After leaving the council, Luke took a carriage to his shop, and it did not take long.
The morning had only just begun, but Piltover's streets and alleys were already full of people and quite lively.
The morning sunlight was not especially strong. It only fell gently, spreading over every corner of Piltover.
And as long as one looked up, one could see, among all those tall buildings, a tower that almost pierced straight into the clouds.
That was the Hexgate.
Jayce estimated that two months later, the Hexgates could officially be activated.
At that time, it would become Runeterra's hub, carrying enormous significance.
As Luke's thoughts drifted, he had already returned to the shop, just in time to see what happened next.
When Lux passed by the bluebird statue, she suddenly stopped. Her brows furrowed slightly, as if she had discovered something strange.
"Why does it feel like something's missing?"
She muttered to herself, then suddenly remembered. "Didn't I leave some offerings here when I left last night? Where did everything go?"
At this moment, the spot in front of the bluebird statue where the offerings had been placed was completely empty. The several offerings she had left there last night were all gone.
Hearing her, everyone else also noticed this.
The next second, Lux turned a suspicious gaze toward Jinx, who was also watching curiously.
Being locked onto by that look, Jinx raised a brow. "What are you looking at me for? Don't tell me you think I snuck them?"
Lux nodded and said without hesitation, "Feels very possible."
"Bullshit!" Jinx curled her lip in irritation. "You think I'd care about those lousy snacks of yours? Only you treat them like treasures every day!"
Lux snorted coldly. "Then don't eat them. You're the one who fights hardest for them every single time. I now seriously suspect that you secretly slipped back here in the middle of the night and ate all the offerings!"
Snacks were quite popular, after all.
They were suitable for young and old alike, loved by both men and women. But if one had to say who fought over them most fiercely, there was no doubt it was the two currently facing off.
Now they were glaring at each other.
Jinx snorted coldly as well, extremely annoyed. "I suspect you stole from your own stash!"
"You're even throwing idioms at me now!" Lux's eyes widened. "If that were the case, why would I bother making offerings in the first place?"
The two of them held their own opinions and argued nonstop.
Luke returned just in time to see this scene. While everyone was wondering where the snacks had gone, only he looked at the bluebird statue with a thoughtful expression.
Seeing Lux and Jinx about to evolve from glaring at each other into a full-on scuffle, he spoke up in time.
"All right, stop arguing. I cleaned up those offerings when I came in this morning. On this point, you really did wrong her."
Luke looked at Lux and spoke up for Jinx.
Although the little blue-haired brat had a slightly lower standing, she had not fallen so low that she would come back in the middle of the night to steal offerings.
From her indignant eyes, it was clear she really had been wronged.
"You hear that? I told you it wasn't me!"
With her innocence restored, Jinx immediately put her hands on her hips, still looking rather indignant.
"All right, sorry. I wronged you."
Lux decisively lowered her head. Her apology came extremely fast, and she looked quite sincere.
That made Jinx, who had originally prepared to act smug, feel as if she was clutching her ultimate move but had no way to use it.
Still, looking at Lux lowering her head before her, she gave a faint snort. "Since I'm so generous, I'll reluctantly forgive you this time."
And so, the matter passed.
Everyone also did not take it to heart. After all, Luke had said he was the one who cleaned them up.
It was not as if the snacks could have just "vanished" for no reason.
At this moment, Luke moved closer to the bluebird statue and looked at it carefully a few more times. It looked like an ordinary statue made of bronze. Then he reached out and touched it. It felt slightly cool, but there was nothing strange about it.
If he said that maybe the statue had manifested last night and swept away all the snacks, the others probably would not believe him.
However, Luke himself did not dare say he was one hundred percent certain right now.
At this moment, Lux noticed Luke's strange behavior and could not help asking, "Why are you staring at the statue?"
Luke came back to himself. "Nothing. Just looking."
"It's been here for so many days, and I've never seen you look at it before."
Lux brought over some new snacks and placed them in front of the statue. Then she looked at Luke and emphasized, "You usually don't clean up once in a hundred years, so this time, you absolutely can't clean them up again. Whether I can crush everyone today depends on these snacks."
Miss Crownguard still did not quite understand why Luke had suddenly decided to clean up those snacks for no reason.
