Safely at the guest house

It was a little hard to see through the darkness in the rain, but not that hard. If Kumasawa can do it at her age, we should be able to do it with no problem. In no time at all, we'd reached the guest house, a short walk away from the mansion itself.

I didn't see Shannon, nor Kanon, when we entered, but that was okay. The story's overpopulated with characters as it is. Ah, do not worry- I don't plan on killing any off. That's beyond me, anyways, as a man of love.

"Your rooms are upstairs. I'd make a pot of coffee, but these old bones don't need to stay up any later... I'll leave that to the younger folks. Unless you were wanting one, Mister Player?" Kumasawa offered. I declined. "Before I forget... One room is set aside for Battler, George, and Jessica. The second room is where Maria is staying. I hope that you and your assistant won't mind staying there and keeping her company when she goes to sleep... We'll rest easier knowing there are adults with her, until Rosa gets back."

I thought to myself that this old servant had a bit of nerve, saddling us with caring for Maria instead of doing it herself, but I conceded that she was probably looking forward to going to sleep immediately in the servant's quarters, and that furthermore, Kanon and Shannon would be around to summon as servants if we needed assistance. I agreed to Kumasawa's suggestion, but requested she make some tea all the same.

"You're giving the servants orders? You fit in like you live here..."

Ha... I suppose I do, really. Of course, I didn't really need any tea, but the fewer people upstairs, the easier it would be to work my magic, so to speak. Now I'll just sneak upstairs with Gretel before everyone else gets situated... It's going to be a bit tough to have any fun here with such a crowded house, but-

"Player, Player! I hope you'll join me for just a moment. I couldn't talk at the conference, but actually, having a folklorist here on Rokkenjima is thrilling! And a handsome foreigner too, ho ho ho ho ho...!" Kumasawa beckoned from the kitchen. "Why not join me for a little while, before I sleep, and learn all about the mysteries of Rokkenjima...? This is a land of witches and demons, after all. No one is more qualified to tell you about them than me, yes!"

... Shit. This isn't the kind of encounter I'm looking for. Something told me that once Kumasawa started talking about Rokkenjima's many supernatural events, she'd probably go on for a while. I love you, Kumasawa, but this is my story to tell, not yours...! Part of me wanted to leave Gretel here to deal with her while I tried to seek out Shannon and get something started, but there was no way for me to simply leave the story's second primary observer like that. How was I going to get around this?