Book 4: Chapter 12 |
Although Leon couldn’t attend the group meeting due to “food poisoning,” he didn’t sit idle.
Taking advantage of the time, he wandered around the castle at random, trying to see if he could trigger any exclusive quests tied to his “lone wolf” identity.
The intel card had also said that completing tasks could help him accumulate advantages.
Right now, Leon was fighting alone. Even if he had the Black Holy Stone in hand, most of the time it felt more like a hot potato—once someone discovered it, Leon would be instantly out.
Especially in the mid-to-late stages of the game, once everyone got anxious, they would search for the Black Holy Stone’s whereabouts at any cost.
So Leon had to seize the early game—while everyone was still relatively relaxed—to build up chips in his own hand.
But after circling around, Leon still didn’t find any useful clues.
He never encountered anything like Rosvitha’s absurdly overpowered quest item—where all she had to do was get the target to eat her pastry, and she could “hard-control” them for a round and prevent them from attending the meeting.
Muttering to himself, Leon returned to his room.
About ten minutes later, Leon heard the sound of a door opening and closing outside.
Presumably, the meeting on the first floor had ended, and Isha had come back.
“Please find the ‘Doctor.’ There is medicine there to treat food poisoning.”
That was what the recording stone had said earlier.
And the identity card Isha drew was, in fact, the doctor.
Leon didn’t delay. He got up and went straight to Isha’s door.
He couldn’t afford to waste time—if he was still “food poisoned” during the next meeting, everyone would probably vote him out on the spot.
Knock knock knock—
“Come in.”
Leon pushed the door open and entered.
Isha was sitting on the sofa in the living room, holding that initial intel card in her hand.
Seeing Leon, Isha slowly placed the intel card back into the wooden box and closed the lid.
Only then did she turn to look at Leon, resting her chin in one hand, smiling sweetly as she asked,
“Need something, brother-in-law?”
Leon shrugged. “An NPC says I’m food poisoned. The antidote’s with you.”
Hearing that, Isha froze for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully.
“So that’s the rule… pretty true to real life, actually.”
“Yeah. So, Sis, do you have the antidote?”
The moment he finished speaking, Isha’s recording stone lit up with the staff’s voice.
“The antidote is in the cabinet in the ‘Doctor’s’ storage room.”
“Note: The medicine is a game prop and is a safe-to-eat fruit candy.”
Isha lifted her brow. “Hah. Interesting.”
With that, the red-haired beauty stood up and strolled toward the storage room.
“Wait here. This Red Dragon miracle doctor is going to fetch your medicine.”
Leon chuckled.
Alright, alright—she’s already getting into character.
Not long after, Isha returned with several “antidotes.”
She opened her palm. Inside were “antidotes” in different colors.
“So then—my sickly, fragile brother-in-law—do you want the orange-flavored antidote, the apple-flavored antidote, or… oh, this one’s mint. Which one?”
“Orange,” Leon said.
“I knew you’d pick orange.”
Leon blinked. “Why?”
“Because Little Lo really likes oranges.”
“…That has nothing to do with Rosvitha, Sis.”
Isha tossed the orange fruit candy to Leon.
Leon caught it cleanly.
“Of course it does. Lovers influence each other without noticing. Things she likes, you’ll try too—and gradually, you’ll end up liking them along with her.”
Leon shook his head and gave a bitter laugh. “Then take a guess—who do you think poisoned me?”
Isha blinked those lively eyes, and of course she immediately understood who Leon meant.
“Oh~ the chef. A super convenient role—kills without leaving a trace. Way more interesting than our family Werewolf games.”
There was even a hint of anticipation in Isha’s tone.
She liked games that required thinking.
Especially when her dear brother-in-law was a potential opponent—then it became downright exhilarating.
Leon popped the candy into his mouth. The recording stone chimed with a prompt, saying his food poisoning status had been removed and he could attend meetings normally again.
“Then tell me,” Leon said, arms crossed as his brow furrowed and he began analyzing, “why would Rosvitha poison me?”
“Could it be… she’s the one who stole the Black Holy Stone, and she poisoned me so I couldn’t attend the meeting—then used that chance to rally everyone into voting me out?”
While raising the question, Leon also made sure to “smear” his wife a little—shoving the blame for stealing the Black Holy Stone onto Rosvitha.
Isha thought it over too, then said,
“Based on what I know about Little Lo, her reason for poisoning you probably isn’t that complicated.”
“So?” Leon pressed.
“So she probably just… did it for laughs.”
Leon covered his face in silence.
Wasting a precious “hard-control” chance just for laughs would be an unbelievably nonsensical play in any kind of Werewolf game—
But the moment you remembered it was that petty, vengeful, black-bellied dragon queen, and her target was Leon, everything suddenly made perfect sense.
“Then, Sis—what’s your main mission as the doctor?” Leon asked, getting straight to the point.
“Me? I’m a veterinarian. I specialize in saving small animals.” Isha said smoothly. “Like certain relatives who got food poisoned.”