But she was too lazy to ask more. This guy often did things no human would do, so she was already used to it.
"All right."
Luke nodded, walked over to his seat, and leisurely lay down.
For now, he would observe for a while. After all, if things really were as Luke imagined, the situation was not actually that bad.
Based on what he knew, the other party was not a bad person.
A while later, Seraphine arrived.
Although she had spent the whole day with them yesterday, when she arrived today, she still looked a little timid. Or rather, she had a bit of social anxiety and did not dare start conversations with others.
But this girl was the slow-to-warm-up type. Fortunately, she did not need to take the initiative, because the other girls would actively chat with her.
Once the rhythm of the Monopoly game picked up, she gradually relaxed.
The Monopoly game went on in full swing. Each round took about an hour, and the punishment was different every time.
Luke half-reclined there, watching the girls carry out all kinds of punishments, and still found it rather interesting.
However, as he looked at everyone in the shop, he thought for a moment and began counting.
One, two, three, four… nine, ten, eleven. Including himself, there were twelve people in total.
With this many people, it seemed they could expand into some new games.
So after lying down for a while, he stood and called Yurna over. "Go prepare some wooden cards."
"Yes."
Yurna answered softly and turned to leave.
Before long, following Luke's instructions, she came back with a batch of wooden cards.
They were called wooden cards, but they were actually uncarved wooden boards, just not very large.
The quality looked pretty good too. Luke did not need much. He only needed something he could carve words on.
After all, when it came to this thing, the props did not need to be too complete. What mattered was the gameplay itself.
In the blink of an eye, the morning passed.
At noon, everyone ate hot pot again.
After all, hot pot was the sort of thing one could eat a hundred times without getting tired of it. On top of that, Luke's ingredients were incredibly rich. It was convenient, simple, and delicious.
Paired with the atmosphere of winter, eating it was truly an excellent experience.
After lunch, Lux leaned back against the sofa in satisfaction. She suddenly remembered that she had accidentally seen Luke doing something in the morning, so she asked curiously, "Right, what were you busy with this morning?"
Hearing this, Luke said, "Carving role cards."
Lux looked confused and grew even more curious. "Role cards? What are those?"
Hearing this, the other girls also looked over one after another.
Luke smiled. "Necessary props for a game, I suppose."
As soon as she heard that, Lux immediately became interested and sat up. "What game?"
"Werewolf."
Luke smiled faintly and took out ten role cards. Everyone walked over and gathered around curiously.
They found words carved on them such as "Villager," "Seer," "Witch," "Werewolf," and "Hunter." Among them, there were four Villagers and three Werewolves.
"These are the role cards. They are also the basic rules of Werewolf. A total of ten people participate, and each person draws one role. Every role has a different ability, except the Villagers."
Next, Luke briefly explained the abilities of each role.
The Seer could check one person's identity every night. The Witch had one bottle of poison and one bottle of antidote, both of which could also be used at night. The Hunter had a gun that could be fired before death.
If voted out or killed at night, the Hunter could choose to shoot and take one lucky player down with them.
As for the Werewolves, they could kill people at night and disguise themselves during the day.
The novel ability explanations immediately sparked everyone's interest.
"Special role cards, except the Hunter, can act once every night. Werewolves can choose to kill someone, the Seer can inspect someone, and the Witch can learn key information and decide whether to use the antidote or poison."
"In this game, the Werewolves' goal is to kill all three special roles or all the Villagers. Doing so counts as victory."
"Besides that, the good side's goal is to find the three Werewolves. If they do, they win."
At this point, Luke did not continue explaining.
Because a game like Werewolf would actually lose some of its entertainment value if explained too clearly.
But even if he did not say more, everyone had already understood the rules.
In other words, the good side had to find the three wolves while exposing their own identities as little as possible.
Meanwhile, the Werewolves had to kill all four Villagers or all three special roles while exposing themselves as little as possible.
"I understand. A game of intellect? I like it!"
A cold smile curled on Lux's lips. Clearly, she was about to activate her brilliant brain.
She considered her intelligence to be quite high, and at a glance, this looked like the type of game where she would dominate.
Caitlyn had the same thought.
After hearing the rules, her eyes lit up all at once.
Finally, they had reached a field she was good at!
The others were also full of enthusiasm, eager to try.
