Awkward situations have been the pinnacle of human interaction. Ever had that one embarrassing situation that no party wants to talk about it, but said situation was so big that literally nobody could ignore it? Yes? Good. Now picture that with the entirety of a lifetime and you'd have a pretty good guess with how I lived.

Do you know what that means? Simple: I am the king of awkwardness. Not only can I power through awkward silence with my own, resolute silence, I am also able to create awkward situations with nothing more than words!

Truly, nobody can claim the throne of awkwardness other than Hikigaya Hachiman.

In fact-no. Stop that.

I breathed in through my nose as I composed myself. The monologue building up in my head was swiftly cut down. I knew the reason for me starting it in the first place was to placate my annoyance at the Great Spirit sitting comfortably in front of us.

When Beatrice had stopped our fight, we were quickly portalled to the mansion, though the Cultists were still encased in spheres of pink. What was strange to me was that she was being extra careful with Romanée-Conti, reciprocated in kind by the Archbishop.

They knew each other. Personally, at that. Karsten and Wilhelm were of the same opinion, I was certain. They may look on impassively from the outside, but their grips on their weapons had not slackened by a margin.

I had schooled my own features to be the same as theirs. At least, I hoped I did. The tiredness that I had been trying to ignore was getting more and more prevalent. Only the quick bit of healing from Argyle kept me awake. Apparently, he could essentially drug someone awake by pumping just a bit of specialized mana into them.

Speaking of the knight, he was practically glaring a hole through Beatrice's head. I was glad that Emilia had the foresight to send off both maids to watch over the rest of the Karsten contingent. If not, those two would have gladly joined Argyle. Thankfully, he wasn't glaring at Natsuki. He still had his head on properly. Had he not, he likely would have thought that the kid had something to do with this. Though, seeing the bewildered look on the NEET's face would have been the indicator that he was not.

Did that mean that his clairvoyance was not as infallible as I had thought? He had been correct for almost everything he had said, so how was it that he would be wrong about all of this?

"Beatrice-sama, I see that you are doing well." Romanée-Conti was the first to speak among us. In an instant, the tension built up more and more. I had to admit, even I was stumped. Beatrice, during my time here, had not seemed to be a Cultist any more than Natsuki.

"Geuse…" Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti. The Archbishop's full name. Beatrice even had a damn nickname for him! Was this an instance of the Great Spirit knowing him before he became a Cultist? If so, that would at least explain the melancholy I could spot from Beatrice.

"Oi, Beako, what the hell is going on?" Surprisingly, the next person that spoke wasn't Karsten, or Ram, or even Emilia. Beatrice didn't reply, only fidgeting in silence. Natsuki had wiped the previous confusion off his face and was now glaring at the immobile Archbishop, "Did you mess with her head, you bastard?!"

"I did no such thing." Romanée-Conti calmly stated, staring at him, then to Karsten, "Duchess Karsten, you can confirm my words, can you not? Neither myself nor my companions have done anything to Beatrice-sama's mind."

Reluctantly, Karsten replied, "Truth."

"Can we seriously believe a lunatic like this?" In that same instant, Argyle scoffed, "For all we know, he's insane enough that what he's done is completely separate from what he thinks is real!"

"I understand your caution, Knight of Blue." The Archbishop closed his eyes, "That is why I am willing to put all my cards on the table, no strings attached."

"Then tell me what the hell you did to Beako!" I was certain the only reason why Natsuki didn't strangle the Cultist was the barrier covering him. Not the first thing I wanted to ask, but Natsuki was still the protagonist here. He needs to show the audience that he cares about his friends, after all.

"A bit over four hundred years ago, I tutored her at the behest of her mother." Shrugging almost nonchalantly, the Archbishop continued, "I taught her about the wider world, and whatever else her mother wanted."

"You expect us to believe that you are over four hundred years old?" Argyle spat out with as much vitriol as possible, with Karsten only narrowing her eyes. Clearly, Romanée-Conti was telling the truth, seeing as she didn't call him out.

"Yes, since I am a Spirit, after all."

"Tch." The knight clicked his tongue and backed off. While most Spirits took the form of orbs of light, there were no rules that a Spirit couldn't have a human-like body. Case in point, Beatrice.

