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Part 4: The Witch's Portrait




: "Oh, right. Here. A present for you, Natsuhi nee-san."

: "......Thank you very much. I'm always receiving gifts from you. ...Is this black tea?"

: "It's herb tea with peppermint and lemon balm. It's a blend from a well-known store and is supposed to be good for headaches. I thought it might help you too."

Rosa was always a conscientious woman.

...Probably because she was the youngest of four siblings and much younger than the other three, she managed to grow up without harboring the venomosity of her brothers and sisters.

Her consideration made Natsuhi soften her expression for just a moment, but it wasn't enough to make her let down her guard, which was constructed around her long-held anxiety.


: ".....................I apologize. I was born with this discomfort."

Eva sometimes fails to choose her words carefully, but even though she hid it with a smile, her comments aimed at Natsuhi contained shards of obvious malice.

Of course, that didn't escape Natsuhi.

She frantically contained her urge to grimace, and pretended to ignore Eva.

: "Our Battler-kun will have his exams this year too, right? Rudolf-san, shouldn't you be a little concerned too? For the sake of your own son, get serious to the point of getting headaches like Natsuhi nee-san."

: "If I say anything, he automatically goes against it. So what should I say? Should I say the opposite, that it's okay for him to mess around? That's probably the only thing he'd obediently listen to me say. In your family, Hideyoshi nii-san, didn't George do really well on his exams? Please, teach me the secret to controlling children."


:"...That's splendid. It would be nice if our Jessica could understand that, though. As it is now, she doesn't at all, but as the heiress of the Ushiromiya family,"

: "Do you really have to force her into becoming the successor? Women have to find their own happiness. Parents shouldn't be deciding that for their children, right?"


: "..........................."

Though the light shining in through the window was quite warm despite the cloudy weather, there was a dark mood about the room, ...which probably caused headaches for other people besides Natsuhi.

As if to brush away that mood, Kyrie brightly made a suggestion to all present.


: "......Thank you, both. Let us save that for later. One of our people will soon be coming to bring some tea, so please relax."

: "Leave it for later, you two. Let's enjoy our 'welcome drink'."

Rudolf gave a subtle signal with his eyes for them to sit down again.
...Kyrie and Rosa understood instantly and obediently returned to their seats.

The guests had already been greeted, so it was time for some tea to be prepared for them.

...That tea was late and having the guests talk about making some themselves was an embarrassment for the host.


......Of course, Shannon had no way of knowing what was taking place in the parlor.

She came pushing a dish cart piled with tea cups. For no apparent reason, Natsuhi gave her a pained look, and Shannon couldn't help but flinch without knowing what she had done wrong.


: "Oh, Shannon-chan, it's been a while! You keep getting prettier every time I see you!"

: ".........Oh, ...um, .........thanks...,"

: "Leave the chatting for after you've set the table. The tea will get cold."

: "......I,...I apologize, Madam."

She apologized like a small frightened animal, and, bumping against the serving cart, made a jarring racket as she dropped several tea spoons.

Her clumsiness made Natsuhi's expression even harsher, which made Shannon in turn quail even more.

: "It's alright, Natsuhi nee-san. It's just one kind of greeting, no big deal. We've already been made to wait for so long, the tea must be cold. Heheheh."


...The ineptitude that delayed the tea, the clumsiness of the servant, everything pointed to the incompetence of Natsuhi's everyday guidance, making her lose face.

As the person in charge of the Ushiromiya head house's kitchen, allowing that clumsiness to be exposed today of all days was surely nothing less than total humiliation.

: "Lay off, Natsuhi nee-san. Don't you think it's a little harsh to bully Shannon-chan when she's trying her best?"

: "I'm not bullying anyone...!"

: "What a nice smell. May I ask you the brand of this tea?"

: "............Umm..., ......I'm, ...I'm terribly sorry... I'll find out for you later..."


The head house really needs to shell out for better staff.

: "Whaat's this? Shannon-chan, don't you even know what you're pouring us? Come now, you mustn't serve something so suspicious to guests. We'll need a silver spoon at the very least before we can drink this.

: ".........I, ...I'm sorry...... I'll go get one immediately..."

: "Shannon-chan? Do you know what silver spoons are used for? Or why they have to be silver? Do you know why?"

