Did the villainous professor survive today?

Yea.

The door opened.

Kroenke stood at the door and called softly into the house:

"Sophia?"

no respond.

Kroenke stepped inside again and looked at the bed.

As the housekeeper said, Sophia was fast asleep. The curtains in the room were not drawn, and the moonlight shone on her soft black hair, making it look like it was plated with silver.

She was wrapped tightly in the blanket, all the way to the back of her head, leaving only her delicate face exposed.

Perhaps because her head was wrapped in the blanket, a pair of crystal-clear, jade-like feet were sticking out from the other end of the bedding.

Krenk looked at the sleeping Sophia, his mouth slightly open, as if he was preparing to speak.

After staring at her face for about ten seconds, a line of shimmering blue, illusory text appeared before Krenk's eyes again.

Sofia Ludwig

Death threat: None

Upon seeing this, Krenk paused for a moment, then nodded, understanding what was going on.

By staring at a person for about ten seconds, you can gauge the level of their threat level.

Previously, when facing "V" and Allell, the system also displayed death threats against them.

The death threat of "V" is C.

Allell's death threat is D.

He simply hadn't been watching the butler long enough before, which is why the panel hadn't appeared. He had assumed that only people who posed a threat to him would have their panels displayed.

Krenk rubbed his chin, thinking he could use this method later to search the house's servants and housekeeper to see if there was a mole among them.

Thinking of this, Krenk patted Sophia's head:

"Get up."

Perhaps feeling the tap on her head, Sofia's eyelids fluttered slightly before she opened her sleepy eyes.

"elder brother?"

Sophia looked at Krenk standing at the head of the bed with a somewhat bewildered expression. From her clear blue eyes, it was clear that she was asleep and had no idea what had just happened.

"Get up first." Krenk's tone was calm and even.

Sofia frowned, her pretty brows furrowed, the blanket still wrapped around the back of her head. She said softly, "..."

"Is it dawn yet?"

"stand up."

"oh."

Sofia poked her head out from under the covers, glanced at the clock on the bedside table, and then muttered something grumpy about being woken up.

"Brother, it's so late, why aren't you sleeping? Are you trying to kill someone...?"

"A killer broke into our house."

Kroenke was simply stating the facts.

"Huh? An assassin? Who is it? Never heard of them. Coming to our house at this hour instead of sleeping..."

Clearly, Sofia's mind was still active. She got out of bed, head slightly drooping, sitting like a duck, with a single tuft of hair sticking up high on her head.

About five seconds later, the ahoge (cowlick) on Sofia's head jolted, and then she abruptly raised her head, looking at Krenk with an incredulous expression:

"An assassin?!?"

Then, like a cat with its fur standing on end, it leaps up in a fighting stance.

"Where? Where? Where?! Where?!"

"I've taken care of the assassin."

Krenk, seeing his sister's startled reaction, continued to add to the story.

"Huh? No...it's alright now? Oh, phew, that scared me to death," Sophia said, touching her chest, looking relieved.

After a while, she resumed her duck-sitting posture, tilting her head to look at Krenk.

"Brother, what's going on?"

"I'm not quite sure, do you have any clues?"

Kroenke was simply asking a question; he didn't want to provide any leading information that would cause his sister to follow his train of thought and miss the truly useful clues.

"Hmm...no," Sofia pouted, looking up as if she was thinking hard.

"These days I've been practicing swordsmanship at Sister Sistine's during the day and watching plays in the evenings. I don't think I've encountered anything unusual. Um, the eldest son of the Innis family wanted to invite me to a ball at their mansion, but I declined. I don't know if that counts. Oh, right, there's also..."

Listening to Sophia's rapid-fire speech, Krenk blinked. Combining his memories with those of his predecessor, he became even more certain that the assassin was after him and had nothing to do with his sister.

"By the way! Bro, what about your speech tomorrow?! That's your inaugural address as the chief professor!"

Sofia suddenly changed the subject halfway through her speech, saying somewhat flusteredly,

"Mom and Dad aren't home. They're probably still doing business in the Duchy of Eton. They won't be back for one night. What if..."

"Go if you need to, everything will remain the same," Kroenke said.

Although he didn't know the details of the assassination, Kroenke had a premonition.

The fact that both assassination attempts were scheduled for tonight is highly likely related to the college's chief professor's inaugural speech early tomorrow morning.

Sometimes, when facing an enemy's attack, you can't show the slightest fear. If you do, they will take advantage of you. On the contrary, if you show a tough stance, they will fear you.

"I'm leaving. You can sleep peacefully. The housekeeper and I will handle the rest."

Klenk prepared to leave his sister's room.

"No, no, how can that be?"

Sofia quickly got out of bed and followed Krenk out of the bedroom.

"You have a speech first thing tomorrow morning, where will you find the time and energy to deal with this? You need to get some sleep, otherwise you won't be in good spirits the next day. I'll take care of the aftermath."

"Are you here to clean up the mess?" Kroenke asked.

"That's right, I'll clean up the mess! After all, I'm an adult, trust me, I can handle it!"

Sofia confidently put her hands on her hips, puffed out her ample chest, and tried to prove that she was indeed a so-called adult.

Ten minutes later, at the back door of the mansion.

Sofia buried her head in Krenk's chest, her voice trembling like a leaf:

"Brother, that dead person looks so scary, I'm so afraid..."

Krenk glanced at the back gate guards, covered in white sheets and carried away on stretchers, then at Sophia, who clung to him tightly, his criticism tinged with a hint of helplessness:

"I told you to sleep peacefully, but you insisted on coming along."

If I hadn't disposed of V's body, and she had seen that bloody scene, she probably wouldn't have been able to sleep for three days and three nights.

"Waaah, I was wrong." Sophia admitted her mistake very quickly.

"It's good that you know," Krenk said, turning to the butler beside him.

"Sebastian, is everyone here?"

"Yes, young master, all 61 people, including servants, guards, gardeners, etc., are here."

"Have them all lined up; I'm going to ask them one by one."

"Young Master, you can leave this to me," the butler hesitated for a moment. "You have a speech to give the next morning, and interrogating servants is time-consuming and laborious, which may affect your performance the next day."

"It's alright, it won't take too long."

As Krenk spoke, he pushed Sophia aside and went to the first servant, pretending to ask, but actually using the system to determine whether the servant posed a threat to his life.

Since it only takes about ten seconds to detect a threat of death, Krenk checked everyone very quickly, finishing in just over twenty minutes.

There was no mole.

After examining the last person, Krenk concluded the matter.

"Young Master, isn't this...too fast?"

The butler asked in a low voice from behind.

In his eyes, Kroenke simply asked the other person if they were related to tonight's events, then stared into their eyes for a few seconds, observed their reaction, and moved on to the next person.

"This is my conclusion. You can investigate it yourself and report back to me, and align it..." Krenk paused, resisting the urge to say the word "granularity," and said...

"I'm going back to rest, don't disturb me."