The crowd had gone silent at her answer. It should’ve helped, was supposed to give them direction, and maybe even relief. But all it did was cause their doubts and unease to grow even further.

The ghost had said the answer was roses. Yet only a few minutes ago, Lady Rosaline had flung the cup of rose tea to the floor like it was absolute garbage.

The contradiction sat there in the middle of the garden, ugly and obvious. Though Joshua was the first to recover.

"Everyone," he said, raising his voice to speak to the crowd. "I believe Mr. Day has shown us the correct approach."

Don’t make it sound like you’re actually praising me, you bastard!

"The answer cannot be found through guessing ingredients blindly!" Joshua continued. "Anything the guests, servants, or attendants might know about Lady Rosaline is a big help to us."

Several contestants nodded, their earlier panic quickly latching onto the first concrete path forward.

"We should spread out," the bear-masked guy said. "There are way too many specters in this garden..."

"Agreed," the politician nodded. "Let’s meet back here in a bit and compile our information together. Until then, nobody is allowed to offer any teas."

Joshua turned toward Martin. "Mr. Wells, please remain on standby near the head attendant and make sure no one offers anything."

"What?!" Hana complained immediately. "How can you let someone as untrustworthy as him be in charge of something so important?!"

"Then..." Joshua nodded. "Mr. Day may assign someone in his group to guard as well, if it gives you any peace of mind."

Deon simply stared at the politician.

What is he up to? He’s been too reasonable...

"Mmm," Deon hummed before looking at his crew. "Alright Jin, you can go ahead with that job?"

"What? Me?!" the boy’s head snapped up immediately, hands flailing about as he tried to deny it.

"Yeah, you."

"Why me?!" Jin pointed at himself like there had to be another Jin standing nearby. "I’m not exactly the security type, you know!"

"You’re not guarding the attendant," Deon got closer and whispered into his ear.

Jin blinked. "Then what am I doing?"

Deon’s eyes shifted toward Martin. The old fox had been standing quietly behind Joshua, looking as harmless as a wilted houseplant. Unsurprisingly, the man had a half-mask with a fox motif.

"You’re watching him," he nodded. "If he talks to the attendant, listen. If he tries anything else, shout and make a commotion."

Jin swallowed. "And if he attacks me?"

Deon looked down and tapped the gray [Fire Axe] Card in his hand. "Then put that Card to good use. You still also have Biscuit too, don’t you?"

After a moment of hesitation, the boy finally nodded. "Alright..."

"Good."

Deon turned to Mina and Nami next. The twins were already in action, moving together through the party as they questioned one of the attendants.

They move fast, huh? It’s nice that they’re independent. Still...

"Vivian, could you tail the twins?"

"On babysitting duty again?" she sighed, though she was obviously already walking in their direction.

"Well, you were with them since the First Game. I’m just using your attachment to them to coerce you."

Vivian stopped for half a second before gasping dramatically. "Wow. So blunt?! Who are you and what have you done to the real Deon?"

"Alright, alright." He waved her off. "Get to it."

Vivian gave a lazy salute before perfectly blending in with the crowd, so much so that someone might mistake her for a phantom. She tailed the twins without making it look like she was following them at all.

Hana watched Vivian leave before turning back toward Deon. Her hands hovered near her mask for a second, but she stopped herself from touching it.

"I’ll ask around too," she said.

Deon glanced at her. "You?"

"Well, I have to make myself useful...somehow," she said, adding the last word softly.

Deon stared at her for a second before realizing what was going on. "Are you still stuck on what that person said about you?"

Hana stayed silent for a while before speaking. "Well...I can’t even deny it. I’ve pretty much been around you the whole time..."

Her fingers curled around the edge of her sleeve. "And maybe I really am just...being protected. I don’t know why you’re protecting me, so I really should make myself useful and—" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"And?" Deon cut in. "Finish the sentence."

"And...I’ve always wanted to ask," she said softly, turning away from his gaze. "Why are you protecting me?"

The question caught him off guard more than he expected. But still, his mouth opened, words falling out without him fully realizing it.

"Because someone with a wish like yours shouldn’t die here."

She flinched at his response.

"You wished for world peace, didn’t you?" he continued. "Something stupidly impossible...but—"

"It’s a nice wish," he nodded. "If I had to lose to someone, I’d rather it be someone stupid enough to wish for something like that."

"So stop letting random idiots decide what you’re worth and go ask the servants something useful."

A small laugh escaped her despite the pressure of the mask. It was barely louder than a breath, but Deon could already see her shoulders easing up.

"Aye, aye, Captain!" she saluted dramatically, copying Vivian’s gesture from before.

"Ugh..." Deon frowned. "Don’t go picking up weird habits from her. Maybe she really is a bad influence."

But Hana was already on the move, approaching one of the attendants before engaging in a conversation.

Good...now all that’s left is one thing...

Why the hell would she say roses when she just saw that it obviously wasn’t? Either she couldn’t see Rosaline’s reaction...

Or she was ignorant enough not to care.

Deon leaned against the side of one of the white pillars and finally decided to open his chat window. The messages flooded in immediately.

[ClownWithWifi: what the hell? new game already?!]

[RandomToastEnjoyer: "if I had to lose to someone" okay soft boy]

[RedStringTheory: ahhh my nose is bleeding, more please!]

Deon’s vein visibly popped before he dragged a hand down his face. "You guys were watching that...?"

[RandomToastEnjoyer: bro thinks closing chat turns off the livestream]

[ChairGoblin_22: streamer discovers streaming]

[RedStringTheory: more doki doki please!]

RedStringTheory? Another Viewer perhaps? Well, the more the merrier, I guess...

Deon immediately looked past the message before the chat could start spiraling into whatever nonsense they clearly wanted to talk about. A new Viewer joining wasn’t exactly normal, but right now, he had more pressing matters.

"Alright chat, here’s the rundown."

"Lady Rosaline rejected rose tea in front of the entire garden," Deon continued quietly. "She didn’t just dislike it. She quite literally threw a tantrum."

"So what exactly is going on?"