"Naturally not. In fact I've already realized which glasses are poisoned." Minos said, causing the crowd to go into a small uproar.
"Really? How?"
"You must be lying. I've been inspecting the glass from the start, yet I haven't noticed a thing."
"Quick, tell us."
Minos attempted to get the crowd to calm down, and once they were silent, he continued talking. "First, I would never play with my life, so I have no reason to lie. And second, while I'm not willing to tell you guys exactly which ones are poisoned, I am willing to take them off your hands if you accept."
The crowd began thinking about the deal Minos offered, with some willing and others not so much. Naturally no one here was an idiot, so they thought whichever glass Minos picked was likely to be a safe glass.
To that extent, if Minos was willing to do business with them, it meant he likely had some confidence that the glass they had wasn't poisoned.
For those who realized this, they quickly felt more confident, as if a path to victory had been presented right in front of them. As long as Minos picked them, they would be safe, otherwise they would know there is a possibility their wine was poisoned.
Of course if even they could realize this, naturally Minos was no exception, but this was only the first layer of his plan.
Just like that, Minos pointed out Venix under the crowds scrutinizing. Minos had noticed that Venix had been one of the five looking around earlier, so he believed his cup was probably poisoned.
One may wonder why Minos would choose a poisoned cup as his first choice, but it was actually crucial to his plan. Not to mention he wanted to save Venix, and with a slight nod from Minos, Venix seemed to understand his idea.
"Excuse me, gentleman in the black robe, are you willing to trade?" Minos asked politely.
"No problem." Venix replied swiftly, as if he had no worries that Minos was about to deprive him of such a good treasure.
Minos seemed to hesitate at this point, but tried to maintain his composure, however the light stuttering of his hand gave him away to the crowd.
'Was that kid lying? Or were his thoughts wrong from the start.' The crowd all shared the same idea, suddenly no longer so confident that he had truly solved this puzzle.
In fact, some even began to wonder why they had so much faith in Minos in the first place, but thinking back at his confidence, and the fact that no one would play with their lives, it made sense they were inclined to believe him.
With the crowd having lost hope in Minos, they all went back to figuring things out their own way, but Minos seemed undeterred.
He continued asking to take other peoples glasses, but this time the others weren't confident that he'd choose right. Now the people Minos picked gave away their glasses with no fight, clearly not wanting to take any risks.
Just like that, Minos found five glasses on the table in front of him, leaving only five people in the game.
As the hour time limit was coming closer, the crowd got more and more nervous. Those who still held onto their glasses couldn't help but begin sweating slightly.
Under this incredibly tense atmosphere, and just as the final five minutes came, Minos began to laugh slightly.
Naturally his laughter caught the crowd's attention, and they began looking at him like he was a maniac.
Suddenly, under everyone's astonished eyes, Minos gulped down one wine glass in a single shot, licking his lips as he slammed the glass back on the table.
"Delicious." Minos said, as he let out a satisfied burp.
After a few seconds, he felt a slight heat in his body. The heat traveled through his veins before centering in on Minos's Second Life Lock, which had been unshakable every time Minos attempted to break it.