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umiscripts2012-01-29 08:53 pm
endlesswitch) wrote in umiscripts2012-01-29 08:53 pm
legend of the golden witch; chapter 3 (guesthouse)
Sat, Oct 4 1986 12:00PM
The four of us cousins were enjoying our stories, just shooting the breeze.
Anyway, there are both girls and guys here. Plus, we've got people over a wide spread of ages: adult, high school, and elementary school.
Even though everyone was only telling his or her personal story, the other three were listening attentively.
"I think I'm finally getting used to all this. Jessica and Maria have grown more than I could've imagined in the past six years. To be honest, I was feeling a bit uncomfortable, but talking like this, I guess that on the inside, nothing's really changed since back then."
"I agree. Battler, even after six years you haven't changed a bit. Even though your body's gotten gigantic, you're still a kid inside."
"Uu-! Maria's a kid too! Maria's a kid too!"
"Well, even you aren't gonna be a kid forever, are you Maria? I mean, you're growing from being a kid to a cute young lady, aren'tcha? And when that happens, that flat-as-a-board chest'll be on Jessica's level, huh~? When that happens, let me rub it, OK? Promise!!"
"Uu-! Let you rub it! Promise! Uu-!"
"N-no, Maria-chan! You can't make that kind of promise, that's bad, bad, bad!"
"Uu-? Maria promised, so let him rub it! Maria'll keep her promise! Definitely keep it, uu-!!"
"...Mariaa, you're a really earnest, good girl... The guy you marry's gonna be really lucky."
"Just a..., getting back on topic here, you're not gonna be keeping that promise! Maria, that promise never happened! Never!"
"Uu-. Promise is cancelled? Uu-......"
"As I thought, without Battler-kun in our little quartet, it just didn't feel like all the cousins were here. These six years have been kinda lonely."
"...That's true. We weren't able to goof off like this. Still, we did have have some pretty constructive conversations, don'tcha think? Stuff about preparing for our future, exam-taking, or finding jobs."
"Oo~ooh, I'm sorr-rry! Now that I'm here, there's just this stupid babbling~!"
"But, Maria's having fun this year. Uu- uu-!"
"That's true. I agree, this year's the most fun."
Maria's sincere words probably spoke for everyone.
When George-aniki stroked Maria's head, she giggled like a happy kitten...
"......Pardon me. Your meal is prepared."
A timid knocking sound and an equally timid young woman's voice came through the door.
Jessica answered brightly.
"Shannon, come in! You remember Battler, don'tcha?!"
Jessica stood up from the bed and opened the door.
There stood a servant girl who was definitely about our age.
"I-it's been quite some time since we last met, Battler-sama. It's nice to see you after six years. I'm Shannon."
Trembling a little, she acknowledged me and bowed deeply.
"...Ah...! Jessica had me surprised, but, Shannon-chan! You too, you've gotten to be a completely beautiful woman, haven't you!"
"Y-...your words are too good for me, I'm flattered..."
"Bu~ut, food on this island must be reeeally nutritional, hmmmm? What are you eating, where are you training, to get boobs that big?~!! Let me feel them a bit and see whether yours or Jessica's are bigger, oka~ay?!"
With both hands poised and saliva dribbling from my mouth, I closed in, quivering with excitement!
....I need to put aside my honor and sense of justice, but really, it's not like if I don't rub boobs it'll cause that weird condition where the lymph nodes in the neck get all itchy and stuff, right?
It's just my Battler-style way of communicating.
In this kinda scene, where I get closer and closer, there's an eight-or-nine out of ten chance I'll get slapped or clobbered, right?
It's an original, Battler-sama playful technique to get acquainted!
.........W-well, that means, with the remaining one-out-of-ten chance, being able to touch'em makes me a pretty lucky guy, eh?
Ihihyahyahya, its not like I'm expecting that'll happen, rrrriii~iight?!
At that point, my hands were less than a centimeter away from Shannon-chan's boobs, but,......the counterstrike was yet to come.
She blushed and lowered her head in embarrassment when she realized what was going on, but with both hands well-manneredly together in front of her, she didn't try to resist violently, or cover her breasts.
...Whoawhoaaa, well this is unexpected!!
C-c'mon, you gotta smack me or something, I'm seriously gonna touch'em if this goes oooonnnn?!
...which is why I was glad that Jessica chose that time to drive her elbow into the back of my head.
"Guaaaah, ooooowww, thank you Jessicaaaaaaa~!!"
"W-w-why the hell are you thanking me?! ???"
"No, no, my bad, Shannon-chan. Looks like I got a little too absorbed in your hypnotic chest... So now we can see that if I get too close I degenerate into a big pervert after all. Seriously, you've got to resist!"
".........P-perhaps, but, .........you are, ...an important guest, Battler-sama......"
"Now look here, a pervert's a pervert whether he's a guest or not! Ten centimeters around a girl's chest is like an Air Defense Identification Range. If someone trespasses within two centimeters, that's already an invasion of airspace and you can immediately give me a slap, like a high-alert takeoff!"
"............I-I couldn't do such a thing...! We are......, ...that is, furniture and..."
Of course she didn't want her breasts touched, but..., if a guest so desired, she intended to sacrifice her own needs in response anyway.
...A girl like this needs some urgent protection...!
"...I-in these days, to think that there's a dedicated and virtuous girl like this... Getting... giddy again!... ......But, no! NooOoo!! I'm coming at her with a perverted face again! Someone trip me!! No~oo, pervert! Without your word, I can't settle down! Please, I beg you, smack me! Like this, smack! Hit meeee~!!"
"I............I cannot obey your request. Because I'm furniture. ......But, ............if it's an order, I'll obey you. ...Because that is my duty."
"Ahaha, then I'll make it an order. The next time Battler-kun tries to touch your breasts, counterattack with a slap. Alright?"
"......Y-yes. I'll do as you wish. From now on, please allow me to do so. Battler-sama, please accept this..."
Shannon-chan announced this while bowing elegantly to me.
Her facial expression was radiant.
I gave her a thumbs-up to signal that it was OK with me.
"Six years ago, you might've been mistaken for a servant's daughter who lent a hand at your parent's work, ......but now you're a full-fledged adult servant. How many years has it been?"
"Yes, I've had the pleasure of serving this household for ten years."
She's 紗音. ......The kanji for her name are read as "Shannon".
This is another far from typical name for a Japanese person.
Being a kid back in those days, I had taken in her name without paying it much attention, but despite the fact that she is not a member of the Ushiromiya family, she still has this unusual name.
...Maybe it's like a servant's 'professional name' or something.
...If so, I can kind of understand why that Kanon-kun's name sounds the way it does.
She's a long-term servant who's served here since she was six years old.
Since her body had changed radically, she didn't match my memories, but I got acquainted with her six years ago.
It looked like she was just as shy she had been in the past, but I got the feeling that the charm befitting a girl her age came naturally to her.
Especially her breasts, her breasts.
"That kid we met earlier, Kanon-kun, is her little brother."
"...He's not exactly my little brother... Still, he loves me like a big sister. ...He didn't cause you any trouble, did he?"
"Haha! He's the same as always. It's such a shame that he doesn't act just a bit more sociable."
"...It seems Kanon-kun has caused trouble,...I apologize......"
"He didn't cause any trouble at all! As a fellow man, I understand how moody you can get at that age. It's no surprise that he's unsociable!"
"Uu-! Maria gets called that all the time too! Gets called unsociable! Like Kanon! Uu-!"
"*giggle*,......Maria-sama is not unsociable at all."
"Uu-? It was nice to be like him... Uu-."
"Umm, you said the meal was ready, right?"
"Ah, ......Yes! I'm sorry! ...The preparations for your meal have been carried out, so I shall be accompanying everyone to the mansion."
Shannon bowed again formally and returned to her "duty mode".
We realized that if we made her stick around for any more light conversation, it would actually make it harder for her to do her job. We got up off our butts to avoid interfering with her work any further.
"Then, shall we go to the mansion? Everyone's probably hungry, right?"
"Yeah. I'm really looking forward to Gohda-san's food. That guy, seems he was a chef at this famous hotel, so he's super good at cooking!"
"Ooooh! I'm looking forward to it!! Let's go Maria! We're gonna stuff ourselves like pigs!!"
"Uu-! Stuff ourselves like pigs!"
"No, no! You just can't take everything Battler-kun says seriously, OK? Because it's all jokes. Alright, let's go."
Under Shannon-chan's guidance we headed towards the mansion.
Met once again by the magnificent rose garden, we continued onward as it came into view...the intimidating mansion of the Ushiromiya Head Family.
It had apparently been built shortly after the war, so you could feel the dignity of almost a half century hanging about it.
On the surface, the building was gorgeous, but being as old as it was, the equipment such as the AC seemed quite frail.
According to Jessica, midwinter was especially tough, what with all the drafts.
...It's not like they couldn't just take the kotatsu out.
Kotatsu
A table frame covered by either a futon or a blanket, which is itself covered by a table top, and has a heat source beneath that is often built into the table itself.
Kotatsu is a reliable way to keep yourself warm, since heat is expensive in Japan due the poor insulation of housing in general.
