Jack casually put the mask back on as though his skin wasn't attached to it.
Jessica and Mia were both quite startled by Jack's sudden actions.
"A-Are you alright?"
Jessica seemed a bit concerned, though she was mostly asking out of obligation rather than genuine fear for his well-being. As for Mia, she was simply weirded out a bit. She noted that it was the first time that Jack had so willingly mutilated himself, at least in front of her. However, she didn't openly comment about it. At the same time, Kenji stood there silently, looking at Jack. If he did have a reaction, it wasn't one that showed on his face. Though there was a flower sitting on top of his head that seemed quite interested.
Unaware that she was being watched by anybody, Lily gradually brought up the eyeball she had given up to her face and gently rubbed her cheek against it. At the same time, a terrifying sinking feeling overcame her, one that dropped to the bottom of her stomach.
Yet, she didn't understand why she was feeling it.
Why? For what reason could she feel such a strong fear despite receiving such a generous gift? It didn't make any sense.
Then, Lily let out a gasp as she realized what it was.
She was feeling guilty. Guilty for not returning such a great favor. Of course she would feel so terrible, if she didn't then she may as well not be called human!
Though... it was true that she had also handed over her eye too, but she hadn't voluntarily ripped it out herself. She chastised herself for that.
As she stared into the bloody eye in her hands, a feeling of fear overcame her, but she promptly washed it away after being confident in where it had come from. Although it was incredibly shameless to accept such a gift, she also couldn't bear to part with it.
She held the eye close to her chest, and covered it with her hands, almost possessively.
"Jack... no, M-Master, is there anything I could do to repay your generosity?"
Hearing that, Jack tilted his head to the side, visibly quite confused. However, after a little while it disappeared, not bothering to question it.
"Then... can you tell me about this place? Mostly about this floor. My friends and I are new to this place! I've only been here for about a day!"
Lily blinked a few times, looking around before bowing her head with shame.
"My apologies for my idiocy, Master, but are you referring to The House of Cards? Although I don't believe you are talking about this building, I simply want to be sure."
Jack didn't answer back immediately. He had vaguely remembered his father talking about it one time but didn't really conceptualize that what was essentially his entire world was reduced to a term. Though he got over it soon enough.
"The House of Cards, as you've guessed."
Lily gave a nod, keeping her head down.
"Unfortunately, I have not prioritized collecting information, so it will be incomplete. Although I have not counted my days here, it has already been several months I am sure, so I am not the best person to receive it from."
She had shivered slightly, blaming herself for not being prepared for such a question. Jack blinked a few times, before reaching out to hold up her head, revealing her eyes already forming tears.
"It's ok! I don't expect things to be perfect for you, and there isn't a reason that it should be. Right now, it would be really helpful to us if you told us some things because you have more experience than us. Doing what you can is the most important thing!"
Lily wiped away the tears with her fingers, internally praising her master's generosity.
"A-Alright. You probably already know this, but people gain different powers depending on the suit they completed in the promotion mission. There are plenty of exceptions for each suit, but generally speaking, the clubs suit is known for their brute force, solving problems by smashing them. They tend to have strong tenacity and use it to its fullest, willing to take hits if it means they can hit in return. There are stories of some able to fully regrow limbs within a day, though I am unsure about how true they are."
She held up a finger to indicate that it was the first one before lifting up another as she talked about the next one.
"The diamonds suit is known for people with high intelligence as well as strong, but costly trump cards. There is a fortune-telling place that will provide you with unique powers, and the diamonds one in particular tend to be quite devastating. These ones tend to specialize more in utility, with the ability to smell out danger in a fashion I am not too clear on. Along with that, they are the best for clearing games, sometimes even receiving a blatant advantage depending on their powers."
Upon bringing up her third finger, she hesitated slightly.
"The... hearts suit, is one that you and I are, Master. The information on this suit is somewhat inconsistent. That is because the amount of them is incredibly small compared to others. At least, the ones that are alive. There have been some veterans that have said the hearts suit used to be the most common one, with the easiest test in the past, though their words may not be trustworthy."
She took a deep breath.
"What I know for sure, is that hearts almost always have increased willpower along with the ability to affect other living beings. It is most effective against animals, as they have thoughts, unlike plants, but not overly complex ones like humans. I've been able to fully control several of them before which has saved my life many times. There are rumors about certain hearts having the ability to fully control other people and possessing so much influence, only fellow hearts have the potential to think about fighting such people, but I didn't believe them. Though... I suppose that it may actually be the truth."
An awkward expression formed on Mia, while Lily's lip twitched as a sense of discomfort welled within her before promptly pushing it back down.
"The last suit, spades, isn't too infrequent but is generally considered the second hardest suit. Although most of the people with this suit are within a similar range in strength as the other suits, the ones that are considered untouchable legends are mostly in this suit, at least in current times. They rely on their technique, in both the fine control of their own body as well as instinctively knowing how to deal with attacks in an incredibly efficient way."
Jack let out a soft hum.
"That's so interesting! You did very well telling me so much about the suits."
Lily smiled quite brightly, shining radiantly after being praised, an expression she had never shown previously, at least not to Jack.
"A-Ah, thank you, Master. T-There is a little more I wish to say about it as well."
"Go on then."
After receiving Jack's permission, she continued on.
"Although this isn't always true, each suit tends to be weak to one other suit and with that stronger against another. The Clubs tend to be susceptible to the manipulation of Hearts. Since they don't rely on their thoughts as much, it becomes much harder for them to even realize that something is wrong with them until it's already too late."
Her back straightened slightly as enthusiasm gradually built up in her voice.
"At least in combat, Diamonds tend to have an overreliance on trump cards in order to fight. For Spades, they can reduce and sometimes nullify the effects of those trump cards completely, dodging or parrying its effects. In that situation, the diamonds can very often become completely defenseless despite what they try to do."
Lily's expression went from a smile to confusion for a moment before she said the next thing. She shook her head violently, and after calming down put a hand on the side of her head. There was a pained look on her face. Eventually, she nervously held up a hand, though it was trembling quite quickly.
"...Sorry. I-I don't know what came over me. The Hearts tend to be weak against Diamonds for the same reason they are strong against Clubs. Being highly intelligent leads to them being resistant to manipulations. However, fellow hearts are especially resistant to one another... the increased willpower can sometimes trivialize the entire thing and when not, severely reduce the effects."
Lily nervously swallowed. While recounting the weakness of Hearts, it reminded her of the frustrations she had trying to use her own power on Jack. Though more importantly, it helped her realize she was under Jack's control and that the only reason she could even somewhat see this was due to her being a Hearts herself.
She had no prior experience of this kind, especially not with her increased willpower. As such, she did not know how she was supposed to escape.
Or whether she could even try to in the first place.