[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] asks why you gave a different name.

  [ Serpent of False Mysteries ] asks if that is your true name.

  [ Serpent of False Mysteries ] asks what it means.

  [ Serpent of False Mysteries ] asks if you have any others.

  [ Three-Headed Snake ] asks if you have given up.

  The last question grated on Gilgamesh, but he ignored it like all the others. Explaining himself wasn’t something he could do out in the open with his pawns listening.

  Gilgamesh continued his search for targets in silence and soon found some candidates. Initially, they seemed to be three unrelated individuals, but the two behind kept pace with each other and subtly followed the one ahead.

  Gilgamesh assessed the Noblewoman at the front. She glanced at other Nobles subtly but paid more attention to the visibly distinct masks of the Viscounts.

  “A Crown pretending to be a Ring.” Gilgamesh determined. “But is she working with the two behind or simply being used…?”

  “You lead the way. Follow them discreetly.” Gilgamesh told Heroine.

  Her experience and prowess in such situations were something he acknowledged during their time in the slums, and she met his expectations perfectly. Heroine guided them in a way that no amateur would be able to tell they were stalking others.

  Eventually, the False-Ring Noblewoman stopped for just a moment to face a duo ahead, and the two behind picked up their pace.

  “Challenge them.” Gilgamesh ordered, and the result confirmed his suspicion.

  Heroine and Micah won against their Scepter targets, and Gilgamesh’s Ring won against the Noblewoman’s Crown.

  [ Gained 108 Prestige. ]

  [ 601 Prestige ]

  The enemy trio fled to the Hallway immediately, but Gilgamesh chose to remain. “We need a big target. Even these Viscounts give too little. Too many Clashes brings too much risk over time.”

  As Gilgamesh led them in search of such a target, he soon found one. Standing in the fray of the Ballroom was a Nobleman with even finer clothes than those of a Viscount, whose mask was neither White nor Yellow, but Red.

  [ 1,346 Prestige - Count ]

  “The peerage above Viscount is Count…” Gilgamesh thought as he assessed everything about the higher-ranked noble.

  Lone Barons and occasionally Viscounts frequently showed up to hand over Prestige. The amounts varied depending on what they brought, but what they gave always brought them down to exactly 50. Though of more note to Gilgamesh were the half dozen Viscounts who stood around him, each with at least a few hundred Prestige.

  “...guards?” Gilgamesh surmised. “They challenge anyone who comes near to prevent anyone from reaching the Count. But there are only six. That much can easily be overrun by another group…”

  Gilgamesh mused. “In the first place, what does the Count even possess. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a Ring. One of the Viscounts could just as easily check the gatherers for him. If it were me… I would have a Scepter to ensure escape if my guards failed.”

  As Gilgamesh thought of how he could get past that initial line of defense, he watched a Baron extend his hand to the Count and sink a Dagger into his stomach.

  The Count perished where he stood in a flurry and implosion of shadows, and every last point of his Prestige became the Baron’s. That Baron became a new Count and vanished away with the power of a Scepter.

  Gilgamesh stared in silence, as did most others in the area. What broke it first was a Viscount of moderate Prestige who bounded straight for another Count with obvious lethal intentions.

  “C-challenge him!” The Count ordered in a panic. But the Viscount did not stop with the loss. As the assassin neared, a flash of realization struck the Count.

  “Traitor!” He shouted at the Viscount.

  In the blink of an eye, both were transported before the Puppet King, where everyone in the Ballroom could plainly see. A judging light shone on the accused but it faded away after mere moments, having found no sign of treason.

  Before the Count could react, the Puppet Executioner stepped beside him and chopped off his head. Prestige flowed from the Count’s perishing wisps into the Viscount, and the newly advanced Count appeared back where he had been taken from and immediately fled to the Hallway at once with a mocking laugh.

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  “...baiting a false accusation brings the same reward as making a correct one. And it is by far the safer tactic.”

  “Follow me.” Gilgamesh led the other two into the Hallway at once as he contemplated this new aspect to the game.

  “Using a Dagger without a Scepter is a death sentence. Only Scepters will have Daggers. Assassins won’t work with others. Not often, at least. There’s too much risk of being accused of Treason by their Allies. Which means Lone Scepters will become the terror of all. And that will make them bolder.”

  “They’ll move with near impunity as most will be too cautious to risk a false accusation. Scepters will gather more Prestige than before and grow more confident. More complacent. They’ll be easy to target.”

  As they entered the Hallway, Gilgamesh traded his Ring to a random Baron for a Crown without explanation, and turned to his two pawns. “We’re going to wait here for a few minutes, then we'll start hunting Scepters.”

  “It’s too risky to go out now…” Heroine’s reluctance was never more apparent. “We don’t know how many people have Daggers…”

  “That doesn’t matter.” Gilgamesh dismissed her concerns. “Using a Dagger without a Scepter means certain Death, so no one else will have one. And that means they can’t see Prestige.”

