"You see, your [Chef] role can use in-game items to prevent players from attending meetings, and probably has other tools with different abilities. Then what about Big Sis? As a [Doctor], logically, she should be even more operable than a [Chef]."
Rossweise nodded thoughtfully, "True. And my sister kept saying she hasn't found any clues, but from the start of the game until now, no matter who it is, they should've done some tasks and obtained information or items. How could it be possible to have no clues at all?"
Leon blinked, thoughts churning, and said, "Your sister... could she be a lone wolf player?"
"Lone wolf?"
"Yeah, someone who isn't on any team, just needs to survive until the end to win."
Fake lone wolf playstyle: eliminate everyone.
Real lone wolf playstyle: slander everyone.
'General Leon, brilliant!'
"Hmm... the way you put it, it's indeed possible."
Seeing the mother dragon about to be successfully misled, Leon was about to press the advantage and throw more mud at Big Sis when he heard Rossweise say, "But it's no big deal. It's still early in the game, no one can be trusted. Even though I'm tied to you now, I'd still suspect you."
Trying to trick Rossweise with a few words probably isn't gonna work.
Leon shrugged, "Whatever, let's go, back to doing tasks."
The couple set off again.
About half an hour later, they completed a task.
But the task reward turned out to be an exclusive reward for the [Chef] role.
Which means Leon had been busy for half a day only to end up preparing wedding clothes for Rossweise.
The queen smugly waved the card in her hand, "Watch carefully and learn well."
"You just got lucky, that's all."
"Tch."
Rossweise didn't say more. She opened the intel card, which read:
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[Recipe]
[Dish name: Mint Iced Tea]
[Effect: After drinking, removes all negative effects]
[Note: Can only be used once]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Rossweise's pupils twitched slightly, "Removes all negative effects… that means, if we make this mint iced tea, we can get rid of this Love Stronger Than Gold – 7-Day Lock."
Upon hearing that, Leon's eyes lit up, "Then let's go to the kitchen quickly."
"Okay."
The couple immediately put words into action and headed straight for the kitchen.
But when they arrived at the kitchen, they found someone was already there.
It was Noah and Helena.
The princess and the guard.
"Dad? Mom? Why are you two together?"
"Ah, we… came here to do a task."
While Leon was talking, he glanced under the water tank in the kitchen, underneath was the game's key item: the Black Holy Stone.
Since Leon's lone wolf main mission was to hide the Black Holy Stone and survive until the end to win;
Then it's easy to guess that Noah, as the [Princess], has a victory condition of finding the Black Holy Stone.
And right now, the key to victory was less than two meters away from his eldest daughter.
Leon looked away, showing no hint of panic.
"What about you two? Here to do a task as well?", Rossweise asked.
"Oh no, we were just wandering around, seeing if there are any tasks here."
"I see..."
"Mhm, then you guys do your task, Helena and I will go now."
"Alright."
After chatting briefly with their daughter, the two groups were about to go their separate ways.
But at that moment, they suddenly heard the sound of Noah's recording stone from her pocket:
["[Princess] and [Friend A], please note, [Princess] and [Friend A], please note."]
["You are under the effect of the tool card [Love Stronger Than Gold – 7-Day Lock]. For the next six hours, you must act together and cannot be more than five meters apart."]
Noah was stunned, "W-What Love Stronger Than Gold – 7-Day Lock…"
"Friend A? Does it mean one of Luna and Little Light's group?", Helena asked.
When drawing task cards, the sisters indeed drew the roles of [Princess's Friends].
To differentiate, they were split into [Friend A] and [Friend B].
"Sis! Sis!"
Before Noah could figure things out, Luna's voice came from the kitchen door.
Little Luna held her recording stone, ran over with little steps to Noah's side, and wrapped around her arm, eyes wide and sparkly, "Sis, I, we seem to have been hit with a tool card by a bad guy!"
"Ah, I just found out too. That… Love Stronger Than Gold – 7-Day Lock, right..."
