Waiting

"The Hatter's blood?"

"I checked The Hatter's body; that's why I have blood on my hands." Ann said in a defensive tone.

"His body?" There was a burst of whispers among the crowd.

"The Hatter was murdered." Ann finally said to dispel doubts about herself.

"The Hatter was murdered?"

"Why weren't we told?"

Ann frowned and said, "The executives thought there would be too much confusion."

"Are they hiding something else from us?" A young man with yellow hair shouted, trying to grab everyone's attention.

"Stop hiding things!"

"Silence!" Jacob shouted after enduring all this nonsense.

"Ann, you're a very intelligent girl, so I'll ask you a favor." Jacob quickly took control and walked towards the girl's body, picked up the knife without touching the handle, and said, "Figure out the direction of the footprints. I think I have a rough idea."

"The direction of the footprints?" Ann was confused, not understanding what Jacob meant.

"Go and don't waste any more time. If you're not back with half an hour left in the game, I'm afraid we'll resort to other means."

"Alright."

Suguru Nigari watched Ann leave with the knife and walked up to Jacob. His gaze locked onto Jacob's as he said, "Hey, who put you in charge?"

"Me?" Jacob smiled and said loudly enough to draw everyone's attention, "There are two problems we need to consider here. First, none of the high-ranking members from the Number Two group can be involved in this murder, as well as Aguni's people."

"Are you implying it's our fault?" A man from the crowd, the same yellow-haired guy who questioned Ann, raised his voice.

"Well, it seems we have our first volunteer." Jacob looked at Suguru and said, "Burn his non-dominant hand, the palm of his hand will be enough. If he resists, kill him and burn his body."

Jacob's cold words even made the executives themselves look at him with a keen gaze, as if they had never believed Jacob to be that kind of person.

"I'm glad you understood my words perfectly, as the one who killed that girl is not among those who administer this place. But there's something that troubles me about all this, and that is that only the executives had access to the electrical administration of this place."

Jacob's words didn't stop, and he continued, "Therefore, except for the murderer, there is a game administrator among us, someone who belongs to the high ranks."

"You just arrived! Who gives you that privilege?" One of the executives, the elderly man with glasses, asked.

"Perhaps them?" Jacob looked behind him, and all the players' gazes shifted towards the executives in a state of alert.

"How is that possible?"

"Is there an impostor among us?"

"We must kill them if that's the case!"

The murmurs continued to grow louder, and the smile on Jacob's lips grew wider. He raised his hand and said, "I always had a theory. Within this world, there must exist game administrators who make all of this possible."

"Perhaps there are one or two among us, possibly more... Who the hell would know about that? So while we wait for Ann, I'll ask everyone to take their seats." When Jacob's words landed, all of Aguni's men raised their weapons.

"You can't do this to us!" A woman said in a displeased tone.

"Of course, I can, as I do want to win this game," Jacob said. Then he looked at Kurabe and said, "Take that girl and make sure Ann doesn't delay."

"Yes, I'll take care of it." Kurabe naturally stepped forward and, along with other armed men, pulled the girl along.

"Help me, please!"

"I'm not the witch."

However, no matter how much that girl pleaded, in the end, as is well known of every human in this place, nobody helped.

"Ahhhh!"

By that time, the yell of the yellow-haired guy was heard coming from the bonfire, and seconds later, he was brought by Suguru Nigari.

"This idiot isn't the witch."

"That's such a shame..." Jacob looked at the others and said, "Remember, we're in a Hearts game, so distrust is the greatest danger you can emit. If you don't convince me that you're not the witch, sooner or later, you'll need to be burned."

"Take the girl's friend; she should be burned too."

"Perfect!" Suguru Nigari got excited upon receiving this authorization. He looked at the others who began to sit down and smiled at them all.

"Don't you think this is cruel?" A woman with a slight smile spoke up. She was one of the executives who aided The Hatter.

"Am I being cruel?" Thaddeus asked, offended. He then said, "No, I'm saving everyone from being massacred."

"Ahhhhh!" It was then that the scream of the girl Kurabe brought was heard, followed by the next one brought by Suguru Nigari.

"I need absolute silence. Anyone who speaks or screams will be taken to the bonfire," Jacob said as he walked with the rifle in his hands.

Aguni, who was on the sidelines of this, approached Jacob and said, "Will this work? As I see it, you'll end up killing us all."

Jacob smiled and said, "I have an 80%, and it just turned into 100%, knowing who the witch is. I'm just waiting."

"Waiting?" If Aguni hadn't lost his mind, it was because of this strange friend he had found—a person who had given him the push he needed to keep living and not condense himself into being his friend's murderer.

"Yes, what matters to me is making the most of the time and finding who's a part of the organization. They must be among us," Jacob said with a huge smile.