‘Arrest, you say? What crimes have we committed?’ Albanese asks Wilson.

‘Why, by trying to dethrone His Holiness the Pope and replacing him with that puppet of yours.’ Wilson points at Kaoru.

‘That’s preposterous! For all we know, you people are the ones who’re attempting to do that!’ Albanese says angrily.

‘Resorting to defamation, are we? We’re not the one who found someone with the power to heal wounds and decide to bring him over to Italy without telling His Holiness.’

‘That was to protect him from you lot!’

‘Again, defamation. His Holiness would not be happy about this.’

‘You got that right. He would have you severely punished!’

‘Signore Albanese, have you not been listening? You’re the ones who are being arrested here.’

‘And we could prove our innocence easily enough.’

‘Assuming that His Holiness believes you. Chances are, he will not.’

‘We’ll see about that.’

Wilson signals to his knights. Eight of them sheathes their swords and take out a pair of handcuffs from their belt and use those to cuff our hands behind our back.

‘As you might have guessed, those handcuffs are anti-magic, so don’t bother to try anything.’ Wilson tells us.

I doubt any of us is stupid enough to do something when we’re being arrested by the Church. Resisting arrest would just make things worse.

The knights surround us and bring us outside, where there are some armored vehicles parked at the parking lot. We were then randomly pushed inside the back of one of the vehicle. I’m inside the same vehicle with Ichika and Yui, along with eight knights.

Soon after the vehicle starts to move, I start to have headache and drowsiness due to jet lag. Ichika and Yui didn’t say a thing, but I could tell that they’re also experiencing it from their expressions.

‘I wonder where they’ll be taking us.’ I say.

‘Probably the crypt underneath the church. I’ve heard that all criminals that they arrest will be taken there.’ Ichika tells me.

‘Wait, aren’t crypts used to contain coffins and stuff?’

‘They are, but the Church also use it to imprison anyone they caught.’

‘Great, so we have to spend a night with foreign spirits.’

Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.

‘S-Spirits…g-g-ghosts…’ Yui stutters with a pale face.

‘I was joking, Yui!’ I say quickly. ‘Those spirits have definitely passed on!’

‘There is nothing to worry about, Kiryuu.’ Ichika adds.

‘I sure hope so…’

‘That said, I was careless. I didn’t include the possibility that knights would ambush us once we arrived. We should have been more discreet.’

‘Don’t blame yourself, Akira-kun. I’m sure they would have found out anyway, considering their interest in Ueyama-kun.’

‘She is right, Akira. Now, the only thing we can do is to testify ourselves in front of the Pope when morning comes.’

‘I don’t know. There’s something about Wilson that unsettles me. He seems to be very confident that we would be found guilty, even though we’re innocent.’

‘It does not matter. We are innocent. At the end of the day, the ones who are truly guilty will get their due judgement.’

I could only hope that her words are true.

When the vehicle finally stops moving, we got ushered out of the back by the knights. We’re currently at a parking lot, and next to it is one of the largest church I’ve seen in my life.

‘The St. Peter’s Basilica.’ Ichika whispers.

As I thought, I’m looking at the largest church in Italy.

Eventually, everyone got out of the respective vehicles they were in. We are then led to the church.

‘Welcome to the St. Peter’s Basilica, everyone.’ Wilson says to us once we’re at the entrance. ‘Or in Signore Albanese’s case, welcome back.’

‘Now then, we’ll be having a gender segregation here. The gentlemen will be spending the night inside the crypts, with rats as their room mates. As for the ladies, you get to have a late-night tea party with me, then have your beauty sleep inside one of the many rooms inside the church.’

‘I thank you for the generous offer, Sir Wilson. However, we would rather spend the night with the rats.’ Sakuya declines coldly.

‘You misunderstood me, Miss Morifuji. That wasn’t an offer. It was a threat.’

Wilson walks to me and punches my gut. His punch isn’t strong, but his gauntlet is hard enough to make me bend over in pain.

‘Stop! Alright, we’ll go!’ Sakuya shrieks.

Wilson smiles.

‘I knew you would understand. Men, take this filth and the other two to the crypt. I’ll interrogate them shortly.’

And so, we got separated into two groups. Us guys got locked up inside a room that’s meant to keep coffins, while the girls are led to somewhere to have tea with that vile knight.

Before the knights who brought us here leave the roo, our body are searched thoroughly for any suspicious objects, and our phones got confiscated.

‘Does your stomach still hurts, Kagenashi-san?’ Kaoru asks me.

‘Nope. His punch was too weak to give me any real damage.’ I assure him.

