- The Birthstone can be obtained on the 9th floor.

It was almost impossible to find the Rebirth Stone by just one clue that it was on the 9th floor. I was sure that the Crescent Moon knew that too. He was also a user of this perverted game.

But for him, this information was like sweet rain.

"Why—" Casting aside his joy, Crescent asked me, "Why do you do me such a favor?" He couldn't help but be curious about the reason.

Lev had only one answer to do.

"Because it's more fun that way."

Crescent Moon paused for a moment, as if pondering my words, and then flinched.

"You... A really scary person.

And? What does it mean?

I didn't know what he meant, so I just stared at him motionlessly, chin propped up.

He belatedly realized his mistake.

— … Forget what I just said. I froze nonsense. It doesn't matter what kind of person you are. If I can get this item, I'm willing to give up my soul," Crescent muttered decisively, and added a self-deprecating remark at the end. "Well, I'm sure you already know my situation.

These were completely incomprehensible words.

No, how do I know?

How did he come to this conclusion?

I tried to remember the events of past meetings, but I could not understand anything, so I just stayed where I was.

As always, this alone solved half the matter.

"Of course... You probably really knew.

I did not deny it. In any case, it would be ridiculous to deny it here.

I just changed the subject, as if I wasn't interested.

"Now it's my turn."

As I began, all the masks turned toward me. They seemed to be looking forward to what I would say to them this time. Feeling uncomfortable for some reason, I gave away one of the prepared information, as interesting as the Half-Demon, but at the same time just as useless to use. It wasn't even as impressive as the Rebirth Stone.

"Hee hee, this time I already knew it.

Even though the Round Table's gem was glowing with a green light, Clown looked somewhat disappointed.

Of course, I didn't care.

It seems that he blamed himself for not bringing something more interesting.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to continue." What about the rest? The Fox asked.

It seems that they have prepared thoroughly, given the break last month, so the meeting continued after the first round. I tirelessly splashed out such information, and as a result, the third round began before I had time to come to my senses.

"I... I'll leave after this round.

The goblin who walked first, after receiving the red light 4 times in succession, barely passed his turn and eventually raised the white flag. But I think that everyone was in a similar situation.

"Hmph, it's time for me to stop too.

Since even the Fox abstained, it was naturally decided to end the exchange with this round. I wasn't particularly disappointed.

It seems that I heard everything that could be heard.

Before, I couldn't know how things were going after the clash with Noark, but now I have an idea of it. It was the opposite of the rumors that were circulating in the city.

As expected, the palace was in a much more advantageous situation.

The failure of this conquest resulted in heavy losses, but the same can be said about the underground city. From what these guys are saying, blocking Noark was more of a last resort.

Now that we have ID tags that can't be duplicated, I won't have to overhaul my plan. It seems that there are no urgent problems now.

I imperceptibly shifted my gaze to the Round Table. It was greenlit by the information about Orcules that the Crescent Moon had just brought.

— … Now it's just you, Mr. Lev.

Naturally, all attention was riveted on me. For some reason, everyone's eyes were burning.

God, let's go without pressure.

*Tap! Tap!*

I tapped my finger on the armrest and thought.

How do I formalize the final?

I have already prepared some things, but perhaps there is something that is better suited to the current atmosphere. In fact, I soon came up with something suitable.

*Tap!*

I grinned and stopped my finger.

This was not information that I had prepared in advance for such an eventuality, but...

"Goblin."

"D-yes?"

The goblin stammered, stunned by my sudden conversion.

Looking at him, I said:

"Come to think of it, you've said something like that before. That the grandfather may be a magician more powerful than the GM who created this community.

"Ah!" Y-yes, he did...

While the Goblin hesitated, seemingly not understanding the meaning of my words, the Fox beamed.

"Is this information about the Master?"

At least she was better than the Goblin, who really didn't seem to understand anything.

"No," I said to the Goblin, ignoring the Fox.

As if they had ignored it before, but in which the band was fundamentally wrong.

"This community was not created by the GM. To be precise, he simply converted the already existing place into its current appearance.

I recounted the information I had previously heard from Lee Baek Ho.

At the same time, everyone turned their gaze to one point, to the jewel mounted in the center of the Round Table.

— ... It is green.

I was already expecting this, so I wasn't surprised. Not that I checked it out myself or anything like that, but I had no doubts about this information.

"To think that this place wasn't created by GM...

"Hee-hee, this is the first time I've heard of this either.

"Then who created this place?"

As if on cue, all the members of the Round Table fell silent and turned their gaze back to one person, the only one who could answer this question.

Okay, we can stop there. I think I was able to attract their aggro.

In the tense silence that followed, I spoke in a completely impassive voice, expressing no emotion.

"I hope next time it will be more fun."

Here's what I said. Then they'll come back with something more useful.

***

"He's gone...

When Lev left the Round Table, a heavy silence reigned in the hall for a long time. The reason was simple: his last words, or rather, the emotions that sounded in this voice.

— … Is he angry with us?

The clown snorted when he heard the Fox muttering.

"Hee-hee, Fox, you think too highly of us. Do you think we're worth it for him to be angry about us?

"This...

The fox, who was about to object, hesitated in mid-sentence. This was because she remembered the Master's words.

