<< Previous Chapter
>> Next Chapter
^^ Index
Last time on the point-and-click adventures of Sakura Wars, we'd solved the great big "if you reflect 8 o' clock in the mirror, it becomes 4 o' clock!" puzzle and got a Small Key. This, in turn, can theoretically be used to unlock the door to the hidden room located between the Clocks Room and the Mirror Room, which is where the big spiritual thingamabum is located.
You guys get all that? Good. There IS one catch: why the fuck are we playing a point-and-click adventure game? This is a dating sim strategy RPG one key solves everything? It can't possibly be that easy. So instead of going to the Mirror Room, which indisputably contains the door to the hidden room...
We're tagging the third room first, because I feel like I've missed something.
[Ogami]
Let's try going to the living room. There might be some sort of clue there.
Put another way, "it's always the quiet, normal-looking ones who turn out to be psychotic."
----
[Ogami]
Story of my life.
----
[Sumire]
Might there be a trick here too, I wonder...?
----
[Ogami]
What're you talking about? Look, there's a chandelier, a fireplace, a table, a bunch of small things on the shelf, and ragged curtains over there-- and we're sitting smack-dab in the middle of an abandoned, possibly-haunted mansion.
[Sumire]
Your point, Ensign...?
[Ogami]
The entire damn room is positively screaming for a mysterious hidden mechanism of some sort to justify its very existence. If the architect's already gone to the trouble of implementing a mirrored clock puzzle, they wouldn't let this opportunity go.
[Ogami]
... it'd be like asking Iron Chef Italy to fill an order of pasta by cracking open a can of Chef Boyardee's.
[Sumire]
... I think I get your point, Ensign.
----
[Ogami]
True... any case, let's start poking around.
A quick glance at the door tells us...
[Ogami]
A door to the next room, huh...
[Sumire]
... it does not look like there is any trick to that door. Let us search someplace else.
... absolutely nothing.
And the table...
[Ogami]
It's just a normal table, huh... it doesn't seem like there's anything strange about it at all.
[Sumire]
... it seems so. It would have been nice if there had been something, but...
... is a total waste of time.
The fireplace looks promising, but--
[Ogami]
... there's nothing. It seems that there isn't even any evidence that any flames have been lit.
[Sumire]
That's true. I also thought that the fireplace might have been suspicious, but...
----
[Sumire]
No incriminating scraps of paperwork, no bones, and no bodies. Nothing that someone of this income bracket would normally burn.
[Ogami]
... what DO you uber-rich folks use to fuel your fireplaces?
[Sumire]
Paper money, orphaned babies, and the hopes and dreams of all the people that my family has crushed under its heel.
[Ogami]
Sumire-kun...
[Sumire]
Ha ha ha! Just kidding. We just burn money.
----
No dice. However, there IS something just above the fireplace.
[Ogami]
Hm...? There's some kind of box here?
[Ogami]
Hmm... it's covered in dust, but... it's pretty.
The game prompts the player to click on the box a second time.
Which, in turn, means that the player has to prod Ogami's brain a little more to make it realize that 1) any key item with its own CG is a damn important key item, and 2) actually OPENING the box might help. 
This really should have been a one-step process.
[Ogami]
A jewelry box, huh...
One of those infuriatingly famous-and-thus-completely-forgettable classical pieces starts to play, albeit at a very reduced volume.
But hey, at least the box didn't start spewing pea soup or something.
[Ogami]
Maybe... it's also a music box?
[Sumire]
However... there is something strange about it...
[Ogami]
Hmm...
None of these choices really seem to hit the--
Lotto.
The term "Bingo" hadn't actually been invented yet.
[Ogami]
This music box is... strange. It's playing music, even though... there's nothing inside.
[Sumire]
When you put it like that, it is quite true... Ensign, you have noticed this at the perfect time.
[Ogami]
Then... since there's nothing else here, this might have a trick to it.
----
[Sumire]
This box has been here for years, so it could be exceedingly fragile. We must be careful if we wish to solve this puzzle... Ensign, where do you think we should start--
[Ogami]
COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF FORCEFULLY-APPLIED VIOLENCE!
[Sumire]
E-Ensign, wait, don't--
----
CRUNCH.
[Sumire]
This is... the music box's cylinder!
[Sumire]
A mirror trick, is it... it was used in a fairly elaborate manner.
This music box's cylinder... it may be that it can be combined with the clocks' key, so...
See? There is something that looks like a keyhole on this end of the cylinder.
[Ogami]
Right... I'll give it a try. Let's see...
----
[Sumire]
E-Ensign, you just jammed the key up the cylinder's rear end.
[Ogami]
But it fit perfectly! See, there was a click.
[Sumire]
Something cracked, Ensign, I do not think that--
[Ogami]
Woohoo, we solved the puzzle! Let's bust this joint.
[Sumire]
But--
[Ogami]
Captain's orders, Sumire-kun, it's Miller time. Screw this point-and-click adventure, let's just go.
----
[Sumire]
Next... we have to actually find this door, don't we.
There is only one room left... the hidden chamber's door must be in the mirror room!!
[Ogami]
That's right. Okay... let's go have a look-see.
You'd THINK that putting a hormone-laden young man and a nubile young teenager woman in an abandoned mansion would be a PERFECT opportunity for a series of romantic or nigh-romantic escapades.
