Shepherd’s Secret Continuation

Chapter 38: Fully automatic carton opening machine

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Aiwass had to admit that he had underestimated Lulu a little.

… It seems that his temporary teammate is not as bad as he thinks.

After taking a deep breath, the "Anne Alexander" at the window uttered a voice as ethereal as crystal.

It was still morning and the sun had just risen.

But her singing immediately reminded Aiwass of the summer evening breeze blowing past the window, gently caressing the wind chimes. A carefree and peaceful feeling filled his heart, and the anxiety in his heart that had not yet been expressed was also effectively soothed.

It was like pouring clean water to put out a bonfire.

Aiwass slowly closed his eyes and gradually relaxed his mind...

"—Okay, Mr. Fox."

Lulu's voice came, which made Aiwas, who had been leaning against the door and listening to the movement outside, open his eyes instantly.

"Yeah. Thank you for your hard work."

"It's okay. It's very easy. Even if I run with him in my arms, he won't wake up for the next two hours."

The beautiful woman with platinum hair had a confident light in her eyes. She said seriously, "As long as he is not hit directly by a gun, he will definitely not wake up even if he falls to the ground."

... Do you want me to praise you

What a child.

I guess Miss Lulu is not very old.

Aiwas thought.

He nodded slightly and praised, "Well done, Lulu. Thanks to you - we have been with the child who is awake, and it is very inconvenient to communicate. Little Aiwass was asleep before and didn't hear our communication. After he woke up, we kept whispering... But we can't keep communicating like this outside.

"Even if it's a child, the doubts in his heart will gradually accumulate, and he may eventually point out the flaws in our role-playing - and once they are recognized, I'm afraid they will be directly judged as the loser."

Aiwass said calmly.

The expression on his face didn't change at all, still showing that calm feeling of being sure of victory.

But in his heart, Aiwas couldn't help but worry about himself.

—Aivas was almost falling asleep.

Even though he took the initiative to relax his mind... Lulu's song was so effective that it surprised him.

Her singing voice was extremely clear and transparent, with a crystal-like ethereal quality. Even when it was sung in the body of "Annie", it did not attenuate too much.

… Your basic skills are so good

Are you really from Avalon

Thinking of this, Aiwas' heart suddenly moved.

In Avalon, a young girl has mastered the path to beauty...

—Could “Lulu” be Princess Isabel

He remembered that Isabel had the Path of Beauty, and it was quite powerful. After the "Cruel Autumn" incident in the game, she and Aiwass accompanied the player character to escape to the Eternal Kingdom, and she was considered a member of the protagonist group.

However, whether she is the princess or not does not affect Aiwas's plan.

Rather, if she really was... Aiwass might have been even more excited when flirting with her.

—This is also simple.

Let me try it out a little bit.

“… What an amazing singing voice,” Aiwass smiled in admiration and praised sincerely, “Even if you don’t become a transcendent, you will surely become a famous opera singer in the continent.”

"right!"

Lulu's eyes suddenly lit up, revealing the kind of innocent and happy smile she gets when she is praised by someone she respects: "Compared to painting and sculpting, I actually like singing and dancing more..."

"Come to think of it," Aiwass seemed to have remembered something, "the name 'Lulu'... is it taken from the opera 'Lulu's Magic Flute'?"

"Have you heard of it, too, Mr. Fox?"

Lulu said happily.

“It was a terrific opera.”

Aiwass affirmed, praising from the bottom of his heart.

That is truly remarkable—this opera contains four spells of the path to beauty, which can only be perceived and comprehended by extraordinary people with a certain level of artistic attainments.

—There are even two essential skills for the level 30 advanced profession "Piper" and the level 50 advanced profession "Queen of the Night".

"Yeah, yeah!"

Lulu said happily, her eyes sparkling and her spirits high: "When I was very young... my grandma took me to listen to this play, and I could sing it after just one listen. It was the part called 'Pa, Pa, Pa, Papagena!'"

"Oh, I know," Aiwass nodded, "The one with Papageno and Papagena dancing, right?"

—Although Aiwass answered fluently, he actually hadn't read it at all.

But his good friend who is a screenwriter told him that the prototype of the opera "Lulu's Magic Flute" is the opera "The Magic Flute" written by Mozart on Earth, and the content and melody are basically the same.

But in this world, its creator is not Mozart, but a fairy named "Lulu".

Fairies are weak, winged, and childish phantoms. Just as demons are usually dark-attributed, fairies are usually wind-attributed.

Aiwass has seen The Magic Flute and of course knows some of the plots in it... Although he certainly can't sing it, he can still compose a little bit.

"Mr. Fox is amazing. I thought this opera was not very popular in Avalon!"

Lulu forgot about the promotion ceremony for a moment, and was only excited about finding a confidant and someone who recognized her.

She sang two lines impromptu: "Will you belong to me forever? I will belong to you forever! Now you are my wife, now you are my true love..."

Aiwass immediately felt a sense of joy surge into his heart. A light power surged into his heart along with the music, and he even felt that his steps became a little lighter and his body became more balanced - he was even confident that he would not hurt himself if he jumped from the third floor.

