Zorro, Duende, Clown, Reina, Ciervo, Media Luna and I -León - had been the regulars at the Round Table for a long time. However, today three new members joined us.
«Oh, are you Mr. Leon? Nice to meet you», said someone in a wolf mask and a clearly sly tone.
«Um...» hummed someone wearing a featureless black mask, the sound almost silent.
«Hello», said the one in the butterfly mask, with a young and youthful voice.
While I was studying the trio, Fox quickly read the room and began to explain. «Mr. Wolf used to come here often before you joined, Mr. Lion».
«Hahaha! Since Master left, I have been busy. I had completely forgotten about this place, but once I remembered it, I decided to return.»
«Pshehe, I thought you died years ago. How did you manage to survive all this time?»
«Ha! I see Mr. Clown is as cruel as ever!»
Wolf, at least, had been confirmed as a returning member. When I looked at the other two, Fox introduced them too.
«As for those two... It's also the first time I've met them».
So Black Mask and Butterfly Mask were real newbies. Fox had been on the Roundtable the longest of all of us, so if anyone knew them, it would be her. But that raised another question.
Why would there suddenly be rookies now...?
This was suspicious. The last newcomer was Queen, who had become a member thanks to the GM's help and not by invitation. Before the two of us, there had not been any new members on the Round Table for several years.
«Anyway, it must be fate that we are all gathered here today in this way. Let's shake hands! So everyone here calls you Queen, right...? Um?» Wolf reached out to shake Queen's hand, but she just looked at her before walking to her seat. «Haha... Yes! I guess you don't need a handshake». He sat down too, looking quite embarrassed.
Black Mask remained motionless in his seat, paying little attention to the rest.
«A-Ahem...» When Butterfly's eyes met mine, she cleared her throat awkwardly and quickly looked away.
A porter!
The Round Table door slammed shut, indicating that the chat room had closed. There was a strange silence. The other members seemed equally surprised by the sudden appearance of two newcomers.
Gulp.
In the silence, the sound of the goblin swallowing was particularly loud.
«Now... Since Mr. León is here, why don't we continue with the conversation we were having before?». Reina, who had been silently observing the development of the situation, was the first to speak. «I understand Mr. Wolf is back, but I'm curious how you two came together. Miss Butterfly and... Hm, what should I call you?».
«...Black», Black Mask responded quietly.
I was momentarily confused by how serious his voice was, but it seemed to belong to a woman.
«Black... Very good. How did you and Miss Butterfly come together? Did you even know 'Master'?».
«Hehe...» Butterfly let out a clumsy laugh in response to Queen's question.
«Why should I answer that?» Black responded bluntly.
Following suit, Butterfly was quick to reply. «Yes, Miss Black is right. It's against the rules to ask about our identities... right?». Butterfly smiled, apparently satisfied that she had successfully defended her right to remain silent, but to my surprise, she didn't stop there. «Just because you wear a queen mask doesn't make you a real queen, hehe».
«...What did you say?»
«¿Eh? ¡Now!»
Queen was speechless at Butterfly's harsh comment. As innocent as he seemed, it seemed like he had a sharp tongue. It was a striking contrast.
Interesting... It has more spine than it seems at first glance.
It seemed that everyone present had the same impression. It didn't take long for Clown to burst out laughing hysterically. «Hahaha! Bahaha! Oh, sorry... Looks like someone interesting has joined us!».
«¡Graciaaas!»
«Hiding.»
«Hehe…»
The two strangely seemed to be on the same wavelength. What, pranksters like them shared a special connection or something? If so, he had no desire to understand his strange little world.
«Let me give you some advice. Be careful what you say to Mr. León».
«Gently... ¿Es así?»
«Aren't you going to ask me why?»
«It's just that... How long did I see him I had the same feeling?».
Butterfly looked at Queen with a smile. Although he didn't say anything, it was clear what that look meant. Something similar to: «Unlike when I saw you».
«...Ha!» queen, who had apparently also grasped the subtext, scoffed. But I wasn't really interested in their discussions.
«So when do we leave...? I was looking forward to the day...».
All the returning members looked at me to ask permission to start. It seemed like they now considered me the head of the Round Table, so they asked me if it was okay for these mysterious newcomers to join today. I thought it was good, of course. He didn't even have the authority to kick them out.
