Chapter 4101: Trial and Warning

Of course Vioge would not leave alone with that small boat:

"I came with my friends, and I wish to visit the hall together with them. Is that not allowed?"

She had already prepared herself for the other side to limit the number of her companions, but the reply coming from the direction of the small boat was quite a surprise to everyone:

"Very well then, please steer your boat and follow me."

"They agreed?"

No one had expected the other side to agree so readily, but the other side gave the people on the yacht no time to think, and simply turned the boat around and sailed off into the distance. So the yacht set sail once more and followed behind the other small boat, and the yacht's speed was clearly affected by the white fog, able to maintain only the lowest level.

The two boats sailed toward the center of the lake, and gradually other boats appeared in the fog. Those boats were all small boats, and besides the indistinct figure of the guiding boatman, there were also clearly normal people who had come from the outside world.

Desire was right. Besides Xia De's group, today's 【Hide Hall】 clearly had other guests, though only Xia De's group had arrived in their own boat.

The white fog severely affected perception, and Xia De was also unclear what identities the others in the fog held. All the boats were sailing in the same direction, but strangely the other boats then disappeared one by one.

There seemed to be something very enormous at the center of the lake, but just before the boats approached the lake's center, both the front and rear boats stopped. From the direction of the lake's center, another small boat sailed over. It brushed past the small boat carrying the guide, and finally stopped at the side of the yacht.

On the small boat were five terrified people, all weeping as they desperately shouted toward Xia De and the others on the deck, but their voices could not carry over, and even trying to read their lips only yielded completely unintelligible syllables.

A voice came from the direction of the guide:

"Before entering the manor, let us play a little game. Twelve people strayed into the hall, which at that time was still deep in the mountains, and in the end only five escaped. But among the five on the boat at this moment, someone is wearing a companion's hide."

"Now identify who is wearing a companion's hide. If you answer correctly, we may continue onward."

Vioge frowned and asked:

"Why should I answer such a question? I brought that hide with me. You should, according to the agreement, return to me the things my mother left behind back then."

"But your companions were not invited. Being able to grant you an opportunity through the form of a game is already a favor shown out of respect for the 'Red Stone Countess.' That lady made outstanding contributions to the hall."

"Mother made contributions to 【Hide Hall】? Surely she wasn't helping the tanners perfect their skinning techniques?"

The corner of Vioge's mouth twitched. She no longer wished to complain about what sort of person her mother had been:

"Very well then, we shall participate in this game. Please wait a moment."

She wanted to take out the "Life Detector," an alchemical item that had already been verified as capable of distinguishing low-grade hides, but Xia De and Yi Lu Na reached the edge of the deck faster than she did, looking at the five people silently pleading for help on the distant small boat.

Xia De placed his palm over his right eye, then opened his hand to use "Sharp Eye Spell" to enhance the "Eye of Edwards," while Yi Lu Na's left eye faintly lit with firelight as she observed the life force of those five people.

Fog drifted between the two boats. Xia De and Yi Lu Na frowned at the same time and gave the same conclusion:

"All five people are wearing hides."

The yacht could not hear the voices from the small boat, but the five people on that boat seemed to be able to hear their voices clearly. The five people then all looked at their companions in terror, and each began accusing the others of why they had disguised themselves as someone else.

Their voices gradually became audible to Xia De's group as well. Someone was questioning why his female companion had disguised herself as his beloved fiancée; someone was questioning whether a companion had always been jealous of another person's family background and wealth; someone was weeping and asking that if all of this was false, then where exactly his younger sister had gone; and someone was loudly cursing all of his companions.

The questioning quickly escalated into an argument, the argument quickly turned into resentment, and then it came to blows. In almost the blink of an eye, two of the five were stabbed through the heart by blades, one was pushed into the lake, and one shouted "What have I done" and then shot himself dead.

The last remaining survivor was the oldest man among the group. He looked at the people on the yacht in despair:

"Don't come here. Go! Go!"

Then he picked up that gun, pointed it at his temple, and after a muffled gunshot he too collapsed into the small boat.

The small boat set off again, carrying a boatful of corpses as it sailed back toward the center of the lake from which it had come. Xia De and the young ladies on the deck, having witnessed this "drama," could all roughly imagine what these people had gone through, but since they had already come, it was impossible to leave now.

"Correct answer. When the Red Stone Countess of those years faced these five people, she gave the answer just as swiftly. The techniques she left behind back then helped us further perfect the hide-making process. It is rare for all five of them to be identified."

