Chapter 197 - Master Key (2)

Observer of the Round Table.

A secret community created to exchange higher-quality information.

When I first came here, the existing members had been curious about my relationship with Master. The reason was simple. A whole year had passed since Master, who recruited members through private messages, had disappeared.

The members thought they might hear news of Master from me, and once my “Mr. Lion” persona took hold, they came to accept it as fact that we knew each other. After all, I had consistently refused to comment on any related questions.

["I refuse to answer."]

Saying I knew him would have left me worrying about the consequences, while saying I didn't seemed at odds with my mysterious persona. That was why I'd made that choice.

But perhaps I'd gotten greedy without realizing it.

["... Do you happen to know where Master is, too?"]

At the second gathering, I'd gone and shrugged in response to Fox's question, as though I might tell her if she brought me something interesting in return. Propping my chin on my hand with an indifferent air, I'd acted as relaxed as some supreme being.

I had clearly intended to mislead them.

"... Wasn't he someone you invited, Master? I'm sure he said so himself..."

And apparently it had worked, because Fox sounded utterly confused. The others in their masks were also wondering what was going on.

"Hmm, I invited him?"

Master touched his chin, looking completely at a loss. The other masked members turned their eyes toward me, their gazes full of questions and curiosity about my identity.

"If it wasn't Master, how did he get in here?"

"Perhaps he's only just used an invitation code he received a long time ago?"

Goblin offered a theory in response to Fox's muttering, and Clown shot it down.

"Idiot. Don't you even know invitation codes expire after just a month?"

"... Is that true, Master?"

"Clown is correct."

"Then..."

With Master's confirmation, their stares became even more blatant.

"Mr. Lion, why did you deceive me into thinking you knew Master...?"

Fox addressed the question to me cautiously. I held my breath and closed my eyes for a moment.

It would have been a lie to say Master's unexpected appearance hadn't rattled me, but losing my composure would only ruin things that might otherwise work out. I quickly decided what position to take.

"I did not deceive you."

I'd never personally boasted that I knew him, had I? They'd simply jumped to conclusions. If I stuck to that line, there wasn't much they could say.

'Well, they might feel something is a little off...'

From the Bloodlust I'd pulled off partly by accident to all the information I'd shared, I'd shown them far too much for that. This alone wouldn't lead them to the truth that I was just an online bully.

Right, so...

"What do you mean, you didn't deceive me?"

Time to be shameless. Wasn't that exactly the kind of character “Mr. Lion” was?

"Exactly what I said. Is there something wrong with your ears?"

"N-no... That's not what I..."

Even without me releasing any Bloodlust, Fox grew visibly flustered when our eyes met. I gave an audible chuckle.

Then I was about to deliver my prepared line: I'd said nothing, and they were the ones who'd misunderstood.

But just then...

"That's enough, everyone."

Master spoke, looking at me.

"I don't know exactly what happened between you, but he hasn't deceived anyone."

'... Huh?'

"Now I know who you are."

My heart lurched, though only for a fleeting instant.

He knew who I was? Impossible. Master was ultimately just the owner of a private chat room. How could he possibly know—

"Ho ho. I would have thought you'd choose a tiger."

At Master's laughter, I pressed my lips shut. Not because he'd hit a nerve, but because I had no idea what he meant.

I simply chose silence, figuring that keeping my mouth shut would get me at least halfway there.

"Or a soldier, perhaps."

That decision had been the right one.

'A soldier...'

Now I understood who this old man had mistaken me for.

* * *

Sergeant Lee.

Literally, Sergeant Lee... and the username of Lee Baekho, the unfortunate Player dragged into this world on the day of his military discharge.

"Ho ho, there's no use pretending otherwise. You're the only person I gave a code with no expiration date."

Thinking about it, the misunderstanding was only natural from Master's perspective. This was the invitation code Lee Baekho had passed on to me, after all. With a mask covering my face, there was no way he could tell us apart.

'... Should I consider this a good thing?'

I couldn't tell yet. It seemed the deciding factor would be how close Lee Baekho and Master were...

"I never imagined you'd come here. When I first approached you, didn't you berate me for wasting my time on something so pathetic?"

"..."

"I'm a little curious. What changed your mind?"

It didn't take much thought to reach a conclusion.

'They weren't close.'

His use of the word “berate” didn't matter. Plenty of people bickered while remaining close.

But...

["Oh, I forgot to tell you. I took one of the early pills, so I can only stay here for an hour."]

Lee Baekho could only stay here for one hour. That meant he couldn't attend this gathering in the first place, since admission ran from three to three ten.

Yet Master didn't know that? Something Baekho had told me the very first day we met?

'I'm starting to get a clearer picture.'

Master didn't know much about Lee Baekho. In other words, I had a perfectly good chance of passing myself off as him.

"Perhaps I shouldn't say this, since I was the one who invited you, but someone of your caliber has nothing to gain from attending, do you?"

Clown muttered resentfully at Master's next remark.

"... Heh, nothing to gain? Aren't you treating us a little too much like children, Master?"

"Ah, my apologies if I offended you. But this fellow really is that remarkable."

"Hmmm, is that so...?"

Clown's eyes gleamed at Master's lavish praise. I quickly checked the others. Their reactions weren't much different from his.

They were simply astonished. Perhaps even more than when I'd offered valuable information like the details about the Stone of Resurrection.

"I don't think I've ever heard Master speak so highly of anyone..."

"I never imagined he was that impressive."

Crescent Moon kept exclaiming in wonder, while Stag Horns looked somewhat frustrated. Oh, and Fox flinched and ducked her head the instant our eyes met. Apparently, she was troubled by having doubted me earlier.