The heat source and the blanket/futon can be removed, so the kotatsu can be used like a regular table.
As we entered the entrance hall, an aged servant greeted us.
Now him I remembered.
As the most senior member of the staff, Genji-san (源次) served as the head of the servants.
"............Battler-sama, we have not met in a long while."
As our eyes met, he saluted us with a composed voice.
He didn't give quite as refined a bow as Gohda's, but even so, and even though it felt rustic, it was a bow that had feeling.
"Genji-san, it really has been a while! You look well."
"Thank you, I have been quite well.........Battler-sama, you have become a splendid young man. .........You have grown to resemble the Master in his youth."
"I'm looking like Grandfather? I guess that means that Grandfather was pretty popular when he was young, Ihihi!"
".........From here on, I shall take Shannon's place and accompany you. Please, come this way."
Shannon-chan bowed deeply and saw us off.
Leaving the entrance hall, we headed to the dining room under Genji-san's guidance.
Genji-san, just like Kumasawa-san, stood in stark contrast to us young people who had grown beyond recognition over the last six years.
His figure was exactly the same as in my memories of six years ago.
It seemed like time had stopped since the last we met.
Genji-san was a silent and diligent person.
He was like Grandfather's close aide or caregiver, ......in fact, you could even go so far as to say he was Grandfather's right-hand man.
Actually, it seems that he was by Grandfather's side more than my late Grandmother was.
According to Jessica, Grandfather trusted him more than any of his blood relatives.
But I wonder how long he's served.
I've never heard the details, but I'm pretty sure he's been here since the beginning, when this mansion was constructed.
...That is to say, he had dedicated half of his life to serving here. ...In other words, he's both trustworthy and faithful.
As we cut through the open-ceilinged hall behind Genji-san,
......I found something I had no memory of from six years ago.
It was an awfully big portrait hung right in front of the stairs that rose to the second floor.
Without thinking, I stopped walking, under its spell...
Since I'd suddenly stopped, Maria, who was following behind me, ran into my back.
"Uu-?"
"......Aah, sorry. ...Hey, Jessica. Did that picture used to be there?"
I pointed at the big portrait that caught the eye, hanging in the hall. Everyone else stopped too.
"...Aah, ...Right. When you last came here, that hadn't been hung yet, had it? When was it again..."
"I think, ......If my memory doesn't fail me, I think it was around the year before last."
"............You are correct. In April of the year before last, as it had been arranged, the Master ordered an artist to paint it and it was put on display over there."
"Grandfather did that? So, he went out of his way to have it drawn..."
The portrait was appropriate for this western style mansion, and that woman wearing an elegant dress gave off a sense of refinement.
.........I couldn't have guessed her age, but judging by her obvious strength of will and the sharpness in her eyes, she radiated youth.
It was a different feeling than the composed mood of middle-aged women that are often in famous pictures.
If this woman had normal black hair, I might have thought it was a portrait of my long-deceased Grandmother in her prime.
However, the woman in the portrait had beautiful blonde hair and didn't look Japanese at all.
"So. ......Who is she then, this woman?"
To that naive question, Maria, as though trying to prove that she knew it herself, answered me with authority.
"Uu-! Maria knows. She's Beatrice!"
"Bea,......what?"
"......Beatrice. She's the witch. Didn't you ever hear about her, long ago?"
"The witch. ...you mean, ............of this island?"
...I think I already said this, but Rokkenjima is a small island that only spans about ten kilometers.
However, considering that only the Ushiromiya family lives here, that's quite large.
So, only a harbor and the site around the mansion were set up to be lived in. Beyond that, the island remained as untouched as it was when it was still uninhabited.
The vast and empty forest had no lamplight, phones or people passing through at all. To understand how dangerous it is, you needed to throw off all your street smarts from the city.
Anyway, if by any chance you fell down a hole in the depths of the forest and sprained your ankle, you could cry or scream, but no one would come save you.
If it got dark, the forest, where there were no streetlights, was wrapped up in complete darkness.
And also, since it didn't have any guideposts, it would be easy to get confused and lost, losing your sense of direction inside the dark forest.
Nowadays, most people see a forest as a peaceful place, but to the people of the bygone eras, before the light of civilization drove out the night, forests were as geographically separated from civilization as the ocean. Like an ocean above the ground.
Just like how fishermen who go out into the ocean are threatened despite their technical knowledge...
Hunters who go out to the forest have technical knowledge as well, yet are also in danger.
...If children go play in that dangerous forest, something terrible might happen.
Someone's parents must have thought so. ...Maybe my Grandmother, or possibly anybody else other than Grandfather might have said that.
Or maybe it's been handed down in this island from long, long ago.
.........There's a terrible witch in the forest, so you must not go in.
Thus, Rokkenjima's ghost story was born.
That is the legend of the witch of Rokkenjima.
That's why, if we say 'witch' in this island, we're referring to the master of the vast and savage forest.
Which reminds me, when I was little and stayed at this mansion, in the eerie nights where the wind and rain struck the windows, I got terrified by a story that the witch of the forest was roaming around searching for a sacrifice...
Beatrice, was it?
.........When Aniki told me and I searched my memory, I was sure I remembered hearing a name like that when I was little.
"...Right. Still, I completely forgot that the witch of that legend had an elegant name like Beatrice. ......Since us grandchildren didn't believe Grandfather, he went out of his way to have her depicted in this painting?"
"......It's the witch from Grandfather's delusions. ...Ever since he had this picture hanged, he's been blurring the line between reality and illusion. ......To us, it's no more than the witch from his imagination, but ...to Grandfather, she's a being that 'exists' on this island. ......'Exists'. That's why he says he had that picture painted. So that we'd understand. .........And I'm sorry, but she just doesn't exist."
"........................Milady. ...To the Master, this is an important portrait. ......I beg of you, do not say such a thing in front of him."
".........I get it. You don't need to beg."
Jessica turned away, after glaring a second at the portrait.
"...Let's go. We're making everyone wait in the dining room."
"Uu-! Hungry!"
......Only a small portion of this island was controlled by the Ushiromiya family.
All of the wild remainder...was the witch Beatrice's domain.
......One could say that she was the being who actually ruled over Rokkenjima.
That slightly unsettling feeling of misfortune that I had felt when I learned the Tutelary God's shrine had been struck by lightning on the boat trip revived within me a bit.
At that time, Kumasawa-san had tried to tell an ominous story about Rokkenjima and had been stopped by Jessica.
.........I didn't know what she had tried to tell us about this island.
But, there was one thing I did know.
...Rokkenjima's ruler was not the Ushiromiya family.
It was the witch, Beatrice.
Yes. ......Because this was the witch's island.
"Battler! Uu-, slo-ow!"
When I looked around, everyone was already heading towards the dining room.
I hurriedly chased after them...
We walked up to the huge double doors that led to the dining room.
Genji-san knocked.
"......I have brought the children. If you will excuse me..."
The door was opened and we were invited inside.
The dining room, everything in the room looking clearly expensive, was set up with a super-long table which was obviously positioned with no other purpose than to make the guests conscious of their rank. Our parents were already sitting in accordance to that ordering.
"You're late, brats. Hurry up and take a seat."
The old bastard pressed us to sit.
Only the places where we would sit were empty at the long table, which only made us feel our tardiness all the more.
The seat at the head of the table, called the Incipient's Chair, was for the most highly ranked, reserved for Grandfather.
It was still empty.
...He was probably planning to come in last to ham it up.
The seating order, looking at the Incipient's Chair at the head of the table, went from left to right with the lower ranking seats progressing in rows of two further away from it.
So, on the left-hand side of the first row, closest to the Incipient's Chair, was where Krauss oji-san, ranked at number two, should have sat.
.........It looked like Oji-san hadn't arrived yet, so that seat was empty.
And then to his opposite, on the right side of the first row sat the eldest daughter of the family, Eva oba-san, ranked at number three.
The left-hand side of the second row was for number four.
There sat my old bastard, Rudolf, as one of the three siblings already present.
Opposite him sat number five, the youngest sibling, Rosa oba-san.
Going like this, you might think that the next ones to come would be their husbands and wives, but... It's weird, but the next left-hand seat in the third row, meaning number six, was Jessica's seat.
Opposite her was George-aniki.
Then, next to Jessica, was me, And opposite me was Maria.
Then, finally, next to me on the left-hand side of the fifth row was number ten, Natsuhi oba-san.
...Opposite her was Hideyoshi oji-san. Next to Natsuhi oba-san, in the sixth row and in the final seat on the left-hand side, was Kyrie-san.
The seat opposite to Kyrie-san was empty even though everything had been set out.
According to this ranking system, that spot was the seat where Rosa oba-san's husband should be sitting.
......Even though he wasn't supposed to be coming, his place was made up.
These kind of ranking orders usually recognize the status of the spouse, but the Ushiromiya family had an original kind of ranking.
......Maybe it's a leftover of male chauvinism.
If the system is predicated on the idea that a woman's womb is just a borrowed thing, then the children of direct descent would have a much higher ranking, and the grandchildren would come next.
Meaning that the spouses, with no blood ties, are considered the last in line.
