I have been calling to you for a while. Did you not hear me...?"
"......Hmm. Were you? My apologies. I was lost in my thoughts. Forgive me."
"The weather is pleasant. ...I see, I can understand how the weather has stolen your heart. Will you drink your black tea here...?"
"............Who, am I?"
"..............................I will bring some black tea now. Wait here for a while."
"Forget about the black tea. Talk with me."
"......Very well."
Kinzo had used the excuse of going to bring some black tea to try and interrupt the conversation for the time being.
...But his attempt had been very transparent.
I sat in the garden chair, and beckoned Kinzo to do the same.
Kinzo sat down heavily, exaggerating his age.

For a while, we sat, appreciating the silence...
"......Who am I? Until today, no one has answered me this question. ......For some reason, everyone averts their gaze and evades me."
".................."
"......I have known you for a long time. I think of you as my best friend, even as a father. ......That is why I want so much for you to tell me. You should know. ...Who I am..."
"........................Why are you worried about something like that? You are Beatrice. The Master of this mansion, is that not so? ......What more could you want to know?"
"............I do not know."
"What's this? ......Don't you even understand yourself what it is you want to know? That is baffling. In my younger days, I sometimes wanted to play in the maze of thought that has no exit. Maybe that is what your worries are..."

Kinzo laughed as though it was a trivial matter.
...However, I couldn't help but feel that this behavior was another attempt to force me to stop my further questioning.
"........................Hmph. ......So you won't tell me that, ...after all."
"There is nothing to tell. You are Beatrice. Isn't that more than enough?"
"......No, that's not it. .........What I wish to know is not my name. It is, who I, am.......Who am I, what am I. ...How long have I been here, ...and how long will I be able to continue my days here?"
"..................I really should bring some black tea. Do you not think it a waste of all this fine weather?"
"....................."
".........What is this all about...? Somehow, it looks like the story of your past, right?"
"Something like that. ...To think that I would go this far back..."
"It looks like you still had some pretty high-minded worries even then, ...wondering who you were."
"......That is to be expected. At the time, I was unable to understand who I was, or why I was alive."
"Well, in puberty, everyone is captured by those philosophical worries, wondering what meaning there is in their life, at least once. Doesn't this just mean that you had this kind of charming period once in your life?"
"..................I had been in that mansion since the time I was born. And I lived only inside the mansion. Of course, I went out into the garden, but the area around the mansion was surrounded by a very tall fence. I was unable to leave through it, and I would be told severely that I mustn't leave.
......I could walk freely throughout the mansion and the garden, but outside of that, my desire to take just one step outside of my own accord was never granted."
"............What do you mean by that? ...Are you trying to say that, as long as you can remember, you were always a bird in a cage?"
"......I did think of it that way. Anyways, as soon as I became aware, I was living like that. I didn't even think to question it."
"What in the world, ............are you?"
"That's it. That is what I also hoped to know."
".........Heh. I'm sure you'll say something like 'I wasn't a human, I was a witch,' right?"

"No, that's wrong. That's still・・・ wrong.

......Or should I say it used to be・・・・・・ wrong. ......I was constructed by Kinzo, a human built by a human. ...No, maybe I should call it a cage made of flesh."
"What's that supposed to be...? ...This is starting to sound weird."
"......You probably won't believe it anyway. Listen first. .........I was a great witch who had lived for one thousand years. But at some time, I was summoned by Kinzo, ...and by that hidden art I was bound as his prisoner for eternity."
".........Never heard that before. From what we hear in the Ushiromiya family, you were summoned by Grandfather, made something like a devil's contract with him, and gave him the gold."
"Hmm. That is correct. ...Then I was supposed to hide myself until the contract was over. But, .........well, it's tough being a popular woman. .........By some turn of events, Kinzo fell in love with me."
"...Grandfather's nearsightedness must have gotten pretty bad. With astigmatism too, ihihi. To fall in love with you, of all things."
".........Hmph. Well, to me it was annoying at best. ...However, the power of humans is a frightening thing. He displayed that fearsome power and rooted me to this place. ...He said I wouldn't be freed until I nodded my head in agreement. ...Such an overbearing man."
"Isn't that awesome. Everyone knew Grandfather was obsessed with the occult, but......that he would have the power to root down the Great Witch Beatrice... ......Heh, ridiculous. Who'd believe such a weird story?"
"...As I thought, you don't believe."
"What I believe is only the fact that you retired to this hidden mansion in the middle of the forest. You are the 19th person in Rokkenjima, right?!"
"......Indeed. Just as you imagine, this is deep in the forest of Rokkenjima. A hidden mansion not to be found from the outside world. It's name is Kuwadorian (Nine Birds' Retreat)."
"......Come to think of it, I heard that the guesthouse's real name was Toraian (Visitor's Retreat). ...I see, the naming sense is similar. ......Then, you were Grandfather's mistress, who retired here. Isn't that right?!"
"Mistress isn't the right way to say it. ......You should probably call it Kinzo's unrequited love. I spoke of it just recently, correct? He fell in love with me of his own accord. He then courted me, but I rejected him."
"......Then, I was shut up in this hidden mansion. .........No, I shouldn't say that I was shut up in this mansion. ...It would be more correct to say that I was shut up in this body."
".........I have no idea what you said at the end there."
"You will just make fun of it and not listen, right? After all, you say that you don't believe in witches or magic. If you have no ears to hear what I tell you, saying it would be the pinnacle of foolishness."
"...........................I'll decide whether I believe or not. ...After all, if I don't ask, the story won't continue. Tell me. ...The story from your past."
"Hmm. .........I refused Kinzo when he courted me, but he was not a man to lose heart at something like that. He wanted to make me nod my head in agreement no matter what. He shut me up in this mansion, and spent an eternity trying to win my heart."
"...He really is overbearing. Obstinate men are dislikable, right?"
".........*cackle*cackle* Regardless of whether I responded to his courting or not, making him so desperate for me was, ...well, as a woman it wasn't unpleasant.
......However, I never nodded my head. I tried to do something to escape his guard, but that barrier was firm, and I couldn't break it."
"......And then?"
"After trying to resist in various ways, I eventually reached the conclusion that, to escape from Kinzo's barrier, I would have to throw away this body of flesh. ......The physical body is a vessel which can be restricted in many ways through magic."
"Throw away your body of flesh......? What's that? Something like an out-of-body experience?"
"Well, if you want to think of it that way. However, I am not a spirit. Even though I am a witch, in the beginning, I was born with a human's body of flesh. So for me, throwing away that physical body, while it didn't mean the same thing as death, it did require a corresponding level of preparedness."
"So in other words, ......you had determined that you couldn't be released except by suicide, is that what you mean?"
"It wasn't suicide. It was nothing more than throwing away my body of flesh. ......Of course, becoming nothing more than soul is a precarious situation. When the soul leaves its body of flesh, it is constantly exposed to the strong winds of the sun. It was not easy for me to maintain myself and avoid being scattered by them."
"It was a final measure that I wanted to avoid if I could. However, there was no other way to break through Kinzo's barrier. ......*cackle*, anyways, I am an unfettered person. I couldn't stand being kept in a cage until Kinzo's life was over."
I couldn't understand this story Beato kept going on about, about throwing away her body of flesh, as anything more than suicide.

