RotDG Chapter 64: Lying, Not Omitting

I stared at the man standing before me. His red hair swept with the wind, and his plate armor shimmered with a faint golden light. He twirled his spear and slammed it to the ground as if emphasizing his presence. Behind him, nothing remained of the mawdrith except for a black stain on the ground.

He was an Inquisitor. A young one at that. Which meant he was especially talented. Probably well-known, too.

And considering the reaction of the watching crowd at his sudden appearance, I was right.

“T-that’s Kai! The Lightbringer of Ortaz!”

“Wait, you mean the famed Inquisitor who slew the Vrogg the Orc Chieftain of the Ortaz Plains?”

“What is Valan’s Indomitable Champion doing here in the outer city?”

“That doesn’t matter— he saved us!”

“He’s truly amazing…”

“—and handsome too…”

A young lady added the last part as she covered her mouth, followed by a few of her friends giggling next to her.

The Inquisitor— Kai— just held out a hand, placating the staring crowd. “Thank you, thank you. However, your gratitude is misplaced. I was just running some errands when this brave young girl came running to me and informed me of what was going on here, and it was her friend who held off this rampaging greater demon for as long as he did before I arrived. So it is both of them that you should thank.”

He smiled, directing the crowd’s attention towards Sonia and I. I blinked as she just shifted back. The crowd turned towards us, a few folks nodding in agreement.

“That’s right— we’d be dead if not for those kids from the Holy Academy!” an old man said as he stepped over a destroyed food stall. 

Kai just turned back towards Sonia and I in approval as the crowd continued to talk amongst themselves in excitement.

Even though I knew Kai couldn’t possibly have known about my true identity, I still felt a slight bit tense around him, just because he was an Inquisitor. But logically speaking I understood that there was not going to be a problem, that was why I was still able to keep my cool around him.

But unlike me, Sonia should have had zero issue with his presence. After all, she was an ordinary teen who was attending the Holy Academy, right? In fact, she was also supposedly the daughter of a famous adventurer. 

There was no reason for her to be evidently nervous around Kai.

And yet, I saw her demeanor— the way she averted her gaze when he looked her way. I watched as she backed away slowly, shuffling her feet uncomfortably. Like she didn’t want to be here for much longer.

As I eyed her curiously, my eyes were drawn towards the Bag of Holding she had slung over her shoulder. And that was when I realized the reason why she was nervous.

It wasn’t even just because of Kai— it was because of all the people who were staring at her. She was afraid that, somehow, some way, they were going to discover the contents of what she was carrying inside of that bag.

I didn’t know for certain what was inside. I presumed they were Artifacts of Death because of what I had sensed, but they could be anything related to death magic. And if this were discovered…

Well, I fully understood her apprehension. So I knew I needed to help her— especially if I wanted to figure out what was going on with her.

And I took my opportunity when Myrla emerged from the side of a broken house, groaning and rubbing her head. Kai turned to her and blinked, somehow recognizing the young girl.

“Myrla?” The Inquisitor stared at her, before rushing to her side. “Wait, you were here too? Are you ok?”

“I-I’m fine… my armor is enchanted with a protection spell…” she said as she wobbled where she stood. “It absorbed most of the impact…”

But it was evidently clear that she was still in a daze from being thrown back at such high speeds. She nearly fell over as she groaned, and Kai caught her.

“If your mother found out you’re out here in the outer city—” he started.

Myrla immediately grabbed him in a panic as she cut him off. “Please don’t tell her that this happened—”

And as their commotion drew the attention of the crowd, I immediately turned to Sonia. She frowned at me as I reached out for her.

“What are you…?” she started.

But I grabbed her Bag of Holding as her eyes went wide. She recoiled, ready to snatch the bag away from me. However, the ring on my finger flickered. And her Bag of Holding vanished, hidden away in my Dimensional Storage Unit.

At the same time, since the wound on my back had fully healed up, I let my [Lesser Domain Of Light] disperse, using the flashing light as a further distraction from what I was doing.

Sonia paused, realizing that her Bag of Holding was gone. She looked up at me in alarm. But I leaned over and spoke into her ear. 

“Don’t worry,” I whispered as I gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “I’ll give it back to you afterwards. Let me just hold onto it for now.”

“I…” She hesitated, gaping at me as she tried to work her jaw. “But how do you know…? Why are you helping…?”

However, I turned away from her as I approached Kai from behind. He was still fussing over Myrla who was trying and failing to shove him off her.

“...but are you hurt? I can heal you if you need—”

“Stop treating me like a child, I’m fine!” 

“Inquisitor Kai—” I said, cutting them both off.

Kai blinked as he looked at me. In that moment of distraction, Myrla took the opportunity to escape from his grasps, pushing him back as she got to her feet. She dusted herself off as she straightened.

Meanwhile, Kai just smiled at me as he placed a hand on his chest. “Please, you may just call me Kai. I take it you are Myrla’s friend?”

