When the plot-skips players into the game world

Glass Island, a side chamber of the Arbitration Hall.

The noblewoman with black hair sat gracefully and calmly in the interrogation chair.

Her hands were placed in front of her, slender fingers intertwined, restrained by silver-white triangular luminous shackles. Her feet were also together, bound by the same luminous triangle.

The gorgeous dress she had been wearing previously was clearly unsuitable for this occasion and had already been removed and put away by Ligeia.

At this moment, Aleister was wearing a black turtleneck sweater on the upper body, while the lower part revealed trousers and long boots underneath the dress.

She was looking at the person in front of her with a smile that was not quite a smile. The blond man sat opposite her at the interrogation table.

"Miss Crowley..."

The Guardian George clenched his left fist tightly, while his right hand wrapped around it.

Before him, there was an oil lamp. The wick was burning with a brilliant silver-white flame, utterly stable.

This was the "Flame of Truth", used to detect lies, expensive and stable in nature.

If one told a lie within the range of the lamp's light, the flame would flicker; the more a lie went against one's conscience, the more violently it would shake.

It was only with "foreign nobles" of high status like Aleister Crowley, whose testimonies couldn't be obtained through brute force, that such an object would be used for interrogation.

His sharp Adam's apple slid up and down a few times, he said gravely, "May I address you that way?"

"Please, sir. You can also call me Aleister directly."

Aleister responded softly, her manner exceedingly friendly. This allowed the Guardian to relax slightly.

——He really didn't want to come here.

George was well aware of Her Majesty the Queen's attitude.

He knew who this suddenly emerged "Ligeia" was, whose life had been extended by whom, and also knew that the distinguished young man Aiwass Moriarty would become a key minister of Avalon. The old knights were vying for glory in a way so unseemly it made him frown ceaselessly, to the extent that he even wanted to trouble the Minister for the Department of Care of Magical Creatures personally appointed by the Queen...

In such a case, the personal inclination of the Guardian in this incident was self-evident.

——But from another perspective, the spy identities certified by both Star Antimony and Iris Flower made Aleister Crowley's stay even more problematic.

"You shouldn't have talked about those things with the journalists."

The Guardian half warned, half regretted, "That way, there's no turning back."

"It sounds like you want to protect me, Your Excellency the Guardian."

Aleister's mouth curved up slightly, "Actually, I thought you would lock me away in a dungeon chamber."

"No, because I believe in you."

George replied resolutely.

Such a firm response left Aleister momentarily taken aback.

"My... may I ask why?"

"In fact, Miss Crowley—the initial proposal to list you as a royal secret agent came from me."

The Guardian spoke in a calm and even tone.

Upon hearing this, Aleister widened her eyes in some amazement, "Is that so?"

"Yes. Because I could tell that you and Noble Red are not on the same side."

The Guardian said softly, "It was after the former Minister Drost was arrested. Noble Red took money from the people of Star Antimony, trying to either rescue or silence Drost to preserve their intelligence network.

"Your act of assassinating Drost at that time already proved that you were not one of them."

George's gaze was sharp, "I have always believed that language can be lies, evidence can be fabricated, but only the perspectives and cognitions hidden behind actions can prove a person's stance.

"Even if you truly are a spy from Star Antimony, you must belong to a different faction from Noble Red side. The fact that the people of Star Antimony chose to sell your information at this point in time, I think, actually proves their stance—no matter who you are or where you come from, they do not wish you to continue staying in Avalon."

"...Oh, it was the time the Supervisory Bureau was attacked."

Aleister recalled.

She laughed, "I almost forgot about it."

George nodded, "Yes, at that time, we even identified you as Aiwass's personal maid Lily."

"That's not entirely wrong."

Aleister said casually, "I do indeed know Lily and get along very well with her. Around that event, when I concealed 'Aiwass Moriarty', Lily was with me."

