Book 4: Chapter 11 |
“Please return to the rooms marked with your identities. Rest for half an hour—then our game will begin.”
Guided by the staff, Leon and the others all returned to their respective rooms.
The furnishings in the room were simple, but everything was there. Spending seventy-two hours here would be no problem at all.
Leon walked in from the entryway into the living room and saw a wooden box placed on the coffee table in front of the sofa. Beside the box was a recording stone.
Leon walked over, opened the wooden box, and found a sheet of card stock inside.
The contents on the card read:
“Welcome, King’s Old Friend. Tonight, you will face the other seven players alone.”
“The disadvantage in numbers will force you to act cautiously with every step you take.”
“Your main mission is to survive seventy-two hours without being discovered by the other seven players.”
“If you can do that, you win.”
“Additionally, completing side quests and hidden quests in the game will earn rewards of varying degrees. Accumulating these rewards will give you an even greater advantage.”
“The recording stone beside the box will provide key information at any time. Please carry it with you.”
After reading the contents, Leon indeed found the ‘Black Holy Stone’ inside the box.
He held it in his hand, weighing it twice.
“So as long as I make it to the end of the game, this little treasure is mine.”
Leon had seen the material before. It was something called night-spirit crystal—rare and beautiful, but aside from being pretty, it wasn’t worth much.
It was mostly used to make delicate souvenirs or carved ornaments.
Leon stared at the Black Holy Stone in his hand, thinking it over.
“If everyone assumes the Black Holy Stone was stolen by someone and hidden somewhere, then searching rooms would end this game at lightning speed.”
“So… I need to hide this somewhere else.”
Hiding things was one of Leon’s specialties.
Back then, of the five bunny-girl photo albums of Rosvitha that were taken, three had been used to trade for his master’s letter—yet the remaining two still hadn’t been discovered by Rosvitha to this day.
That alone proved how insanely good General Leon was at hiding things.
He tucked the Black Holy Stone into his pocket, took the recording stone, and quietly waited for the game to begin.
…
Half an hour later, Leon walked out of his room.
On the same floor as him was Isha, whose identity was the doctor.
Isha’s room was diagonally across from Leon’s, and the two of them opened their doors almost at the same time.
“Oh, brother-in-law—coming out the moment time’s up. Looks like you’re pretty fired up about this game too.”
The red-haired beauty smiled with amusement, arms crossed, leaning against her doorframe.
“Mainly because of Rosvitha,” Leon said.
Isha raised an eyebrow. “What? Is your mission to win with Chef Lo, then fly off together with the Black Holy Stone?”
“No, Sis. This isn’t just a game. This is a contest.”
Leon said seriously, “And in every contest I have with Rosvitha, I will win.”
This really was another reason Leon was so eager to play.
Aside from fulfilling his promise to Claudia, and accompanying the daughters for family bonding, he also wanted to crush that silver-haired dragon queen in this game—completely and thoroughly.
He wanted her to know just how terrifying Leon Casmode was after he’d ditched the wheelchair!
“……So your married life is basically spent competing like this?” Isha asked.
Leon blinked, recalled the daily love-and-war of his marriage with Rosvitha, then replied, “Yes.”
Isha snorted. “Alright. Then work hard.”
With that, Isha left her room and walked down one side of the corridor.
“Sis, where are you going?” Leon asked.
With her back to him, Isha waved an arm. “To look for clues and do my tasks, of course.”
The card stock in the box had indeed mentioned rules about “tasks.” Combined with what Isha just said, it wasn’t hard to deduce that each player had a different main mission.
For example, Leon’s main mission was “hide the Black Holy Stone and survive three days.”
So based on that, the other seven players’ main missions were likely something like “use clues to find the Black Holy Stone within three days, and catch the person who stole it.”
Leon watched Isha’s retreating back and muttered softly,
“Seems it’s not as easy as I thought.”
He had firsthand experience with his big sister’s cleverness.
Back when Rosvitha was pregnant with Little Light, the couple had once gone to Sky City to participate in a shop event. The prize was a jade-dew dragon fruit that calmed the fetus and nourished the spirit.
Isha had blended in among the contestants back then—and in the “I have it, you don’t” game segment, she ultimately defeated Leon.
So this time… with even more complicated rules, that Red Dragon King would probably handle it like it was nothing.
Leon shook his head and gathered his thoughts.
He needed to go look for useful clues too.
Inside the castle set, Leon wandered around aimlessly.
Turning left and right, he seemed to arrive at a kitchen.
He walked closer—and sure enough, someone was already inside.
With both hands in his pockets, Leon strolled over leisurely.
“Rosvitha?”
At the sound, the queen slowly turned around. Seeing it was Leon, she automatically rolled her eyes at him out of habit, then turned back around again.
“Hey, what’s with that expression?” Leon said as he moved closer, stopping beside her.
He realized she was making some kind of pastry.
“What expression? Obviously, it’s me looking down on you.”
Rosvitha didn’t pause her movements as she worked. “Aren’t you the one who likes it when I look at you with disdain?”
“You say that like I have some weird fetish.” Leon muttered.
He kept watching the pastry she was making.
Rosvitha’s cooking was excellent; something like this was effortless for her.
Suddenly, because her kneading motion got a little larger, a few strands of her hair fell forward.
Leon did as he always did—stepped behind her and helped gather her hair up.
“The King’s Old Friend helped the royal chef tie her hair. What, trying to get special treatment?” Rosvitha teased with a smile.
“The one trying to get special treatment is you. The game just started and you’re already hungry.”
