All eyes gathered on Xiao the moment General Blake questioned him.

(What...what the hell?!)

Xiao got startled by the unexpected changes of the situation, a while ago he was still doing a good job staying as an invisible presence throughout the time, but now he has become the center of the attention in an instant.

(Just what the hell is that report all about?! Everything changed after he read the report, what did they find out? Don't tell me...)

Xiao remember that he didn't tell anyone about him meeting with Lars last night, to make matter worse, he may be the last person who meets and even talk to Lars before he got murder if he tells them about it, surely things won't end well with him as they will suspect him to be the murderer.

(I had already experienced it during the incident with the goddamn monster and the police, that telling the truth will only get myself into more trouble, best keep quiet and see what he has to say to me.)

Xiao tried to keep calm and ready himself with any surprise that would soon be thrown to him.

"I didn't see you and Lars at the banquet last night, where are you during that time?" General Blake shot out the question without even getting a yes sign from Xiao, which Xiao had already expected based on his determined expression.

"My room," Xiao answered right away.

"Why didn't you join us at the banquet?" General Blake asked.

"I'm not feeling well," Xiao replied, short and simple.

"Like how?" General Blake pressed on the question, wanting a more specific answer from Xiao.

"My body is still not used to the mana in this world, you can learn more of it from Pope Baton," Xiao answered it while looking at Pope Baton, who was expressing concern the whole time right after General Blake started questioning Xiao, he was trying to find the chance to intervene, and Xiao's answer has provided a good follow up chance for him.

"That's right, Xiao was not a resident in this world, so his body still needs time to get used to the mana in this world, until then, he is constantly experiencing fatigue and light-headedness," Pope Baton explained while he moved closer to the two of them.

"What's this all about? General Blake, why are you pressuring Xiao with questions? Did the report say anything about him?" Pope Baton followed up with a question for General Blake right after he explained Xiao's condition to him.

"With all due respect, Pontiff Baton, as the head of the Royal Guard, it is my duty to prioritize the safety of the people in this castle, with such absurd incident happened under my watch, I will have to get to the bottom of it and resolve this case, so please do not interfere and allow me to continue my duty."

Pope Baton expressed shock when General Blake responded, he tried to say something in defense for Xiao but couldn't seem to find the right words to let out from his mouth, he had no choice but to stay silent while General Blake continued his questioning on Xiao.

"Did you stay in your room throughout the night or have you gone somewhere else?"

Xiao was going to respond upon General Blake's answer, he was going to reply yes, but he figures that his answer will lead to him saying the place he goes and eventually the person he meets, Lars.

(What should I do? Should I lie? Saying no seems to be the best answer, he won't be asking anymore if I said I was staying in my room for the whole night.)

Initially, Xiao thought of answering no already, his mouth was already forming a shape to say no before he noticed the report General Blake was holding, which he quickly shut his mouth tight and stopped his answer in the nick of time.

(What if, what if all of these questions were just an act? A trap set for me to fabricate a lie and he will expose it because he had already got the information of my action last night.)

Xiao started to break a cold sweat as he started panicking on whether to tell a lie or tell the truth.

"What's wrong? Can't remember what you did last night? Even if it was just a few hours ago?" General Blake started to raise his volume and sounded more hostile.

"I asked the guard to bring me a meal," Xiao answered slowly. He tried to give out the answer to the question as to give him more time to decide what he should tell General Blake, for the answer will determine his fate.

"Oh, and after you finish your meal, what did you do?" General Blake did not let up, he kept pressing on with the question, trying to get the truth out of Xiao.

"I...."

Xiao started to get stuck in his words, he had no idea how to answer, he was still hesitating on the decision he was going to make.

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(Shit! Shit! Shit! Make up your mind! Xiao, tell the truth? Tell a lie? What should I do? What should I do?)

"Or where did you go?" General Blake added in a question.

"I go..." Xiao blurted out without thinking much as his mind was so chaotic that he didn't realize he got a trace in General Blake's words.

"Oh? You said go, right? then tell me, where did you go?" General Blake didn't miss the chance as he immediately followed up the question after Xiao's vague reply.

Realizing what he had just answered, even though it's not even a full sentence, the composure Xiao has been acting up until now has disappeared. He started to show signs of panicking as cold sweat was dripping from his face and his expression changed to fear.

(DAMN IT! I am so stupid! What am I going to do now?!)

"Answer me! Where did you go last night? What's wrong? Don't know how to answer? or.... you are hiding something?"

General Blake didn't give Xiao the time to think of his next answer as he started to put in serious pressure on his questioning, he also ran out of patience on dealing with Xiao, the questioning section has now turned into an interrogation section.

"No! Not like this! I just....it's....a coincidence! Yes! It was purely a coincidence that I met Lars in the garden!"

