Emotion Taster

Arc 4 New Stage: Chapter 54 - Various Ending

All the attention was replaced and led to Hanz. I was in the middle, and Hanz was in the corner. As a result of his voice, I looked towards the man, then in unison the other attention also followed my direction. Within seconds, we all looked towards Hanz who was speaking.

"So, is there anything less than my conclusion?" I asked Hanz.

"You could say that, Kaivan. You only explain the beginning, but do not explain the whole background of the story. It's true, if you make the monster meet the elephant, then you will be considered victorious and brought home. But, that's only part of the way, as long as you still get similar results, the challenge will be considered complete" explained Hanz with a long enough lead.

"Certainly? Why would I and the others be considered finished with that story?"

"Say you all belong to the lucky ones. Can solve the challenge with a case of accident. But, if you want to know what's going on behind it, maybe the first thing you should know is the full story of the history of that god who changed his head."

Hmn .. is true. For some reason, I don't really understand the legend. From the beginning, I didn't learn it straight away, just asking and being curious. What I know is exactly based on the short story of the layman who told me.

"If so, what do you know, Hanz?" I asked asking for his knowledge.

"All right, I don't mind telling you. But, up here I want to know, how much do you know about that story?"

"I remember, it was a story where the god who guarded the gate failed in his duty until his head was beheaded. Then, another god will take care of him and replace his head with an elephant's head."

"Ah .. like that, yes," Hanz's response paused long with his trademark soft-spoken tone.

"Am I wrong?" I'm a little worried.

"No, not at all," Hanz replied as he shook his head. "However, I still did not hear any further explanation. Why would the gatekeeper god want to be brought to life by another god? Then, if you can, why should an elephant head instead of its old head?"

"..."

I was silent there, unable to answer because there was no such memory in my head. We who faced off here made Hanz's position even higher.

I was standing, and talking together like this even made the pressure that I kept being humbled. I see, Hanz didn't mean it that way. But, that is what I feel every second from the glance of the people around.

"I don't want to linger here. So, I explain it in short. The gatekeeper god was killed and brought to life by the same god. Why could it happen like that? Because the gatekeeper's murder happened because of a misunderstanding. Then, time later, the ritual of reanimation turned out not to run smoothly. The god could not bring the guard to life just connecting his old head. Instead, he had to look for the head of the one who was not sleeping while hugging his mother. Up here, do you understand, Kaivan?" obviously Hanz's ending the question.

I tried to think, digest the sentences one by one and re-concluded with the results I got.

"I understand the story, but I still don't know how it relates to the end of the challenge that varies," answered me who wanted to charge for further explanation.

"In that story, the god was able to obtain the elephant's head with his own efforts. However, the reason that forced him to take the elephant's head was because no human child slept without hugging his mother."

"So?" I ask who still doesn't understand.

"So, the alternative path to solving the challenge is very simple. The two people from the team only needed to hug. Make yourself an individual who can't replace that head, cuddle."

"..."

Ha's?

My eyes shuddered to hear the reason. The thing is, it was too soft and cute after the horrible background story I heard. Because, instead of taking the head, it turns out I just need to hug. Something so far removed from the two options, it made me hold my head and feel like my efforts were betrayed before.

"Yes, there's a point too. On the first day, I was the same Arin did not find a campfire. So, we were sleeping a bit tight so it wasn't cold" Imarine said following the void of the conversation as evidence of a successor.

"My case with Kaivan looks almost similar. Kaivan was so badly injured that he couldn't walk. So I had to carry. Just because of the bad position, I carried him from the front. Maybe it's been considered a hug" Farrel continued, helping to strengthen the evidence.

I who heard the words of two of my friends became even more certain. I don't know why all the sad shock facts just now I could have received were more worthy. Apparently, no one thinks this is ridiculous.

"Ah .. yes, exactly," said Hanz replying to Farrel and Imarine's murmurs. "You may be able to decapitate the monster's head or match the monster with the elephant. But, the hidden way there is to make the monster unable to choose us and let him get his own elephant."

"I? I just cut off the elephant's head, and gave it to the monster."

"A-ah, so it turns out that there is also such a way," my response was slightly amazed.

"Right, my decision is not a problem either. Under these conditions, any head could be a substitute for completing the challenge."

"..."

Whatever, yes.

I was a little distracted by the last sentence. I felt sad when I heard that speech. That doesn't mean all of us can solve the challenge.

Glancing at Brother Dina, he was still silent not to discuss or at least exchange words.

Yes, I remember. Dina didn't come home with Verdian. Suffered from Dina's brother, Verdian was caught by a monster and cut off forcibly by her head. At that time sister Dina was considered to complete the challenge, when the monster got the desired head, it was the sign of victory.

*Clench

My fist remembered the incident. Feeling upset because I was unable to make Brother Dina calm down,

"Okay, this topic is over. We didn't show any progress from the conversation just now" said Hanz, who wanted to end the conversation. "Kaivan, why don't you just start a murder sequence right now?"

Ah ....

My eyes were wide open hearing that sentence. I almost daydreamed in the middle of a presentation that involved the entire members. Once the topic went in many directions, it made me daydream to think about many things.

"Huft .. hah ...," my breath began to think clearly. "Okay, I assume there's no clue from outside literature right now. So, maybe we can just break this mystery using manual means."

It might be a little tiring. But I had no choice but to do it.

Usually in mystery novels there will be smart characters who become detectives. Whether it's the main character or just a side character who helps the main character. The important thing is that quite rarely when a mystery-themed story can run on its own, they need someone to be able to run in order for the mystery to feel alive.

Now, the problem is I don't know who the detective is. But, maybe the people here could be one of them.

"All right, we start" I said opening up new conversations and topics despite the sight of some people already exhausted. "The main thing. I wasn't the one who witnessed it earlier this morning. So, the question is, who was the first person to see the corpse in the dining room?"

"..."

The people in the room were silent, they did not answer and allowed the room to be quiet.

*glance

But that doesn't mean they are completely unresponsive. Indirectly, I actually got an answer to that question.

Without warning, I saw that the people there were doing the same movement, changing the glances in one particular direction at my right corner. There I also began to look, following the direction of the simultaneous gaze.

There the well-dressed woman answered. Unlike all the students who were uniform, she had a slightly different and distinctive makeup.

"I-I am the first one" said Brother Dina while holding his hand parallel to the ear.