The newcomer was wearing a featureless white mask and a dull-colored robe that covered his entire body except his hands, which were covered in wrinkles.
«Heh... who is this old man?».
«Um ...»
Butterfly and Black looked at the mysterious stranger with open curiosity.
However, Queen, who had never seen this man either, had a different reaction. Although it was an unknown face, he seemed to have quickly realized who it was.
«Wait... Master!»
Wolf also noticed our guest's identity and ran to greet him.
«It's been a while, Wolf. You've been fine?»
«I'm always fine thanks to you. But, master, what are you doing here? If you had informed me beforehand...».
This exchange made it clear to anyone listening that they both had some kind of connection.
«Well, this is the final meeting, so I came to see everyone one last time», our guest explained. «And there's something I need to do here too».
«Something... you need to do?». Wolf seemed curious about what he meant, but the Master did not elaborate.
It kept us alert, didn't it?
«Most importantly...» The Master looked directly into Wolf's eyes. «Could you step aside for a moment? I also want to greet others».
«Ah...! I'm sorry. Lobo immediately apologized and returned to his seat. At that moment he looked more like a dog than a wolf.
I looked at the man as he sat, and the Master's gaze drifted towards me. «Cause and effect is something very interesting. How does it feel to also see the end?». Unlike our first meeting at the Round Table, it seemed that this man no longer intended to hide that he was Auril Gavis.
Not that it surprised me.
«The Master of the Round Table is Auril Gavis».
Wolf had already told us, and the old man should have given him permission to share that information in the first place.
Tap, tap.
So what was the reason he was showing his face here again? Given how familiar they seemed to be, if Gavis wanted to convey some kind of message to me, he could have done so through Wolf.
I mentally went over the different moves I could do here, and then responded softly: «Well, it doesn't seem that special to me».
«Hmm, is that right? I thought you'd be a little sad, at least. After all, you practically founded this place, right?»
Well, that was true. Not the Round Table specifically, but I was pretty much the one who came up with their lie detection game system.
«¡¿P-Ella?!»
«Was the Round Table... founded by him...?»
The issue was the exaggerated reactions of the other diners.
«Oh, sure, that's a story from twenty years ago... and then they were just evil spirits from the other world».
As Master continued to speak to me, his reactions became more and more extreme.
«So the Round Table existed twenty years ago...?»
«No, but most importantly, was it made by evil spirits from the other world...?».
Hah, this was getting annoying. If I was going to do all this, couldn't we have chatted quietly in private after the meeting?
Despite feeling frustrated, I decided to ignore it and focus on the conversation for the moment. The mere fact of sitting in the same room as that old man already consumed most of my mental energy.
«So what are you doing here?» asked.
«I already told you. There's something that needs to be done, so I thought I could come see everyone in the meantime». The old man changed his gaze from me to another member. «Regards, Mrs. Fox. Has it been good?»
«Excuse me? Ah ha... Yes... It's been a while».
«To be honest, I was a little sad for you. You were so happy under my wing when you had nothing, but now you don't even consider me a good person, haha.»
«How...?!» Fox's eyes widened as his words echoed through her again, and the others' eyes widened as well. There was only one way he could know what Fox had said before, and he didn't even need to say it. This old man must have a way of hearing everything that happens here.
...Which means he's been listening all this time.
A chill ran down my spine. I already knew he was a disgusting guy, but I didn't expect him to be so disgusting. The most disgusting thing was that, despite already knowing everything, he had crossed that door and carelessly commented that there were masks here that he had never seen before. Lying was as easy as breathing.
Fox was left in a mess stuttering at the revelation. «Um... not so...»
«You don't have to make excuses. It really seems fine to me, so don't worry».
And it really seemed like it was okay. For this old man, Fox wasn't even worth worrying about. She could be bleeding to death in front of him, and if he didn't have a concrete reason to save her, he would just watch her die.
«Disculpe.»
Queen, who had been coming to terms with all of this, joined the conversation. «Really...? You say you are the Master of the Round Table, so... are you Auril Gavis?».
«¿Y si soy?»
She hesitated. «I have something to ask you. From what Mr. Wolf has said, you have the power to prevent the community from closing... Is that true?».
«It's true. I was the one who weakened his power in the first place».
Faced with that casual statement, Reina was silent for a moment before squawking: «What did you say?».
Auril Gavis let out a squeaky giggle. «You said there was a problem with the object I gave to your friend, but that's okay. It just seems like something is wrong with him because I have started to slowly reduce the energy that is channeled into him».
«Reduce energy... How is it possible?»
«Because there's no way I gave it all to that friend of yours, right? His response was short and direct, leaving no room for erroneous interpretations. «Don't be so angry», he consoled her, realizing that Queen was speechless. «I'm just getting back what was already mine. And you haven't gotten much use out of it in the meantime? Alright, now that that's fixed...».
With that, Auril Gavis approached the Round Table and placed his hand on his gem.
Shaaa.
Just like when a monster corpse disintegrated into light in the maze, the jewel also disappeared into specks of light that flowed towards Auril Gavis' fingertips.
«All done».
Unlike the other members, who watched him in a nebula of disbelief, I knew exactly what was happening here. Twenty years ago, after Auril Gavis created the Round Table gem, he told me that by doing so he had lost most of his power over this space.
