Chapter 2 - Shepherd’s Secret Continuation

"It wasn't 'madam'..." Hajina whispered softly, "I actually haven't graduated yet." Moreover, this was merely a question... But before she could get the words out, Aiwas gently interrupted her: "To be admitted into the Inspection Bureau even before graduating... I understand, Miss Hajina is studying at the Royal Law University, correct?" Aiwas spoke with a precise and clear accent, devoid of the 'elven lilt' that the capital's people take pride in as a symbol of nobility. This made Hajina, who had come from a small town to study, feel more at ease. So she nodded in response, "Ah, yes." She spoke with pride, puffing out her chest a little, "I was the student council president last year, and also the top female student in my fourth year. As an exemplary graduate of the Royal Law University, I obtained the employment permit for the Inspection Bureau a year early. While I haven't received my sword yet, my name is already on the records at the Inspection Bureau." "In that case, you could still be considered my senior," Aiwas remarked, intertwining his fingers and resting them on his knee. Leaning back in a relaxed manner, he said slowly, "I’m actually a student at the Royal Law University too. A freshman this year." "...Really?" Hajina was slightly surprised, but felt a sense of affinity for this shared background, "But I've never seen you..." "Because I fell ill before I could enroll. I was bedridden at home, recovering for three months due to a severe illness." Aiwas’s somewhat pallid complexion lent credence to his words. A child who has had a tough time... "I see. You truly are innocent... I will report back to the director." Hajina nodded repeatedly, feeling a sense of sympathy. The mild envy she’d felt toward Aiwas dissipated as well. She felt ashamed because of it. As a member of the Inspection Bureau, she was akin to a knight. She had forgotten the teachings of humility and compassion that her mentor had imparted... Jealousy, truly an ugly thing. "Well then, Senior," Aiwas suddenly spoke, "did you see what was in the fireplace?" "The burning things..." Hajina turned her head, not quite sure, and said, "I couldn’t really tell. It didn’t seem like wood." "That was a diary." Aiwas spoke gently, "Perhaps it contained evidence of my collusion with a demon scholar. "Just like this book in my hand." He said, closing the book and tossing it into the fire. Hajina was taken aback by his words. She instinctively stepped forward, reaching out. Despite not being prepared, she managed to intercept the book in mid-air. Frowning, she looked down and realized the book was titled "Eighty Selected Poems of Steil." Of course, Hajina recognized this book. It was the textbook for the freshman "Elvish Language" course. She flipped through it, ensuring it wasn’t evidence of collusion with a demon scholar. Inside, it was filled with various highlighted notes in different colored pens, marking many key points and difficulties. "Just a joke." Aiwas's lips curled into a slight smile, "I am the victim here, Senior. Isn’t that what you just said... So why is it that when I casually mention it, you begin to suspect me again? Do you really have that little faith in me?" Hajina suddenly realized that this seemingly gentle and refined young man had a bit of a mischievous side. "This is serious business, not something to joke about." She put on a stern face, as if she were back at school, reprimanding, "The sacrifices of demon scholars often use living beings as materials, and despite having no grudges, they would kill people as materials, which is utterly heinous! How could you joke about something like that?" As she spoke, a thought struck her, and her gaze became sharp, "Say... if you were a sacrifice, how are you still alive?" "They tried to use me in a ritual to summon a powerful demon, but they didn’t expect the demon to favor me. So, I turned the tides and had the demon kill them." Aiwas continued with increasingly outrageous claims, smiling warmly, "In fact, the Moriarty family is full of sins; my father, Professor James Moriarty, is a demon scholar who dreams of world destruction. I’m not his foster son but a demon he summoned from another realm. Within a year, I could destroy the Kingdom of Avalon completely." Hajina was stunned, listening to over half of it before realizing Aiwas was just spouting nonsense. "...What are you talking about?!" She shouted, half out of embarrassment for almost believing his ludicrous tale. This young man who seemed so poetically gentle was, in truth, as cunning as a fox, spinning outrageous lies! She was perturbed, but in front of the old butler, she dared not speak loudly, causing her face to flush, "Be honest—why were you at the demon ritual? An anonymous report claimed you went to the Stone Arch Park willingly, without coercion." "I speak only the truth, you can take me to the Inspection Bureau if you don’t believe me." Aiwas shrugged, as if genuinely feeling unfortunate. But Hajina knew it was impossible—in the face of obvious protection from the Inspection Bureau, without proper evidence, she couldn’t possibly arrest Aiwas. If she recklessly took the wheelchair-bound Aiwas away, she would be the one in trouble. Following that, Aiwas gradually wiped away his fox-like grin. He showed a serious expression and spoke earnestly, "That being said, if you can see that what I said is all nonsense, then why believe the anonymous accusation against me? How is what I said any different from that report?" "...So, what’s the truth?" "I can offer you another story—a version where I was attacked while taking a walk and brought to Stone Arch Park. When I came to, I was already in a wheelchair. I have no clue what happened in between, neither do I know that I was used as a sacrifice for a demon, nor how the attackers were driven away or how I survived... "But that version is too smooth and flawless, much like a legal defense in court. If I said it outright, you might actually become more suspicious." Aiwas sighed, appearing helpless and innocent once more. He asked, "So, which one do you