Grandfather persistently courted her, and to escape from that, ......she chose her own death...?
"............So you're saying you committed suicide? What are you saying? Isn't that you, sitting carefree there in the garden chair?"
"......That's right. That is the new cage I was given by Kinzo."
".........Cage? You mean this mansion?"
"No. I mean my body, relaxing in the garden chair over there. .........After I became a soul and tried to escape, Kinzo had no desire to allow me to escape any further.
...No, he was a frightening person. Normally, when the woman of someone's unrequited love shows that she is willing to die, it should be enough to bring that person to their senses, even if their love was 100 years old. ......I guess he was a petty excuse of a magician after all. ......*cackle*."
"Don't try to speak in riddles with that incomprehensible witch-girl talk. ...In short, what are you trying to say?"
"That Kinzo didn't let me escape even after I became a soul. ......Human emotions are terrifying. That he would be able to exhibit this much power... Tying down a spirit of the dead, is not a situation that occurs readily, even for a magician seeking that as his specialty. Because I knew that, Kinzo's fearful magical power shocked me for the first time."
".........Then Kinzo seized my body and brought me back. However, a cage to hold a seized soul cannot be made from iron or lead. ......Only one thing remained."
".........What? You aren't going to say it was a magical cage or something, are you?"
"Wrong. That body of flesh over there, just like yours or mine. ...Only a cage made of flesh and blood can tie a spirit down to this world. ......Kinzo shut my soul up in a cage of flesh built to be exactly like me."
".....................So in summary, is it something like this? Grandfather persistently courted you, you started to hate it, and you committed suicide, but you weren't clever enough to finish the job? ...Damn, you really took a roundabout way to say something like that."
"No, that's wrong. My soul was shut up in the seed of a homunculus, and I was born out of a test tube."
"Huh?! Ridiculous...! That isn't even possible, right?!"
"Kinzo accomplished even the miracle of creating life. And only to shut my soul up in that cage. ......That he would show such magical power simply because of his own love... A thoroughly terrifying person."
"Aah, it's already gotten pretty ridiculous! Say whatever you want. I won't believe anything. Just do what you like."
"............Mu. ...What is this unpleasant attitude?"
"Heh, in the beginning, I showed a little interest, thinking that there might be some huge hint hidden, but the more I ask, the weirder this story starts to get. I get the feeling that even though this is supposed to be a game about denying witches, I'm suddenly being made to just swallow this story about witches."
"Sorry, but I don't feel like listening to this any more. Just keep rambling on to yourself as much as you want. I'll just pick my earplugs or something."
"........................Hmph."
When I started showing a cold attitude, Beato acted unusually discouraged.

Of course, her expression was still shameless..., but I had the feeling that I was able to catch a glimpse of loneliness because I hadn't found the story of her past interesting, in that really easy to understand expression of hers.
......For some reason, that slight reaction made her seem pitiful, so even though I kept my careless attitude, I decided to cover for her slightly.

Damn it, even though she's an irritating witch, I'm still weak against her because her chromosomes are XX...
"......Well, I have absolutely no desire to believe you, but, ............keep going. I'll listen instead of eating tea cakes, alright?"
"So you treat the story of my past like tea cakes.........You think that if you abuse me like that, I will just casually tell you...?"
After I made fun of her, Beato reacted a little sensitively.
It looked like, even though making fun of people was her specialty, she was horrible at being made fun of by other people.

Just then, my black tea cup suddenly made a sound, surprising me.
"......Milady's soul was seized and breathed into a cage of new life. In other words, Milady received life as a human once more."

Before I had realized it, the demon butler had taken my cup, and was adding more black tea to it.
"Ronove. That is enough of this story. This person said that it was too ridiculous to listen to. I also have no intention of speaking ridiculously."
"Some new cookies are currently being baked. I thought that, until then, the story of Milady's past will be a perfect substitute for tea cakes. Pu ku ku...!"
"E, ...even though I already said that I've had enough of that story! You are all unpleasant people. I'm leaving! Ronove, leave as soon as you are done serving. Don't talk pointlessly with Battler."
"Certainly. I will make an effort."
Beato's short temper particular to women, which I didn't really understand, took hold of her, and she turned her body into gold butterflies, scattered, and disappeared.

After that, only Ronove and the scent of the black tea were left...
"......I feel kind of bad for making her angry."
"It appears that you are aware of it, so there is nothing more to be said."
"Wait a second. Weren't you the one that finished it?"
"Pu ku ku ku. My, what could you mean? How would you like some sugar and milk?"
"...Just milk will be fine. ............And I also want some tea cakes."
"......You are aware that baking the cookies will take some more time?"
"There's a substitute for tea cakes, you said?"
"......Certainly. If you would listen quietly, I will continue the story."
"She said something about a homunculus. ...I know a bit about that. It's that thing, right? A manufactured human created with alchemy or something?"
"Yes. Milady's soul was shut up in a homunculus, and she was revived into this world, receiving life again as a baby. ......However, because she was a baby, even if Kinzo tried to profess his love to her, it would be useless."
"...........................You aren't saying.........Grandfather shut that baby up in this hidden mansion, until it grew to reach the same age?!"
"Yes. That is what I am saying. However, while her soul was the same, a human spirit receives a strong influence from its container. Milady lost all of her memories of the past, and grew up as a very normal human girl."
"And you're saying, ......that was the Beato sitting in the garden chair?"
"Yes. That is correct. It grew to be completely identical. However, it did not possess her power as a witch. ......Milady was completely like a human."
"........................"

Beato, who was sitting in the garden chair, looking up at the sky, said that same question again.
She asked who she was.

...The meaning of those words was finally starting to click.
She couldn't understand why she was living here, all locked up.
Grandfather had seized Beatrice's soul, shut it up in a body of flesh, and then shut that up in a hidden mansion.

However, since she had lived here since the time she had been born, she couldn't even understand who she was, or why she lived shut up in there...
......W, ...wait, wait.
Who would take such a stupid story seriously?

Why don't I change my interpretation?
...In other words, couldn't it be something like this?
Grandfather met Beatrice.
He then fell in love with her and courted her, but she didn't nod her head in agreement.
And then he betrayed her and shut her up inside this hidden mansion.

Beatrice tried to escape, but no matter what she did, she couldn't succeed, ......so she finally chose her own death.
......And then, .........no.

...Maybe there was a girl that looked just like Beatrice, ...no, a baby.
And Grandfather raised this child with care.

But maybe Grandfather didn't view this child as his daughter.
'The soul was once again shut up in a cage of flesh'

Those words probably meant that he didn't view this kid as her child, ......but as her reincarnation. Maybe that's what it meant.
If you interpret it that way, even a story that weird might make a little sense...

...No no no.
This might be some bullshit Beato cooked up to confuse me.
As if I could accept any of this...! In the first place, Kuwadorian was it? There's no proof whatsoever that a hidden mansion actually existed.

Couldn't this be something she had just fabricated on the spot?
"In the forest of Rokkenjima, a hidden mansion called Kuwadorian exists. That is the place we were just talking about."
".........Huh? R, ...red?!"

Ronove said that Kuwadorian existed in red.

...Did that mean the same thing as the red Beato used?
"Apparently I am lacking as a demon. ...Please keep this a secret from Milady, alright?"
"...Y, ......yeah!"
Beato, who knew I would try to trip her up, had grown extremely cautious when using red.
That Ronove could also use that red was...

