Template:Infobox/LightNovelVolumeLegend of the Golden Witch Vol. 1 is the first volume of Natsumi Kei's manga adaptation of the Legend of the Golden Witch arc. It is the first overall volume of the manga series.
Publisher's Summary
Japanese
この島にいるのは18人？ 年に一度の親族会議のため、六軒島を訪れた右代宮一族。台風により閉ざされたこの島で、次々に起こる不可解な事件。浮かび上がる19人目の存在、魔女ベアトリーチェ。連続殺人幻想「うみねこのなく頃に」、ここに開幕――…。
Yen Press
Each year, the Ushiromiya family gathers at the secluded mansion of its patriarch, the elderly Kinzo. It has been six years since Battler joined his cousins at the annual event, but their happy reunion is overshadowed by worsening weather and an eerie premonition from his youngest cousin—not to mention their parents’ feud over the inheritance. Battler doesn’t hold much stock in dark omens, nor does he believe the tales of the witch rumored to have given his grandfather a fortune in gold…and who walks the halls of the mansion to this day… But when the eighteen family members and servants are trapped on the island by the raging typhoon, the grisly events that follow leave Battler shaken to his core. Is one of his relatives desperate enough to kill for the family fortune? Or is this the work of the Golden Witch?
Chapters
Prologue
The cover of Prologue
A very brief recount made in Battler's point of view.
The stage is Rokkenjima of the Izu Islands. For the sake of their annual family reunion, the Ushiromiya family gathers at that place.
A reunion filled with six years of nostalgia. We talked about fun things to bury away the empty time. And it would have continued...
Until one letter was delivered that drove everything into chaos...
The legend of the Golden Witch passed down in Rokkenjima. The shadows of unrest start to drift in...
A new tragedy opens the curtains.
Chapter One: Rokkenjima
The elderly head of the Ushiromiya family, Kinzo asks the attending physician Nanjo how long he still has left before he dies. Nanjo does not give an answer and Kinzo shouts that he should not die yet until he sees Beatrice's smile once more.
In October 4, 1986 at 10:00 AM the families of Eva, Rudolf and Rosa are headed to Rokkenjima by boat. The story is told in Battler's point of view and throughout the chapter introduces his cousins. As soon as the passengers arrived at Rokkenjima, Battler's cousin, Jessica makes fun of him for being unable to handle shaky transportation. Battler tried to grab her breasts who punches him in retaliation. His nine-year-old cousin Maria consoles him and Battler tells her that when she grows up he should feel her breasts. Again, Jessica punches Battler for his perverted behaviour. Jessica and and their cousin George tells Maria she should not keep such promises. Later on, Maria notices the shrine has gone missing. Battler suggests that the shrine either weathered down or a wave knocked it down. However the servant Kumasawa suggests that a giant lightning bolt destroyed the shrine and the event was considered to be bad luck by the local fishermen. At this point, Maria started to act strange and said that bad luck is coming. Battler thinks that she was probably talking about the upcoming typhoon announced by the news. Kumasawa then says that unlike the rest of the group, Maria is able to sense the supernatural and begins to talk about the witch of Rokkenjima, only to be told by Jessica to stop. Battler becomes uneasy about the topic, and so does Jessica and George, but Maria seemed to be excited. Meanwhile the meeting between the siblings have begun.
