Move

On Premeus's side:

Haru decided to make another suggestion to Premeus.

"My lord, we saw Rei returning from the goblins' nest. That means he's been trying to make contact with the goblins. He could have done the same with the elves. Let's check the elf village, pretending we're asking about his whereabouts. They're not visible anywhere around here, which means they're somewhere else."

"I see. That makes sense. I'll tell my men. You're thinking well, Haru. Well done. Just like me."

"Thank you, my lord."

Premeus relayed the order to his men via walkie-talkie.

On Rei's side:

Thanks to the king's arrangements, we settled into a blue building. After I looked around the room, the sound of horses began coming from the distance. Five mounted soldiers appeared in front of the village. Seeing this, the king went out to meet them. All the villagers were watching them.

"What do you want?"

"You've probably heard of the person named Rei. Has he been here?"

The soldiers were staring at the building as they asked the question. We were listening to their voices and hiding behind the building.

"No. I've never even heard of anyone like that."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Is there a problem?"

"I see. No problem. Have a good day."

The mounted soldiers quickly left the area.

While I secretly watched the soldiers through the window, I noticed from a distance that they had placed a listening device at the village entrance. After a while, I came out and smashed the device that had been tossed under the bushes with a stone.

The king came up behind me. He was surprised when he saw the device.

"What is this?"

"You could call it a listening device. They wanted to eavesdrop on you. That means they still thought I might be here."

So Haru figured it out. I see.

I kept thinking to myself.

"Anyway, my king. I have a request."

"What is it?"

"I need two poisons. Is there a potion room here by any chance?"

"Yes, there is. Come with me."

"Alright."

We headed toward the potion storage together. The elves were better than the goblins when it came to potions. I could see a wider variety of potions.

"What's this potion? It looks interesting."

"That's a disguise potion. When you drink it, as long as you don't exceed your physical limits, you can transform into the person you most imagine. There are one-minute, ten-minute, and one-hour versions."

"I see. A nice potion. Can I take two one-minute ones from that as well?"

"Of course. Take as many as you want. The poisons are over here. What kind of poison do you need?"

"I need something that kills instantly. Don't worry. I'm not planning to attack anyone. But I have a special plan."

"I understand. I won't interfere with your business."

The king gave me the necessary poisons. When I checked my phone and looked at my inventory, the potions were there. I felt satisfied.

"I also need a pen."

"Ask my daughter. She should have a pen in her room."

"Understood, my lord."

I went to his daughter and got the pen. Then I returned to the building and came beside Lie. I drew the symbol of the area I had seen on the map—the Witch's Swamp—on one of the disguise potions.

"What are you doing, Rei?"

"I'm preparing a trap."

"What are those potions?"

"Two are short-term disguises, to put it simply. The other two are poisons. I'm going to do something with the two disguise potions."

"What are you going to do?"

"You'll see later. I'm too lazy to explain right now. Come on. We're heading to the village."

"I thought we weren't going to the village because it was dangerous?"

"We need to take risks. I have a good plan in mind."

"Alright then. Let's go."

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We arrived in the village after a short while. When we got there, our teammate who had been trying to sell things saw us and came over.

"Rei, where have you been? I haven't seen you at all."

"Forget about that. I have a good plan in mind."

"What plan?"

I told the man the same level of information I had shared with Lie.

"So you're deliberately keeping your numbers low. You're going to add people at the very last moment. Is that right?"

"Yes. I also want you to keep watch around here. At the same time, I have a disguise potion. I'm going to sneak into their royal building."

As I said this, I was holding the potion with the witch's region symbol drawn on it in my hand. Bakugan noticed the symbol on the potion in my hand, but he kept pretending he didn't know.

"I understand. That's very logical, Rei. You'll secretly gather information, and we'll win this game. I want my revenge on that bastard."

"Alright then. I'm off to infiltrate. Bakugan, you keep watch around here. Understood?"

"Understood, sir."

Lie and I left the village together. As she walked beside me, Lie was looking at me with curious eyes.

"Are you really going to infiltrate there? I doubt it. But they won't believe it anyway. They might know you're saying it on purpose."

"Let them know. Human psychology is a deep concept. He saw the potion. Even if they guess I'm deliberately saying it as a spy, they won't be able to move around comfortably among themselves anymore."

"I see."

"Let me teleport you back to the village. Wait for me there."

Lie held onto me. I brought her back to the elf village. Then I set out. This time, I headed toward the Witch's Swamp. When I arrived in the area, the surroundings were full of mud. I could hear frog sounds, but it didn't smell bad. The witch had an interesting wooden house. I drank the potion with the one-minute symbol and transformed into Premeus's appearance. After counting thirty seconds in my head, I knocked on the door. The witch, who opened the door from a distance using telekinesis, was surprised.

"Premeus? What are you doing here?"

"Did you handle our deal?"

"What deal? You've never even come here before."