"Then let's begin."
Luke smiled and shuffled the ten role cards, then placed them face down on the table.
After Yurna and Sona understood the rules in detail, they served as referees.
But if Sona played Werewolf, it would basically be bullying beginners.
If someone had something guilty in their heart, she could pick it out instantly.
So she gave up participating on her own initiative. To her, watching everyone play was also quite interesting.
The role cards Luke made looked identical from the back. There was absolutely no way to tell what role any particular card was.
Next came the time to draw roles. Everyone gathered around a round table.
Starting from Lux, Jinx, Poppy, Quinn, Annie, Caitlyn, Navis, Orianna, and Seraphine all stepped forward and picked a card.
The last card was left for Luke. He calmly picked it up and glanced at it.
The words "Seer" were written on it in large letters, and he could not help laughing inwardly.
It seemed that in the very first game, he would dominate the board.
At this moment, all the girls had also finished looking at their roles. Every one of them had a calm and composed expression, without the slightest micro-expression.
That made Caitlyn, who had been secretly observing everyone, have no choice but to become even more serious.
It seemed everyone would be hard to deal with!
After everyone confirmed their roles, the first night arrived. As Yurna calmly said, "Werewolves, please open your eyes. Please choose the target you wish to hunt," everyone with their eyes closed felt a trace of tension.
"Seer, please open your eyes. Please choose the person you wish to inspect."
Hearing this, Luke slowly opened his eyes and looked around. Finally, he made a gesture indicating ten.
The person standing in seat ten was Caitlyn. He felt that the person on the board who might be most threatening was her, so he had to confirm her identity.
"Her identity is…"
Yurna also made a gesture.
Luke understood and slowly closed his eyes.
Caitlyn was a Villager, a member of the good side.
"Witch, please open your eyes."
"The person who died last night was this person. Will you use the antidote? Will you use poison?"
"Daybreak."
Everyone opened their eyes in tacit understanding. The first thing they did was look around. At this moment, every person beside them was a suspicious target.
Yurna stretched out a slender finger and pointed at Luke. "The person who died last night was him. He cannot leave any final words."
The corner of Luke's mouth twitched. He felt like a general who died before he could even win his first battle, and he could only silently leave the game.
Being handsome made one easy to target.
There was nothing he could do about it.
As the strongest special role, he now only had the right to watch.
Yurna said, "Starting from seat two, speak in order."
Seat two beside Luke was Seraphine.
Hearing this, the girl immediately straightened with tension and said nervously, "I, I don't know anything. I didn't kill anyone. I didn't do anything."
The way she honestly explained herself made her look like a criminal.
To be honest, seeing her panicked appearance, Caitlyn's eyes had already narrowed.
Something was wrong. This girl was far too nervous!
Although she held a useless Villager card, as the last person to speak, Caitlyn believed she could find the three wolves on the board.
For now, she marked Seraphine as a suspected wolf and decided to wait until she heard everyone's speeches before making a decision.
After Seraphine finished, it was Quinn's turn beside her. She shook her head and also said she had no useful information, then ended her speech.
Next, Poppy, Annie, Navis, Orianna, and Quinn all said a couple of words and passed.
Then it was Lux's turn.
Miss Crownguard had looked confident from just now, as if she had something to say.
When her turn to speak finally arrived, she directly gave a cold laugh. "I'll lay my cards on the table! I'm the Seer. Last night, I inspected Jinx, and she is definitely a wolf! Vote her out! Pass!"
Her words right now were quite credible.
Luke glanced at Lux and said nothing.
The next person to speak was Jinx.
Everyone discovered that not only did Jinx not show any nervousness from having her identity exposed, she also gave a cold laugh. "The one laying her cards on the table is me! You lying golden-haired wolf, I'm the real Seer. Last night, I inspected her!"
Lux's eyes widened, and she was just about to open her mouth to refute. But thinking of the game rules, she could only obediently shut her mouth.
Luke, in the spectator seat, remained silent.
He had not expected everyone to be the Seer.
Very good. All very good.
"I suggest everyone vote Lux out directly! Pass!"
Jinx finished aggressively.
With her acting like this, everyone also felt that her credibility was rather high.
After all, for these two, inspecting each other on the first night was not strange at all.