Chapter Two: The Legend of the Witch
Before the meeting between the siblings, at 10:30 AM, Battler notices that the seagulls aren't crying as the newly arrived guests approach the stairs. Maria has also began acting normal again. Maria asks Jessica where the seagulls could have gone, to which she answers that the seagulls might have met somewhere else. Battler jokes that maybe she roasted and ate them all. George corrects them and says that they must have sensed bad weather and returned back to their nests. George then asks Jessica about their grandfather's condition, to which she replies that he is doing fine and is lively as ever. George then says that maybe someone should take care of him, to which Jessica complains about their grandfather's anti-social behaviour and his hobby. As they reached the top of the stairs, everyone complimented on how beautiful the rose garden is. Maria then notices a withering rose which George marked by wrapping a candy wrapper around it. Jessica then calls out to the servant Kanon who was carrying sacks of fertilizers. Because Jessica called out to him, he got distracted and dropped the sacks drooped from the wheelbarrow. Battler helps him out and is introduced to the servant by Jessica. Battler tells Kanon that he shouldn't be too polite, since they are close in age, to which Kanon replies that he is only furniture. Kanon then continues his errands and Jessica tells Battler that he was just a bit shy. Then as the adults were about to go to the mansion, Battler was made to carry their baggages, much to his chagrin, but George decided to helped him and the cousins headed for the guest house. As this was happening, Kanon looks at Battler from afar with a melancholic look on his face, muttering "Even I...".
Battler is amazed that a structure such as the guest house was built during the period he had no contact with the Ushiromiya family. He points out how Jessica, Maria and George had grown. He then asks George about marriage which flustered George. As Battler continues to ask George about the person he was going to marry, the servant Shannon arrived informing the cousins that lunch had been prepared. Battler is then told that Kanon was Shannon's younger brother. Battler was surprised at how mature Shannon had become attempts to grope her breasts. He was surprised at how Shannon was allowing him do as he pleased that he accidently touched her breast, to which Jessica punched him for his behaviour. Shannon was then told by the cousins that if Battler were to touch her breasts again, she should slap him. At first, she refused, telling that she has no right since she was furniture, but when told by George that it is an order, she complied. When the television show that Maria was watching had ended, a news broadcast informs them that a typhoon would arrive at the Kantou Region and would last from evening to night.
The cousins then followed Shannon to the Ushiromiya Mansion. Battler is excited, since he was told by Jessica that the one making the meals once worked at a hotel. As they walk in the corridor of the mansion, Battler notices the portrait. He asks who it was, since it was the first time he has seen it and was told by Maria that it was Beatrice. George adds that it was painted a year ago and Shannon told him that it was a portrait that Kinzo had asked a painter to create. Battler is then told that it was a portrait of Rokkenjima's witch, which made him feel uneasy.
Chapter Three: The Golden Witch
During lunch Battler asks what Kinzo is doing, since he has not shown up yet. Meanwhile, Krauss knocks on Kinzo's door calling out to him that today is the day of the family conference, which annoyed Kinzo. He then asks for Genji to have him prepare the magical sake of wormwood. Krauss left to join the others for lunch announcing that Kinzo won't be joining them. Jessica remarks on how Kinzo is more devoted to the witch than his family. As she said this Battler remembers on how his father Rudolf would scare him about the legendary witch when he was still a child. He then tells himself that there is no way that witches exist. Hearing his remark, Maria begins throwing a tantrum on how Beatrice exists. George then calms her down. Krauss then begins to welcome Battler as he is the guest of honour, having returned to Rokkenjima after six years. Everyone then begins to have a conversation on how Battler has grown. Natsuhi also adds that Battler has inherited Kinzo's physique. When talking about his perverted behaviour on how it is similar to his father's, Maria says that she would let Battler feel her breasts when she grows up, much to Rosa's surprise and making Rudolf pull Battler's ears in a comical fashion. In the midst of the conversation, Kyrie brings up Battler's upcoming exams and asks him on how he is doing in his studies. Krauss also brings up the fact that Jessica also has upcoming exams and asks the same of her. Jessica then tells her father to shut up and Natsuhi tells her to correct her language. Jessica complains on how exam stories are boring.
