Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel - Chapter 574
Chapter 574: The Last Gathering (4)
The Round Table today proceeded with a different method than usual. A truth game format where one person was asked questions by the others and answered only one truthfully.
“Pshe…not at all,” Clown giggled in response to my question. “I can’t waste an important opportunity like this.”
To be honest, I was curious as well. What did the members of the Round Table want to ask Lion the most?
Well, I would know soon enough.
“Then, should I start…?”
In the sudden quiet, the first in order, Fox, spoke. “Do you…really know who we are?”
My first thought was that her question came out of the blue, but considering what she knew of Lion, I could definitely see why that might be something she was curious about. I was the one who had revealed Clown’s identity to the Round Table, and I had also bluffed that I knew Queen’s identity, though the only thing I actually knew was her nickname.
When Clown heard Fox’s question, however, he let out a long sigh. “You don’t even realize what a golden opportunity this is. How could you waste your question on something so obvious?!” He seemed to treat the fact that I knew everyone’s identity as common sense. Or at least the very least, he believed it to be true.
“And how do you know if it’s obvious or not?” she fired back, irritation clear in her tone.
“…Pshe?”
“I have the freedom to ask whatever question I want to. Please don’t try to interrupt me like that. It’s annoying.”
A cold response with a cutting edge.
Come to think of it, she always had been like that, even back in the beginning. She was the person to reveal her killing intent when I first came to the Round Table.
Though she did have reasons for that back then.
A younger time…
In any case, that was history. Fox entered the Anabada Clan and became my ally in the end. Not that she herself knew that yet.
“…Why are you so angry? It was just a joke,” Clown backtracked, apparently surprised by Fox’s anger.
However, Fox didn’t honor him with a response and simply ignored him.
“Ahaha…then it’s now my turn!” Wolf laughed aloud, not seeming to care between those two as he said, “I wish to know where and how you met the Earth Witch.”
The Earth Witch…
Another question from left field. I assumed the guy would ask me about Auril Gavis.
I tapped my armrest with my index finger out of habit and turned my attention away from Wolf to the next person, indicating that I would listen to all the questions in order. When my eyes met Goblin’s, he glanced away and back before quietly admitting, “Um…I don’t know how to ask this…”
“Pshe, do you not know Lion’s personality? Don’t make this frustrating and hurry—”
“How many women are you married to or in a relationship with right now…?”
The moment his question dropped, an uncomfortable air settled over the Round Table.
“…Huh?”
Clown was in disbelief at what he just heard, as were the others, who all were struck senseless for a second before realizing what had just happened.
And then, their reactions flipped.
“What an odd question…”
“…Mr. Goblin, are you right in the head?”
“Baha! Pfft, hahaha!”
They were disgusted with him, cursed him, or couldn’t hold back their laughter and guffawed at him. Despite the mix of reactions, however, I could tell why he asked me that particular question.
“Are you perhaps asking…because of the ‘fate’ that follows the mask?” Fox mumbled.
Clown snorted as if that was absurd. “Hah! You mean that useless speculation? So you’re saying that Lion chose the lion mask because he’s lucky with women?”
This was my first time hearing of this, yet somehow, I got the impression that they had talked about this privately when I wasn’t here.
“Lucky with women…? What do you mean?”
It seemed Queen didn’t know either, so I could take a guess that it was something from the old days between the original members of the Round Table.
“If you’re curious, how about you ask him directly next time? Pshe.”
“It’s fine. I understand what you’re trying to say. Then it’s my turn now, correct?”
Ignoring Clown’s taunting, she pressed forward to say, “What I want to ask is simple. Have you ever personally met with the King of the New World?”
Queen’s question immediately raised my suspicions. I couldn’t quite tell what her intentions were here. She must have had a lot of questions for me, so surely there was a reason she had chosen this question out of all of them.
Why…? Why is she asking this?
Whether or not I’ve met the king—that topic had come up twice during my time at the Round Table. Queen and Wolf had both stated that they themselves had.
Is it that important to have met the king?
Even so, there had to be something more to it. Or maybe the number of people who had met the king was small enough that she was trying to guess my identity through that.
“Hmm…I guess it’s my turn?”
While I was collecting my thoughts, Butterfly’s turn arrived.
“Then what should I ask…?” Butterfly jokingly dragged out her words, but what she ended up saying was something no one expected. “I’ll just pass.”
“…What? Butterfly, do you not realize just how great of an opportunity this is? Lion is a mystical being who knows everything and can answer any question you have!”
Clown was shouting at this point, but Butterfly didn’t change her answer.
“But… even if I asked, I don’t think Lion will answer my question.”
“What? How do you know if you haven’t—?”
“Just a feeling, and my experience.”
Clown was stunned speechless at that, which prompted Butterfly to add, “Men usually don’t like women who make their lives difficult.”
Although she was answering Clown, I could tell she said that to me.
So her question was something that would put me in a difficult position…
In any case, because Butterfly had skipped her question, it was now Black’s turn.
What is she going to ask?
I didn’t have many points of connection with her, and as such, I didn’t know much about her. She might just even skip her turn like Butterfly—
“Bjorn Yandel.”
…Huh? Why did she say that name?
It caught me off guard for a moment, but I crossed my arms like it was nothing and focused on her words.
“Bjorn Yandel…and Missha Karlstein…”
What the? Did she know about the Stone of Revival incident too?