When it was Caitlyn's turn to speak, she organized her thoughts and said, "In short, between the two of them, there must be one wolf. I think everyone can refrain from voting for now and decide after tonight. This way, we can also give the real Seer a chance to inspect someone."
Her statement received unanimous approval. During the voting phase, aside from Lux and Jinx each placing a vote on the other, no one rushed to vote.
Caitlyn closed her eyes and listened as the second night arrived.
She thought that once more useful information appeared tomorrow, it would be the moment for her to lead the good side to victory.
At this moment, Caitlyn was full of confidence, because she felt that as long as the person who died on the first day was not the Seer, the good side would have a strong chance of winning.
"Daybreak. No one died last night. Starting from seat five, please speak."
Yurna calmly finished speaking.
Seat five was Navis. She thought for a moment and said, "I am the Witch. Last night, the person the Werewolves wanted to kill was Caitlyn. I used the antidote to save her."
Next, it was Orianna's turn beside her. She said, "I want to hear the inspection results from the two Seers."
She did not have much to say either. The current situation was that both Seers were still alive, yet the knife had fallen on Caitlyn.
The Witch's identity had also been exposed.
So Quinn did not really have anything to say next either. She directly passed and left the stage to Lux.
Lux cleared her throat and said, "Actually, I'm not the Seer. I'm just a Villager. Yesterday, I only wanted to scare her a little, but I still think she's very suspicious. If she is the Seer, and I am a Villager, yet she thinks I'm a wolf… in short, that's very wrong."
She cleanly took off the Seer's clothes and gave the stage to Jinx.
Jinx cleared her throat. "Actually, I'm not the Seer either. I'm also just a Villager. Since she tried to scare me, I scared her right back. I also think she's very suspicious. She might be an aggressive wolf!"
Both of them cleanly took off the Seer's clothes, then stared at each other with wide eyes. The atmosphere on the board also fell silent all at once.
Good. Now the situation had become directly confusing and complicated.
Caitlyn furrowed her brows slightly, feeling that this game really was not as simple as she had thought.
Because there were too many possibilities.
It was possible that these two really were both good people, but it was also possible that one wolf was mixed in. It was even possible that both of them were wolves.
However, Caitlyn felt the last possibility was not very likely.
When it was her turn to speak, she thought for a while before saying, "Last night, while both Seers were still alive, the Werewolves chose to kill me. Now both Seers have admitted they were fake identities, which means the two of them may actually both be good people."
"In comparison, seats two, three, four, six, and seven are more suspicious to me. I hope we can hear useful information next, assuming the real Seer is still alive."
"Today, we must vote. We will choose one person from these five. If there is no useful information, then we'll vote seat three first."
Right now, she could only hope the Seer was still alive. Otherwise, they could only gamble against the Werewolves.
After she finished, it was seat two, Seraphine's turn.
"I think what Caitlyn said is very right. I'm also a good person." A flush rose on Seraphine's face, as if she did not know what to say next. After holding it in for a long time, she said, "Let's vote one of the five of us out."
Next, only Poppy and Annie were left to speak.
Poppy, who had been chosen as the voting target, said with a determined expression, "I'm also on the good side. If a sacrifice is needed, then start by voting me!"
After that, Annie also did not claim to be the Seer and simply said that she was a good person as well.
Seeing this, Caitlyn's heart sank. She knew the real Seer might already be dead.
She glanced in Luke's direction and sighed inwardly.
A situation where the Seer died on the first day was a little too hard for the good side.
But they could not blame the Witch, Navis, either. The antidote could be used to save someone, but she could not have expected that the person killed on the first day would be the Seer.
Now they could only fight the Werewolves with luck.
After everyone voted Poppy out, the third night arrived.
"Daybreak. The people who died last night were her and her. No final words. The game continues. Starting from seat six, please speak."
After Yurna announced the deaths of Witch Navis and seat seven, Quinn, the speech phase began with Orianna in the middle.
Two people had died in one night, so she grew a little nervous. After thinking for a while, she analyzed, "I am a good person. If seats eight, nine, and ten are all good people, then from my perspective, there has to be one wolf between seats two and four. Or both of them are wolves."
After saying that, she passed.
When it was Lux's turn, she said with complete confidence, "Pass!"
