A Little Game We Like to Call "Mafia" (2) - 45

'What the hell just happened?'

This was probably what the rest of the people were thinking.

But, the question I had was different.

'Who the hell also figured it out?'

You see, yesterday, when I had checked the rules again, I realized that there were many loopholes in them.

The one that I most wanted to exploit the most was that there was no rule saying that the "Townspeople" couldn't kill anyone.

So, during the day, when I was a "Townsperson", I wouldn't be limited to the usual 1 kill as a "Mafia" per night.

Obviously, somebody else had figured this out, and realized that this loophole would benefit them too.

You see, there was one rule in the rulebook that actually encouraged this type of behavior.

Rule 9, "As each "Townsperson" is killed, their reward will be distributed among the remaining survivors at the end, when the trial is over."

So, that meant that the less people there were, the more rewards the survivors would get.

So, it would benefit the "Townspeople" also, if they just went around killing off everybody else, eventually leading them to kill the "Mafia" allowing them to win the game even without the help of the "Sheriff".

I had wanted to do this too, but, now that the secret was already out, this early in the game, this meant that I would have to change up my plans a little bit.

"Who did you think did it?" Asked a buff looking guy that looked a lot like a father with that kind, gentle face.

"Who cares? The less of us there are, the better." Said another guy.

Absolute silence, the only sound being that of the fountain in front of each of us.

Realizing his mistake, the guy quickly tried to remedy it by saying, "I m-mean... not saying it like I support the killing."

You see, with what he had said in his first sentence, it had made him sound like he was the "Mafia". The "Sheriff" had probably just put the man at the top of their list.

"Seriously though, did you think that everybody wouldn't notice this loophole in the rules." Said a woman shrouded heavily in a black cloak, the shadow of the hood covering her facial features.

"So, how about this. Every time we switch our tasks, we all come to the square to do them, so that all of us can always keep track of where the others are. Also, at the end of the day, everyone will come back with their last partners and check it off with me."

"If one of us dies, then we'll know who their last partner was, and then we'll be able to figure out who the killer is and ask the "Sheriff" to kill them, because they could very well be the "Mafia"."

"Does everybody agree to this plan?" Asked the fatherly man, looking at all of us, each in turn, through the fountain's sparkling waterfalls.

"Yes." We all assented, knowing that not doing so would lead to immediate suspicion falling upon us.

We waited, and soon, our tasks were assigned, and we each checked off with our partner before going to do our tasks.

'It's too bad that his plan has so many loopholes. I can easily continue my plan of killing extra people in the daytime!'

Licking my lips, I proceeded to do my tasks.

...

It was now a little past noon, so we all put down our working tools and returned to the square, where there were a few tables of food set out for us.

Grabbing just a sub, filled with cold lettuce and cheese, I sat on the stone ground whilst munching happily on my lunch.

If you were wondering, 'Why doesn't she eat any of the more extravagant foods?' Well, it was, because, I was honestly too lazy to eat them, having to use a fork and a knife was just too exhausting.

After finishing our lunches, we once again each set off on our tasks.

'Now, who is the "Sheriff" I wonder?'

Right now, the prime suspect was the father-like man, Player "Tauros22".

I hadn't met him in my climb up the tower yet, but I could already somehow feel that he had a lot of blood on his hands.

'Judging from the way he easily lead the others to believe him, he's like a cult leader, most likely part of the demon race. He probably plans to kill all of us once we let our guard down around him and then win the game.'

He just seemed like a really good candidate that the system would pick to be one of the major roles in the game that could get a guaranteed kill.

My second target was the last "special" role, the "Doctor".

Honestly, I really didn't see him as a threat, due to the fact that there were still a lot of people in the game, meaning that the chances of the two of us picking the same person during the night, one to save, and one to kill, would be almost minimal.

So, with that said, my plan for this portion of the game would be to quickly kill the "Sheriff", before randomly picking the other players off, one by one, in the process, hopefully getting lucky and killing the "Doctor" too.

As we finished our work for the day, I couldn't help but take a look at the setting sun.

'Ahh, that red color, the color that all those climbing the tower will be dyed in, one day.'

I couldn't hold it in and moaned in anticipation for tonight, and the other players' reactions tomorrow.

[Players! The day is gradually ending. Please make your way to your assigned house.]

[You have 30 minutes...]

'Well, I guess it's time to go...'

...

This time, I curbed my enthusiasm and waited until it was past midnight before I left my house, knowing that the other players were probably trying to stay up the latest they could, so that they wouldn't go down without a fight if the "Mafia" chose them.

Choosing the fatherly man's house without a second thought, I quickly chose to unlock the door, before opening it a little, jumping back, and then looking through the tiny crack, in case there was anything waiting.

Seeing that there wasn't, I closed the distance between the door and myself, before smoothly entering the home.

This time, I didn't care for secrecy or anything, I just went up to the bed, made sure the man was in it, and then stabbed him multiple times.

The bedsheets started turning a darker and darker color in the faint light of the moon, the stains spreading further and further.

At this point, I was already snuggling comfortably in my bed, smiling as I fell asleep after a job well done.

<Unknown POV>

As the black figure left, I couldn't help but sigh.

'Why are the people I go up against always so dumb?'

The "Mafia's"moves had been so predictable. I quickly pressed the system prompt to save the "Sheriff", and then, like the shadow, I also quickly left the home and returned to my own.

<Kagami's POV>

I was whistling happily in my spot around the fountain, as I waited for the results to be shown.

The fatherly man had still yet to show up, and some other people also weren't here yet.

[Ding! I am sorry to inform you that only 4 of you have made it through the stained night. The "Mafia" wasn't able to kill anyone. The "Sheriff" "accidentally" killed an innocent. And finally, 2 Players died in their sleep on their beds.]

A door on one of the houses opened, as the father like man stepped out, his red, blood stained clothes shown off for everyone to see.

Everybody was completely silent, awaiting what was going to happen.

I, on the other hand, was deeply confused.

'The "Doctor" was able to guess my move? But that has such a low chance of happening, unless, unless...'

'Fuck, well at least I was able to kill the other two pe...'

My thoughts were interrupted as the man with the gentle face started talking.

"Everyone, I have an announcement to make!"

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1. The Discord server is up!!!! The link will now be here, in the paragraph comments, in the chapter comments, in the synopsis, and on my profile. Join if you want to get chapter updates quickly, and if you want to be privy to any new information regarding the two series as soon as possible.

The new discord link (This one will work.): https://discord.gg/8ePQESSSHT

2. I would like to shout out a book that I'm editing. Check out "World Online" by "jdbeue" a top 30 author on Webnovel. I'll assure you that the series is good, which is kinda obvious due to the author's quality, and that it's worth checking out.

3. Powerstones for extra chapters:

So, here they are:

75 PS - 1 extra chapter

100 PS - A deal just for this week, it'll be another extra chapter, and another teaser of the commissioned cover for OTR. (If you haven't seen it, the first teaser is on the discord channel, the second one will also be posted there.)

150 PS - Another extra chapter

200 - ??? (I'll go there if we even get there, although I seriously doubt it.)