I'm Not a Flame-Chaser - Chapter 201

"What's the meaning?"

"What do you mean? Isn't it because you married Mobius? Tch, I really don't understand what's in those women's heads. Is there nothing left but love?" Chrono glared at Lin through gritted teeth. "She did it all because of you!"

"What exactly does that mean?" Lin Yue was increasingly confused. He asked, "Because I married Mobius?"

"On your wedding day, she got drunk. You should know that the Nun never drinks, but that was the first time she got drunk. She grabbed Sakura and said a lot of things. Almost everyone had left by then, but Kevin, Sue, and I stayed."

Lin remembers that the three of them did stay. In Lin's social circle, they were the only three male friends of the same age, so they helped with many things, including maintaining the wedding.

"The three of us heard her say that she would never let Mobius go, that Mobius had gone too far, but we just thought she was talking nonsense when she was drunk." Chrono stared seriously at the bewildered Lin. "But now it seems that it may not be that simple... and what she is probably going to do is to eliminate the three of us and Ying who know the truth first, and then take action against Mobius."

"No, Aponia wouldn't do that," Lin firmly shook his head in denial.

Because of this... thing? Just because of this strange reason?

"Really? Lin, do you really think so?" Chrono said meaningfully.

"..."

Do I really think so?

Lin's heart ached slightly.

Chrono and Lin returned, looking even more exhausted. Mobius hesitated, but ultimately, he didn't utter a single word in Lin's eyes.

If what Chrono said is true, and there is a one percent... not one ten-thousandth probability that Aponia is the murderer, then her motive is Lin and Mobius's marriage.

But what did she mean by "Mobius went too far"?

Is there anything else he doesn't know?

Lin suddenly realized that he didn't know anything about his friends who had been with him for so many years. In fact, it was Chrono, who didn't usually participate in the discussions, who told him about this.

So, it really will be Aponi...

Wait a moment.

"Where did Aponia and Kosma go?"

Lin suddenly stood up, anxiously searching for the figures of two of them.

The others, who had been keeping their heads down, realized that two people were missing and got up to search for them.

At this moment, Lin's inexplicable premonition reached its peak.

"Bang!"

Behind them, at the villa's gate, came a heavy thud, the sound of a human body hitting the ground.

April Fools' Special: The Snowy Mountain Villa Hero Team Annihilation Incident- Part 5

The deceased, Kosma, died from injuries to his spine, back of the head, and ribs caused by a fall from a height, resulting in immediate death.

The third person.

"Wrathful One falls from a high building."

Lin stood with his head down in front of Kosma's deformed corpse, slowly covering his face with his hands. He could no longer bear to look at the unseeing corpse of this boy who was a few years younger than him.

Fury...

Kosma did indeed show a moment of rage after Kevin's death, which was a rare occurrence for him to express excessive emotions. Lin could understand that the death of Kevin, who was like a brother and idol to Kosma, was enough to break him down. But can this alone be used to judge Kosma as a "Wrathful One"?

Following this line of reasoning, could it be that Kevin discovered something before he died that made him a "Mad One"?

No... Now is not the time to think about those things.

He asked the question that everyone else wanted to know, "What about Aponia?"

"I'm here."

Aponia's voice came from behind him. Lin turned around and saw her walking out of the door.

Upon seeing Kosma's corpse, her pupils constricted, and she looked at Lin with rapid breathing.

Lin could only nod silently.

"Aponia, where did you go just now?"

After settling Kosma's body, they returned to the hall, where Lin directly questioned Aponia in a skeptical tone.

Kosma and Aponia disappeared at the same time, and then Kosma fell from the building. Even if it was a coincidence, it was too much of a coincidence.

Moreover, according to Chrono, Kosma knew that Aponia came to the living room from the guest room area on the first floor, which means that Aponia could very well have attacked Kosma.

"I... went to the restroom..." Aponia obviously knew that it was very unusual for only her and Kosma to disappear, so she pointed to the restroom next to the corridor, which was not far from the hall.

"..."

But that doesn't make sense. If Kosma fell from a height, it could only have been on the third floor, while the toilet is on the first floor.

"May I take a look?" Lin asked Aponia tentatively.

Aponia blushed slightly, but still nodded gently.

Lin took a deep breath and went into the bathroom. He first lifted the toilet seat, then carefully picked up the top piece of paper in the trash can to examine it.

After a while, he came out of the restroom and nodded to everyone.

At this moment, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

But what followed was an even more depressed mood.

Since it's not Aponia, what happens next will likely become even more unpredictable.

"You all stay here, I'll go up and investigate." Lin decided to go to the place where Kosma fell to look for clues, but as soon as he said this, he was immediately opposed by Mobius and Aponia.

"No!"

"I don't think so."

"..."