"Then, then how do you know Emilia? What do you want with her?!" Something was wrong with Natsuki. Trying to find a hole where there wasn't one, or something along those lines. It was like he was desperate for Romanée-Conti to be the raving lunatic that Natsuki had claimed him to be.

I suppose the trembling of his entire body was great enough that even Emilia, usually woefully ignorant to social cues like that, placed a hand on Natsuki's arm. It didn't stop the kid from glaring at the Archbishop though.

Sighing, though through the barrier, I could barely pick it up, Romanée-Conti closed his eyes, "Perhaps it would be better to start from the beginning. That is to say, the Witch Cult itself. I am assuming that none of you know of the structure of the Cult?"

A round of glances, particularly from the duchess next to me. Oi oi oi, why are you looking at me? Leaning towards me, Karsten whispered, "Hikigaya, what do you think of this?"

What is this? Why the hell is she asking me and not, you know, the two other people that are standing next to you? Regardless, I answered her, "More intel is more intel. Even if he lies, we can confirm that that isn't how the Cult works."

Yes, that was the truth of it all. Should Romanée-Conti lie, we can eventually build up a web of those lies to let the truth pass through. It wouldn't be the case should he tell the truth, but the idea still had merit. Moreover, the Archbishop had been surprisingly cooperative, not even yelling out any stereotypical light novel villain quotes when he was captured.

That being said, why do you look so satisfied with my answer, Karsten? Was this lowly blacksmith's opinion that highly regarded? Careful with that, you might actually make Argyle jealous, you knoooow?

Alright, enough of that.

"I thought as much." The Cultist nodded to himself, "When the Witch Cult was first created, it had one goal in mind: prevent the Witch of Envy from crossing back into the world."

Almost immediately, that single sentence brought about a wave of protests, "That's absurd! Your entire fucking Cult worships the damn Witch!" Argyle's violent reactions were only tempered by Wilhelm gripping his shoulder.

"That was more of a recent development, I'm afraid." Romanée-Conti frowned, "In the beginning, when Master Flugel and I founded the Cult, we wished to keep the Witch of Envy contained, while the Master figured out a method by which to save Satella."

There was a small gasp, one that I recognized came from Natsuki of all people. He was gripping his chest tightly, as if he had just had a heart attack. He looked scared for a moment there. Suspicious, and something I'll have to look into later, I think. We all paused as we stared at him, watching as Emilia fretted over him.

Hm. Flugel. Flugel's Tree. Well, I can certainly believe that that tree has been there for at least four hundred years.

Shaking her head, Karsten directed her attention back to the captured Cultist. "You may believe that, but you claim that you wished to help Satella, while keeping the Witch of Envy contained, despite them being the same person?" As expected, she immediately latched back to the important questions.

Well, I suppose the answer was already obvious. Or rather, there were several possible answers to that. One, Satella wasn't the name of the Witch of Envy. Two, a case of mistaken identity, which also doubled as the first answer.

Neither of the two would be unprecedented. Even in my own world, deeds and actions attributed to one person could actually be the work of another. History was just so muddled before the time of digital records that just about anyone can claim to have done anything.

The idea that the real Witch of Envy would pin the blame on an innocent person was just par for the course at this point.

Of course, because the light novel setting was obviously building up to it, I already knew the real answer.

"Hm. A split personality then?" I raised an eyebrow as I spoke, gathering the attention of the room. Romanée-Conti stared at me in slack-jawed surprise.

"I-Yes, yes, you're correct. How did you…?"

I snorted and pointed my thumb at Karsten, "Living lie detector here, and not the first one. Should the Witch have said their name was Satella and it showed up as a lie, then I think that that would have been written down somewhere."

See, that's the difference between my world and this one. Where my world only had the words of those who said they did what they said, this world has living lie detectors. Now, I wasn't entirely sure if the first Sword Saint had the same ability as Karsten and Reinhard, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

"Therefore, the only logical solution to the idea that the Witch of Envy and Satella are the same person, and you wanting to help Satella but not the Witch is either the Witch possessing Satella, or a split personality with varying control. And with how people are still scared of the Witch all this time, I'm guessing that she wouldn't have had trouble completely subsuming Satella had it really been a possession. Ergo, split personality."