......It's terrible, but according to that ranking order, Grandmother, when she was alive, would have been in a position even lower than mine.
In their youth they obey their father; after they get married, their husband; after aging, their children.
There's the old saying, 'Women, whether in their past, present, or future, have no home'.
Long ago, when I was still incapable of figuring all this out, I'd thought it was so great that we could all chat, with the adult siblings in their group and us cousins in ours. However, now that I can reexamine the seating order after growing up a bit, it stirs up some very complicated feelings in me...
Natsuhi oba-san, married to the eldest son of the family and number two in managing the house, sat to my right, ...which meant that she was two steps lower than me in the ranking order.
...It was difficult to guess what was going inside Oba-san's head.
That's why I made a small apologetic gesture before sitting down.
"How nice to see you, Battler-kun. You've grown quite tall, haven't you?"
"Huhh, ah, yeah! I ate and ate and ate meals and before I knew it I got this tall."
"Boys will be boys, no? How tall are you?"
"I guess about 180 cm? Ah, Oba-san, please, whenever you feel like it, feel free to say 'Stop stuffing yourself!'"
"Huh? ......Aah, *giggle*, I'm sorry."
Oba-san, after a moment, gave a small laugh, but it seemed she couldn't quite figure out what she was supposed to be laughing at.
This woman is Natsuhi (夏妃) oba-san.
She's the wife of the eldest son of the family, meaning she is my father's older brother's wife.
Is it easier to get it if I call her Jessica's mother?
...It feels bad to say it like this, but, not that I hated her, I didn't particularly like her.
She never got into our kids' circle, and she always looked difficult to get along with. And it didn't help that she gave the impression that she was at odds with the other parents.
...The fact is that having barely ever exchanged words, I hesitated a lot about how to approach her.
...And I ended up empty-handed.
The silverware had been tidily set up on the table, but the meal itself hadn't been brought in.
In essence, until the man at the head of the table had taken his seat, the meal wouldn't start.
So, as long as Grandfather, the highest ranked, didn't come, lunch would be indefinitely on hold.
Not even the appetizers would come.
So, while our parents withstood their hunger, the silence of the dining room would still wait for Grandfather to come.
It's just that the Grandfather I remembered, when we ate together like this, always showed up at the right time.
...He was supposed to be the kind of person that would never be so late that he'd keep everyone waiting, even though they were all present.
"Grandfather's pretty late. ......As far as I can remember, he was always strict about staying on time.
"Well, that might've been true six years ago, ...but it hasn't been that way lately. Seriously, he's off in his own little world so often that he doesn't even show up at family meals. ...Even so, I figured that he'd at least stick around for today's meal. ...Still, I feel more relaxed and happier without him."
"...Jessica!"
After being scolded by her mother, Jessica faced the other way, sticking her tongue out.
......No way around it.
Nothing to do but wait for the host to arrive.
When I glanced at the clock, I saw that it was almost 12:20...
The old master of the Ushiromiya head house, Ushiromiya Kinzo (金蔵).
His shape in his study.
The clock showed noon, but he didn't even attempt to get up.
Putting his spectacles on, he piled up one by one beside him old-fashioned books with elaborately designed bindings, and immersed himself in their reading.
It definitely didn't look like it was for his leisure; on the contrary, he exuded impatience, crisis, as though every minute, every second were precious.
The inside of the sealed room, where dense dust danced, stagnated, steeped in the suspicious stench of smelly medicine.
...Somehow, sweet, heavy.
For anyone with an good nose, the first thing they'd do after entering would be to open a window and ventilate the room.
The knocking against the study door had been going on for a while.
A voice calling 'Father' sometimes mingled with the knocks.
As Kinzo heaved a deep sigh, he snapped the old book he had in his hands shut and slammed it on the table.
Then, he yelled at Krauss who was still knocking on the door.
"Silence!! Will you not stop that noise, fool!!! Who told you the door would open if you knocked!? I'll crucify the imbecile!! Do you wish to be as well!!??"
"......Father. Isn't today the annual family conference? Everyone's gathered down there. Please come out."
Krauss called out to his father through the door.
...Kinzo always shut himself up in the study and hated it when even his family entered the room.
For that reason, Krauss had no choice but to call out thus from the corridor...
"They do not care about me!! What manner of men is everyone then, trying to drag me out of here!!?? Very well, kill them! Dismember them, make them into firewood, feed them to the witch's hearth!! Put a pot in that hearth and boil wormwood! Force the imbeciles who dare try to lure me out of here to drink the broth of the Apocalypse! I will soak their dregs in liquor! Aah, Genji, where are you!? Call for Genji!! Have my demonic absinthe prepared! The whispering of the green fairy reaches me no longer!! Aah, Genji, where are you?! Call for GenjiiIii!!!"
...Before the door, Krauss, Nanjo and Genji kept waiting for the master of the house, who would not come out.
"Hmph.........Looks like he hates me to his core. My voice doesn't reach him anymore."
Krauss shrugged as though saying 'It's no use' and smiled bitterly.
...He himself hadn't really believed his father would answer his calls.
However, as it was the duty of the eldest son, he had formally made the request.
"......Kinzo-san. Aren't your sons and daughters and your grandchildren coming to see you...? How about you show your face, just a little...?"
"Shut up, be silent!!! Do you admonish me, Nanjo?!! I do not call for you lot, I said to call for Genji!! Now call for him immediately! Time is short, the apostles are already readying their trumpets! Why do you not understand, you foolish sheep!!"
Kinzo slammed the old, heavy book on the table over and over.
The racket obviously indicated his highest displeasure.
Kinzo put his spectacles down and flew up from his chair.
He spread his arms wide open, as if to sing to a packed opera house, as if appealing to someone, and yelled.
"Why?! Why is there always something in my way?! I would throw it all away, I would offer up everything, and there is only one thing I ask in repayment!!
Ooh, Beatrice, if I could see your smile but one more time, I would plunder the smiles of the Earth and offer them all up to you!! Oooh, commanders of the locust legions, reap the smiles of the Earth, *coughcough*, *COUGH* *kofkof*!!! Aah, all is filthy, all is irksome!!
Why must I suffer this impediment on this most precious of days!?!? *cough* *cough* *cough* *cough*!! *cough* *cough*!!! Call for GenjiiIii!!! *cough* *cough* *cough*!!"
"......I have no idea what he's yelling. I guess he's finally gone nuts."
"Krauss-san... Isn't that a bit harsh, to your birth father..."
"My father is already dead. ......All that's here is a phantom of what Father once was. At any rate, as long as he has no intention of coming out, there's nothing we can do."
".....................Kinzo-san."
Choking coughs continued to pour from the study...
"I'm going back downstairs. ......It would be a waste to let that lunch Gohda's so proud of get any colder. It's one of the few things we can look forward to...in this family. ...Hmph."
Krauss spun on his heels.
He looked at his wristwatch, mumbling and acting as though he had wasted time doing something he knew would be in vain.
"Genji-san. ......Father is calling for you. Keep him company."
".........Certainly."
"Doctor Nanjo. Let's go eat. ......If we stay here any longer, even our sense of taste will go insane from this sweet smell."
Without waiting for Nanjo, Krauss went downstairs.
Genji urged Nanjo to go and eat.
...Nanjo looked first to Krauss's back as he disappeared down the stairs, then to the study door, and he let out a deep sigh.
"......Sorry, Genji-san. Please."
"Yes, ......Please leave it to me."
"If possible, don't give him alcohol. ......It's too powerful a habit."
"Is Genji not here yet?!!! Who dares keep Genji from coming?!! Aah, Genji, where are you, call for Genji!!!"
"Now, ......please leave it to me."
"...*nods*. .........Sorry."
Nanjo gave a small duck of his head and descended the stairs...
Genji saw him off, and knocked at the study door.
".........Master. It is Genji."
"Genji?!! Why must you make me wait so long?!! There is no one there, I trust?!"
"Yes. I am alone."
Kinzo returned to his seat in the study and pressed an old-style switch on the table.
...After a small delay, the heavy sound of the door unlocking could be heard.
Kinzo believed that his family might try to break in his study.
Perhaps someone once opened the window for some air and scattered important documents and other stuff? Is that what made him so nasty?
...Now, Kinzo had placed a secure lock in his own room, making it so that without his permission nobody could enter, and locking himself in the dungeon he'd created.
Genji, who he trusted the most, was relatively free to enter the room, but that was also not absolute.
If Kinzo was in a bad mood, even he wouldn't be able to enter.
.........Anyone else would be limited to holding a conversation through the door, not even seeing his face.
And most of the time, they wouldn't even get a real conversation.
However, that didn't become a big problem for the family.
Because going to the trouble of speaking to the aged Head, who was impossible to please, completely immersed in his odd research, and always locked up in his hideaway, just wasn't worth the effort.
......They were happy that he didn't come out of his study and, putting him in the hands of the servants, they themselves also tried to avoid him.
"Genji, my usual. I'm busy."
"......Yes."
Genji headed to a corner of the study.
There, a suspicious-looking bottle boasting a venomous color was displayed.
