Chapter 33: Two Truths and one Lie
Morden felt himself grow slightly excited after he realized that theory, if it was actually true, then it would be the perfect solution.
"I wonder if I can test it?" Morden said with a thoughtful face.
"I have got it," he said with a smile before standing up to approach a lady sitting alone not too far away.
"Good afternoon, Miss. Would you mind if I joined you for a little game?" Morden asked.
Seeing the stranger that had suddenly appeared in front of her and was now asking a weird question, the woman’s first instinct was to refuse outright.
But as she took another look at Morden, seeing his bluish-black hair and his warm smile, the woman felt eased up a little before she nodded in consent.
It appeared that beauty privileges also existed in the Bearer World.
"Thank you, Miss. I am sure you will really enjoy this time, and I will also do the same since it’s not every day one gets to hang out with beautiful ladies such as yourself," Morden said with a smile, to which the woman responded with a smile of her own.
"Alright, miss, the game we will be playing today is called two truths and one lie. Are you familiar with the game?" Morden asked.
Morden had pitched the game because in his past life he had always heard that people with higher mental fortitude can spot lies easier, and that was exactly what he wanted to test now.
Slowly using his remaining stat points to increase his intelligence and then trying to see if it made any difference.
The woman in front of Morden showed a confused expression, showing that she wasn’t familiar with the game, which was understandable since it was a game that was played on Earth.
"Okay, I will explain the rules first. It is quite simple; you just have to say three statements, two being true and the last one being a lie, and I have to spot the lie," Morden explained.
While explaining, Morden noticed the woman’s smiles growing wider and her face brightening, which means she meant she was excited to play.
"It seems you get it now, miss. Alright then, should we begin?"
"Yes, let’s play." The woman finally spoke for the first time, and Morden could even notice excitement in her voice.
"Here are the three statements: My husband is coming to meet us here soon, I have three children, and finally, I own this place," the woman said, all this without a change in her expression, making it even more difficult to read.
Morden tried analyzing the three statements to come to a conclusion on the lie, and all his deductions only led to one point.
’She can’t possibly have three children; she looks too young. Every other one might be true; she might actually own the place, and her husband might actually be coming.’
’I will choose the second one,’ he decided.
"I will say the second one is a lie; you look too young to have three kids."
"Hahahaahaha," the woman across from him burst into laughter, obviously thinking that she was having fun.
"I am happy to tell you, you failed. The second statement was true; I do have three kids. The lie was the third statement; my husband isn’t coming."
"Hahahahahahaha," she continued her laughter, attracting the attention of the employees.
"Who is that person making the boss laugh so hard? The last time this happened, she was speaking to the late boss," one employee whispered.
Across from her, Morden just remained there smiling, happy that he could make someone laugh with his little experiment.
’The first attempt confirmed that I couldn’t detect lies, so let’s see if it gets easier with an increase in stats.’
[Intelligence +5(perm)]
He used five out of his remaining free stat points.
"Alright, I lost that round; let’s do one more," Morden urged.
"Alright, alright, here are the three statements: I fired one employee earlier today; my husband was a Bearer; and finally, I am also a Bearer."
Morden listened to all three of the statements with rapt attention, and this time he noticed something: her voice dropped a little, a very tiny bit almost impossible to notice, when she said one statement.
"Is the lie... the third statement?" Morden asked with a smile.
Immediately she heard that, Morden noticed shock slowly appear on her face while she nodded.
"Yes, yes it is; you win this round."
A smile appeared on Morden’s face, but not because he was right but because his theory was slightly proven by the win. In order to confirm it wasn’t a fluke, they played a few more rounds, and he won every single one, leaving the woman shocked.
"I think that will be enough, Miss; it was really fun playing with you," Morden said after a while.
The woman immediately showed her disappointment, but she also noticed the urgency on Morden’s face, so she could only smile and nod.
"Alright, that was really fun. It’s been quite a while since I had so much fun."
"Thank you, young man."
"From today, you can have anything in this shop, completely free," Diane remembers his face, the woman shouted.
Though that wasn’t his intention, Morden didn’t refute; he just smiled warmly before bowing to the woman and then proceeding to leave.
"Nice meeting you, young man. Come again," the woman shouted behind.
After that show, Morden knew he had to leave as soon as possible to avoid anything weird, but he still couldn’t stop smiling from ear to ear.
"Since the theory has been confirmed, I can add all the points now. I just hope it is enough."
[Intelligence +5 (perm)]
’Now that that is taken care of, what remains now is to wait for him to actually find me. I will just stroll around here for a bit to wait.’
With a smile still on his face, Morden walked around that area, waiting at some points before resuming again.
And finally, just when the sun had finished setting, his wait finally ended.
"Mr. Tales, are you ready to go find your target now?" A voice sounded from behind him.