The magic cards I made are absolutely flawless!

"Do not……!"

Elaine's eyes widened, wanting to say something, but she could only stretch out her hand and couldn't stop the young warrior.

She now understood why the young soldier had only told her the information and why he had run away.

If the two scouts were killed by the jailer, then it was merely an accidental tragedy.

But if...

They were poisoned.

Then the nature of the problem is different!

This means there is a traitor!

Besides the warden, there are other dangers among the survivors on this level!

Why did the young soldier run away?

It's because he lost to fear.

When he suddenly witnessed the gruesome death of his companion.

And then he realized the truly terrifying aspect—there was a traitor.

He had thought he could just keep living like this every day, but he eventually fell into despair and became uncontrollably gripped by fear.

At this level, fear is like a poison that only intensifies.

It will attract the jailer.

It will also sprout uncontrollably in people's hearts and grow wildly.

If you can't calm yourself down, you'll only become more and more panicked, creating a vicious cycle.

Realizing that he was being targeted by the warden, and seeing the warden getting closer and closer, he could almost see his future being torn apart, and he had less and less hope of controlling his mind.

The young soldier was unwilling to bring the prison warden to the camp.

So after giving Elaine the crucial information, he left without looking back.

If there were a traitor in this camp, then in the eyes of the young warriors, only Elaine was trustworthy.

He cannot tell the truth to everyone.

Because that would cause widespread panic and lead to the annihilation of the entire group.

In the end, he chose to leave the decision to Elaine alone.

"Why... what's going on..."

Elaine covered her head, feeling somewhat overwhelmed.

"no!"

But she gritted her teeth and forced herself to muster her strength.

Elaine quickly looked at the middle-aged mage Ryan and Cornelia beside her.

“Uncle Ryan, Cornelia, go and find him! Tell him not to be afraid, I'm here! I'll lead the camp to evacuate, and then Uncle Ryan, you take Cornelia to area 335, and if she's not there, go to area 523 to look for her.”

These numbers are Elena's designations for certain specific areas within this level of the prison.

Over time, Elaine not only became quite familiar with the terrain of this floor, but also roughly figured out the warden's patterns of action.

While not necessarily accurate, it can at least give us a glimpse into the warden's location.

Of everyone, only Cornelia, who had just arrived today, was in a state of full energy.

In addition, Cornelia followed Elaine as soon as she appeared.

There will be no opportunity to commit a heinous act.

We can rule out her as a suspect.

And the mage Ryan was also a respected elder she trusted.

Most importantly, the steady Ryan is the second most important person in the camp after her, and he is not easily swayed by fear.

Soon, they split up and began to act separately.

Elaine personally led the campers to the new camp.

……

Elaine didn't have to wait long.

The middle-aged mage Ryan and Cornelia found their way here.

"Did he fail?"

Elaine bit her lip and asked with a pained expression.

Ryan looked at Elaine with a gloomy expression and shook his head.

"...He still couldn't overcome his fear and was caught and killed by the warden."

Ryan and Cornelia both witnessed the horrific, bloody scene.

"Ugh……"

It was hard to tell whether Elaine's voice was more filled with sadness or helplessness.

Ironically, even sadness is not allowed on this level.

Because that would attract the attention of the prison warden.

Elaine forced herself to stay calm and touched the corner of her mouth with her finger.

"You must not give in to your weakness at times like this..."

Elaine said, her voice choked with emotion.

Her smile looked more like a grimace.

But this sight made both the mage Ryan and Cornelia feel heartbroken.

"What happened?"

"The mage Ryan asked in a serious tone."

He also realized that something was wrong.

"..."

Elaine remained silent for a moment.

She finally decided to tell the truth to these two mentally strong people.

“Philos and Ida were poisoned, not killed by the warden.”

Elaine read out the names of the two fallen members of the reconnaissance team with great anguish.

"..."

This time, the other two fell silent.

"I need to find the bodies of Philos and Ida. I must find information first. The murderer must be hiding among everyone."

Elaine said firmly.

Seeing that the mage Ryan and Cornelia had returned, she could set off with peace of mind.

"Then I'll go with you."

Ryan said.

"No, Uncle Ryan, I need someone to take charge while I'm gone. Cornelia, come with me."

In a sense, the person Elaine trusted most at this moment was actually the girl who had just been sent there that day.

Because this girl has been with her ever since she appeared.

Ryan naturally understood this principle, and without saying much, he nodded.

"Go ahead and investigate."

After Elaine quickly assigned new guard duties, she took Cornelia and left the camp.

……

Two figures swept across the dim light, their reflections on the gray walls of the Cold Iron Prison failing to create even a ripple.

The heavy iron walls, imbued with magical incantations, resembled livestock penned up, casting a heavy, oppressive atmosphere over every corner.

Cornelia followed Elaine, who knew the way well, and sped towards the target area.

Do you know where their bodies are?

Cornelia asked.

"Yes, and if the intelligence is correct, their bodies would be poisoned. The warden wouldn't eat poisoned corpses, so it's very likely that they haven't been destroyed yet."

The young soldier eventually told Elaine which area the body was in.

"Cornelia, their corpses might look horrible later, so don't get scared at first. We don't have any reconnaissance support right now, so if anything happens, please follow my instructions and don't panic."

"Okay, okay."

Cornelia replied.

Upon hearing Cornelia's reply, Elaine, who was running ahead, narrowed her eyes and a faint smile appeared on her lips.

The murderous intent in her pupils flickered, as if she was about to lose control of her killing intent.

Without a doubt, she was the jailer who had come to this floor from the fourth floor long ago.

She had been on the fifth floor for quite some time.

Through her long-term planning and superb acting skills, she finally managed to win over the hearts of all the prisoners in this layer.

It even became their belief.

Although Elaine, at the seventh rank, could toy with and hunt down the prisoners on this level one by one.

But this didn't bring her any joy.

What she loved most was seeing the utterly devastated expressions of despair on people's faces after she had manipulated their hearts.