Chapter 440: The Advantage Is Mine

“Name.”

“...Ariel Bugaard.”

“Age.”

“Eighteen.”

“Sex.”

“Enough already!”

Ariel slapped the table and sprang up, furious:

“Is doing this on purpose fun to you? And... why is this so-called new presiding examiner you! Muen Campbell!”

“Eh?”

Across the interrogation table, Muen, who was leafing through files, raised his head in surprise and asked, puzzled:

“Fun? What fun? I’m strictly following the interrogation manual they sent me and proceeding by the book. Is there a problem?”

In the interrogation manual, it’s clearly marked in red that the authenticity of all aspects of the prisoner must be confirmed, because, according to records, when they once applied a certain bodily severe punishment to a sultry woman who had committed the grave crime of raping and murdering men... they discovered it was a big-tool moé girl.

It’s said the executioners suffered immense psychological trauma from that incident and, for the rest of their lives, developed a mental shadow regarding chests above size D.

“...”

Ariel, of course, didn’t know any of that. She merely lowered her head to glance down, then said with a twisted expression:

“No...”

“Very good. As for why I’m the presiding examiner...”

Muen straightened up, tidied his collar, then took off the badge at his chest, breathed on it and wiped it, pinned it back on perfectly centered, and said with a solemn face:

“As an Honorary Sanctuary Knight specially conferred by the Church, I, Muen Campbell, am now taking over this attempted assassination of the Saintess as a special commissioner.”

“Honorary Sanctuary Knight?”

“That’s right.”

“Special commissioner?”

“Yes?”

“Taking over the case?”

“Mm.”

“Why!”

Ariel looked completely at a loss, as if she had just slept and, upon waking, discovered the big sister next door’s child was already old enough to run errands for soy sauce, yet she herself still hadn’t even held a girl’s hand.

The world was changing too fast, and it felt like only she was standing still.

But that’s not right—inside the ruins, she had truly, genuinely grown!

Advancing a whole major rank in one month; even explosive magic flying sky-high wasn’t as fast as her!

“I’ve been wanting to ask—how did you become an Honorary Sanctuary Knight? I remember this title is only bestowed on those who’ve made major contributions to the Church. Don’t tell me you can get it with money, too?

...No, the Church wouldn’t stoop to being bribed by a duke’s son of yours!”

Ariel couldn’t make sense of it. He was a foreign duke’s son and not even a believer of the Goddess—how could he have made a major contribution to the Church?

Could it be some high-ranking Church figure took a liking to him and wanted to keep him as a pretty boy?

It’s said certain bishops and priests in particular like pale, fair-faced boys...

“I get the feeling you’re thinking something impolite. But regarding that...”

“That?”

“As for why I could become an Honorary Sanctuary Knight...”

Muen laced his fingers, propped them under his chin, and, facing Ariel’s expectant look, couldn’t help showing a mysterious smile—then pivoted:

“Sorry, the specific reason is classified.”

“...”

Ariel nearly suffocated on a mouthful of old blood stuck in her chest.

“Welp, lots of internal Church matters have to be kept secret and can’t be made public. It’s a real headache. I try to act cool sometimes and there’s no one who appreciates it.”

Muen sighed helplessly.

“I feel like you’re showing off to me.”

“How could I? A status like Honorary Sanctuary Knight isn’t enough to make you, Ariel Bugaard, feel envious.”

Muen shrugged:

“Speaking of which, I thought the first thing you’d ask upon seeing me was why Liya became the Saintess, since you seemed awfully shocked at the time.”

“Oh, right.”

Ariel blinked.

That was what she’d meant to ask.

She immediately stared fixedly at Muen and asked:

“How did Liya defeat the others and become the Saintess? With that soft, squishy temperament of hers, among a pack of Saintess candidates like wolves and tigers, however you look at it she’s the little lamb who gets eaten clean.”

“Uh... indeed, very easily eaten clean.”

Muen nodded with great seriousness, looking as if he had deep experience with that line. Then he pulled out a stack of newspapers and handed them to Ariel:

“I know you’re anxious, but don’t be. As long as you’re not anxious—on the way to the Holy City, take a look at these newspapers published in the Holy City, and you’ll see the reason.”

“Newspapers...”

Ariel flipped through them eagerly, but before long her expression turned odd:

“The Ennobling Ceremony was targeted by an Evil God’s plot—not only did she forcefully beat back the Evil God, she also chose to sacrifice herself at a critical moment, cleansing a million souls polluted by the Evil God at the cost of her life?”