'What should I do?'

Seeing their reactions only deepened my dilemma. Didn't people say a crisis was an opportunity?

As the already-changed looks in the members' eyes made clear, successfully impersonating Lee Baekho would be a huge help in maintaining my persona.

'Above all, I might be able to learn what kind of person Lee Baekho is through this old man.'

The payoff was clear. Then what about the risk?

'... There isn't really anything I could call a risk, is there?'

Come to think of it, if it didn't work, I could simply reveal the truth that I was Lee Baekho's friend. As the old saying went, birds of a feather flock together. Now that Master had called him someone remarkable, they would see me, his friend, as being on his level too.

'All right. Let's go for it.'

Having made my decision, I broke my long silence and addressed Master first.

"What should I call you here?"

"Hmm?"

"Surely I can't address you the way I usually do?"

"Why not? Just call me 'old man,' like you did then. And drop that strange formality."

"Fine, old man."

Even as I smoothly changed tack, I felt dizzy.

'I nearly fucked it up right from the start...'

Who would have thought he spoke to Master so casually?

Still, that helped me realize one more thing. Lee Baekho was a proud Korean raised on Confucian values. Yet he talked that way to an elderly man?

'Never mind not being close. They must have actually been on bad terms.'

I was getting a rough idea of how to treat him. So I naturally added another remark to make up for my mistake.

"You've got strange tastes. Here I am trying to help you save face, and you don't even want it."

I sounded genuinely unable to understand him. I couldn't be sure whether it had worked, but Master threw his head back and laughed delightedly.

"Ho ho! Yes, that's more like you. Anyway, let's leave it there. It's good to see you after so long, but I haven't much time."

"... Master, what do you mean, you haven't much time?"

"Circumstances won't allow me to stay here much longer."

"What? What on earth has happened to you—"

"Enough."

Master dismissed the questions with that single word.

"Miss Fox, I understand that you must have many questions for me. Why I disappeared without a word, what I mean by this now. But I cannot tell you."

"Are you that pressed for time?"

"No, it has nothing whatsoever to do with time."

With Master drawing such a firm line, Fox stopped pressing. Instead, she asked just one more question.

"Then... will you come again?"

"Well, I'm not sure about next time. But I will return in a year. I might come sooner if there's something I need to tell you before then."

"Hee hee, that would mean you've come today because you have something urgent to tell us, Master."

"Precisely, Clown."

Master's startling announcement drew all the attention away from me and onto him. I couldn't have asked for a better turn of events. Even the substance of what he'd said suited me perfectly.

'He'll return in a year...'

Simply put, I wouldn't have to spend every gathering worrying that my lie would be exposed.

For now, though, my curiosity outweighed my relief.

'He doesn't seem to be lying about being short on time... What sort of situation is he in? And what's this information he needs to share so urgently?'

With all those questions in mind, I stared at Master and concentrated on listening. I wasn't the only one. Every masked member was doing the same.

A peculiar silence settled naturally over us.

"Ho ho, don't look so tense, everyone. You could even call it good news."

Master waved his hands as though to dispel the heavy atmosphere, then slowly began to speak.

And...

"Within two years, a Unity magic spell capable of linking up to six people will be created. That means the number of keys that can open the Gate of Abyss will increase to six!"

Silence weighed down on the room. The members exchanged awkward glances without saying a word.

Master tilted his head.

"Er, why the long faces? I thought you'd be far more surprised..."

You're a little late to the party.

* * *

The prospect of six-person Unity magic was undoubtedly valuable information, enough to shake the entire city for at least several months once it became public.

But...

"... You already shared this news? Hmph, no wonder everyone's reaction was so lukewarm."

Master smacked his lips upon learning that Clown had mentioned it at the previous meeting.

"Still, I'm a little surprised. Clown, I never thought you'd share something like that here. Have you finally grown a little fond of these people?"

"Hee hee, of course not. There was simply someone whose surprised face I wanted to see."

Clown looked at me with his distinctive laugh. Following his gaze, Master gave me a meaningful once-over.

I tensed, thinking he might say something to me.

But...

BZZZT.

At that moment, Master's body began flickering like a hologram.

"Oh dear, it's already almost time for me to leave."

"Master!"

Fox cried out regretfully, but the flickering only grew faster. Even then, Master looked at no one but me.

His gaze was deeply unpleasant and unsettling. Just meeting his eyes made me feel as though he could see straight through me.

"Old man, is there something you want to say?"

In the end, I couldn't stand it anymore and asked.

And then...

["It wasn't 'old man.' It was 'old geezer.'"]

A voice rang inside my head, as if through Voice Transmission Magic. There was no doubt who it belonged to.

["That's what that damned brat called me."]

Damn it. I'd thought he was buying it far too easily.

'He knew from the beginning?'

My body stiffened slightly before I could help it. Of course, it was barely noticeable to the naked eye, and lasted only an instant.

But...

["Hmm, actually, your responses were so natural that I wasn't certain even now. But judging by that sudden jump in your heartbeat, you really aren't that brat."]

Wait, he'd just been testing me?

["Don't worry. Whatever you do here, I have absolutely no reason to interfere."]

"..."

["I'm merely curious, but unfortunately, I haven't the time today. Let us discuss who you are when we meet again."]

With those final words, Master's body scattered before my eyes like mist.

"Ha."

I laughed aloud. It was like the involuntary, hollow laugh that escaped when something utterly absurd happened.

There really wasn't a single easy bastard to deal with in this world.