  “...they’ll only target Counts. Because that’s the only way they can be sure to get a lot of Prestige.” Micah realized.

  “Exactly.” Gilgamesh said. “Act neutrally, while paying attention to the Viscounts and Counts, but never for more than a brief moment. Kept it subtle and focus more on their masks than their Prestige. Start practicing now.”

  With those instructions to Micah, he then turned to Heroine. “Listen close. You have to act like a Ring pretending to be a Crown pretending to be a Scepter that has a Dagger but is really a Crown leading two Scepters with two Daggers. Do you understand?”

  “Y-yes…” Heroine lied.

  “Alright. Be wary of anyone acting alone. They could all be Scepters carrying Daggers. But don’t make any accusations ever. The risk is too great. Signal me in some way when you reach close to 1,000 Prestige. Do not go over it. Now…” Gilgamesh led them towards the Ballroom. “Let us hunt.”

  ---

  The trio stalked through the Ballroom with Heroine at the helm, her demeanor in utter disarray. She looked at others too long, then not long enough, then not even at all, then all over again as she struggled to decide just how she should act.

  Gilgamesh knew she wouldn’t be able to fool anyone intentionally, so he made her impossible to read as even she herself did not know what she was trying to do. Between her unreadable behavior and Micah’s sufficient acting, it would take too long for potential challengers to get a read on them. And the ones who challenged them in spite of that, would be exactly who they wanted.

  Gilgamesh and Micah were suddenly challenged by a Double Scepter pair and won.

  [ Gained 94 Prestige ]

  [ 695 Prestige ]

  Next, Gilgamesh led them to target a boldly moving trio, who all possessed Scepters.

  [ Gained 87 Prestige ]

  [ 782 Prestige ]

  Another trio then challenged them. Two Scepters lost to his and Micah’s Crowns, while Heroine drew with the other.

  [ Gained 139 Prestige ]

  [ 921 Prestige ]

  Micah tapped his shoulder, but even if he hadn’t, Gilgamesh would have led them back to the Hallway anyway. If any of them became a Count, they would immediately come under risk of Assassination. Especially being that they had no Vassals to shield them against.

  However, as the three of them neared the Hallway, two Counts crossed their path without warning at a brisk pace.

  The world around Gilgamesh slowed as his mind raced. “No Vassals. Did they lose theirs? No, they’re not heading for the Hallway. They’re roaming. Are they ignorant or do they have no fear about being out in the open because they also have Daggers? Are they Scepters, then? It’s possible. Relatives of the clans could trust each other.”

  “But… they are still in the Ballroom. They didn’t get their Prestige through Assassination, and they have no Vassals to gather for them. They got it through winning Clashes. They’re acting like Scepters. A Ring-Scepter pair? But… there is still a chance they have Daggers.”

  Gilgamesh slowed just enough so that Heroine and Micah would be the closer targets. “Are they hunters or assassins...?”

  As they all took their next step, one of the Counts’ eyes grazed over to the three of them, and held just a little too long on their values. But he did not act further.

  “Ring-Scepter.” Gilgamesh deduced. “They know they cannot stop long enough to determine what we are. We’re safe.”

  But just as he thought that, Micah pushed forward towards them with optimistic greed and challenged the Count who had not looked. His opponent’s Scepter shattered, and with a stunning spectacle, Micah became a Count.

  “Fool!” Gilgamesh scanned their surroundings and it was just as he expected. Multiple people already bounded towards them, and the closest came from straight ahead, between them and the Hallway.

  “Someone with a Dagger, or someone pretending to have one?” Gilgamesh wondered. “I can’t risk accusing him, but it would be too great a loss for Micah to die just yet. I’d lose all his Prestige, and… I still have a use for him.”

  “Challenge.” Gilgamesh stepped forward and challenged the other Count, and his Crown shattered against the Count’s Ring.

  [ Lost 154 Prestige. ]

  [ 767 Prestige ]

  The possible Assassin stepped in between Micah and the other Count, and at the last second, he chose to kill the stranger. Micah stared in shock as the Assassin teleported away, having realized how close he had come to it all being over, but Gilgamesh rushed him into the Hallway before he could fully process what had happened.

  “I… uh…” Micah stammered out a few words, but was unable to bring himself to thank Gilgamesh for saving him in direct words.

  “Can’t even pretend to be grateful?” Gilgamesh coldly assessed.

  He saw the signs of betrayal within Micah. Fragile arrogance drenched in envy. He was malignant, entitled, and unappreciative of the miraculous opportunity these Trials granted.

  “I misread his true nature.” Gilgamesh admitted. “I can only make use of him one more time. But one more is enough. I will become a Count, and then I will build a kingdom within this palace.”