No one knew Trail's true face. Even if he were among us disguised as someone else, it would be extremely difficult to identify him based on appearance. Excluding the iTubers, was he among the general public who had been held hostage?
No, I couldn't assume that. It wasn't impossible for him to be an iTuber. If Trail was a Nen user and possessed an ability related to disguise, everyone here became a suspect.
If this quiz game ended with no winner, he said the chance to kill Trail would be lost. I didn't know what that specifically implied, but if we couldn't pin down Trail's identity here, we would be granting that person freedom while remaining ignorant of the mastermind's identity. Either way, we couldn't let him escape.
The enemy is among our allies. My own eyes of suspicion, and the eyes of suspicion directed at me. Those gazes intersected, creating a stalemate.
Simon, the Grandfather of the Galaxy, and Pomerni—who had been acting separately from us—had all had opportunities to switch with Trail. I thought Blade and Noah were safe, but...
"No matter what happens, I will never betray Mommy."
"Fearing isn't wrong. I can't tell you to lightly trust your allies in this situation, but I'll say it anyway. I believe in you all."
I felt nauseous at my own feelings, harboring a sliver of anxiety even toward the companions I had shared joys and sorrows with. I rebuked myself for my wavering trust.
To begin with, there was no proof that Trail's story was true. Whether he was even in this room was unknown. Would he really intentionally create a situation where he himself was suspected? It was also possible he was in a separate, safe location and had provided false information to throw us into chaos.
And at this point, there was no decisive evidence as to who the suspect was. It was impossible to find the culprit like this. He might have wanted to heighten everyone's suspicion and drive us to kill each other, but we weren't so thoughtless as to act so impulsively.
"Oh? Was that a bit too difficult? Then, I'll give you a big hint as a special service. There are 'two' people here who show clear abnormalities. If you think back carefully on what you've seen to get here, you should be able to figure it out."
At the word 'two,' my heart, which had begun to calm, was thrown into turmoil again. Was Trail not alone? It certainly wasn't set in stone that there was only one mastermind. Since there was someone talking to us from across the screen, I should have anticipated this. If there was a conspiracy by multiple culprits, several premises I had considered until now would crumble.
Was he just trying to confuse us by saying something suggestive? But even so, was it okay to just give up and say I didn't know? I couldn't organize my thoughts; my head was getting tangled.
"Well, calm down. We have time to think slowly. Let's confirm our understanding one by one."
Simon took command. Everyone listened to his words.
"First, as a basic premise, regarding the question of whether Trail is really among us... what do you think?"
"I think he 'is' here. It's too elaborate to dismiss everything as a lie."
"I agree. As a peerless game freak, Trail wouldn't allow a game he provided himself to have any flaws, even if it's just for fun."
Simon and the others didn't seem to think this quiz was a total lie. Though it was only speculation, a 'correct answer' existed for this quiz game.
Simon said that imposing conditions that might be disadvantageous to oneself wasn't particularly rare for Nen users, and that Trail was likely confident his identity wouldn't be revealed even within the rules.
"First, let's summarize everyone's information again."
The iTubers were Pomerni, Blade, Noah, Simon, the Grandfather of the Galaxy, and myself—six people.
The rescued hostages could be divided into five groups.
First, the three from the Silver Team.
Second, Blade's apprentice, Parneck.
Third, a boy said to be an acquaintance of Jack High and his mother, two people.
Fourth, five people belonging to Simon's dance circle.
Fifth, three people said to have been invited by Trail.
A total of twenty people were gathered here.
"Those of you who came here with Trail's special invitation, what's your relationship with him?"
"W-we just met through online games..."
It seemed they were just people who happened to play together in an online game. They had never met Trail in real life and were skeptical when he said he would give them special invitation tickets, but the actual tickets had been mailed to them a few days ago.
It was suspicious, but it was also possible they were just caught up in it. Trail might have just shoved them in as extra bodies for the hostages, but that didn't mean they were off the suspect list. The culprit could be hiding among them.
"I see, I've got the general idea. I've even got a lead on the culprit."