...It was actually liquor, but, considering that it was placed in this suspicious-looking room, one begins to doubt whether it isn't actually some kind of ghastly poison.
Inside the study, the mysterious collection of books that Kinzo had gathered had grown into a mountain.
They were bizarre ancient or banned books, all of them either forbidden, cursed, or sealed.
But then, if one were to call them old books, Kinzo would fly into a rage and say something like this:
"Call them Grimoires!"
There were many mysterious objects, like a candle suspiciously melted and molded into a strange shape, which probably had something to do with black magic.
The constellations drawn on a certain celestial globe contained quite a few dots that a person who knows the night sky well would tilt their head at.
The illustrations inscribed in old, casually opened books were all full of religious, or possibly demonic, grotesque arcana, as well as the weird shapes of various magical circles.
And above all, the sweet, poisonous smell that filled the room profoundly assaulted those who entered for the first time in their sense of sight and smell, then all their senses, making them lose their grip on reality ...
Inside that study, Genji, with his well trained hand, prepared Kinzo's usual drink.
If you didn't know that the ominous dark green liquid that filled the complexly designed bottle was liquor, you really wouldn't want to put it in your mouth.
......He poured a small quantity of the spirits into the glass. After placing a cube of sugar in a strangely shaped spoon, he then poured water from a pitcher over it.
Strangely, when the transparent water was poured, the dark green liquid turned a cloudy white.
...It was a strange optical illusion, as though the water had caused a chemical reaction and made the drink become even more unrecognizable as liquor.
It improved the original flavor Kinzo liked and adjusted the taste.
...There was no recipe.
Its success was measured only by Kinzo's mood swing when he drank it, and he had learned how to make it only after many decades.
Genji placed the glass in the tray, and faced Kinzo.
Kinzo was now gazing out the window.
".........Here, Master."
"Thank you..."
Kinzo, now unrecognizable as the man who was shouting, screaming and yelling just before, regained his composure.
In that man's back dwelt a dignity and intelligence made plain simply by how he tilted his glass and gazed down at the scenery beyond the window.
Genji, in order to allow Kinzo to set down his glass any time, motionlessly waited behind and to Kinzo's left, as though he were a living sideboard.
Thereupon, while Kinzo looked out the window, he stuck out only the glass.
There was just a mouthful remaining.
It was not a gesture intended to set it upon the tray, as Genji expected, but was an motion to hand the glass over to Genji.
"......Drink it. ...My friend."
".....................That is more than I deserve."
"No need for ceremony between us. ......Drink it. My friend."
"...............Thank you."
Genji respectfully received the glass and inclined it a little to taste its contents.
After that, he agitated it.
"I attempted to imitate your concoction, but no matter how I try I cannot replicate the taste. ......The way you make it is pure relish."
".........Thank you very much. It is the fruit of your guidance, Master."
"Hmph..."
Kinzo smiled at his loyal subject who refused to put aside rank even when asked to.
However, he was not making fun of him; it was relaxed, like a smile at a close friend's unriddable bad habit.
".........We have grown old together. I forgot my age a long time ago."
"Being allowed to live here until now has all been thanks to you, Master."
Kinzo gave a thin smile, as if to say he didn't need compliments.
".........Until now, you have served me exceedingly well. ......My sons call me eccentric. The servants that were once many, all of them, retired in their growing fear of me. ......Only you, even now, serve me."
"...That is more than I deserve."
".........I do not have much time left to live. ......My sons are vultures, lazily waiting for my inheritance to fall into their hands."
"........................"
"That fool Krauss squanders money like water, throws away two gold coins to obtain one. With that, he deludes himself in saying he earned money!! Eva is a slave to money, thinking of me as a hen or whatnot!! As if when I die, she'll even use my carcass to make broth!!
That dunce Rudolf just wants to fool around with women!! Rosa bore the baby of a nobody!! Jessica is incompetent and illiterate!! George has none of what it takes to be a man! Battler is a fool who threw away the honor of the Ushiromiya family!! And Maria is obscene to the eye!!
Why, why is the Ushiromiya blood so incompetent!?!? Is there anyone worthy to inherit the glory I built?! Aah, of course, I know, this is also Beatrice's curse, I know it!! ...Aah, Golden Witch, is this the revenge you planned for me?
If you want to hate me, you can hate me! If you want to run away, you can run away!! I won't let you go, I won't let you go won't let you go won't let you go!! You're mine!! You cannot be anywhere but in my arms! For all my life! You'll continue to whisper for all eternity in my bird cage to me, only to me!! Beatrice...... Why, ...won't you give me back your smile... OOOoooooh, OOOooOOOoooh...!! BeatriceeeEEEeeee!! OOOoooOOOOoohh......"
After howling, Kinzo choked once again.
Genji set the tray and the glass down and patted his master's back...
Genji's facial expression did not change.
.........It was always like this.
"............*cough*... Hmhm. ............Thank you, my friend."
"........................"
The outburst, like his previous agitation, had calmed, and Kinzo regained his composure again.
...His change of stance was like seeing two different people, a wild Kinzo and a composed Kinzo, living together inside one body.
"Therefore. ......I have decided. .....................I cannot stand spending my dimmed, remaining years procrastinating thus. In this body, if I have a coin to bet in the end, it seems I'll entrust it to the roulette of the demons. ......The power of magic is always settled with a gamble. Like visiting a shrine at the Hour of the Ox in ancient Japanese sorcery, to nail a curse doll to a tree. The magic power dwells in incurring the risk that it will be seen within the seven days the curse takes. The more dangerous the risk created, the stronger the magic power created will be.
Many miracles that happened in myth can be said to be the crystallization of a shocking magic power, that had a low probability of happening and an astronomical risk! That Moses parted the waters of the sea was not a miracle of God - the risk of that desperate situation, cornered by soldiers on the Red Sea's shores, weighed upon the scales of slaughter, gave birth to the miraculous magic power. Even if the same thing occurs again, on same scope, the sea will no doubt not part.
That is because Moses, instead of betting on incalculable odds in the Roulette of those with power, managed to spectacularly draw to himself the single miracle carved within the eyes of many. That power that can triumph over astronomical odds!! Yes, magical power is that fortune through which miracles are grasped!! To obtain this mighty magic power, one must face the risk of despair!! Those who possess no magical power call that desperation rather than a bet!
However, people who truly have magic power grab that miracle and fulfill the mystery!! And if that power exists within me...! I'll seize that miracle and I'll be able to make the wish I devoted my life towards come true!!"
Kinzo looked up to the sky outside the window.
He spread his arms as if appealing to someone up in the skies.
"If only!!! If only I were capable of gaining that miracle!! .........Oooh..., Beatrice..., Beatrice... Show me your lovely smile once more... No matter how much time passes, your face does not vanish... I just want to see your smile..., that is all...! I'll return everything you granted me! I'll return all the glory I've gained since that day! I don't need fortune, prestige, gold!! I'll return everything you granted me!! I just want to see your smile!! For goodness' sake, Beatrice!! OOOoooooOooh...oOoOOoh...ooh...!!"
......His nonsensical yells segued into a scream...and then into a wail.
Kinzo folded over onto the bed, and tore it with both hands.
Genji had no choice but to wordlessly watch over his master's lament...
"Well, ladies and gentlemen. ......The Head of the family is not in his best shape. All of you who have come back together for this long awaited yearly meeting, it is a great shame that he won't be able to partake in lunch with us. ......Gohda, let the lunch begin."
"Certainly. I shall begin today's luncheon."
"......Doctor Nanjo, is Father's condition that bad? It would have been nice if he at least showed his face, right?"
"Rather than his physical condition, it's his mood... And for that, there is no medicine I can prescribe."
"Hey hey, 'mood', you say? Not that again. We come to see how he's doing, making time in our schedules in this damn busy season of autumn. And now that-"
"Hmph..., don't complain, Rudolf. I managed to see how he's doing. ......Do you want to take my place, and try to persuade our ill-humored Father to come join us?"
"............Are you kidding?"
Rudolf shrugged.
Apparently, even though Rudolf seemed to resent the way his father did whatever he pleased...he'd rather avoid seeing his father's face if he could help it.
"Does it seem like his mood will improve before dinner? Krauss nii-san?"
"I have no idea. You can try and ask Father directly. ...Although, I think his mood will improve faster if we don't bother him."
"The only one who can get Grandfather better is Genji-san. It sucks though, making the servants deal with your own parent's bad mood."
"Jessica. Don't speak out of turn."
She'd planned for her complaint to be heard only by her cousins, but it had reached even Krauss's ears.
Scolded, Jessica scowled and turned away, sulking.
"......His disease can't be that bad, can it, with that kinda temper? I mean, if he's not healthy, and his mood is bad, at least it's proof he's still hanging on."
"It's because Grandfather has especially strong willpower. ...But, it doesn't mean that his body will always follow that. Since last year, they keep saying that he has three months left. ...If the initial diagnosis was correct, Grandfather has been prolonging his life by willpower alone. ......It should be a cause for concern."
Lunch started with the family head's seat still empty.
...The man who should be sitting there was already old, and the brilliant glory which had rebuilt the Ushiromiya family in a single lifetime was being forgotten.
