I quickly left the palace with Nicole in tow after talking with the Emperor. There was no need to stay any longer, and we didn’t have much time to spend in the Empire, since from the moment we started coming here, I had been getting constant messages and calls from the country I was living in. It ranged from the Ministry of Defense, to the Ministry of Magic, and even a summons to speak with the leader of the country.

A lot of them said it was due to there being a report from a high ranking fighter from China that saw me in the attack on the Global Magic Technologies building that we did, and that it was absolutely important that we met to clear things up—mostly because I was a high ranking mage of the country as well, which is the only reason for why they were desperate to talk to me.

As for James, he decided to stay in the Empire to train his Holy Magic more. It seemed like getting one-sidedly pushed back by Eletha left a bad taste in his mouth, so this was his way of moving forward. It was a good thing to do, as there was only one Followers of Leyfall base left, and it was the one where Eletha was most likely to be in, so we had to be as prepared as we could be.

Even I was thinking about going back to a Tainted Land and increasing my powers as much as I could for it, but I wasn’t sure if time would allow it, as right now, there was only the airplane that was already landing on the cloudy city amongst the mountains that I live in.

Nicole appeared to be nervous as we were walking off the airplane, and I could feel the cold air of the city hit me once more. It hadn't changed at all from the time we left and the time I’ve been living in it.

However, I didn't have the time to appreciate it as it didn’t take a few more steps after landing for us to be approached by a few people.

They were police and a couple of people wearing armors like mages and fighters. At the front, an older man wearing the same green uniforms of the military approached me and Nicole, and the people around the airport only stopped to give a glance, before continuing with their own thing.

“Althea Sanctus Stultus and Nicole Lain?” the man asked while giving a look at a tablet and then to us. It was clear that he knew who we were and was just asking as a formality.

“Yes,” I replied with a nod.

The man gave the tablet to another man. “Come with us, please.”

James wasn’t requested simply because he wasn’t considered as ‘special’ as we were, since I was an S rank, and Nicole was being trained under Asteora—or had been, as we hadn’t seen her for a while now.

We quietly followed after the man while being flanked in every direction by the armed group. Once we were outside of the airport, we didn’t have time to even feel the afternoon breeze, as we were escorted to a group of black cars, where Nicole and I settled, before the caravan of cars started moving. It was a rather quiet ride. We didn’t ask questions, and they didn’t make any comments. It was also faster than expected, since the caravan moved into the bus exclusive lanes and just drove straight to our destination.

A large building made out of glossy beige and white bricks, reminiscent of a few of the European buildings we saw in our mission, stood in front of us as the gates opened. It was supposed to be the house of the President, and the place where the ministers sometimes met to talk about the country. This was a similar situation to being summoned by the nobles and royalty.

Once the cars stopped, we were asked to follow the man into the building. There was a need to identify ourselves at the entrance by people wearing those green military uniforms, before we were allowed inside the building. It was quite elegant, with gold decorated chairs and tables; white statues of important people from the country’s past; and large tapestry and paintings that were hanging from the walls.

There was no time to look at them as we were quickly taken to a room that had elegant double doors. Once it opened, the man that took us here gestured with his hand for us to go in. We did as instructed, before the man closed the door behind us, leaving us inside with the handful of people that turned to look at us.

The room was decorated with dark wood walls, in which there were books, and a clock with golden details. At the back, under the gaze of a painted portrait of a man with short hair and a red vest with golden details, was a wide wooden desk and a man sitting behind it. In front of him, sitting on red chairs were a couple of other men who had their eyes turned to me, and at the side were a handful of people either wearing elegant clothes or green military uniforms.

The one that stood out the most for me was the same man that glanced at me when we were fighting with Eletha. He carried a serious expression that didn’t quite compare to the looks of wariness and annoyance that the other people in the room were giving me.

Nicole and I took a step forward and waited for someone to speak, which didn’t take long as the man sitting behind the desk did so after a sigh. “You’re finally here. I was just about to ask for an extradition request to bring you back to the country.”

The man skipped all introductions as I was supposed to know who he was. “Who am I talking to and why was I brought here?”

The few people in the room looked with raised eyebrows or widened eyes at what I said. I couldn’t be sure if it was because I didn’t know the man, or if it was because I didn’t know what they wanted. But still, after a moment, the astonishment was cleared and someone else answered.

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“Don’t you… Don’t you know who the president of your country is?” asked one of the men sitting in front of the desk. I seemed to recall him… he was the man that insisted on speaking with Asteora when she first came here. I believe he was the Minister of Magic. “This is your President, Uriel Michelsen.”

The President was a middle aged man with a light tan tone of skin color. His hair was thin with a few gray hairs, and despite the look of surprise that he had a moment ago, he carried a tired look—whether it was from work or simply a natural thing, I didn’t know. As for the other couple of men—the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Magic—they appeared to be older than the President, but not by that much as I could see plenty of dark hairs in their heads.

