"Alright then, it was my misunderstanding, Senior," said Leon.
"It doesn't really count as a misunderstanding, after all, I couldn't possibly reveal my entire mission right at the start, could I?", Claudia smiled lazily, crossed her long legs, and looked at Noah.
"So, my dear princess, now that you know my hidden mission and victory condition, are you going to vote me out?"
Noah gazed into those sea-blue eyes.
She could tell that Aunt Claudia wasn't trying to guide her into making a decision, she was letting Noah make it herself.
After a brief moment of thought, Noah said, "I won't vote you, Aunt Claudia. The good side has already lost two people, I can't afford to lose the 'Queen,' such a critical role. And... your hidden mission might help us win at a crucial moment."
Destroy the Black Holy Stone = good side victory.
Snap!
Claudia snapped her fingers, then leaned forward and pinched Noah's soft cheek, "Smart little one."
"So, we still haven't found the wolf who did the killing," said Rossweise.
"But at least we've narrowed the scope," Noah looked toward Leon and the others.
"It's not Luna, not Aunt Claudia, then the remaining two lone wolves can only be among Mommy, Daddy, and Aunt Isa. Three choices, two wolves... doesn't seem too hard, right?"
"It's not hard, Noah, but don't just believe everything Senior Claudia says," Leon reminded.
Noah blinked, then nodded thoughtfully, "Got it, Daddy."
"Well, narrowing down the suspects is still progress, better than running around like headless chickens."
Isa slowly stood up, smiling, "Then let's leave it here for now. When someone else gets killed, we'll call a temporary meeting. That'll narrow the scope even further."
Leon paid attention to his eldest sister's expression and tone when she said this.
'Why does it feel like... Isa really wants to hold meetings?'
'Could it be she's led teams for so long that she's grown to love little meetings?'
"Alright then."
The others stood up one after another and gradually left the meeting room.
Two good players being killed from a distance in a row forced the remaining players to be even more cautious.
Even though they knew, being cautious was useless. If that wolf still wanted to kill, they had no way of detecting it.
But just as Leon said, such an overpowered kill-from-afar skill must have limits.
Now Leon needed to figure out what those limits were.
Only by knowing the enemy's weaknesses could he counter them.
And, Leon was the last to leave the meeting room, hands in his pockets, standing alone in the large first-floor hall.
He slowly looked up at the massive clock on the wall.
"Six-thirty... less than two hours until the next full meeting."
"I must find that guy before the next meeting..."
———
Leon wandered alone through the castle, but it wasn't entirely aimless.
He first went to where Light was 'killed.'
That was in front of a task room. He had just finished a three-person task with his two daughters and hadn't had time to celebrate when Light was taken away.
Now, in front of that room, the staff had drawn a human-shaped outline on the floor in chalk.
In the center of the outline were a few words:
[Friend B]
Light's game identity.
This was how 'corpses' were marked in the game.
Leon stood at the 'crime scene,' looking down at the outline on the floor, silently calculating who was left in the game.
'Noah, Luna, and Senior Claudia should all be in the good camp. The only ones whose identities are really uncertain are Rossweise and Big Sis.'
'One of the lone wolves must be one of those two.'
'But Rossweise spent nearly half the time with me in a binding, so I roughly know what item cards she got.' [T/N: I think, it's Rossweise. Because she took the detective card that has the highest threat to a killer and left everything else to Leon.]
'As for the times she acted alone... were they really enough for her to carry out this kind of 'remote kill' task?'
"And Big Sis... although there's no clues about her on the field, that's exactly what makes it most suspicious.'
'Did she use some item to hide all her information? Or have we simply not found any yet...'
Leon's range of investigation had now narrowed significantly.
Just like Noah said earlier in the meeting. Once you have a target range, you're not just wandering like a headless fly anymore.
But even so, Leon couldn't ignore another theory regarding the 'remote killer.'
Well, calling it a theory might be inaccurate, it was more of a fuzzy conclusion based on current circumstances, plus a dragonslayer's instinct for dragons.