It's over, Xiao had blurted out the information he's been keeping it the entire time, he was already in so much pressure from the sight of other people, which causes his trauma to acted up as his body kept on shivering the entire time, plus the fierce aura emitting from General Blake as he shoots out barrage of question forcing Xiao to speak out the truth, it was only the matter of time before Xiao eventually gave in to the pressure and speaks out the truth.

"Coincidence? So you're telling me that you are the last person Lars met before his death, and that's a coincidence too?" General Blake shouted at Xiao upon his confession, for he was already so sure that Xiao was the one that killed Lars.

"No....no, no, no, no! It's not me! I didn't... It's not me.....not me...."

Xiao didn't realize it, but he was crying while he desperately denied the fact that he killed Lars, it was as if his body and mind were responding to the situation based on his experience.

Like a history repeating itself, this was exactly like the situation when he was facing trial in his world, the judge kept on pressing him to confess that he was the killer of his family, and he desperately denied it.

(Am I still in my world? Why am I falling into the situation again? What is this Déjà Vu feeling? Why? I don't understand, even though I ran to another world, this can't be happening....right?)

"According to our investigation result, besides you, no one else has met Lars last night, to be more precise, no one else sees him after the commotion you and he caused at here, and according to one of the gardeners, who's slept at the corridor due to drunkenness, he saw you talking to some figure at the garden," General Blake proceeds to read out the content of the report, which has proven Xiao's speculation of General Blake knows about Xiao meeting with Lars.

"You know what I'm trying to say here, right?" General Blake pointed out the fact that all of the investigation results, eyewitnesses and clues have led to Xiao being the prime suspect of this incident.

"I didn't.....I didn't," Xiao murmured the same words over and over again, his mind has completely stopped thinking of any plans or words to convince them, for he knows that no matter what he does or says, they will never believe in him.

"Didn't what? Kill him?! Do you think I'm stupid? No matter how you look at it, only you are the one that has the most connection with Lars, I don't know what happens between you two, but I can't think of anyone else that wants Lars to be dead, except you!"

General Blake was so sure that Xiao was the one that killed Lars, he signals the guards to take Xiao away while he was ready to use his authority as the Royal Guard to announce something that will seal Xiao's fate before he got stopped by Pope Baton.

"Please! General Blake, please hold your sentence," said Pope Baton unexpectedly by General Blake.

"I understand your position as the Royal Guard, but please be more reasonable, there are still a lot of unclear facts that we may need to into it, we should take our time to investigate more about this incident before making a decision," Pope Baton voices out his concern and thought, his action saved Xiao from the worse.

"I understand, Pontiff Baton, I think I may be rushing to solve the case, but based on the evidence we gathered so far, all arrows are pointed to Xiao, there's no denying that he was the main suspect for the murdering of Lars," General Blake firmly stood stated his point, for he is so convinced that Xiao was the one who killed Lars, not only because of the evidence they found so far, but also because he was an outsider, a replacement of the original Hero of Light, and the second Hero of Darkness, who's the only living being other than the Demon God and its army to possess the element of dark.

"Instead of deciding his fate, I suggest we put him under surveillance for one week, we still need the time to find out more about this incident, maybe thing may not be what we had thought to be, it was a time like this that we need to exercise caution and patience," Pope Baton immediately stated his point right after General Blake explained his point, for he believed it was too sudden to decide anything, for now, they should gather more information and solid evidence so they won't be making any mistake, plus, Xiao had denied that he killed Lars, that alone was enough to convince Pope Baton that he did not do it.

"What do you think, your majesty?" asked Pope Baton as he looked at the King.

"Do what you think best, Supreme Pontiff," said the King without any concern.

"As the Supreme Pontiff of the Julian Empire, I ordered Xiao to be put under surveillance for one week, he will not be harm nor receive any abuse during the time of his surveillance, until then, we will put all our effort in the investigation," Pope Baton makes the declaration using his authority, as it was the only way for the others to listen to him.

"If you said so, Pontiff Baton," General Blake simply obeyed Pope Baton's command as he made a bow.

General Blake signal two of the guards to hold Xiao, which Xiao gave in easily without any resistance, because he knows what he will be going through next, based on his experience in his world, there's no escape, no hope, no miracle, the truth was once again, will be covered over by his death.

(It's happening again, why? Why did I deserve such fate? Did God hate me? Did he hate me for running away from my destiny, for I should be hung to death already in my world? If so, then maybe I should just submit to my fate already...)

With hope gradually faded away from Xiao's eye, all its left was bottomless of despair that filled his soul and mind.

General Blake took one more look at Xiao's lifeless expression before giving an order for the two guards that were holding Xiao.

"Take him to the cell!"