Nobody seemed to feel uncomfortable when the meal began with that seat still empty...
The four of us cousins were enjoying our stories, just shooting the breeze.
Anyway, there are both girls and guys here. Plus, we've got people over a wide spread of ages: adult, high school, and elementary school.
Even though everyone was only telling his or her personal story, the other three were listening attentively.
"I think I'm finally getting used to all this. Jessica and Maria have grown more than I could've imagined in the past six years. To be honest, I was feeling a bit uncomfortable, but talking like this, I guess that on the inside, nothing's really changed since back then."
"I agree. Battler, even after six years you haven't changed a bit. Even though your body's gotten gigantic, you're still a kid inside."
"Uu-! Maria's a kid too! Maria's a kid too!"
"Well, even you aren't gonna be a kid forever, are you Maria? I mean, you're growing from being a kid to a cute young lady, aren'tcha? And when that happens, that flat-as-a-board chest'll be on Jessica's level, huh~? When that happens, let me rub it, OK? Promise!!"
"Uu-! Let you rub it! Promise! Uu-!"
"N-no, Maria-chan! You can't make that kind of promise, that's bad, bad, bad!"
"Uu-? Maria promised, so let him rub it! Maria'll keep her promise! Definitely keep it, uu-!!"
"...Mariaa, you're a really earnest, good girl... The guy you marry's gonna be really lucky."
"Just a..., getting back on topic here, you're not gonna be keeping that promise! Maria, that promise never happened! Never!"
"Uu-. Promise is cancelled? Uu-......"
"As I thought, without Battler-kun in our little quartet, it just didn't feel like all the cousins were here. These six years have been kinda lonely."
"...That's true. We weren't able to goof off like this. Still, we did have have some pretty constructive conversations, don'tcha think? Stuff about preparing for our future, exam-taking, or finding jobs."
"Oo~ooh, I'm sorr-rry! Now that I'm here, there's just this stupid babbling~!"
"But, Maria's having fun this year. Uu- uu-!"
"That's true. I agree, this year's the most fun."
Maria's sincere words probably spoke for everyone.
When George-aniki stroked Maria's head, she giggled like a happy kitten...
"......Pardon me. Your meal is prepared."
A timid knocking sound and an equally timid young woman's voice came through the door.
Jessica answered brightly.
"Shannon, come in! You remember Battler, don'tcha?!"
Jessica stood up from the bed and opened the door.
There stood a servant girl who was definitely about our age.
"I-it's been quite some time since we last met, Battler-sama. It's nice to see you after six years. I'm Shannon."
Trembling a little, she acknowledged me and bowed deeply.
"...Ah...! Jessica had me surprised, but, Shannon-chan! You too, you've gotten to be a completely beautiful woman, haven't you!"
"Y-...your words are too good for me, I'm flattered..."
"Bu~ut, food on this island must be reeeally nutritional, hmmmm? What are you eating, where are you training, to get boobs that big?~!! Let me feel them a bit and see whether yours or Jessica's are bigger, oka~ay?!"
With both hands poised and saliva dribbling from my mouth, I closed in, quivering with excitement!
....I need to put aside my honor and sense of justice, but really, it's not like if I don't rub boobs it'll cause that weird condition where the lymph nodes in the neck get all itchy and stuff, right?
It's just my Battler-style way of communicating.
In this kinda scene, where I get closer and closer, there's an eight-or-nine out of ten chance I'll get slapped or clobbered, right?
It's an original, Battler-sama playful technique to get acquainted!
.........W-well, that means, with the remaining one-out-of-ten chance, being able to touch'em makes me a pretty lucky guy, eh?
Ihihyahyahya, its not like I'm expecting that'll happen, rrrriii~iight?!
At that point, my hands were less than a centimeter away from Shannon-chan's boobs, but,......the counterstrike was yet to come.
She blushed and lowered her head in embarrassment when she realized what was going on, but with both hands well-manneredly together in front of her, she didn't try to resist violently, or cover her breasts.
...Whoawhoaaa, well this is unexpected!!
C-c'mon, you gotta smack me or something, I'm seriously gonna touch'em if this goes oooonnnn?!
...which is why I was glad that Jessica chose that time to drive her elbow into the back of my head.
"Guaaaah, ooooowww, thank you Jessicaaaaaaa~!!"
"W-w-why the hell are you thanking me?! ???"
"No, no, my bad, Shannon-chan. Looks like I got a little too absorbed in your hypnotic chest... So now we can see that if I get too close I degenerate into a big pervert after all. Seriously, you've got to resist!"
".........P-perhaps, but, .........you are, ...an important guest, Battler-sama......"
"Now look here, a pervert's a pervert whether he's a guest or not! Ten centimeters around a girl's chest is like an Air Defense Identification Range. If someone trespasses within two centimeters, that's already an invasion of airspace and you can immediately give me a slap, like a high-alert takeoff!"
"............I-I couldn't do such a thing...! We are......, ...that is, furniture and..."
Of course she didn't want her breasts touched, but..., if a guest so desired, she intended to sacrifice her own needs in response anyway.
...A girl like this needs some urgent protection...!
"...I-in these days, to think that there's a dedicated and virtuous girl like this... Getting... giddy again!... ......But, no! NooOoo!! I'm coming at her with a perverted face again! Someone trip me!! No~oo, pervert! Without your word, I can't settle down! Please, I beg you, smack me! Like this, smack! Hit meeee~!!"
"I............I cannot obey your request. Because I'm furniture. ......But, ............if it's an order, I'll obey you. ...Because that is my duty."
"Ahaha, then I'll make it an order. The next time Battler-kun tries to touch your breasts, counterattack with a slap. Alright?"
"......Y-yes. I'll do as you wish. From now on, please allow me to do so. Battler-sama, please accept this..."
Shannon-chan announced this while bowing elegantly to me.
Her facial expression was radiant.
I gave her a thumbs-up to signal that it was OK with me.
"Six years ago, you might've been mistaken for a servant's daughter who lent a hand at your parent's work, ......but now you're a full-fledged adult servant. How many years has it been?"
"Yes, I've had the pleasure of serving this household for ten years."
She's 紗音. ......The kanji for her name are read as "Shannon".
This is another far from typical name for a Japanese person.
Being a kid back in those days, I had taken in her name without paying it much attention, but despite the fact that she is not a member of the Ushiromiya family, she still has this unusual name.
...Maybe it's like a servant's 'professional name' or something.
...If so, I can kind of understand why that Kanon-kun's name sounds the way it does.
She's a long-term servant who's served here since she was six years old.
Since her body had changed radically, she didn't match my memories, but I got acquainted with her six years ago.
It looked like she was just as shy she had been in the past, but I got the feeling that the charm befitting a girl her age came naturally to her.
Especially her breasts, her breasts.
"That kid we met earlier, Kanon-kun, is her little brother."
"...He's not exactly my little brother... Still, he loves me like a big sister. ...He didn't cause you any trouble, did he?"
"Haha! He's the same as always. It's such a shame that he doesn't act just a bit more sociable."
"...It seems Kanon-kun has caused trouble,...I apologize......"
"He didn't cause any trouble at all! As a fellow man, I understand how moody you can get at that age. It's no surprise that he's unsociable!"
"Uu-! Maria gets called that all the time too! Gets called unsociable! Like Kanon! Uu-!"
"*giggle*,......Maria-sama is not unsociable at all."
"Uu-? It was nice to be like him... Uu-."
"Umm, you said the meal was ready, right?"
"Ah, ......Yes! I'm sorry! ...The preparations for your meal have been carried out, so I shall be accompanying everyone to the mansion."
Shannon bowed again formally and returned to her "duty mode".
We realized that if we made her stick around for any more light conversation, it would actually make it harder for her to do her job. We got up off our butts to avoid interfering with her work any further.
"Then, shall we go to the mansion? Everyone's probably hungry, right?"
"Yeah. I'm really looking forward to Gohda-san's food. That guy, seems he was a chef at this famous hotel, so he's super good at cooking!"
"Ooooh! I'm looking forward to it!! Let's go Maria! We're gonna stuff ourselves like pigs!!"
"Uu-! Stuff ourselves like pigs!"
"No, no! You just can't take everything Battler-kun says seriously, OK? Because it's all jokes. Alright, let's go."
Under Shannon-chan's guidance we headed towards the mansion.
Met once again by the magnificent rose garden, we continued onward as it came into view...the intimidating mansion of the Ushiromiya Head Family.
It had apparently been built shortly after the war, so you could feel the dignity of almost a half century hanging about it.
On the surface, the building was gorgeous, but being as old as it was, the equipment such as the AC seemed quite frail.
According to Jessica, midwinter was especially tough, what with all the drafts.
...It's not like they couldn't just take the kotatsu out.
Kotatsu
A table frame covered by either a futon or a blanket, which is itself covered by a table top, and has a heat source beneath that is often built into the table itself.
Kotatsu is a reliable way to keep yourself warm, since heat is expensive in Japan due the poor insulation of housing in general.
The heat source and the blanket/futon can be removed, so the kotatsu can be used like a regular table.