Mobius and Aponia exchanged a glance, and then, quite tacitly... let Mobius speak first, "If there really is still one person in the villa who killed Kosma and Kevin, it would be dangerous for you to go up alone. My suggestion is to go together."

"No, going together... there are risks involved."

During an investigation, it's inevitable that some people will leave and then return quietly, but the possibility of people staring at each other and monitoring each other in the lobby is much smaller.

"Then... I'll go with you..."

Aponia then stepped forward.

She gave Lin a wink, which made Lin unconsciously frown.

Aponia also had something to say to him.

"No, just the two of you..."

"No, this is fine too." Chrono stopped the excited Mobius.

If Lin and Aponia were alone, she might be able to see more problems. More importantly, if something happened to Lin, Aponia would definitely be the first suspect. So at this point, she wouldn't dare to take action.

Lin walked up to Griseo, who was standing there stunned, having dropped her paintbrush. Kevin was of unparalleled importance to Kosma, and Kosma was just as important to Griseo...

He gently patted Griseo's head, which was covered by a small beret, then turned and followed Aponia up the stairs.

"..."

"..."

"Despair."

The soles of my feet made a dull thud on the wooden floor.

Lin and Aponia remained silent until they reached the second-floor stairs, at which point Aponia began to speak in her characteristically halting tone, "Lin... I know... you doubt me..."

"..."

Lin made no attempt to hide his gaze or expression; one could say his suspicion was written all over his face.

And this is what Lin wanted Aponia to see.

He still doesn't want to believe that one of them would kill his companion, but the deaths of three people in succession have finally woken him up.

He wanted to stop his friend from taking the plunge before things became truly beyond repair.

"Perhaps...no matter what I explain now...you won't believe me..." Aponia said slowly, walking beside Lin. "But...I have to tell you...I heard someone...passing by outside in the bathroom..."

Lin broke out in a cold sweat.

"What did you say..."

"After you and Chrono left the hall... besides me and Kosma ... there must have been someone else who left the hall... and they left with Kosma ..."

"That person...circled around outside the house before Kosma fell...and returned to the hall."

Lin's mind was buzzing. Without thinking much, he rushed to the window at the top of the stairs, opened it, and leaned out to look down at the snow-covered ground below, braving the frost that rushed in.

He saw it.

There's a row of footprints!

The footprints were almost covered by the wind and snow!

What to do?

The question is whether to go back down to investigate the footprints, or go up to investigate the crash site of Kosma. If they go down to investigate, there is a possibility that someone other than them is lurking here, and the traces above might be destroyed. If they go up to investigate, the footprints below will soon be completely buried.

"... Let them investigate."

The only solution Lin could think of at that moment was to have others investigate the footprints downstairs.

So he stuck his head out of the stairwell and shouted down into the hall below, "Mobius! There are footprints outside! Go and investigate! We'll come down right away after we've investigated upstairs!"

Then he led Aponia and ran quickly uphill to the third floor, which was likely where Kosma had fallen.

Judging from its location, it should be... a storage room!

Lin took out the spare key Eden had given him and opened the door to the storage room, his eyes scanning the surroundings like radar.

Traces... traces...

He was screaming in his heart, demanding that he find out the truth.

April Fools' Special: The Snowy Mountain Villa Hero Team Annihilation Incident Part Six)

Storage room.

If there's any place where a large number of murder weapons are hidden, then the storage room should be the undisputed murder weapon room. The rope that tied Kevin up should have been taken from the storage room.

If the murderer could even get his hands on a spare key, the door to the storage room wouldn't be a problem for him either.

When Lin and Aponia entered the storage room, their first reaction was to be on guard, because this was very likely the place where Kosma was murdered, and there was a possibility that the murderer was still hiding here.

So after entering, they searched every possible hiding place to make sure no one was hiding there before they felt safe enough to approach the window.

Lin peeked out, and the spot was right in front of where Kosma had landed. The undisturbed bloodstains on the snow were a glaring red.

"..." Lin pulled his head back. He looked at the storage room, a very ordinary place filled with all sorts of odds and ends. He could imagine how most of the things in there could be used to commit murder, but judging from the result, the murderer probably only used a rope, a lighter, and gasoline...

Wait a minute, gasoline?

After checking the area around the windowsill, Lin suddenly remembered something important.

He didn't see any gasoline in the storeroom.

Furthermore, Eden likely didn't keep spare gasoline at home, meaning the gasoline that burned Kevin didn't come from there at all.

So where does gasoline come from...?

"A car..." Lin murmured.

"What did you say? Lin?"

"The gasoline in our car has most likely been drained," Lin said, shaking his head bitterly. "Even if the blizzard stops, we'll have to leave on foot, and at that point, it's very likely..."

They are now completely isolated within this villa.

Lin also discovered something in the storeroom, but it had nothing to do with Kosma's death; he didn't see any signs of Kosma struggling or fighting.