Infinite Murder Mystery Game: The Beauty with a Delicate Palm

"Ephining, I have done nothing wrong to you."

"Adrian, what are you doing? You should at least tell us."

Adele, panting heavily from exhaustion, stopped in place with Tiffany.

Taylor and Charlie followed behind, but Duncan, disdaining to go crazy with this group, left with Ollie.

"When will Evelyn be back?"

Adrian found the maid who served Su Mian, and the maid looked bewildered.

"I'm sorry, sir, I'm not quite sure."

"Adrian, what's wrong with you?"

Taylor and Charlie were a few steps behind when they caught up. They saw him with a furrowed brow and said something that made them both hold their breath for a few seconds.

"Sera is not dead."

Adrian turned his head and walked step by step toward Taylor and Charlie, his gaze fixed ahead.

"It was she who encouraged me to bring you to this city-state; it was she who forced us to participate in this random event."

"What...what did you say? Isn't Sera dead?"

Taylor took two steps back, thinking that Adrian was not quite right in the head, but was suddenly slapped by Adrian.

"We only heard about it from Anna's maid, but we didn't see it with our own eyes, did we?"

Taylor opened his mouth, unsure how to refute, but his mind was in turmoil, and he still didn't understand what Adrian was trying to say.

"You suspect she is the murderer."

Charlie stepped forward and voiced his thoughts, and Adrian's eyes immediately dimmed again.

He himself wasn't quite sure either. Now that he had calmed down, many details after leaving the quarantine area had become blurry, and he absolutely couldn't mislead others.

Adrian was too excited. He thought that if Sera hadn't died, Evenin wouldn't have hated him.

Calm down, calm down.

He said to himself, then patted his head, plopped down on the carpet, and began to recall what had happened after leaving the quarantine area.

It was Father Cain who ordered them to be released. Everyone was still asleep when they heard the clanking of chains and the iron gate opened.

"Father, you have mercy and have been spared. Those who are having an attack, remember to go to the convent in town. Now, everyone, go your separate ways."

As the players gradually regained consciousness, they instantly perked up upon hearing such great news. Some cheered, some cried with excitement, and some wondered if Eve Ning had saved them. They rushed out of the isolation room one after another.

"Adrian, where should we go next?"

Someone asked a question, and immediately everyone looked up at him.

There are now two options: first, stay in Mill Ferry; second, use Adrian's horse market personnel to take the players to the city-state.

Just as he was lost in thought, Sera gently patted his shoulder. The girl had barely said a word since entering the quarantine area.

He was in a daze all day, and his face became more and more sallow. Now, he was startled by the dark circles under his eyes.

"What's wrong, Sera?"

"Let's go to the city-state as soon as possible. I'm afraid Eve Ning will be all alone and helpless. Those high-level players all seem so cold-blooded."

She spoke at length, her hands clasped together, looking very nervous, as if she had really imagined something unpleasant.

"What if something happens to her... I, I really..."

That's enough.

Adrian interrupted her, his hands clenched into fists and his lips pressed tightly together.

Sera was startled by his appearance, trembled, and covered her mouth.

"I'm sorry, Adrian, but... but what if?"

Adrian couldn't listen any longer, and he immediately called to the departing crowd.

"Meet at 8:00 AM tomorrow in the city center and we will head there immediately."

-

"Then...then the next day Sera said she wanted to go back to the convent to see if there were any missed clues, so we had to gather together and wait for her."

The three sat in the hallway outside Evelyn's bedroom to review the game, with Adrian's hands clasped together and his expression serious.

"When almost everyone had arrived, Anna's maid came to inform us that Sera was dead."

His voice grew louder and louder, and his emotions began to fluctuate slightly.

"I felt guilty because Evelyn told me to protect her, but I was even more afraid... I was even more afraid that I wouldn't get to the city in time and that another girl would die quietly."

He collapsed, burying his head in his knees. Taylor remained silent, patting him on the back, while Charlie analyzed the situation thoughtfully.

"...Why were you so excited after hearing about the rules of random events?"

"I don't think so many people should have died in this game."

Adrian spoke up upon hearing this, clenching his fist.

"If the players in the original Mill Ferry are all in Mill Ferry, and the players in the City-State Center are all in the City-State, then random events will be distributed between the two games based on their location."

"In other words, the number of survivors in the Mill Crossing game is very likely to be ten, because there are ten targets in the Doom Shooting Range, so together with the high-level players, there can be a total of 20 survivors."

"But precisely because we all went to the city center and took away your survival spots, only ten of us survived in the end."

He looked up, gazing into the distance. "In that instant, I thought of what Sera had told me—her eagerness for us to go to the city-state. Was that also a conspiracy?"

Charlie nodded thoughtfully, saying that it might be a bit of a stretch to just say it like that.

But Adrian had met Sera, and during their conversations, Sera's micro-expressions, rhythm of speech, and body language gave Adrian a certain intuition.

It is intuition, not a delusion, and should never be ignored; in criminology, it is called intuitive threat perception.

"I think... what she said lacked emotional resonance."

Adrian couldn’t explain how he felt at the time. He couldn’t possibly say that he thought Sera’s words were meant to send them to their deaths.

Charlie suddenly stood up. "I understand you."

"What are you planning to do now?"

Adrian looked at him gratefully, composed himself, and stood up. "I'm going to find Evelyn."

The three exchanged a glance and set off immediately, but were stopped as they walked out of the church. Charlie recognized the person at a glance.

He was wearing a thick, dark navy blue woolen cloak, with silver anchor chains and wave patterns embroidered along the edges.

Lord Lawrence Marston, the chief commander of the Wibbons Navy.

Charlie instinctively bowed quickly to maintain his persona, but his expression showed a hint of bewilderment.

"Commander."

"Sir Charlie," he said, his gaze sweeping over the group, his voice carrying the distinctive tone of a seasoned veteran.

"There's no time left. The military council has received news that the war has been brought forward."

"When the sunset bells toll, all knights and their retinues must arrive at the front camp, and the city gates will be completely sealed an hour later."

"What?"

Tiffany and Adele, who rushed over, exclaimed in surprise. Tiffany instinctively clutched the herbal pouch at her waist.

"Your Excellency, if I may be so bold... according to the established schedule and all the briefings, the fighting should begin after Easter, once the spring floods have completely passed..."