The one minute ended, and I returned to my own appearance.

"Aren't you Rei? The one fighting that man?"

"Yes. I thought I'd take precautions in case they had come here before me. Sorry about that. So they haven't spoken with you. Anyway, would you like to make a trade with me? Potions and game coins."

"What kind of trade?"

"I want a potion that enhances my jumping ability in exchange for this disguise potion."

"How many minutes is it?"

"One."

"I'm not trading for a one-minute potion."

"I'll also give you five hundred game coins."

I was pretending not to notice the magical stone camera.

"Fine. If that's how it is, then it's a deal."

We made the trade. I gave her my potion, and she gave me a potion that would enhance my jumping ability.

"Good deal. Have a good day."

"Good day."

I left the area.

On Premeus's side:

After hearing the information, Premeus and Haru began thinking together.

"We're all going to the witch's shop! Get moving!"

In a short time, they raided the witch's shop. To save herself from danger, the witch gave them information about what Rei had said. She also showed them the recording from the magical stone camera. After gathering the information, Premeus and his soldiers, along with Haru, returned to their own area. They kept walking through the forest.

"He never bought any potion with that symbol from the witch. So he wanted to lead us here and deceive us. That means he's aware of the spy. The infiltration story was just a bluff to scare us..."

Premeus kept reasoning.

"He asked for something related to jumping, but he wanted to lead us here. That means his strategy isn't actually about jumping. He brought us here to make us believe his strategy was related to jumping..."

Haru cut in and spoke.

"My lord, I know Rei at least a little. What you said is logical, but Rei thinks even further ahead. I think he's trying to lie by telling the truth."

"What do you mean?"

"I think his real strategy is about jumping. In other words, he gave truthful information. By giving truthful information, he might be trying to make the truth look like a lie. That means he probably thought I would figure out part of this deception. So because he thinks I've realized he wants us to believe something, his actual goal is to make his real strategy—jumping—look like false information. He might be planning to hide his real strategy, jumping, by disguising it as false information. That way, we'll think it's a deception and perceive the true information as a decoy, which will lead us to think about things other than the real information. In short, the jumping information might actually be true, but he's presenting it as though it's false."

Premeus listened for a long time and tried to understand. If he hadn't summarized it, he might not have been able to grasp it.

"You think he'd think that far?"

"Yes, my lord. It's possible. It's not certain, but be cautious."

"Alright. I'll think about this. Well done, Haru."

On Rei's side:

I returned to the elf village. When Lie asked what I had done, I told her about the plan Haru had mentioned.

"That makes sense. But what if Haru figures it out? What do we do?"

"That's exactly where it starts. The real plan is actually about climbing."

"What? Climbing? You never told me about that."

"I'll explain later. Forget about that for now. But in short, I changed the information within this plan. Even if he realizes I wanted to present jumping as false information, it doesn't matter, because I didn't reveal the actual real information. Even if he figures out that much, if he ends up believing that jumping could be the real information, he'll still have fallen into the trap. Because I simply lied. Even jumping isn't related to my real strategy."

"What if he figures all of that out too?"

"It still doesn't matter. That's why I'm calling it a trap. Even if he understands, he can't obtain any clear information about my real strategy, because I didn't show any information at all. The only thing he can deduce is that it's not related to jumping. But he can never be completely sure of that either. That's why they'll keep doubting this matter throughout the entire process. Even if they understand the trap, they only avoid gaining false information. If they fall into the trap, they believe false information. Either way, it's fine."

"So you're saying you drew that symbol so Bakugan would see it and report it. Then he would see it and report it to Premeus. Premeus, hearing this, would raid the witch's shop and gather information. The infiltration rumor was also meant to lead them there. You calculated that Haru would figure all of this out too. Are you saying you planned all of this? The possibility of the witch having a camera and all the other things?"

"Yes. At the same time, Haru will tell Premeus what he's figured out. He'll say it to warn him. But Premeus doesn't like uncertainty. Seeds of doubt will be sown inside him. Even if Haru tells him every piece of information is a lie, Premeus is arrogant. Every time Haru makes a suggestion, even if it benefits him, his ego will feel fragile. He won't like that situation. What Haru says will start going in one ear and out the other. He won't pay much attention to what Haru says and will try to push forward with the belief his ego has latched onto. Our biggest advantage is that Premeus won't fully listen to what Haru says. Even if Haru understands the trap, the part where he has to convince Premeus of it will also challenge him."

"So you calculated the continuation of all that?"

"Yes. Exactly."

"I've been spending time with you for a while now, but I still can't understand your mind, Rei."

"Sorry."

We headed to the building we were staying in. After eating, we lay down in separate beds. It was nighttime. I was about to sleep. I was thinking to myself.

I've sacrificed my pawn, Haru. Let's see if you can find the right move.

I slowly closed my eyes and began to fall asleep. The second day had come to an end.