At midnight, the Recording Stone had just delivered a message: the next meeting would begin at 8 a.m. in the following morning. In the meantime, players could choose to rest or continue completing tasks.
Leon lay on the bed in his room, with one hand behind his head, the other idly tossing the Recording Stone.
He couldn’t fall sleep.
The reason was simple: it was his first time playing such a novel, immersive game. Even Leon couldn’t help feeling a little excited and thrilled.
Not being able to sleep was understandable.
Still, he wasn’t particularly inclined to head out in the middle of the night to complete tasks.
After all, the game lasted a full 72 hours—taking a good six or seven hours of sleep wouldn’t hurt.
“Tomorrow’s 8 a.m. meeting... that dragoness will definitely launch a fierce attack on me, rallying everyone to vote me out.”
Given his understanding of Roswitha, she would have no problem pulling such a move.
As Big Sis Isa had said, Little Ros probably wasn’t driven by any complex motives or goals. She’d do it purely for her own amusement.
She wouldn’t miss any chance to make Leon uncomfortable.
What’s more, if she really managed to eliminate Leon early in the game, that alone would give her bragging rights for an entire year.
Leon’s entire next year would undoubtedly be spent enduring her relentless gloating: “Me, Roswitha Melkevi, had taken down the strongest Dragon Slayer as soon as the game starts. How’s that for credibility?”
To avoid being single-handedly taken out by Roswitha right at the start, Leon needed to come up with a strategy for the 8 a.m. meeting.
Lost in thought, he eventually stayed up until the early hours of the morning.
Leon remained lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, drafting his arguments and action plan for the meeting.
And then, he suddenly heard the door lock turning.
Leon’s guard went up instantly as he raised his head slightly to glance at the door.
The door creaked open slowly, allowing a sliver of light from the hallway to spill in, illuminating two small silhouettes.
“Daddy, are you asleep? Muen can’t sleep and wants to sleep with you,” a soft voice said.
Hearing his sweet daughter's words, Leon immediately prepared to respond.
But just as he opened his mouth, he stopped himself.
He remembered that during the character assignment, Muen had drawn the role of “Princess's Friend”.
Considering Muen’s usual sister-obsessed nature, she should’ve gone to find her elder sister if she couldn’t sleep. Both their real-life sibling relationship and her in-game role made that the most logical choice.
Coming to see Leon, the “King’s Old Friend,” wouldn’t make sense.
After a brief analysis, Leon decided to pretend to be asleep.
“Daddy? Daddy?” Muen called softly again.
Still, there was no answer. Muen whispered, “Alright, Daddy’s asleep. Aurora, go, go, go!”
After confirming that Leon was “asleep,” the two small figures quietly tiptoed into the room.
Lying on the bed, Leon smirked to himself. As he suspected, there was no way these two little ones had come to see him just because they couldn’t sleep.
They definitely had an ulterior motive.
Leon continued pretending to be asleep, curious to see what they were up to.
“Aurora, are you sure the intel we found points to Daddy?” Muen whispered to her little sister.
Aurora glanced down at the intel card in her hand. On it, a single phrase was written:
**[The Only One].**
“Even if we can’t be 100% certain it’s Dad, he’s still highly suspicious. Plus, he didn’t attend the first meeting, so we have to investigate him no matter what,” Aurora replied earnestly.
Muen nodded. “Alright. Let’s search quickly, so we’re done before he wakes up.”
“Mm-hmm!”
As the girls talked, Leon caught important keywords:
**[The Only One].**
What did that mean?
Could it be a clue they obtained from completing a task?
Leon knew his current role was that of a lone wolf, so “The Only One” likely referred to him.
And, as Aurora had said, his absence from the first meeting did indeed make him a prime suspect.
So it seemed perfectly reasonable that these two little dragon girls would come snooping in the middle of the night.
Leon remained perfectly still, continuing his act to see what else he could learn.
Aurora and Muen quietly started searching Leon’s room, combing through the sofa, coffee table, bedside table, bathroom, refrigerator—every corner. But aside from the initial starting-item storage box, they found nothing of value.
“The Black Holy Stone isn’t here,” Muen said, disappointed.
“Yeah,” Aurora replied. “If I had stolen the Black Holy Stone, I wouldn’t have hidden it in my room either.”
The girls discussed their findings, stopping abruptly when they heard a noise outside the door.
They instantly tensed.
“Is someone else coming?” Muen asked nervously.
Aurora furrowed her brows, glanced at the nearby wardrobe, and suggested, “Let’s hide and see what’s going on.”
“Okay!”
With a whoosh, the two small figures quickly dived into the wardrobe, pressing themselves against the door to listen.
“Noa, if Uncle Leon wakes up and catches us sneaking in, will he spank us?” Helena whispered.
“No, I’ll just act cutesy, and he’ll calm down,” Noa replied confidently.
The Involuted Queen was well-versed in the art of human manipulation.
Her father might as well have the words “Doting Dad” tattooed on his forehead.
However, Noa had never actually used her cuteness to manipulate her father for her own gain.
She had just told Helena that to reassure her best friend, encouraging her to confidently join in the "troublemaking."
After all, sneaking into her dad’s room was nothing new for Noa, but Helena had likely never done such a thing before.
“Oh, cool! Let’s hurry and start searching!” Helena said excitedly.
“Got it.”
The best-friend duo began searching, retracing the same route Muen and Aurora had taken earlier.
