My Level Zero System

"You're telling me Kain showed you what he called his advantage? A crown to be worn on the head with a few attached gemstones?"

Faith asked, frowning, and Elna replied honestly,

"Yes, Kain even intentionally emphasized that it was a very important matter."

"Alright, I understand. You may withdraw for now."

Faith waved Elna away, then his focus returned to the chessboard.

Clearly, Kain had made his next move, one that left Faith momentarily unsure how to react.

Unpredictable, to say the least.

"Kain, what are you planning to do now?" Faith murmured.

In a normal situation, this action would be Kain using Elna to convey information he wanted to Faith. This assumes Kain already knew Elna was Faith's spy, thus engaging in counter-espionage.

This move, seemingly very ordinary, was anything but in this context.

The espionage-counter-espionage battle centered around Elna from beginning to end was merely an elaborate diversionary tactic.

Kain knew that Elna was Faith's spy.

Faith knew that Kain knew Elna was his spy.

Kain also knew that Faith knew that he knew Elna was Faith's spy.

This was an unending, intertwined relationship, one that didn't need a resolution, because this game had long been left behind. There was no need to determine a winner, as both had already achieved their goals through this diversionary tactic.

Currently, Elna's only task was to serve as the signal for Tolimus's and Pegasus's teams to attack.

But at this very moment, Kain unexpectedly brought back this curtain-dropped play.

Therefore, this was clearly more than a mere pretense of revealing information, as Faith would certainly know that.

"Are you doing this to obscure my vision?"

"Too bad, your plan... still can't escape my sight."

Faith recalled that every time Kain mentioned his team's advantage, he only alluded to it vaguely, primarily describing its function, but intentionally concealing other details.

"So, according to you... those weapon control tools must be fake."

"No, this isn't enough. I'll definitely assume those things are fake; this is based on the premise that we both already know this. But what if you intentionally exploit that line of thinking?"

Everything has its own inertia, and thought is no exception.

This is very normal, like how you're used to walking by stepping left then right, you can't immediately take two left steps before stepping right.

Simply put, it's "I can think of it, but I can't connect it."

Taking Kain's current move as an example, Faith would immediately assume the information Kain intentionally spread through Elna was false.

This isn't a hasty and superficial conclusion, but rather the result of Faith's thought process combined with previous premises.

"In that case... you no longer have a chance to defeat me."

Faith smiled. This battle of wits truly was the most exhilarating he had ever experienced. But no matter how spectacular this play was, it was the director's responsibility to bring it to a close.

With that thought, Faith summoned his team members and began his final preparations.

Kain had made his move; now he had to make his.

…

The final plan was set.

Kain entrusted the weapon control tools to Myra, the most stable member of his team after himself, while he would act as bait to draw attention.

Elna secretly witnessed this. She knew from Faith that the tools Kain had shown her were actually real. It was just that Kain deliberately spread misinformation, making both Elna and Faith believe they were fake.

And to complement this move, Kain executed another diversion.

From Kain's perspective, when Faith saw him hand those "fake tools" to Myra, Faith would assume Myra was just a diversion, hiding the fact that the "real tools" were actually concealed on Kain himself. Consequently, all attention would shift to Kain.

And because all attention would then be focused on Kain, Myra—who should have been targeted for holding the tools—would be safe.

In this strategy, Myra appears to be the bait, but in reality, Kain is the bait.

So, what was the point of all this? Because regardless of who held these tools, the weapon's location still belonged to Faith's team.

As long as Faith's team didn't reveal it, these tools were as useless as pebbles.

Kain, however, had already addressed this.

The moment he entered Faith's team lounge, as he passed Selena, he secretly signaled to her.

"I know you want out of here. Come find me."

And to be honest, this intention had been simmering in Kain since the day he went to the garden and played chess with Faith.

From Kain's perspective, he noticed that while Selena was part of Faith's group, her behavior was quite peculiar. Other team members looked directly at Faith, clearly showing their loyalty, but she avoided his gaze, indicating fear.

Of course, one could argue that Selena was simply afraid because Faith, in some ways, truly was a terrifying individual. However, Kain could distinguish between "respect mixed with fear" and "pure fear."

The others looked at Faith with respect mixed with fear, much like subordinates looking towards their king. They lowered their heads, their eyes not meeting the king's, yet still looking straight up with utmost reverence.

In contrast, looking away indicated pure fear, an unwillingness to confront, like a weak human trying to avoid the gaze of a predator. If there had been respect mixed with fear, this behavior wouldn't have been present.

Therefore, Kain mentally separated Selena from Faith's team; he viewed her as an anomalous element.

Furthermore, when they had met earlier on the steamboat, Kain had analyzed and exposed Selena, allowing him to understand why she was an anomalous element.

An illegitimate child of a noble... it was hardly surprising.

Essentially, capitalizing on that point, Kain secretly met with Selena after she deliberately caused trouble to get herself dismissed. She would reveal the hidden locations of the weapons Faith had previously shown them, in exchange for Kain allowing her to join his team later, securing her future.

"I don't want to be there anymore!"

She said as much, and Kain agreed to this condition.