‘I have failed all of you. I have underestimated them, and this is the result. I apologize.’ Albanese says.

‘No. I’m at fault too. I shouldn’t have suggested to come here. We just gave them ammunition to hand us false charges by doing as I suggested.’ I say guiltily.

‘No, in the end, it was me! My existence got us all into this mess!’ Kaoru joins in the guilt trip.

‘Whoa whoa whoa, you’re going too far there, Kaoru. Never blame yourself for being alive.’

‘That’s right. Every life is a gift, and each should be treasured.’ Albanese tells him.

‘Right, enough blaming ourselves for the mess we’re in. We should rest up as much as possible so that we can face the Pope later.’ I say to them both.

Both of them nod, although Kaoru still looks guilty.

After a few hours, Wilson comes inside the room, with two knights as his guards.

‘Wait outside, and don’t let anyone in no matter what.’ he orders the knights.

They both nod and go outside.

As a veteran anime fan, it’s been bothering me for a long time that every Tom, Dick and Harry know how to speak Japanese in most anime, even though they’ve never learned the language. I guess having Japanese voice actors/actresses to speak foreign languages would be too dificult for them.

‘Greetings again, gentlemen. How are you faring so far?’ he asks us smugly.

‘I was about to complain about the lack of rats, until a huge one just came in.’

‘My, still so sharp-tongued? Perhaps you require another beating.’

‘Where are the girls?’ I ask him.

‘No need to worry about them. They’re probably sleeping comfortably in the rooms provided for them.’

‘That so?’

‘Oh? I was expecting you to say something along the line of “if you dare to harm them…” or something like that.’

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

I shrug. ‘I’m not really in a position to make threats that don’t carry any weight.’

‘So you do understand your situation. Good, good.’

‘What exactly are you knights planning by framing us for a crime that we didn’t commit?’ Albanese asks Wilson.

‘Isn’t that obvious? We’re trying to get rid of you. Most of us would love to establish a new Church by using him as our “founder.”’ Wilson points at Kaoru. ‘The problem is, you would definitely get in our way, so we figured that we need to do something about you first. I can’t believe that you made our job easier.’

‘How did you even knew we were coming?’ I ask him.

‘We had the church Signore Albanese works at wiretapped. He was clever enough to install a jammer in one of his rooms, but he didn’t see it through when he called his pilot. You should have sent a letter, Signore.’

‘You mentioned “most of you”. Are you saying that it’s not only the Order?’ now it’s Albanese who’s asking the question.

‘Of course not. There’s Signore Alterio, Signore Mirra, Signore Virzi, Signore Walsh , Signore Kelly , and lots of others.’

‘But, those names you mentioned all belongs to the top brass in the Church!’

‘Top brass, yes. But not the top. Which is why they want to kick His Holiness out of the club and make a new one. A new Church based on their belief.’

‘And what kind of belief is that?’

‘A world where everyone worships the same One True God. Every other deities must be banished and shunned, for they are nothing but false idols.’

Albanese shakes his head. ‘All of you are mad. No, even calling you mad is an understatement. No one should be forced into a religion. That’s just plain wrong.’

‘See, this is why we’ve decided to have you erased. Not to mention that His Holiness thinks the same way as you do. In case the two of you haven’t noticed, we can never have peace because everyone have different beliefs. The only way for them to stop fighting is by convincing them to worship a single God. Ours.’

Albanese sneers. ‘Convince? You mean brainwash.’

Wilson shrugs. ‘If that’s the word you want to use.’

‘And if they refuse to be brainwashed?’ I ask him.

He smiles at that question, and it’s a grotesque smile at that.

‘We burn them like the heretics they are.’

Yup. This guy is 100% insane.

‘And don’t bother to claim innocence in front of His Holiness later. The other Inquisitors would just pressure him into giving all of you death sentence anyway. Well, all of you except the puppet. After that, it’ll be His Holiness's turn to die.’

‘Wait, even the students?’ Albanese asks incredulously. ‘It’s me you want dead! Leave them out of this!’

‘Nope, no can do. The students at the Royal Blade Academy will be our biggest threat should we reveal our propaganda, even bigger than Lost Children. We need to kill off as many of them as possible as fast as possible. Besides,’ Wilson points at me. ‘this one has always been getting on my nerves ever since we first met. I would love to see him burn while being tied to a stake.’

‘Do I get to roast marshmallows while I burn?’ I ask.

Wilson narrows his eyes. ‘It’s either you’re very brave, or very stupid.’

I shrug. ‘I prefer the term brave.’

‘Is that so? Let’s see how brave you are when the fire starts to burn your flesh.’