Ariel glanced at Muen suspiciously and continued:

“‘Saved by the Goddess’s pity, personally granted a blessing, thus preserving her life and establishing the Saintess’s glory’... A million souls—what a joke. Are you sure this wasn’t written by some novel author with a short circuit in the brain?”

Although she wasn’t very clear on Liya’s upper limit in Holy Light Arts—since Liya hadn’t really shown her hand—anyone could figure out that purifying a full one million people wasn’t something a single body could accomplish.

Though the willingness to sacrifice herself—that did fit that silly girl’s style.

“The newspapers record it, and it did happen.”

“Then what are the details? Which Evil God? Where did the million souls come from? With just that one sentence, aren’t they just hoodwinking people?”

“As for those...”

Muen unhurriedly took a sip of hot tea:

“Classified.”

“...”

Crack.

Ariel squeezed a fissure into the table corner.

Flames burned in her eyes.

But when she looked deeply at Muen, that flame suddenly went out.

So suddenly.

It was like a monstrous wave smoothed flat in an instant by a sea breeze.

Even her tone became exceedingly calm.

“I didn’t make it in time to arrive, so you accompanied Liya to attend the Ennobling Ceremony in my place?” Ariel put the newspapers back on the table and suddenly asked.

“Yes.”

Muen didn’t hide it, since it was something very easy to investigate.

“And it was also thanks to your help that Liya became the Saintess?”

“No. That she could become the Saintess was entirely by her own strength. On the contrary, I nearly made her give up that path.”

“The real reason you could become an Honorary Sanctuary Knight was this as well?”

“In part,” Muen answered honestly:

“As for that million souls, I contributed a small, insignificant bit of strength.”

“...”

Though it was supposed to be an interrogation of Ariel, Ariel was the one who kept asking.

But after a string of questions, Ariel suddenly fell quiet.

She lowered her head, her gaze unfocused, and after twisting her fingers back and forth a few times, suddenly lifted her head again, her eyes scanning Muen up and down, as if trying to find some clue.

After a long time, she spoke, probing:

“You... and Liya... don’t have anything, right.”

“‘Don’t have anything’? Your anything... means what?”

Muen’s heart gave a jolt—here it comes, he thought—but his expression didn’t crack in the slightest, only showed just the right amount of blankness.

“I mean... while I wasn’t around, you deliberately helped Liya—did you harbor any improper thoughts, and did you and Liya develop any story that shouldn’t have been developed.”

Ariel’s eyes were still suspicious.

The scene of Muen and Liya holding one another still circled in her mind.

She couldn’t help suspecting...

“So it’s because of what happened earlier that you misunderstood me?”

Muen loosened and tightened his interlaced fingers, as if pondering, or weighing his words.

A moment later—after confirming that his movements should look sufficiently earnest in Ariel’s eyes—Muen tapped the table with a finger and said, concise and to the point:

“Miss Ariel, Liya is now... the Saintess.”

“...”

Ariel was stunned.

Then, in her once-dim eyes, bright light gradually bloomed.

It was like a bolt of lightning from the heavens, in an instant cleaving her thoughts clear.

Right.

Liya is now the Saintess.

She is revered by countless believers, the emblem of the Goddess’s purity, one bathed in the Most Holy radiance.

With such a status, how could she possibly truly develop some special relationship with a man?

The Church certainly would not permit it.

The believers certainly would not permit it.

Among the Saintesses of past generations, one has never heard of anyone having a male** while in office!

Which is to say... her faint suspicion didn’t hold from the very beginning!

And moreover... calming down to think it through: that blockhead Liya, whose head holds nothing but the Saintess’s seat—how could she possibly develop feelings between men and women for Muen Campbell.

Young lord?

Impossible, okay? If she were really that sensitive about romance, then after my subtly influencing her for a full ten years, that membrane would’ve broken long ago; she wouldn’t still be treating me as a childhood friend!

Besides, counting carefully, the time I wasn’t at Liya’s side was only this single month.

Even if Muen Campbell helped Liya, how could a mere one month compare with my ten years of deep feelings?

And my being female, at this moment, instead becomes a huge advantage for avoiding the Church’s and the believers’ public opinion!

Who would suspect an adorable, harmless girl bestie of harboring any ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) improper thoughts?

Even Liya herself hasn’t suspected!

As for a stinky man like Muen Campbell—how could he compare with me?

In short: one month versus ten years—the advantage is mine!

Having thought it through, Ariel’s mood instantly brightened; the accumulated negative emotions of these days were swept away, and even Muen Campbell in front of her looked much more pleasing to the eye.

Hmph, I know you, you philanderer, covet Liya too.

But... before me, you’re destined to be nothing but a beaten dog! One day you’ll kneel before me, weeping bitter, snotty tears!

