"… Um."
Annan could hardly control his expression just now.
It was almost... He couldn't help but laugh.
… so similar.
It's so much like—
The plot of this nightmare is almost like the opening of a detective.
If the routine is followed, then the murderer should be among the crowd now...
"—The murderer who killed me is among you."
A low voice came from the stone statue of the old man in the wheelchair.
With the sound of this sound, the surrounding environment changed.
In the originally bright and splendid hall, low-pitched laughter and whispers could be faintly heard from all around.
Annan felt that the stone statues surrounded them in all directions seemed to be looking down on them in another world, whispering in a voice they couldn't hear.
"...um, cough!"
The next moment, the old man coughed vigorously.
All those whispers disappeared.
At the same time, the quietly burning lights in the entire hall suddenly stretched and raised. The flame became extremely slender and began to vibrate at a high frequency.
The color also changed from a warm bright yellow to a cold flame of white inside and blue outside.
Under the reflection of the cold flame, those white statues also seemed to become gloomy.
The atmosphere in the hall changed instantly.
The eight people who were originally in the light, after the flame was pulled up, happened to be covered by the shadows of the stone statues and hide their figures. And the ground between them was also divided by the newly emerging shadows.
It was as if Master Michelangelo had already predicted that everyone would stand there when they heard this last words.
The next moment, a somewhat illusory old man's voice sounded overlapping with the pre-existing voice in the stone statue:
"From now on, you are all my students. So you can kill the murderer for me. This is the act of revenge promised by the world.
"If one of you succeeds in killing the murderer, then everyone else can get a part of my inheritance... and the person who killed him will inherit the Howling White Tower.
"But you must also pay attention. I only allow you to kill the murderer. If you accidentally kill someone other than the murderer, you will not be rewarded or punished, but you must bear the crime of killing yourself. "
As the old man spoke, his overlapping voice became clearer and louder.
The recording in the stone statue is synchronous and gradually fades away.
Up to now, it seems that the old man is sitting there - sitting in a wheelchair, looking at them calmly with his head tilted.
Although only the sound could be heard, Annan seemed to be able to see an old man with calm and far-sighted eyes, looking at him...and at the same time looking behind him.
In his heart, he suddenly had such a feeling.
He believes... that other people should feel the same way he does.
But because the shadows were too thick, he couldn't see the expressions of other people at all.
Presumably other people should not be able to see his expression.
But so far, the old man's last words are understandable.
But the words that followed made the eight of them a little confused:
"However, I was about to die. The child who killed me is also the successor I am most optimistic about.
"So, I decided to give him a chance.
"If the number of people is halved and the real murderer is still alive...then the murderer will inherit my Howling White Tower."
"Another thing to mention is that the Howling Wind White Pagoda is bound by the curse of Granny Buried. Everyone is [only allowed to kill one person] in the White Pagoda. No matter how long it has passed, as long as you kill the second person, you will be cursed to kill; This spell also works on my murderer.
"My mother-in-law once said that everything dies and everything ends. You don't need to miss me... In my life, I have created too many eternal things. But I haven't tried to create rituals for the gods.
"My curse has wrapped around the White Tower. You can't escape, and you can't go away... The eight people in this tower will be the first batch of executors of this golden ceremony. You will stay with me in history name."
In the end, the old man's voice became weaker and weaker, and the echo became stronger.
And long before that, the recording in the stone statue had ended.
"The name of the ceremony, you will know at the end...
"My students, use your brains and think about this question. If the future is uncertain, does what has happened necessarily exist
"—My students, witness the miracle with me."
In the end, the phantom voices overlapping with the old man completely dissipated.
The azure blue flame fell back to its original place again.
Light once again filled the hall of the White Tower.
The shadow recedes.
But the original atmosphere among the eight has been changed.
"... This rule doesn't seem to restrict murderers."
After a long silence, Maria Lindong was still the first to speak.
Her voice was cold and immature, with a hint of sarcasm hidden in it: "It seems to be... rewarding the murderer."
Everyone knew she was right.
This grand duke's daughter... always likes to tell the truth that others don't want to admit.
Although the murderer was restrained by Michelangelo's curse, unable to kill.
But the difficulty of picking out the murderer from the eight people... is fundamentally different from the difficulty of the murderer fishing in troubled waters and surviving to the end of the ceremony.
If you can kill people at will, that would be easy.
Everyone immediately started the battle royale. Kill until only you are left, then naturally the murderer will also be killed.
But now, as long as half of the people die, the ceremony will end. Then they naturally dare not shoot at will. Not to mention the "two kills or die" curse, which prevents them from using even powerful spells...
— This is simply a confrontation game.
Annan immediately realized the essence of this ceremony.
And it is an "asymmetric confrontation game"!
But it's not the same as what Maria Winter said...
Annan was keenly aware that... In this game, the "murderer" is at a big disadvantage.
Because of the curse of Master Michelangelo, those who have killed someone cannot kill again.
So in this environment, whoever disagrees with "find and kill the murderer" is the most suspicious person. "A murderer cannot kill again" is a strong consensus among the eight people, that is, everyone knows it, and knows that others know it too.
—That’s why the four-person ceremony will be terminated after surviving.
Because every wrongful killing, at least two people can be verified to be innocent—the murderer and the victim.
... Although the victim was speechless.
In other words, if everything goes well, everyone just wants to be safe. If you are willing to get a quarter of the inheritance, you will stop.
Then when there are five people left, the murderer should be found out.
That is to kill each other.
In the end, the person who is unwilling to do it... or the person who is cursed to kill himself after the murder is the murderer.
There is a certain way to win this game.
but…
Annan narrowed his eyes slightly.
The task he received was, "Do not fight anyone."
Is he the one who killed Master Michelangelo
But this is obviously impossible.
Because Gerald is still alive after this experience is over. And he didn't inherit the White Tower... Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to remain at the Silver Rank, and it would be even more impossible for him to be easily killed by Annan in Fort Rose.
So he must not be the murderer.
… then this is strange.
Annan's task is simply like...
It's like deliberately letting Annan make trouble in the crowd.
This will definitely attract the attention of others... The further back, the more suspicious Annan, who is unwilling to kill, will be.
So, whatever the reason.
Annan must prevent this "one-on-one killing" idea from being detected by others...or implemented.
But he felt that the difficulty should not be too high.
He looked at the other seven people.
"A detective game..."
Annan murmured, with a gentle and friendly smile on the corner of his mouth.
interesting.