"So that's about it, my father was killed by a goblin chief... oh, I guess I should give you some background. He was an adventurer, part of the Fraul guild. And—" he covered his face, voice cracking. "He was stomped to death by a goblin... His teammates said it was an accident, that he slipped on a banana peel."
The man began to cry.
"That's why I need to bed goblins... to take my power back, to avenge my father. But it's illegal. That's why, when I saw the list... that the girls could use transformation magic, I got so—"
He stopped, noticing no one was listening. Every gaze fixed on the man with long dark hair.
"What do you mean, found you?" Stephen asked.
"You're Tello, right?" Hara stepped closer. "How else would you know that name?"
Stephen's arm shot out, pushing Tello behind him. "If you're not here for our services, I'll have to escort you out."
Hara stopped, then leaned on the table. Staring at the list.
"You know, Cillian Appleton predicted seventy percent of this list you have here." Hara said, glancing at the list but not touching it. "It's almost as if you were con artists who gave it to him in the first place?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Stephen replied. "My boss handed me that list. If you have any questions, you can go ahead and ask him, he's up there—"
"Oh, but we have." Hara pushed off the table, pacing slowly around the room. "And he gave us the usual crap, the 'someone sold me the list, then fled the country.' I mean, c'mon. Even you don't believe that, do you?"
"It's not my job to believe anything." Stephen's tone stayed flat.
"Sure it isn't." Hara's eyes wandered toward the upper deck. "How many customers have you had today?"
"What?" Stephen frowned. "I don't keep count—"
"Eight hundred and five," Hara cut in, nodding. "The Love Supreme doesn't even see a tenth of that nowadays."
"Well, superior service tends to sell."
"Mm. It also helps if someone slips you eighty-five thousand to build the place, doesn't it?"
Stephen didn't flinch. His hands stayed still, his posture unshaken, but behind the mask, his nerves raced.
Just who the hell is this guy?
"If you're here to smear my boss with baseless accusations," Stephen said, stepping toward him, "then I'll have to insist you leave."
"You know," Hara began, his hands loose at his side, fingers twitching as though rolling a coin between them. "Cillian Appleton is a very rich man, loved by many within the wealthy few, and quite the force to be reckoned with within the palace's top ranks, because of just how much his bar's make."
Stephen didn't say anything, he only watched the man.
"And yet, for all his influence, for all his twenty years of marriage..." Hara tilted his head toward Tello. "He has no son. Which is weird, since someone behind you seemed to think otherwise."
Then with a quick addition. "He also doesn't have any siblings or living relatives, if you want to go for that angle."
Stephen clicked his tongue, but kept his cool. "And what does that prove?"
Hara smiled. "Cillian is a private man. Even his closest friends know little about his life. That secrecy makes it very easy for someone to guess, and for others to believe."
"You love the sound of your own voice, don't you?" Stephen muttered.
Hara ignored the jab. "I pretended to be his son on one account, in a banquet where two men. Namely Stephen Willows and Tello Willows attended, and to Tello. I lied and said I was Cillian's son... are you seeing how this is all making sense?"
Stephen clicked his tongue again, Tello saying his name had only reinforced evidence that backed his claims.
Still, it wasn't concrete. The masks made sure of that.
"And what's to say I simply didn't overhear you?" Tello said, stepping out from behind Stephen.
"Who said there was anyone else in the room?" Hara shot back.
"There were people around you." Stephen almost countered before catching himself. Hara was baiting him, and if he slipped, it would've been as good as a confession.
"You mentioned a banquet," Stephen said instead, "So I'd assume it wasn't a private dinner. More than a few ears must have been close enough to hear you."
"Oh, you're good." Hara smiled, "But you're wrong. The crowd was distant. There's a zero percent chance anyone else heard me."
"That's impossible," Stephen denied. "Maybe you just didn't notice."
"Maybe," Hara allowed, then leaned forward slightly. "So then... what's with the masks?"
This was the kicker. The do or die spot of this entire situation. Stephen was stronger now, much faster too. He could protect the masks in a fight if he needed to, but the issue was Hara wasn't going to try prying them away.
