Escape from Crescent Moon Manor
When Iver awoke again, he felt weaker than ever before.
—It's not an illusion.
Iver quickly determined that this condition stemmed from severe anemia. However, he did not feel any wounds or pain, but rather a light, intoxicating sensation.
It's like the euphoric and peaceful feeling of embracing your lover and breathing in the fragrance of their hair.
He calmed himself down a bit, then opened his eyes to check his situation.
He... or rather, she noticed that she was in a neat but small room.
She was lying on a neatly made bed with a soft, thick quilt. The wooden room was devoid of decorations and entertainment. Apart from the single bed, there was only a small desk.
On the desk sat a potted green plant, three or four books held in place by bookends, and a water glass.
But the first bad thing happened.
She noticed that there were no extra clothes in the room.
Her feet were bare, and she was only wearing a thin white nightgown... After getting out of bed, she felt a distinct, chilling cold.
When he turned over to get out of bed, Iver noticed the heavy metal collar around his neck.
Because there was no mirror in the room, she couldn't confirm her appearance or the exact shape of the bracelet. She pulled a strand of her hair, which was hanging down her back, and placed it in front of her to confirm that she had black hair.
Soon, the host's ethereal and melodious voice, as gentle as if telling a bedtime story, softly reached her ears:
You wake up in the afterglow of the setting sun, feeling weaker than yesterday.
"You just had a dream about your wonderful past as the Viscount's Daughter."
"Under the combined pressure of the Alchemy Association and the Art Society, the Empire's Demon Scholar began to suffer unprecedented persecution. Murders were rampant and almost unmanageable. The struggle between superhumans had become completely open, and many nobles had their lands and titles forcibly taken away, and their property and wives and daughters were also plundered by the superhumans."
"You were sold by your father to the Child of the Moon in exchange for the protection of the family. Now you are a Blood Slave kept by the ' Crescent Moon Manor ', number No. 14."
"With each day of 'feeding,' your body grows weaker and weaker. If you were only supported by one master, you might have a chance to survive. But if you continue to work on the manor, you will soon die here."
"So you are left with only two paths—find a way to escape ' Crescent Moon Manor,' or be bought from the manor by a master who loves you at an extremely high price. The latter is almost impossible."
"But one person alone can't do anything. So the nine of you gathered together and decided to work together to escape from here."
"—However, considering that there are no shoes, no food, and no survival tools, the chances of A Way Out through the mountains and Dense Forest are slim, and even if they return to the Empire's territory, they may be killed or captured by others."
"Therefore, among you nine, there is at least one informant with ulterior motives."
"If someone informs a Child of the Moon about this escape attempt and gains their trust, the Child of the Moon may report it to the Manor. If all the escapees are successfully captured, the Manor will give one or two of you to the Moon Child as a gift. This is another way to escape Crescent Moon Manor."
"—And you are one of the informants."
[Necessary Task]
[Be outside of the Crescent Moon Manor, in a safe location, and without pursuers before the sun rises again (Points: None)]
[Additional Task]
[Find Companions: First, find all your companions (Points: 500)]
[Remain hidden: Never let anyone discover your true identity until the very end (Points: 500)]
[The Informant's Useless Slaughter: Killing Other Companions (Points: 200 per Person)]
[The Informant's Deception: Successfully concealing the informant's identity from teammates (Points: 500)]
[Successful Plan: Leave Crescent Moon Manor via the Secret Passage (Points: 1000)]
[The Instinct to Betray: Sabotaging the Prison Break Plan (Points: 1000)]
[Alluring Aura: Successfully Adopted (Points: 1000)]
[The Talent of Slaying Your Master: Kill Your Master (Points: 2000)]
As the task list popped up, Iver glanced at it briefly.
The killing intent was slightly less than that of the last New Moon Ritual, but the malice was not diminished.
It's just that murder has turned into deception and betrayal...
but...
Iver took another careful look at the mission and confirmed the mission requirements again and again.
Neither "jailbreak" nor "informing" seems to be explicitly listed in the task list.
Even the task of the informant's "instinct to betray" only required sabotaging the prison break plan. There was no mandatory requirement to inform.
In other words, their actions were not subject to any coercive constraints. Escape and informing were merely "suggested tasks."
This means that even an informer can choose not to inform at all, because their victory conditions have nothing to do with their identity.
Similarly, others can also choose to inform on others... This will also interfere with other people's task of finding the informant.
As the counterpart to the "informer's false disguise" quest, there must also be a quest to "kill the informer" on the other side. Iver, as the informer, can also instigate others to inform... If he is caught and killed, then he can hide his identity.
but...
In this mission, everyone's gender is reversed.
Its victory condition has a unique requirement: its identity cannot be revealed to anyone—not even its teammates. This means that those in the team, including itself and Lily, cannot confirm each other's identities.
However, the inability to confirm an identity does not mean that one cannot discern it oneself.
In other words, they need a way to confirm that they "know the truth."
Do Iver and Lily have such methods? Yes, they do.
Their attire was reversed when they entered, but at that time, it seemed that no one except the lady from the Path of Love noticed this.
In other words, if others thought Aleister was a lady, then he would now be a man; similarly, if they thought Grey was a gentleman, then he would now be a lady.
Therefore, Iver could simply switch identities with Lily—
Now, he is "gray".
If he could spot another man in the crowd who resembled "Alai," then that man would be Lily. This way, they wouldn't need to verify her identity to confirm that she was their teammate.
... Hopefully she'll realize it by now.
Iver thought to himself.
She walked to the window and struggled to open it—even such a simple thing left her breathless.
The window was bathed in the golden-red glow of the setting sun. Looking out, one could see lush green hills stretching as far as the eye could see, a sight that soothed the soul.
This made her heart sink.
Although I know I'm deep in the mountains... isn't this a bit too deep?
She stretched out her hand and looked at her hands in the light.
But just doing this made her fingertips tremble uncontrollably. It was due to weakness caused by anemia.
Judging from the slenderness of her fingers, she seemed to be quite young, probably only fifteen or sixteen years old. Her skin was fair, with no calluses on her hands or wounds on her arms.
Her fingernails were almost bloodless, turning a bluish-white and losing their luster. Her palms were also bloodless, her fingertips were visibly shriveled, and her palms were covered with fine lines.
... How could she escape with such a weak body? Just then, her door was suddenly opened.
It was a man in black dressed as a waiter, wearing Rabbit Mask.
With his hands behind his back, he calmly said, "It's dinner time, No. 14. The guests have been waiting for a long time, please follow me."
"...yes."
The slender girl instantly got into character, nodding slightly and timidly.
I had a fever of 37.6 degrees Celsius last night and slept for six hours before waking up... My temperature has dropped to 36.8 degrees Celsius now, but I still feel very weak. I took azithromycin and feel a little better, but not completely better yet. At least I shouldn't need to go to the hospital anymore.
There is still a second chapter, but I'll have lunch and rest for a while before writing it... It will probably be posted after 3 or 4 pm...
Hey guys, if you're going to fatten up the cat, remember to set up auto-subscription, don't kill it! (crying emoji)