Pastor's Tantra

After Sherlock finished speaking, his narrow room fell into complete silence for a moment. The only sound left was the slow rhythmic sound of Edward chewing his sandwich.

After a pause for a few seconds, Sherlock smiled and said, "Of course, this is impossible.

"Because if the professor is the mastermind behind the scenes, he can't use such a simple method full of flaws. He is already familiar with Minister Drost and has various connections in the kingdom. He has every way to do it without himself coming forward. Next, we will achieve this goal.”

Having said this, under Edward's silent gaze, Sherlock took out a box of matches and a cigar, and began to rotate the cigar to heat it evenly.

While lowering his head to handle the cigar, he said casually: "The motivation of the person who is doing this now is incomplete.

"The plan itself is also very sophisticated. First assassinate Secretary Raff, and then attack Her Royal Highness the Princess. Through this move, it is very natural to reveal that Minister Drost may be closely related to the smuggling of alchemy products. It also expands the social impact of this matter. It increased to the maximum, and even old Drost couldn't suppress it even if he used his connections.

"But on the other hand, if she can lay out such a plan, why not use more direct means? It seems that her purpose has never been to bring down Drost, nor to cause trouble for the Drost family; she is not trying to steal The information is not to prevent smuggling; she is not to plunge Avalon into chaos, nor is it to support justice and safeguard the truth.

"It seems that the purpose of that person is to 'expose Minister Drost's behavior', and that's the end of what she has to do. She can make such a plan and have such a level of action, but her purpose is so conservative. So I concluded , the person who implements this plan must obey the orders of someone - and that person has a very poor influence in Avalon's upper society, so he needs to rely on public opinion to achieve his goals.

"——For example, spies from other countries. Considering the hostile relationship between Iris and Star Antimony, I think it may be spies sent by Iris."

Sherlock said, holding the smoking cigar in his mouth and exhaling deeply.

He raised his head and looked at Edward's clear eyes: "Since you didn't do anything to me just now...so I guessed it right?"

Edward remained silent, still chewing his food slowly and remaining silent.

"You've been chewing this sandwich for almost a minute, dear friend."

Sherlock said lazily, crossing his legs.

He proudly blew out a puff of smoke into Edward's face, with no fear in his eyes: "It seems that my previous guess was correct. The business of the Moriarty family... doesn't seem very serious."

"——You'd better not continue the investigation, Sherlock."

The food in his mouth was swallowed silently. Edward, who had been silent for a long time, had a dull expression on his face: "Just think of this as my request to you."

"...I'm glad, Edward. You consider me a true friend."

The corners of Sherlock's mouth rose, and the smoke slowly enveloped him: "Based on my trust in you, I will temporarily give up the investigation of 'Moriarty'. All my investigation results so far are placed on the bookshelf on your left. In the folder for M. There's a blue envelope with 'Moriarty' written on it."

After listening to Sherlock's words, Edward stood up without hesitation and walked to the bookshelf, reached out and found the envelope from the folder.

"Do you have a copy, Sherlock?" Edward asked.

"You know I never keep things like that, dear friend. But I urge you not to destroy it directly. It's best to open it now and take a look."

Sherlock said leisurely: "Aren't you curious, since when did I become suspicious of the professor? And why do I dare to say these things to you here?"

Edward is not stupid.

His tough, slightly angular face now showed a color as silent as steel.

"...Is it because my father suddenly left the Glass Island?"

"Partly. But mainly because of the warehouse explosion."

Sherlock replied: "You were too concerned about that case that day. But after that, you did not continue to investigate the case. You did not report it to the media, or even mentioned a word to me again. I think you are I'm afraid I paid too much attention to this. But it was precisely because you didn't say anything that I noticed the abnormality.

"I can easily find out that you took the opportunity to take Aiwass to school the next day and went to the university to find Dr. William Wayne Westcott. He happened to be the most popular person in this case. Analyzer of refined ingredients..."

"What does this mean?"

Edward asked back: "Or did Dr. Westcott say something to you?"

He did not sit down, but stood directly next to the bookshelf and slowly opened the blue envelope.

As a result, Edward was surprised to find that there was only a piece of white paper inside the blue envelope.

"Yeah, I don't have any proof. But your reaction tells me... I'm right."

Sherlock got up from the rocking chair and poured himself a glass of cold water.

He held a cigar in his left hand and a cup in his right hand, and drank the cold water in one gulp. It was obvious that Sherlock was somewhat nervous just now.

"Actually, it was because I found that I couldn't find any evidence to prove that Professor Moriarty was related to the crime... so I vaguely realized that something was wrong.

"Is it really possible for a founding family that is at the center of the royal capital's social circle to be completely clean and flawless over the years? I don't really believe it. Whether it's you, Aiwass and Yulia... Your adoption records are all so clean.

"As for Professor, he has no relatives, no wife, and no record of his parents - as you just said, you are also married. You are still urging me to get married as soon as possible. Then, isn't there anyone? Have you urged Professor James?

"There are only adopted children and friends, but no closer social relationships than this. None at all. Not even a death record can be found."

Sherlock breathed out, picked up his cigar again and said calmly: "Don't be nervous, dear friend. When I found out that Aiwass wanted to protect Princess Isabel from the bottom of his heart, these were nothing.

"Your Majesty saved my father's life, and I want to repay her. That's why I work for Mr. Kent. I don't work for Avalon, and I don't obey the Round Table. I only work for the royal family - or rather, I only work for the royal family." Loyal to Queen Sofia.

"I am not a pedantic person, Edward. You know me. What I pursue is not justice or order, I am just curious about the truth. As long as it is not something unethical, I can even help you. So what do you have? What words must be hidden in your heart and cannot be told to me?”