O-ho-ho-ho-ho...

...

After untying Ariel’s “heart knot,” successfully covering up the fact that he had led off her childhood-sweetheart cow, thus averting the massive crisis of getting his neck chopped by a protag-halo MC, Muen’s “interrogation” proceeded very smoothly.

In truth, it didn’t really count as an interrogation.

Because Ariel had reached this point due to a chain of misunderstandings, once her mood lifted, she basically spilled everything—except for that treasure compass.

A whole chain of events began matching the various pieces of intelligence the Church had gathered, directly confirming the truth or falsehood of Ariel’s account.

And then...

Looking at the results derived from Ariel’s narration plus Church intel, Muen couldn’t help sucking in a cold breath.

Once wasn’t enough—since a single page couldn’t fit those terrifying battle merits, Muen flipped to the next and sucked in several more in a row.

After contributing no small amount to global warming and inwardly muttering several times, “how terrifying,” Muen swallowed and looked at Ariel:

“Two Fifth-Rank martialists, and one Brilliance-Rank mage?”

“Mm.”

“Over a dozen Fourth-Rank experts, plus more than a hundred beast-formers?”

“Mm.”

“After dealing with those, you then slipped away from a squad of knights rushing to seal off the area—and on the way snatched someone’s sword?”

“Mm.”

“After that, you discovered the entire district had been locked down by the Church with nowhere to flee, so you thought to do the opposite—instead turning back to follow Salvation Society’s original plan to assassinate the Saintess alone, to create chaos and take the chance to escape?”

“Exactly.”

Ariel nodded:

“But I only intended to stab and wound her. Just the Saintess getting injured would be enough to cause chaos. I could never have the thought of assassination.”

“...”

Looking at Ariel’s casual face—as if she didn’t think she’d done anything remarkable—Muen once again felt the gold content of the words “heaven’s-mandate protagonist.”

One versus a hundred.

All in leap-rank fights.

From South Street cutting all the way to North Street without blinking an eye.

A whole bunch of elite Church knights, and they still didn’t stop her.

Good grief—are you Mr. Xiao-So-and-So gender-swapped, or Mr. Ye-So-and-So reincarnated?

In that moment, Muen—who had just been feeling a bit floaty over his own newly gained power and relieved at successfully talking circles around Ariel—suddenly felt a chill at the back of his neck.

Ter... no—terrifying!

...

Ten minutes later, Muen closed the written “confession” in his hands, took a deep breath, and steadied his mood again.

Ariel’s record was indeed frightening, and, whether due to shifts in the world-line or not, the combat power she showed now even exceeded the level at this point in the original book. It seemed this trip to the ancient ruins truly gave her gains she didn’t have in the original.

But he himself was no longer that yellow-haired villain Muen Campbell who should have drowned in fate long ago.

Terrifying.

But no need to be afraid anymore.

“Alright.”

Muen stood and tossed Ariel a key.

“You can leave.”

“That’s it?”

Ariel dazedly took the key to her shackles, still feeling it unreal.

This was the Church’s Black Dungeon—the place where, it’s said, even rats don’t dare enter. Even now, wails from who-knows-where were still echoing.

And she was being let go this easily?

“You came here because of a misunderstanding. Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, naturally you can go.”

Muen smiled, and for the first time that handsome smile made Ariel feel this guy wasn’t just not hateful—he even seemed to carry a certain special charm.

“And... don’t you have something you should be doing right now?”

“Something I should be doing...”

Ariel shivered, lowered her head to look at her now bedraggled self, and muttered:

“C-Can I change clothes?”

“Of course.”

Muen answered:

“You have plenty of time.”

...

...

After changing into clothes that weren’t gorgeous but suited what Ariel usually wore, Ariel finally met Liya in the reception room specially set for the Saintess.

“Liya!”

“Ariel!”

This was the two of them’s first proper reunion after a month apart, so the moment they met they hugged tightly.

“Liya... I was so worried about you.” Ariel sniffed.

“Mm...”

Liya paused, then said as well:

“...Me too.”

“But seriously, it’s only been a month—did you get chubbier again? Look, there’s more squishy meat. Too evil.”

Finding that Liya was still that same Liya—becoming Saintess hadn’t made her behave differently—Ariel relaxed quite a bit, and by force of habit scratched Liya’s ticklish spot and teased.

“Stop it~”

Liya coquettishly brushed Ariel’s hand away, ripples of ripe, watery charm flowing across her brows and eyes.

Ariel froze.

She looked carefully at the person before her, and in her large eyes, a trace of puzzlement surfaced again.

Strange—was Liya’s reaction like this before?