The profiler, the scammer and DHB (7)

Had my prayer been heard?

Suddenly, I felt the others stop hitting me.

I opened my eyes in confusion and saw my attackers on the floor, an unknown person leaning over me with a relaxed smile on his face.

"Hey, are you alright?"

You aren't supposed to smile when you see someone beaten up on the floor… Nevermind.

Since the answer to his question seemed obvious, I didn't even bother trying to answer.

I knew that the man could've been a bad guy and that he could've had ulterior motives, but I was still relieved to have been saved.

I felt all tension leave me, forgetting the pain for a moment, and didn't even have the willpower to keep my eyes open.

With all my energy drained, I lost consciousness.

When I finally opened my eyes, I had been carried somewhere else.

I felt pain all over my body but, maybe thanks to increasing my stamina, at least no bones seemed to be broken.

I inhaled deeply. Pain is relative.

I tried to convince myself of that and focused on the pain to rationalize and decrease it.

It's only a sensation, so I can ignore it. Right.

「It doesn't hurt that much.」

Fortunately, compared to when I was beaten up, I had recovered enough strength to move.

I struggled to sit up and realized that my sleeves and pants were rolled up and my bruises had been cleaned up. There was also the remainder of a water bottle next to me with a piece of bread that I picked up and ate without caring whether it was for me or not.

Since the sun was up in the sky, I directed my gaze toward the timer and saw that it was early morning. There were a few hours left until the scenario ended.

Then, as I recovered my senses and remembered the situation I was in, I paused my movements and hurriedly checked if the cards I had stolen were still on me. Thankfully, I hadn't been robbed.

"You're up?"

I turned toward the smiling voice and noticed that the man who saved me was sitting nearby.

"Where are we?"

"We're next to the chickens' camp. I saved you from being beaten up by some guys, do you remember?"

He was even emphasizing that he had saved me. I see where this is going.

After all, he doesn't seem like the type of person who'd do random acts of charity.

"No, I don't remember."

His expression didn't even crack up at my reply. What a praiseworthy expression management.

"When I found you yesterday…"

He then explained how he noticed some guys beating me up and knocked them out heroically before asking if that reminded me of anything.

Stop insisting on the details of something that could be a traumatizing experience if you were talking to someone else.

I stared at his face.

No fumbling over his words, a good rhetoric, an absence of the usual micro-expressions that come with natural reactions, an extremely good management of his facial expressions, the opportunistic tendency to take advantage of others while he has the chance, and this unexplainable feeling that his expression is fake, as real as it may appear.

Without even taking his attitude until now into account—after all, people can pretend to be someone they aren't by acting kind, or shy, etc…—it's easy to see what type of person he is.

I know that you shouldn't judge people by their cover, but I'm usually perceptive when I judge people's personalities. For example, if I had to give him a nickname, I'd say he seems like a scammer.

Now, there are a few ways I can think of to not have to give compensation to Mr. Scammer. I can blatantly lie that I don't have cards on me even though he should know that it's not the case, but he could call out my lie and insist. Or I could say that I'm sorry and I don't have anything to give him, but he could still ask me for the cards I have as compensation to show that I indeed have something and 'cheer me up'.

I could also willingly choose what to reward him with, for example with 'friendship' or a favor later, but he could turn down the offer and ask for something else.

Finally, I could refuse to reward him under the pretext that I have no idea what he's talking about, but I'm vulnerable right now and I don't know if he could turn into an enemy and kill me because he's dissatisfied.

However, there's no need for all that.

Anyway, I intended to come to the chickens' camp to form an alliance. He won't know that the compensation I'm offering is actually what I intended to do since the beginning.

"You're a chicken, right?"

The scammer agreed.

"Yes, I am."

"My name's Emma. What's yours?"

He didn't show any sign of impatience and calmly answered.

"My name is Leraje."

I looked at him in the eyes.

"Then, Leraje, although I unfortunately have no memories of it, in exchange for saving me, I'd like to do something for you and your group. Is it possible to meet your leader—if you have one—as well as your group members?"

He nodded.

"Okay, I'll bring you to them."

I stiffly got up and followed him to the chickens' camp, ignoring my aching muscles. In no time, their leader gathered the group members who hadn't left the camp. I'm surprised their leader listened to a stranger who just arrived. Maybe he simply trusts Leraje?

While others watched us, the leader smiled and held out his hand.

"My name is Martin and I'm the representative of the chickens, it's nice to meet you."

I shook his hand and also introduced myself.

"I'm Emma."

"Then, Emma, why did you ask us to gather?"

Contrary to the situation in the vipers' camp, people seem to follow him by their own will. He looks like a good leader and a kind person; the optimistic type who would try to help and save people as best as he can but who would prioritize the group over individuality. However, these traits also make him appear naive.

Nice, he seems easy to take advantage of. I mean, easy to convince.

I used my most sincere voice and explained:

"Actually, I'm a fox. Your team member here saved my life yesterday and, since I'm grateful to him, I'd like to propose an alliance with your group as compensation. I also promise not to attack you during my stay here because, to be honest, your camp's location is the safest place for me since the vipers dare not approach here. Sorry to intrude."

「3. The chickens' preys are the vipers; the vipers' preys are the foxes; and the foxes' preys are the chickens.」

The enemy of my enemy is my ally.

I took out the vipers' cards I had stolen as well as the cards of my group members.