The Guardian could keenly sense that everything Aleister said was the truth. After all, he was a fifth power level Transcendent of the Path of Authority, and he had this intuition.

But just to be safe, he glanced at the lamp. The silver-white flame was extremely stable.

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...Or rather, since the day she met Aleister, Miss Crowley had never told a lie.

She had a certain sense of serene composure about her. It was neither feigned calm nor pretended innocence, but a poised demeanor that came from being very clear about one's lack of wrongdoing, completely unafraid of the Path of Authority's ability to detect lies.

"Your first appearance was when you saved Aiwass at the Pelican Bar, wasn't it?"

The Guardian wrote in his notebook while asking, "Was it you then? Or did you send the Shadow Demon to save Aiwass from the hands of Noble Red?"

"In fact, the Shadow Demon was with Aiwass at the time, hiding in his shadow,"

Aleister said with a light laugh, "It was just because he was in a wheelchair that he wasn't noticed—you might not know, but when sitting in a 'wheelchair' or the like, with footrests that don't touch the ground directly, a Shadow Demon hiding in the shadow cannot be detected."

"...We did not know that."

The Guardian sincerely nodded and recorded this information as well, with a note beside it labeled "Transcendent Knowledge."

"When he killed that blue-skinned bald woman, the special bullets with shadow damage he used came from the power I extracted from the Shadow Demon."

Aleister spoke candidly, "However, the Shadow Demon did not directly intervene in that incident. It only took care of destroying some evidence."

"When did you first get to know Aiwass Moriarty, Miss Crowley?"

"Oh, that was quite some time ago..."

Aleister lifted her head and fell into reminiscence.

After pondering for a moment, she confidently answered, "Three years ago."

—This referred to the time when she started playing the game "Ring of Ouroboros" after being dragged into it by her scriptwriter friend.

If it is counted from when she awakened her past life memories, then indeed it was three years ago.

The candlelight flickered briefly, which the Guardian saw. But he did not directly inquire about it.

He went on to ask, "During your high school years, huh... What was the trigger?"
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"A friend's recommendation," Aleister answered.

The Guardian's pen suddenly paused.

He looked up and repeated, "Friend?

"Who is he? What does he do? What's his name?"

"Oh, he is a scriptwriter. Just an ordinary person, not a Transcendent, nor a Star Antimony."

Aleister smiled, "He spoke highly of Aiwass, so I became a bit curious."

"A man?"

The Guardian deduced from the context that Aleister's friend was male, "What is your relationship with him?"

"We can say we were roommates living together," Aleister said casually.

The Guardian cleared his throat, realizing something, "Oh, my apologies... but I still need to ask, where does he live now?"

"I haven't seen him in a long time, I think he is not in this world anymore,"

Aleister said softly, "He has nothing to do with this matter. After all, he never really met Aiwass, and it wasn't his words that made me fall for Aiwass. It was merely a trigger."

In her words, there was a mix of genuine sorrow and remembrance.

"...Um, condolences."

The Guardian bowed his head, feeling a twinge of guilt in his conscience.

He felt like the bad guy for asking so many questions.

He reviewed Aleister's testimony. Besides "the time of acquaintance with Aiwass," where there was slight concealment, but not much... all of it was the truth.

"Last question, Aleister,"

The Guardian looked up seriously and asked, "What are your thoughts on Avalon? Do you hold any ill will, in any form, towards Avalon, Queen Sofia, Princess Isabel, Aiwass Moriarty, and his relatives and friends, or harbor any intentions not known to them that might threaten their personal or property safety?"

This was the real question he wanted to ask.

With the queen now in a coma, unable to give an opinion, and Ligeia suggesting, "You decide,"

The Guardian deliberated before finally settling on this ultimate question.

He hoped to leave some leeway for both parties, at least not to become enemies after being good friends and collaborators. That's why he did not delve into every detail with his questions.

Because the most important thing was this last question.

— Are we friends?

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