As we entered the entrance hall, an aged servant greeted us.
Now him I remembered.
As the most senior member of the staff, Genji-san (源次) served as the head of the servants.
"............Battler-sama, we have not met in a long while."
As our eyes met, he saluted us with a composed voice.
He didn't give quite as refined a bow as Gohda's, but even so, and even though it felt rustic, it was a bow that had feeling.
"Genji-san, it really has been a while! You look well."
"Thank you, I have been quite well.........Battler-sama, you have become a splendid young man. .........You have grown to resemble the Master in his youth."
"I'm looking like Grandfather? I guess that means that Grandfather was pretty popular when he was young, Ihihi!"
".........From here on, I shall take Shannon's place and accompany you. Please, come this way."
Shannon-chan bowed deeply and saw us off.
Leaving the entrance hall, we headed to the dining room under Genji-san's guidance.
Genji-san, just like Kumasawa-san, stood in stark contrast to us young people who had grown beyond recognition over the last six years.
His figure was exactly the same as in my memories of six years ago.
It seemed like time had stopped since the last we met.
Genji-san was a silent and diligent person.
He was like Grandfather's close aide or caregiver, ......in fact, you could even go so far as to say he was Grandfather's right-hand man.
Actually, it seems that he was by Grandfather's side more than my late Grandmother was.
According to Jessica, Grandfather trusted him more than any of his blood relatives.
But I wonder how long he's served.
I've never heard the details, but I'm pretty sure he's been here since the beginning, when this mansion was constructed.
...That is to say, he had dedicated half of his life to serving here. ...In other words, he's both trustworthy and faithful.
As we cut through the open-ceilinged hall behind Genji-san,
......I found something I had no memory of from six years ago.
It was an awfully big portrait hung right in front of the stairs that rose to the second floor.
Without thinking, I stopped walking, under its spell...
Since I'd suddenly stopped, Maria, who was following behind me, ran into my back.
"Uu-?"
"......Aah, sorry. ...Hey, Jessica. Did that picture used to be there?"
I pointed at the big portrait that caught the eye, hanging in the hall. Everyone else stopped too.
"...Aah, ...Right. When you last came here, that hadn't been hung yet, had it? When was it again..."
"I think, ......If my memory doesn't fail me, I think it was around the year before last."
"............You are correct. In April of the year before last, as it had been arranged, the Master ordered an artist to paint it and it was put on display over there."
"Grandfather did that? So, he went out of his way to have it drawn..."
The portrait was appropriate for this western style mansion, and that woman wearing an elegant dress gave off a sense of refinement.
.........I couldn't have guessed her age, but judging by her obvious strength of will and the sharpness in her eyes, she radiated youth.
It was a different feeling than the composed mood of middle-aged women that are often in famous pictures.
If this woman had normal black hair, I might have thought it was a portrait of my long-deceased Grandmother in her prime.
However, the woman in the portrait had beautiful blonde hair and didn't look Japanese at all.
"So. ......Who is she then, this woman?"
To that naive question, Maria, as though trying to prove that she knew it herself, answered me with authority.
"Uu-! Maria knows. She's Beatrice!"
"Bea,......what?"
"......Beatrice. She's the witch. Didn't you ever hear about her, long ago?"
"The witch. ...you mean, ............of this island?"
...I think I already said this, but Rokkenjima is a small island that only spans about ten kilometers.
However, considering that only the Ushiromiya family lives here, that's quite large.
So, only a harbor and the site around the mansion were set up to be lived in. Beyond that, the island remained as untouched as it was when it was still uninhabited.
The vast and empty forest had no lamplight, phones or people passing through at all. To understand how dangerous it is, you needed to throw off all your street smarts from the city.
Anyway, if by any chance you fell down a hole in the depths of the forest and sprained your ankle, you could cry or scream, but no one would come save you.
If it got dark, the forest, where there were no streetlights, was wrapped up in complete darkness.
And also, since it didn't have any guideposts, it would be easy to get confused and lost, losing your sense of direction inside the dark forest.
Nowadays, most people see a forest as a peaceful place, but to the people of the bygone eras, before the light of civilization drove out the night, forests were as geographically separated from civilization as the ocean. Like an ocean above the ground.
Just like how fishermen who go out into the ocean are threatened despite their technical knowledge...
Hunters who go out to the forest have technical knowledge as well, yet are also in danger.
...If children go play in that dangerous forest, something terrible might happen.
Someone's parents must have thought so. ...Maybe my Grandmother, or possibly anybody else other than Grandfather might have said that.
Or maybe it's been handed down in this island from long, long ago.
.........There's a terrible witch in the forest, so you must not go in.
Thus, Rokkenjima's ghost story was born.
That is the legend of the witch of Rokkenjima.
That's why, if we say 'witch' in this island, we're referring to the master of the vast and savage forest.
Which reminds me, when I was little and stayed at this mansion, in the eerie nights where the wind and rain struck the windows, I got terrified by a story that the witch of the forest was roaming around searching for a sacrifice...
Beatrice, was it?
.........When Aniki told me and I searched my memory, I was sure I remembered hearing a name like that when I was little.
"...Right. Still, I completely forgot that the witch of that legend had an elegant name like Beatrice. ......Since us grandchildren didn't believe Grandfather, he went out of his way to have her depicted in this painting?"
"......It's the witch from Grandfather's delusions. ...Ever since he had this picture hanged, he's been blurring the line between reality and illusion. ......To us, it's no more than the witch from his imagination, but ...to Grandfather, she's a being that 'exists' on this island. ......'Exists'. That's why he says he had that picture painted. So that we'd understand. .........And I'm sorry, but she just doesn't exist."
"........................Milady. ...To the Master, this is an important portrait. ......I beg of you, do not say such a thing in front of him."
".........I get it. You don't need to beg."
Jessica turned away, after glaring a second at the portrait.
"...Let's go. We're making everyone wait in the dining room."
"Uu-! Hungry!"
......Only a small portion of this island was controlled by the Ushiromiya family.
All of the wild remainder...was the witch Beatrice's domain.
......One could say that she was the being who actually ruled over Rokkenjima.
That slightly unsettling feeling of misfortune that I had felt when I learned the Tutelary God's shrine had been struck by lightning on the boat trip revived within me a bit.
At that time, Kumasawa-san had tried to tell an ominous story about Rokkenjima and had been stopped by Jessica.
.........I didn't know what she had tried to tell us about this island.
But, there was one thing I did know.
...Rokkenjima's ruler was not the Ushiromiya family.
It was the witch, Beatrice.
Yes. ......Because this was the witch's island.
"Battler! Uu-, slo-ow!"
When I looked around, everyone was already heading towards the dining room.
I hurriedly chased after them...
We walked up to the huge double doors that led to the dining room.
Genji-san knocked.
"......I have brought the children. If you will excuse me..."
The door was opened and we were invited inside.
The dining room, everything in the room looking clearly expensive, was set up with a super-long table which was obviously positioned with no other purpose than to make the guests conscious of their rank. Our parents were already sitting in accordance to that ordering.
"You're late, brats. Hurry up and take a seat."
The old bastard pressed us to sit.
Only the places where we would sit were empty at the long table, which only made us feel our tardiness all the more.
The seat at the head of the table, called the Incipient's Chair, was for the most highly ranked, reserved for Grandfather.
It was still empty.
...He was probably planning to come in last to ham it up.
The seating order, looking at the Incipient's Chair at the head of the table, went from left to right with the lower ranking seats progressing in rows of two further away from it.
So, on the left-hand side of the first row, closest to the Incipient's Chair, was where Krauss oji-san, ranked at number two, should have sat.
.........It looked like Oji-san hadn't arrived yet, so that seat was empty.
And then to his opposite, on the right side of the first row sat the eldest daughter of the family, Eva oba-san, ranked at number three.
The left-hand side of the second row was for number four.
There sat my old bastard, Rudolf, as one of the three siblings already present.
Opposite him sat number five, the youngest sibling, Rosa oba-san.
Going like this, you might think that the next ones to come would be their husbands and wives, but... It's weird, but the next left-hand seat in the third row, meaning number six, was Jessica's seat.
Opposite her was George-aniki.
Then, next to Jessica, was me, And opposite me was Maria.
Then, finally, next to me on the left-hand side of the fifth row was number ten, Natsuhi oba-san.
...Opposite her was Hideyoshi oji-san. Next to Natsuhi oba-san, in the sixth row and in the final seat on the left-hand side, was Kyrie-san.
The seat opposite to Kyrie-san was empty even though everything had been set out.
According to this ranking system, that spot was the seat where Rosa oba-san's husband should be sitting.
......Even though he wasn't supposed to be coming, his place was made up.
These kind of ranking orders usually recognize the status of the spouse, but the Ushiromiya family had an original kind of ranking.
......Maybe it's a leftover of male chauvinism.
If the system is predicated on the idea that a woman's womb is just a borrowed thing, then the children of direct descent would have a much higher ranking, and the grandchildren would come next.
Meaning that the spouses, with no blood ties, are considered the last in line.
......It's terrible, but according to that ranking order, Grandmother, when she was alive, would have been in a position even lower than mine.
