Although the people in the room had no idea what was happening, they trusted Su Yuan's serious and determined expression.
They immediately became alert and kept their guard up against Wriothesley.
"Hey! Su Yuan, what do you mean by this?" Wriothesley was completely confused.
"Even Neuvillette said I was fine, so why are you still doubting me?"
"And besides, I am Wriothesley! How am I supposed to prove that I'm myself?"
"Wriothesley… no… Eerie! Stop pretending!" Su Yuan spoke nervously.
"I don't know why you haven't revealed your true form yet, but I've already seen through you!"
Wriothesley: ???
"Do you remember yesterday morning? When I gave you the milkshake that Sigewinne prepared?"
"I remember very clearly that you told me, no matter whether you were drinking tea or anything else, you liked to savor every sip..."
"But just now, when you were drinking tea, you kept gulping it down nonstop, taking in large mouthfuls without a single pause. How do you explain that?"
"That's true." Hearing Su Yuan's explanation, Neuvillette nodded in agreement.
"Although I couldn't detect any abnormalities, the real Wriothesley drinks tea the way I savor water—slowly, enjoying every taste. He wouldn't just swallow it down in one go like that."
"So that's how it is... I actually got tricked by an eerie version of the Duke..." Sigewinne said in disbelief.
"Lady Furina, hide behind me first. When you get the chance, escape as quickly as possible..." Chevreuse said.
"Even if we might not be able to defeat the Eerie, we must fight to protect your safety!"
"Hahaha! Su Yuan, you really are an incredibly meticulous person!" Wriothesley suddenly burst into laughter.
"You even managed to notice that!"
"Hahaha! Su Yuan! Take this!" As he spoke, Wriothesley dashed toward Su Yuan at full speed!
Neuvillette immediately stepped in front of Su Yuan and raised a wall of water to block the attack!
"Neuvillette, don't!" Su Yuan shouted in alarm.
"Elemental power can't stop the Eerie's force!"
However, in the next moment, the water and ice elements combined perfectly, neither too much nor too little, forming a flawless ice wall.
"Well? Neuvillette, is this enough to prove that I'm really me?" Wriothesley flexed his wrist and asked.
"Yes, it's enough." Neuvillette nodded and then turned to Su Yuan.
"Su Yuan, this time, you misunderstood. He truly is Wriothesley—he hasn't been controlled by the Eerie."
Neuvillette pointed at the ice wall in front of them and explained, "If there's too much cryo energy, the ice wall would be too fragile and easily shattered. If there's too little, the ice wall wouldn't form properly at all."
"To be able to coordinate with me so well and use just the right amount of power to freeze an ice wall—only Wriothesley could have done that."
Hearing Neuvillette speak with such certainty, everyone let out a sigh of relief...
"Then, Lord Duke, why did you act so out of character when drinking tea just now?" Chevreuse asked.
"Sigh... isn't it all because of the Eerie?" Wriothesley sighed helplessly.
"For the next four days, I won't be able to drink a single drop of tea..."
"So today, why would I care about elegance or savoring the taste? Of course, I had to drink as much as I could while I still had the chance! That was the most important thing..."
Su Yuan hadn't expected such a simple reason—he really had misunderstood Wriothesley...
"Wriothesley, I'm sorry! I misjudged you!" Su Yuan immediately bowed and apologized.
"It's fine, it's fine. Being cautious isn't a bad thing!" Wriothesley said casually, not minding at all.
"Lord Neuvillette!" Suddenly, a voice called from outside the door.
"The Oratrice has automatically generated new content!"
"Automatically generated new content?" Neuvillette muttered in confusion.
He had been dealing with the Oratrice for hundreds of years.
It had always required case information and materials to be submitted first before responding with a judgment.
But ever since the Oratrice malfunctioned yesterday, it had been temporarily sealed off and was no longer in use...
For it to generate new content on its own—this was a first in all these centuries.
"Let's go. We'll head to the Opera Epiclese and see for ourselves." Neuvillette said.
Su Yuan and his group followed Neuvillette to the Opéra Epiclese.
