[Wanderer]

Next installment.

It's not the final one as I predicted before. I wanted to go back and translate some of the "omitted" part that I have a source for (regarding Beatrice convincing Krauss and Natsuhi that the bomb is real); however, upon looking into it it was longer than I expected, so I'm postponing it for now. Also, what follows after the end of the story here is what we previously thought was the "intro" and "Dlanor's forward" (they're actually the epilogue; the cause for this confusion was that LyricalAura's original source had the relevant pages in the wrong order). I'll be doing some work with that, too.

However, this release is probably where the meat of the story is. Enjoy.

Spoiler for Discovering the crime scenes & the 4th Twilight.:

"Kanon-kun! Kanon-kun!! UwaaaAaaaaaaAaaaa!!"
"Jessica! Calm down!! Don't look! Don't come in!!" (Natsuhi)
"...Un... believable... Damnit......"
"With this... the suspicion that the servants might be culprits has been cleared up. ...Hasn't it, Natsuhi-obasan?"

George sends a cold glare at Natsuhi, who had suspected the servants and driven them from the guesthouse.

"How is it, Doctor Nanjo...?"
"...I can't tell the exact cause, but I can tell he's dead... One thing certain is that this isn't the fatal wound."

There was an awful wound on Kanon's knee, and a bloodied stake on the floor.
There's no doubt that the culprit pierced Kanon's knee.
But, it's hard to think that stabbing a knee would lead to death.
...He was probably killed another way, but Nanjo couldn't grasp what it was with a cursory examination.

"In any case, we should tread lightly at the crime scene, for the police.
If we carelessly disturb it it could hinder their investigation." (Nanjo)
"...I agree. We should probably not do anything more in this room...
More importantly, I'm concerned about the key to the VIP room that was inside the envelope." (Krauss)
"...I don't want to think about it... but the VIP room might also..."
"............Let's go see."
"...What is all this... If we hadn't driven them from the guesthouse......"
Krauss hangs his head and pulls at his hair.
"Sorry, Kanon... for not being able to trust you and the others... To be unable to trust in my subordinates... I have no right to stand above other people."

"Kanon-kun was staked in... the knee...?"
"Kihihihihihi. It's the seventh twilight. Gouge the knee and kill."
"......Which means... what about the forth, fifth, and sixth twilights? ...Doesn't it mean that at least 3 other people have already been killed...?"
"Ca, calm down George-aniki... We still don't know that for sure..."
"Kr, Krauss-ojisan, let's hurry to the VIP room!"
"R..right. But just a minute. We can't leave the broken window this way. Let's close the shutter..."
"Kanon-kun... Kanon-kun... ...Mom, can I at least... see his face one last time...?"
"I understand how you feel... but we won't disturb the crime scene any further. ...We have to leave it as is to insure they find the culprit.
So from now on just pray... for his happiness in the next world..."
"UUuUUuuuu..............."

And so they all head to the 2nd floor VIP room.
Then to Natsuhi's bedroom.
Then to the 3rd floor waiting room.
Meanwhile, Kanon quietly sneaks out of the guest room.
He's got master keys, so he can just leave strait out the door and then lock it.
Kanon's even got two master keys, so he can leave on behind in the guest room.
Of course there is a concern that after the epitaph murders are complete, the crime scenes will all be investigated again.
For that situation, so that Kanon's missing corpse won't create an inconsistency, the culprit will have to perform some action that takes Kanon's corpse away.
Kanon's disappearing corpse can become the trigger for another mystery.

Kanon heads towards the chapel, and there rendezvous with Shannon.
Then he gives his master key to Shannon.
"...Thank you. How was the assignment?"
"I was just sleeping. It was a lot easier than carrying sacks of fertilizer."
"Good work, Kanon. With this, your role is over." (Beatrice)
"...Thank you, Beatrice-sama. ...Bye, neesan. See you on the next game board."
"OK, see you on the next game board."
Beatrice waves her cane, and then Kanon's body sublimates into mist and disappears into her smoking pipe.

"Alright. So you are to decorate the last link of the closed room chain."
"Yes, I shall."
"I will grant you the forth twilight. It's a very merciful twilight."
"Thank you very much."

