Chapter 327 - Ouroboros (2)

It was just like a monster that had lost its life.

WHOOOOSH!

Jerome's limp body above the sewer water broke into tiny particles of light and scattered. A few possessions remained without disappearing, but most were worthless. His expensive-looking sword, armor, and other equipment all vanished in a shroud of light.

'Iblus...?'

I had an idea which Essence it was. Not that that mattered right now.

"..."

"..."

Silence filled the sewer, broken only by the flowing water.

Auriel Gabis, whose mouth alone had been smiling as though the rest of his face were paralyzed, spoke.

"Let me ask you. Are you an evil spirit?"

It wasn't a question, but a final confirmation. By this point, he must have been certain that Nivels Enche, the rank-6 explorer he couldn't find anywhere in the city, was Iron Mask.

'He's asking anyway because he wants to hear me admit that I'm Iron Mask...'

Having personally witnessed him incapacitate the royal family's strongest knight with a single gesture, I activated Barbarian Confucian Skin Mode and spoke.

"An evil spirit? I don't know what gave you that impression, sir, but no, I'm not."

Despite my respectful tone, Auriel Gabis responded in disbelief.

"That's a lie."

Whew. So he could run his lie detector out here, too. I'd suspected as much, but having the attempt fail still left a bitter taste in my mouth.

There was no time to mope, though. We weren't inside the community, after all. One wrong move could lead to physical consequences.

Which was why...

"Heh heh. There's simply no fooling you, sir. Impressive."

I quickly changed tack. Trying to fool him any further would likely come across as deceit, so I decided to concede what I had to.

"Yes, I'm the person you were looking for. I never expected to meet you outside, so I was too flustered to tell you the truth."

"You were flustered, were you...?"

"Yes, flustered. Besides, I didn't actually lie to you, did I?"

At my brazen question, Auriel Gabis gave a hollow chuckle.

"Heh heh. Yes... come to think of it, you didn't 'lie.'"

Exactly. I hadn't lied back then. When he asked what was happening in the city, I'd told him the lord had joined forces with the royal family to launch a surprise attack. When he asked whether a barbarian had arrived four or five months earlier, I'd said yes. And when he asked that barbarian's name, I'd kindly told him, "Bjorn, son of Thor."

"Yes, sir. In your presence, I simply couldn't bring myself to li—"

"But tell me."

"... Yes?"

"Are you aware that being deceived like that feels far worse than being lied to?"

"Ah..."

A fair point. Not that there wasn't a way around it.

"... I'm sorry."

First, I got the apology out of the way.

"I have a mental illness."

Then I supplied a reason.

"... A mental illness?"

"Yes. Trying to survive here has me deceiving people against my will, you see. Sigh. I really shouldn't live like this..."

It was a way of sharing the blame. If my environment had made me this way, then this old man was the one who'd thrust me into that environment.

"Heh heh..."

Suddenly made the chief culprit, Auriel Gabis let out a hollow laugh. Fortunately, his eyes were smiling this time, too. Apparently, my sheer audacity had made the situation funny even to him.

Okay, now that the mood had softened a little...

"Anyway, did you come here because of me?"

"I did."

"Hmm. I can't say I'm entirely comfortable with you digging into my background like this..."

I trailed off and gave him an uneasy look. Auriel Gabis cleared his throat.

"Ahem. But how else was I to meet you?"

"Pardon? Oh... right. Why did the community suddenly close? I'd been wondering whether you might have expelled me."

"Ah, there were circumstances behind that."

"What circumstances?"

"Let's just say the royal family interfered. I've restored it to some extent now."

"Oh, then will I be able to see you there starting next month?"

"Not quite. I transferred ownership to someone a little while ago. You may still go there, but you won't be seeing me anymore."

"Someone... do you mean the GM?"

"I suppose that would be the title."

My curiosity piqued, I asked who the GM was, but Auriel Gabis wouldn't answer. It felt less like a secret he couldn't share with me and more like he was sulking.

"Well, there's no particular reason to keep it secret... but find out for yourself."

"Pardon?"

"If you only see me as someone to do business with, surely I have no choice but to treat you the same way."

"Ah, yes..."

Honestly, a man supposedly over three hundred years old, sulking over this. Getting fooled while carrying around a lie detector was his own fault.

"By the way, how long do you intend to keep speaking like that?"

"Pardon?"

"You were far less respectful back there, weren't you? Hearing you speak this way feels strange, as though you're someone else."

"Haha, really, sir. That was just a persona."

"A persona?"

"Yes, another character, so to speak. You might call it a weak man's desperate attempt not to be looked down on. I'd have to be mad to behave insolently toward you, wouldn't I?"

"Hmm. I don't quite understand, but I think I see what you're trying to say."

Auriel Gabis nodded quietly. He said nothing more, and a brief silence followed. Only after some time did he speak again.

"At any rate, I sought you out because I thought we might give our relationship a fresh start."

He sounded like a clingy ex trying to get back together.

"... Pardon?"

As I struggled to hide my bewilderment, the old man hurried to explain.

"I'd like us to be on friendly terms. We can clearly help each other. Isn't all this circling around one another frustrating for us both?"

"Ah..."

"Which is why I've prepared a gift."

"A gift...?"

I flinched involuntarily at the word. I suppose I was both hopeful and worried. I couldn't read his intentions.

