The Jester was clearly aggravated, but he did his best to keep a fake smile on his face.

Trevor dealt out 2 cards to each player after reshuffling the deck and Samantha took a look at the new set.

8 and 7.

Samantha kept a sly smile on her face while looking conceitedly and seductively at the Jester, who didn't understand the league of the opponent he was facing.

The jester had a smile on his face and seemed to be flaunting his delight with his deck.

'Haha! There's no way that she can beat me with her cards! I got a king this time!'

Samantha placed down her 8, relaxed and ready to win.

'There's no point in lying this round! I'll go with 13. The chances of her matching my number are almost impossible- why would she ever risk being caught in such an obvious lie saying that she had the maximum value card!? Only if she were a complete fool would she do something like that!'

Samantha then wrote her number on the paper before flipping it over onto the table so that nobody could see what she wrote.

The Jester placed down his card and wrote his number, and the two flipped them simultaneously- to the complete shock of the Jester.

She had written 13, perfectly matching his own number.

'I- impossible! What kind of idiot is this girl! How could she make such a rediculous bluff like this!?!'

At this point, quite a few more people had gathered and were watching.

'Hey, this girl is pretty good'

'Are you kidding me!?! Where did she pull those numbers out from!?!'

'The Jester is losing a card game! This is a first!'

'Did she get lucky three times in a row? Is this really just a coincidence?!'

Samantha smiled and waved to the crowd around her as she sat with her legs crossed and arms folded, the rest of the antiheroes merely watching.

'I suppose it isn't a bad thing to build up our reputation like this...', Trevor thought.

The Jester's reputation was at stake now.

"Grr... Alright, it looks like another draw. Lets get back to it. Hurry it up, elf!"

Trevor gave the man the evil eye as he was called elf, and gracefully threw his hand around the Jester's throat.

"There exist only three people on this planet who have the right to call me elf. And you are not one of them."

"Cough! Ugh! Alright! My mistake!"

He quickly loosened his grip on the Jester's throat, dropping him down into his seat before redealing the cards.

A whole paparazzi had gathered at this point. The eyes of every mercenary in the building was on the group.

"Right... cough.... forgive me for that rude comment... how unlike me to lose my temper.... I apologize. Let us continue the game.", The jester stated while fixing his collar.

Trevor then dealt the next set of cards.

Samantha received a 10 and a 2.

The Jester received a 10 and a 6.

'We both received 10's as our highest cards this time... interesting. What should I do here? Should I go for 11 to try to pass her up in points? Should I risk another draw by saying 10? If she catches me in a lie... no wait! She has continuously played ensuring that we have had the same written numbers... I don't know whether that is a coincidence, but it is surely an insane one. If our cards are the same, she is likely trying to go for the same thing. However... should she go for anything but a 10, I will be able to catch her in a lie!'

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He placed his 10 card face down, and wrote the number 10 on his paper.

'If she writes anything but 10, I will catch her in a lie! If not, we tie and go to the next round! It's perfect! There's no way I can lose here!'

Samantha seemed to be having a hard time thinking.

'Ho, perhaps she doesn't know what to do. Heh heh... I've trapped you in a corner now. What move will you make? Lie this time, I dare you. Do so and you will be immediately exposed. Don't write 10. Don't write 10!'

Samantha placed down a card, keeping her hand over it ready to flip and wrote down her number on the paper.

They both flipped the papers to reveal...

2.

"I think you're lying about that 10. Lets take a look.", she said confidently.

'What!?! She wrote down two!?! Wait no, that wont matter... she just said I was lying, didn't she!?! Everyone heard that, right!?! She said I was lying!!! Ahaha!!! What a stupid girl!!! Watch and learn!!!'

The Jester flipped his card with an eccentric grin to reveal that it was indeed a 10.

"Looks like were tied now, girl."

Samantha pretended to be shocked, covering her mouth with one hand. She was an amazing actress from all the years she spent trying to look good in front of everyone.

"Darn! I thought I had you on that one! Next round!"

The score was now 20 to 20.

It was tied.

'Maybe it was just luck after all...'

'Ah... the Jesters gonna win again'

'Poor girl... she played the wrong opponent.'

