The Mansion of Trials and Trials

Exchange Information Time

Hours later, I took the last bite from my meal and peeked at the nearby tables. The dining hall was not packed, only eight Wanderers, turning their spoons. The dishes on the tablecloth tables were nearly empty, without any dip of sauce. Everyone must be starving. I gazed at my pocket watch. It was five minutes past six.

Von, who sat opposite me, too, stared at the clock. The gathering time had already passed, yet, only eight. A girl and Holden gobbled off their desserts, Haddie stared at her notebook while Inga sat at the corner, kept on touching his fingers. Pike crossed his arms, tapping his feet. The Wanderers here were all familiar faces. Hmm.....where is Levi? He should be here by now....

"Reed." A brownish-haired man walked slowly close.

"Levi! Where have you been? You're late," I complained.

"Sorry, I was too focused on searching."

"Have you found anything in the kitchen?"

"Sadly, no. I went to other places but I couldn't find C's location."

"Me too. That person is really hard to track."

"Is this everyone? It's much fewer than I thought," Levi said.

"There's no choice. Not everyone likes to share information. There isn't much time left. Let's not wait for the others and start now," Von replied sadly.

"Wait!" A voice interpreted, "Have you guys forgotten about us?"

"Mr Brian.......! And Miss Vera. Welcome. I'm glad you guys came," Von smiled happily.

".........that's surprising. I thought you guys like to be alone," Haddie exclaimed.

"What are you talking about? In these circumstances, gathering information from different perspectives is the basics for survival. Although it goes against my intention, we will cooperate in the investigation. Besides, who knows...." Brian pushed his glasses and grinned wickedly, "maybe we have gathered much more information than you guys."

"Hump. Even if you lost against that gambler. Your arrogant attitude never changed. I do wish you won't be defeated by your arrogance," Haddie chuckled. I stared at her. Sometimes I do wonder, why can she say things so directly.

"Miss Haddie, let's not spark out the fires. We are here to exchange information and not chatter. Mr Von, can you please start?" Vera asked impatiently.

"Of course. As you know, the reason I invite everyone here is to exchange information to overcome the trials and investigate the mystery behind the Mansion. There are still three trials left. Among them, there may be trials like the Predators maze which requires us to cooperate with each other. Therefore, exchanging information is important. If you guys know any valuable information, I'll be happy if you can share it with everyone here."

"For starters, allow me to tidy up the information we know now."

"According to the map, there are six floors in this building. Apart from the entrance hall and guest rooms on the ground and third floors. There is also a lounge and infirmary on the first floor and dinning hall and kitchen on the second. As for the fourth and fifth floors, they remain to be unknown."

"Is there a way to go to the upper floors?" Keira raised her hand.

"At the moment, sadly no. On the first day, I took the elevator to go to the upper floors but the elevator didn't move. I tried to search for other ways to go up but there aren't any stairs or lifts anywhere else in the Mansion. I even tried to climb out of the windows but all of the windows cannot be open or broken. Although the rules say 'Wanderers can use, go or do anything in the Mansion', it would seem that our scope of action is still limited."