Pastor's Tantra

Glass island, side hall of arbitration hall.

The noble lady with long black hair is sitting elegantly and calmly on the interrogation chair.

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

The gorgeous dress she was wearing before was obviously not suitable for this occasion, and now Ligeia had taken it off and put it away.

Aleister was wearing a black turtleneck sweater on his upper body. The lower body only exposed the trousers and boots under the skirt.

She was looking at the person in front of her with a smile. The blond man sat across from the interrogation table.

"Miss Crawley..."

Great Guardian George clenched his left fist, while his right hand cupped his left fist.

There was an oil lamp before him. The wick burned with a brilliant silver-white flame, and the flame was extremely stable.

This is the "fire of truth" used to detect lies. It is expensive and stable.

If you tell a lie within the confines of the lamp, the flame will tremble; the more the lie is against your heart, the more the flame will tremble.

Only "foreign nobles" like Aleister Crowley, who had a noble status and could not use rough means to directly seize testimony, would use this kind of prop for interrogation.

His sharp Adam's apple slid up and down a few times, and he said solemnly: "Can I call you that?"

"Please, sir. You can just call me Aleister."

Aleister replied softly, with an unusually friendly attitude. This also made the Great Guardian relax a little.

——He actually didn’t want to come.

George was well aware of Her Majesty's attitude.

He knew who this "Ligeia" suddenly appeared and who had extended her lifespan. He also knew that Awas Moriarty, an outstanding young man, would become an important minister of Avalon. Those old knights fighting for fame and fortune were so ugly that he couldn't stop frowning, and even wanted to cause trouble for the ministers appointed by the queen herself...

In this case, the Grand Guardian's personal preference in this incident is self-evident.

——But from another perspective, the spy identities certified by Star Antimony and Iris made Aleister Crowley's stay and departure troublesome.

"You shouldn't have told reporters those things."

The Great Guardian said half-warning, half-regret: "There will be no turning back."

"It sounds like you want to protect me, Lord Grand Guardian."

The corners of Aleister's mouth raised slightly: "Speaking of which, I thought you would lock me in a secret room in the dungeon."

"No, because I believe in you."

George replied sonorously.

Such a decisive reply made Aleister a little stunned for a moment.

"Oh...can I ask why this is?"

"In fact, Miss Crawley - you were originally classified as a royal agent because of my proposal."

The Great Guardian said calmly.

Hearing this, Aleister opened his eyes in surprise: "Is that so?"

"Yes. Because I can see that you and Noble Red are not the same people."

The Great Guardian whispered: "It started after the former minister Drost was arrested. The Noble Red took the money from the Star Antimony people and wanted to rescue or kill Drost to preserve their intelligence network.

"Your assassination of Drost already proved that you are not from the same group."

George's eyes burned brightly: "I have always believed that words can be lies and evidence can be forged. Only the perspective and cognition hidden behind actions can prove a person's position.

"Even if you are really a spy of the Star Antimony people, you must not belong to the same faction as the Noble Red side. The Star Antimony people will sell your information at this point in time. I think this proves their attitude - "No matter who you are or where you come from, they don't want you to stay in Avalon."

"...Oh, it must have been the time when the Supervisory Bureau was attacked."

Aleister recalled.

She smiled and said, "I almost forgot."

George nodded: "Yes, we also identified you as Aiwass's personal maid Lily."

"That's not wrong."

Aleister said lightly: "I do know Lily and have a very good relationship with her. Before and after that incident, when I hid Aiwass Moriarty, Lily was with me. "

The Great Guardian can keenly sense that what Aleister said is the truth. After all, he is a fifth-level authoritative path extraordinary, so he still has this intuition.

But just in case, he glanced at the light. The silver-white flame is extremely stable.

...In other words, since he met Aleister, the eldest lady has never told a lie.

She has a calm and composed temperament about her. That is not a forced calmness or a feigned innocence, but a calm demeanor that is completely fearless in the ability of authoritarianism to detect lies when it is very clear that one has indeed done nothing wrong.

"You probably first appeared when you saved Aiwass at the Pelican Bar."

While writing in the notebook, the Great Guardian asked: "Was it you that time too? Or did you dispatch the Shadow Demon and save Aiwass in the hands of Noble Red?"

"In fact, the Shadow Demon was following Aiwass at that time, hiding in his shadow."

Aleister chuckled and said calmly: "It's just because he was sitting in a wheelchair that no one noticed him - you may not know that sitting in a 'wheelchair' has footboards, especially when the footboards are not in contact with the ground. When in direct contact with the seat, the shadow demon hidden in the shadow cannot be detected."

"...We really don't know this."

The Great Guardian nodded sincerely and recorded these words. There is also a sentence "extraordinary knowledge" marked next to it.

"When he killed the bald woman with bruised skin, the special bullet with shadow damage he used came from the power I extracted from the Shadow Demon."

Aleister knew everything and took the initiative to say: "However, in that incident, Shadow Demon did not take action directly. He was only responsible for destroying some evidence."

"When did you first become acquainted with Aiwas Moriarty, Miss Crawley?"

"Oh, that would be too early..."

Aleister looked up, lost in memories.

She thought for a moment and replied firmly: "Three years ago."

——This refers to the time since she was dragged into the trap by her screenwriter friend and started playing the game "Ring of the End".

If we start counting after she awakens her past life memories. That was indeed three years ago.

The candle flickered slightly for a moment, and the Great Guardian saw it. But he didn't ask directly.

He continued to ask: "When I was in middle school... what was the opportunity?"

"A recommendation from a friend," Aleister replied.

The Great Guardian's writing suddenly stopped.

He raised his head and repeated: "Friends?

"Who is he? What is his occupation? What is his name?"

"Oh, he is a screenwriter. Just an ordinary person, not an extraordinary person. Not a Star Antimony Man either."

Aleister smiled and said: "He praised Aiwass quite a lot, so I was a little curious."

"man?"

The Great Guardian judged from the part of speech that the friend Aleister mentioned was a male: "What is his relationship to you?"

"We can be considered roommates living together." Aleister said lightly.

The Great Guardian coughed lightly and realized something: "Oh, I'm sorry...but I still have to ask, where does he live now?"

"I haven't seen him for a long time and I don't think he is in this world."

Aleister said softly: "He has nothing to do with this matter. After all, he has never really met Aiwass, and I didn't fall in love with Aiwass because of his words. This is just an opportunity."

Her words were mixed with true sadness and longing.

"...Well, my condolences."

The Great Guardian lowered his head, feeling his conscience being condemned.

He just felt like he was a bad person for constantly questioning him.

He compiled Aleister's testimony. Except for "the time I met Aiwass", there is a little bit of concealment here, but not much... everything else is true.

"Last question, Aleister."

The Great Guardian raised his head seriously and asked: "What do you think of Avalon? What do you think of Avalon, Queen Sofia, Princess Isabel, Aiwass Moriarty and his relatives and friends?" Any form of malicious intent, or any intention that may endanger their personal or property safety without their knowledge?”

That was the question he really wanted to ask.

Now the Queen is in a coma and unable to give advice. And Ligeia means "it's up to you."

The Great Guardian deliberated over and over again before finally settling on this final issue.

He hopes to leave some room for each other, so that at least good friends and collaborators will not turn into enemies. That's why he didn't get to the bottom of it and ask every question.

Because the most important thing is this last question.

——Are we friends?