Chapter 74.2: Cornelia Becomes a Great Detective (Part 2)

"If you don't mind, let's start by chatting informally."

Lilith naturally led the conversation.

She knew that there was no need to coax the participants into revealing their information through questioning or scrutiny.

Except for the cultists of the Resurgence Church on the wanted list, hidden cultists had seamless identities and couldn't be distinguished through conversation alone.

After speaking, she took a seat on the sofa.

In her mind, Cornelia silently labeled her as "Young Miss."

And the tall and elegant girl who had followed Lilith throughout was still standing behind the sofa.

So, she was "Young Miss's Bodyguard."

It seemed like they all understood that the atmosphere of mutual distrust wouldn't allow them to make progress with their decryption mission. Other participants began to gradually move closer to the sofa.

"We three are knights from the Roland Kingdom."

A cheerful-looking young man pointed to himself and his two companions.

They then began their introductions.

Cornelia couldn't remember so many names at once, so she summarized them as a three-person team, "Kingdom Knight x3." They had come to challenge the Shadow World at the end of the year to boost their performance. Cornelia felt that these three should be alright.

The last two participants were twin sisters, both of them stunning beauties, and they appeared to be students.

"We're third-year students from Brothia Academy. I'm an assassin, and my older sister is a healer."

Although the two sisters looked similar, the younger one seemed more assertive, with upturned eye corners, while the older one had drooping eye corners and appeared more delicate.

Cornelia labeled them as "Assassin Sister" and "Healer Sister."

The other seven participants were all from other kingdoms than Cornelia, Dekan and Teacher Cat.

But there were advantages to hailing from different countries - they might not have heard about Dekan and Cornelia. After all, the world was vast, and there were many extraordinary tales.

Even if other challengers had heard of their illustrious deeds, they probably wouldn't recognize Dekan and Cornelia by their appearances.

Finally, after everyone had introduced themselves, they all looked at the quiet and reserved great detective, Cornelia, and her assistant.

Before Cornelia could speak, Dekan took the initiative and said, "I'm called Bacher and I am the servant of our young lady. She's not much for words, so please forgive her."

He then gracefully bowed to the group and retreated behind Cornelia once again.

This time, he just wanted to be the man behind Cornelia.

Hiding his talents and name.

Cornelia immediately understood.

"My name is Olive."

Cornelia had a guaranteed innocent identity and there was no need to voluntarily expose any information.

What Dekan meant was for her not to say much.

Other challengers couldn't help but brighten their eyes.

So, Miss Detective is also a noble lady from somewhere?

Thinking carefully, since the Shadow World chose her as the hope on the side of the regular challengers, she must have some extraordinary qualities.

For her to be always acting so low-key, it's probably a deliberate disguise.

It was not only her identity, her nature was also cunning.

She's a master of keeping a low profile and appearing foolish.

This made "Young Miss" Lilith feel a little embarrassed.

She couldn't help but carefully examine Cornelia again.

Hmm, this calm and reserved yet elegant feeling, it's either not a noble or a deeply hidden great noble.

I made a mistake just now.

It turns out Miss Detective does have her own thoughts.

She wants to maintain a state of passive observation as an outsider, watching everyone.

Clever.

Well then, let's have a good competition.

Lilith's eyes seemed to ignite a fighting spirit as she watched Cornelia for a moment.

"Right now there's a very serious problem," Lilith continued, sweeping her gaze over everyone. "Where is the tenth challenger?"

There were only nine challengers present.

"Isn't it the person on the piano?" asked one of the Kingdom Knights.

Lilith shook her head.

"Obviously not. That person is clearly a character from the Shadow World. Shadow Worlds wouldn't create a situation where challengers start with certain death. So, we are still missing one challenger, and we don't know if they're a friend or foe, which undoubtedly makes our deduction much more difficult."

Everyone fell silent.

It's indeed quite unusual!

It's been said that all challengers started in the living room, but no matter how you count, there are only nine people.

"Miss Olive, do you have any ideas?" Lilith asked Cornelia.

"I don't think this issue is important," Cornelia answered in accordance with the principle of free expression and the fact that speaking too much leads to mistakes that would mislead others.

After saying this, she had no intention of explaining further.

Lilith remained silent for a moment and probably understood Cornelia's intention.

Indeed, continuing to dwell on this issue here is meaningless.

It's about simplifying thinking to the extreme.

"Well, since Olive has said that, let's skip this topic for now," Lilith said with a relieved smile. She continued, "I suggest that during the daytime, we try to act together as much as possible, at least to keep each other in sight. After all, there's safety in numbers."

"If we can't identify the enemy on the first day, then, when night falls, we'll have to split up and hide in the bedrooms."

"If two people working together have a means to briefly resist a tier six werewolf, then it's recommended for them to stay together."

"If two people working together will be instantly killed by the werewolf, it's advised to split into single individuals to increase interference. Whoever gets attacked must leave clues as much as possible."

"Olive, what do you think?"

Cornelia: "Alright."

Seeing Cornelia nod, everyone followed suit in agreement.

If everyone stayed together at night, they were likely to be wiped out by the werewolf directly, even if all eight of them joined forces, facing a sudden attack from a tier 6 werewolf.

Using the protection of their rooms was the correct solution.

However, this would inevitably lead to a brutal situation - there might be sacrifices.

And the sacrifices might provide valuable information.

So, next, they began exploring the structure of this mansion together.

The mansion had a total of two floors, each with five bedrooms, numbered 101-105 and 201-205, respectively.

For safety reasons, everyone agreed not to publicly disclose which room their key corresponded to on the first day.

The first floor had a living room and a kitchen with plenty of food, while the second floor had a study and a massive library.

Apart from a slight exploration of the mansion's external conditions - the cliff, the severed bridge, and the extreme and harsh weather that was about to engulf them -

The remaining time was spent in the study and library.

They were trying to find any relevant clues as much as possible.

Unbeknownst to them, it was already nine o'clock in the evening.

Only one hour remained before the werewolf's activity time.