However, it was the red of a crafty man.
I didn't know how far I could accept it, but anyways, I might be able to get some hint out of it......
"So that Beato relaxing in the garden of Kuwadorian, ...and that conversation she had with Grandfather, were the truth?"
"Yes. It is the truth. In the past, those two actually had a conversation like that in this place."
"Th, thanks a lot. I'll ask for some more red. You've said that she was born from a homunculus, but does that kind of unscientific, magical thing actually exist?!"
"I am unable to answer that question. The reason is that it would become a stalemate."
"......Stalemate?? What's that?"
"Similar the chess term which means a perpetual repetition of moves, it would be a proclamation which would make any further progress in this game impossible. This would be the opposite of an endless repetition of moves, because all moves would disappear, and it would bring about a kind of deadlock. In chess this would lead to a draw, just as if there were a perpetual repetition of moves. ...However, there is no draw in you and Milady's game. Therefore, I am unable to answer a question that would bring about a stalemate."
".........You're speaking in riddles by saying something I don't really understand, but in short, you're trying to trick me because you can't say in red that something magical like a homunculus exists, right?"
"If I were to say in red that 'a witch exists', what would you do, Battler-sama?"
"............Mu. ......That's what we're having this big fight over whether or not to believe, right? If I was told that point blank, it'd be game over."
"If I said 'a witch exists' in red, you would have no room for argument. However, since the reason would never have been made clear to you, Battler-sama, you probably wouldn't accept it. However, after being told that in red, you would have no room for argument and would not have been shown any proof."
"In this situation, Battler-sama, even though you wouldn't be able to admit defeat, you would have no way to make a counter-argument, and it would become a deadlock. Even though checkmate would not have been reached, there would be no existing moves left."
"Since you would not be able to play your next hand, it would never become Milady's turn, and the game would stop there for all eternity. As a result, Milady would be unable to force you to submit. ......That would be a deadlock situation. In order to avoid that, I am unable to answer questions of this form in red."
"......So, to say it quickly, you mean that point blank questions are prohibited? Well, that's true, I guess. If I were told 'a witch exists', I'd have to give up from the start."
"I am pleased that you understand. I believe we might be able to work together if you ask a question of a different form."
"......Can you help me with that line Beatrice dodged when I told her to repeat it? About the number of people on this island?"
"If Milady held back on repeating it, then of course I cannot respond. As Milady's furniture, I am unable to act too forward."

Ronove made an exaggerated gesture, trying to act like a loyal retainer. This guy's so shameless.
"Heh. Just when I thought you might be useful. ......I'll give up on that and search for a different question. ...That's right. I was forgetting to check something important. .........This is a story about Beato's memories, right? When did it happen? It couldn't be happening right now, right?"
"Correct. This is the world of 1967. It is the world of 19 years ago."
"............Hmmmmm..."
Let's try rearranging this story again.
I wonder if it couldn't be something like this...
Grandfather had a person with whom he fell in unrequited love with, called Beatrice.
Then, he confined her in this hidden mansion and continued to court her.
But she was stubborn and didn't nod her head in agreement.
Eventually, she grew pessimistic about being able to escape from here..., and probably, committed suicide.
......And then, ......her soul was put in a homunculus and......
No, no, if I accept that, it's the same as accepting the witch.
I can interpret that part like this.
She probably had, ......a posthumous daughter.

Grandfather must have believed that her soul was put into a new physical body..., and maybe that the child was the reincarnation of Beatrice...
...In that case, Beato had existed on this island for at least the last 19 years as the 19th person, ......umm......
"......I'm starting to get confused. ...In any event, I can't get out of this fortress of guesswork. Something that you can certainly say in red, is that in 1967, in a hidden mansion on Rokkenjima, Beatrice-sama existed as a human. That's all."
"That is correct. In 1967, in a hidden mansion on Rokkenjima, Beatrice-sama existed as a human."
"Oh, thank you. That really helps."
"Congratulations. With this, you have made clear the existence of the piece known as the 19th person. The 19th human outside of the 18 who you can blame, just as you longed for.
......A sacrificial sheep that you can shift the blame of any crime onto. And you must be so glad that it is Milady. Pu ku ku ku."
Ronove laughed indiscreetly.

Somehow, I didn't like his phrasing, so I didn't feel like laughing along with him.
"......That's right. Rosa oba-san said it. ......Beatrice is dead? 'I killed her'? What did that mean...?"
"As for that, it may be faster to see the actual circumstances rather than listen to me tell you. Let us advance the clock a little more."
Ronove pulled a stylish pocket watch from his pocket, and made to touch the watch stem.

As soon as he did, I saw gold butterflies gather behind Ronove's back and take the form of a person.
...Was it Beato? I quickly realized that it was someone else.
It was her. That oldest sister of the seven stakes, who loved tormenting me more than three meals a day.

......If I don't think myself lucky to see that sexy ass, I won't be able to play along with their torture game...
"Ronove-sama. So, you were still here. This is an urgent call from Beatrice-sama."
"My, my, what kind of urgent business could it be? ......It does seem to be slightly more important than chatting with Battler-sama.
Well then, Battler-sama, if you will excuse me. Please continue to enjoy your game with Milady."
"Yeah, yeah. I'll enjoy it as best as I can. ...'Cause the conversations are more lively with you than with Beato. And because you use the red more graciously. Come and talk again any time."
"............Battler-sama. Despite how I look, I am Milady's furniture. ...I cannot do something that Milady does not wish. What I said in red was something that normally should have come from Milady's mouth. ...I did nothing more than announce the red truth in Milady's place as she sulked."
"So she really was sulking then? Ihihihi!"
"Pu ku kuku."

After looking at me and Ronove incomprehensibly hitting it off, that Seven Stakes nee-chan cocked her head slightly.
"Ronove-sama. We are keeping Beatrice-sama waiting. Let us hurry."
"Yes, I will go immediately. Well, Battler-sama, in a while, then. ......It appears that we have finally started getting along. As I thought, I have the feeling that we can become good friends."
"If by that you mean partners at gossiping behind Beato's back."
"Ronove-sama!""Yes, yes. If you will excuse me."
Maybe it was because she really didn't like seeing him act friendly with me, or maybe it was because she had really been told to hurry.
When the Seven Stakes nee-chan let out a thunderous cry, Ronove laughed foolishly and disappeared, as if running away...
"......Humm. How could I, the oldest sister of the Seven Stakes of Purgatory, be called on for this level of work! ...Even though Beato-sama could have told one of the younger sisters, who look like they have so much free time, for something like this. Sheesh...!"
"Why so grumpy, nee-chan. If you're hungry, eat a cookie or something. Why don't I give you the last one? Ihihi!"
"......Hummmmm? How thoughtful. Then, shall I take one?"

I lightly pushed the snack plate with the last remaining cookie on it over to her.
"Thank you."
As though coming as a period at the end of the sentence, a sharp sound pierced the table...

The nails on three of her fingers had extended and gotten sharp..., and had stuck sharply between my fingers on the hand that was pushing the plate.

......It had happened in an instant, ...so for a while, I didn't even realize that her fingernails had grown.
The tips of those sharp nails were like blades with a red manicure.
......The spaces between the bases of my fingers hurt sharply.

......That razor-like blade was sticking sharply into the back of my hand between my fingers...

By now, those three blades didn't even cause that right hand which I had carelessly outstretched to shake, and only resulted in a single line of cold sweat dripping down.
".........Whoa. ...Nee-chan, isn't it about time you cut your nails?"
"Lucifer. ......That is my glorious name. The honored furniture who serves Beatrice-sama, and the oldest sister of the Seven Stakes of Purgatory.
.........I'm not like those other disgraceful younger sisters. If you don't show the proper respect, you will regret it."
"...How would I regret it? I don't have a clue."
".........fufufufufu. Stupid kid. ...Do you really want me to play that much? You really can't forget that much? I'll thrust my stake deep, deep into you and have you enjoy being gouged to the fullest, alright......? Ufufufufufufufufufufufufufufufu......!"
"......You bitch. No matter when you knock me down, I'll keep saying the same line."
"Oh, really? I can't wait, you see? Ufufufufufufu...... ...Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...!!!"
Rosa eventually regained her calm.