: "...............No..., .........umm......"


...Eva's expression as she watched was charming in an impish sort of way.

However, the words being spun from her lips held within them the keenness of a razor.

Shannon tried with all her might to avoid Eva's gaze, which continued to stare at her.

Grasping that Shannon was hard-pressed for an answer, Rosa promptly gave some timely help.

: "They say that if silver is touched by poison, it dims. ...*giggle*, you've learned something, right, Shannon-chan?"

If the tea hasn't been tested for poison, it can't be drunk.

And better accomplices.

In Natsuhi's eyes, this was an insult to both the tea...and herself for serving it.

Rudolf, laughing flippantly, patted Eva's shoulder.


: "Wa-hah-hah-ha! Since I get to hear that poison-tongue every day, I must be poison-proof by now! I don't pay it much mind, but poor souls without resistance are in fer a stormy ride! Wah-hah-hah-ha!"

: "My, how cruel. I only gave Shannon-chan a bit of information about tea, didn't I? *giggle*."

Everyone followed the lead set by Hideyoshi's horselaugh and smiled, though sourly.

Only Natsuhi didn't join in, but for the time being, the conversation inside the parlor could now be mistaken for a lively and friendly chat.

Kyrie apologized to Shannon in a low voice for not being able to help as she finally finished setting the tea table and tried to leave.
...Shannon gave a light bow and made a hasty retreat......

And so we get our first glimpse of those ?spiteful genes? referred to in Hideyoshi's profile. Really it's less like genes and more like a contagion. Having the Ushiromiya surname gives anyone about a 50-60% chance of being some kind of terrible and fucked up.




: "Madam and Eva-sama can go to hell. ......But the even worse coward is that guy."

Kanon glared hatefully in the opposite direction of the parlor.


There was no way that a showoff like Gohda would ever hand over a flamboyant job like carting the tea to the guests in the first place.

He had ended up wasting time preparing the tea a second time.

So, knowing that he wouldn't be able to make it on time, he pushed the task of setting the table on Shannon, who happened to be passing by.

......One could say that cutting corners like this was an especially despicable kind of cowardice.

: "......It's alright, Kanon-kun, thank you. ...I really don't mind..."

: "................................."

Kanon's silence vividly showed that Shannon's words weren't coming from her heart.




: "..................What are you doing here? ...Shannon, hurry back to the kitchen."

: "Y, yes. ......If you'll excuse me......"

: "................................."

Shannon humbly obeyed and promptly made to push the cart and leave.
However, Kanon appealed to Genji in silence, bearing something in his eyes that he could not express in words.

"...............What is it? Did something happen...?"


: ".....................If that is all, then go."

"......Yes. ......If you'll excuse me."

From the shadows in the hallway, an old woman wearing an apron watched over them. It was Kumasawa...


: Until Gohda-san was taken in by the Ushiromiya head house, I heard he worked for a fabulous hotel somewhere.

I am...honestly not entirely certain if this is dialogue or not. It lacks the quotation marks, but it has accompanying VA, which other internal monologues don't get.

: I think the manner of work he learned there was quite something. It's just that...Gohda-san is the newest servant here. ...He must have a lot of pride accumulated from his previous posts.

The only explanation I can think of is that she's telepathically communicating with herself somehow and even that is stupid and makes no sense. And unless I'm forgetting something rather major, there's no indication that that's a thing she can do, so...

: Because Shannon-san and Kanon-kun are his seniors here at the mansion, and yet are inexperienced and have gone through much less in life than he has, he picks on them at every chance he gets... And also, ...although it's terrible, they are hated by Madam Natsuhi too...

So, a summary of the relationships so far. The rest of the head house and the cook hate Kinzo's favorite minions. The favorite minions hate the rest of the head house. The siblings all want to fight with the head house over the inheritance and succession. And Kinzo just kind of hates almost everyone.

They've barely been on the island an hour and already the cousins are basically the only ones who aren't actively scheming and nursing grudges yet.

: Of course, in terms of experience, Madam has been in the family much longer. It's only that, .........they are just not allowed to sympathize with her.


: ......Naturally, Madam's inner thoughts fully acknowledge that there's no reason to treat those two so harshly... ...However, the heart has reasons that reason knows not... Aah, I feel so sorry for them... I can't do anything but watch over them from the shadows......