«It's here to regain your power», guess what.
Auril Gavis had now regained his old abilities.
«That's right. Now I can do anything in this space. Even something like this». He waved his wrinkled wrists and, as if torn off by an invisible hand, everyone's masks fell on the table with a series of taps. The only one left in its place was mine.
«¡Kya!»
«¡Q-!»
«¿P... Hides?»
When the faces were revealed behind the masks, the Round Table plunged into Chaos. Some covered their faces with both hands, others bent down so that their features could not be seen. Some just sat there, too dazed to do anything.
Of course, not everyone reacted so passively. With their finger on the trigger that characterizes true gamers, some made the quick decision to tune out immediately after realizing they had dropped their mask. Two people.
«Despite how you usually behave here, you all seem pretty shy now. It really shouldn't make any difference if people see your real appearance, right?».
One of the people who disappeared without saying goodbye was Clown. I conjured an image of him in my mind, trying to remember what it was like in that brief moment of exposure. I remembered he was Caucasian, but since he had disappeared so quickly, I couldn't see him well. He also looked a little plumper than I expected.
And the other one who disappeared is... Black.
Black's seat was empty. She had actually disappeared faster than Clown, so I couldn't even catch a glimpse of her.
I quickly scanned the room to catch a glimpse of the others before they could flee as well.
«What are you doing?!»
Queen screamed in surprise, her blue eyes and blonde hair visible. A textbook Western foreigner.
Well, otherwise it seemed pretty normal. She wasn't a supermodel or anything like that, and she was in her thirties. The other members were surprised, with a sense of familiarity running through their heads.
«For some reason... I feel like I've seen her before...»
Well, it wasn't just a feeling. Queen was the guide that confirmed whether newbies entering Ghostbusters were really gamers or not.
Anyway, to the following.
Goblin…
He was unexpectedly quite handsome. In fact, he looked so handsome he could be an actor. His skin was darker, so the first thing I thought was that he was from Southeast Asia, but most likely he was Hispanic.
Handsome Hispanic man?
The handsome Hispanic. It was even alliterative...
-And now it's beside the point.
My eyes wandered to the next person, and then to the next, to look at the faces of everyone present. I knew the look you had in Ghostbusters meant nothing out there in Rafdonia, but I was honestly quite curious to know who these people were really behind their masks.
Butterfly is Asian. Fox looks younger than I expected. And Wolf is a random old man like I thought...
The Round Table was an exclusive club, and the conversations shared here were reserved for the best players. However, behind the mystique of their masks, they all seemed incredibly ordinary. They didn't seem particularly powerful, and none of them seemed particularly vicious either.
But I'm sure I'm no exception.
Who would have thought, after seeing Hansu Lee's face, that he was going around breaking heads with hammers? What could he laugh even as his limbs were torn off and his body bathed in blood?
These people were equal. Not a single person here could say that his hands were clean. We'd be dead by now if they were.
«So... why have you taken off our masks...? It's a bit... No, it's really uncomfortable... Ah! I, uh, not that I'm angry or anything...» Goblin stumbled upon himself as he struggled to choose the right words, but Auril Gavis didn't seem to care as he immediately answered his question.
«Hmm, aren't you curious too? About the identity of the people you've been talking to for so long. Since this is the last time, I thought it would be good for all of you to have a conversation without your masks.»
«Hey... I guess?» Goblin nodded, still looking dumbfounded as his eyes looked at me. It was obvious what I wanted to ask. «But... why León...?».
«Why didn't I take off the mask too?».
«Yes... That is». Auril Gavis had taken off everyone else's masks without asking, except me. Because?
«Haha, I have to be a little careful when dealing with this one! I don't know how things will turn out if I act out of line».
«Ah... I see?» Goblin nodded again, uncomfortable at his response.
It was a little funny, really. If you were going to just accept whatever answer they gave you, why bother asking the question in the first place? Well, to be fair, that was pretty Goblin-like.
An uncomfortable tension settled in the atmosphere. Auril Gavis seemed to be enjoying himself and didn't seem willing to say anything else, and the other members kept looking at me like they wanted me to do something about it. In the end, I gave in and broke the silence.
«So... are you done here?».
In other words, if there's something you want to do, do it all at once or get out. It was an unusual way for someone like me to ask the question, but it seemed like it made them understand what I meant.
«No, I still have one thing left to attend to».
«And it is...?»
«I want to ask you a question».
«Really? So go ahead», I gladly accepted. You could decide if you wanted to answer the question after hearing it first.
«Ah, there are too many attentive ears here to ask», Auril Gavis said as he made to look around the table. «However, I find it rude to kick them out. I've forced them to reveal their faces, so I should at least compensate them for that, right?».
I tensed when I heard his words. It was impossible for this old man to feel any real pity for any of them to do anything resembling compensate them. I had to be up to something.
And as expected, he continued: «But giving out a free prize wouldn't be fun, so let's play a game».
«A... a game?»
«Well yes. Don't you like games? But I must tell you in advance that the prize will go to only one person: whoever wins».
«...Could you tell us what the reward will be?» goblin asked kindly, asking about the prize before he even knew what the game would consist of.
Auril Gavis responded with the nonchalance of a man offering pocket change. «I'll send you home».
Everyone's gaze changed immediately.