Pastor's Tantra

When Haina took little Sherlock home, she was blocked by her mother at the door of the blacksmith shop before she even entered the door of the inner room.

She slapped herself in front of her nose, her brows furrowed and her expression changed: "Did you take your guests to the swamp?"

……Eh?

Haina was stunned for a moment, and then realized that she was contaminated with the stench of the swamp.

Sherlock on the side sighed appropriately.

——Hey, what are you sighing about? Didn’t you discover it yourself?

Haina felt somewhat dissatisfied.

But now she is no longer the immature girl she was when she just graduated - in the few months of communicating with those troublesome logic circles, Haina has mastered the profession of making up lies based on what others say. Skill.

Of course, it may also be the subtle influence from Aiwass.

Now that she has had more contact with him, Haina finally realized that Aiwass really likes to lie!

When I first met Aiwass, I didn't know how much of what he said was true...

But it doesn’t matter.

Anyway, he is now Minister Aiwass. Even if it is false it can be true.

Haina's mind was spinning with thoughts, and then she said without changing her expression: "I miss my childhood. I loved going there to play when I was a kid."

"It's dangerous there, don't you know? It's a restricted area in the village!"

Haina's mother frowned: "What if you fall in? They are all poisonous swamps!"

"Hey, you can't fall down. I'm familiar with that side of the swamp..."

Haina laughed and pretended not to take it seriously: "When I was a child, I would go there once every three days, and I never saw any danger. I didn't encounter any danger when I was a child, and Xia...Arthur must have no problem either. The weight of a child It’s easy, and I’m still watching.”

She almost forgot that Sherlock was now Arthur Conan Doyle.

But sure enough, her deliberately casual attitude attracted her mother's attention.

Haina's mother immediately ignored what they were going to the swamp for, thinking that she was just looking for excitement.

Her eyes suddenly widened and her voice raised to a higher level: "Even if you might not be able to fall, what should you do if you are attacked by the undead in the swamp and miss the mark? You can just go to a dangerous place to play by yourself, and you still have to carry it with you. Are you going with such a young guest? He’s so grown up, so you should know better, Haina!”

Her endless scolding lasted for who knows how long.

Anyway, Haina just smiled innocently the whole time, with the attitude of a dead pig not afraid of boiling water.

The reprimand finally ended when Sherlock yawned for the second time.

"Hey, it's really..."

She ended with these words, and then touched Sherlock's hair with some distress: "It's hard to be led around by her, isn't it? I'm not scolding you... You should find a place to sit down first.

“Let me go get you some fruit—grapes, okay?”

Then, she gave way to the door that was blocked by herself.

After Haina's mother left completely, Sherlock said leisurely: "It seems that the forgiveness period for someone to return home has ended."

"You should praise me for my quick response."

Haina was half complaining and half proud: "You haven't realized that the swamp smells like you."

"Yes, yes, I didn't react."

Sherlock said casually: "Whatever you think, but the information I want to collect is already in hand."

"……intelligence?"

"Well, this is your mother's reaction when she saw us going to the swamp. This can determine whether she is aware of the situation in the swamp, and in turn can infer the local people's attitude towards the swamp - whether they know what this forbidden land means."

Sherlock narrowed his eyes: "Now it seems that one thing can be confirmed. That is that locals and 'outsiders' have different perceptions of this matter.

"If they really regarded the swamp as a forbidden area, then your mother would not have been able to save Mr. Magnetic Hammer. Because she would not have had the opportunity to come into contact with the swamp - when she learned that we were going to the swamp, her attitude was very nervous and her tone They all got cold.

"But when you said you were just going for a stroll, she relaxed. Even before we mentioned the undead, she took the initiative to tell us that there were undead in the swamp... If we didn't encounter the undead, After hearing her words, you might be curious and go back to check the situation.

"This is a simple psychology - when prisoners are interrogated, they will choose to expose some small mistakes in order to hide bigger mistakes. In this process, their attitude is quite positive, and their purpose is to attract others' attention. Attention. This kind of attitude often means that the other party is hiding more.

