Elsa's eyes swept over everyone, and after a moment of bewilderment, she immediately grasped the situation.
"It seems I've been tricked again." She smiled and shook her head at the same time.
She had already understood that the so-called capture of Meili was merely a lie, and the other party only wanted to determine if Meili was her accomplice.
At the same time, she also knew that her weakness had been exposed to Ayanokouji.
"I'm very curious about you, what are your guts like?" Elsa said with a smile.
"As expected, she is an accomplice." Ayanokouji ignored Elsa and spoke calmly.
He looked down at her hand, which hadn't recovered. He knew the other party's method for escaping prison, which was part of his calculation.
While he was talking to her earlier, he noticed that Elsa seemed to be subtly trying to get information from him. For someone as adept at manipulating people's hearts as Ayanokouji, this approach was as clumsy as a child's joke.
However, he didn't show it at the time but instead intentionally pretended to accidentally reveal information about Meili, telling the other party that he would execute Meili tomorrow, giving Elsa the feeling that she would have a chance to save Meili tonight.
Additionally, Ayanokouji intentionally used gaps in his words to hint to Elsa that the mansion was currently understaffed and he also reduced the number of traps outside, giving her the illusion that she could escape.
At the same time, he had asked Ram to use her Clairvoyance ability and use the bird's eye in the birdcage in the basement to monitor Elsa's every move from a distance.
Ram knew that Elsa might be the accomplice who killed Rem, so she was very cooperative.
From start to finish, everything Elsa did was under Ayanokouji's control.
During that conversation, although Ayanokouji had doubts about Elsa, he wasn't sure if the other party was really connected to Meili, so he used this method to verify it.
After Roswaal returned, he informed everyone in the mansion about his plan. Although to them, such a plan seemed rather extreme, in these extraordinary times, they could only choose to cooperate now.
If Elsa did nothing tonight, Ayanokouji wouldn't be sure of her relationship with Meili. Maybe she cruelly abandoned her teammate, or maybe the two truly had no connection, in which case Ayanokouji would need to use another method for further confirmation.
But Elsa's unusual behavior tonight was enough to explain the relationship between her and Meili—not only could it show that the two were members of the assassination organization, but what concerned Ayanokouji the most was that Elsa cared deeply for Meili. Otherwise, she wouldn't have come to this room at this moment and in this way.
At this moment, Ayanokouji narrowed his eyes slightly and stared at Elsa.
As a world-renowned assassin, Elsa trying to take the risk to save Meili today was truly unwise. Her emotions overcame her rationality. In Ayanokouji's eyes, there was no doubt that this was a weakness.
He always believed that human emotions were meaningless and would only reveal one's weaknesses. From Elsa, he became even more convinced of this.
At the same time, he also found another way to control her.
"Tell us everything you know!" Ram's eyes were full of anger.
Facing the accomplice of her sister's killer, she wanted to skin and tear apart the woman in front of her right now. She was about to release wind magic to punish the woman, but this time Roswaal stopped her action.
"Ram, Ayanokouji-sama has said we can't kill Elsa for now~" Roswaal said with a smile.
"Ayanokouji, what should we do next?"
Emilia looked at Ayanokouji with confusion.
Although it was confirmed that Elsa and Meili were accomplices, they definitely wouldn't be able to get any further information.
"Freeze her first."
Ayanokouji naturally knew this. He didn't intend to get any information from Elsa.
"Yes."
Emilia nodded, then released magic, freezing Elsa's entire body. At the same time, she looked at Ayanokouji with some confusion, "Ayanokouji, even though I know Elsa and Rem's killer are accomplices, just to prove this, it seems a bit too complicated..."
"No, the information we've obtained is very valuable. From the current situation, we can deduce that they would take risks to save each other. Elsa has a close relationship with the girl named Meili. They are life-and-death friends." Ayanokouji turned to Elsa, who had been frozen into an ice statue, "Having come to this conclusion, we might be able to take advantage of it."
"What do you mean?" Emilia didn't understand his point.
"What Ayanokouji-sama means is that if the assassin knows that Elsa is imprisoned by us, she won't choose to leave directly but will definitely find a way to come back to save her."
Roswaal showed a smile on his face.
"What I said is correct, Ayanokouji-sama."
"Yes." Ayanokouji nodded, "Although Meili seems to have escaped into the forest, she might not have actually fled. Instead, she may have chosen to stay in the forest and watch, looking for an opportunity to save Elsa. Now we have to create a suitable opportunity for Meili to attack the mansion like she did today."
"What should we do?" Ram asked urgently.
