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“Genius… what an enviable word,” Mr. Card murmured, his voice inaudible to Ballmer.
“Ballmer, how many people have you rounded up?”
“Fifty-four, Including both of us.”
Mr. Card nodded. “Fifty-four? So everyone from the alliance is here?”

“Yes, and they’re all eager to take down Princess Estelle with their own hands. With nearly half of the contest participants involved in this siege, there’s no way Princess Estelle can escape, even if she sprouts wings,” Ballmer replied with a hint of smugness.

“Where’s Ness? Why isn’t he here?” Mr. Card suddenly asked.

“He’s scouting; checking if he can hide his men underwater and ambush the target,” Ballmer replied, pointing toward the lake.

“In the water? Water doesn’t conceal from detection, and the target isn’t foolish. She’ll spot them easily.” Mr. Card shook his head, skeptical of the plan.

“Earlier reports suggested this lake is peculiar. Ness is investigating to understand what’s strange about it. Hiding men is just a side objective; he’s not counting on it to work,” Ballmer explained.

“I see.” Mr. Card observed the turquoise lake and the island at its center which was surrounded by some type of algae. The water was deep and dark black before gradually lightening to a jewel-like azure blue near the shore.

From above, the lake resembled a giant pupil, evoking an eerie sensation.

“Does this lake have a name?” Mr. Card asked.
“Square Lake.” To which Ballmer replied.
“Square Lake…?” Mr. Card paused before remarking, “That’s a succinct and evocative name.”
Ballmer awkwardly scratched his head and explained, “Well, when we were mapping the area, we used a square to mark the lake. Someone then started calling it Square Lake.”

“…What about the island?”
“The island within Square Lake is naturally called Square Island,” Ballmer replied matter-of-factly.
“I see. So that peculiar mountain on the island must be called Mount Square even though it’s rectangular,” Mr. Card remarked, pointing toward the mountain.
“No, we call it Mount Coffin.”

“What?” Mr. Card felt a sense of frustration building and had to take two deep breaths to regain his composure.

“If everything’s named after ‘square’, why call it such an ugly name like Mount Coffin instead of keeping the names consistent?” he continued asking.

Ballmer gave Mr. Card a strange look that seemed to imply—Why is a smart person like you asking such a silly question?—before replying, “Because it looks like a coffin.”

Mr. Card was rendered speechless by his answer.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Hey, Lilith.”
“Yes?”
“Can I ask a question?”
“Go ahead.”
“Why did you lure so many people over? Aren’t you afraid they’ll kill you?”
“The more I lure, the less I have to hunt down later.”
“What exactly are you trying to accomplish?”

“Just clearing the area.” Lilith paused before continuing, “But I’m also doing this for their own good. I have a hunch that something extremely dangerous lurks in this small world, so I need to send them away first.”

Erica was shocked. “Something extremely dangerous? What is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“What? You don’t know yet you still…”

Lilith cut Erica off and said, “Okay, I’m hanging up now. The signal’s breaking up soon. Focus on your own task. Stay hidden and don’t fall asleep. Experts don’t snore in their sleep.”

“Don’t spout nonsense! I’m a pretty girl! Pretty girls don’t snore…!”

Toot, toot, toot…

The communication cut off, and Lilith put away the spectrum stone with an expressionless face.

No wonder the rules did not prohibit the use of communication tools in this small world. Even with Lilith’s top-tier spectrum stone that could communicate across continents, its effective range was limited to just a hundred meters in a straight line here.

For others, ten meters was likely the maximum range for reliable transmission. Even whispers could be overheard without any tools over such a small distance.

Grumbling about the useless spectrum stone, Lilith turned her attention to her left hand. Her hand wasn’t empty; she was strangling a person by the neck. Despite his struggles, his attempts to break free were futile.

Lilith was currently submerged in the lake. She had descended the mountain because she heard some strange noises coming from the lake below. Upon arrival, she discovered several sneaky water rats.

“Hmm, judging by your expression, you must be wondering how I can talk underwater.” Lilith brought her face close to the person, whose visage twisted in horror due to lack of oxygen, and chuckled softly before replying to her own question.

“Who knows? Maybe it’s a gift.” With a swift motion, Lilith snapped the person’s neck, and a familiar white light signaled his release. “It’s a shame humans can’t talk underwater. Otherwise, you could have lasted a bit longer.”

Lilith peered into the dark waters, her smile turning cruel. “I recall seeing six water rats earlier. I got rid of two, so there should be just four left, right…?”

There was no one to answer Lilith beneath the silent waters.

◆◇◆◇◆

Something isn’t right. Something definitely isn’t right about that blonde girl!

Ness swam for a long time before he finally found a reef that provided some concealment at the bottom of the dimly lit lake. Despite hiding there, his heart continued to race, unable to calm down.

The sight he had just witnessed was chilling beyond belief. Ness had dived into the lake after reports of strange underwater noises, aiming to investigate without complicating the siege efforts.

The lake’s depth was unfathomable, with shallow areas barely waist-high and deeper parts bottomless—a perfect terrain for concealing an unexpected army to catch Princess Estelle off guard.

That was Ness’ initial thought. Yet, after half a day underwater, he hadn’t encountered the strange sounds he was investigating. Instead, he encountered someone he least expected to find there.

It was the blonde girl. The same blonde girl who claimed to be Lady Erica’s lackey; the very same one who had effortlessly knocked down Ballmer with a single punch.

Upon spotting her, Ness’ mind buzzed with questions as many as the bubbles rising around him.

Why is she here? Isn’t she supposed to be up there with Princess Estelle? Why could she speak underwater when everyone else needs special spells just to hold their breath? How could she move so effortlessly like a fish in water? And why is she so agile? She had moved from the edge of his vision to right in front of him within just a split second. Most importantly, how could she bring herself to act so ruthlessly? She had snapped the neck of one of our people without hesitation!