[Ogami]
Yeah... anyways, let's look around inside the room.
Since this is Sakura Wars, all we get is people getting really!! excited!! about solving a bunch of puzzles and following clues.
----
[Ogami]
S--
[Sumire]
NO, Ensign, you will NOT start cracking a slew of crass, bed-related jokes about the sexual conquests that two young people of opposite genders can embark upon.
[Ogami]
... jesus, Sumire-kun, I only wanted to comment on the dust.
[Sumire]
Uh.
[Sumire]
O-of course you were! Oh hoh, oh hoh hoh hoh!
----
[Ogami]
A bed, huh... it's really dusty.
[Sumire]
Perhaps there is a hidden passageway under this bed...
[Ogami]
Who knows... let's try moving it.
[Ogami]
Gh... it's... it's heavy!
[Sumire]
... it does not seem that they could have made a passageway under this bed.
The hidden room has to be on the other side of this room, anyway.
... I WOULD take this opportunity to ask why Sumire didn't actually bother to point this out in the first place, but for the fact that it's pretty obvious that she seems to enjoy watching Ogami sweat (and occasionally cry in anguish when he thinks that no one's looking).
[Ogami]
I see... that's certainly true.
[Ogami]
... Sumire-kun. This picture looks pretty valuable. Is it alright to just leave it here like this?
[Sumire]
... while it is true that this is a good picture, it does not have any particular value.
It is probably something that the owner of this mansion drew out of a hobby.
[Ogami]
I see... I think that it's still a pretty good drawing.
The Imperial Assault Force, Flower Division: Commenting On Your Interior Decor Since 1923.
[Ogami]
... what's this?
[Sumire]
It's... a hole. Has anything been placed into it, I wonder?
[Ogami]
Hmmm... I wonder what this hole was meant for.
...
If this story starts going Amigara Fault on me, I swear to god that I'm unplugging this PS2. 
[Sumire]
Ensign! It was undoubtedly meant for this key!!
If we insert the key into this hole in the mirror...
[Sumire]
See, just as I expected! It has opened up!!
[Ogami]
Right! Let's try going inside!!
----
[Ogami]
Never mind the fact that we're plunging straight into unknown and possibly hostile territory, where this unknown and possibly hostile spiritual energy lies waiting for us! I'm SURE it'll be completely and utterly safe!!
----
[Sumire]
Yes, let me see... I can certainly... sense a sad spiritual energy here.
[Ogami]
Huh... I wonder if there's anything here. But there are really a lot of books, huh...
[Sumire]
It appears to be a study of some sort. It must belong to the owner of the... hm? What is this?
[Ogami]
A picture of the family that lived here, huh...
[Sumire]
They were probably a very close family, I suppose... they look very happy...
Probably because they were rich enough to hire a photographer that WOULDN'T force them to stay locked in the same position for five hours while he twiddled with the lightning or the camera lens.
[Sumire]
Eh?
If you can have demons, spiritually strong beings, and steam-powered mecha all in the same setting, then a ghost or two can't possibly be that far-fetched. 
[Sumire]
Y, you are...
[Sumire]
I see... you have been waiting all this time, all by yourself...
[Ogami]
Sumire-kun...
This is one of those moments--
-- where it's best to keep your damn fool mouth shut and let the situation take its course.
[Ogami]
...........
[Sumire]
Her spiritual energy is becoming weaker... Ensign... please continue to remain quiet.
[Ogami]
Aah, I understand. I'm leaving this to you, Sumire-kun.
[Sumire]
You wanted to protect this house until everyone came back... yes... I see.
[Sumire]
It's alright... we shall protect this house for you...
So... you can go to where your father and everyone else are waiting.
... if you would be fine with me, I can come and play with you anytime. So... do not be lonely, okay?
[Ogami]
She left...
----
[Ogami]
I guess the thought of having YOU as an eternal playmate was enough to scare her off into the afterlife, huh.
[Sumire]
... that is NOT what happened, Ensign.
[Ogami]
I'll be YOUR playmate any ti--
[Sumire]
This is NOT a good time, Ensign!!
----
[Sumire]
Without realizing that she herself had passed away... she has been waiting for her parents this entire time...
[Ogami]
So that's how it was... it's somewhat of a sad story, huh...
----
[Ogami]
If they're anything like MY family, they'll probably be saying "what the hell took you so long, kid? Now sit your ass down or I'll tear your ears off."
[Sumire]
... you certainly know how to ruin an atmosphere, Ensign.
----
[Sumire]
Together as a family, with no one who will intrude... I believe that they will be living together happily.
[Ogami]
I see... she's surely happy right now.
----
[Sumire]
"However, this child... will not be bound by something like fate... I want to raise her as a normal child.
"And for that purpose... by my soul, I, as the head of our family, will form a spiritual barrier around this mansion.
"... as long as I, in sacrificing my life, can allow this child to grasp a normal happiness..."
[Ogami]
... so that's how it was.
[Ogami]
Sumire-kun...
[Ogami]
That's how much they loved her. Please try to understand... that and that alone.
[Sumire]
I understand... that is why I am calling them fools...
[Ogami]
Sumire-kun...
[Sumire]
Let us pick up that simple fool, Kanna-san, and return to the Grand Imperial Theater.
[Ogami]
Aah, I understand. Then... shall we be off?
<< Previous Chapter
>> Next Chapter
^^ Index