Elizabeth dragged Melody toward one of the many bathrooms.
On the way, her face became darker and darker the more she thought about what happened.
'Out of everything, it had to be a mental skill…' – Many people obviously didn't like to be the target of a mental skill, which gave this kind of skill a rather negative view. However, Akihiko in specific had a bad past with mental skills – 'Just when I meet him again after months, goddamnit!' – Her eyes darkened slightly.
Entering the bathroom, Elizabeth checked that there wasn't anyone and used magic to isolate the nearby area.
Turning to Melody, the latter flinched.
"Are you aware of what you have done?" – Her voice sounded almost like a growl surprising not only Melody but also herself.
"…" – Melody averted her gaze from the woman in front of her, the latter was almost boring a hole with her gaze.
"I will say this just once but do not try anything like that again on him." – Melody's eyes narrowed at Elizabeth's words – "You won't get a second chance."
"Elizabeth, I recognize I'm wrong." – Melody finally spoke, and surprisingly admitted her wrongdoings – "However, I wanted to make sure he was trusta-"
"Your concern was uncalled for." – Elizabeth cut her off coldly – "I said that he is my childhood friend and someone I deeply care about. What is there to check if he is trustable?" – She felt her mana starting to get agitated and took a deep breath.
"…" – Melody didn't answer. She was aware that the real reason she tried to use the skill was to see who was Akihiko, someone who wasn't part of the game and especially also due to her own jealousy, however, she couldn't say it to Elizabeth.
"You know you almost died, right?" – Elizabeth sharply asked.
Melody touched her neck, the diminishing adrenaline went up again. Her blood got colder when she remembered her state reflected in the mirror.
"There won't be a next time. He won't spare you even if I ask him to, so keep that in mind." – Elizabeth started to walk toward the exit – "I hope you apologize to him if you recognize your mistake." – The magic started to fade away.
"Couldn't I protect myself?" – Melody mustered her strength and asked. She isn't much of a fighter but she is far from being a pushover.
Elizabeth stopped briefly before resuming her walk – "That was a nice joke." – She exited the bathroom leaving only those words behind.
"…" – Melody looked at the door, stunned by what she just heard. This Elizabeth was different from the one she knew, the one who always helped her friends no matter what.
This one felt more real than the one portrayed in the game.
'What is happening?' – First was someone who didn't appear in the game but is friends with the protagonist, then was the protagonist herself being weird.
Melody was beyond confused.
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"I'm back~" – Elizabeth returned to the table and sat beside Akihiko before hugging his arm.
"…" – The latter just nodded at her.
"Elizabeth, where is Melody?" – One of the young women who came with Elizabeth asked.
"Oh, she must be reflecting on our talk, she should be joining us shortly." – Her eyes glanced at Akihiko – "Aki, you don't mind, right?"
Akihiko made some hand signals and her face brightened.
"Thank you." – She heaved a sigh of relief. Thankfully her childhood friend rarely takes things to heart or cares about them at all.
As the chatter resumed, Akihiko's mind was in another place.
'They are slowly poisoning the food and drinks…' – It was almost imperceptible but as a shinobi, he worked with poisons regularly so he could feel extremely faint traces of poison on his drink.
'So this event didn't change.' – His senses could pick that some foods had something added to them while most of the drinks were the same – 'This is probably going to be a big one.'
When he played the game, Akihiko was both fascinated by the fantasy of the game as well as horrified by its realism.
One of the events where he became unsure if the game was an eroge or a gore game was the Conference.
Because when the time comes, the game had no qualms about killing characters, even important ones. And if they died, that was it. No magic, no miracle, no resurrection, no second chances, no nothing. They died, peridot.
Putting his drink down, Akihiko waited for a few more minutes as the people at the table consumed the food and drinks while talking.
"Huh?" – Elizabeth noticed Akihiko conveying something to her.
Her eyes widened slightly but she calmed herself down and turned to the other people at the table before using her telepathy – 'Everyone, it's me, Elizabeth. Please remain calm and stop eating and drinking.'
The others flinched at the suddenness of the message but managed to remain calm and followed her instructions.
'Aki said that there is poison on them.' – The group once again flinched as surprise flashed in their eyes – 'He said that it's not much, so the effects are negligible at most.'