In their youth they obey their father; after they get married, their husband; after aging, their children.
There's the old saying, 'Women, whether in their past, present, or future, have no home'.
Long ago, when I was still incapable of figuring all this out, I'd thought it was so great that we could all chat, with the adult siblings in their group and us cousins in ours. However, now that I can reexamine the seating order after growing up a bit, it stirs up some very complicated feelings in me...
Natsuhi oba-san, married to the eldest son of the family and number two in managing the house, sat to my right, ...which meant that she was two steps lower than me in the ranking order.
...It was difficult to guess what was going inside Oba-san's head.
That's why I made a small apologetic gesture before sitting down.
"How nice to see you, Battler-kun. You've grown quite tall, haven't you?"
"Huhh, ah, yeah! I ate and ate and ate meals and before I knew it I got this tall."
"Boys will be boys, no? How tall are you?"
"I guess about 180 cm? Ah, Oba-san, please, whenever you feel like it, feel free to say 'Stop stuffing yourself!'"
"Huh? ......Aah, *giggle*, I'm sorry."
Oba-san, after a moment, gave a small laugh, but it seemed she couldn't quite figure out what she was supposed to be laughing at.
This woman is Natsuhi (夏妃) oba-san.
She's the wife of the eldest son of the family, meaning she is my father's older brother's wife.
Is it easier to get it if I call her Jessica's mother?
...It feels bad to say it like this, but, not that I hated her, I didn't particularly like her.
She never got into our kids' circle, and she always looked difficult to get along with. And it didn't help that she gave the impression that she was at odds with the other parents.
...The fact is that having barely ever exchanged words, I hesitated a lot about how to approach her.
...And I ended up empty-handed.
The silverware had been tidily set up on the table, but the meal itself hadn't been brought in.
In essence, until the man at the head of the table had taken his seat, the meal wouldn't start.
So, as long as Grandfather, the highest ranked, didn't come, lunch would be indefinitely on hold.
Not even the appetizers would come.
So, while our parents withstood their hunger, the silence of the dining room would still wait for Grandfather to come.
It's just that the Grandfather I remembered, when we ate together like this, always showed up at the right time.
...He was supposed to be the kind of person that would never be so late that he'd keep everyone waiting, even though they were all present.
"Grandfather's pretty late. ......As far as I can remember, he was always strict about staying on time.
"Well, that might've been true six years ago, ...but it hasn't been that way lately. Seriously, he's off in his own little world so often that he doesn't even show up at family meals. ...Even so, I figured that he'd at least stick around for today's meal. ...Still, I feel more relaxed and happier without him."
"...Jessica!"
After being scolded by her mother, Jessica faced the other way, sticking her tongue out.
......No way around it.
Nothing to do but wait for the host to arrive.
When I glanced at the clock, I saw that it was almost 12:20...
The old master of the Ushiromiya head house, Ushiromiya Kinzo (金蔵).
His shape in his study.
The clock showed noon, but he didn't even attempt to get up.
Putting his spectacles on, he piled up one by one beside him old-fashioned books with elaborately designed bindings, and immersed himself in their reading.
It definitely didn't look like it was for his leisure; on the contrary, he exuded impatience, crisis, as though every minute, every second were precious.
The inside of the sealed room, where dense dust danced, stagnated, steeped in the suspicious stench of smelly medicine.
...Somehow, sweet, heavy.
For anyone with an good nose, the first thing they'd do after entering would be to open a window and ventilate the room.
The knocking against the study door had been going on for a while.
A voice calling 'Father' sometimes mingled with the knocks.
As Kinzo heaved a deep sigh, he snapped the old book he had in his hands shut and slammed it on the table.
Then, he yelled at Krauss who was still knocking on the door.
"Silence!! Will you not stop that noise, fool!!! Who told you the door would open if you knocked!? I'll crucify the imbecile!! Do you wish to be as well!!??"
"......Father. Isn't today the annual family conference? Everyone's gathered down there. Please come out."
Krauss called out to his father through the door.
...Kinzo always shut himself up in the study and hated it when even his family entered the room.
For that reason, Krauss had no choice but to call out thus from the corridor...
"They do not care about me!! What manner of men is everyone then, trying to drag me out of here!!?? Very well, kill them! Dismember them, make them into firewood, feed them to the witch's hearth!! Put a pot in that hearth and boil wormwood! Force the imbeciles who dare try to lure me out of here to drink the broth of the Apocalypse! I will soak their dregs in liquor! Aah, Genji, where are you!? Call for Genji!! Have my demonic absinthe prepared! The whispering of the green fairy reaches me no longer!! Aah, Genji, where are you?! Call for GenjiiIii!!!"
...Before the door, Krauss, Nanjo and Genji kept waiting for the master of the house, who would not come out.
"Hmph.........Looks like he hates me to his core. My voice doesn't reach him anymore."
Krauss shrugged as though saying 'It's no use' and smiled bitterly.
...He himself hadn't really believed his father would answer his calls.
However, as it was the duty of the eldest son, he had formally made the request.
"......Kinzo-san. Aren't your sons and daughters and your grandchildren coming to see you...? How about you show your face, just a little...?"
"Shut up, be silent!!! Do you admonish me, Nanjo?!! I do not call for you lot, I said to call for Genji!! Now call for him immediately! Time is short, the apostles are already readying their trumpets! Why do you not understand, you foolish sheep!!"
Kinzo slammed the old, heavy book on the table over and over.
The racket obviously indicated his highest displeasure.
Kinzo put his spectacles down and flew up from his chair.
He spread his arms wide open, as if to sing to a packed opera house, as if appealing to someone, and yelled.
"Why?! Why is there always something in my way?! I would throw it all away, I would offer up everything, and there is only one thing I ask in repayment!!
Ooh, Beatrice, if I could see your smile but one more time, I would plunder the smiles of the Earth and offer them all up to you!! Oooh, commanders of the locust legions, reap the smiles of the Earth, *coughcough*, *COUGH* *kofkof*!!! Aah, all is filthy, all is irksome!!
Why must I suffer this impediment on this most precious of days!?!? *cough* *cough* *cough* *cough*!! *cough* *cough*!!! Call for GenjiiIii!!! *cough* *cough* *cough*!!"
"......I have no idea what he's yelling. I guess he's finally gone nuts."
"Krauss-san... Isn't that a bit harsh, to your birth father..."
"My father is already dead. ......All that's here is a phantom of what Father once was. At any rate, as long as he has no intention of coming out, there's nothing we can do."
".....................Kinzo-san."
Choking coughs continued to pour from the study...
"I'm going back downstairs. ......It would be a waste to let that lunch Gohda's so proud of get any colder. It's one of the few things we can look forward to...in this family. ...Hmph."
Krauss spun on his heels.
He looked at his wristwatch, mumbling and acting as though he had wasted time doing something he knew would be in vain.
"Genji-san. ......Father is calling for you. Keep him company."
".........Certainly."
"Doctor Nanjo. Let's go eat. ......If we stay here any longer, even our sense of taste will go insane from this sweet smell."
Without waiting for Nanjo, Krauss went downstairs.
Genji urged Nanjo to go and eat.
...Nanjo looked first to Krauss's back as he disappeared down the stairs, then to the study door, and he let out a deep sigh.
"......Sorry, Genji-san. Please."
"Yes, ......Please leave it to me."
"If possible, don't give him alcohol. ......It's too powerful a habit."
"Is Genji not here yet?!!! Who dares keep Genji from coming?!! Aah, Genji, where are you, call for Genji!!!"
"Now, ......please leave it to me."
"...*nods*. .........Sorry."
Nanjo gave a small duck of his head and descended the stairs...
Genji saw him off, and knocked at the study door.
".........Master. It is Genji."
"Genji?!! Why must you make me wait so long?!! There is no one there, I trust?!"
"Yes. I am alone."
Kinzo returned to his seat in the study and pressed an old-style switch on the table.
...After a small delay, the heavy sound of the door unlocking could be heard.
Kinzo believed that his family might try to break in his study.
Perhaps someone once opened the window for some air and scattered important documents and other stuff? Is that what made him so nasty?
...Now, Kinzo had placed a secure lock in his own room, making it so that without his permission nobody could enter, and locking himself in the dungeon he'd created.
Genji, who he trusted the most, was relatively free to enter the room, but that was also not absolute.
If Kinzo was in a bad mood, even he wouldn't be able to enter.
.........Anyone else would be limited to holding a conversation through the door, not even seeing his face.
And most of the time, they wouldn't even get a real conversation.
However, that didn't become a big problem for the family.
Because going to the trouble of speaking to the aged Head, who was impossible to please, completely immersed in his odd research, and always locked up in his hideaway, just wasn't worth the effort.
......They were happy that he didn't come out of his study and, putting him in the hands of the servants, they themselves also tried to avoid him.
"Genji, my usual. I'm busy."
"......Yes."
Genji headed to a corner of the study.
There, a suspicious-looking bottle boasting a venomous color was displayed.
...It was actually liquor, but, considering that it was placed in this suspicious-looking room, one begins to doubt whether it isn't actually some kind of ghastly poison.
