Memory 14 (trivial positive)

[thinkoutsidethebox]

Seeing the portrait & epitaph, reasoning it's the test for succession, mocking Jessica [EP5]. Form of a small whistle shaped like a blackbird (baked in a pie). 3/4 uses remaining.

"Allow me to guide everyone to the guesthouse. Erika-sama, your room has also been prepared."
".........Thank you very much."
"Why not rest a bit? Are you sure you feel alright?"
"...That's right. I'd totally forgotten, but you nearly drowned and floated here, didn't you, Erika-chan? It's probably best if you take it easy today and get to bed early."
".........I'm perfectly fine. ......On the contrary, I'm so nervous and excited that I doubt I could get to sleep."
"Uu-uu-!! Then let's play, let's all play together! Play cards!"

Maria latched on to her, giggling.
This lack of restraint particular to youth was very much like Maria. ......However, we really should be worrying about Erika's physical condition now.
"Maria, why don't you play cards with us. Erika onee-chan is tired."
"......I like cards. Please let me join you after I've had a short break."
"Uu-uu-uu-!! All right!!"
"............Who is that?"
As she passed through the lobby of the entrance hall, Erika stopped walking......
When we saw what she was looking at, ......the rest of us also stopped.
"......Oh, that is the Golden Witch, Beatrice-sama."
"............The Golden.........Witch."
"What're you doing, brats? Head off back to the guesthouse right away."
Dad, Kyrie-san, Eva oba-san, Hideyoshi oji-san, and Rosa oba-san all came over.
The guesthouse party had all gathered.

However, Erika's gaze was captured by the portrait of the witch, and she simply stared at it for a while......
"......Yeah. Supposedly, Dad has a stash of hidden gold worth 20 billion yen, and the hiding place for that gold is written of on this epitaph."
Perhaps because it was too early for them all to disperse into their individual rooms, the relatives who had returned to the guesthouse all gathered on the first floor, continuing their chat.

The topic......was the witch's epitaph, which Erika had taken an interest in.
".........It really is a fascinating riddle. .........He stuck it out in a place where anyone could see it, challenging our intelligence. .........I love that kind of challenge."
"Whoa. You seem surprisingly interested, Erika-chan. Do you like solving riddles or something?"
"......Don't challenges like this seem interesting? ............It seems pretty clear that Kinzo-san wants to use that epitaph to choose his successor."
When she said that, the adults stopped moving, ......and slowly turned to face Erika...
"Why, .........do you think that...?"
Eva oba-san spoke with a coaxing voice.

......Though there had been whisperings between the relatives every now and then that the person who solved the epitaph's riddle might be given the family inheritance, ......that had been nothing more than wishful thinking, since such a thing had never been specifically stated.
And yet, though she had only read it once......this outsider had already reached that conclusion.

How had she come to it?
No, .........that's not the problem.

'If you solve the epitaph, you can become the next head'.
She wasn't trying to make it sound like wishful thinking......but an outright fact.

So they closed in around Erika, asking why she was so sure.
".........It's somewhat common for extremely rich people to relinquish their wealth to the person who solves a riddle. ......Furthermore, Kinzo-san didn't publish this epitaph in a newspaper, but displayed it in his mansion. That means the riddle is directed at the people in this mansion."
"You're right............Since it's inside the mansion, there's no way for someone who can't enter the mansion to solve it. ...So, that means Grandfather has been challenging the people in this mansion."
".........<Good>. Well thought. Just by the simple fact that the epitaph is inside the mansion, it's possible to figure out that much."
At first, this Furudo Erika girl had seemed to be the fairly silent type, ......but apparently, that wasn't the case.

When she grew excited about being challenged to a game of wits, she became much more talkative than I had imagined.
"I, I see...... Well, it does make sense that an epitaph inside a mansion would be there so the people in that mansion could read it......"
"But......can you really be so sure that the one who solves it will be given the headship too?"
".........If the treasure gained by solving the riddle were something small, I wouldn't even have considered that."
"That's right. The hidden gold is worth 20 billion. ......You could consider it the wealth of the Ushiromiya family itself."
"............Inheriting that would be almost completely the same as inheriting the Ushiromiya family itself. ...In other words, this riddle of the gold's hiding place buried within the epitaph is nothing less than a way of selecting the practical successor of the Ushiromiya family."
......The idea that the person who solved the epitaph would be chosen as the next head was something that had been floating around between a few of the relatives for a while now.

However, since that had never been stated specifically, it had been nothing more than an optimistic dream.

......Thinking this, they had decided to abandon all consideration of this point until it could be made clear.
Erika had clearly declared that this uncertain part was, in fact, true.
If one of the relatives had said it, people would have thought it to be merely an optimistic dream.

However, when Furudo Erika, a complete outsider, declared this, her words seemed more credible than they otherwise would have......
Everyone remained silent for a while, slowly considering what those words implied...
".........Simply by the existence of the epitaph in that place, this level of reasoning is possible for Furudo Erika. ......What do you think, everyone?"
"......S, sorry to butt in, but my father is the successor to the head. It doesn't matter who finds the gold, because just finding it doesn't make someone the head, right?"
Jessica thought the treasure-hunting part of the epitaph was really fun.

