Gilgamesh discreetly eyed a pair of Noblewomen as he walked. Both glanced around at others as if they each had Rings, but the woman on the right glanced more briefly than the one on the left, as though she were concerned that her gaze might linger too long on anyone.

  “Take the right.” Gilgamesh told Heroine.

  Together they challenged and his deduction proved true. Heroine’s Scepter beat the Ring on the right, and his Crown beat the Scepter on the left.

  [ Gained 55 Prestige. ]

  [ 185 Prestige ]

  Heroine’s attire transformed into that of a Viscount, though she quickly shook the hand Gilgamesh extended without immersing herself too deeply in the achievement, and the two left immediately.

  Gilgamesh saw a lone Nobleman looking around, but never too deeply at anyone. A clash caught his attention and the Nobleman followed after the Ring who won.

  “A Scepter chasing Rings?” Gilgamesh wondered.

  He glanced around and saw some other Nobles assessing the lone Nobleman. “They’re looking for quite a while. He must have decent Prestige. But none of them take action. Unsurprisingly. It’s pointless for Rings to challenge a Scepter.”

  But as Gilgamesh thought that, he looked again to the lone Nobleman and realized that the man walked just a bit slower than he could.

  “It’s a trick. He’s only pretending to be a Scepter to protect himself from the hunting pairs. He’s a Ring.”

  “Challenge him.”

  Heroine did as he instructed and won. They shook hands and left into the crowd once again, as Gilgamesh made sure they weren’t being followed. Gilgamesh spotted another target up ahead, but a pair of sneering strangers challenged them first.

  Though their sneers were soon wiped away as the pair of Scepters drew against Heroine and lost to him. Shock struck the challengers and they quickly headed back to the Hallway.

  [ Gained 25 Prestige. ]

  [ 210 Prestige. ]

  “Ring-Scepter hunters.” Gilgamesh determined of them. “They just challenge those hunting without fear since they’d never lose in that match-up.”

  Double Scepters would be the only challengers they face with any degree of regularity, with their facade of a Ring-Scepter duo. Double Ring was simply too disadvantageous as it would tie and lose to such a pairing, and Double Crown would win and lose.

  That was why he chose a Crown. It would allow Heroine to hunt Rings with abandon, and they’d be shielded by the obvious initial counter to the Ring-Scepter strategy.

  Gilgamesh spotted another Ring-Scepter pair, but yet another Double Scepter challenged them first.

  [ Gained 30 Prestige. ]

  [ 240 Prestige. ]

  However, after they won, Gilgamesh immediately led them back into the Hallway.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “Why did we stop? It was working.” Heroine asked.

  “I didn’t realize how prevalent Double Scepters would be.” Gilgamesh said.

  “...isn’t that a good thing?” She asked.

  “It is. And we aren’t taking full advantage of it.” Gilgamesh’s mind raced with a new scheme.

  “You have a Crown, don’t you?” He asked a random child, who seemed scared to answer.

  “Trade your Crown with her, and we’ll give you some Prestige.” Gilgamesh offered.

  The child hesitated, then traded with Heroine. And the duo simply walked away.

  [ Queen of Two Lands ] is displeased with your cruelty towards a child.

  [ Queen Mother Of The West ] is disappointed with your actions.

  [ Mistress of the Hunt ] has grown more hostile to you.

  “Same basic strategy.” Gilgamesh ignored the complaints of gods who would not favor him anyway. “I’ll pretend to be a Ring while you pretend to be a Scepter. Just act as you did before. Except now, we won’t challenge anyone. Instead we wait to be challenged by Scepter pairs. We don’t need to fear Ring-Scepter challengers much either since one of us will win.”

  “This seems risky…” Heroine voiced her concerns.

  “There won’t be many lone Rings at this point in the game. And Double Rings are far too risky for most to even consider.” Gilgamesh countered. “Prestige will flow at us like a river.”

  The two of them walked through the Ballroom with calculated poise, and were soon challenged by a Scepter pair. Then another. And another. And another.

  [ Gained 48 Prestige. ]

  [ 392 Prestige ]

  Yet another pair challenged them, but this time Gilgamesh drew with a Crown and Heroine lost to a Ring.