«… you have nothing to gain from participating."

It was a secret meeting, unknown to ordinary players. The fox had used the information she had received here to good effect, so at first it was difficult for her to accept it.

However, after hearing the Master's words, it was pointless to deny it. There was no benefit for Leo to be here.

Is there really none at all?

The fox involuntarily smiled bitterly.

"I hope next time will be more fun."

Merriment; something that could dispel boredom at least for a while; Simply put, a fun way to kill time.

If Leo needed anything from this meeting, it was only this.

But how have they fared so far?

They couldn't even do it properly. It's like asking for a one-sided deal...

— ... Probably, we looked pathetic.

"It must be so. This person is a completely different type of personality than the Master. Although they are a bit similar.

The fox bowed his head when he heard the Deer's words.

— … Similar?

The Crescent Moon answered her.

"At least since he came, we've never felt the Master's absence.

Gradually, she began to understand what they meant. That was how special the Master's presence at the Round Table was. It was he who gathered the current members, it was he who gave them valuable knowledge unknown to anyone else.

"If there's a difference, it's that Mr. Lev doesn't do charity. Hee-hee.

— Charity...?

"Am I wrong?" Or, Fox, do you think the Master really created this place for information?

The fox did not refute anything. Actually, she couldn't, because everything was as the Clown said. The master always knew everything and generously shared information, like a teacher in a classroom with his students.

"Hee-hee, isn't that why you follow the Master so eagerly, Fox?"

The fox did not deny this either.

— … You are right. If I hadn't thought of it as charity, I wouldn't have thought of him as a benefactor.

Only thanks to the Master was it possible to preserve this collection. Look at how things were not so long ago. Before the arrival of Lev, there were only four permanent members. This was because after the Master's disappearance, the attendance of the meeting had dropped drastically. The others, like the Goblin, only looked in from time to time to see if the Master had returned.

If they knew that there was such a person here, they might have kept coming like the Goblin did.

It was a strange feeling. However, the Fox put these feelings aside and focused on the conversation that the rest of the group was having.

The topic of conversation was a man who returned a year later, the Master. To be more precise, it was about Leo, who seemed to know him.

"Leo must be someone we've heard of at least once, at one time or another. Because he is one of the few whom the Master called "amazing".

"That's right, I guess he could even finish the notorious Corpse Collector like a child.

"A child... That's exactly what I said. Hee-hee.

The time for deductive reasoning has come again.

"His latest information also makes sense. To think that this community wasn't created by GM... How could he know such a thing?

"Perhaps he is familiar with GM.

— … With a GM that exists only in rumors?

"Maybe for us, but not for the one who called the Master 'grandfather'. There must be a world we don't know about.

"I see...

Clown asked the Goblin a question, who sincerely admired it.

"But why are you behaving like this today?" Last time, you acted like everything I said was far-fetched.

"I didn't know much about him then...

"Khee-hee, it seems that your eyes are not for decoration after all.

The goblin cleared his throat at Clown's sarcasm and averted his eyes.

At that moment, the Deer spoke.

"But am I the only one who felt it?"

"What did you feel?"

"As Master was leaving, I felt intent.

"Ah, if that's what you're talking about, then I felt it too.

"Wait, both of you. What other intention? Do you mean that the Master left [Message]? The fox was genuinely surprised.

[Message] is a kind of telepathic ability that could only be used in this spirit world. The principle of its operation was similar to a murderous energy that transmits a deliberate thought to the subject in the form of language.

"Even Master said it's hard to do..."

"Hee-hee, why are you surprised, Fox?" Did you think Mr. Lev couldn't do that?"

—…

Clown's tone was annoyed, but she had nothing to say. If you think about it calmly, as he said, it wasn't such a surprise.

This was the same person who had spewed out all that murderous energy during the first meeting. It would be strange if he couldn't use [Message].

"Anyway, does that mean Master exchanged a few words with Mr. Lion before leaving?"

— Yes. Obviously, they had something to talk about among themselves.

"Clown, don't you know what the conversation was about either?"

"Isn't that obvious?" The Master and Mr. Lion are both monsters!

The fox bit his lips in disappointment. If only she could find out what they were talking about, she could find out what the situation Master was in.

"Hee-hee, but it wasn't a total loss.

"Excuse me?" What do you mean?

At these words of the Clown, the Fox came to her senses.

The clown grinned, apparently he liked the way her ears perked up.

"I didn't feel it at all.

"Please, accompany your words with explanations.

"Mr. Lev's intention!" I tried very hard, but I didn't feel it at all. Unlike the Master, whom I at least faintly felt.

The fox, who had some knowledge in the field of [Communication], froze in place, and deservedly so. No matter how joking his tone was, the content was by no means easy.

"Wait, that means...

After finishing for her, Clown spat out his "incomplete loss".

— Yes. Perhaps Mr. Lion is a greater monster than the Master.

Such a shocking assumption left everyone speechless. Silence fell.

—…!

Then the Goblin spoke cautiously.

"Hmm... Could it be that only the Master said something? That would explain why Clown didn't feel any intent... Wait, why does everyone look at me like that? I'm just saying. I didn't really think so!

After that, the silence continued for some time.