The men wanted to hurry her into talking faster, but Kyrie intervened.
...If something like she had just mentioned really had happened, ......it was an abominable past that she wouldn't want to remember.

After taking several deep breaths with her hand over her chest, it seemed that she had more or less resolved herself to talk...
"......How old was I then, I wonder......Probably, middle school, ......I don't remember well. Anyways, I think I was about that old..."
"Which means, ...maybe, about 20 years ago?"
"Back then, my grades weren't very good, and Mother was always angry at me. ......I had tried to do my best in my own way, but I couldn't respond to Mother's expectations at all..."
"......Mother was always very strict with Rosa. I sympathized with her at the time."
"Hmm. You say that even though you were always talking behind her back."
"Would ya give it a rest, Eva. And then? Where did ya meet Beatrice, Rosa-san?!"
"Hideyoshi-san, you mustn't rush her now. ......It's alright, Rosa-san. Tell us at your leisure."
".........Thank you. ...It was a day that I had been harshly scolded by Mother."
Even though my tutor had promised to keep it a secret, ...apparently, they told Mother all about how I had complained.
Mother scolded me horribly, saying that my name was a disgrace to the Ushiromiya family.
......Of course, I was doing the best I could.

But I had none of Krauss-san's dignity, I couldn't get excellent grades like Eva nee-san, and I had no leadership like Rudolf nii-san.
...I never stood out, didn't particularly excel at anything, and it was almost like I was asking myself why I had been born into the Ushiromiya family.

I didn't know why I had been born.
...On that day, I had the experience of my mind going blank for the first time......
For the first time since I was born, ...I realized that in addition to facing or surrendering to my problems, I had the third choice of running away.
Even though I say run away, there was no way I could have left Rokkenjima and gone somewhere else.
But, anyways, I wanted to run away from the mansion and the way I was at the time.

......In a way, it was like running away from home, or maybe a half-hearted suicide...
"......I wanted to disappear. Or maybe it was that child-like form of resistance where I tried to make my parents worry by disappearing............I thought childishly that if I went into the center of the forest, escaped from the Ushiromiya house, and maybe became lost, then I would make them worry and be able to get back at them."
"So then, ......you went into the forest that you were told not to go in?"
"......Yes. After reaching the beach, I followed alongside the ocean. ......I didn't have any particular reason, ......but I felt that, if I went around to the opposite side of the island, there might be a place there that no one knew about, which might become a hidden house just for me."
"If you go around by the beach, that'd be impossible. It becomes a cliff partway, right? There's no way you could pass that way."
"...Of course. So, I kept going wherever I could, and kept going deeper and deeper in. ......It's a horrible forest without any paths, but that was comforting to me then. ...If I could make it through such a dangerous forest, then being that much further away from the Ushiromiya family, ...made me feel good."
".........How shameful. If you were scolded because of your grades, all you had to do was work harder."
"You mustn't say that. Doesn't Rosa have her talent as a designer instead?"

Literally this could be taken as him covering for Rosa, but everyone knew that Rosa's company had not been profitable.
"Quit it. Now isn't a time for sarcasm. ......So then you dragged yourself there by coincidence...? Beatrice's, ...hidden mansion."

Rosa nodded weakly......
"About how far did ya walk. Could ya show it to us on a map...? Natsuhi-san, is there a map of this island?"
"No, there is not one here now..."
"That would be impossible. I was just walking randomly. Even if you showed me a map, I wouldn't know. ......And 20 years have passed since then. I probably couldn't reach it again if I went into the forest..."
".........Hmmmmmm..."

Several people let out dejected sighs.
It was vividly clear that in their haste, they had thought some hint related to the witch's epitaph, or maybe even the gold itself might be resting there.
"On Rokkenjima, only the land around the mansion has been prepared to be developed. ...The rest is completely uncultivated, and it would probably take a considerable effort to survey the entire island."
"But just knowing that it actually exists is helpful. It would take some money, but if we enlisted an aerial photography company to investigate, or asked the businessman who constructed this mansion about what happened at the time, we could probably find some way to search for it."
"That's right. ...There should still be some ways to do it now that it isn't a question about whether it exists or not."
"......Hmm. It may be worth investigating right away."
"The siblings will do that investigation together. We won't let you be alone, Nii-san."

It wasn't certain that the gold was hidden in that secret mansion, but it seemed that the fireworks between Krauss and Eva had already begun.
"Give it a rest for now you two. Rosa, please continue."
"............Yes."
Blindly, randomly, I kept running, on and on.

Suddenly, it felt like I had come across something like an animal trail.
I was very tired, and had no idea how far I had walked, so at that time, I naturally took the easiest path to walk on.
As I did, .........suddenly, right before my eyes, a very, very tall fence appeared.
It was a fence wonderfully adorned in a gothic style.

For an instant, I spun around, thinking that I might have returned to the original mansion.
Of course, there were fences around the mansion to stop us from entering the forest.
But this fence was decorated differently, ......and moreover, it was very tall.
It probably reached a full two stories up.

It was covered with ivy, and created a mysterious, solemn atmosphere...
At the time, ......I believed the legend of the witch of the forest, Beatrice.

I had been told that she was frightening, but some of the servants told me that she would sometimes help you if you respected her.

......Since I had lost my confidence in those days, I believed that the only way I could be saved was by receiving her help.
So I thought.
......I believed that this was the fence of the mansion of Beatrice, the witch of the forest.

I thought that if I could meet with Beatrice, she would definitely save me.
So I thought I would try to go in.
But that fence was very, very tall, and it didn't look like I could go over it.
So I decided to walk around it.
I thought that if I did, I would eventually reach a gate.
But it wasn't that easy.
The fence had a length to match its height, and no matter how far I went, I didn't reach a corner.

It probably gave me the impression that it encircled a very massive area, ...or maybe it was because my child's legs made it difficult to walk in the forest.
Anyways, because I couldn't find a gate for a while, I started to feel sad, as though the witch had rejected me...
As I did, I eventually came upon a large tree, whose twisted root had bent the fence.

It might have gotten my western-style clothes dirty, but if I crawled, it looked like I would be able to sneak in...
".........And that was the hidden mansion?"
"I don't know whether it was the hidden mansion we have been talking about... Still, at the very least, it wasn't a place that we know of."
It wasn't as though I came out into a garden as soon as I passed the fence.
I had to continue through a lot more uncultivated forest after that.
As I did, ......the forest suddenly opened up.
And what appeared there..., .........was an unbelievably fantastical scene.
On Rokkenjima, where I had believed no one other than us lived, ...that there could be such a wonderful mansion hidden somewhere...
A beautiful flower garden spanned the front of the mansion.
It was a flower garden of a completely different design from the rose garden we know so well, and was very lovely.
Of course, the mansion was also wonderful.

...It was one or two sizes smaller than our mansion, but it was a very elegant, and yet lovely mansion.
Then, ............I saw her figure.
I saw her sitting in a garden chair positioned to give a view of the flower garden, wearing an elegant dress.