Battler then asks who is the man sitting in the designated seat of Maria's father. Jessica tells him that he is Doctor Nanjo, Kinzo's attending physician. Battler shares food with Maria and comments on how good the food is. Battler is then introduced to Gohda, the chef who cooked the meals after hearing his comment. Then desert was brought to the family by Shannon. Battler and Rudolf began to sweet talk with her, with Jessica teasing Battler to how similar he is to his father, much to his dismay. Battler asks Shannon what is being served and Eva asks what the brand of the black tea was. Unable to answer their questions, Eva begins humiliating her to which Natsuhi gives Shannon the cue to leave. Kumasawa then surprises Battler answering his question. When Shannon left the dining hall, Kanon tells her not to be depressed and the ones to blame were Natsuhi and Eva for treating her like an enemy and Gohda for cooking the meals being served, having been responsible for indirectly humiliating her.
Chapter Four: The Golden Epitaph
Before the storm arrives, Battler, George, Jessica, Maria, and Shannon enjoy a picnic on the beach of the island. Maria, infatuated with the mystery and the possibility of a witch on the island, recites The Witch's Epitaph from her notebook. Maria excitedly exclaims that the epitaph is the hiding place for Kinzo Ushiromiya's gold. The five analyze the epitaph in an attempt to figure out where the treasure is hidden. They consider the treasure could be hidden in Odawara if one follows the river called Hayakawa, as that is where Kinzo is originally from. After coming to the more disturbing part of the epitaph, they are confused at why and how death and resurrection would be available for such a ritual. Battler explains his suspicion in how the gold was even obtained in the first place, as Kinzo says that he is a sorcerer and has traded his soul for it via the Golden Witch Beatrice. Maria, believing in magic, yells in defense of witches and Beatrice. Realizing that he had upset Maria, Battler apologizes. Shannon shares some ghost stories of Beatrice spread by the servants: she comes out of the portrait and glittering butterflies are found in the hallways. Maria takes this as more evidence that witches exist. Playing into her interests, George asks Maria if she can protect Battler and Jessica from the witch. Maria complies and gives each of them a scorpion charm, as they can block evil. She explains that putting them on a person's wrist will calm them and putting them on a doorknob will stop evil spirits from entering.
The wind picks up, as the cousins run back to the Guesthouse. Shannon is no longer with them. Maria is afraid that her rose will be blown away by the typhoon, so she insists that the four look for it. She points them to where it was, but it is no longer there. Maria insists that it is still there and demands that everyone search for it. When she realizes it is gone she freaks out, but still insists it's there. Rosa Ushiromiya approaches them and she sees that maria is upset. She agrees to help look for it and asks Maria to stop saying her signiture "uu-uu." After searching, she suggests that someone must have picked the rose. Maria, more upset, continues to cry out "uu-uu-," in response Rosa slaps her child. Maria falls to the ground crying and making the same sounds. Rosa, hearing this again, goes to slap her once again, but is stopped by Battler. In an attempt to justify herself she snaps that Maria is made fun of and doesn't have friends because she makes that sound constantly. Battler is shocked in what he is seeing, but George pulls him away saying the issue is between Rosa and Maria. Rosa returns to the Mansion, as Maria stays on the ground, crying, in the typhoon winds, looking for her rose.
The typhoon's rain starts to fall. Seeing this, Kinzo throws his proof of headship, his ring, into the dark as the start of the ritual. He cries as he wishes to see her smile once more, and will risk everything to revive her.
A person in a similar silhouette to Beatrice in the portrait appears next to Maria with an umbrella. The cousins only now realize Maria is not inside. They thought she had gone with Rosa to the mansion, but Kanon did not see her there, and Rosa thought she was with Battler. All of them, scared for Maria, run back into the Rose Garden to find her. They eventually find her on the ground with an umbrella, verbally ruminating over how she couldn't find her rose. Rosa hugs Maria and apologizes for being a bad mother.
Once inside, in the dining room, they realize they don't know how Maria got the umbrella she was found with. She insists she borrowed it from Beatrice. Everyone denies that they let her borrow an umbrella from them. Maria once again verifies that it was Beatrice that let her borrow the umbrella.
Chapter Five: Letter from a Witch
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Gallery
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