What else could I have said at that moment?

  Being questioned by Aria the Lady of Light— arguably the most powerful human in the world right now— in front of a group of some of the strongest individuals in all the Sanctus Empire, there was only one thing I could do, and that was to tell the truth.

  So I just introduced myself as I normally did— after all, nothing I said was a lie. I was Eli, a [Healer] and student of the Holy Academy, who was brought to the ball by my friend, Prince Claudius Franz Dawnlight.

  …well, the last part could’ve been interpreted as a lie. It could be argued that Claudius and I weren’t exactly close enough to be friends. But it was all a matter of perspective.

  So I told the truth. I was just an innocent bystander, in every sense of the world. I hadn’t even known there would be an assassin sent by Hyperius here in this party. My only intention had been to speak with Claudius and interrogate his two sisters— Julia and Felicia— who might have more information on Ella, the missing Third Princess of the royal family.

  And yet, here I was, being escorted by a group of Inquisitors through the busy halls of the royal palace like some kind of criminal. They had also been in attendance for the party, and they had stayed behind to protect Archbishop Walden when Aria gave chase to the assassin.

  Now though, they were following Walden and Aria’s directives to bring me to the Basilica of Lux for further questioning. They had patted me down, treating me like I had committed some kind of crime, ensuring that I had nothing on me that could be dangerous.

  Fortunately for me, I didn’t bring my Dimensional Storage Unit today, because I had known this party would have had a lot of important people, and I didn’t want anyone asking questions. If I had it on me, it would have surely been discovered, and its contents emptied out.

  If that had happened, I would have been in serious trouble. Not that I wasn’t already in trouble. But for now, I was in trouble, however I could still talk my way out of it.

  Still, this scene with me surrounded by Inquisitors attracted some attention. Claudius spotted me as I passed by the ballroom, and he ran up my way.

  “Eli, I told you not to get involved. Now I’m going to have to talk to my father to get you out of this mess—” he started.

  But then the Seventh Prince paused when he realized that the armored folks escorting me weren’t members of the Royal Guard. Instead, they were Inquisitors with their shining armor and their tall stature.

  “W-wait, you’re…?” Claudius blinked a few times as he looked up at them.

  Their leader, a middle-aged woman with short black hair, shook her head at the Seventh Prince. “Apologies, Prince Claudius, but this is a matter of the Church. Please do not interfere."

  “I-I…” Claudius just backed away. “Right.”

  I gave him an apologetic look, although I was grateful that he even tried.

  Everyone just stood to the side, watching as I was escorted out of the royal palace. Nobody could say a word. Because these were the directives of the two most powerful people in the world.

  Whether they were members of the nobility or royalty, they had no choice but to watch. Lady Martha Amberrose was one such bystander. She stared at me from a table, a hand covering her mouth in shock as she whispered out loud.

  “Gracious Goddess… Eli, what have you done?” she asked with round eyes.

  “That’s Eli?” a rough-looking man next to her said with a frown. “The prodigious [Healer] who just joined the Holy Academy?”

  “That’s correct, Baron Arthus.” Martha nodded hesitantly back at him. “But I don’t know why he’s being arrested by the Church…”

  Baron Arthus— Myrla’s father— just harrumphed at that. “So that’s the boy my daughter’s been telling me about? Hmph, I’m not impressed…”

  Eventually, I was escorted out of the premises of the Church of Life entirely. The Inquisitors brought me to a carriage, and their leader joined me inside. The other Inquisitors just followed along in a second carriage behind us.

  Our carriages started back in the direction of the Church of Life as it was now only myself and the black-haired Inquisitor alone together. She cleared her throat as she adjusted her helmet and faced me.

  “Apologies for the rough handling. Both the Lady of Light and Archbishop Walden wish to speak with you in private, but they cannot accompany you at this moment, as they are currently debriefing Emperor Warner of the situation that transpired in the party. However, I am sure they will be finished within the end of the hour.”

  The black-haired Inquisitor spoke as she met my gaze. I nodded back at her as I made myself comfortable in the carriage.

  “Well, let’s hope they wrap it up soon. I’d hope to have this misunderstanding resolved as soon as possible.”

  I tried to play this situation off like I hadn’t done anything wrong. But as I settled into my seat, the black-haired Inquisitor leaned forward, slowly removing her glove from her right hand. I furrowed my brows as she raised her hand in my direction, gesturing at a familiar-looking sigil on the ring she wore on one of her fingers.

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  “That’s…?” My eyes widened at the shape of the crescent moon on the ring.

  It was the symbol of the Luna Gez Sect.

  “While I would like to offer you any help I can, [Healer] Eli,” the black-haired Inquisitor said with an apologetic look on her face. “The best I can do is offer you a good word. Unfortunately, I cannot do anything more to help you in this situation. My most sincere apologies.”

  “I appreciate the offer, Miss…?” I stared expectantly at her.

  She nodded at me with a smile. She just nodded back at me.