"Don't be nervous. It certainly wasn't anything bad."

"Could you explain in detail?"

"As you know, I want you to open the Gate of Abyss. In that sense, though I call it a gift, it's also for my own benefit."

Ugh, why was he so long-winded?

"I see. And?"

"It's an ability that will be a great help in concealing your identity from now on."

Auriel Gabis briefly explained his "gift." In short, he intended to use his power to grant me a permanent buff.

"So once I receive it, I won't be affected by spells like 'Verification,' or interrogation items like Broken Trust. Is that right?"

"Precisely. It places a protective barrier around your body, so it won't work when your mind is laid open."

"When my mind is laid open?"

"For instance, that place you're summoned to every month."

Ah, so it wouldn't work in the spiritual world. That meant I couldn't just spout bullshit at the Round Table.

"Well, what do you think of my gift?"

I considered it briefly. It was undoubtedly an incredibly useful ability. He'd said so himself, so receiving it really would protect me from things like Broken Trust.

But...

'That doesn't mean he won't slip in some other trick on the side.'

I didn't know much about magic. If Auriel Gabis planted something like a location-tracking virus along with his gift, I had no way to detect or remove it.

And the problem was...

'I can't refuse.'

This old man had taken out the Knight of Light with one wave of his hand. Put simply, if he intended to harm me, he could make it happen by force.

"All right. Will you do it right now, then?"

"Well... actually, I've already done it. As soon as I met you again in the sewer."

"Pardon? But I didn't sense anything..."

"That's my specialty, you see."

Ah, I see. I'd known I never had a choice to begin with.

'But this feels pretty shitty.'

No wonder he'd been speaking in the past tense.

* * *

Once we were done discussing the "gift," Auriel Gabis stated firmly,

"Let me make this clear: I have no intention of controlling you through coercion."

That was welcome news. I didn't know how long he'd keep his word, but it was better than having him magically strangle and threaten me right now.

"Just what I'd expect of you, sir. You have my respect."

"Heh heh. Such flattery..."

I offered empty praise, and the old man smiled modestly, but we both knew it was all nonsense. Still, in social situations, a little hypocrisy counted as good manners. I laughed along as I sorted out my thoughts.

I had two choices going forward.

1. "Haha, it was nice seeing you. You said you wouldn't force me, right? Well, I have something urgent to attend to, so... Take care of yourself!"

Somehow shake off Auriel Gabis and go save Amelia.

Or...

2. Exploit the elderly.

Get Auriel Gabis to help me outright.

It didn't take long to decide. I'd tried to avoid him, yet here we were again. I couldn't even slip away unnoticed. Even if I chose option one, this stalker of an old man would undoubtedly follow me.

'If he wanted, he could definitely strip away the iron mask covering my face... and once he did, finding out my name would be child's play.'

If I was going to give it up anyway, the rational choice was to get something in return.

'Might as well milk him for all he's worth.'

Having made my decision, I immediately spoke up, cautiously.

"Um... sir."

"Yes, go ahead."

"Could I ask you a favor? If you do this one thing for me, I'll show you my face and tell you my name."

"Your face and name...?"

"Yes. Haven't you been curious all this time?"

"Well, yes, but..."

"Help me with one job."

Auriel Gabis didn't answer my proposal. He simply stared at me, his eyes saying exactly this: What trick is this bastard trying to pull now?

* * *

Meanwhile, Amelia stopped as she led the sisters through the sewers at a run.

"W-why did you suddenly stop...?"

There was no sound of anyone nearby. But one of the Essence abilities she'd kept active had stopped working.

In other words...

"He's here."

The Traitor, Ricardo Luhenpraha, was nearby.

'So it ends up like this after all...'

Then what had happened to Jandel, who'd been fighting him? The thought came to her first, unbidden, but she cast her worry aside. Hadn't she said she would believe in him? That wasn't what she needed to focus on now.

"He's here? You don't mean..."

Laura flinched at Amelia's murmur. When the sisters had asked about her severed arm, she'd told them Ricardo Luhenpraha was pursuing her.

"Yes. Him."

As Amelia confirmed it, both girls trembled with tension. They were remembering the sight of him cutting down hundreds of explorers just a few hours earlier.

"Amelia. Laura."

"... Y-yes!"

"Listen carefully. You're almost there now."

Keeping it as brief as possible, she gave them only the directions they needed to reach the city.

"Go. I'll hold him off here somehow."

The sisters reacted differently.

"Lady Emily, why would you go this far for us...?"

Her younger self didn't know what to do. She even seemed worried about leaving her behind alone.

Her older sister, Laura, was different.

"Amelia, come here. Now."

"B-but..."

"Now!"

Though she felt both confusion and gratitude, Laura coolly took charge of her younger sister and ran into the passage she'd been shown.

For Laura, there was one thing far more important than her personal feelings.

"..."

Amelia watched the sisters run away hand in hand for a moment.

She didn't even need to close her eyes to picture it clearly. The end of that dark passage. The memory of what she'd experienced there.

Could she really change that future?

She still didn't know.

But...

"Those girls must be precious to you."

A man's low, resonant voice sounded softly.

"How convenient."

She turned to see Ricardo Luhenpraha grinning.

"Now I can teach you what it feels like to lose someone."

Amelia tightened her grip on her dagger.