“…Were those two really dating, as the rumors say?”
My mind went blank.
What the hell is this…?
And why was she asking me that in the first place? Did she actually know that I was Bjorn Yandel? No, even if she did, why would she ask that question? For what reason?
“Why are all these questions so bad?”
I didn’t know either, but Clown let out another sigh, clearly feeling like Black had also wasted her opportunity.
Well, what great question were you going to ask?
“Whatever, since everyone is done, it’s now my turn.”
No matter what he asked, I wasn’t going to answer him. As that thought crystallized in my heart, Clown looked at me before speaking carefully.
“Then…I will ask Lion this. Maybe…just maybe…” His voice shook with a nervousness that was quite out of character for him. He even gulped once before slowly asking me, “If I gave up everything to come under you… would you accept me?”
What the…? What was the deal with this guy?
Yet again, another awkward wind blew through the Round Table at Clown’s declaration that he wanted to become my subordinate.
“I was wondering what question you were going to have…”
“You overreacted to our questions when that was what you were going to ask?”
“It is quite disappointing. If you were going to ask that, you should’ve talked to him privately after the meeting…”
His actions made the other members look upon him unkindly, yet Clown didn’t seem to notice or care.
“So then…could you…answer the question?”
His words were serious, not even accompanied by dry laughter. He was acting like this was the final episode of a dating show.
Baffled didn’t even begin to cover it. Surely, we were beyond that point now?
This guy didn’t even know who I was. And he didn’t even know what I wanted to do. To him, I was just a powerhouse shrouded in mystery. Yet that was enough to make him trust me.
To give up everything to become my subordinate…
What’s going on inside his head?
He was acting like a naive high school student hoping for a lucky break.
Though I couldn’t wrap my mind around the turn of events, the questioning came to an end with Clown’s turn. I had received a total of six questions. Even with Butterfly passing, that still meant I had received the most questions so far.
Though, for some reason, most of the questions were odd.
As the baton passed to me, everyone went quiet, observing my reaction.
Which question would I answer?
They were all hoping I would answer their question, I could see it in their eyes, and the one who hoped for it the most was definitely Clown.
Argh, don’t do that…
Even as I naturally avoided his eyes, my head was furiously calculating. Which question would be the best for me to answer?
“I wish to know where and how you met the Earth Witch.”
“Have you ever personally met with the King of the New World?”
These two were passes. In Wolf’s case, even I didn’t know how the answer would pan out, and for Queen, I still couldn’t determine the reason for her asking that question.
“How many women are you married to or in a relationship with right now?”
“…Were those two really dating, as the rumors say?”
Still, the situation would get too awkward if I answered either of those questions.
“Do you…really know who we are?”
“If I gave up everything to come under you…would you accept me?”
In the end, those two were left for the picking, and deciding between those two was a very easy thing to do.
How unfortunate.
I don’t know everyone.
A vague answer like, “I know a few of you,” would only break the mysticism around my character. It meant that there was only one question I could answer.
Tap, tap.
Like ripping a bandaid off.
After looking at each member, I locked eyes directly with Clown and spoke his name.
“Abed Necrapeto.”
The true name of the Corpse Collector behind the mask of the Clown.
I spoke sternly and straightforwardly to him. “I will not accept you.”
As if his world had crumbled, he asked, “Why…is that?”
What do you mean, why? It was very simple.
“I don’t make a hobby of raising bugs.”
No matter how friendly he was to me at the Round Table, I would never treat him like a person.
“My sister, she’s…! She isn’t moving anymore. She can’t speak. She’s cold, and hard. And I, I haven’t been able to do anything for her yet…”
He was my enemy.
Shine!
Even as the green light shined to signal I spoke the truth, Clown didn’t say anything. He just stared into space, dazed.
Queen noticed what state he was in and went to ask, “Are you…alright—”
“Pshe, pshehe!” Clown began to suddenly laugh like a madman. “Pshehehe, a bug…”
Hmm, was my choice of words too harsh? Even so, it couldn’t be helped. People like him needed to be told truths in no uncertain terms so that they understood what you meant.
“Impressive… Impressive as always, Lion…”
After laughing like a leaking balloon for a while, Clown looked at me and said, “I am somewhat confident in who I am as well, pshehe…”
It was a common pattern of behavior in those who wanted to look cool.
“Bug! Still a bug! Pshehe…! So it seems that everyone looks like that to your eyes, Lion? Pshehehe…”
They thought that they could laugh the damage off.
“Heh…you broke him. What do we do?”
“Hah, why did you have to ask a question like that…?”
Seeing Clown laugh like he’d lost his mind, the members each gave a word of sympathy.
Well, not that I cared.
I wish we would just start the next round already…
Did I need to make a move? Then what would I—?
Rumble…
The Round Table room began to shake heavily as if struck by an earthquake.
Creak.
Then, the door opened in the middle of the meeting from the outside.
It was an abnormal situation, an anomaly that had only happened once before.
Master—the one who created the Watchers of the Round Table, and the old man who was already confirmed to be Auril Gavis.
This had only ever happened when that old man entered the Round Table.
It was just like this back then.
Then what was it this time?
I slowly turned to look back at the opened door.
“Haha, it seems there are masks I haven’t seen before.”
An old man wearing a white mask looked at us and chuckled.
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