If it were not for Elle's reproach of himself as an asshole, Tyler wouldn't have noticed the flaws in his calculations for quite some time.
Elle's memories were unidirectionally impeded from reaching Avril, but Avril's memories, on the other hand, were crystal clear to Elle!
Had it not been so, Elle would never have known that Tyler might be hiding in a locked room.
Now, however, Tyler's recent actions of leading Avril to confess and then, under the guise of nonchalance, taking advantage of her introversion, were all observed by Elle in full clarity. Elle would never believe that Tyler could keep a secret.
"Very well, I admit my fault. I confess that I have evaded."
Tyler slowly stepped back, with a wound on his shoulder, leaving him with only one hand to fight.
In terms of combat occupations, a "Junior Assassin - Level 3" against a "Murderous Phantom - Level 6" already places Tyler at a significant disadvantage, especially without knowing Avril's attributes and skills. Furthermore, Avril has already killed more than a dozen adult men, highlighting a clear gap in combat experience.
Tyler glanced at his status information. His current life energy was "22/30," and endurance was "14/24(-2)". Judging by his blood loss, he would be done for after two or three more strikes. It was unexpected that injuries would also affect the maximum value of his endurance. The weaker he was, the more "realistic" these data seemed.
"It's too late to admit your mistake now. No matter how smooth-tongued you are, I will still kill you."
Avril continued to close the distance between herself and Tyler. By now, Tyler's back was against the wall, with no room to retreat.
"If you kill me, how will you explain it to the people in the village?"
"No need for explanations. Once we clean up this place later, no one will know that you died here. Everyone will simply believe that you left the village."
"Just like when you killed others, right?"
"Yes."
Tyler made an effort to divert Avril's attention through conversation. Generally speaking, the conversation had reached a dead end, but Tyler already had a way out of this predicament.
"But you know, Avril, I seem to be a little smarter than the others, don't you think? Before tonight's 'Rain Praise Festival,' I left a letter for the village chief. The letter states, 'If I go missing tonight, it's because I was killed by Avril.'"
"...You!!!"
Elle, who was about to take action, was once again immobilized by Tyler's words.
But in reality, Tyler had not written any so-called letter to the village chief; it was all a lie he made up on the spot. After hearing such a threat, would Elle still dare to kill him? Tyler bet that she wouldn't!
"You're lying!"
"If you think I'm lying, then go ahead and kill me."
Tyler even threw the dagger to the ground, assuming a non-resistant posture. This act of evasiveness infuriated Elle, yet she felt powerless.
Tyler saw through the situation clearly. Elle's primary motive for wanting to kill him was to protect Avril. If she killed him now, it would only endanger Avril. Therefore, Elle no longer had a reason to make a move.
One unable to strike, the other unable to escape; the two sides remained deadlocked. However, after a brief stalemate, Elle suddenly laughed.
"So, you think you're clever, huh?"
Elle took a step towards Tyler.
If there was any miscalculation on Tyler's part, it was that one should never push a madman into a corner. That would only make them completely abandon all ethical and moral rules of this world.
"I'll kill you first, and then I'll kill the village chief!"
Elle thrust a dagger towards Tyler's chest, but he barely managed to dodge to the side. However, he was immediately cornered against the wall. Seeing Elle turning around to attack once again, Tyler had nowhere to hide, not even the weapon he had just carelessly thrown away!
At that moment, Elle's feet stumbled strangely, and her short blade inexplicably fell to the ground. She couldn't pick it up and could only support herself against the wall, as if she could collapse at any moment.
"What... what's happening..."
Elle held her head with her hand, seemingly in a severe daze.
This time, it was Tyler's turn to laugh.
He cautiously moved away from the corner of the wall and picked up the dagger from the ground. Slowly, he retreated, increasing the distance between him and Elle.
"Don't... don't run...!"
Elle wanted to chase after Tyler, but now she could hardly even maintain her standing position, let alone move.
"Huff... finally taking effect."
Tyler watched Elle from a distance, not retaliating, just waiting for her to collapse on her own.
"What... what... took effect...?"
"You... you didn't... poison Avril, did you?!"
"When... when... did you...?!"
Elle's face was filled with disbelief. In her memory, Avril had prepared dinner tonight. How could she have been poisoned?
"Do you still remember who served dinner tonight?" Tyler asked with a smile.
"I added this to your food," he said, taking out a small packet of powder from his pocket.
"If you can't understand, it's alright, I'll tell you."
"This is a powder ground from mandrake seeds, mainly containing toxic substances such as scopolamine, atropine, hyoscyamine, and so on. It can disrupt the autonomic nervous system's control..."
[Quotes from Chapter 38 - Festival Coming"]
"Simply put, you will gradually start to fall asleep, and then your body will exhibit symptoms such as convulsions and cyanosis, until finally, death."
As Elle looked at the extremely arrogant Banning before her, she wanted to say something more, but she couldn't speak anymore.
Intense dizziness and drowsiness had taken over Elle's body. She couldn't understand why Banning would poison Avril.
Since when did Banning start suspecting Avril?
This man could actually harm a girl who loved him like this?
No matter what, only she was guilty; Avril was innocent!
"B... B... Banning..."
Filled with deep remorse and unwillingness, Elle collapsed to the ground, completely losing consciousness.
·
Tyler could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
In his understanding, the effects of mandrake poisoning would typically take effect within half an hour, at the latest within three hours.
Perhaps those with combat occupations had better constitutions. It took Avril over an hour after dinner to show signs of poisoning.
If the toxin had taken effect later, Tyler might not have been able to save his own life.
But this was also Tyler's own fault.
To avoid endangering Avril's life, he had only administered a small dose. The toxicity of this dosage would allow Avril to sleep for two to three hours before her body would naturally detoxify without leaving any sequelae.
As for phrases like "you will gradually start to fall asleep, and then your body will exhibit symptoms such as convulsions and cyanosis, until finally, death," Tyler had simply said those things to frighten Avril.
Tyler knew very well that if he hadn't unlocked the locked room at night, the situation wouldn't have escalated to Avril attempting to kill him... but now, things had become somewhat troublesome.
Judging from Avril's recent frenzy, if he didn't get rid of her, she would surely not stop until she killed him. However, if he were to harm Avril, innocent Avril would also have to die alongside him.
Tyler looked down at the fallen Avril (Elle) on the ground. The petite and delicate girl resembled a sleeping kitten... Who could imagine her recent crazed killings?
So, should he kill her or not?
This question loomed before Tyler, and he had to make a choice.