  [ Lost 75 Prestige. ]

  [ 317 Prestige ]

  “What are you even doing?” One of them laughed as they left.

  Gilgamesh watched them go as if they were vermin. He and Heroine were a Double Crown pretending to be a Ring-Scepter to bait a Double Scepter challenge. While that pair of fools were a Ring-Crown to target Crown-Scepters pretending to be Ring-Scepters.

  It was the same strategy they had used one turn ago. But the challenging pair failed to understand their higher strategy, and thought that others were as incompetent as themselves.

  “Ignore them. Low level fools like them will win via luck occasionally, but they will end up as food for someone else in time.” Gilgamesh told Heroine. “Our targets are the cunning who have more Prestige. We will emerge victorious in the end.”

  Heroine did not reply, but Gilgamesh did not have to advocate for his way. The results spoke for themselves. Two more Scepter duos challenged them, and they had already regained the Prestige they lost and more.

  [ 419 Prestige ]

  Things were going smoothly, but Gilgamesh noticed that progress had already started to slow as the weak were rapidly weeded out and those that remained only grew more cunning.

  “It’s been a while since you’ve challenged anyone.” A girl spoke behind them.

  Gilgamesh turned to see a Noble Girl and a Noble Boy. “How long have they been following us?”

  “What kind of hunters just wait?” The boy asked.

  “They’re hunting Double Crowns.” Gilgamesh challenged Heroine to a draw the moment their Truce ended, but the children only smiled back.

  “Thanks~” They both chimed out as they challenged two random Nobles nearby to beat their Rings with Scepters.

  Frustration flared in Gilgamesh’s mind as he retreated with Heroine to the Hallway.

  “...what’s our strategy now?”

  Gilgamesh did not respond. “...mere children got under my skin? They used me as bait… Me? Mighty Gilgamesh, bested by children…”

  A laugh slipped from Gilgamesh’s mouth. It was an awkward laugh of one unaccustomed to the act, and one unsettlingly villainous to its audience.

  [ Handsome Monkey King ] is concerned for your mental state.

  A strange feeling came about Gilgamesh that he was not even fully aware of. Where only frustration should have survived, amusement and interest started to bloom.

  “This game is more than mere strategy. It is manipulation. Deceit. Discovering the true nature of others and employing such knowledge in the service of one’s own goal. Allies, Vassals, Prestige? Noise, all of it. Beneath the charade, there is only us. Yes… This is a simple game.”

  “Two isn’t enough.” Gilgamesh told Heroine. His eyes now looked not just ahead to the next strategy but to where each step of this game would ultimately lead.

  “We need a third.”

  Important Announcement

  I’m taking a short break to rewrite existing chapters, mostly centered around changes to Golems and Golemcrafting.

  Golemcrafting isn’t as solid as I wanted it to be. Honestly it went through a few iterations before the series started so bits and pieces of different versions kind of got jumbled up together. I’ve read all the feedback and I agree. As it is now, it’s not intuitive enough and some parts of it just don’t make a whole lot of sense. But I’ve finally redesigned it in a way that does.

  The changes largely stem around what defines a ‘class’ of golem and the exact mechanics involved. Attributes for golems will change significantly.

  Some details about the story will change but all of the events, encounters, fights, and results will pretty much be how you remember them. There are a few big changes though, and the minor details of many things will change (most notably the golem theorycrafting he does during the Arena Trial).

  I’ll post a full summary and explanation of all changes before normal chapters resume so you won’t need to reread anything.

  I know it sucks but this will be a significant improvement to the story, especially going forward into the next arcs. I’ve decided to fix it early to avoid a snowball effect of plot holes and to make the golemcrafting and golem theorizing scenes more enjoyable.

  It won’t be long. Normal schedule will resume sometime next week, as soon as I finish the rewrite. I hope you’ll be patient with me and continue supporting the series as I’m always trying to deliver the best story that I can.

  The Masquerade Trial is complete on Patreon for anyone who wants to binge it. Since golems aren’t present in this arc, it won’t be affected by these changes.

  **Update 1**

  **Update 2**

  chapter 33 where Lox explains golemcrafting to see all the changes now.