"You are like this, and so is your mother."

Sherlock glanced up at Haina coldly: "I know that Avalon's supervisors are accustomed to using violent methods such as confinement, torture, intimidation, and the use of legal techniques to force others to tell the truth, and even directly search memories. Get the truth. But if you want to go higher, try to master some additional skills - like psychology.

"The overseers of Avalon are different from the policemen of Star Antimony and Iris. You have trained extensively in combat subjects such as swordsmanship, riding, and individual tactics in school, as well as trained in multiple languages ​​in order to improve your extraordinary skills in the future, but you have There is a great lack of training in various criminal investigation techniques. I will propose this matter to Minister Aiwass later, and Wangli Law University should add a few more courses."

"Add it."

Haina said without thinking: "I have graduated anyway, so let's add a few more courses to them."

"What are you thinking about?" Little Sherlock sneered, "You have to learn it after graduation."

"Eh--"

Haina screamed, then thought of something, and tried to change the subject to escape reality: "By the way, what have you tried?"

"This kind of escape mentality often means that the prisoner has a guilty conscience. Because he cannot withstand the gradually increasing psychological pressure, he will actively try to say something, so he will tend to be talkative and take the initiative to lead the conversation."

Sherlock responded coldly, and then explained: "This means two things. First, your mother knows many secrets, which are deeper than the undead in the swamp, and are even most likely related to the appearance of your father.

"Second, she has not received systematic training, and she lacks sufficient vigilance and discernment. This shows that she is not a professional, but a real villager... These two things are enough.

"This shows that the anomalies in Yingjia Village are not natural. This 'tradition' is man-made, and this person's behavior is beneficial to them, or this person himself is kind to them. Based on the previous clues, I highly doubt it This man is Aiwass’s grandfather, Jacob.”

Sherlock analyzed.

Soon, Haina's mother came back.

They took the fruit and went to chat with the magnetic hammer.

Magnetic Hammer obviously had a good impression of Aiwass. Hearing that Aiwass was going for a walk, he felt a little regretful that he didn't call him.

"I should take him to play!"

The magnetic hammer slapped his thigh and he cursed Haina's brother Jack casually: "You brat, why didn't you wake me up!"

"ah?"

Jack on the side looked confused.

And Sherlock said in his childish voice just right: "Brother Aiwass is not going to play... he is going to investigate his grandfather's affairs."

"I also know about Jacob!"

Qi Shui shook his head: "Why didn't he ask me yesterday? I can only say that he was too happy to drink... Anyway, we will drink and chat when he comes back tonight - you should stay here for a few more days. ?”

Sherlock and Haina looked at each other, and Haina paused in silence for a few seconds before finally reacting.

She quickly replied: "Ah, yes... they have to stay for a few more days. But it's hard to say how long they can stay... Dad, why don't you just talk to us? I don't know about Grandpa Jacob yet. Here’s the story.”

"Don't you know? Oh, you don't know. You are too young..."

Magnetic Hammer said disapprovingly: "Your Grandpa Jacob is amazing. I came too late, but I know one thing... Your Grandpa Jacob came here when he was in his twenties.

"At that time, all the houses in this village were rebuilt with his help and were particularly strong. He also repaired the roads - even our house was repaired with his help."

"...He's still an architect?" Sherlock was stunned for a moment.

"No, he's a ritualist."

The dwarf magnetic hammer said seriously: "But the rituals he mastered are very powerful - to be honest, this is the first time I have seen a ritual that can build a house. I also want to learn from him, and I want to give it to him when I return to my hometown in the future. I wanted to build a house in the countryside. But then he pushed back a few times, so I gave up. After all, I might not be able to learn it even if he taught me.

"It's nice to stay here, carefree... I don't want to go back. Besides, what will you two siblings do if I go back?"

The magnetic hammer took a grape and threw it into his mouth, and said casually: "He is a very serious person in his work. I don't know if you have seen it from above - the houses in Yingjia Village are very well decorated and neat. Yes. A very standard circle filled with a lot of geometric patterns.

"——It's like a ritual formation."