Legend of the Golden Witch

In, events will unfold similarly to those of a mystery novel, but the issue in question is not quite the same as the traditional "find the culprit" narrative. In this case, the question is, "does the witch exist or not?"

When it comes to mystery-suspense stories, the distinction between an occult tale and a mystery tale is a major one. However, because the answers to virtually all stories in this realm follow boilerplate mystery tropes, readers are able to pigeonhole what is presented.

Characters
In Legend of the Golden Witch, the Ushiromiya family is first introduced along with many of their servants.

The Ushiromiya Family

 * Kinzo Ushiromiya
 * Krauss Ushiromiya
 * Natsuhi Ushiromiya
 * Eva Ushiromiya
 * Hideyoshi Ushiromiya
 * Rudolf Ushiromiya
 * Kyrie Ushiromiya
 * Rosa Ushiromiya
 * Jessica Ushiromiya
 * George Ushiromiya
 * Battler Ushiromiya
 * Maria Ushiromiya

Servants

 * Genji Ronoue
 * Toshiro Gohda
 * Chiyo Kumasawa
 * Shannon
 * Kanon

Witches

 * Beatrice
 * Bernkastel

Other

 * Terumasa Nanjo

Endroll
The storm passed, and the leaden clouds that enshrouded the island for so long cleared away. From rifts between clouds sun beams shone, and yesterday's storm seemed like a lie. In the harbour, according to someone's wish, the seagulls returned once again and let their lively cries be heard. Afterwards, an inspection of the crime scene was performed by the policemen who came.

The corpses of the children who were thought to have survived until the end were not found after all, but from the pieces of the corpses that were found in that unimaginably gruesome crime scene, the police had no choice but to conclude hopelessly that the lives of all of the eighteen people, including the children, were lost... how gruesome was the feast of the Witch? Thus, how beautiful the Golden Land is, is a tale that can only be told by them... there are no tales to tell to those who came after the feast had ended. They can only imagine what happened during those two days.

However, the Witch was fickle.

She did not bother herself to hide this tale that had no need of telling, and she allowed its transmission.

Then, many years later.

A strange wine bottle that had drifted on the waves to the pier of a neighbouring island was pulled out by a fisherman. Inside it was a thin, tightly rolled notebook fragment, written upon in crammed small letters.

That was... this tale.

People will know for the first time, through this notebook fragment, the enigma of the mystery-enshrouded October the 4th 1986, and the truth of those two days filled with strangeness.

This incident was later called "The Rokkenjima Mass Murder Incident", "The Rokkenjima Eighteen Murders" or such, but connoisseurs of the world came to refer to it as "The Witch's Legend Serial Murders Incident".

People who delved in the occult claimed that it was the aftermath of an corrupt ritual that had sealed the island, and spread the two days filled with mystery embellished and twisted beyond recognition through each and every person's interpretation. However, even with all their interpretations, they will not be the ones to reach the truth of this incident. And even though the notebook fragment in the wine bottle will tell of this incident filled with mystery, it won't be telling it with the truth. That's right, perhaps not even the writer of the notebook knew the truth.. it's possible that she wanted to know the truth.

According to the name written down, her name is Ushiromiya Maria. Furthermore, as the result of an all-out police investigation, concerning Maria, a body part, a piece of her jaw was found. It was a precious instance where they managed to identify the owner of a body part through dentist medical records.

Since in that gruesome situation there were countless body parts whose ownership or even provenance couldn't be determined, it can probably be said that this jaw was an extremely fortunate piece. The police, since the piece of jaw was damaged, and even though no other parts were discovered nor identified, judge it is hopeless to believe any are still alive. And so, let us tie this tale to the last sentence of the notebook fragment that Ushiromiya Maria left.

"By the time you have read this, I will probably be dead. The only difference will be whether there is a body or not. You who have read this. Please find out the truth. That's my only wish." —— Ushiromiya Maria

-- The truth of "The Witch's Legend Serial Murders Incident" has not been brought to light even today.