The True Plan?

The next few days passed in a flash, everything happening as Minos had predicted earlier.

With them being a sort of neutral ground, the other factions had already gotten to warring, yet they had left them unaffected.

They were watching the waves from the comfort of their homes, not worried anyone would attack them prematurely.

But it was this comfort that made Asumi certain the storm was about to hit, especially as the others' fighting got more and more severe.

She had been thinking over her options these past few days, but seeing Minos watching the storm with a relaxed smile, she finally made her decision.

…

"I've made up my mind… I want to work with you." Asumi said firmly after finding Minos relaxing by himself alone.

"What do you mean?" Minos replied, somewhat 'confused.'

"Don't play dumb, you know exactly what I mean. Even though you've refused to tell me your real plan, I still want to work with you."

"How are we meant to work together if you don't even know what I'm planning on doing?" Minos asked playfully with a smile.

"Hmph, just tell me what to do, and I'll do it. All I ask for in return is that you help me achieve as high a ranking as possible."

"That's quite the deal, but for that to work I would need absolute loyalty from you, and quite frankly, I'm not sure I could get it." Minos replied honestly.

"Don't worry, as long as what you tell me to do doesn't harm my interests, I'll listen. You should know by now that I take my word very seriously." Asumi replied.

"I'm sure you do. Fine, then on that note, I actually do have something for you to do…" Minos said, bringing Asumi to a whisper as he explained his idea.

"... You must trust me quite a lot to give me such a task." Asumi said after savoring his words for a moment.

"Since you've asked for trust, I'll give it to you. After all, you take your word very seriously, don't you?" Minos replied, still smiling.

"I do, that much is certain! I'll go explain the plan to Anda, his help will be necessary to get it done."

"Go ahead." Minos responded, watching as Asumi headed off to do as she said.

As soon as she left, Nissor appeared from within the shadows, having been listening to the conversation the entire time.

"What exactly did you tell her to do, Sir?" He asked curiously, having not been able to hear their whispering.

"I told her to take care of you guys for me since I've got other business to attend to." Minos answered.

"That's it? Doesn't seem so bad." Nissor replied.

"Nissor, let me ask you a question. Has a participant of this game ever been betrayed by his own soldiers?" Minos asked suddenly.

"It's happened, after all our loyalty is only to the king, not the contestants, so if we think someone else has better prospects, it's not impossible to betray our current captain to help them. Why do you ask?"

"Do you think that's also part of the game?" Minos kept asking.

"Certainly, after all loyalty is seldom guaranteed in this life, so one of the king's most critical roles is being an arbiter of loyalty, telling the truthful from the dishonest." Nissor answered

"Since you know as much, why do you presume Princess Asumi doesn't?"

"Are you saying she may try to have us betray you? We would never do such a thing!" Nissor said adamantly, Minos's Heart Path telling him he was being 100% genuine.

"I know as much, but she doesn't. She hasn't seen us interact much, so it's fair to assume she thinks our relationship is fickle at best, hence why she said it takes quite a lot of trust to give her such a task." Minos replied.

"But what if she tries something? What should we do?" Nissor asked.

"She will try something, in fact her trying something is necessary to my plan, so what I want you to do is quite simple…"

"You want us to 'betray' you!?" Nissor nearly shouted with shock after hearing Minos's plan.

"That's right, but don't make it obvious, fight her a bit first."

"That much is no problem, but why?"

"Why? Because the only true winner is the one who doesn't play the game." Minos replied with a laugh.

"Very well, I'll do as you command, Sir!" Nissor replied with a fist on his chest.

"Don't get too excited yet, I still haven't told you the complete plan." Minos said, pulling Nissor back to tell him the rest.

"... Is that even allowed? It seems like it would be breaking the rules?" Nissor said, having never seen or even heard of anyone attempting such a thing before.

"I've read the rule book thoroughly, and there's nothing against it."

"Even so, how are you meant to pull it off? We don't have anyone with the necessary Aptus." Nissor asked.

"Don't worry about that, I already know someone who will do perfectly."

…

After sending Nissor off to tell the others of his plan, Minos headed out of the room and walked around for a bit before finding a Forbidden Soldier standing by his lonesome.

"You must be Ilgon, right?" Minos suddenly said to the man.

"That's right Sir, do you have a command?" Ilgon asked, his captain, Taiki, having already told him to treat Minos with respect.

"I actually want to talk to you, come here for a moment."

"As commanded." Ilgon said, though he was starting to feel a little strange.

Walking off with Ilgon, the two arrived at a quiet corner, Minos clearing his throat before making his request clear.

"I need your help, more specifically, I need your Aptus." He said succinctly.

"My Aptus? As far as I'm aware, you don't know my Aptus." Ilgon said with some confusion.

"Neither does your captain, or at least you weren't completely honest when you explained it to him."

"... What do you want?" Ilgon asked after a moment's pause.

Just like Minos said, he had lied to Taiki about his Aptus, having felt like the man had little chance of winning this contest, or even placing all that well.

Truth was, he was quite ambitious and had always wanted to leave the Forbidden Palace and work directly for the king, but to do so would require an opportunity.

And it just so happened that the Battle of Strategy was as good an opportunity as one could ask for. As long as he rendered his services to the one who became the next king, it was very possible he could finally move up in rank like he had always wanted to.

Hence he had been waiting in silence as he watched all the competitors, slowly deciding who he felt had the best odds.

But all of a sudden, here came Minos, seeing through his disguise that he had thought was foolproof.

"I need you to put on a performance for me with that Aptus of yours. As long as you do so, I'll give you everything you want."

"What I want? I haven't even told you what I want." Ilgon said with a scoff.

"You don't need to tell me, it's all over your face. You want to leave the darkness of the Forbidden Palace and finally enter the world once more, no longer a shadow who acts beneath the brilliance of the light, but becoming the light itself." Minos smiled, though he wasn't done.

"Just like your Aptus, you seem used to wearing a disguise, but I can see right through it… Work with me, I'll make it so you never have to wear a mask ever again." Minos said, his Heart Path assaulting Ilgon at full force without his knowledge.

His words were already persuasive enough, and with his Heart Path on top, Ilgon clenched teeth finally released, his mind made up.

"... What exactly should I do?"

"This is what…"

"Is that allowed?" Ilgon said, asking the same question as Nissor.

"Don't worry, it's completely allowed."

"Then I'll do it, but I hope you uphold your end of the deal."

…

With Ilgon aware of what he had to do, Minos headed back to his team and made sure they understood everything before saying goodbye to Princess Asumi one more time and finally leaving.

Watching him vanish without telling the others, Princess Asumi couldn't help but wonder what exactly he was planning to do, but whatever it was, as long as it didn't harm her, it didn't matter.

In fact, part of her hoped he was eliminated, after all there was a lesser-known rule in the game that few people took advantage of.

The rule in question was called 'Acquiescing,' which meant if another competitor gave his soldiers up to someone else, that person would keep them in the case they were eliminated.