Leon could tell she was joking.
Using a joking tone to brush off his question—nice move, Big Sis.
But Leon hadn’t expected to get a real answer that easily anyway.
“What about you, brother-in-law?” Isha asked. “What’s your main mission?”
“Protect the princess,” Leon said.
“Oh? Protect the princess?”
“Yeah. The Black Holy Stone’s been stolen, and the princess has sealed the castle. I’m guessing whoever stole it might panic and go straight for the princess.”
Leon lied with complete seriousness.
“So for us good guys, of course we protect the princess. If the princess gets taken out, the game might just end immediately, right?”
When General Leon called himself “the good side,” his expression and gaze were so full of conviction—
It was as if the Black Holy Stone hidden under the kitchen water tank didn’t exist at all.
Well, what can you do? That’s righteous confidence. (Old Kang, take notes.)
Isha didn’t comment on it. She only said,
“Then, good-guy brother-in-law, you’d better hurry and go swear loyalty to Noa.”
“Why?”
“Because you didn’t attend the meeting just now. Everyone thinks something’s off about you, so they decided to check your background first.”
“I didn’t attend because Rosvitha poisoned her own husband, hello?!”
Isha spread her hands. “If she doesn’t say it, who would know?”
The genius of hard-controlling the lone wolf was that while Leon couldn’t attend the meeting, she could freely dump filth all over him.
“Do you believe me?” Leon asked.
“As your relative, I believe you,” Isha said. “But as the doctor in-game, I’ll need to observe carefully.”
Big Sis really was sharp.
Even with a simple identity mind-game like this, her answer was watertight.
“Fine,” Leon said.
Then, after a beat, he added,
“Wait, Sis. You said she might have done it just for laughs… but if she didn’t poison me for laughs, and she actually wanted to push everyone into voting me out while I couldn’t attend the meeting—then she’s very likely the one who stole the Black Holy Stone.”
Isha mulled it over. “That is possible. This game probably has a ‘lone wolf’ faction that can kill without restraint. And…”
“And?” Leon prompted.
“And Little Lo targeting you is absolutely within my expectations. If you had the chance, you’d definitely target her first too.”
“……”
Slap—
Isha clapped her hands, her inner shipper’s soul bursting into flames.
“Wow—your married couple synergy on this point is insane! Truly a match made in heaven~”
Stop being disgusting, Big Sis!
But honestly—give Leon one chance to take someone out, and he really would choose Rosvitha first.
Married men don’t have many hobbies. One of them is “targeting your own wife.”
“So what are you going to do next?” Isha asked.
“Like you said—go swear loyalty to Noa. She’s the princess,” Leon replied.
“Mm. That works. Good luck.”
Leon waved. “Thanks for the orange-flavored antidote, Sis. I’m off.”
“Bye-bye. And don’t get tricked by Little Lo’s beauty trap again.”
She was smiling, as if she’d already guessed exactly what Leon and Rosvitha had been doing in the kitchen earlier.
Leon snorted, didn’t answer, turned around, and left.
After Leon was gone, Isha sat back down on the sofa, opened the wooden box on the coffee table again, and took out the intel card she’d been reading.
In truth, it wasn’t the initial intel card at all—it was something she’d received after the meeting ended, when she casually completed a hidden quest.
Only two words were written on the card:
“The only one.”
Isha’s thoughts stirred.
“‘The only one’… what does that refer to?”
…
Footnotes:
- “Lone wolf” (independent killer identity vibe)Pinyin: dú lángExplanation: Common game-slang for an independent/solo role that operates alone, often against everyone else.
- “Hard-control”Pinyin: yìng kòngExplanation: Gaming slang meaning a forced disable/stun effect—controlling someone “hard,” leaving them unable to act (here: unable to attend a meeting).
- “Hot potato”Pinyin: tàng shǒu shān yùExplanation: A metaphor for something risky and difficult to hold onto—valuable but dangerous if discovered.
- “Smear / throw dirt on someone”Pinyin: pō zāng shuǐExplanation: Internet and everyday slang meaning to frame someone, spread rumors, or damage their reputation by “splashing dirty water.”
- “Something’s fishy”Pinyin: yǒu māo nìExplanation: A colloquial phrase meaning “there’s something suspicious going on.”
- “Panic and lash out”Pinyin: gǒu jí tiào qiángExplanation: Literally “a cornered dog will jump over a wall,” meaning someone will take desperate measures when pushed to the brink.
- “Black-bellied” (scheming, sly)Pinyin: fù hēiExplanation: Popular internet descriptor for someone who looks calm or innocent but is secretly devious and calculating.
- “Shipping / CP soul”Pinyin: C P / C P zhī húnExplanation: “CP” is fandom slang (from “couple pairing”) for a romantic pairing people like; “CP soul burning” means the person is thrilled to see romantic chemistry.
- “Beauty trap”Pinyin: měi rén jìExplanation: A classic phrase for using charm/seduction to lure someone into a trap—often used jokingly in modern contexts.