"No ma'am..."
Haina whispered, "I haven't graduated yet."
And, this is just a question...
But before she could finish her sentence, Aiwass interrupted her softly:
"You can join the Supervisory Bureau before you officially graduate... I see. Is Miss Haena studying at the Royal Law University?"
Aiwas's accent was standard and clean, without the "elven accent" that the people of the capital were proud of, which symbolized a sense of nobility. But this made Haina, who came from a small place to study abroad, more fond of him.
So she nodded and responded, "Ah, yes."
As she spoke, she puffed out her chest with pride: "I am the former president of the Student Union and also the head girl of the fourth grade. As an outstanding graduate, I obtained employment permission from the Supervisory Bureau one year in advance. Although my sword has not been issued yet, my name has been approved by the Supervisory Bureau."
"So, you can still be considered my senior."
Aiwass crossed his fingers and placed them on his knees.
His upper body relaxed and leaned back, and he spoke slowly, "I am actually also a student at the Royal Law University. A freshman this year."
"… Really?"
Haina was a little surprised: "But I haven't seen you..."
"Because I was in poor health. I fell seriously ill before I even started school. I stayed in bed at home for three months."
Aiwass's pale complexion made his words convincing.
It's not an easy child...
"I understand. You are indeed innocent... I will report to the director when I return."
Haina nodded repeatedly, feeling sympathy. The slight jealousy she had towards Aiwass disappeared.
She was ashamed of herself for this. As an inspector of the Inspectorate, she was also half a knight. She had actually forgotten the doctrine of humility and compassion taught by her mentor... Jealousy is really ugly.
"Well, senior sister," Aiwass suddenly said, "did you see what's in the fireplace?"
"Burning things..."
Haina turned around and said uncertainly: "I can't really tell. It doesn't look like firewood."
“It’s a diary.”
Aiwass said gently: "Maybe it is the evidence of my connection with the demonologist.
“Just like this book in my hand.”
As he spoke, he closed the book in his hand and threw it into the fire.
Haina was suddenly shocked when she heard this.
She subconsciously took a step forward and instinctively reached out to grab it. Completely unprepared, she actually caught the book in mid-air.
She frowned and looked down, only to find that the book was called "Eighty Selections of Shidaier's Poems".
Of course Haina knew this book, because it was the textbook used in the freshman "Elf Language" course.
She flipped through it anxiously to confirm that it was not evidence of any connection with the demonologist. There were even many key points and difficult points marked with different colored pens.
"just kidding."
Aiwass's mouth curled up slightly: "I am the victim of the incident, senior sister. This is clearly what you just said... Why did you become suspicious again when I just mentioned it casually? Do you have so little confidence in me?"
Haina suddenly realized that this young man, who looked so gentle and elegant, seemed to have some hidden evil intentions.
"This is a serious matter and nothing to joke about."
She put on a stern face and taught him a lesson as if she was in school: "Demonologists often use living people as materials for sacrifice, and they will kill the sacrifices after the sacrifice in order to silence them. That is absolutely evil. Even if they have no grudges against a person, they will still kill a person as material. It is outrageous! How can such a thing be a joke?"
When she said this, she suddenly thought of something and her eyes became sharp: "Speaking of which... if you were a sacrifice, how did you survive?"
"They sacrificed me to summon a powerful demon, but they didn't expect the demon to be closer to me. So I turned around and ordered the demon to kill them all."
The young man smiled and said more and more outrageous things: "In fact, the Moriarty family is actually full of evil. My father, Professor James Moriarty, is a demonologist who has a dream of destroying the world. And I am not his adopted son, but a demon summoned by him from another world. I can completely destroy the Kingdom of Avalon within a year."
Haina was stunned and listened to more than half of it before she realized that Aiwass was just talking nonsense.
“… What the hell are you talking about?!”
She shouted in anger, at least half of which was because she was ashamed that she had taken Aiwass's strange words seriously for a moment.
This young man who looks gentle and beautiful like a poet is actually as cunning as a fox and is full of lies from all over the world!
She was furious, but she didn't dare to speak loudly in front of the old housekeeper, and ended up blushing: "Tell me the truth - why did you appear in the devil's ritual? Someone reported anonymously that you went to Stone Arch Park on your own and were not coerced."
"I'm telling the truth. If you don't believe me, take me to the Supervisory Bureau."
Aiwass shrugged, as if he felt regret from the bottom of his heart.
But Haina knew that this was impossible - she could not arrest Aiwass without evidence when the Supervisory Bureau was clearly trying to cover up the case. If she really took Aiwass, who was still in a wheelchair, away, she would be the one in trouble.
Then, Aiwass slowly put away his fox-like smile.
He showed a serious expression and said seriously: "That's what I said. But since you know that what I said is all nonsense, why do you believe the anonymous report letter? What's the difference between what I said and the report letter?"
“… So, what are the facts?”
"I can tell you another version of the story - I was attacked and taken to Stone Arch Park when I was out for a walk, and when I came to, I was in a wheelchair. I had no idea what happened in between, and I didn't know that I was sacrificed to the devil, nor did I know how they were driven away and how I survived...