Leon said, “But seriously, there isn’t even a ready-made dinner here? We have to cook for ourselves?”
“There’s food in the fridge in your room. You didn’t see it?” she replied.
“Then why did you come—”
Leon abruptly stopped. After one second of thinking, realization hit him.
“Oh~ Making pastries is your game task, right?”
Rosvitha didn’t answer and kept her head down, continuing.
That reaction was basically an admission.
Seeing that, Leon’s interest spiked.
“Then what clues did you get? Share.”
“Not telling you.”
“Why? I’m the King’s old friend—a law-abiding citizen, through and through!”
“What wolf calls itself a wolf?” Rosvitha shot back.
She’d played family-style Werewolf with Leon and the girls before, so she understood the basic rules.
At the start of the game, you couldn’t trust anyone—
Even if the other person was her husband.
When the pastry roughly took shape, Rosvitha put it into the oven. Only then did she turn around to look at Leon.
“If you’re not going to do your tasks, why are you clinging to me?”
The way they were positioned was extremely intimate.
Leon had been standing behind Rosvitha, helping her tie her hair.
And now that she’d turned around, they were pressed face-to-face.
Leon braced both hands on the counter, “trapping” Rosvitha between him and the countertop.
Their eyes met—holding a trace of flirtation and… the unspoken understanding between lovers.
Leon didn’t answer her question.
He simply leaned in and lightly pressed his lips against hers.
Naturally, Rosvitha didn’t refuse.
Their kiss was restrained and shallow, not too deep—like they were tasting the flavor of each other’s lips.
Heavens above—King’s Old Friend and the King’s chef are secretly having an affair! (Not really.)
Right when they were getting into it, the pastry in the oven finished.
Rosvitha gently pushed Leon away and reached back to take out the pastry.
“I’m hungry, Rosvitha,” Leon murmured, lips near hers, speaking low into her ear.
“Then… come eat me—”
Leon’s heart jumped.
Ho ho ho—he’d only meant to tease a little, to relax the tense game atmosphere.
But who knew his wife would actually—
Well then, I can only obey respectfully—
“Come eat the pastry I made.”
“……”
Alright then. Since they were playing a game, kissing was fine. Going too far would be… a bit much.
Rosvitha pinched off a small piece of cake, held it between her lips, and offered it to Leon.
Leon leaned in and took it, and the two of them naturally ended up kissing again.
This kiss carried the rich fragrance of the pastry.
But Leon didn’t forget his mission.
While kissing, he reached into his pocket, took out the Black Holy Stone, and quietly placed it beneath the kitchen’s water tank.
When Leon had entered earlier, he’d observed that the underside of the water tank was a blind spot—normally, no one would be able to see it.
“Alright, alright. Game time, game time.”
Rosvitha ended the kiss on her own initiative and lightly hopped down from the counter—
Yes, while kissing, she’d unconsciously sat up there, wrapping her tail and legs around that dog of a man’s waist.
But thankfully, the queen called a stop in time and didn’t push things further.
Leon didn’t stop her, letting her leave the kitchen.
Once the sound of her footsteps faded into the distance, Leon finally looked up at the water tank overhead.
Hiding something in a shared kitchen wasn’t a bad idea. If cooking was needed, then sure—
But as Rosvitha had said, every room had a fridge with enough food. So aside from the “chef” role, other people basically wouldn’t come into this shared kitchen.
But that was only temporary.
Once the game entered its later stages, if everyone started a carpet-search, then this place would no longer be safe.
“Then I’ll leave it here for now. Later, if there’s a better spot, I’ll move it.”
Leon left the kitchen and continued looking for tasks.
About two hours later, the recording stone in his pocket transmitted the staff’s voice.
“Please proceed to the first-floor hall. We will begin tonight’s first group meeting.”
After receiving the message, Leon was about to head to the first floor.
But then his recording stone spoke again.
“This is a private message. King’s Old Friend, you are feeling unwell due to food poisoning and cannot attend this meeting. After the meeting ends, please go to the ‘Doctor’s’ room. An antidote for food poisoning will be there.”
Leon froze.
“F-food poisoning?… That’s the game setting, right? But when did—”
As he spoke, General Leon suddenly realized something.
“That damned dragon queen—she actually plotted against her own husband!!”
XXX
Queen: “Ang, time to take your medicine.”
…
Footnotes:
- “Law-abiding citizen, through and through”Pinyin: dà dà de liáng mínExplanation: A humorous, exaggerated phrasing often used to claim innocence or “I’m totally a good person,” sometimes with ironic undertones.
- “Get special treatment”Pinyin: chī xiǎo zàoExplanation: Literally “eat from the small stove,” meaning to receive extra perks, preferential treatment, or a private advantage.
- “What wolf calls itself a wolf?”Pinyin: nǎ yǒu láng huì shuō zì jǐ shì lángExplanation: A common logic in social deduction games: the guilty party won’t openly admit guilt.
- “Dog of a man”Pinyin: gǒu nán rénExplanation: Internet slang used half-jokingly to describe a man being shameless, flirtatious, or annoying (often teasing rather than truly hateful).
- “Ho ho ho” (scheming excitement)Pinyin: hē hē hē / huō huō huō (onomatopoeia vibe)Explanation: A playful sound used to convey “oh wow, interesting,” often implying mischief or suggestive teasing.
- “Not really” tag in parenthesesPinyin: bù shìExplanation: A meme-style aside meaning “no, that’s not actually the case,” often used humorously after a dramatic statement.
- “Carpet-search”Pinyin: dì tǎn shì sōu cháExplanation: A set phrase meaning an exhaustive search of every inch of an area.