Isa's room was diagonally across from Leon's, and the two opened their doors almost at the same time.
"Oh, brother-in-law, you came out right on time. Looks like you're pretty passionate about this game too," The red-haired beauty smiled playfully, arms crossed, leaning against the door frame.
"Mainly because of Rossweise," Leon said.
Isa raised an eyebrow, "Why? Is your game task to win alongside Chef Rose, then fly away together with the Black Holy Stone?"
"No, sis, this isn't just a game, it's a competition."
Leon said seriously, "And I will win every match against Rossweise."
This was indeed another reason why Leon was so eager to participate in the game.
Aside from fulfilling his promise to Claudia and bringing his daughters along for family bonding, he also wanted to crush that silver-haired mother dragon in this game.
He wanted to let her know just how terrifying Leon Casmodeous, free from his wheelchair, truly was.
"...Is your married life always filled with this kind of rivalry?"
Leon blinked and thought back on his love-hate marriage life with Rossweise, then replied, "Yes."
Isa chuckled, "Well, then do your best."
With that, Isa stepped out and walked toward one side of the corridor.
"Sis, where are you going?"
Isa waved her arm without turning back to Leon, "Of course to find clues and complete tasks."
Just now, the card paper in the box did mention something about the rules of "tasks." Combining that with what Isa said, it wasn't hard to deduce that each player likely had different main tasks.
For example, Leon's main task was "hide the Black Holy Stone and survive three days."
Based on that, the other seven people's main task was likely something like "find the Black Holy Stone within three days through various clues and catch the thief who stole it."
Leon looked at Isa's back and muttered softly, "Seems like this won't be as easy as I thought."
He had experienced his eldest sister's cunning before.
Back when Rossweise was pregnant with Little Light, the couple went to Sky City to attend a store's event. The prize was a jade dew dragon fruit, good for pregnancy and calming the spirit.
Isa had mixed in with the participants and ended up defeating Leon in the "I have, you don't" game segment.
So this time… with even more complicated game rules, that Red Dragon Queen would probably handle it with ease.
Leon shook his head and pulled his thoughts back.
He should go look for useful clues as well.
Inside the castle setup, Leon wandered aimlessly.
Turning left, then right, it seemed he had arrived at a kitchen.
Walking closer, he saw someone was already inside.
Leon stuffed his hands in his pockets and strolled over slowly.
"Rossweise?"
Hearing his voice, the queen slowly turned her head. Seeing it was Leon, she instinctively rolled her eyes at him, then turned back.
"Hey, what's with that expression?"
Leon spoke while leaning closer, standing beside Rossweise.
He saw that she was making some kind of pastry.
"What expression? Of course, I'm annoyed with you."
Rossweise didn't stop kneading dough as she replied, "Isn't that the expression you like me giving you the most?"
"You say that like I've got some weird fetish."
Leon also kept watching the pastry she was making.
Rossweise's cooking skills were excellent, so this kind of pastry was no problem for her.
Suddenly, because of a slightly bigger kneading motion, some of Rossweise's hair fell forward.
Leon moved behind her, like usual, and helped her tie her hair back.
"The king's old friend tying up the royal chef's hair, what, want a little private meal?", Rossweise teased with a smile.
"You're the one who wants a private meal. Game just started and you're already hungry."
Leon said, "But I'm surprised there's no prepared dinner here. Players have to cook for themselves?"
"There's stuff in the fridge in your room. Didn't you see it?"
"Then why are you here?"
Leon suddenly paused, thought for a second, and realized, "Oh~ making pastries is your game task, right?"
Rossweise didn't reply and kept her head down working.
That response was practically confirmation.
Seeing that, Leon got interested, "Then what clues did you get? Share a little."
"Not telling you."
"Why not? I'm the king's old friend, a good citizen through and through."
"When did a wolf ever admit it was a wolf?"
Rossweise had played a few rounds of the family edition of Werewolf with Leon and the girls, so she had some understanding of the basic rules.
At the start of the game, you mustn't trust anyone, not even your husband.
Once the pastry was shaped, Rossweise placed it in the oven, then turned to Leon.