"But this version of the story is too smooth and flawless. It's like the defense given by a lawyer in court. If I tell you directly, you might become more suspicious."
Aiwass sighed, looking helpless and innocent.
He said, "So, which one do you believe?"
… If we exclude the emotional part and judge from a rational perspective, the latter seems to be more reasonable.
Haina immediately realized that she had misunderstood Aiwass again.
—Because Aiwas was too weak. Haina could feel that he was probably indeed a transcendent, but his reaction was very weak. At most, he only lit up one layer of the path.
Even if a demon was summoned, it would be at most a familiar, and it would be impossible to cause that kind of destruction—besides, the person confirmed dead at the ritual site was indeed a wanted criminal who had fled to the capital.
That man once sacrificed a small village, and is now a third-level demonologist who can even summon higher-level demons.
... Could it be that after he summoned the devil, the contract failed and he was attacked by the devil
It's not impossible.
In that case, the demon will be sent back when the summoner dies. Aiwass was just severely injured by the ritual and then picked up by the old butler. Logically speaking, this possibility is much greater.
…But why did Aiwass tell such an outrageous lie to himself
Soon, Haina reacted -
She gave a very reasonable explanation: because her attitude changed too easily. She declared Aiwas innocent without any careful questioning. Aiwas, who was truly innocent, was angry because of this careless attitude, so he deliberately said some strange things to satirize himself for being easily prejudiced and credulous.
I see.
Because of this, the director didn't take the matter too seriously... because he knew that Aiwass couldn't be the criminal, and he probably didn't know any important information, so the investigation would be a waste of effort.
Then it all fits together.
Another case happened yesterday—in order to perform large rituals such as summoning demons, demonologists usually need to work in pairs. And in most cases, the pairs of demonologists are master-apprentice relationships.
If the demonologist who was the mentor was attacked by the summoned demon, then it would make sense for the apprentice to escape and act alone. If Aiwass was his assistant and apprentice, then who committed the crime yesterday? If Aiwass controlled the demon to kill one person, would he let the other one go
… Hey, what nonsense am I talking about. How can a high-level demon be so easily controlled by such a beginner
"I'm sorry, I got carried away."
Thinking of this, Haina apologized directly: "I am also very sorry for the previous breach of contract. If you still plan to come back to school, I can ask my juniors to give you some convenience.
"This is not compensation, just an apology. If there is anything else I can do, please let me know."
"Anything is fine?" Aiwass seemed a little moved.
“… I have to state in advance that I have no money.”
Haina showed a somewhat sad expression on her face, and added helplessly: "In addition to monetary compensation - if necessary, I can do some voluntary labor."
"It's okay, as long as the misunderstanding is resolved."
Aiwass smiled gently, "I'm actually worried too. After all, if the senior sister gets a mention after she goes back, she'll get suspicious again and come back to investigate, which would be very troublesome for both of us. Not to mention, if she's late again...
"Now, senior sister, why don't you guess why I know about demons? Although I didn't come into contact with anything and was unconscious the whole time. But why could I guess that this matter was related to demonologists the moment we met?"
“… I think this is the legendary deduction method! Just like the famous Mr. Sherlock!”
Haina's eyes lit up: "I remember Mr. Sherlock, who was also the professor's favorite student. He seemed to be good at using this kind of divination-like method to see through the details of others! I have collected clippings of the cases he solved - I cut out the parts of those newspapers that mentioned Mr. Sherlock and pasted them separately into a book. Now the book is already one-third full..."
The more she spoke, the clearer her logic became.
She felt like she had met someone like her, and suddenly everything became clear. Many of her doubts were immediately solved. Her mind seemed to become clear in an instant.
Seeing Haina getting excited and talking non-stop, Aiwas, who was sitting in a wheelchair, narrowed his eyes slightly and showed a harmless smile.
If Haina had not been so careless and had observed carefully, she would have noticed that the old elf who was quietly guarding beside him had a motionless shadow. But the shadow cast by the wheelchair under Aiwass was trembling slightly, like a beast breathing steadily in sleep.
This was all "deduced" by you, I didn't tell many lies.
Inference is like this. If you first determine the conclusion and then find evidence, you will definitely be led astray. It seems that you are not qualified.
—Yes, Aiwass was indeed a sacrifice.
But at the same time, "Aiwas" is indeed a participant in the devil's ritual.
What he said before was not a lie.
If he had not suddenly recalled his past life's memories, he might really be the "demon from another world" summoned during the ritual using Aiwas' soul as a sacrifice.
Because along with those memories of his past life appeared the extremely familiar light curtain in front of him:
Aiwass, human male, overall level 4
Basic occupations -
Priest LV1: Basic Prayer - Level 1 (93%)
Demonologist LV3: Demonology-1 level (13%), Basic Ritual-1 level (5%), Demon Contract-1 level (99%)
The Path Has Been Illuminated: Devotion - Level 0; Transcendence - Level 1
Mana Pool: 1/1 (Light), 3/3 (Dark)
Free experience: 24
Road Features—
Transcendence - Shadow Affinity LV1: You sign a life contract with the Shadow Fiend, and can use the first level of shadow power at will.