believe?" ...Setting emotions aside and thinking logically, the latter seems more plausible. Perhaps she misunderstood Aiwas again. Was it because the jealousy in her heart hadn’t fully dissipated? ——And it's impossible for him to summon such a level of demon; Aiwas was too weak. Hajina could feel that he was probably indeed an extraordinary being, but the reaction was faint. At most, he had only just begun his path. The extraordinary knowledge Hajina had learned told her that even if such a being summoned a demon, it would only reach the strength of a familiar, and certainly wouldn't cause such a large-scale disaster—in fact, the deceased confirmed at the ritual site was a wanted criminal notorious for heinous acts. He had once sacrificed a small village and had reached the third tier as a demon scholar, capable of summoning higher demons. ...Could it be that he failed the contract after summoning the demon, and suffered a backlash? It's not impossible. In that case, with the summoner’s death, the demon would return. Aiwas was simply drained of his vitality by the ritual and then found by the old butler. Logically speaking, this scenario seems far more likely. ...But then, why did Aiwas say such outrageous lies to her? Hajina quickly came to a conclusion— She proposed a very reasonable explanation: because her attitude shifted too easily. She hadn’t conducted a thorough inquiry and yet declared Aiwas innocent. A truly innocent Aiwas might have felt irritated by this rashness and deliberately spoke nonsense to mock her for being prejudiced and easily swayed. I see. That's why the director doesn’t seem too concerned about this case... because he knows Aiwas couldn’t be the culprit, and probably doesn't possess any crucial information either. Investigating would be a futile effort, so he casually assigned her to this case, and she mistakenly considered it an important task, trying to find faults where there were none... Indeed, she was too impulsive. Too young, eager to make accolades and consequently lost her composure. She, after all, recalled there was another case occurring simultaneously yesterday—for summoning demons and performing large-scale rituals, demon scholars usually worked in pairs. And most pairs of demon scholars were in a master-apprentice relationship. "If the demonic scholar, serving as a mentor, was turned against by the demon they summoned, it would make sense for the apprentice to flee and operate independently. But if Aiwas were his assistant, his apprentice, then who committed the crime yesterday? If Aiwas controlled the demon to kill one person, why would he spare the other? ...What am I saying? A high-ranking demon wouldn’t be so easily controlled by a beginner like him," she mused self-deprecatingly. "I'm sorry, I jumped to conclusions." Hajina thought it over and decided to apologize simply, "I'm also truly sorry for any previous impropriety. If you plan to return to school, I could ask my juniors to provide you with some conveniences. "This isn’t compensation, just a small gesture of my apology. If there’s anything you need me to do, just let me know." "Anything?" Aiwas seemed somewhat intrigued. "...Let me clarify, I have no money." Hajina's expression turned somewhat sorrowful as she helplessly added, "Apart from monetary compensation—if needed, I could do some voluntary work." "No worries, the misunderstanding is cleared." Aiwas smiled warmly, "I was actually a bit concerned too. After all, if you go back and someone mentions something, you might further investigate, which would be troublesome for both of us, especially if it gets delayed... "And now, why don't you try guessing why I know about demons? Even though I hadn’t encountered anything and was unconscious the whole time, how could I immediately guess it involved a demon scholar when we met?" "...I suppose this is what they call deduction! Like the famous Mr. Sherlock!" Hajina’s eyes brightened, "I remember that Mr. Sherlock was one of the professor's favorite students. He seemed skilled in understanding details of others through almost divination-like methods! I’ve collected clippings of cases he solved—I cut out the parts mentioning Mr. Sherlock from newspapers and pasted them into a book. It's already one-third full..." She felt she had found a fellow enthusiast and became quite excited. Originally feeling a bit guilty, Hajina was now eager to show her friendliness, proving she wasn’t intentionally targeting Aiwas. She almost forced herself to display friendliness, and finally found a common ground—they both admired Mr. Sherlock! Watching Hajina become engrossed, chattering away, Aiwas, sitting in the wheelchair, slightly squinted his eyes, his smile innocuous. If Hajina weren’t so inattentive and paid more careful attention, she might notice the old elf quietly standing by, his shadow unmoving. However, the shadow cast by Aiwas’s wheelchair subtly trembled, like a beast breathing steadily in sleep. And all of this was your own "deduction"; I barely uttered any lies. In deduction, if you determine the conclusion first and then search for evidence, you'll surely get led astray. Looks like you’re not quite there yet. —Indeed, Aiwas was a sacrifice. But at the same time, "Aiwas" truly was a participant in the demonic ritual. What he said before wasn’t entirely false. If he hadn’t suddenly recalled memories of a previous life, it’s quite possible he would have been the "otherworldly demon" summoned by sacrificing Aiwas’s soul in the ritual. Because accompanying those memories from the past was a very familiar interface in front of his eyes: Aiwas, Human Male, Overall Level 4 Basic Occupation— Priest LV1: [Basic Prayer - Level 1 (93%)] Demon Scholar LV3: [Demon Knowledge - Level 1 (13%)], [Basic Ritual - Level 1 (5%)], [Demon Contract - Level 1 (99%)] Pathway Lit: Devotion - Zero Layer; Transcendence - First Layer Mana Pool: 1/1 (Light), 3/3 (Dark) Free Experience: 24 Pathway Trait— Transcendence - Shadow Affinity LV1: You have made a life-binding contract with a Shadow Demon, allowing you to freely use first-tier shadow abilities. (End of Chapter)