Some people had turned away from the game, but others were now invested in it. It was tied with only a single round left, and it was the round where each player only got 1 card. It was a volatile and luck based round even for cheaters.... that is, unless one could literally read the mind of their opponent.

'What an idiot. Getting all excited because I let him tie it up. If there is anything I learned from Trevor...', Samantha thought.

'There is no better way to psychologically torment someone is to get their hopes up higher than the clouds themselves, before allowing them to fly down from the top of a skyscraper, crashing into the cold hard pavement at a velocity so great that they are left in an unrecognizable state. Heh heh heh...'

Needless to say, Samantha had allowed the man to win and tie it up only to see his desperate face when he inevitably lost.

If he got a better card than her, she would simply match his written number.

If not, she would win. It was that simple. This wasn't a gamble. It was 100% rigged, with no chance of losing.

But hey, she wasn't cheating any more than the jester was. It was only right to read his mind if he was going to know exactly what her cards were. Before facing her, he was almost 100% guaranteed to win.

Trevor dealt the final set of cards.

Samantha received a 2, and the Jester received a Jack.

'A jack!! I've won! So long as she doesn't pull anything, I will have won this game!!! AHAHA!!!'

Samantha placed down her card and wrote her final number, and the Jester did the same.

They both flipped the numbers to reveal....

A 12 for Samantha, and an 11 for the Jester.

'Trying to take me in a lie like that! What an idiot! She's lost this game!'

"You're clearly lying! Prove to me right now that that card is a queen! I bet you can't!"

Samantha merely smiled sweetly at him, and flipped over the card while keeping it in her hand.

[Illusion]

The card revealed was indeed a queen.

----

'Impossible! I had the creases on every card memorized!!! There is no way I could have mistaken it! That dent in the card is how a 2 would be marked! How!?! Did she remark a card when I wasn't looking!?!? Unbelievable!"

Of course, it was much simpler than that.

Samantha handed the card back to Trevor, who reshuffled the deck before placing it back in front of the Jester- grabbing the coin up in the same swoop.

"I'll be taking this."

The four walked off with cheers from the mercenaries all around them.

"How did you do that miss!?! How did you beat the Jester!?! Nobody has ever beat him at his game!"

"What can I say? I guess I just got lucky. Teehee!"

The four shoved their way through the cheering crowd over to the job board to take a look at the requests.

There were some to capture criminals who had gone into hiding, others to collect various items or herbs from dangerous locations such as the dens of wild animals.

Suddenly, however, the door burst open.

It was a man wearing a yellow tunic with short cut brown hair, who seemed out of breath. He was carrying a message on a scroll in his hand.

"Pant... Pant...."

After catching his breath he stood tall.

"I have come on the orders of the minister of the capital, who is acting on the orders of the Emperor, Percius himself! I bear a message for all mercenaries in the Empire! Please listen up. The first legion is to be sent on a naval campaign in the northern section of the monster realm! The goal is to take over a village established by fishmen, and create a defendable fortress so that we may place a foothold within the monster realm! The era of being pushed back by the monsters is over!"

Ashley's eye twitched at this.

"Oi.", she whispered to Trevor, who was watching the man intently.

"I know."

"How much is he paying!?", one of the mercenaries shouted.

"One gold coin per day! His highness has been exceedingly generous to ensure the success of this campaign!"

"I'm in!"

"Me too"

"Us too"

Many mercenaries hooted and hollered at the thought of the gold.

There was not a single mercenary in the room- even the Jester who had just been hanging his head in defeat- who was not excited at the prospect of earning so much money.

Garett got on a quick phone call with Claire while everyone was distracted by the cheering.

"Hey. I need you to go somewhere. Head over to the fishmen village... it should be on the Northern side of the continent. Ask Arlo if he knows where it is. Determine if they are friend or foe, and once you have figured it out let us know immediately. They are going to be attacked soon, and we need to know if we should step in or not. Leave Coran as the temporary ruler of the dictatorship for now. This is an emergency. Take who you need as bodyguards."

After finishing the call in secret, Garett and the group stood forward.

"Us too. Were in."