«It will be fun. Plus, I was curious about them too.
«Haha, I'm getting excited. It's been a long time.»
«Hm...»
«Hehe... So who do we start with? It's a little intimidating to be the first to iiiir...»
Who are these people?
Wolf, who was making a mysterious return; Black, who seemed to have many secrets; and Butterfly, who was clearly having trouble keeping his mouth shut... The three new members were suspects. Wolf was back, so at least he didn't look as bad as Black and Butterfly.
But still, coming back out of nowhere after being away for years...
His return today did not seem like a mere coincidence. Despite it being his first visit in years, he didn't even seem particularly interested in knowing where the Master was.
«By the way, Mr. Wolf. He has said that it has been a while since he last attended one of these meetings, and yet he has not asked us any questions about the Master.» Queen, who apparently thought the same as me, ended up addressing Wolf on my behalf.
«Haha, it's the Master we're talking about. I'm sure he'll do well wherever he is».
«Hmm, ¿es así?»
«...Anyway, why don't we decide on the order? Oh, by the way, I don't care what it is as long as it's not the first».
Ha, seriously, why was he acting so suspicious? From where I was sitting, there was already a good chance that Auril Gavis, who was the Master of the Round Table, would send these people here to mess with us. At least one of them, if not all three.
Although the most likely suspects remain Black and Butterfly.
There weren't many ways to become a new member of the Round Table. You could be like Queen and get in thanks to the GM's administrator powers, or you could join using an old invitation code like I did. Those seemed to be the only two ways, in fact, and since Auril Gavis was the Master, he probably still had several codes out there that he could deal out.
There's also a chance that Queen is working with one of them and just pretends not to know them.
However, all of those were just theories at this point.
«Let's start with Wolf since he is sitting next to Mr. Leon. Pshehe, it's tradition, after all».
For now, I'd have to keep my eyes peeled and wait for them to slip away and give me a clue to work with.
«Tradition? What tradition? I don't remember anything like...»
«Wolf, a lot has changed since you were last here. If you don't like it, leave».
Wolf seemed a little surprised by Clown's harsh tone. «Ahem...»
«Pshehe. You're not leaving, so that must mean you didn't come back here by pure chance. Have you heard anything about us recently?»
Clown was trying his best to look for clues to Wolf as well.
«Haha, it's only been a while, that's all. Anyway, going first is no problem. Since the rules changed while I was away, it's only fair that I follow them now that I'm back», Wolf said with a laugh, starting his turn. «So I'll start». Then he sank into thought, trying to decide what to tell us, before finally opening his mouth. «Actually, I came back because I recently found out something amazing. But there was no one else he could...»
«Mr. Wolf, have you always been such a crybaby?».
When Clown frowned impatiently, Wolf let out an embarrassed laugh, cleared his throat, and got to the point. «The Master of the Round Table is Auril Gavis».
There was absolute silence at the Round Table, and the reason was simple.
«This is huge, right? The person who gathered us all here and provided us with information was none other than the same man who made Dungeon and Stone!».
This was the same piece of information Queen had given us last month.
«...Eh?» When the jewel's red light flickered, Wolf was startled. «What's going on...?»
«Isn't it obvious? That means most of us already knew it. Oh, have you forgotten how this works for a long time? Why don't you try again and give us something interesting this time instead of something so boring?»
That was a little hilarious on Clown's part considering he had been blown away by the same information just last month, but thanks to his theatricality, one thing became clear.
Wolf didn't know what was going on here at the Round Table.
If you knew, you wouldn't be bringing us the information we discussed last month. That also meant that he was not in contact with any of the regular members. Well, there was still the possibility that it was all a farce, of course.
Wolf let out a heavy sigh before trying again. «Then I'll try again. The royal family is the one who drags players into this world, and Auril Gavis' goal is to help players escape».
The moment the words left his mouth, the jewel began to glow green.
«So», he asked, «what do you think?».
No one responded immediately, for obvious reasons. Not only had this guy blatantly revealed that he had some kind of relationship with Auril Gavis, but...
«...Is the royal family behind all this? Is that information credible?»
This was a bombshell revelation. Countless theories circulated among the players, but none of them suggested that it was the royal family who was behind everything. Because the royal family had no discernible reason to do all this.
«Why would he bring the palace to this world just to label us as evil spirits? That doesn't make any sense».
