Section 14: Salieri END

...I've found them!

Hahaha, I remember these... Ahh, these bring back memories.

These are just the sort of pieces they would compose.

Unbelievably complex... Detached from the world at large...

And above all...elegant and beautiful.

I knew it. No reproduction could ever do these works justice.

Just as I suspected.

What are you doing here, detective?

Looking for something, just like you.

There's a certain high-ranking government official who's also a patron of the arts, you see, and he's been dying to get his hands on the court musicians' handwritten sheet music.

Despite my looks, I actually specialize in rock 'n' roll, so I had no way of knowing which was the sheet music I was asked to find.

So I decided to simply wait for you to find it for me.

You don't say... Does that mean you were the one behind these incidents?

I never wanted to kill Gabriela.

I just wanted someone to collapse so I would have an excuse to move about the mansion freely.

So when Salazar brought us our wine glasses, I added poison to one of them when I took mine.

I never expected her to pick the poisoned glass. What a truly unlucky woman she is.

So you had no intention of killing her, huh. Then how do you explain Salazar and Vargas's deaths?

Ah yes, that was quite careless of me.

Salazar happened to find me while I was ransacking the storehouse...

...so I had no choice but to dispose of him.

Soon after, Vargas came by looking for Salazar...so I likewise had to dispose of him.

I was fortunate that he turned his back on me.

So you made it look as though the two of them killed each other. You're a monster.

So now what? Are you going to kill me, too?

Is that what you think of me? How disappointing.

Killing is strictly a means to an end. I prefer not to do it at all when it can be avoided.

I'm perfectly willing to let you go as long as you give me all the sheet music.

...I don't suppose you'd give me time to think it over, would you?

What's there to think about?

That moldy old sheet music was written by musicians who never accepted you.

If anything, I would think you'd want to be rid of it forever.

What would you know!?

Simón, Fernando, David, Aurelio... Don't run your mouth when you clearly have no idea what exceptional talents they were!

Even if their art had stagnated and was out of touch with the rest of the world...this place was everything to me.

(Sigh) Now look at the mess you've made... It's going to take me forever to gather them all up again.

Still, that was clearly a refusal of my offer, so...I trust you've made your peace with dying as well?

Please. I knew a monster like you would never let me go.

My, my, we have some trust issues, I see.

You might be one of the best in your field, but it seems you still have a lot to learn about psychology.

Fire!?

What have you done!?

If you want the music, all you have to do is put the fire out.

Help me, you fool! Before the whole mansion goes up in flames with it!

So what if it does? It's no concern of mine.

Dammit, why won't it go out!? Ah!

Aah, I'm on fire! Aaaaaahhh!

You fool. You could have survived if you'd only given up on the sheet music.

That said, it looks like I've doomed myself as well.

Uncle? What have you done!?

Is that you, Elise?

This is as far as I go. Whatever you do, don't come in here yourself.

What are you, nuts? I'm going to go get help!

Don't! They'll never be able to put out the fire in time, anyway.

You need to escape with everyone else before the fire spreads.

But...

We still have some time before that happens. There's something I need to tell you.

The revolution happened two days after I was kicked out of the palace. I was...delighted by my good fortune in that respect.

All at once, everyone who had mocked my ability was dead. My revenge had been carried out by fate itself.

At the time, I thought that the last one standing was the winner, regardless of the circumstances.

I vowed to make the most of my new lease on life and go down as one of this nation's most popular musicians.

Now, ten years later, no one can deny my success.

But...no matter how much the masses praised my music, it never filled the hole in my heart.

If anything, the more songs I wrote, the louder I could hear the other palace musicians sneering at me.

...Look, Uncle, I've always been too embarrassed to tell you this, but I love your songs! They're wonderful!

Of course they are. That's because I was copying my favorite works.

Copying? What do you mean?

The music played at the palace was always too dull and difficult for the masses to enjoy it.

So I used their compositions as the base for songs that were easier to listen to... I wasn't writing my own music, I was translating theirs.

I'm sure they would have laughed at me if they had still been alive. Even I can only hear a crude imitation of their work whenever I listen to one of my compositions.

But that's all right. No matter how much I despised them, I loved their music more than anyone.

It would seem this is goodbye.

There's no need to grieve for me, Elise.

I should have died that day ten years ago... The day I lost the only place in which I truly belonged.

My talent may be counterfeit, but yours is genuine. You'll be just fine without me.

What are you saying, Uncle!? Are you stupid or something!?

Just make sure to do something about that foul mouth of yours. I won't be able to shield you from the consequences any longer, after all...

Uncle!!!

It's you... Simón... Fernando... David... Aurelio... Are you all here to laugh at me?

Well? Go on then, don't hold back. If you've got something to say to me, it is now or never. I always hated the way you guys never said things to my face.

But just so you know, I can write a song just as good, if not better than any of yours now...

So first...you'd better play me...one of yours...