After a moment of silence, the President spoke once more. “We brought you here due to the extremely worrying events that transpired at the other side of the world. So far, any information about your involvement—and our country’s involvement by extension—has been kept quiet to the public. The only people that recognized you were in that building at the moment, including Feng Liu here, who has been adamant about meeting with you…”

The man took a step forward and bowed his head in a gesture I hadn’t seen before. “Feng Liu, S ranker.” Saying that, he lifted his head and looked directly at me. “I saw you at the destroyed top floor of the Wang Kai Tower; fighting that woman. I come here asking for answers and… for revenge.”

“Answers and revenge… is it?” I replied with a low tone of voice.

“We’re also looking for answers,” followed up the Minister of Magic. “How is it that you were in that place of all places, and why?”

I considered for a moment what to answer to them. These people were the same as the nobles I’ve dealt with in the past, so I had to think about what I wanted to do with them. There was always the option of ignoring them and doing as I pleased, or using force to get my message across as I did last time… but I figured that these people were just concerned about the consequences that might befall on them for my actions, so it was better to be honest with them.

“I was on a mission to exterminate a cult, the Followers of Leyfall,” I simply replied. “It was… my duty…”

“Your duty?” the Minister of Defense questioned. “What does a group related to the otherworlders have to do with you?”

“I am an otherworlder,” I answered with my head held high.

“What?” the man that spoke just now exclaimed with surprise, turning his head to look at a woman with a green uniform, “Is that the case? I thought our information placed her as a citizen of our country.”

The woman that he turned to look at quickly moved her fingers on a tablet, and after a few seconds, she nodded her head. “That appears to be the case on the national records. It says here that she’s a national… with an ID card and a Citizen Card… nothing about being from the other world.”

The man turned again to look at me with a frown. “Are you lying to us?”

I shook my head. “No. I have those things due to extraordinary circumstances… I… used to be the Hero of the Holy Gods.”

There were a few looks of surprise from the people in the room, but the President and the Minister of Defense simply looked at me like I was a crazy person.

“Can you… explain that…?” the Minister of Defense asked, but the Minister of Magic nodded before I said anything.

“That was a title that some people from the other world use for a person that was supposedly picked by their Gods to lead them in a Holy War against demons and the like. She was supposed to be dead—if she ever existed, and it wasn’t just a folklore tale from the people of that world, that is,” he said with a rather confident tone.

“And you claim to be this person?” the President asked, leaning on his desk.

I nodded my head first, but then hesitated and shook it. “I was. I no longer am as…” I turned to look at Feng Liu. “There’s a new Hero of the Holy Gods. It’s that girl that you fought at the tower.”

Everyone turned to look at him, but he just frowned as he looked down. “So she’s supposed to be that being… it would exclaim why her Holy Magic doesn’t quite match what we have on records… or why she would seemingly get a boost in power randomly.”

“You believe this?” the Minister of Defense asked, taken aback.

“This is a world with magic and magical beings. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for there to be such an existence as well,” Feng Liu replied, then turned to look at me. “But I believe you know more about her than we do.”

With a nod, I replied, “Yes. She’s currently in this country as well, hiding in the jungle or the mountains. According to what we know, she was part of an extreme group called ‘The People’s Liberation Army’, and she went by an alias of ‘The Saint’.”

“Huh?!” the Minister of Defense exclaimed, nearly standing up from his chair before settling down back on it. “How can that be? I know that one… She’s the Commander of the Southwestern War Front. She’s always refused to have any sort of peace negotiations because of the demons and such in our country… Her being a supposed ‘Holy Hero’ would explain why now, since we knew that they had connections to some religious cult, but we didn’t expect them to be this tied together…”

“They’re part of the Followers of Leyfall now,” I followed up.

“Hm… maybe just in name… since a lot of the people that we engage with still call themselves as simply being part of the PLA…” the Minister of Defense said with a thoughtful expression.

“Regardless, it is still not acceptable for you to be in a foreign country, killing and fighting without our consent,” the President followed up. “Under whose authority did you go do that?”

“The Emperor of Leyfall and my old master, Asteora,” I replied with a shrug.

There was a moment of silence between the people here, with the President in particular frowning deeply. “I’m getting tired of having to yield to these sorts of supernatural entities…” He turned his glare to the Minister of Magic. “I thought that your Ministry was there to ensure that these people worked for the benefit of the country and everyone living in it, not for foreign powers.”

“W-well…” The Minister stuttered. “Someone like Lady Asteora… I don’t think our country has the kind of power to do anything about her…”

With a heavy sigh and a shake of his head, the President turned to look at Feng Liu. “Since it’s come to this. Do tell us what you wish to have in return for not spreading these girls’ involvement with what happened in your country.”

“I never threatened that,” Feng Liu said with an eyebrow raised, but then turned his attention to me. “No matter… That girl killed Shen Xi, a brave man with a lot of great things to look forward to in his life, who would’ve been able to step into the S ranks in a short time,” he paused as he looked at me with a determined eye. “I wish to have justice for what she did to him, and for that, me and my team are willing to work with you. We’ll help you bring down that woman.”