It was that black dress embroidered in gold that we would later know from that portrait.
......I hadn't seen an elegant dress like that except in fairy tales and on the stage of a musical.
...That a person would be wearing it as their normal clothes, ...that in itself seemed quite fantastical.
That mysterious scene was enough to make me lose my sense of reality.
If someone had told me then that it was a dream, I might have nodded obediently, and waited to wake up in my bed...
Since, in my shock, I had forgotten to hide myself, she eventually noticed me.

At first, her expression was quite listless, but when she noticed me, her eyes opened very wide.
...It was only natural, a guest that she didn't know had suddenly appeared.

I lowered my head automatically, planning to greet her and apologize for entering without permission...
".........Who are you? The new gardener?"
Those were the first words she said to me.
...I grew slightly calmer.
Because I realized that we could talk to each other.

Because I hadn't been turned into a frog just by meeting her eyes, like the terrifying witch in that fairy tale.
"......I, ......I'm sorry. ...I shouldn't have entered the garden without permission..."
"........................Who are you? Name yourself."
"I, ...I am Ushiromiya Rosa."
"......Ushiromiya. ...............Hoh. ...One of Kinzo's family?"
"Huh? Ah, yes! I'm Kinzo's daughter. G, good afternoon...!"
I was only a little surprised.
...After all, Father was a great man feared by everyone.

And she had addressed to him without using honorifics.
So she quickly became frightening.

...After all, if she could refer to my fearsome father that way, she must have been a witch with incredible power.
After staring at me curiously, she beckoned me to come over with her.

Frightened as I was, I obeyed.
......After all, I thought I might be turned into a frog anyways.
...And the closer I got, the stronger that fear became.
After all, ...I said it several times already, but, .........that woman and her dress and the flower garden and the mansion, ......that entire harmony was so fantastical and beautiful that it seemed separate from reality.

It surely wouldn't have surprised me even if she was actually a witch...
And I was truly lucky.
She hadn't turned me into a frog.

As I awkwardly stood there stock still, she motioned to an open chair, and urged me to sit down.
"Sit. Welcoming and speaking to those who visit this garden for the first time is my only pleasure. .........I have no pleasure other than that."

As she said that, she showed an unhappy smile for just an instant.

Because I was full of a strange mix of tension and excitement, I rudely asked her a question suddenly.
"...Umm, .........Are you the witch of the forest, ...Beatrice......?""Indeed. I am Beatrice."
"As I thought. Beatrice actually existed..."
"...Did she really look like the portrait?"
"......Yes. Really, just like the portrait."
"So she was, ......not a witch from Father's imagination..."
"And then, what did you talk with her about?"
"...As she prepared some tea, she asked me various things about myself. ......First, she was surprised that I had come through the forest. It seems she believed that many dangerous wolves lived outside the fence.
...So when I told her I had reached this place by going through the forest, she was very surprised. She asked how I had managed to escape from the wolves. Did I give them a biscuit and they let me go? Or did I cover myself in a magic cloak, that kind of thing."
"Wah-hah-hah-ha. ...That sure sounds like a witch. What an interesting person."
"Quiet, dear. .........It was a long time ago, but didn't Father threaten us, saying that wolves lived in the forest, so we shouldn't get close to there?"
"Yeah, something like that did happen. Ridiculous. Even though Japanese wolves went extinct long ago. What a childish trick."
"I don't remember though. Were we really told something like that by Father...? It was the witch of the forest, right? I don't think I've ever heard about wolves."
"You were still in elementary school. Don't you remember? Back then, you actually said that you'd want to try petting the wolves. Father immediately gave up the wolf story and changed it to the story about the witch. He was already saying such obvious lies, ahahahahaha."
"Hah-hah-hah-ha. At the time, the witch story had a much more immediate effect on you, Rudolf, than the wolves. I remember it well. Don't you remember those nights when you clung to my back?"
"...*giggle*. I see, even Rudolf-san used to have that cute period."
"Shut u-p. I was just a kid."
"......Well, anyways. If Father was the one who shut Beatrice up in there, it makes sense that he would use the same wolf story. To him, the vast forest of Rokkenjima was a wall that shouldn't be crossed, dividing his two incompatible worlds: the Ushiromiya family and his mistress's mansion."
"If you think about the height of that fence, it does seem that Father had turned the whole area, garden and all, into a giant jail cell. ......Just like a national border dividing his two separate worlds."
"...Forget the wolves, were there any kinds of stray dogs there at the time? It could have been a fence to protect against those."
"There are no wolves or stray dogs on Rokkenjima. That fence was probably, a border between us and Beatrice."
"However, if she innocently believed the story about the wolves, that's kinda, naive. That's pretty different from how I imagine a witch."
"......That's right. I also sensed that. ...She was very pompous, just like my image of a witch, ...but she was somehow very childish, how should I say it, too honest? ......She gave me the impression that she didn't know anything about the world.
For example, ...it was almost as though she had come from a fairy-tale land. ......She was a truly odd person."
"......What happened after that? ...Did you end up talking about Father at all?"
"Yes. Once every few days, usually on an arranged day but sometimes suddenly, Father would appear casually, and they would drink together, or take a walk together or something. She said that, by coincidence, she was by herself on the day I visited."
"I see. Truly a mistress, or so you could say. ...My, my. I don't know how much younger she was, but good for Father."
"......We can be sure that it was not an indecent relationship."
"Idiot, there's no way a lover's meeting between a man and a woman wouldn't have some sensuality. What happened next? What did you talk about after that?"
".........Because I had introduced myself, I then asked her about herself. ...When I did, the atmosphere quickly grew depressing. ......How should I say it, she seemed very listless and lonely. ...It was the same expression as the one I had first seen on her face."
"Well, that's because she was his hidden mistress. If she just walked around wherever she liked, she might have been discovered by mother. ......I'm sure the situation was almost like house arrest.
Even though she had beautiful clothes, a beautiful mansion, and a garden, she must have felt very constrained. It might even have troubled her. .........And then?"
"There was definitely something she was worried about. ......I remember that when I noticed that it didn't seem like something I could resolve just by talking to her, I was also really sad.
.........She seemed to forget that I was even there. ...She gazed vaguely off into the distance, and was silent for a long, long time. ...I thought that I must have said something wrong, ......but it didn't seem to be the type of atmosphere where I could offer words of apology.........so I too remained silent for a long, long time, until she remembered that I was there..."
When she did, ......she muttered unexpectedly.
".........Are there really no wolves beyond the fence?"
"...Hmm? Y, yes. I've never seen wolves outside a zoo."
"What is a zoo?"
"Ah, ...it's a place where they keep all kinds of animals. Elephants and giraffes and pandas, they're full of rare animals."
"........................Are there, no wolves in a zoo? Then, umm, ...that might not be scary."
"Even if there were wolves, all of the animals are put in cages, so it's safe. So you can feel safe as you look at and study them."
This person who might have been a witch, was for some reason scared of and didn't like wolves.
I remember it looked pretty comical.
"...............How is that any different from me?"
".........Huh?"
She didn't know about zoos.

I explained how fun zoos could be, but it was very difficult for a person like her, who had never been to one, to understand...
Quite the opposite, as I explained it to her, her expression grew increasingly dismal.

...She couldn't see the difference.
It seemed that even though she lived in an elegant mansion that didn't seem inconvenient at first glance, surrounded by a high fence, she couldn't see how she was different from the animals shut up in cages...
"Who am I? ......Everyone calls me Beatrice. ...And that does indeed seem to be the name of a great witch, as you say.
......But that isn't me. I cannot use any magic. ......I simply have the soul of that witch sealed inside my body."
"............?"