"You're not doing your tasks, why are you clinging to me?"
Their current posture was rather suggestive.
Leon had been behind Rossweise helping her tie up her hair.
And now that she had turned around, they ended up face-to-face, close together.
Leon had both hands on the counter, trapping Rossweise between him and the kitchen island.
Their eyes met, carrying a hint of flirtation and... a lover's understanding.
Leon didn't answer Rossweise's question, he simply leaned in and gently kissed her lips.
Rossweise naturally didn't reject it.
Their kiss was shallow and brief, not going too deep, more like savoring the taste of each other's lips.
'Scandalous! The king's old friend and the royal chef are having a secret affair! (not really)'
Just as the kiss heated up, the pastry in the oven was finished.
Rossweise gently pushed Leon away and turned to take it out.
"I'm hungry, Rossweise," Leon whispered beside her lips.
"Then… come eat me—"
Leon was startled.
'Whoa there, I was just trying to flirt a little and lighten the tense game mood.'
'Didn't expect my wife to actually…'
'Well, then, I'll respectfully obey—'
"Come eat the pastry I made."
"..."
'Well, it's still a game, after all. A kiss is enough, can't go too far.'
Rossweise pinched off a small piece of cake, held it in her mouth, and brought it to Leon's lips.
Leon leaned in and took it, and the two kissed again as a result.
This time, the kiss carried a rich pastry aroma.
But Leon hadn't forgotten his mission.
While kissing, he took out the Black Holy Stone from his pocket and quietly slipped it beneath the kitchen water tank.
When he first entered, Leon had checked, the spot under the water tank was a visual blind spot. Under normal circumstances, no one would ever see it.
"All right, all right, back to the game."
Rossweise took the initiative to end the kiss and lightly hopped off the kitchen island. Yes, during the kiss, she had unconsciously sat on the counter and wrapped her tail and legs around the dog man's waist.
Fortunately, the queen called it off in time and didn't take things further.
Leon didn't stop her and let her leave the kitchen.
Once her footsteps faded, Leon looked up at the water tank.
Hiding something in the shared kitchen was a smart move. As Rossweise had just said, every player's room had a fridge with plenty of food, so except for the "chef" role, others likely wouldn't come to the public kitchen.
But that was only temporary.
Later in the game, if players started sweeping searches, this place wouldn't be safe anymore.
'Well, I'll leave it here for now. I'll move it if I find a better spot later,' Leon left the kitchen and continued searching for tasks.
About two hours later, the memory stone in his pocket played a message from the staff.
["Players, please proceed to the first-floor hall. We will begin tonight's first group meeting."]
Upon receiving the message, Leon was about to head to the first floor.
But just then, his memory stone buzzed again with a message.
["This is a private message. King's old friend, you are experiencing food poisoning and physical discomfort, and cannot attend this meeting. Please go to the 'doctor's' room after the meeting to receive the antidote for the food poisoning."]
Leon was stunned, "F-Food poisoning?… This must be part of the game settings. But when—"
As he spoke, General Leon suddenly realized something, "Damn that mother dragon, she actually tried to poison her husband!"
———
Although he couldn't attend the group meeting due to "food poisoning," Leon didn't sit idle.
He used the time to roam around the castle, seeing if he could trigger some exclusive tasks for his "lone wolf" role.
The intel card also said that completing tasks would build up advantages.
Leon was fighting alone now. Even though he had the Black Holy Stone in hand, most of the time it felt like a hot potato. If anyone else discovered it, he'd be out immediately.
Especially in the mid-to-late stages of the game, when everyone got desperate, they'd stop at nothing to search for the Holy Stone's whereabouts.
So Leon had to use the early stages of the game, when everyone was still relatively relaxed, to gather as many chips as he could.
But after wandering for a while, Leon didn't find any useful clues.
Unlike Rossweise, who could make someone skip a round of meetings just by feeding them pastries, an overpowered mission item, Leon hadn't come across anything like that at all.
"Tch… The chef's task was so easy to find, why is mine, as the lone wolf, so damn hard?"
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