Inside the study, the mysterious collection of books that Kinzo had gathered had grown into a mountain.
They were bizarre ancient or banned books, all of them either forbidden, cursed, or sealed.
But then, if one were to call them old books, Kinzo would fly into a rage and say something like this:
"Call them Grimoires!"
There were many mysterious objects, like a candle suspiciously melted and molded into a strange shape, which probably had something to do with black magic.
The constellations drawn on a certain celestial globe contained quite a few dots that a person who knows the night sky well would tilt their head at.
The illustrations inscribed in old, casually opened books were all full of religious, or possibly demonic, grotesque arcana, as well as the weird shapes of various magical circles.
And above all, the sweet, poisonous smell that filled the room profoundly assaulted those who entered for the first time in their sense of sight and smell, then all their senses, making them lose their grip on reality ...
Inside that study, Genji, with his well trained hand, prepared Kinzo's usual drink.
If you didn't know that the ominous dark green liquid that filled the complexly designed bottle was liquor, you really wouldn't want to put it in your mouth.
......He poured a small quantity of the spirits into the glass. After placing a cube of sugar in a strangely shaped spoon, he then poured water from a pitcher over it.
Strangely, when the transparent water was poured, the dark green liquid turned a cloudy white.
...It was a strange optical illusion, as though the water had caused a chemical reaction and made the drink become even more unrecognizable as liquor.
It improved the original flavor Kinzo liked and adjusted the taste.
...There was no recipe.
Its success was measured only by Kinzo's mood swing when he drank it, and he had learned how to make it only after many decades.
Genji placed the glass in the tray, and faced Kinzo.
Kinzo was now gazing out the window.
".........Here, Master."
"Thank you..."
Kinzo, now unrecognizable as the man who was shouting, screaming and yelling just before, regained his composure.
In that man's back dwelt a dignity and intelligence made plain simply by how he tilted his glass and gazed down at the scenery beyond the window.
Genji, in order to allow Kinzo to set down his glass any time, motionlessly waited behind and to Kinzo's left, as though he were a living sideboard.
Thereupon, while Kinzo looked out the window, he stuck out only the glass.
There was just a mouthful remaining.
It was not a gesture intended to set it upon the tray, as Genji expected, but was an motion to hand the glass over to Genji.
"......Drink it. ...My friend."
".....................That is more than I deserve."
"No need for ceremony between us. ......Drink it. My friend."
"...............Thank you."
Genji respectfully received the glass and inclined it a little to taste its contents.
After that, he agitated it.
"I attempted to imitate your concoction, but no matter how I try I cannot replicate the taste. ......The way you make it is pure relish."
".........Thank you very much. It is the fruit of your guidance, Master."
"Hmph..."
Kinzo smiled at his loyal subject who refused to put aside rank even when asked to.
However, he was not making fun of him; it was relaxed, like a smile at a close friend's unriddable bad habit.
".........We have grown old together. I forgot my age a long time ago."
"Being allowed to live here until now has all been thanks to you, Master."
Kinzo gave a thin smile, as if to say he didn't need compliments.
".........Until now, you have served me exceedingly well. ......My sons call me eccentric. The servants that were once many, all of them, retired in their growing fear of me. ......Only you, even now, serve me."
"...That is more than I deserve."
".........I do not have much time left to live. ......My sons are vultures, lazily waiting for my inheritance to fall into their hands."
"........................"
"That fool Krauss squanders money like water, throws away two gold coins to obtain one. With that, he deludes himself in saying he earned money!! Eva is a slave to money, thinking of me as a hen or whatnot!! As if when I die, she'll even use my carcass to make broth!!
That dunce Rudolf just wants to fool around with women!! Rosa bore the baby of a nobody!! Jessica is incompetent and illiterate!! George has none of what it takes to be a man! Battler is a fool who threw away the honor of the Ushiromiya family!! And Maria is obscene to the eye!!
Why, why is the Ushiromiya blood so incompetent!?!? Is there anyone worthy to inherit the glory I built?! Aah, of course, I know, this is also Beatrice's curse, I know it!! ...Aah, Golden Witch, is this the revenge you planned for me?
If you want to hate me, you can hate me! If you want to run away, you can run away!! I won't let you go, I won't let you go won't let you go won't let you go!! You're mine!! You cannot be anywhere but in my arms! For all my life! You'll continue to whisper for all eternity in my bird cage to me, only to me!! Beatrice...... Why, ...won't you give me back your smile... OOOoooooh, OOOooOOOoooh...!! BeatriceeeEEEeeee!! OOOoooOOOOoohh......"
After howling, Kinzo choked once again.
Genji set the tray and the glass down and patted his master's back...
Genji's facial expression did not change.
.........It was always like this.
"............*cough*... Hmhm. ............Thank you, my friend."
"........................"
The outburst, like his previous agitation, had calmed, and Kinzo regained his composure again.
...His change of stance was like seeing two different people, a wild Kinzo and a composed Kinzo, living together inside one body.
"Therefore. ......I have decided. .....................I cannot stand spending my dimmed, remaining years procrastinating thus. In this body, if I have a coin to bet in the end, it seems I'll entrust it to the roulette of the demons. ......The power of magic is always settled with a gamble. Like visiting a shrine at the Hour of the Ox in ancient Japanese sorcery, to nail a curse doll to a tree. The magic power dwells in incurring the risk that it will be seen within the seven days the curse takes. The more dangerous the risk created, the stronger the magic power created will be.
Many miracles that happened in myth can be said to be the crystallization of a shocking magic power, that had a low probability of happening and an astronomical risk! That Moses parted the waters of the sea was not a miracle of God - the risk of that desperate situation, cornered by soldiers on the Red Sea's shores, weighed upon the scales of slaughter, gave birth to the miraculous magic power. Even if the same thing occurs again, on same scope, the sea will no doubt not part.
That is because Moses, instead of betting on incalculable odds in the Roulette of those with power, managed to spectacularly draw to himself the single miracle carved within the eyes of many. That power that can triumph over astronomical odds!! Yes, magical power is that fortune through which miracles are grasped!! To obtain this mighty magic power, one must face the risk of despair!! Those who possess no magical power call that desperation rather than a bet!
However, people who truly have magic power grab that miracle and fulfill the mystery!! And if that power exists within me...! I'll seize that miracle and I'll be able to make the wish I devoted my life towards come true!!"
Kinzo looked up to the sky outside the window.
He spread his arms as if appealing to someone up in the skies.
"If only!!! If only I were capable of gaining that miracle!! .........Oooh..., Beatrice..., Beatrice... Show me your lovely smile once more... No matter how much time passes, your face does not vanish... I just want to see your smile..., that is all...! I'll return everything you granted me! I'll return all the glory I've gained since that day! I don't need fortune, prestige, gold!! I'll return everything you granted me!! I just want to see your smile!! For goodness' sake, Beatrice!! OOOoooooOooh...oOoOOoh...ooh...!!"
......His nonsensical yells segued into a scream...and then into a wail.
Kinzo folded over onto the bed, and tore it with both hands.
Genji had no choice but to wordlessly watch over his master's lament...
"Well, ladies and gentlemen. ......The Head of the family is not in his best shape. All of you who have come back together for this long awaited yearly meeting, it is a great shame that he won't be able to partake in lunch with us. ......Gohda, let the lunch begin."
"Certainly. I shall begin today's luncheon."
"......Doctor Nanjo, is Father's condition that bad? It would have been nice if he at least showed his face, right?"
"Rather than his physical condition, it's his mood... And for that, there is no medicine I can prescribe."
"Hey hey, 'mood', you say? Not that again. We come to see how he's doing, making time in our schedules in this damn busy season of autumn. And now that-"
"Hmph..., don't complain, Rudolf. I managed to see how he's doing. ......Do you want to take my place, and try to persuade our ill-humored Father to come join us?"
"............Are you kidding?"
Rudolf shrugged.
Apparently, even though Rudolf seemed to resent the way his father did whatever he pleased...he'd rather avoid seeing his father's face if he could help it.
"Does it seem like his mood will improve before dinner? Krauss nii-san?"
"I have no idea. You can try and ask Father directly. ...Although, I think his mood will improve faster if we don't bother him."
"The only one who can get Grandfather better is Genji-san. It sucks though, making the servants deal with your own parent's bad mood."
"Jessica. Don't speak out of turn."
She'd planned for her complaint to be heard only by her cousins, but it had reached even Krauss's ears.
Scolded, Jessica scowled and turned away, sulking.
"......His disease can't be that bad, can it, with that kinda temper? I mean, if he's not healthy, and his mood is bad, at least it's proof he's still hanging on."
"It's because Grandfather has especially strong willpower. ...But, it doesn't mean that his body will always follow that. Since last year, they keep saying that he has three months left. ...If the initial diagnosis was correct, Grandfather has been prolonging his life by willpower alone. ......It should be a cause for concern."
Lunch started with the family head's seat still empty.
...The man who should be sitting there was already old, and the brilliant glory which had rebuilt the Ushiromiya family in a single lifetime was being forgotten.
Nobody seemed to feel uncomfortable when the meal began with that seat still empty...