There was definitely something odd about her.
It wasn't just that she was somehow cut off from the world, but it seemed that she truly believed magic exists.
I think she talked about various weird things, but I don't remember the details.

All I thought was, ......this might be a pitiful person.
She was unable to leave this mansion of her own will, a prisoner without even realizing it.

......And she didn't know anything about the outside world, didn't even understand who she was.
......She probably vaguely understood herself that she was pitiful.

But since she didn't know anything, it seemed that she couldn't realize that this was unhappiness.
Long ago, when I told Nee-san that I felt sorry for a bird in a cage, she said this.

'A bird that only knows about the inside of the cage doesn't long for the outside'.
But she wasn't a bird.
She really was a person.
Even if she had never been outside the cage, she understood that it wasn't the whole world.

So, .........I invited her.
"Do you want to try, ......going outside the gate?"
".........Th, there really aren't any wolves?"
"There aren't. You'll definitely be safe."
"...........................I want to leave. But the gate is always closed."
"There's the place I came in through. There's a crack you can escape through."
"......If we go through there, is there a world outside?"
"Yes."
"...............There really aren't any wolves?"
"*giggle*. Right, there aren't any."
"....................."
I had only planned to invite her for a short walk, ...but she kept looking over her shoulder at the mansion, as though she were seriously unable to decide.

Then I learned what she was preparing herself for.
"............I, have had enough of this place. ......I want to go, outside. And I want to know, who I am, what is happening in this world, ...why was I born."
I didn't know what her life had been like until then.
It was probably something that she couldn't express easily.

If it was harsh, she just had to say that she wanted to escape.
If it was sweet, she just had to say that she would stay.
For example, was it something like how a hot fireplace on a winter day makes the air get thicker and thicker, giving you a headache...?

Even though you know that you shouldn't keep things the way they are, you still need the courage to open the window and be tormented by the cold wind...
She was starting to realize that she couldn't stay there forever.
She was starting to realize that she had to go outside sometime.

But, since she didn't know about the outside world, she must have needed the courage to take that unspeakable first step outside...
And she had therefore resolved herself.
She put that resolution to go outside into words, that resolution which she had surely been born with.
...I was slightly bewildered.
It had been decided that she would live here by Father.
It was as if she were Father's beloved bird in a cage.

If I just let her escape, ......wouldn't I be harshly scolded by Father...?
"I want to see."
".........Hmm? What?"
"I want to see, a zoo."
"...............ah."
I was just a little surprised when she finally showed me a very soft smile.

Could that have been, ...a farsightedness caused by her determination to venture out from her cage?
That soft smile which I wouldn't have imagined could have come out of that dark face...
"......When I speak with you, I keep hearing about things I don't know. ...I don't even know about this thing called school, not even about zoos. I don't know about movie theaters. I don't know about amusement parks. .........And I think, from the bottom of my heart, that I want to know about that. ...Will you take me there?"
"Huh, ......y, yes."
...I was nervous about how I would do it and keep it a secret from Father, ...but her face looked so happy, so I went along with her and nodded.

But it seemed that the meaning behind my vague expression was not communicated to her.
It seemed that she believed that I would really take her to all of those places.
She was pure and genuine.
......She had probably never been tricked by anyone.
No, ......maybe it should be said that she hadn't been taught how to doubt.

Her face was somewhat radiant, and yet pathetic.
...I wanted to somehow grant her modest wish.
"I, ...have had enough of Beatrice. I want to know who I am. I want to start out as a new human, not Beatrice. So, I want you to take me from here. .........I don't need tea anymore. I don't need this dress. I won't meet with Kinzo again. ......Please, take me from here. Rosa."
However, that responsibility was one that a child such as me couldn't possibly bear fully.

But her serious gaze and her brilliant smile, almost as though an evil spirit had fallen away, ......made me feel a little courage start to rise up inside myself.
This was definitely something that would get me in a lot of trouble. ......But, it was definitely the right thing to do.

I don't know how it will turn out, but......, ......I'll take her out.
Of course, I won't be able to talk to Father, and not Mother either.
.........Should I talk to Onii-sama or Onee-sama?
No, what about that reliable Genji-san, that's right, what about Kumasawa-san, to whom I can always talk when I'm in trouble.

I'm sure they'll be able to do something.
Anyways, for now I'll take her out of here.
This was already a place where she didn't wish to be.

......Then I took her to the crack in the fence and led her outside.
She was all nervous, checking to make sure there were no wolves around, but after that fear disappeared, even just walking around this dense forest seemed to be fun somehow.
Every time she found something, she would ask me about it.
And they were always really meager things.
......What's that flower?
What's that leaf?
And that sound? And that smell?

It was really like the inside of that fence had been her entire world.

Therefore, she found the world on the outside, .........
......Strange.
In the beginning, when I first saw her, I had thought that she was actually a witch relaxing by a witch's mansion.

But now it was different. Or actually, the complete opposite.
......She had gone out of a world she had believed to be finite, and was full of joy at realizing for the first time that the world was endless.
So everything she saw was new.
......It was almost as though she was the one who had been thrown into a fairy tale.

If she was Alice, then I felt almost like a rabbit holding a watch......
To her, it was probably a really fun walk, filled to the brim with excitement.
...But I was truly lost.

......After all, I had walked randomly to get there.
So there was no way I could have known the way back to the mansion.
There were no lights in the forest, and I hadn't brought a flashlight.
I realized that it would be terrible if it got dark while we were still like this, and grew impatient.

She was too innocent, and apparently, she couldn't understand at all how frightening it would be to face the night inside the forest.
But I was the one who had brought her outside.
...Somehow, I had responsibility, and I had to resolve this situation.

So I thought. ......Let's go out to the sea for now.
If we then follow the beach around, eventually we should definitely return to the mansion.
However, that was much more of a problem than I had imagined.
...I didn't have a map or a compass.

There was no way I could walk in a straight line through an uncultivated forest, and I had immediately lost my sense of direction.
I already had no clue which trail I had come by, and was completely lost...
At this rate, without even knowing where to walk, night would definitely fall.
But there was no reason to complain.
Because that woman following behind me was so innocent and having so much fun. ...Therefore, I definitely had to guide the way through this forest, for her smile as well.

Gritting my teeth so that I didn't show her a troubled face, I pushed my way through the woods, advancing down the path that wasn't a path.
Then, I had various troubles, but fortunately, I was able to reach the sea...

At that time, I still didn't even have a clue where I was on the island, but for the time being, I was just a little reassured, realizing that if I just went around this way, I would surely be able to return to the mansion.
However, although I said that I reached the sea, we were on the top of a rock cliff. The beach was far below us.

I was tired from walking around the forest for so long, so I thought that even though it was a rocky beach, an open area would probably be much easier to walk in.
So I planned to somehow go down the rocky cliff.
...It looked pretty dangerous, but I thought there was no other way.
However, Beatrice agreed with my plan without any doubts.

......Even though she was probably older than me, ...she meekly obeyed me, almost as though she were some kind of chick who believed I was a mother bird.
I searched to see if there wasn't some place where I could go down the cliff.
...Then I found a place where the cliff had fallen over and made a slope.

.......It looked a little dangerous, but if I went down on both hands and both legs, like I was crawling, I thought it would probably be okay.
"......Let's go down here. If you aren't careful, it will be dangerous. But for now, if we go down to the beach and walk along it, I think we won't have to stay lost any more."
"Hmm. If you will do that, then let's go. I'm still having fun even though we're lost. I'm very happy."
.........She really had no sense of danger.
There was probably no mistake that she had lived a life without discomfort.