  “I’m Natasha the Amber Soldier,” the black-haired Inquisitor answered. “And if you ever are in need of my help in the future, you can ask for me, and I will offer you what I can.”

  While I was grateful to have at least been able to acquaint myself with another member of the Luna Gez Sect— so I could reach out to someone else other than Sister Frida if the need ever arose— I was also still trapped in the same predicament as before.

  As influential as the Luna Gez Sect was, and as many noble and royal friends I had, it didn’t matter. Not when Archbishop Walden and Aria the Lady of Light were involved. So I just had to wait and find a way to defuse this situation later on.

  Otherwise…

  My eyes flickered as I considered all the worst possible outcomes.

  And I sighed.

  I’ll just have to hope that I will reincarnate as me again, instead of losing all my memories…

  ***

  Just as Natasha said, both Walden and Aria arrived at the interrogation room at just about the end of the hour. So I only had to wait there for about ten minutes before they showed up. Natasha saluted them and left the room, leaving just the three of us inside.

  However, I knew there was a listening spell etched onto the walls of the room, so I wasn’t going to say anything that was going to get me in trouble if Natasha was the one listening in on the conversation.

  Anyway, I just glanced between both Walden and Aria as they stood across from me in the empty room.

  “I have heard a lot about you, Eli of Velmond.” Walden was the first one to speak. Aria just waited behind him with her arms crossed over her chest. The Head of the Church of Life continued. “A [Healer] who found the cure to the Blight, and the youngest student to ever be enrolled into the Holy Academy. And now, you have saved my life.”

  The Head of the Church of Life smiled kindly at me as he placed a hand on his chest.

  “Truly, I am grateful for your warning, Eli of Velmond. And I must apologize for the treatment you have received after what you have done. But you must understand, after such a terrible security breach in the royal palace where only you noticed the assassin, it is only natural that some questions will arise about how you noticed it, and we had to take some precautions to ensure that nobody eavesdrops on our conversations…”

  “Of course, Archbishop,” I said as I bowed his way. “Your concern is understandable. And if I may explain myself, I have a spell that lets me detect whether a person or thing is living. It simply told me that that assassin…”

  I paused as I considered my next few words carefully. Taping a finger on my chin, I spoke slowly.

  “Well, I wouldn’t say that he was dead. But there was something wrong with him.”

  “Oh?” Walden peered at me curiously.

  Behind him, Aria raised a brow, but still remained silent. I nodded as I snapped my fingers together.

  “If I had to describe it, it was like he was a living undead.”

  Was that an accurate description of Hyperius’s puppets? Well, at the very least, that was how Zerek, one of my closest friends in my past life and a powerful [Necromancer], had described them.

  So I was certain that this answer should probably satisfy both Walden and Aria. And it seemed to at least placate the former.

  “Interesting. So that must have been how you found the cure to the Blight. I must admit, while I hadn’t had the chance to look into that disease for more than a few minutes, it had eluded beyond the fact that it seemed to be artificial and of magical origin. You truly are quite a special young man, Eli of Velmond.”

  “I’m extremely flattered to hear that, Archbishop. Coming from you, that’s high praise.” I chuckled as I lowered my head gratefully at him.

  The Head of the Church of Life drew back as he

  “Well, I believe that satisfies my questions. What about you, Aria—” he started.

  But the Lady of Light interrupted him, speaking abruptly.

  “Walden.” She met his gaze as he blinked. “I want to speak with this child alone.”

  It took a moment for the archbishop to process what she had said. In fact, it had also taken me a moment to process it as well. Because I had prepared myself for how this interrogation was going to go— I had a set of answers prepared for the questions that would be asked of me, to hopefully escape this situation without trouble.

  However, I didn’t expect this interrogation to so quickly derail. To suddenly go in this direction.

  Walden hadn’t expected it either. He turned to the Lady of Light, a quizzical expression on his face.

  “What do you mean, Aria?” he asked with furrowed brows.

  Aria just shook her head. “I mean what I said. I’d prefer to speak with Eli of Velmond elsewhere in private.”

  My eyes narrowed when I heard that. Walden frowned and began to protest.

  “But Aria—” he started.

  And the Lady of Light cut him off. “I’ve made my requests clear, Walden. Now, we shall be taking our leave.”

  She spoke simply as she spun around and pushed the door to the interrogation room open. Natasha and the other Inquisitors were waiting outside, and they were taken by surprise at the Lady of Light’s sudden exit.

  Stepping out of the room, Aria gestured to me to follow.

  “Come with me, Eli of Vemond,” she said simply.

  And Archbishop Walden, Natasha, and the other Inquisitors just watched as I apprehensively trailed after her. They looked on, both a mix of confusion and hesitation evident on their faces. But they didn’t do anything to stop her.

  Because… well, even though Archbishop Walden was the Head of the Church of Life…

  Aria was still the Lady of Light.

  The [Hero] who slew the Death God.

  If she wanted something, there was nobody in the Church or the Sanctus Empire who could stop her.

  So I just followed her as she led me away from the Basilica of Lux.