The words Simon let out after finishing his brief questioning caused everyone to murmur. Had there been any clues during the interaction so far? Looking back, I couldn't guess.
"The hostages held here were guided to a separate room and isolated before the battle royale we were participating in even began."
Therefore, they hadn't participated in the battle royale game. They hadn't received tranquilizer guns or wristbands.
"The key is the wristbands. We iTubers, the players, weren't given wristbands. But there are those among us who obtained them."
Three people who knew what he meant trembled. The trio from the Silver Team—they were the only ones who hadn't entered the venue using special invitation tickets. They were brought to this warehouse a while after the game started.
"Remember the hint Trail gave. He said there are two people showing clear abnormalities. Those words aren't wrong, but you'd have to call them a very malicious expression."
According to Simon, to be precise, 'the fact that they aren't abnormal is what's abnormal.' Among the three from the Silver Team—Rock, Pejpa, and Caesar—there were two who fit this.
"Due to the drug built into the wristbands, those who wore them have been affected mentally to a greater or lesser degree. Despite that, 'you guys' don't show even a slight clouding in your aura. In other words, you're sober."
"Huh?! I have no idea what you're talking about!"
"S-same here!"
Simon approached the trio while cracking his knuckles. Pejpa and Caesar, hit by his heavily refined aura, were shaking with fear.
"I don't even need to think about why. In other words, there was no drug built into your wristbands. You intended to get through this without anything happening to you alone. It makes me sick. This isn't a quiz or a game or anything. I'm glad you were so stupidly obvious."
Aura gathered in Simon's fist. Pejpa and Caesar looked ready to faint from his bloodlust alone, but Simon didn't stop there. Was he really going to kill the two of them? His reasoning was persuasive, but it couldn't yet be called a certainty.
"You can reflect on this in the afterlife!"
"Gyahhhhh!"
Just as my body was about to move forward to stop him, I met Simon's eyes for a brief moment. In a situation where he should have been focused on his targets, his gaze normally wouldn't have met mine. Clearly, Simon had looked toward me intentionally.
There seemed to be intelligence in those eyes. He was emitting a bloodlust that looked like he was about to kill, but his eyes were filled with cold rationality. That eye contact wasn't just for me. There were surely others who noticed.
I thought desperately to grasp Simon's intent. While he appeared to be surrendering to passion, he was perfectly calm. Was his proud display of reasoning like a detective and his provocative statements toward Trail all calculated actions?
If his reasoning was correct, there would be no problem. At the very least, we could eliminate the Trail 'who was present here.' But it was more likely that it wouldn't go that smoothly. In that case, we had to think about what came after.
By taking action, if the real Trail or his associates were hidden in this place, they might show some kind of reaction. That would be the true clue to the enemy's identity.
He had volunteered to be the decoy to probe for the enemy's reaction. What we could do was not miss a single detail of what was about to happen and accurately grasp even the slightest change. I entered a state of focus and executed high-speed thinking, dividing my brain's tasks.
"Ora!"
A double punch from Simon sent Pejpa and Caesar flying. The moment the attack landed, the murderous aura rounded its intensity like a gently flowing river, and the damage to the two who were hit was limited to being knocked unconscious. The smoothness of that transition was nothing short of brilliant, suggesting that Simon possessed high-level skills as a Nen user.
In the end, the two who were hit didn't show any sign of a counterattack and were silenced as they were knocked down.
"A-ah... Pejpa... Caesar... How dare you... HOW DARE YOUUUUU!!"
Immediately after, Rock—the only one left of the Silver Team trio—stood up unsteadily and began to rush toward Simon.
Unlike the other two, he appeared to be showing the effects of the drug from the wristband. The reason he was attacking Simon seemed to be because his companions were hurt, but we couldn't say for sure he was innocent yet. There was a possibility he was an associate of Trail.
It was then. Trail's voice blared at high volume from the speakers.
"BUZZZZZZZZ!! Simon, wrong answer!! I'm giving you a penalty game!"
I hadn't looked away. I was capturing every detail of the scene before me. Or so I thought.
Before I knew it, Simon's head was gone.