“Gorn thinks the Fourth Elder is suspicious,” Leopold said, taking a bite of the mushroom in his hand.
“...But he's looking in the wrong direction.”
Isabella sat across from him, holding a half-empty cup of water. Hearing this, she lifted her eyelids slightly. “It's not the Fourth Elder?”
“The Fourth Elder is indeed suspicious, but he's not the mastermind.” Leopold put down the dried mushroom. “The Fourth Elder is the executor, not the planner. He takes orders from one person—”
“Minnie,” Isabella finished his sentence.
“Exactly. My judgment is...” Leopold was about to continue when, suddenly, his body began to shudder violently.
In that instant, Leopold felt a freezing chill, and an ominous sensation washed over him from the back of the hall... The three dragons looked toward the back door of the hall almost simultaneously.
He bolted upright, knocking his chair backward. At the exact same moment, Isabella stood up as well, her water cup slipping from her hand and shattering on the floor.
Her icy blue eyes stared intently at the back door of the hall.
Blake had already sprung from his seat. He didn't say a word, but Leopold saw a thin layer of frost coating his right hand.
“—It's Minnie,” Leopold said.
Bang!
The door at the back of the hall was thrown open, and Minnie stumbled out, covered in blood. In her sheer panic, she tripped and fell hard to the ground.
“H-help!” her voice trembled, thick with tears. “Someone... someone is trying to kill me—”
The memorial service instantly erupted into chaos.
Guests stood up from their seats one after another. Some gasped, some backed away, and others crowded toward her. A few goblins who looked like attendants were the first to rush to her side, kneeling down to help her up.
“Seventh Elder! What happened?”
“Who did this?”
“Someone, quick! Call a healer—”
Minnie was helped up. She leaned her entire weight against the attendant, her body still shaking violently as tears streamed down her face.
“...The Sixth Elder,” she sobbed. “The Sixth Elder cornered me with his men... He said... he said I was the one who killed the Fifth Elder...”
“What?”
“The Sixth Elder wants to kill me to silence me!”
The guests fell into an uproar. Some gasped in shock, others whispered among themselves, and even more turned their gazes toward the back of the hall.
“Where is the Grand Elder? Didn't the Grand Elder go as well?” someone shouted.
Minnie didn't answer. She only wept, burying her face in the attendant's shoulder, her shoulders shaking as if she could no longer bear the weight of it all.
The crowd began to grow restless. Some ran toward the back of the hall, while others swarmed around Minnie, throwing questions at her from all sides.
Blake took a step forward, but Leopold reached out and grabbed him.
“Don't move yet,” Leopold whispered, his voice low enough that only the two of them could hear.
“She—”
“I know,” Leopold interrupted Blake. He stepped forward, stopping right in front of Minnie, and looked down at her.
“...Where are you hurt?”
“My... my arm.” Minnie raised her right arm. The sleeve was completely soaked in blood, making it impossible to see the actual injury.
“Who did it?”
“The S-Sixth Elder,” Minnie said between sobs. “He cornered me with his men... saying I killed the Fifth Elder... I tried to explain, but he wouldn't listen...”
“How could this be? The killer is actually the Sixth Elder!” Leopold furrowed his brows deeply and extended a hand to Minnie. “Are you alright?”
Minnie looked up, her tear-filled gray-green eyes full of terror and grievance. She hesitated for a moment, then slowly reached out with her uninjured hand.
Leopold didn't take her hand. Instead, he grabbed her by the wrist and let out a soft laugh.
“The Seventh Elder truly has remarkable composure. You're covered in blood and crying so sorrowfully, yet your pulse is perfectly calm. What incredible composure!”
“...What did you say?” Minnie stopped crying.
“You're the killer, aren't you?” Leopold smiled. “It's quite strange, you see. Among all the ores presented to the Fifth Elder, yours seemed to be the only brown one.”
“What?”
“According to goblin custom, offering brightly colored ores to the deceased represents the living wishing that the departed may also see light in the next world.”
“Yet, in the entire hall, yours was the only ore that wasn't brightly colored, but rather a lifeless brown, wasn't it?” Leopold's words caused the entire room to gasp.
“Of course, we can't blame you. After all, you don't understand goblin customs at all, and probably thought offering a dark-toned ore was proper etiquette.”
“But that's the custom of the surface world, isn't it?” Leopold's gaze instantly turned ice-cold.
The goblins froze on the spot, their eyes darting back and forth between Leopold and Minnie.
“Honestly, one after another, why must everyone keep pestering me?” Minnie sighed. She was no longer crying, no longer trembling, and she didn't even bother to maintain her cowardly facade.
“So you suspected me from the very beginning, Leopold?”
Leopold didn't let go. He kept his grip on her wrist, even tightening it slightly.
“Are you a spy sent by the dwarves? No, the dwarves would have told you about the local customs. You used magic to alter your appearance, so you must belong to a race capable of using magic at the very least...”
Before Leopold could finish, Minnie suddenly laughed.
With a gentle twist of her wrist, she slipped right out of Leopold's palm. The movement wasn't fast—in fact, it could even be described as leisurely—yet Leopold's clenched fingers utterly failed to hold her.
“Your Lordship the Black Dragon, your observational skills are indeed sharp,” Minnie said, standing up straight. She bowed slightly to Leopold. “Much better than your foolish blue dragon companion.”
“Who the fuck are you calling foolish?” Blake's magic was already aimed at her, the ice crystals condensing in his right palm glinting coldly in the dim light.
“Oh, and Your Lordship the Black Dragon, remember to tell that half-elf later: boys shouldn't easily accept food from strange girls when they're away from home!”
“What do you mean?” Leopold's eyes widened.
“Your trump card has been neutralized. A Six-Star Mage Saint is truly a hassle, after all,” Minnie giggled.
Leopold's pupils dilated. He didn't turn around, but he could already sense it—on the other side of the hall, Oliver was slumped over the table, completely motionless.
“Attack!”
Blake's ice spikes were already unleashed—three razor-sharp icicles shot through the air, bearing a bone-chilling cold straight for Minnie's face.
The three ice spikes abruptly stopped less than a hand's width from her face, as if hitting an invisible wall.
Blake's pupils shrank. He saw it—an extremely thin layer of shimmering light rippling in the air in front of Minnie. This... was!
“Hahaha!” Minnie's smile bloomed fully in that moment. She raised both hands, her fingers slowly splaying as if embracing something invisible.
The gray-green skin began to crack and peel away from the side of her neck, revealing fair, white skin underneath. Her dull, short gray hair fell away as dazzling, brilliant golden hair cascaded down like a waterfall, swaying gently in the breeze.
Her body grew taller, her limbs lengthening, her waist narrowing, and her shoulders broadening. Her entire silhouette transformed from that of “a child” into an existence that transcended common logic.
Leopold cursed inwardly. How could he have forgotten the true threat to the dragon clan!
A first pair of massive feathered wings erupted from her back. White feathers with golden patterns, flowing with brilliant light, a holy halo instantly flooded the entire hall, its overwhelming pressure suppressing all things!
The goblins froze in place, their mouths agape, unable to make a sound. Someone took a step back and fell backward, but even the sound of their fall was swallowed by the oppressive, solemn silence.
A second pair of wings unfurled from the middle of her back, slightly smaller than the first. The two pairs of wings overlapped behind her, magnificent and vast.
Four-Winged Archangel!
“Minnie” slowly opened her emerald-green eyes, a faint golden light swirling deep within her pupils.
“Well then, what will you do next, Leopold?”
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