There was no decisive evidence to back it up, so Leon hadn't told anyone else yet.
Especially since he still didn't know who the remote lone wolf was. If he brought it up rashly, it might bring about his own 'death.'
Thinking as he walked, Leon ended up somewhere else.
There was another human-shaped outline on the floor.
[Guard]
"It's Little Helena's 'body,' huh," Leon muttered softly and kept walking forward, still thinking.
During that time, he completed a solo mission.
The reward was unexpectedly good: a [Great Detective] item card, which could check if a certain player had made a kill in the past six hours.
The [Great Detective] he and Rossweise found earlier had already been used by Rossweise to prove Leon's innocence.
And now, at this stage of the game, a kill-checking item card was extremely crucial.
After all, the fewer people left, the more info such a card could reveal.
Leon put away the [Great Detective], then resumed his wandering in the castle.
About ten minutes later, he vaguely saw a staff member squatting near a corner in the corridor, drawing something.
Leon frowned slightly and quickly walked over to check.
By the time he arrived, the staff member had just left.
Leon glanced at the retreating figure, then looked at the spot they had been.
Then, Leon nearly jumped in shock, stepping back half a step.
It was a small human-shaped outline.
In the center of the outline was written:
[Friend A]
'Luna... has been killed?'
For a moment, even Leon couldn't accept this sudden turn of events.
'When... how... was Luna just killed like that by the wolf?'
A wave of inexplicable fear slowly sprouted and spread in Leon's heart.
Who would've thought a family bonding game could leave psychological trauma?
After calming himself down slightly, Leon slowly squatted down, reached out and stroked the [Friend A] lettering, then showed a helpless and bitter smile, "Little Luna, this time you didn't even get to eat Daddy's tribute."
After that bitter joke, Leon stood up, clapped his hands, and his gaze grew even more serious and heavy.
Even if it's a game, don't underestimate a doting father's 'vengeance desire.'
———
In the shared kitchen, Rossweise had just prepared a small cake and held it in her palm.
"Hope it comes in handy."
"What comes in handy?", A familiar voice suddenly came from the kitchen door.
Luckily, the queen had grown some courage through this game and didn't get scared.
She turned around, Leon was standing with arms crossed, leaning sideways at the door.
"What are you doing here?", Rossweise asked.
"Luna's been killed," Leon got straight to the point.
Rossweise froze on the spot, her expression stiffening.
This kind of large interactive game with 'roleplay' aspects could involve 'outside-the-game factors' to some degree.
For example, in the game, the [Friend Group] didn't really have much to do with the [Royal Chef].
But the interesting part was that outside the game, the two little ones in the [Friend Group] were the daughters of the [Royal Chef].
So now that the entire [Friend Group] had been 'killed,' Rossweise couldn't help but be affected emotionally.
That emotional fluctuation wasn't negative, but it would definitely affect the game's rhythm and progress.
It could even bring some surprising twists to the otherwise methodical gameplay.
"Do you know who did it?", Rossweise asked in a low voice.
"No."
"Why wasn't Noah with Luna? And... why didn't you call a [Temporary Meeting]?"
Leon closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if hesitating about some decision.
After a short struggle, Leon pulled the [Great Detective] card out of his pocket.
"Before I answer your question, mind if I use a kill-check card on you?"
Rossweise shrugged, "I don't mind."
Leon used the [Great Detective].
The result:
["Player [Royal Chef] in the past six hours—"]
["Did not kill."]
Rossweise let out a relieved sigh, "You just wasted a valuable kill-check card."
Leon slowly shook his head, "No, it wasn't a waste. I think I've figured out the mechanism behind the 'remote killing.'"
"What mechanism?"
"Actually, the 'remote killing' is just the surface. Rather than 'remote,' it's more like 'timed.'"
Leon slowly explained, "Think about it, from Light, to Helena, to Luna, did you notice the common thread in their times of death?"
[T/N: Due to my end sem exams I will be posting 1 Chap/Day for a few days and then we will be back to our old schedule.]
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