Meanwhile, the two little sisters inside the wardrobe cracked the door open slightly, revealing two pairs of eyes peering out—one above the other.
“It’s Big Sis! (✪▽✪)” Muen said, delighted.
“And Helena… (￣へ￣)” she then muttered, her tone shifting.
Muen’s expression changed seamlessly, her ability to change moods rivaling that of her mother, the queen herself.
“Aurora, should we come out and join Big Sis?” Muen asked.
Aurora’s pink-hued eyes sparkled mischievously as she shook her head. “Let’s hold off for now. If we’re spotted, they’ll definitely ask what kind of clue led us to Dad’s room.”
“But our role is ‘Princess’s Friend.’ Sharing clues shouldn’t be a big deal, right?”
“Second Sis, our identity card only says we’re the ‘Princess’s Friend,’ not the ‘Guardian’s Friend.’ If Helena has her own hidden tasks or victory conditions, then we can’t share our clues with her.”
Muen gave a small gasp of realization and nodded, impressed. “Wow, Aurora, you’re so good at this stuff!”
“Second Sis, if you didn’t always get voted off first every time we play Werewolf, you’d be good at it too,” Aurora said bluntly.
Muen: o(╥﹏╥)o
Meanwhile, outside the wardrobe, the best-friend duo had also found nothing of value.
“Could our clue be a red herring?” Helena wondered aloud, pulling out her intel card.
**[The Only One]**
Hearing these keywords again, General Leon, lying on the bed, couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.
Hah!
This game is really out to get me!
Everyone has this clue, while I have nothing!
“Could it just mean the only man in the game?” Helena pondered aloud.
Noa shook her head thoughtfully. “It’s probably not that straightforward. It might refer to some other form of singularity, not something as superficial as ‘male versus female.’”
“Hmm, makes sense… I guess we need to gather more clues.”
Despite three of his daughters making him their primary suspect, Leon couldn’t help feeling a surge of pride.
He was glad to see his daughters learning to think and analyze independently.
Proud of his girls, Leon made a solemn decision:
After taking out their mother, he’d have no choice but to take out all three of them as well.
The Melkevi family tradition of “loving yet ruthless familial backstabbing” would not be broken!
Amused by his own thoughts, Leon suddenly heard another door opening.
“What the hell—! Another one?!” Leon silently exclaimed in disbelief.
Helena and Noa heard it too.
Just like the sisters before them, the best-friend duo scrambled to hide in the wardrobe.
And so—
Noa: ?
Helena: ……
Muen: (=.=)
Aurora: Drama? No, we’ve got a Wardrobe War! Fight, fight, fight!
“What are you two doing here?” Noa whispered sharply.
Aurora blinked innocently. “Uh… night jogging?”
“You jogged all the way to Dad’s room? Could you come up with a more believable excuse?”
“Then what are you two doing here?” Aurora countered.
“To eat midnight snack,” Noa replied with a completely straight face.
“...It’s almost 2:30! Who eats snacks at this hour?!”
“Shh! Someone’s coming,” Noa hissed.
The girls immediately quieted down.
This time, the wardrobe door slit revealed four pairs of eyes, neatly stacked from top to bottom, staring intently into the room.
“Who is it? Who is it?” Aurora questioned.
“Judging by the shadow, she is tall,” Helena noted.
“Mom, Aunt, and Claudia are all tall.”
“Her hair is long.”
“Mom, Aunt, and Claudia all have long hair.”
“Her figure is stunning.”
“Mom—”
“Alright, Aurora, we get it. They’re all stunning. No need to repeat it.”
Aurora shook her head vehemently. “No, no, no! I mean the one entering the room—it’s Mom!”
Upon hearing this, the girls collectively held their breath, becoming even more cautious.
A soft click-clack of high heels echoed through the room.
A silver-haired silhouette gracefully made her way to Leon’s bedside.
It was Roswitha.
Leon kept his expression perfectly neutral, though inwardly he cursed.
Damn it. Tonight is turning into a real jackpot...
The small ones haven't been dealt with yet, and now the big one shows up.
What’s this? Could it be that you, Mother Dragon, have also obtained some clues about [The Only One]?
Roswitha slowly straightened her posture, lowered her gaze, and looked at Leon.
After a short while, her eyes shifted to the clock hanging on the wall.
It was exactly 2:30 in the morning.
The queen let out a smug smile and asked softly,
"Leon, let me ask you, the Black Sacred Stone—"
But midway through her sentence, Roswitha stopped speaking.
The smile on her face faded as she furrowed her brows slightly.
"If I use the specific advantage of it being 2:30 AM to get information out of him... that would be taking too many external advantages."
Roswitha scratched her temple, hesitated for a brief moment, and then gave a soft harrumph.
"This queen does not cheat."
"However... I can’t just waste such an opportunity either. I'll ask you a question, nonetheless."
**Leon’s inner thoughts:**
Don’t ask something weird! Don’t ask something weird! Don’t ask something weird!
The daughters are right in the cabinet behind you!
"Leon... Are you thinking about..."
Roswitha lightly bit her lower lip. The crisp moonlight poured in from the window and blanketed her slightly flushed cheeks.
Her silver eyes quivered as she continued in a soft voice,
"Having another baby with me?"
**Leon:** ?
**Noa:** ? pro
**Muen:** ? pro max
**Helena:** ? pro max super
**Aurora:** (✪▽✪)!
"Does this mean I, Aurora, am going to have a little sister?!"