But Ayanokouji still said unhurriedly: "Tomorrow we will all leave the mansion and pretend to search near the forest to make enough noise so Meili knows we've left. This will be the best chance to save Elsa. If she wants to take action, that will be the time. During this period, Ram will use Clairvoyance ability to monitor the area near the mansion, and when the other party reveals her trick, we will immediately return and surround her."
Using other people's emotions to guide their actions was Ayanokouji's most common move.
❀❀❀
"What a crazy woman..."
At this moment, Sora had just placed his hand in front of the computer, and looked at the image on the computer screen in shock.
"Nii, what just happened? Did Elsa escape from prison?"
Shiro finally saw the screen clearly. Her vision had just been blocked by Sora, and she didn't see what happened on the screen.
"Sorry Shiro, that's not something you can see now."
As Sora spoke, he swallowed hard, with a bit of fear in his eyes.
The scene of Elsa forcibly escaping from prison just now was truly too psychologically disturbing.
But at the same time, Sora was shocked because he didn't expect Elsa to use such terrifying methods to escape from prison.
But what shocked Sora the most was that the perverted assassin could care so much for her companions.
"Her weak point has been captured."
Sora muttered while looking at the image on the computer screen.
❰❱SKY SCREEN❰❱
The scene changed. On the next night, under Ayanokouji's instructions, Roswaal used flying magic to fly directly above the forest to ensure that he could be seen by Meili, who might be hiding in the forest.
And Ayanokouji and the others entered the forest together.
If they wanted to lure Meili into saving Elsa, they had to let the other party know that the mansion was currently understaffed, and as a giant, because of his large size, Rom was equivalent to a walking loudspeaker.
However, whether this plan would succeed was still unknown. Ayanokouji himself wasn't sure if Meili would take the bait, and he had another purpose for the trip, which was to observe the terrain in the forest.
Surveying the terrain was not only to prepare for potential future enemy attacks, but he was also assessing the value of the forest in his mind.
From the current point of view, this forest seemed to be completely undeveloped, meaning there were still many untapped resources within it.
Wood, plants, animals... these were all valuable resources. If this area could be developed, then Emilia's camp would have great resources and wealth. The village of Arlam would certainly not remain a small village.
There was a vast forest area within Roswaal's territory. If part of that area was used for development, it could bring tremendous benefits.
But right now, Ayanokouji was a bit puzzled. As the owner of this territory, Roswaal should be able to think of these things. An ordinary ruler would surely want to make their territory prosperous.
Could it be that Roswaal never cared about his territory from beginning to end?
While Ayanokouji was thinking, he followed the others and walked into the forest, looking for any clues that might relate to Meili.
But at this moment, he saw that a messy set of footprints suddenly appeared in a certain area of the ground.
He quickly crouched down and carefully observed the footprints.
'The pattern of the footprints is different from Meili's, and these footprints look very similar, but the size and depth are different. Were they left by different people only wearing the same model of boots... Roughly estimating, the number of people should be ten...'
Ayanokouji reached out his hand to rub his chin while observing the footprints and thinking.
'Are they members of the assassination organization? No, perhaps not...'
He directed his gaze into the distance.
The footprints only appeared in this area. There were no footprints when he arrived, and no footprints when he left.
While he was thinking, Ram's anxious voice suddenly called out, "There's something unusual near the mansion!"
The camera panned around Roswaal's house.
Countless monsters had surrounded Roswaal's mansion.
"Elsa, wait, I'll save you soon."
On top of a lion-like Demon Beast, Meili raised her head and looked at the luxurious buildings in the distance.
As Ayanokouji had guessed, Meili never left the forest from beginning to end but continued to lurk around it. She knew Elsa had been imprisoned, so she was preparing to directly attack the mansion to save Elsa.
Such a rescue was entirely outside the scope of the assassination organization's mission, but for Meili, Elsa was like her own sister. The reason she stayed with the assassination organization was only because Elsa was still carrying out killings, so she naturally had to find a way to save her sister.
Meili hid in the forest, seeing that Roswaal, the most powerful person in the mansion, had left, and the others had also gone into the forest. They wouldn't be able to return for a while, leaving it unguarded. So she decided to save Elsa during this gap.
"Go! Break down the door!" Meili ordered the densely packed Demon Beasts around her.
She had had the ability to communicate with and command Demon Beasts since she was a child. At her command, dozens of monsters around her advanced and charged towards the wall outside Roswaal's mansion.
At that moment, countless fireballs fell from the sky, engulfing all the Demon Beasts beside Meili in an instant, and a sea of flames completely surrounded her.
"What?"
Meili looked at the scene before her, her eyes gradually becoming dull, and her whole body stood stiffly in place, unmoving.
"That's what Ayanokouji-sama said. You are a little kid who can't control your anger~"
As a strange voice sounded, Roswaal slowly descended from the air.