Everyone looked at Akihiko and then back at Elizabeth.
'It seems that the dosage is being increased bit by bit over time.' – She explained before adding – 'By Aki's words, the poison appears to be a paralyzing type, there is no direct danger to our lives even if we get affected by it.'
The group then calmed down but apprehension now loomed over the table.
Akihiko meanwhile, let Elizabeth explain things and he tapped his bio-system before sending a message to Evelyn.
[Akihiko: Ms. Evelyn, are you there?]
Surprisingly, a reply came right after.
[Instructor Evelyn: Akihiko? Never thought you would contact me first. So, what is it?]
[Akihiko: Just wanted to know if there is going to be a test of some kind.]
It wasn't the best but that was what he was able to come up with for this situation.
[Instructor Evelyn: Well, even if there was, you know you won't get an answer to that, right? But why the question?]
Akihiko pondered if he should explain and decided to do so since there wouldn't be demerits in it.
[Akihiko: Nothing much, it's just that there is paralyzing poison on the food and drinks, so I wanted to confirm if it was intentional or not on the instructors' part.]
[Instructor Evelyn: …]
[Instructor Evelyn: Could you tell me more about it?]
Akihiko was a bit surprised that she believed in him with just this but he put that aside and messaged what he found out.
[Instructor Evelyn: I will talk with some acquaintances and see what we can do. If the situation gets out of control, remember to follow the training.]
After this, her status went offline.
'Seems like she has some idea about what is happening.' – Evelyn's response was standard but considering the current situation, she seemed to consider the worst possibility with the information he gave her.
"Did you contact someone, Aki?" – Elizabeth questioned when she saw that he finished whatever he was doing.
Akihiko nodded and did some hand signals.
"I see." – Elizabeth conveyed the message through telepathy to the others before cutting off the connection.
"So, what are going to do?" – Darlan asked after understanding the overall situation.
"We wait." – Elizabeth's answer surprised the group a little – "The Conference is going to start in 10 minutes. If whoever is doing this isn't part of the event, they should make another move before the start of the Conference." – The others had their doubts but nodded at her decision, it was better than running around blindly.
Meanwhile, Melody returned to the table and saw everyone apprehensive, causing her to be confused.
"What is happening?" – She whispered to her friend as soon as she sat down.
Her friend welcomed her back before explaining the situation.
'The event is starting…' – Melody glanced at Elizabeth – 'It should be fine since she has the protagonist's halo.' – If things went like the game, the Conference should spiral into a horror show, from which few can get out with their lives.
The minutes passed by with the group tensely glancing around and trying to find anything off.
However, they found nothing.
'They should be appearing soon.' – Melody thought while carefully looking at the stage.
[The Conference is about to start, please return to your seats.] – A genderless voice echoed through the hall.
Melody and the other two women looked at Elizabeth just to see her shaking her head.
Some people on the nearby tables got up and went back to their own table, however, surprisingly or not, most people remained at the tables with their friends and acquaintances.
Two minutes later, the lights went out.
As soon as it happened, Akihiko, Elizabeth, and Olivia, all felt a shiver run down their spines.
The curtains behind the floating globe parted, giving everyone a vision of what was behind.
'Something is off.' – Alarm bells rang in Akihiko's head.
From behind the curtain, an old man stepped out from the shadows and spotlights lit up and focused on the stage.
As soon as the lights focused on the man, everyone fell silent.
"Welcome, children of the evil ones." – The old man's eyes opened, revealing two irises and pupils in each eye.
'This is wrong.' – Melody immediately recognized that something was off. This wasn't like in the game.
"You, who tarnish the land and devour everything with your greed." – The old man's body cracked and a black claw pierced through his chest before starting to tear the body apart.
"Welcome, to your room of judgment." – A black being spoke while grotesquely exiting the body and throwing it on the floor as if discarding a piece of old clothing.
'What is it doing here!?' – Melody's face went pale.
'This is bad …' – Akihiko recognized that thing to be even stronger than Evelyn.
"Today, justice shall be served for the sinners who tarnish the land and kill our kin." – A smile spread on the being's face, almost splitting his face in the middle.
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