Confession of the Golden Witch

Confession of the Golden Witch
WriterRyukishi07
Arc TypeExtra
Chapters3
ReleasedDecember 22, 2014
Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chronology
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Confession of the Golden Witch is a manga-only arc contained within the Twilight of the Golden Witch manga. It follows the life of Sayo Yasuda and the days leading up to the Rokkenjima massacre. Confession is also the only story wherein Sayo directly appears without any form of disguise.

Plot

Sayo Yasuda starts to write down a confession regarding the Rokkenjima massacre. The confession begins by describing Sayo's youth at the Fukuin House and the abuse suffered at the hands of the other servants. Being unable to make friends with the other servants, Sayo instead opted to invent imaginary friends to be with. First, Sayo creates Gaap and the first incarnation of the witch Beatrice. Sayo uses these imaginary friends as justifications for any of Sayo's mistakes or wrongdoings at the Fukuin House. This is reinforced by Chiyo Kumasawa and Genji Ronoue, senior servants under the Ushiromiya family who act unusually friendly towards Sayo. After some time, Sayo meets Battler Ushiromiya, a child who visits the island of Rokkenjima during the annual Ushiromiya family conferences. Sayo falls in love with Battler and Battler promises to one day take Sayo away on a white horse. After Battler leaves the island, Sayo vows to improve and become Battler's ideal wife. However, Battler does not return for the family conference the following year due to a situation regarding his father, Rudolf Ushiromiya. Furthermore, he does not return to Rokkenjima at all for six years. This leads Sayo to believe Battler had forgotten his promise, causing Sayo to suffer the loss of first love. While continuing to pine for Battler's return, Sayo notices that, while the other servants are experiencing their first periods and had begun to grow larger breasts, Sayo did not experience this development. The lack of any womanly development began to inspire a great deal of body dysmorphia within Sayo. As a way of coping with lack of puberty, Sayo instead begins to dress in boy's clothing and forms the character Kanon. After convincing Kumasawa and Genji to go along with this ruse, Kanon appears as a new servant at the Fukuin House who generally acts rough towards the others. At the same time, Sayo continues to perform the same duties as before in order to give the illusion of Kanon and Sayo being separate people. One day, while attending to Kinzo Ushiromiya, Sayo spills a hot liquid and has to remove all footwear in order to treat the wound. During this time, Kinzo notices a scar on Sayo's left foot. He subsequently takes a greater interest in Sayo's development. Furthermore, Sayo begins to develop a deep friendship with Jessica and Maria Ushiromiya. In addition, Sayo begins to fall in love with George Ushiromiya and is finally able to move on from Battler's abandonment. This is described as the happiest part of Sayo's life. However, on November 29, 1984, Sayo attempted to solve the witch's epitaph inscribed under the large portrait of Beatrice in the Ushiromiya manison. After solving the epitaph, Sayo discovers Kinzo's hidden gold. After learning about this, Kinzo breaks down in front of Sayo, who is dressed similarly to Beatrice, and begs Sayo to call him "father." After Sayo does so, Kinzo cries out that he has no more regrets in life and subsequently dies. Kumasawa, Genji, and Terumasa Nanjo reveal to Sayo that, after Kinzo's death, Sayo is the new head of the Ushiromiya family. They reveal the truth about Sayo's birth: Sayo was born after Kinzo raped his daughter, Beatrice Ushiromiya. Thus Sayo is the result of incest and is both Kinzo's child and grandchild, originally named Lion Ushiromiya. Furthermore, in an attempt to cover up Kinzo's actions, Genji asks Natsuhi Ushiromiya to accept Sayo as her own child. Natsuhi refused and accidentally pushed the servant carrying Sayo off of a cliff. Despite surviving the fall, Sayo's abdomen and genitals were severely mutilated. Genji proves this is all true by pointing to the scar on Sayo's left foot: that scar is the remnant of a surgery underwent to get rid of Sayo's polydactyl toe, a trait shared by Kinzo himself. After learning the truth, Sayo breaks down.

Shortly afterwards, Sayo is made to cover up Kinzo's death in order to hide the fact that Krauss Ushiromiya has been embezzling funds from Kinzo's estate. Being forced to keep Kinzo's death a secret caused Sayo even more stress. One day, while talking with Jessica, Sayo is teased about hanging out with George. Jessica accuses Sayo of being George's girlfriend and then asks if Kanon has a girlfriend. Sayo claims that Kanon doesn't have a girlfriend and later enters into a relationship with Jessica while disguised as Kanon. After some time, George begins talking about marrying Sayo. Sayo becomes overwhelmed with a desire to tell George the truth, especially considering George's desire to start a family. Internally, Sayo's conflicting personalities fight over who of them, if any, has the right to love and be loved. Amidst this internal conflict, Natsuhi informs Sayo that Battler will be returning for the upcoming family conference. This news brings back Sayo's old feelings towards Battler and further complicates the circumstances surrounding Sayo's feelings of love. Sayo's mind reaches a breaking point and, having become disgusted with everyone other than Jessica, George, Battler, and Maria, Sayo vows to destroy Rokkenjima using the military warheads underground that were left over from World War II.

Sayo begins to craft several elaborate possible outcomes for the destruction of the island. In all instances, Sayo desires to commit suicide while also eliminating the Ushiromiya family. Sayo reflects on hatred felt for the Ushiromiya family; Sayo hates Kinzo for raping Beatrice in the first place, hates Krauss for embezzling the family's funds, hates Natsuhi for pushing Sayo off of a cliff, hates Eva and Hideyoshi for interfering with George's future, hates Rudolf and Kyrie for causing Battler to leave the family, hates Rosa for abusing Maria, hates Genji and Kumasawa and Nanjo for assisting Kinzo in covering up the truth of Sayo's birth, and hates Gohda for working with Natsuhi. In Sayo's increasing delusions, Sayo sees the vast number ways of massacring the family as a kaleidoscope of possibilities and sees this as an ascension to a witch's power. Sayo's ascension to the position of witch is granted by another witch, Lambdadelta who offers to become Sayo's guardian. In a short moment of clarity, Sayo realizes that the certain destruction of the Ushiromiya family isn't really what Sayo wants. However, Sayo cannot stop from carrying out the planned massacre. Hoping for a miracle, Sayo leaves in a clause for the massacre: if someone discovers the truth that Sayo is behind the massacre, Sayo will instantly stop and give in. Having finished writing, Sayo puts copies of the confession into several different bottles, each containing a description of one potential way the massacre could play out. As the personality of the witch Beatrice takes over, Sayo wishes for an end to all the suffering and prays for a miracle.

Characters

The Ushiromiya family

Servants

Witches and Demons

Other

Media

Chapters

Trivia

  • Sayo establishes three rules meant to govern the ensuing killing spree:
    • Rule X - The accomplice is different every time. The adults are all in financial trouble. It is easy to bribe them.
    • Rule Y - Lies agreed upon by everyone can be depicted as actually happening. In a locked room situation, anything goes. People who observe the golden butterflies are either accomplices or dead. Those who were not bribed can only see the golden butterflies in the timespace of 30 minutes before their death.
    • Rule Z - Please, somebody stop me. I don't wish for "certainty." Since I want it to be solved by you, I will not push you too much. Be it winning and dying together with everyone or losing by having it all be solved, both are an outcome I desire.
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