Even though she knew it would get dark when night fell, she couldn't imagine how dangerous the inside of a forest could be without a light.
Furthermore, it seemed that she couldn't grasp at all how dangerous it might be if she fell from the cliff.

I warned her once more to be careful.
I cautiously examined the place where we could go down.
...It looked, ......pretty high up.
I think it might have been about 10 meters down.
If you looked at it from the bottom up, it would probably have looked shorter than the roof of the mansion.
But looking from the top, it felt almost like staring down from the observation room on Tokyo Tower.
But Beatrice still appeared to be completely without fear.
...It felt as though she had never even been taught that high places were dangerous.

......No, maybe she believed that she was a witch, and that she could fly, so there wasn't anything dangerous.
"Please be careful. ...It's pretty, high."
"Hmm. I will be careful. If we go down, there's a beach. Is there an aquarium there?"
"No, there are no aquariums on this island. But I think there are lots of fish in the sea."
"I see. So there are fish. Are there, ...umm, whales and dolphins and penguins, like you talked about?"
"No, you would have to go to an aquarium for those. ......And you would have to leave this island to go to an aquarium."
"Is that so? ......But I'm looking forward to it. What kind of fish are whales?"
"Umm, ...they're really big fish, huh, aren't they mammals? And they spit out seawater."
"Hoh. Then the dolphins?"
"Umm, they're really smart fish, huh..., weren't they also mammals? They're really smart and they can be taught tricks and stuff."
"Hohhoh. Then what about penguins?"
"Umm, ...huh, weren't they birds...?"
"What's this? Didn't you just say that there were fish in aquariums?"
"Ummm, ummm... Well, um, there isn't only fish, they're full of various things that live in the ocean."
"Hohhoh. I am really looking forward to that............nn-"
Wa, hyaa.

As she tried to ask me, she spoke in a funny, ...rushed and short voice, ...no, it was probably a scream.

That voice rose suddenly.
......Her body separated from the cliff, and gently fell down.
I immediately wanted to say something to her.
I wanted to say 'Didn't I tell you to please be careful!'
......It was the thought of a child.
It was how a child immediately gets mad when something happens, trying to find an excuse to show that they are not at fault.

Of course, I also spoke.
Are you alright? Didn't I warn you so strongly......?
"...............Then, ...after she fell from the cliff, ...what happened?"
".................."
"......What happened to her? ...Rosa."
Rosa fell silent.
...Her gaze fell to her feet, ...as though she were seeing through the floor to some disgusting memory...
"She died, right......?"

Eva's brutal words were the ones that Rosa had most wanted to avoid.
And when she was hit with them, she screamed in resignation.
"Yes, she died!! It was a rocky beach, many sharp and dangerous rocks lay exposed!! Her eyes were still open, the blood kept pouring out...suddenly a red carpet was spreading out...!
I spoke to her, shook her!! But she refused to respond, not even a blink, ......no, she wouldn't even close her eyelids!! It was my fault! She was wearing a dress, remember?! Even though I knew that her outfit was difficult to move in, I said that we should go down the cliff!! She was incredibly innocent, so she obeyed what I said without any doubts...!!"
"......How long do you plan on remaining dead? Open your eyes already. Seriously, just turning into a lump of meat without me."
"I was just flirting with your friend the ass nee-chan. ......More importantly, what is all this?"
"Hmm. As you see. ......I missed my footing, fell down, 'and died'."
"What did you say............even though you appeared as the 19th person, ......you say you died......?
Don't mess with me, that can't be...! Rosa oba-san was a kid, so she was rushed. It's not like there was a doctor. She probably made a mistake, thinking you were dead, and you probably, umm, ......were alive and pretending to be dead or something. Isn't that right?!"
It couldn't be.
She's obviously alive.
If she isn't, then she couldn't be here, right...?!
...The kid-aged Rosa oba-san shook Beatrice's body, crying.
I stared into that face, ............but her eyes were still open, and it really was a corpse.

...I wanted to trick her, saying something vague like she must be pretending to be dead, ......but no matter how I looked at it, it didn't look fake at all, ...I couldn't help but notice that she really was dead...
Beatrice had fallen upside down from a cliff of that height, ......and her head had smashed against the pointed tip of those sharp rocks.

.........You would probably die, ......from that height, ......on those rocks......
But I couldn't accept it...
No matter how dead she looked, ......she had to be alive...! And she had become this damn irritating witch! That way, all of the inconsistencies fit.
She had been confined by Grandfather in a hidden mansion the whole time.

And then to avenge herself, she had planned her revenge, ......and had committed several atrocious murders!
Rosa oba-san probably just mistakenly thought that she was dead.
But she was really alive, and as soon as Rosa oba-san left, would miraculously breath again.

......And then she had somehow lived until today, and opened the curtain on the scene of her revenge.
Otherwise, the facts wouldn't fit together!!
"......I won't let you trick me so easily. Can you repeat it in red?! That she is certainly dead!! She has to be alive, right?! It's obvious!!"
"How does that look alive to you? She is definitely dead!"
".....................Muuuu..."
My theory that the 19th person was Grandfather's mistress, who was a human Beatrice, had been defeated.

...I had planned to strike back from a defensive position, but......
"......Then, ......who are you? You just died, right?! You aren't going to say that you revived yourself with magic, are you?!"
"*cackle*cackle*. I think that I've already explained it though. ......The me that is lying over there, definitely has my soul, but that body was nothing more than a cage of flesh tying me to the physical world. And that cage of flesh was broken like this. ......Do you understand what that means?"
"............I don't have a clue anymore. ......Keep having fun with your witch girl tricks. I'll listen instead of eating tea cakes! What the, it's empty. Hey, could I get some more black tea?"
"*cackle*cackle*! Ronove, the guest wants some black tea."
When Beato clapped her hands, Ronove appeared.

......Butlers sure are convenient.
"A refill, you say. Certainly. How much shall I pour you?"
"Well, I've got more than enough tea cakes. Half will be fine."
"Even so, filling it to the brim is the English custom."
Even though just enough to wet my throat would have been fine, he filled it to the top with tea.

I turned my back to Beato, sipping it in silence...
"Wait..., open your eyes...!! Beatrice...!!"

Rosa shook me, .........no, shook the corpse that had once been me.
I watched over her from a short distance away.
Ah, ...so I fell from there and died......

I believed that was true for a while.
...After that, I saw Rosa spend a long time beside my corpse, then watched her as she ran away.

......Eventually, I realized that I was a different individual from that corpse...
"...............That's right. I am, ......me. ...So, I have finally been able to escape from Kinzo's restrictions..."
Eventually, I felt the memory returning...
The fact that I was an Endless Witch who had lived for one thousand years.
And then I remembered that I had been summoned by Kinzo, and for a long time, had been imprisoned by him...
While I had been imprisoned in a cage of flesh, I had completely lost my memory as a witch.

However, thanks to Rosa, if you could say that...
Thanks to my accidental death, I had now finally brought myself together......
"......Rosa. You are probably regretting that you brought about my death. But I could almost thank you. *cackle*cackle*...!"

I already couldn't see Rosa.
Had she gone to call a doctor, or had she escaped from a scene which had become frightening?
...That no longer matters.
That soulless shell is no longer worth anything.

And yet even so, ......how frail I am now.
Even this glorious midday sun is agony to me now.
I destroyed my human form.
Then I changed it to several gold butterflies.

......Hmm, with my magic power as frail as it is now, this form is easier.
And to escape even a little from the light of the sun, I rode the wind and lightly passed over the cliff.
It would probably be somewhat cool in the forest.