The guide spoke in the fog, and then continued forward together with the yacht.

After reaching the center of the lake, a lake island that should not have existed appeared before their eyes, and an ancient manor stood at the center of that small island.

"I told you, there definitely has to be a house."

Vioge murmured softly.

The small boat leading the way had disappeared at some unknown point, so when the yacht docked at the island's pier, there was only this one boat here. However, there were also some problems when going ashore. Although Vioge's maids were also Ring Mages, the plan formulated in advance did not include a contingency plan for letting these mid-ring young ladies also go to 【Hide Hall】 together.

At this moment, whether letting them stay on the boat or letting them go onto the island together seemed inappropriate, but fortunately Winry was still here:

"I'll stay with the other maids. We'll watch this boat."

Miss McDonald also stayed behind, so in the end only Xia De, Vanessa, Yi Lu Na, Sister Sister Daifulin, and Vioge went onto the island. Xia De was worried that little Xiao Miya would be restless, so he turned her into a toy and put her in his pocket.

Of course, before formally leaving the small boat, Xia De also did not forget to have Vioge bite her own palm and suck enough blood, to prevent any sudden situation from arising later.

The fog on the island was much thinner than the fog in the lake. After stepping onto the pier, Xia De for some reason thought of how Green Lake Island had looked when it was still shrouded in heavy fog.

The exterior of the hall's building could be seen very clearly from the pier. Black iron railings surrounded the building, and when the group followed the foggy path to the gate of the railings, that gate opened with just a light push from Xia De.

"According to the original plan, try not to separate."

He said to his four companions, then led everyone inside. The courtyard of 【Hide Hall】 looked very desolate and grotesque, with scattered scarecrows standing in the courtyard. Everyone noticed that these scarecrows were covered with some tattered leather goods.

Knock knock knock~

After walking up the three steps in front of the door, Xia De knocked on the door. After waiting a moment, the door opened a crack, and then a very pretty face peeked out from the crack:

"Oh, visitors to the hall?"

That young lady said in a light, cheerful tone, and the way her face bloomed into a smile made her look all the more pure and lovely. Only, upon thinking that the owner corresponding to this face had probably already met a tragic end long ago, Xia De felt only sorrow.

"Yes, may we go in now?"

Xia De inquired, but that young lady looked the five of them over and unexpectedly shook her head:

"This is your first time visiting the hall, isn't it? There is a rule here. Only those wearing hides may enter."

She emphasized:

"I don't wish to make things difficult for you, but this is 【Hide Hall】. If you don't wear hides, how can you be considered one of us?"

As she spoke she smiled again:

"Do you five have enough hides? If not, you can go look on those scarecrows. They have some damaged hides on them. Although they cannot wrap your whole body, they are enough for you to use. But be careful—if you take their hides, you will be attacked."

Having finished speaking, she closed the door. Xia De then walked down from the steps and asked everyone:

"So......"

"I refuse!"

Yi Lu Na, who had never feared any challenge, shook her head directly:

"I will not wear leather goods, absolutely not, no matter what."

Seeing Yi Lu Na say this on her own initiative, Vanessa shook her head as well:

"This is indeed a bit too much of an imposition... If I could, I wouldn't want to do it either."

Sister Sister Daifulin said nothing, and Xia De did not ask her either. Xia De finally looked at Weige, whose expression was very unpleasant. When they were discussing the plan, everyone had mentioned that perhaps Weige would need to wear Nicolas Flamel's leather goods in order to obtain that one-quarter of Aurora Flamel from the venue.

"A witch cannot wear male leather goods; it would directly damage it."

Weige saw what Xia De was thinking and reminded him. The first time she came into contact with leather goods, she had even been so horrified that she went straight to the washroom to wash her hands; of course she could not possibly be willing to wear that kind of thing now:

"And this is very likely a relic trap. Once you try wearing those strange, filthy things, people will gradually become addicted, until they can no longer leave them. This is a characteristic of many relics."

Xia De understood this principle as well:

"But everyone else can not go in, you and I must go in. Go to the scarecrow and find some human-skin masks or similar leather goods with a smaller coverage area."

But Weige was still very resistant:

"How about we just fight our way in... Even if I go find some tattered leather goods, what will you do then? Are you going to wear Nicolas Flamel's leather goods?"

She put forward a bold idea:

"But if this happens, won't you become my......"

She stopped herself, because both Vanessa and Yi Lu Na were looking at her with strange expressions.