After Wilson’s done making sure that I could not get my last few hours of sleep in peace, he leaves the cell.

‘...Truly, I’m very sorry for involving all of you in our pointless politics.’ Albenese apologizes again while sitting down on the floor in despair.

‘Albanese-san, please stop doing that, or else Kaoru will start apologizing too.’ I tell him while sitting down as well.

Kaoru also sits down on the floor. He’s trying very hard not to cry.

‘Right, I’m-I mean, my bad.’

‘So, there’s really no way for us to escape this?’ I ask Albanese.

‘If majority of the Church are indeed in cahoots to get rid of the Pope and I, then no. As Wilson has said, they will vote for having us executed, even if His Holiness does not really wishes for it.’

‘If only we could replay what Wilson had said.’

‘That will indeed stop their ploy. Unfortunately, we can’t.’

‘Right. It’s not like we’re carrying around a voice recorder or something.’

Now that I’ll be dead in a few hours, it really got me thinking. If I die, will I return to the real world? Or will I die and land in the Japanese Hell?

All this while, Kaoru had been sitting quietly all by himself. He looks so sad I have to stop my conversation with Albanese to calm him down.

‘You okay there, Kaoru?’ I ask.

‘Yes, I-I’m okay…’

Even though he’s putting up a front, it’s still obvious that he’s actually freaking out. I don’t blame him. I mean, in a few hours, he has to spend his life as a puppet for a group of religious fanatics.

‘You know, there’s no need for you to act tough. Given the circumstances, it’s okay to be afraid. No one’s going to laugh at you.’

He shakes his head stubbornly. ‘No. I’ve caused so much trouble for all of you. The least I could do is being brave.’

‘Listen Kaoru. Being brave is more than just staring fear in the face and not averting your gaze. It also takes courage to admit that you’re afraid. It has nothing to do with your gender or your background, being scared is part of human nature. If you want to be stronger, you would do well to remember that.’

Hearing my words somehow calmed him down.

‘Yes, thank you for your words of encouragement. Um, may I call you aniki?’

‘What? What’s this all of a sudden?’

‘You see, I’m an only child, so I’ve always wanted an older sibling that I could look up to. I do respect my father a lot, but it’s still sounds nice to have an older brother.’

‘Well, if you insist.’

‘Thank you, aniki!’

‘It’s getting really late now. We should sleep and rest up while we can. After all, we have to see the Pope in a few hours.’

‘Yes, aniki!’

Albanese nods in agreement.

The room is kind of hot and the floor is quite hard, but we still manage to get some sleep. A few hours later, we got rudely awakened by some knights, who proceed to shove us out of the room.

Wilson is already outside waiting for us along with the girls and more knights. I’m quite relieved to see that the girls are unharmed. In fact, they look like they had a good night sleep.

‘Had a good time inside, gentlemen?’ Wilson asks us.

‘I guess. There were no rats like you promised, though. Other than that, the room is nice.’ I say to him.

‘I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll be sure to find some rodents so that the next group of tenants can enjoy their stay. Now then, shall we go? His Holiness is waiting.’

On our way to see the Pope, Wilson strikes up a conversation with Sakuya.

‘Won’t you consider my proposal again? If you agreed to become my lover, I promise that you at least will be spared. Of course, the same goes for your female friends as well.’

‘I thank you for your kind offer, sir knight. However, I would rather be burned alive, no matter how many times you asked me the same question.’ Sakuya tells him coldly. ‘I’m sure the others think the same as me.’

Ichika, Mashiro, Yui and Ichika nod in agreement.

‘A shame. Well, don’t say I didn’t give you a chance to save yourself, since I definitely did.’

Soon, we reach a huge hall, even larger than the hall I saw in Ueyama Group’s HQ. Eginardo Di Giacomo, more commonly know as Pope Jorge, is sitting on a throne while wearing his most formal cassock and his heavy-looking crown. On both his sides stand Inquisitors and pastors of the highest ranks, and one of them is Oliva who’s supposed to be dead in the original anime.

Majority of them has a smug look on their face, as if they’re one step closer in reaching their goal. I’m kind of surprised to see that Oliva is not making the same expression. His looks is just an impassive one.

We’re brought right in front of the Pope. We then kneel down like a hunch of good falsely-charged criminals. Wilson wastes no time in being dramatic.

‘Your Holiness, may I present to you the-’

‘Excuse me, may I have a second?’ I interrupt him.

Wilson turns to glare at me. ‘Can’t you see that I’m talking here?’

‘Yeah, I saw and heard you loud and clear.’

‘Then you should know better than to interrupt someone who’s talking.’