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!"


...Um.

: "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."


So uh. Battler's two for two hitting on female cousins now. Maybe he missed the memo about this not being a dating sim.

Going to note for the record that he gets better about not doing that over time. And that the game is actually pretty good about not playing Maria for that particular type of creepy.

: "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."


Maria's sincere words probably spoke for everyone.

When George-aniki stroked Maria's head, she giggled like a happy kitten...

Is that even a thing kittens can do? This game is...not good at metaphors, sometimes.

: "......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.


: "...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?!?

And sticking with that earlier genre misunderstanding, he's aiming straight for the harem route already.


And here's our first offhand reference to Higurashi. The itchy lymph nodes are one of the major symptoms of Hinamizawa Syndrome, alongside paranoia, hallucinations, and a tendency to default to murder as a solution to perceived problems. And tended to result in the sufferer eventually tearing their throat open with their bare hands. Fun stuff! Groping had nothing to do with it, though, despite the main there being every bit as pervy as Battler.


.........W-well, that means that I really do get to touch them on that one-in-ten chance, though, right?

Ihihyahyahya, like I really expect that'd ever happen?!


...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......"


: "............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............I cannot obey your request. Because I'm furniture. ......But, ............if it's an order, I'll obey you. ...Because that is my duty."

To partially explain the furniture thing, Kinzo latched onto the idea that a good servant should be like living furniture and shoved that onto his personal servants, encouraging them to think of themselves as furniture and be complete doormats. There's a bit more to it, but that'll wait until later episodes.

: "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.


: "Yes, I've had the pleasure of serving this household for ten years."


...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.

As far as the Ushiromiyas are concerned, child labor laws are for the poor. ...Actually, make that child welfare laws in general.

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.


: "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-."


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!"


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.






: "............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."

They are literally palette swaps of each other. Seriously.

: "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 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.





If memory serves, on a fresh copy this portrait appears in the background when you choose episode 1 at the start menu. Unfortunately, I can't definitely confirm this at the moment, as whatever files contain the saves seem to be stored somewhere utterly unintuitive, and I'd rather not go through all the resets and language switches involved in uninstalling and reinstalling the game just to double check it.


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."


: "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.

I believe this update covers...damn near everything the game ever says about Kinzo's wife. Even within the backstory, she is just a complete non-entity. I don't think she even gets a name.

However, the woman in the portrait had beautiful blonde hair and didn't look Japanese at all.

Speaking of which. It's worth noting it's indicated down the line that the appearances of most of the characters as we see them aren't necessary what they ?really? look like. So while none of them really look Japanese (or like relatives, really, violating basic things like the laws of hair color genetics) as they are, they actually look like normal, realistic Asians. Probably. Supposedly. I'm not sure why the implication was even thrown in, since I don't think the author ever bothered to explain away shit like blue and green hair in Higurashi, but there it is.


: "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.


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.


Kinzo, on the other hand, encouraged them to go play in the forest alone. What the game never quite comes out and says is that there were originally about a dozen Ushiromiya kids. The four we see are just the ones the island didn't...cull.

.........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.

The Golden Witch of the episode titles herself. Does she really exist? Is she really hanging around invisibly watching Kinzo go insane? Will Battler try and feel her up too? All questions that will be answered in due time.


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?"


: "........................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.




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.






It's just barely visible in the sprite, but instead of wearing the Ushiromiya's one winged eagle somewhere on her like the bloodline members of the family and the other favored servants, Shannon has elected to mimic Eva and get it tattooed right onto her. And to then wear a skirt with a slit in it to show it off. And to top it off by having a sprite that...cuts off high enough that you can just barely see the head in the normal game.

I'm not entirely certain why it's not just in a more readily visible spot like...well, every other instance of that crest in the game.




And once again, the game randomly doesn't show the bio of someone we've already met, leaving out Natsuhi. And for anyone starting to suspect a pattern of it only adding people as Battler directly meets them, be assured that this is not in fact the case, making it all the weirder.

Next time: The family gathers for a pre-conference meal, the last member of the core cast is introduced, and Kinzo is a fucking lunatic. Mostly the last one.