Gazing at the enormous Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale before him, Wriothesley couldn't help but sigh, "It's been a long time since I've been here. The last time, I was sitting in the defendant's seat..."
A Melusine from the Gardes de L'Ombre standing nearby handed a special sheet of paper to Neuvillette and said, "Lord Neuvillette, this is the newly generated content that the Oratrice produced on its own..."
Everyone leaned in to look. The paper contained the following words:
[Judgment… cannot be stopped…]
[The death penalty… must be carried out…]
[If there is no subject for judgment…]
[A random person… will be selected for execution…]
[Deadline… 6 PM tonight…]
"What does this mean? Even if we don't conduct a trial here or use the Oratrice, it will still carry out an execution?" Wriothesley asked.
"Could this be what the rule hints referred to as 'something unexpected'?" Chevreuse mused.
"And what does this 'random selection' mean? If we don't give it someone to judge, will it just randomly choose a person to kill?" Furina asked worriedly.
"Do you all remember the exact words I told you before?" Su Yuan furrowed his brows and spoke.
'The death penalty will definitely be carried out on the same day…'
'If the execution does not happen that day, something unexpected may occur…'
"At first, I thought that as long as we didn't hold a trial here and didn't give the Oratrice a chance to render a judgment, no one would be sentenced to death that day, and therefore, there would be no opportunity to carry out an execution…"
"But now, it seems that no matter what, the Oratrice will execute someone today."
"In that case, if we want to prevent the execution from happening today and witness that 'unexpected event,' it means we have to protect the person sentenced to death…"
"But… we still don't know how the Oratrice actually kills people," Sigewinne said, puzzled.
"I know," Su Yuan said slowly.
"Have you ever considered the possibility that someone has been hiding inside the Oratrice all along?"
As soon as Su Yuan said this, everyone was first stunned, then quickly came to a realization.
"So that's how it is…" Neuvillette nodded.
"I've long felt that the Oratrice was too intelligent."
"No matter how complex a case was, as long as we fed the data and evidence into it, it could always deliver the most accurate verdict in an incredibly short amount of time…"
"Thinking about it now, if someone really has been hiding inside, they could have simply been listening to my trials and repeating my judgments as their own."
Su Yuan thought to himself, As expected of Neuvillette—he immediately figured it out.
That's exactly what Focalors was doing.
"So if that's the case, then the one being controlled by the Eerie isn't the Oratrice itself, but the person inside it?" Furina said in shock.
"Furina, why do you sound even more surprised than I am? Are you really the creator of the Oratrice?" Wriothesley asked, looking at her suspiciously.
Su Yuan wanted to tell everyone the whole truth, but he felt that the time wasn't right yet…
The current state of Focalors, why she was controlled by the Eerie—everything was still unknown.
"Su Yuan, please file a lawsuit against me for intentional harm," Neuvillette suddenly said.
"We can't just let the Oratrice randomly select someone. That would make it harder for us to gather information and protect the chosen person."
"If someone has to be sentenced to death, let me be the bait to draw that person out."
"No! I've already caused trouble and inconvenience for both Lord Neuvillette and the Duke—I should be the bait instead!" Chevreuse quickly interjected.
"Let me do it," Furina stepped forward as well.
"I may not be strong or particularly smart, but I want to contribute in whatever way I can."
"I think I should do it," Wriothesley added, unsurprisingly.
"I've already been in the defendant's seat once before. I feel kind of nostalgic. Wouldn't mind revisiting it."
"I don't really have a reason, but since everyone else is stepping forward, I should too!" Sigewinne volunteered with determination.
Seeing this scene, Su Yuan couldn't help but smile wryly.
What kind of ridiculous situation is this…?
One after another, they were competing to be sentenced to death, to be the bait…
This was an unknown Eerie they were dealing with!
Were they really not afraid of some unexpected accident taking their lives?
Honestly, I'm still the best choice for this.
With his ability to rewind time, he wasn't afraid of dying at all…
Worst case scenario, he'd just reset and try again!
"You guys can stop fighting over it," Su Yuan said with a grin.
"I'll do it!"
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