Fantasy Realm – Infinite Worlds Adventure-Chapter 240: Spiked Juice!

One hour later, five teams are sitting in the now-empty Great Hall. A cup filled with pumpkin juice stands in front of every person.

“What is this supposed to be? We have better things to do than have a group chat and drink this disgusting juice. Do British people really drink this? Also, Alex, you have a spider on your head—just wanted to tell you,” Ben, the leader of the team made up of military veterans, asks, looking at Alex with a bit of confusion.

“This is just my pet; don’t be scared. Anyway, I hate this juice as well. I’d prefer a Coke or some Red Bull,” Alex responds casually, not planning to take the lead this time.

“Why did you decide to answer the irrelevant part about the juice and the spider? What is this gathering all about, huh?! Tell me now!” Stefanie, the leader of the team made up of three relatively young women and two young men, questions Alex.

“Stefanie, I’ll let my fr—” Alex tries to say but looks at Rishi, then hears a voice in his head.

“Everyone thinks you are our leader for good reasons. If they are this gullible, why don’t you just keep up the act? You explain it to them. I might as well focus on spectating again.”

Alex responds in his mind: … Fine, if I’m missing something, tell me. I don’t want to get blamed if this goes wrong—it was your idea, after all. I’m just going to go with the forceful plan then.

“WHAT IS IT? DID YOU FALL ASLEEP?” Stefanie angrily questions Alex, raising her voice.

Alex gestures toward Rishi, opening up his hand, which prompts Rishi to hand him the small bottle of Veritaserum.

“Sorry about that, Stefanie… so I arranged this meeting for a simple reason. This might sound like a threat, and to be perfectly honest, it may be interpreted as such. Do you know what this stuff is? If not, feel free to check it out—it’s obviously recognized by the system,” Alex says in a casual voice despite mentioning the word threat, dangling a small bottle in front of the other players but not letting it go for even a second.

Despite not sending back any money just yet, Lucius Malfoy has only provided a small bottle of Veritaserum. Thankfully, according to Snape, three drops are sufficient to force someone to tell the truth. However, the system is not confirming this at all, being rather cryptic about it.

[Veritaserum]

World: Harry Potter / Wizarding World

Quality: Deep Blue

Effect: Forces anyone ingesting it to tell the absolute truth.

Note: The required amount of Veritaserum depends on the quality of the product and the recipient’s SPR. It can also be rendered useless by various abilities such as Occlumency and the antidote to Veritaserum.

Note: Veritaserum is wildly considered "unfair and unreliable to use at a trial", and is difficult to use as definitive proof of guilt or innocence.

Note: Can’t be taken out of this world

“No contracts needed. This way, we’ll soon find out who the traitors are,” Alex says in a decisive tone.

As Alex says these magical words, he spots Rishi literally staring at the other players, trying to gauge their reactions. To his surprise, Rishi looks visibly annoyed, obviously not having much success.

I guess if Rishi gets this annoyed, this more or less confirms that some sort of ability is at play. Rishi could even read the thoughts of the Mutated Thornback Matriarch.

Dearest Soulmate, I have detected two suspicious peasants.

Who?! Tell me, please, Jewel. Also, Rishi, are you listening? I hope the connection is there.

Alex hears Rishi communicate: “Yes, it is… however, Jewel, without any disrespect, my innate skill is obviously perfectly blocked. How can you notice anything?”

There are these two nervous-looking girls behind that one at the very left. Both have brown hair and look like typical unimportant peasant followers.

The one on the left is… Mayoi, right? That’s one of the female groups. Why are her two team members suspicious?

As soon as they saw the Veritaserum, they looked a little shocked, like peasants who had just realized their place in life, having been unaware beforehand.

Please… drop the peasant talk, Jewel. So they looked shocked? That’s all? It’s not a totally unreasonable reaction, is it?

While Alex, Jewel, and Rishi are talking, Ben begins to laugh: “Now I know why you prepared those glasses. Go ahead. If we can agree to a specific set of questions, me and my team will agree!”

Stefanie also nods, acting like she is in control by demanding: “Fine, however, I decide the questions we all ask. If anybody goes against that, you’ll regret it!”