"Yeah!", Luna nodded hard, "For the next six hours, I can only move with Sis. I won't be a bother, will I?"
"Of course not," Noah pinched her little sister's cheek affectionately.
"Yay~ Sis is the best~"
"Do you know who used this tool card on us?"
"Nope! Luna doesn't know anything!"
"Oh… alright, then let's go do tasks together."
"Mhm mhm!"
Before leaving, Luna didn't forget to say goodbye to her parents, "Bye-bye Daddy Mommy~"
The couple waved back at their daughter with smiles.
Once they left, Leon instantly exposed the second daughter's little scheme, "She definitely used that Love Stronger Than Gold tool card on herself! No doubt about it!"
Rossweise smiled helplessly, "It's a game. This kind of play makes it fun."
Hearing this, Leon seemed to recall something.
He scratched his nose, then pretended to sound casual, "Then after we finish making the mint iced tea… do we still want to use it to remove this tool's effect?"
The queen raised her pretty eyebrows, clearly understanding what Leon meant.
But she still wanted to tease this fool.
"Of course we'll remove it. Why wouldn't we?", Rossweise said with a beaming smile.
Leon suddenly panicked a bit. He rubbed his hands, continuing to act indifferent, "Because… see, this Love Stronger Than Gold thing isn't exactly a strong negative effect. If we use the mint iced tea now to remove it, what if we encounter some other stronger negative tool card later? That iced tea can only be used once, right?"
Oh wow, sounds so logical.
But all those fancy words boil down to one sentence:
I want to stay tied to you a little longer.
"Hmm... what you said makes sense."
Rossweise also actually wanted to spend more time with her captive. After all, this was a family bonding type of game, if they didn't take this chance to interact more, when would they?
In truth, neither of them needed to guess the other's thoughts.
They were just waiting for a moment when they didn't have to be stubborn about it.
Having decided, Rossweise followed the recipe on the intel card and prepared the mint iced tea, then handed it to Leon.
"For me?", Leon was a little surprised.
"Yeah. You're the type who likes wandering around. If you accidentally trigger a negative tool card, the mint iced tea might save your life."
"Yo, Your Majesty, so protective of your husband huh."
"Gross. If you don't want it, give it back."
"I do! Why wouldn't I!"
Rossweise rolled her eyes with a smile, "Alright, let's go do the next task."
"Mhm, let's go, let's go!"
———
Q: What are the benefits of being tied to a [Chef]?
A: You get a richer lunch than everyone else.
Using her role advantage, Rossweise gathered quite a bit of ingredients, and had lunch with Leon in the shared kitchen.
After the meal, the couple took inventory of their clues and tool cards.
First, various scattered intel cards:
[The two friends were once favored by the Princess. The three of them have been close friends since childhood.]
[Although the Queen also deeply loves the Princess, she seems to have another goal.]
[Among the eight players, there are at least two lone wolf players. They are isolated but possess unique advantages.]
[There are special scenes within the castle. Completing tasks in those scenes will trigger "Shared Fate for All."]
"So... Luna and Little Light's friend group should be firmly in the good guy faction."
Leon said while slowly moving his gaze to the intel card related to the [Queen], "But this card says Claudia's [Queen] role has another goal. If the main missions of all good players are to protect the princess and find the Black Holy Stone, then what's the Queen's other objective?"
Rossweise shook her head, "Claudia hasn't shown any signs so far. She's barely said anything during meetings. Trying to figure out her main objective might be difficult."
What Rossweise said was true. From the beginning of the game until now, more than ten hours had passed, but Claudia hadn't teamed up with anyone or made notable speeches at meetings.
Information about her was scarce, so naturally, it was hard to deduce her goals.
"It's fine. The game has just begun. Later, as we get more clues, we'll be able to piece together the answer."
"Mhm."
Next was an intel card about [Lone Wolves].
This was also the card Leon cared most about.
Before getting this task card, Leon hadn't known that besides him, there was another lone wolf in the game.
Then who could this other lone wolf be…
Could it be Rossweise, the one currently tied to him?
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