Chapter [6] The Magician: A Schemer
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[The third voting has concluded. There is no winner.

 

The fourth round's team leader is Luca Lawrence. The fourth public hearing will start in 15 seconds.]

 

The fourth hearing began, and Luca decided to refrain from speaking. Of, course he didn't forget to silently cast his eyes over Ivan. He couldn't just change his persona and start crying and pointing fingers, but there was no need for such a play to begin with. The balding man with a peeking belly was the most professional actor on this table. Luca's single glance full of wariness was enough to convey his words. At the same time, the less he conversed, the fewer chances for him to screw up and expose himself. Luca was just a pharmacist. He hadn't received acting tips before.

 

Ivan was perhaps feeling cheated right now, but he was the Traitor and decided to stay silent. This only confirmed one thing, he hadn't used his authority yet. He had decided to keep his trump card hidden, until he is sure about the tilting of the scales.

 

The rest of the hearing passed smoothly and fast. No one was in the mood to chat too much. Most people already had some sparks of inspiration about what and how to do it. Well, there were also horny exceptions, like Jack. Luca was thankful he didn't have boobs, or he wouldn't be able to keep a straight face for such a long time. Even he had urges to go and beat this block; What about the ladies?

 

However, he couldn't really care about other people at the moment. He was currently in a very unpleasant position. After the third selection, the result was 1:1. Both Good and Evil had one point, and it was a tie. Now, he was the team leader. He had to carefully plan and pick his team. Not only the result, but the act of picking up certain people was important. For example, if John hadn't chosen him in the third round, Luca wouldn't have guessed his pathway. Up to now, Luca had hidden deep, lurking in the shadows and pretending to be Good. If the Good team leader picked up Jack, what would the rest of the players think? It was time for Luca to make a decision. He was confident that he could pick players and let the Evil win a point. However, this meant that his identity would be uncovered. What about next? The next team leader was Amy; She was Evil. At first sight, it was a very good situation. Luca would make the result 1:2 for Evil, then Amy will finish it at 1:3; The game would end with their win.

 

The problem was Amy; She was a woman with weak mental strength. She wasn't stupid. However, under such pressure, there was a good chance for her to make a mistake. For three rounds already, Luca was a Good boy in the eyes of others. If he let the Evil win, then he would be discovered. However, not by everyone, only by the smartest. The schemers on this table were Luca, Yuna, John, and probably Ivan. All three besides Luca were players of the Good! On Luca's side were Jack and Amy. There was a chance for Amy to finish the game, but Luca didn't want to rely on possibilities. At least not on probabilities grasped by others.

 

At the same time, he couldn't just help the Good guys win a point. He had to orchestrate a draw. Only by getting a par could Luca keep his cover and wait for Yuna to be fooled. Yuna was the 6th leader, and Luca had to be picked by her. Therefore,...

 

[ The team leader Luca Lawrence has selected John Adams, Amy Hart, and Motoe Yuna as his temporary teammates. You have 1 minute to cast your vote.]

 

There were a few reasons why Luca chose this team. First, by picking John and Yuna, who both thought of him as a Good pathway follower, he could showcase his allegiance. Second, Luca decided to use these players' privileges. He had a certain confidence in this manipulation.

 

It was already the second half of the game - the fourth round. It was unlikely people would shy about using their privileges. Then how will they react when put in such a team?

 

Amy had been suppressed twice by the Restrictor. The first time she was teamed up with Jack, John, and Yuna in the second election. The second time her teammates were John, Luca, and Ivan in the third selection. The only person who was a member of both teams was John. Therefore, even the anxious lady was likely to guess his identity. Was she going to be bullied all of the time? Of course not. Her animosity toward John must be top-notch. Yuna was a public Evil person, and Amy will not attack her. There was a certain chance that the publicly Good Luca would be chosen, but after the third round, John was already obviously Good too. Combined with the fact that he bullied her twice in a row, Luca believed that she would retaliate against him.

 

Next in the plan was the relationship between John and Yuna. In John's eyes, both Yuna and Amy were Evil. In the second round, both Amy and Yuna played, and the Evil prevailed. At the time, he restricted Amy. Back then, Jack observed Yuna and shared that she cast her vote Reversed. Therefore Yuna was publicly Evil. What about Amy? Yes, she probably was natural and not an actor. However, was there concrete proof of Amy's pathway?

 

First of all, Amy has never been a leader yet. It was hard to tell for sure on which side a person is without checking their allies or being a Prophet. Unfortunately, John wasn't a Prophet. He played with Amy twice.

In the second selection, he Repressed her, and the result was a point to the Evil. However, was there a chance for such a result if Amy had voted Upright? There was:

|Jack -> Reversed+ Peeking at Yuna|

|John -> Upright + Repressing Amy|

|Amy -> Upright (hypothetical)|

| Yuna -> Reversed +...|

Yes, the key was what was Yuna's authority.

John could be sure that she isn't a Prophet, Hypnotist, or Restrictor.

Therefore she was a Duplicator, Traitor, or Gambler.

At the time, Evil did win. What if the publicly Evil Yuna duplicated the obviously Evil Jack? With three against two, Evil would have won. What if she was a Gambler? She could simply flip John's vote as well.

In John's eyes not only was Yuna Evil, but her privilege was something that could directly affect the votes. She was a dangerous opponent.

 

In the third selection, the result was a draw. What if Amy voted Upright?

|John -> Upright (crossed out) -> Reversed + restricting Amy|

|Luca -> Upright|

|Ivan -> Reversed (believed by John) + flipping John's vote (believed by John)|

|Amy -> Upright (hypothetical)|

Thanks to Luca's shenanigans John believed that Ivan must have flipped his vote. After all, Luca was Good (In John's eyes), and John was Good. Amy was Restricted. Who is more likely to Gamble him? Why would Ivan gamble him if he was Good? Therefore Ivan's vote was definitely Reversed. In retrospection, not only Luca framed Ivan for being an Evil Gambler, he even cleared Amy's name. In John's head, Yuna was dangerous Evil, while Amy was borderline between Good and Evil. John was definitely going to choose Yuna as his target.

 

[The third voting has concluded. There is no winner.

The fifth round's team leader is Amy Hart. The fifth public hearing will start in 15 seconds.]

 

In fact, behind the curtains, the fourth selection looked like this:

|Luca -> Refrained from voting|

|Yuna -> Upright|

|John -> Upright (crossed over) -> none + Restricting Yuna|

|Amy -> Reversed + hypnotizing John|

 

This was the second reason Luca dared to tread such a path. In the 5th rule, there was such a line: Each player can abstain from casting a vote only once throughout the game.

It was obviously a useless rule in most cases. Why would anyone abstain from casting their vote? Who in their right mind will do such a thing?

However, this was one of the pits in this game. The name of the Arcana they were challenging was The Magician. This was the Arcana of Deceit and Desire. From the beginning, this game was supposed to be played this way. People could trick others not only by words but by actions as well. They could use the card to refrain from voting to overwhelm their opponents' logic or manipulate the results to their desires. They could use the privileges of others to deceit them. Both times what the Prophet Jack saw had nothing to do with reality. The same applied to Yuna's duplication in the first round. This was a game of Wits. Most of the players would think that the 1-minute hearing is the time for them to flex their acting skills, however, this was naivety. Since the moment they stepped into this marbled room they had to pretend and scheme. And the game was still far from being over.

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