I distinctly left out the part that such a plot point would be par for the course when dealing with light novels. Really, how else are you going to engage the audience than to have them theorize about a four hundred year old conspiracy?

Damn, I need to get some water. Not just due to my suddenly parched throat, but to also avoid having to stare at the wide-eyed looks from the room.

Romanée-Conti let out a tired laugh, "To think, someone would figure it out just from that. Has anyone told you how terrifying you are, Hachiman Hikigaya?" Shaking his head, the Archbishop continued, "Regardless, I have digressed. After Master Flugel's disappearance, his last orders were for me to guard the Seal of Elior Forest. I did so for three hundred years, during which, the Witch Cult expanded in size."

Nobody interrupted him this time, half of the room too damn focused on what I said. You would think that these boneheads, having four hundred years to do so, would have fact checked their history. Dammit, this is why you have to cite your references!

Nonetheless, I saw Emilia perk up at the mention of Elior Forest. Hm. Wasn't she from there?

"My Fingers and I guarded it, alongside a village of elves-"

"Grk!"

"Emilia-tan?!" Natsuki was beside the elf in a heartbeat. The white haired elf was coughing as she pressed her hands to her ears. She started hyperventilating, looking around wildly. Holding her close, he roared at the barrier separating them from Romanée-Conti.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!"

"N-Nothing! I swear to you, I wouldn't even try anything that might hurt Emilia-sama!"

Argyle was up in the next moment. The anger at the Cultist was still there, but this time tempered by his professionalism as a healer. I spied Karsten and Wilhelm's faces as the healer inspected her. I found it odd that neither of them reacted to a possible attack. Was it because Romanée-Conti was telling the truth?

Guiding the half-elf out of the room, he gave assurances to Natsuki that he'd take care of her. Natsuki was obviously conflicted between getting answers and taking care of Emilia.

I closed my eyes as I snorted, "You better leave it to Argyle. Not like any of us can do anything to help her if he can't."

"But-"

"If you want to help her, maybe find out the why it happened."

"..." Natsuki paused for a moment before nodding in acceptance. He whipped around to Romanée-Conti.

Insanity.

That was my first thought as I saw the look in Natsuki's eyes. Pinpricks of sheer and utter madness. He slammed his fist into the pink barrier, "Answer me. What. Did. You. Do?"

"Subaru-dono, I believe we can answer that." Wilhelm stepped forward to place a hand on Natsuki's shoulder. It certainly prevented him from attacking Beatrice's work a second time.

"Wilhelm-san?" Natsuki was confused for a moment, knocking him out of his rage.

"Shellshock, Subaru Natsuki." Karsten still sat impeccably in the chair, despite the grimness of her tone, "Emilia displayed some symptoms of shellshock. We're familiar with it as some veterans from the Demi-Human War are still under constant supervision by Ferris."

Shellshock. PTSD. Yes, I could definitely see it in her reaction. I think Natsuki had the same thought process. Certainly, he and I would have seen that in the media we consumed. It was a fairly popular trope, after all, that the main character, or one of their close friends, would suffer from some form of PTSD.

"...Yes, I suppose that would make sense." Romanée-Conti had an air of regret. His eyes glazed over, as if looking for something only he could see, "I will keep it brief then, for Emilia-sama's privacy. I met her over a hundred years ago, in that elven village where she and her aunt lived. It was…"

He paused for a moment, "They were attacked, and though my Fingers and I tried to defend the village, we were too weak. The details are not mine to speak of, but suffice it to say, the Permafrost of Elior Forest started because of that. It was only because of…an important person to me that I am alive to tell the tale."

In that instance, I could see Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti properly. Not as an Archbishop of the Witch Cult. Not as a Spirit that was over four hundred years old.

As a man that had lost too much and was ready to give up. Only pushing forward for that small bit of hope that he still stubbornly clung onto.

And I hated it.

I hated that it resembled the same look I would sometimes see in the mirror.

…

A/N: If you like what I do and want to support me, check out my P-atreon at P-atreon•com(slash)Almistyor.

And a special thanks to: FireRogueWolf25, brutalcrab and Tassimo.