However, she couldn't help but let her expression grow bitter once they started talking about undermining her father's position...
"......By using deductive reasoning based upon my theory, it seems likely that Kinzo-san doesn't want the successor to the head, Krauss-san, to inherit that position very smoothly."
"Wh, why's that?!!"
".........Becoming the head of the Ushiromiya family, with all of the vast wealth it entails, would mean gaining a great deal of influence in a political sense. ......In that case, the succession must be overseen vigorously, without letting any element of chance creep into the equation."
"Th, ...that's right. ......It happens a lot in those stories about Sengoku period military commanders that my husband loves. When there are multiple candidates for the successor, it usually results in an internal squabble..."
"...That's right...... That's why it's important to clearly specify a successor, so that you can avoid any trouble. Sometimes, there's even a purge of all the competing successors."
Even the Sengoku commander Hideyoshi admired, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, made his son-in-law Hidetsugu commit seppuku, but it was rumored that he might have done this to make Hideyori, who was his real son and born after Hidetsugu, his true heir.
......In other words, naming a successor was a way to make it generally known that a single, unique person would be acknowledged by everyone as the successor, and a way to remove any chance of another person becoming an opposing candidate.
".........<Good>. That's exactly right. The only purpose for an epitaph like that would be to cast doubt on Krauss-san's position as successor to the head. In other words, if Kinzo-san wanted Krauss-san to become the head smoothly, he would have no reason to go out of his way and display something so dangerous for all to see."
"That's right. .........If you turn the chessboard over, you certainly could say that. It would be odd if he handed over the position of the head normally, but didn't hand over the 20 billion yen in gold except to the person who solves the riddle."
Kinzo would give up the title of head, but he would only give up the 20 billion yen in gold to the person who solved the epitaph.

......You really couldn't call this passing on the headship in the truest sense.
".........That's how it is. By this theory, we are able to doubt whether Kinzo-san truly acknowledged Krauss-san as his successor. ......Simply by the existence of the epitaph in that place, this level of reasoning is possible for Furudo Erika."
"......What do you think, Jessica-san?"
"Wh, ...what the hell's that?!! How do you call that reasoning?! That's bullshit!! It's screwed up!!"
Jessica let her emotions lay bare and glared at Erika.

...Erika, on the other hand, looked exceedingly calm with an expression that said 'Well, that's just the truth, right?'
.........I see. It looks like table manners aren't the only way this girl is fitting for the Ushiromiya family.

...It seems she really is like the family, ......even in ways that it would've been better if she wasn't...
"Well..., t, take it easy, Jessica.........And Erika, let's leave it at that for now."
"Well, umm, we can put all this about the successor to the side for now. In any event, there's no doubt that it's Father's big question for us. ......Wahahaha! It's 20 billion yen! Maria-chan, what would you use it for if you found it? Wahahahahahahaha!"
"......Uu-. The Golden Land isn't just gold. It's a more sacred place!"

Hideyoshi oji-san kept trying to force himself to chuckle and thereby force the mood to improve.

Everyone else tried to go along with that, but Jessica's mood didn't get any better.
"Ha, hahahaha. So, Erika-chan, would you like to have a go at the epitaph's riddle?"
"............Yes. My little gray cells are itching to get started. So I'd like to start solving as soon as possible."
George-aniki skillfully turned the conversation around.

Just like the time she had made everyone laugh in the dining hall, Erika looked about with gleeful eyes and jumped at the chance.
"*giggle*giggle*. I like it. .........Well, since Erika seems so interested, let's all try and solve it together, just like last year."
"I'll make some coffee. Raise your hand if you want some. Not for you, Maria! You won't be able to sleep...!"
"Uu-uu-!! Wanna drink black coffee!!"
"....................."
"......Don't they get you excited? Riddles like this. .........I love them."

Erika said that and smiled...

Even though she must have known that she'd ticked Jessica off and made the atmosphere sour, ......she just smiled nonchalantly...

This memory is most important because while Erika remembered the final solution to the epitaph puzzle, and the fact that murders were occurring according to it, she didn't remember the actual text of the epitaph (which is printed by Beatrice's portrait) yet. For reference, that is:

My beloved hometown, the sweetfish river running through it.
You who seek the Golden Land, follow its path downstream and seek the key.
If you follow the river downstream, you will find a village. In the village, look for the shore the two will tell you of. There sleeps the key to the Golden Land.

He who lays hand upon the key shall travel under the rules below.
At the first twilight, you shall lift up as sacrifice the six chosen by the key.
At the second twilight, those who remain shall tear apart the two who are close.
At the third twilight, those who remain shall praise my honorable name on high.
At the fourth twilight, gouge the head and kill.
At the fifth twilight, gouge the chest and kill.
At the sixth twilight, gouge the belly and kill.
At the seventh twilight, gouge the knee and kill.
At the eighth twilight, gouge the leg and kill.
At the ninth twilight, the witch shall be revived and none shall be left alive.
At the tenth twilight, the journey shall end and you should reach the village of gold.

The witch will praise the wise, and should bestow four treasures.
One shall be, all the gold from the Golden Land.
One shall be, the resurrection of the souls of all the dead.
One shall be, even the resurrection of the lost love.
One shall be, to put the witch to sleep for all time.

Sleep peacefully, my most beloved witch, Beatrice.