‘I do know. The thing is, I was just trying to make you save your breath.’

‘You’re not making any sense.’

‘I will in a few minutes.’

I look at the Pope. ‘Your Holiness, may I make a phone call?’

‘Is it crucial to your trial?’ he asks me.

‘Absolutely.’

‘Very well. Granted.’

‘Thank you, Your Holiness.’

I start to look around. ‘Can someone get my phone from wherever it is? Or even better, unlock the handcuffs so that I could get it myself?’

Wilson scoffs. ‘As if anyone is stupid enough t-’

Oliva speaks all of a sudden. ‘Signore Wilson. Unlock his handcuffs. And someone, go and get his phone.’

‘Sir, you can’t be se-’

‘Just do it.’

Wilson takes out a bunch of keys reluctantly.

‘You better not be going on a rampage the moment the handcuffs are off.’ he warns me.

‘Trust me, I won’t.’

He proceeds to unlock to handcuffs from my wrists. A knight was already on his way to get my phone. When he’s back, my phone is in his hand, which he passes to me.

All the while, the hall is filled with dreadful tension, as if all of them expect me to go wild. I ignore the intense stares and search for Ueno’s number.

For some reason, Takagi is the one who picks up the phone.

‘Hey, Kagenashi. You really took your time, huh?’

‘Takagi, is that you? Where’s Ueno?’

‘Oh, he’s asleep. We had to take turns to keep watch, in case you ever called.’

‘I see. Sorry for the trouble. Did he briefed you on the thing I need?’

‘Yeah, and we’re already done editing the recorded voice so that only the important parts are left.’

‘Great. Can you play it out loud?’

‘Of course. Just give me a second. And oh, put your phone on speaker mode.’

‘Got it.’

I did as he says and point my phone’s screen at the Pope. Needless to say, everyone is confused at my action.

‘“…exactly are you knights planning by framing us for a crime that we didn’t commit?”’ Albanese’s voice comes out of the speaker.

I couldn’t help but sneaking a glance at Wilson. His face is a deathly shade of white.

‘“Isn’t that obvious? We’re trying to get rid of you. Most of us would love to establish a new Church by using hi…”’

And the prerecorded voices keeps on playing, right up to my question where I asked Wilson about roasting marshmallows while I’m burning.

The hall is in absolute silence for a few seconds. Eventually, it was the Pope who broke the silence.

‘...Care to explain, Signore Wilson?’ The Pope asks with barely concealed anger.

Wilson is now trembling from head to toe.

‘Your Holiness, I…’

‘You forgot to kneel.’ the Pope reminds him.

Wilson kneels down obediently, as do 5 of the people who’re standing at the Pope’s sides. I take it that they’re the ones whose name were mentioned by Wilson.

‘Please, Your Holiness. That wasn’t my voice, he modified someone’s voice to be the same as mine!’

‘Not true.’ I contradict him. ‘I could have my friend who’s still at the phone here to send you the copy of the voice record and have it checked. It’s 100% genuine.’

‘How did you even record it? My knights made sure to search your body for suspicious items!’

‘Apparently, they didn’t do a good job at it. Takagi, if you would?’ I speak into my phone.

‘Give me a second.’

I stretch out my left hand. Slowly, a small bug crawls out of my sleeve and goes to my index finger. It’s the same bug that was on the memory card I got from Ueno.

‘This tiny fellow is a remote controlled voice recorder, a proud creation from our Academy’s Research Department.’ I introduce.

It’s so small that the Pope has to squint his eyes in order to see it.

‘When Albanese-san and I were in the room with the jammer, he wrote to me that the Order had been acting suspicious for a while, and he realized that the whole place was wiretapped, which is why he had a signal jammer installed in the conference room, so that he and his allies could have conversations without being eavesdropped.’

‘I figured that if we did go to Italy, we might get arrested for false charges. I thought that we could get one of the perpetrators to confess his crimes when we’re alone, so I sent my friend a message in order to borrow this voice recorder.’

‘But, no such message was seen!’ Wilson says.

‘On the surface, yes. I knew you guys would be reading my messages like a hawk, so I wrote in code words. Thankfully, my friend understood what I need. Also, you just admitted that you wiretapped.’

Wilson gasps loudly at his mistake.

‘Well, that’s how it is. Sir Wilson here got overconfident and couldn’t keep his mouth shut. As a result, he confessed that he and lots of others are hatching up an insane plan.’

‘Would you like to defend yourself against the young man’s accusation, Sir Wilson?’ the Pope asks.

Wilson bows down his head so low his head is almost touching the ground.

‘...No, Your Holiness. I plead guilty.’