"As for what I can offer, I've gathered of lot of cards from other camps that aren't useful to me—I'd like to propose to trade them. I originally got them because I planned to come and exchange one card for many of yours but, since Leraje saved me, I decided reduce the ratio. You can exchange one chicken's card—not necessarily yours—against either a viper's card, or two foxes' cards if you want to make a similar trade with the vipers."

I also gave reasons as to why they should accept it.

"Actually, it's not a disadvantageous deal. After all, the cards of our own camp aren't taken into account in our score since 'only the prey's cards are counted'. Moreover, sometimes, teammates are killed. If you can retrieve the card of a dead teammate, the card in question is useless to you since that person cannot receive a reward anymore—because they're dead—and it doesn't change your group's score. Thus, accepting this trade can only increase your team's score and help you win the scenario—maybe even enter the rankings. While it will also increase my team's score, I'm sure neither of us wants to use violence. At least it's a peaceful way."

You can't find anything wrong with my words if I'm being 100% honest without hiding anything.

Except that the fact about me being grateful is a lie.

Wow, I'm really heartless, Leraje still saved my life but here I was thinking about how to avoid rewarding him because he seemed to want something from me in exchange.

To conclude, I repeated the main point.

"It's mutually beneficial to both of us. One chicken's card for a viper's card or one chicken's card for two foxes' cards. What do you think?"

Two foxes' cards instead of only one because they are useless for the chickens except if they want to make a trade with the vipers and should thus be harder to exchange.

Anyway, apart from the fact that this trade would also increase my group's score alongside theirs, I don't think I left out anything he could argue with. Considering his personality, he shouldn't try to gang up on me and forcefully steal my cards either.

I hope my habit of anticipating others' potential questions and answering them before they are asked does not make my speech less convincing.

I should've taken that into account instead of being lazy, even if that made the conversation longer.

As Martin appeared thoughtful, seemingly deliberating whether to accept my proposal, Leraje intervened.

"However, if someone exchanges their own card against another one, then it will be useless to them since, according to rule 7, they won't be able to receive a reward."

「7. Rewards will be distributed based on personal performance. You won't be rewarded if your card is in the hands of another group at the end of the game.」

You troublemaker.

I nodded.

"Indeed. This isn't a way to increase your own ranking, but to make your group win as a whole. If you decide to exchange your own card, you can give the card you got to someone of your choice to benefit the whole group. That way, you may be able to win the scenario."

Even though winning the scenario isn't rewarded contrary to individual ranking.

"Or we can also steal our teammates' cards and exchange them instead of our own card to increase our personal ranking," Leraje added.

My thoughts exactly.

Why are you even helping to create internal strife among the chickens? Aren't you supposed to be on their side?

Leraje then brought up the last problem.

"What makes you think we would rather prioritize the group when, according to the rules, rewards will be distributed according to personal performance?"

I curled up the corners of my mouth.

"Oh, that isn't a problem, you can do as you want."

I met people's eyes one by one, deliberately speaking slowly.

"However, aren't you scared as to what the punishment for failing this scenario will be? Do you really think nothing will happen? Aren't you just deluding yourself?"

I used a provocative tone to make sure to implant doubts in their minds.

"What if the penalty for not meeting the main condition is death? Can you really afford to take the risk? Anyway, the rules were already pretty twisted since the first scenario. What if only the winning team receives these 'rewards depending on personal performance'? In that case, isn't it better to prioritize the team?"

Of course, all of this is bullshit.

I'm simply putting forward their uncertainties and using their unfamiliarity with the system to my advantage. After all, the answer to these questions is already clear by reading the scenario.

There's no penalty in case of failure.

Since Leraje didn't have any more objections, I turned my gaze to the leader.

Martin shook his head with a bitter smile and spread his hands.

"This doesn't seem to be something I can decide on. Whether the others want to exchange their card is up to them, and I don't have the power to stop them from doing it either. It's their own choice. So, as long as you keep your word and don't attack us, you can do as you want."

Thank you, you are the most understanding person I've ever met.

Usually, when I try to convince someone, they forget most of my arguments in the middle and I have to repeat them over and over again so it doesn't work. It's nice to talk to smart people.

I hope only smart people will survive this apocalypse to turn the current society into a better one and make communicating easier.

Well, at the same time, society could also get very dangerous if only manipulators and people like DHB or Leraje are left. But it would be fun as well…

"Thank you," I said.

During the remaining hours, I sat down next to the chickens' camp and occasionally traded cards with the people who came to me. Leraje seemed bored since he decided to stay by my side in the meantime.

"It's an unusual way to complete the scenario. You have unique ideas," he affirmed.

It may be because I'm a writer.

"It may be because I usually read a lot of stories."

I blinked. I'm curious as to what Leraje does for a living.

"What's your job?"

Does he happen to really scam people?

Leraje answered immediately.

"I'm a vendor at an electronics store."

What a detailed reply. Usually, people would only say 'I'm a vendor' and precise that they work at an electronics store if they're asked to.

Do you know that saying too much is a sign of being a liar?

Unless you're a naturally talkative person, of course.

"At an electronics store? Where?"

With nothing else to do while waiting for people to trade cards with me, I continued to inquire for details.

I'm not usually that sociable, but I needed to distract my mind to forget the pain in my body since focusing on it only seemed to make it worse.