Alex then stares at Alicia and Mayoi while the conversation inside his mind goes on.

Rishi immediately rebukes Jewel’s argument: “I agree, Alex, it’s normal to be shocked. This is a terrifying thing; we all have reasons for keeping things to ourselves. Jewel, this is not proof—it’s merely a tiny bit suspicious, but it’s severely lacking in persuasiveness.”

Well, how about the fact that one of the other peasant females beside her instantly kicked them under the table while maintaining a perfectly normal face? She also reacted instantly.

Could it be that they know that certain items, abilities, and even contracts don’t work in general or won’t affect them, which is why they are so calm? Maybe those other two members forgot that fact, and this is why she kicked them? To remind them?

Rishi chimes in: “This is not proof… although I guess you, on top of Alex’s head, have the advantage of height. I guess only you could see something like that, while we can’t. It’s not conclusive… but I’ll focus on that team then; it’s our only real lead until now.”

Alex notes Alicia also agreeing, however, looking at Stefanie with an annoyed face: “How about this? Five teams, we all think of one question to be asked, one after the other.”

Stefanie looks annoyed but nods without saying anything. Alex then looks at Mayoi, who calmly says: “We also agree. How about this, Stefanie? You can ask the first question as compensation.”

“Okay!” she says with a smile, instantly agreeing.

Stupid Peasant!

Alex has to hold back his laugh. Obviously, the one asking the question first is at a huge disadvantage.

Alex chimes in: “Before we go on, if more than three teams veto a question, it’s out, and you have to redo it. Also, I will outright refuse to answer non-relevant questions, especially if they’re about Skills, Items, Progress, and secrets.”

“Hmph, why would I ask about that? Okay, I will solve this all in one go. Your questions are no longer needed,” Stefanie says with a smug look.

“Are you a traitor, actively working against the other teams?” she calmly asks.

“Any vetoes?” Alex asks, not expecting someone to speak up.

Ben simply announces: “Pass!”

Mayoi says: “It can’t hurt to ask something similar, just to make sure, right? How about this: Are you planning on betraying the other teams?”

Alex hears Rishi’s voice in his mind: “She’s trying to spread discomfort. We are obviously not above betraying the others if we get the chance, but that does not mean we are working against them! This question needs to go. Also, Jewel, you can add one more point of suspicion onto them—it’s a poisoned question, no doubt.”

What a toxic Peasant. Is she trying to act suspicious on purpose? I can’t comprehend their illogical behaviour.

Alex raises his hand: “I veto against it. If it’s to my advantage and the system encourages me, I will work against every one of you. That does, however, not mean I am a traitor, and it’s my mission to sabotage you. This question is way too broad,” Alex says. Everyone else doesn’t judge him but agrees, the leaders of the other teams raising their hands as well.

“I’m sorry! I just wanted to help… sorry, then I pass. It was not my intention to cause strife,” Mayoi says, looking embarrassed.

This chapter is updat𝓮d by freēnovelkiss.com.

Alicia smiles, saying: “Are these following quests the correct, complete quests you received at the start of the mission?”

“Objective 1: Stop the spreading corruption emanating from the Forbidden Forest and protect Hogwarts from outside threats.

Objective 2: Protect the integrity of the tournament, ensuring everything runs smoothly.”

She’s smart! There is a trap in that question that only players who are not traitors will know about!

Suddenly, the young man who initially invited Alex’s team to the first meeting mumbles: “But there were three quests. Why only mention two?”

“IDIOT MILO, SHUT UP!” Stefanie cries out in shock, turning around, and the young man suddenly realizes his blunder, looking embarrassed into the crowd, blushing.

My dearest Soulmate, I really detest peasants. Can we get rid of this one?

I wish I could… however, this question can still be saved!

Alicia smiles, not losing her cool: “Please do not comment on my questions from now on, okay? EVER! Thank you, young man. Now, I’ll add this question to the mix instead: ‘Were there Hidden Objectives in the mission objectives? If yes, how many?’”

Not bad!

“Good, your question, Alex,” Ben says, growing a bit tired of this conversation, obviously wanting to know the truth as quickly as possible.

Rishi, it’s up to you! The last question would have been my approach as well. It makes no sense to repeat it.