Anyways, I'll take some time to recuperate, and regain my original power.
......As I think of how Kinzo will repay all that he has borrowed.
Dancing alone through the air, I looked down at the shore one more time.

On the rocky shore, lay the figure of what had once been me, ......and that I would eventually regain.
To regain the form of that physical body I had thrown away, ...it would probably take more than one hundred, two hundred days.
...And it might require one thousand days, or maybe even more.
However, I am the Endless Witch.
The Golden Witch who has lived for one thousand years.
Waiting any countable number of days would be no problem.
*cackle*cackle*. Oh, Kinzo.
You may regret that you are not here now.
No longer will you be able to capture me.
...*cackle*cackle*!
".........And then, you changed into gold butterflies, hid in the forest, and waited for your magic power to be restored? Is that what you're saying?"
"That is correct. I take this form to sneer at you, but normally, it is easier magically for me to keep my form as gold butterflies."
"Don't stress yourself and stay in an easy form. I wouldn't mind not hearing your irritating laugh."
"*cackle*cackle*. When I turned into butterflies and slipped into the forest, it was already no longer possible for Kinzo to find me. ......However, Kinzo was not dismayed. Still, he was unable to immediately prepare a way to catch me.
Therefore, he first moved immediately to prevent me from leaving this island, and to keep me from regaining my power. .........My, my, anyways, Kinzo's spitefulness was unimaginable. ...It was pretty tough to be loved by someone like that. *cackle*cackle*!"
"A way to keep you from leaving after you became butterflies? What, did he put a bug net around the entire forest?"
"Hmm. It was done magically. .........Did you know? On the sea in front of the harbor floats a reef, on which sits a small shrine of Eastern magic."
"......Ah, that. It was gone this year, though. It was a small shrine built long ago by a mountaineering ascetic, right?"
"This island was originally an island of a distortion. Things magical and those things that are related to magic were attracted to it. ......Milady herself is one of them. How about some more tea?"
"*cackle*cackle*, please. ......They did harm to humans, and probably left several eerie legends behind them. That small shrine was built in ancient times by an Eastern magician who heard of them. A long time passed, and that power was lost. By repairing it, Kinzo restored this island's barrier, and once again tied me to this island."
"......Can Eastern magic work on a Western witch like you?"
"Normally the affinity is poor. However, for the purpose of sealing me there, in a way, the conditions might have been good.
If it was Western magic, I would have some knowledge. For any barrier, there would have been some measures I could have taken. But Eastern magic is outside my area of expertise. It was as if I had been given chopsticks instead of a spoon for some soup that I couldn't drink."
In a space strongly controlled by Eastern magic, Western magic loses much of its power. Even if she had one thousand days to regain her power, she would have to wait many, many more."
".....So you're trying to say that it took you 20 years to regain your power, and now you are revived, like this?"
"Those were horribly long years... I spent many days in the form of gold butterflies, found Kinzo's mansion, and watched over him every day. I lived through those days with no means to enjoy myself except to ponder how I would get back at him.
......That period of 20 years was fortunate for me. Kinzo tried to use every magic to find and capture me, and failed in them all. A human cannot bring about miracles very many times. Even simply holding me captive for that long had been a miracle far above his place. It would be unthinkable for me to be captured like that multiple times."
".........Grandfather said something in the previous game. It was something like, magic lies in a miracle related to probability."
"Hmm. While Kinzo searched for a hidden art to capture me again, he ended up at that. ............Then, he finally worked out the ceremony involving the offering of 13 people as sacrifices to revive me again."
"13 people as, ......sacrifices..."
"That was the witch's epitaph. It is a song of sacrifices. ......Six people at the first twilight. Two people at the second twilight. And then five more people on the fourth through eight twilights. A forbidden ceremony, involving the offering of a total of 13 people as sacrifices... Those sacrifices were to be chosen randomly, and the one who held the ceremony, Kinzo himself, was not an exception."
"Dumbass... Are you saying that all of the gruesome murders that occurred on this island were a weird ceremony?!!"

I had vaguely thought that this might be a possibility...
But I couldn't just hear that this was the truth from a witch and a demon and say 'Oh, really?' and accept it!
"There are 18 people on Rokkenjima. 13 are offered as sacrifices, five are left alive. Then I revive. ......In other words, the odds that Kinzo will be able to meet me again are probably around one third. He bet his own life on those odds, wishing for a reunion with me for the last bit of his remaining life."
".........You're saying he gathered our family for the sake of that joke of a ceremony?! Don't fuck with me!! Don't say stuff like that, damn it!!"
"It was according to the contract from the beginning. When Kinzo's life ended, all of the gold I had lent him, and all of the assets that Kinzo had created, would be received by me. ......I had been horribly stabbed in the back by Kinzo, but it was an exceptional time, even amid the thousand years that have passed until now. After all, boredom is my natural enemy. To Kinzo, who offered me a chance to run away from that for several decades, yes, if you include that, it might settle the debt.
I decided to go along with Kinzo's game. Then, first off, Kinzo returned to me the ring of the Ushiromiya head. It was the house that had been revived by my gold, you see.
.........Then the 13 people were chosen randomly as sacrifices. And by just doing that, you were all so confused, and when you showed me various aspects of the fabric of human relationships as you stood against me, it gave me great pleasure. I really like this game of Kinzo's! *cackle*cackle*."
"Aaaaaaaaaahh!! I definitely won't believe in that kind of magic story! ......Then who are you?! You fell off a cliff and died, right?! Your soul slipped out, became butterflies, and went to the forest? That isn't possible!!
But you are here! Who are you?!! Aren't you the 19th person?!"
"That is true, I am the 19th person. *cackle*cackle*! But it's useless, right? It's all useless!!"
"There are no more than 18 people on this Rokkenjima!"
"Wha, ............what did you saaaaaaay...... So you're saying, that 18+X, ......that the X in that doesn't exist?! Are you saying the piece that I took, the X, ...doesn't exist?!"
"Pu ku ku ku... That is what it means. It is truly sorrowful. ...However, Milady truly is a fast worker. Just when I thought you would let him flounder around before turning everything over at the end. Well then, Battler-sama, would some more tea be agreeable to you?"
"I, I don't need it, damn it!! I don't believe! The culprit couldn't be one of the 18 people! Then, what are you, why are you here?!! If the 19th person doesn't exist, then are you saying you're one of the 18 in disguise?!"
"*cackle*cackle*! Perhaps you are castling. Though reluctantly, you are doubting one of the 18 people as your last way out. ..........However, it will be difficult for me from here on. If you throw away appearances, you could prepare a culprit freely amid 18 people! Making you reach checkmate by evading those 18 pieces, .........will be truly difficult."
"As if I would do that!! I won't doubt any of the 18! I don't want to doubt!! Have I really been cornered here again...?! Damn it, damn it damn it!!"
"It looks like you have finally reached the end of your battle with this third game, doesn't it? There's nowhere to run anymore, right? *cackle*cackle*! You don't want to doubt any of those beloved people in the 18, do you? Were you trying to hide that from me? And yet, why do you refuse me?
They say you should play the opening like a book, the middle game like a magician, and the endgame like a machine. I'll corner you from here on. Slowly, carefully, ...surely. Or, on the other hand, would it be better if I pressed you all at once, as would be fitting for you?
That should suit you, let's do that. I now thoroughly know of your unskillful method of attack! *cackle*cackle*cackle* hihihihihihihihihihi!!"
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