"We are all married men." Stephen said, "having our wives and children be bullied or talked down upon because their father's work in a brothel, wouldn't be a good thing would it?"
"It sure wouldn't." Hara muttered, eyes landing on the upper deck. "But don't worry, I won't tell a soul."
"I'd prefer to remain unknown," Stephen said. "Unless, of course, you think you've the right to take this mask from my face yourself."
"Oh, never." Hara raised his hands, walking back in defeat. "I'm not a royal guard. I don't have the authority to impede a civilian's rights—"
"I guessed." Stephen stepped forward, "Then I suggest you leave. You've unsettled my employees enough already."
"—because," Hara cut him off, tugging his sleeve forward and fishing into his pocket. A small crest now in-between the dragged cloth. "I'm a mage knight. And I do have the authority to bypass them."
Stephen froze, eyes narrowing at the emblem.
"And I order you," Hara said, "to have your staff remove their masks."
"What is even happening?" The man by the reception desk stood up, frustrated. "Can't you see I'm trying to tell this babe about my goblinphobia? Why do you always have to—"
Then his eyes caught the crest.
"A mage knight!" he shrieked.
The word carried like wildfire. Heads popped over the balcony. Dozens of drunk men squinted at the shine of the emblem, and bolted. Nearly two hundred bodies thundered down the stairs and out into the night, fear sobering them faster than water ever could.
"I suppose that proves the validity of my claim." Hara didn't flinch as they rushed past, his smile returning.
"What's happening?" Gila's voice came from the stairs as she descended. Her gaze fell on the crest, and she stiffened. "The mage knights...? What are they doing here?"
"What is their authority!?" Stephen muttered and Gila glanced at him, confused.
"What are you talking about?"
"Do they have the right to force us to remove our masks?" He asked, louder.
Gila stood there for a moment. "Well, they can. They're the royal palace's detail after all, they have power second to only the throne itself."
"That makes my life so much easier." Hara said, with a smile. "Thank you."
"What is he doing here though?" She said, "I mean, if anything I expected Verre and some assassins. Not the mage knights, they don't get deployed unless it's a national threat, or someone messes with the palace."
"We're here for the latter don't worry." Hara replied, "but it doesn't seem like... you're aware though."
"Of what?"
"The fact, these two men conned four nobles out of ninety thousand gold."
"It was eighty five!" Tello almost screamed, but kept shut. Hara sure knew how to force mistakes.
Gila didn't speak. She only turned, eyes landing on Tello.
"Is that true?" she asked.
"Um..." Tello hesitated, but before he could form a defense, Stephen cut in.
"Something doesn't add up. If you really have the power to strip our masks," he said, "then why haven't you done it already? Why make us take them off ourselves?"
Hara didn't answer, he just continued staring.
Stephen turned to Gila. "When you say they're second only to the throne, do mage knights actually have the right to use force on civilians?"
"No, that would be stupid." Gila shook her head. "Not even the royal guard can lay hands on someone without valid suspicion, or unless the person's already identified as guilty. Otherwise, it's illegal."
A smile crept under Stephen's mask. "Then that settles it. You don't have evidence. You can't rip these masks off."
Hara let out a long sigh and scratched the back of his head. "Alright, alright, you caught me. Needing hard evidence before I can act is a pain, really makes me hate the job sometimes."
"In that case," Stephen pressed forward, voice loud. "Leave. You're frightening my staff, you're frightening me. You're not welcome in my establishment—"
"But you know what makes me love my job even more?" Hara smiled, his gaze going to the top of the railing. "Having partners that resort to using violence more often than not."
"Partners?" Stephen and Tello echoed, their eyes following his.
"Partners who don't care about the repercussions of threatening a civilian." Hara laughed. "Simply because they couldn't give less of a damn."
"IT'S THEM." Came George's voice from the railing, the barrel of a shotgun pointed to the back of his skull. "They are the ones, they made me take ownership in their stead!"
Then the confirmation.
"It's them! Stephen and Tello Willows!"
"For fucks sake's, Traver!" Stephen cursed.
"And now you're no longer innocent civilians." Hara said, taking a single step forward. "Game over."