Xia Qu looked at the crazy old man's corpse, her eyes widening.
An expression of fear appeared on her face as well.
But besides fear, there was another emotion.
Her eyes were wide, her brows furrowed, and her mouth hung open.
That expression was one of deep confusion.
This was what baffled Lin Jie the most.
Whatever Xia Qu's role was, confusion was the most impossible expression for her to have.
The crazy old man had been killed by the werewolves on the first night, and the witch had not saved him. Everyone knew this.
If she was just a villager, she would simply think the crazy old man had been killed by the werewolves. She should not be confused.
If she was a werewolf, the werewolves had already decided whom to kill during the night. The crazy old man's death was something all the werewolves had expected, so she should not be confused either.
If she really was the witch, that made even less sense.
If she was the witch, God would have told her during the antidote phase that night that the crazy old man was the werewolves' target.
And she had chosen not to use the antidote, so naturally, the crazy old man would die the next day.
This, too, should have been within the witch's expectations.
So no matter who someone was or what role they had, confusion was an impossible expression.
Lin Jie did not understand. What exactly was Xia Qu confused about?
"We will now begin twenty minutes of free discussion."
"After twenty minutes, everyone must vote to decide who will be executed today."
God paid no attention to their frightened expressions and continued moving the game along.
Everyone looked at one another, but no one dared to speak.
A few minutes passed like this before Director Zheng spoke.
"I'm on the good side. I know everyone is scared. I'm scared too."
"But sitting here doing nothing won't help. I hope each of you can say something."
"If we say nothing, the werewolves will kill us all, one by one."
"Only by speaking up more can we improve our chances of finding the werewolves."
Driver Chen asked him in a hostile tone, "Easy for you to say. Why don't you tell us exactly how we're supposed to find the werewolves?"
Zheng Yi shook his head. "I'm sorry. I don't have a good method either. But-"
He stood and looked around at everyone.
"I hope the seer won't be afraid and will step forward to lead the good side!"
"It doesn't matter if you haven't found a werewolf. Ruling out even one good player is useful!"
Zheng Yi looked at everyone expectantly.
But not a single person responded.
Zheng Yi rubbed his nose awkwardly and sat back down.
Lin Jie gave a quiet snort.
It's no use.
Normally, in a game of Werewolf, the seer should come forward.
Even if they had checked a good player, counting the seer themselves, that would clear two good players.
There were only nine players in total, leaving just seven whose roles were unknown.
Among those seven were three werewolves.
Even executing someone at random would offer a high chance of picking a werewolf.
So under normal circumstances, the seer really should come forward.
But today's game was not normal.
It could even be called highly unusual.
Because of the restriction imposed by a certain rule, the seer could not possibly reveal themselves voluntarily.
[People die when they are killed.]
The seer was a key power role on the good side and a priority target for the werewolves.
Once they revealed their role, death would be all but inevitable.
So no one would admit to being the seer.
Lin Jie lowered his head in thought. When it comes down to it, what role do I actually have?
What faction does a blank role belong to, and what are its victory conditions?
Lin Jie badly wanted to ask God for clarification, but held himself back.
If only there were some way to find out my role.
* !*
Suddenly, a strange feeling welled up inside him, and a shudder ran through Lin Jie's mind.
He really had thought of a way!
Wasn't the seer's ability precisely to check roles?
Lin Jie recalled what God had said during the night.
[A thumb pointing up means a good player. A werewolf claw means a werewolf.]
In other words, there were only two possible factions!
After the seer checked Lin Jie's blank role card, it should likewise reveal only one of two factions: good or werewolf!
If he could draw the seer out and guide them into checking him, his own role would become clear!
And Lin Jie happened to have a brilliant line of persuasion that could make the seer reveal themselves!
At this thought, Lin Jie raised his head and looked at everyone.
"Everyone, have you ever considered which role on the good side is the safest?" Lin Jie asked them.
"Hmph. I don't know which role is safest, but I know the seer must be the most dangerous!" Driver Chen folded his arms and curled his lip.
The others nodded in agreement.
The corners of Lin Jie's mouth lifted slightly. "Quite the opposite! The seer is the safest role!"
Everyone voiced their doubts at this. "How is that possible? We can all see that the seer must be the werewolves' top priority! The seer is definitely the most dangerous role."
Yet Lin Jie remained unruffled. "Everyone, have you forgotten the guard's ability?"
Zheng Yi answered, "The guard can protect one person from being killed by the werewolves, but can't protect themselves."
"Kid, what does that have to do with the seer?"
Lin Jie's tone was calm. "Think carefully, everyone. If you were the guard and couldn't protect yourself, whom would you prioritize protecting?"
Everyone thought for a moment and finally understood what Lin Jie was getting at.
"...The seer." Player Six, Xia Qu, answered for everyone.
Lin Jie nodded at Xia Qu approvingly. "Exactly. Since the seer is the werewolves' first target to kill-"
"The seer is also the guard's first priority to protect!"
"As long as the guard knows who the seer is, all they need to do to maximize their gains is protect the seer every day!"
"And the werewolves will have no way to kill the seer. They'll have to kill the guard first!"
The chubby young man in Seat Five caught on as well. "...So once the werewolves know the seer can't be killed, they'll give up on killing the seer and look for other targets instead!"
Lin Jie nodded and summed it up. "So the seer is actually the safest role on the good side!"
Those words became deeply imprinted in everyone's minds.
Throughout this speech, Lin Jie had never asked the seer to reveal themselves, nor had he mentioned whom the seer needed to check.
He had told everyone just one thing: as long as the guard knew who the seer was, the seer would be absolutely safe.
And that alone was enough to achieve his goal.
Lin Jie silently counted down three seconds.
Three...
Two...
One...
"I'm the seer!" A voice suddenly rang out from among them.
Everyone looked at that person in surprise.
Lin Jie smiled faintly and leisurely sat back down.
Everything was under control.
Now it was time to see how she would perform.