Instead of answering Deer's question, Wolf drew a line in the sand. «I can't go into details, but I can tell you that this information is reliable. Comes from a trusted source».
«Pshehe, you speak as if you have heard it from the king himself».
Clown tried to probe him but to no avail.
«Oh, if you're curious, how about I tell you in the next round? Anyway, who's next?».
Next was Fox, who shared information about the war. The truth is that I didn't listen to it. I already knew everything he was going to say.
But is the royal family really the reason we were brought into this world...?
I was still thinking about it. Or rather, he was still trying to figure out if there was any truth to that statement.
How much of what that guy said can I really believe?
The jewel could be green, but the Round Table had a significant gap. As long as the person believed that what he said was true, the jewel would turn green. Which was the crux of the matter.
There is a chance you are wrong.
The next question, then, was why Wolf would believe this to be true, although in reality, that wasn't that important. The real question was:
Why did Wolf mention this at the Round Table?
The answer was in the information he gave us.
Because he wants players to redirect their hatred towards the royal family.
And there was one person who would gain a lot if we did it.
Auril Gavis must have sent Wolf here with false information on purpose.
Was it a ridiculous conclusion? I wasn't sure, but for now, I decided to clear my thoughts and focus on the conversation.
«...Now is your turn.»
Without realizing it, we had already been through Fox, Goblin, Media Luna and Ciervo. Now it was the turn of one of the rookies.
«Srta. Black.»
Aka, the second suspect.
«There is another way for players to return to Earth other than the Gate of the Abyss».
Black was brief and sweet, and received a green light from the jewel in return. Given the topic being discussed, the other members frantically bombarded her with questions. However, she remained silent, without answering a single one.
...A way to return to Earth.
There was only one other possible way for me to know.
He must be talking about dimensional magic...
I learned about dimensional magic when I visited the Round Table twenty years ago. The Fallen Scholar was studying her to return to his home planet, and had even achieved some success at that time. Perhaps that magic was the real reason why Baekho had joined forces with him. However, that wasn't the important thing now.
Black... Could she be a spy sent by Baekho Lee?
There were several reasons why he was beginning to suspect that was the case. First, Baekho would also know about the Fallen Scholar's dimensional magic. Second, it wouldn't be strange if I had another spare code lying around, like the one you gave me.
But the most important thing is that he has a clear reason. He wants to know more about me.
«...Now it's your turn, Queen.»
Queen and Clown always competed with each other to see who would release the highest quality information. However, this time she only talked about general politics, presumably wary of sharing anything else with the new members. Although it was something interesting, it was clear that he only used it to skip his turn.
«...Heh, is it my turn now?» It was finally time for Butterfly to leave. He confidently launched into his information without a moment's pause, almost as if he had prepared it beforehand. «The palace may deliberately cause a dimensional collapse».
Ha, somehow, these newbies had come to the table with more useful information than regular members.
«...That means the rumors were true».
Everyone seemed surprised by this news, but no one questioned its authenticity or source. Unlike Wolf and Black's previous information, we all already suspected it. It was also clear that Butterfly wouldn't answer any questions, even if we asked.
«Pshehe, so it's my turn?»
Finally, it was Clown's turn.
«Not long ago, Noark began tackling the ninth floor in earnest».
This was a valuable piece of information that added to the credibility of existing members. Naturally, it got an easy green light, and everyone's eyes wandered to me.
«So...»
Now it was my turn. I had long ago decided what I was going to say.
«How could I be at peace? Of course I feel sorry for you. I also feel responsible. I'll probably live with this and atone for it for the rest of my life».
I remembered the things I felt during my conversation with Auril Gavis that day.
Tap, tap.
I squinted at Wolf and opened my mouth. It didn't matter if the king himself was the one who summoned us to this world. Deep in my heart, this was what I truly believed. «Auril Gavis is the enemy of all players».
Shaaaaaa.
As if to validate my conviction, the jewel turned green. It didn't take long for everyone to react.
«...Mr. Leon, can you really back up that statement?». Wolf asked cautiously.
However, I didn't have to worry about my credibility being called into question. Even though Wolf had been away all this time, I had done a good job settling into his absence.
«...Pshehe. Since Mr. León said it, it must be true».
As long as the jewel turned green when I spoke, it would take dozens of documents and evidence to refute a single thing I said.