I nodded back at him as I smiled, speaking politely. “Indeed I am. My name is Eli, and the girl who called for your help is Sonia Redheart.”

“Sonia Redheart?” He furrowed his brows, evidently recognizing the last name as he looked towards the black-haired girl behind me. “So you’re all students of the Holy Academy, huh? But what were you doing so far from your campus so late at night?”

“We don’t really get the chance to go out too often since we’re so busy,” I lied, gesturing at the three of us. “But since our midterms just ended, we had some free time and decided to go out and explore Albus together. Unfortunately, that was when we were attacked by a group of thugs.”

Myrla raised a brow, hearing the story I made up. Sonia just lowered her head. Kai placed a hand on his chin as he listened. Most of the watching crowd had dispersed at this point, the excitement from earlier gone. Those who remained seemed to want to talk with Kai, rather than ask any questions about what happened. 

“A group of thugs, you say?” Kai asked with a curious look.

“That’s right— we managed to take down two of them. In fact, they might even still be alive, although the greater demon could have gotten to them. I don’t know.” I shook my head. “But when we were about to apprehend the third and final thug, he summoned this greater demon to attack us, before fleeing the scene.”

“I see…” Kai nodded as he tapped a finger on his chin. “And these thugs… did you happen to catch any of their names?”

“I believe the one that got away was called Wyll,” I said, scratching the back of my head. “He might even still be in the area, but I assume he got away. Why do you ask though? Have you heard of him?”

“No, I can’t say I have. But…” Kai trailed off as he looked down the alleyway. “I’ll search the area for this Wyll. You three wait here until the guards arrive. Then you can explain what happened to them while waiting for my return.”

The Inquisitor spoke as he started away from me. I nodded back at him.

“Alright, will do,” I said, watching him go.

He vanished down the side street. But I highly doubted that he would find anything, and I simply sent him off as a distraction. After all,the last thug was probably long gone by now, and I knew the other two incapacitated thugs were dead. The notifications I received during the chase confirmed that.

In fact, I had received even more notifications now that the battle with the greater demon was over. 

ding! 

You have reached Level 27!

+3 [Dexterity]

+1 Free Point

…

ding! 

You have reached Level 33!

+2 [Magic]

+1 [Strength]

+1 Free Point

I leveled up a few times. But since I wasn’t alone in bringing down the two thugs— needing Myrla’s help— while also not being the one to bring down the greater demon… I didn’t gain nearly as many levels as I could have.

Just a mere 5 levels. Even still, I was inching closer and closer to Gold Rank.

Not that it mattered much to me at the moment. Because my focus was still on the situation at hand—

I turned around as Myrla approached me with a suspicious look. 

“So… Eli,” she said as she came to a halt before me. “Why exactly did you lie to Kai?”

Now that the Inquisitor was gone, the last remaining onlookers had left. Although, we were still in the main street, so it was not completely empty. However, everyone seemed to be minding their business now— some of them were just walking by, while others were food vendors looking over their destroyed stalls.

“I didn’t exactly lie,” I said with a shrug. “I simply didn’t tell the whole truth.”

Myrla snorted. “No, you definitely lied.”

“Alright, I did. But I was just trying to help out Sonia.” I nodded past Myrla, looking towards the black-haired teen who was standing quietly to the side, apprehensively glancing around at any passing person.

“But why? Do you even know what Sonia was up to back there? I mean, she was acting pretty suspicious— it looked like those thugs even knew her!” The young girl shook her head.

“You’re right, I have no idea what’s going on,” I said, agreeing with my friend. “But that’s exactly what I’m trying to figure out.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Myrla eyed me dubiously.

“I’ll bring her somewhere private and talk to her,” I explained simply as I patted Myrla on the shoulder. “You just stay put until the guards arrive and tell them the same thing I told Kai.”

“But what if Kai returns?” she asked, looking back down the alleyway. “What do I say to him if he asks where the both of you went?”

I waved a hand dismissively as I walked past her. “Just say we needed to use the bathroom or something.”

“Seriously? As if he’s going to believe that!” the young girl exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes at her. “Then make up some other excuse to tell him. You’re smart, aren’t you? And the both of you are friends too. So I’m sure he’ll believe you.”

“That’s…” Myrla hesitated.

I changed the subject as I chuckled. “Anyway, I’m just surprised you know such a famous Inquisitor, Myrla. As your rival, I feel like this is something you should’ve shared with me sooner.”

“Look, he’s just a family friend, that’s all.” Myrla crossed her arms and scoffed. “I have no reason to bring it up.”

“Well, I’m jealous.” I grinned at her. “I wish you’d introduce me to your family friends. I could learn a thing or two from them.”

“I can’t just do that— I don’t even get that much help from them!” Myrla said, before shaking her head. “Anyway, weren’t you going to talk to Sonia or something?”

“Right, right… I’m on it,” I said, still grinning as I drew back.

And with that, I was finally free to speak to Sonia to figure out what was going on.

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