"...I don't tell you, it's for your own good."

Edward was silent for a long time, then shook his head and said sincerely: "What I can tell you is that my father is not hostile to the royal family. This is the limit. You really don't want to continue investigating."

Sherlock still asked: "So we are not opposites..."

"—This is not a warning, Sherlock. This is an exhortation."

Still wearing the black suit that looked like mourning clothes, Edward stood straight and his voice was low and magnetic: "Moths will be caught by spiders, and the best thing you can do is to stay away from spider webs. The less you know, the better. The safer it is.”

"...Okay. I believe you, dear friend. I will not take the initiative to investigate this matter again before you give me permission."

Sherlock shook his head and sighed.

He still couldn't find out what his old friend was worried about.

But there are still some results.

At least now the two sides have made a preliminary showdown and compromise.

In this risky encounter, not only was their friendship not destroyed... but it became faintly stronger.

Sherlock was a little relieved, but also a little regretful: "I originally thought that you were also one of the people being manipulated. Just like Aiwass... you wanted to break free from the shackles of your adoptive father. But now it seems that you are on the other side. On one side.”

"Wait...you mean, Aiwass?" Edward was stunned for a moment and repeated in a low voice.

"Yes, he was spotted by Master Yanis before and was chosen as Princess Isabel's companion. But this time he saved the princess, I'm afraid Her Majesty the Queen will summon him personally. This should be his plan to escape his fate The way to be restrained... If Professor, according to you, has no hostility to the royal family, then he should not care about Aiwass anymore."

Sherlock shook his head: "If my previous judgment was correct and the murderer was related to the Iris spies, I think the murderer should not attack Princess Isabel. Because to the Iris people, Isabel is the best ruler of Avalon. .There's no way they're trying to kill her.

"Inferring from this point, the assassin would enter the shadow of Her Highness the Princess, obviously to avoid Director Gordon's perception. And she heard Director Gordon's words and knew that you were about to arrive... In the presence of many high-level transcendental beings, If there is such a thing, an extraordinary person who is adapted to the path will definitely tend to hide or run away.

"And she is obviously very proficient in her shadow sneaking skills, so she will choose the person with the most stable shadow among the 'people who will definitely leave the venue.'"

That was Aiwass in a wheelchair - that's why Aiwass' first shot hit his own shadow.

Although for some reason, Aiwass understands the knowledge of shadow sneaking...but there is no problem with his position. You can tell just from that second shot.

"Aiwass fired twice because he actually didn't know where the prisoner was. It was very dangerous to fire a second bullet at Princess Isabel's shadow. If this shot missed, what happened to Princess Isabel later? Unexpected, then Aiwass will most likely be responsible for this.

"A person with ulterior motives should try every means to maintain his innocence and should not take meaningless but risky actions. Especially if he is a smart person and has not been exposed to anyone's focus before.

"——It was from this shot that I judged that Aiwass really wanted to protect Isabel.

"Further reasoning, it can be concluded that Aiwass asked Director Gordon to take people to the second floor to search carefully before you arrived, just to 'force the murderer back to the first floor where there are no other high-level extraordinary people so far.' One purpose. The space on the second floor of the club is too big. If no high-ranking extraordinary person went up to search carefully, the supervisors would probably not notice her presence.

"And at that time, you will be arriving soon. When you arrive at the scene, there will be people on the first floor, and she will not be able to move. She must have heard this sentence.

“So from that moment on, she had to make an immediate decision—whether to abandon the second floor, which might be intensively searched, and move to the first floor, where the defense force was relatively loose and safe.

"She has very limited time to think, and Commissioner Gordon's slow search will continue to put pressure on her.

"As long as the assassin comes down from the second floor, the places she can hide are extremely limited. The first possibility is under Aiwass, and the second possibility is Isabel next to him. Only the two of them will never run, And no one will question them.

"The 'reasoning' mentioned in the newspapers is all nonsense. In other words, Aiwass did not reason at all - to be precise, what he carried out was fraud. He did not reason out the truth of the past, but personally Guide the future.

"He didn't know where the assassin was at all, but like a spider spinning a web, he invisibly manipulated the ignorant assassin, letting her step into the trap he had prepared long ago.

"——I think this should be the whole truth."

Aiwass was only nineteen years old, had never touched these things before, and had no record of using this technique.

No matter how smart he is, he cannot comprehend this knowledge out of thin air. Where did he learn this skill?

That can only be from the professor.

"The only time he was not in the public eye was from the time after he graduated from high school until mid-November. I think it was probably during this period that Aiwass learned the skills and understanding of professors. He became aware of the professor's plan and began to oppose his ideas... In a sense, Aiwass may be closer to the professor than you and Aiwass."

Sherlock still has some feelings for the professor. Therefore, he did not want to use the word "conspiracy", but chose "plot".

He said with certainty: "Because of this, I am sure that Aiwass is intelligent, reliable and innocent, and that there is something wrong with the professor.

"That's why I will confess to you now, before I really start the investigation. Just as I concluded that this matter was not done by Professor Moriarty, but because he was too simple. If Aiwass is also involved , the truth of the case cannot be easily seen by me. Because of this, I concluded that Aiwass must be contrary to the professor's position.

"If you have something you can't say to me or your father, then you might as well talk to your brother Aiwass. Aiwass is much smarter than you think.

"In other words, he is far smarter than you."

Sherlock gives ruthless but kind advice.

More than seven thousand words! Asking for votes at the end of the month, I feel like I have a chance to get into the top 100 monthly votes in the first month!