Beato and Shannon enter the chapel.
The gloomy, solemn chapel was engulfed in nothing but the sound of wind and rain.

"...Where would be good...?"
"How about behind the altar?"
"Understood."
Between the stained glass and the altar in front of it there was a crevice no more than 20cm wide.
The crevice was sufficiently deep.
Shannon had in advance prepared a metal dumbbell tied to a rope.
And then she carefully tested hanging and lowering the dumbbell into the crevice.
It went in with no problems. The weight of the dumbbell was ideal.

"How is it? Any problems?"
"No, it's fine. There are no problems."
Then let's start the stake make-up. It's pretty hard to stain your stake with real blood, after all.
She pulls some painting materials out of her bag.
It's the exact same stuff used in movies and the like.
And so she applied blood make-up to the end of the stake.

"A cinch. How are your preparations?"
"Yes, I'm ready."
Shannon tied a pistol to the end of the rope opposite to that of the dumbbell.
And then she carefully lowered the dumbbell into the crevice between the altar and the stained glass window.

The middle of the rope was caught against the corner of the altar.
Since the dumbbell was heavier than the pistol, as soon as she lets go, everything, gun and all, will be pulled into the crevice.

"Does it look like it'll fall in?"
"Yes. There are no problems."
"......Good."

Sannon hands the pistol tied to the rope to Beato.
And Beato hands Shannon the fake-bloodied stake.
Shannon gently presses the stake against her own forehead.
Beato also puts the pistol to Shannon's forehead, aligning it with the stake.

"You have no regrets?"
"...None. It is all as Beatrice-sama wills."
"It's too bad. ...If someone had solved the mystery of the epitaph... you would have finished alive.
"There's no way such an incomprehensible mystery could be solved. ...From the beginning it was a bet without any hope for success.
"Yet I still bet. ...because if the miracle were granted, it would truly be magic."
"......In this world of poison-filled humans, there is no magic nor miracles. ...Beatrice-sama, as the one true witch...
...you are the only existence that can bring magic to this world."
"That's right. ...I am the Golden Witch, Beatrice. Rest in peace. The next time you awaken, it will be in The Golden Land.
Your beloved George will also be there."
"...Thank you very much, Beatrice-sama..."

It was a weak sound but, inside the chapel where only wind and rain could be heard, there was a faint echo.
And Shannon was tranquilly looking up at the ceiling... then she suddenly collapsed like a puppet that had lost its strings.
Beato lets go of the pistol in her hand.
And when she does, the pistol, pulled by the heavy dumbbell, is swiftly swallowed up by the darkness of the crevice, disappearing with a heavy metallic clank.

All that's left in front of the altar is Shannon's body with a bloody forehead, and, strewn on the floor beside her, a stake for gouging sacrifices.

"...Indeed. This way it looks as though the stake came out of her forehead when she fell."
And with another wave of her cane golden butterflies took the shape of an envelope placed next to Shannon.
Inside was entrusted the first key, the key to the guest room.
And so the closed room chain is complete.
The five people all with the their master keys and the keys to each successive room, were all locked up in their own closed rooms.
With another wave of her cane, she leaves a letter inside the envelope.
It says something about Kanon's corpse being borrowed as another sacrifice for the ceremony.

And so they'll rush back to the guest room.
But at that time the guest room will have long been completely empty. They'll never be able to see the face of Kanon's corpse again.

"Okaay... with this, the epitaph murders are over. What d'you think, Battler? I hope you enjoy my mystery.
...Kukkukukuku, hahhahhahahahahahahahaha!!!"

For the story concerning the disappearance of Kanon's body, I'll attribute it to the already summoned Flauros.
Even after Kanon's death, his soul will battle against Beato and Flauros.
But it will be useless and he'll lose, and what's more is his corpse will be swallowed up by Flauros. Something like that.

And with that, this game's epitaph serial murder incident comes to a close.
All that's left is to rewrite it into a fantasy story with Flaurous as the culprit.

That's the end of "*Untitled* of the Golden Witch". What follows is the discussion between Dlanor and Beato that we used to think was the introduction, and then Dlanor's epilogue (previously misnamed Dlanor's forward).