Jinx raised her head. "Pass!"
The two took turns skipping, and all at once, it reached Caitlyn, who was deep in thought.
Caitlyn looked up and glanced at the two of them. She had not expected them to provide any useful information.
After all, if they were Villagers, then claiming to be the Seer and tricking the Werewolves' perspective was already the limit of what they could do.
The situation was still very unfavorable now. The Witch and Seer were both dead, and the only Hunter who had not yet been exposed would cause the good side to lose if voted out or killed.
But analyzing it from the opposite side, was the Werewolves' situation necessarily very good?
Before Navis died, she threw out a bottle of poison. If Quinn and Poppy were both Werewolves, then there was only one wolf left on the board.
She was also waiting for the moment when the Hunter revealed themself.
After sorting out her thoughts, she said, "Now we need to hear Seraphine and Annie speak. One of you two is a Villager. I hope you can stand up and accept the vote. If both of you are willing, then we'll start with Seraphine."
After she finished, it was Seraphine's turn.
Seraphine's expression finally became firm. "I'm a Villager. Start with me!"
When it was Annie's turn, she also said seriously, "Annie is also a Villager and is willing to be voted out too."
So, according to Caitlyn's plan, everyone voted for Seraphine.
The fourth night arrived.
"Daybreak. The person who died last night was her. The game continues. Starting from seat four, please speak."
Yurna spoke calmly.
The person who died last night was Caitlyn. In the end, she still fell on the fourth night and had no choice but to leave the game.
But now, the situation had instead become evenly balanced.
Because this would be the final day, whether for the good side or for the Werewolves.
Since the game had not ended, it meant there was only one Werewolf left on the board. The Hunter had not died yet. As long as the correct decision was made, the good side could still win.
When it was Annie's turn to speak, she hugged her teddy bear and thought for a moment. "Annie's role is Villager. I'm a little suspicious of Lux and Jinx. The final wolf might be among them. I hope the Hunter can make the right choice."
Clearly, she also understood the game and knew that the Hunter's next choice was crucial.
When it was Orianna's turn to speak, she revealed her card. "I'm the Hunter. Today is the final day…"
She looked left and right. Seeing those clear, clever eyes one after another, she said helplessly, "I can't figure out who the final wolf is, but I want to assign the vote to Lux. Pass…"
There was no way around it. From her perspective, this game had been chaotic from the very beginning.
"No! If you assign the vote to me, we lose!"
At this moment, Lux's eyes flashed, and she slapped the table in a certain tone. "There is only one truth! Little Blue-hair and Orianna, if you believe me, vote for Annie!"
When it was Jinx's turn, she shook her head lightly and sighed. "Even though I usually find you pretty annoying, this time, you're thinking the same thing I am. My vote goes to Annie!"
The two of them had shockingly reached the same opinion!
This scene, in the current situation, was absolutely explosive.
Everyone in the room widened their eyes slightly, finding it somewhat hard to imagine.
As the voting began, the final three votes were cast for Annie.
Annie, who had tried to vote for Lux and muddle the vote, was ultimately eliminated with no choice.
Yurna began announcing the result. "Game over. In this round, the good side wins."
"Nice!"
"I knew it!"
Lux and Jinx jumped up at the same time and excitedly slapped their palms together. Their little faces were flushed, and they were just short of hugging each other in excitement.
Then they froze for one second, seeming to realize that the gesture between them had been a little too intimate, and they both awkwardly looked away.
The same strange thought appeared in both of their hearts.
At this moment, they actually found each other a lot more tolerable.
However, no one noticed this. Because of the game's victory, the good side had all started cheering.
It had to be said that winning a tense, thrilling game from a disadvantaged position really felt amazing.
Even Caitlyn felt her whole body grow excited.
The three Werewolves were Poppy, Annie, and Quinn. They all showed helpless and regretful expressions.
There was no way around it. This time, the good side had been too lucky. Lux and Jinx's cooperation had been key in muddying the situation, Navis's bottle of poison had also been key, and Caitlyn's crucial vote had been key too.
Of these three steps, if even one had gone wrong, the good side could not have won.
On the second night, they had been unable to confirm whether the Seer was still alive. They only knew that two good players were setting traps for each other.
So they held back a move, but they had not expected that holding back would create the problem.
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