Chapter 231: The Mirror

Chapter 231: The Mirror

“Others?” Lise blinked, looking around suspiciously. “But it’s only us here...”

“Although I don’t find it something to boast about, I am the second place holder in the ‘Two Wings Mind Ranking Azura Sub-Ranking’.”

“My nose smells emotions, my eyes see thoughts, my ears hear desires.”

Igor walked over to the phonograph, picked out a record from the cabinet below that looked like it depicted the end of the world—a memory of a dream he had a few days ago—placed it into the machine and played it. As expected, it was very noisy, but surprisingly quite pleasant.

He took a serious look at the cover, oh, it turned out to be an Angel destroying the world, no wonder it sounded so good.

“Though this music might be before your time, it’s enough to mask our voices,” Igor said as he sat down. “Let’s have an honest conversation, Lise.”

Lise sat down nervously at the spot farthest from him, close to the mirror, “But I don’t want to talk to you...”

“Is it the mirror?”

The little girl blinked, and the expression on her face was no longer the deliberately feigned tension, but genuine astonishment. The Con Artist was very pleased with this reaction—since that damned Cult Leader, he hadn’t had a successful swindle, and Igor was beginning to doubt his eloquence had dropped to the level of a drunken councilor.

“I’ve been watching you, Lise. Not just during the game just now, but last night, when you played ‘Sorcerer Duel 14’ with Ashe, you showed a different side of yourself: competitive, impolite, direct, almost childlike...”

“I am a child!” Lise protested loudly.

“If last night I had some doubts, then during the game just now, you completely revealed your secret.” Igor stepped closer, positioning himself to be in the mirror with Lise. “Your ‘switching’ medium is the mirror. Every time you look into it, it means that something inside may have already changed.”

“A clever bondage, very clever indeed. Others might think of it as a weakness, but I have seen patients tormented by multiple personalities to the point of wishing for death or craving life—with no doubt, those with multiple personalities are valuable research subjects for Mind Sorcerers. And fortunately, mental illness is practically a specialty product of the Blood Moon Kingdom. Mind Sorcerers have a locational advantage there.”

“I noticed it when Ashe interacted with you,” Igor said coolly. “The way you looked at Ashe was like looking at a piece of wriggling rotten flesh. I’m quite familiar with that look—it’s the same way Harvey looks at others.”

“I apologize, in order to control the voting outcome, we had to let a more aggressive sister cast the vote,” ‘Lise’ nodded slightly. “That sister has that attitude towards everyone; we had no intention of harming Ashe.”

“For the second and third votes, you cast votes that didn’t fit your persona, right?” Igor continued. “I originally thought you wouldn’t sacrifice everything for a loved one, yet you voted ‘yes’; I thought you couldn’t possibly trust others, yet you still voted ‘yes’... Why did you want to control the voting results?”

“Mr. Bukin, if you already know the answer, why bother asking?” ‘Lise’ said, shaking her Bracelet. “Firstly, naturally for the reward; secondly, to turn the tables and go along with Annan’s arrangement.”

“Annan...” Igor savored this name as if tasting a barely ripe Lala Fatty.

“A very beautiful open conspiracy, isn’t it?” ‘Lise’ said, spreading her hands. “She restricted our ability to lie and granted us the right to ask questions anonymously... It’s as if she has locked us in an arena and thrown down swords. She doesn’t need to use verbal enticement because we will voluntarily pick up weapons and harm each other.”

“She wants to undermine the foundation of our cooperation, and coincidentally, I have the same intention.”

‘Lise’ placed her hands on the table and sat upright with no small movements, a serious demeanor that prevented Igor from taking her lightly: “Compared to the hardships you have shared, my relationship with Ashe is much too weak. But Ashe is the ally I’m most likely to draw to my side. If I can’t even bring Ashe over, it’s even less likely that others will cooperate with me.”

“That’s why I need to tear apart the foundation of your trust first, and only then can I form a true alliance with Ashe. A mere contract is not enough to make Ashe stand with me... On this point, my interests align with Annan’s.”

“So you helped Annan ‘touch fish’ in muddy waters, deepening our suspicions through your votes?” Igor sighed. “You almost succeeded. The two ‘yes’ answers to the first question nearly destroyed all my trust in Harvey and Ashe.”

“Yes, I was close to succeeding,” ‘Lise’ admitted, somewhat reluctantly. “If it weren’t for the third question.”

Igor was puzzled: “But in the third question, why did you choose ‘yes’... Ah, you wanted to take the opportunity to improve your standing in the others’ eyes!”