This is the light tune ability of the Path of Beauty. It can apply a buff effect of 1% to 300% of the "Hurry Up" and "Balanced Stance" spells to teammates within the range.

Using this method of gain, the effect is only one-third at first, and then it gets stronger as you sing.

Lulu's power is around 10-15%, which means she can give everyone close to a 50% double spell duration buff when she sings. Crucially, this is an ability - meaning it costs no mana.

—That’s enough. This strength is good enough.

Aiwass was completely certain that this person was most likely Princess Isabel.

It is impossible for an ordinary "all-rounder" to accumulate such strong basic skills. Being all-round usually means being mediocre.

But she is truly all-powerful.

With her talent and foundation, she might be able to keep up with Aiwas's advancement speed.

The only problem is that the little girl isn't wary enough.

He didn't even set any trap or actively lower the other party's guard. He just asked her casually and she told him everything.

It is simply a fully automatic carton opener that can walk.

… I hope that before I meet Her Highness the Princess in the dream world next time, her tutor will be able to train her acting skills well.

If you continue like this, I will feel embarrassed to fool you.

Aiwass never bullies children.

He stretched out his hand and pressed it down slightly, like a band conductor, signaling Lulu to be quiet.

As expected, she immediately stopped reciting and became quiet.

"Are you still nervous now?"

Aiwass showed a friendly smile: "Is it much better?"

“…Yes, thank you!” Lulu suddenly realized.

It turns out that Mr. Fox thought I was too nervous, so he deliberately chatted with me to relieve my psychological pressure!

"—don't call me 'you'."

Aiwass emphasized: "Julio Alexander, you are Anne. You can call me Julio in front of others... or you can call me dear."

“… I’ll call you Giulio.”

Lulu whispered.

At this point, she suddenly realized something: "Wait, aren't we going to find Bishop Mathers?"

"Well, we're not going."

"Eh... W-why? I know him, he's very strong... He's the royal family's gravekeeper, he can definitely protect us."

"I believe what you said - since you said so, he must be strong, strong enough to protect us."

Aiwass first confirmed Lulu's words, then changed the subject and asked, "So, did you bring the letter?"

"…What letter?" Lulu said unconfidently.

At that moment, she wondered if she had done something wrong, said something stupid, or lost something important...

"I mean the original copy of the threatening letter."

"No… "

"No, I didn't either. So we don't know what the man wrote in the letter. At the same time, I don't know Bishop Mathers, so it's hard to play the role of his student."

But I actually have a way to get him to protect us...

Lulu thought about it and swallowed her words.

She was still somewhat wary - saying this would be equivalent to exposing her real identity!

Aiwass narrowed his eyes like a fox and said slowly, "You should also have the mission of 'Leave the Cathedral', right?"

"Yes. Let me leave the cathedral and go to Legal Square on my own initiative." Lulu responded immediately.

"How many points?"

"100 points."

"Very low. Me too."

Aiwass commented: "The more difficult and challenging the mission is, the higher the score will be. If Bishop Mathers is so powerful, why does he get so few points for voluntarily leaving the cathedral he protects and going to a dangerous place?"

"… because he can't offer us shelter?"

Lulu held the child, her eyes wide open, as if she had an unbelievable feeling of being betrayed by an acquaintance: "How could this happen..."

"It's not necessarily a refusal to provide asylum. It's possible that he's not here at all. Or there may be some unexpected situation that requires us to leave early."

Aiwass said leisurely: "In that situation, we were driven out to the street with nothing in our hands... I'm afraid the situation will get worse.

"Look, none of these missions are designed to kill us, right? That means these missions are helpful for us to achieve our ultimate goal."

"… 'Once and for all'? Or 'Live longer'?"

Lulu hesitated: "But you... you are on the path of dedication, and I am on the path of beauty. Neither of us has much fighting power."

Aiwas' heart moved.

Doesn’t she have the mission “The Beginning of Everything”

"So, we have to leave the cathedral early instead."

Aiwass leaned against the door and explained his plan: "To prepare weapons."

There was no need to hide his plan from the other party - "Lulu" would not become his weapon or consumable, and making it clear in advance would not make her alert; she would not talk to others alone, so there was no need to worry about leaks.

In this situation, Aiwass needs to make his words clear and understandable to the other party, so that the other party can trust him, believe in his plan, and understand his purpose.

In this way, she would be able to fully implement Aiwas' plan without suddenly adding some "her own ideas".

Aiwass knows how to lead new people.

"Weapons... guns?"

Lulu was a little worried: “Do you know where I can find a gun

"If it doesn't work... I might have some ideas, maybe I can find a very powerful weapon. But it was fourteen years ago after all, and I'm not sure if it still exists now..."

"Of course I know."

Aiwass calmly replied, "The Pelican Bar is near Legal Square."

“… ah, I know!”

Lulu blurted out, "It's the news about Mr. Aiwass! He... Eh? Aiwass?"

She was stunned for a moment, then she picked up the boy in her arms and looked at him carefully.

"You guessed it right. He is the 'Evans'. 'We, the couple', were obviously dead in the original history, so his last name is Moriarty now."

Aiwass replied lazily: "It is better to say that you finally discovered this matter.

"But you didn't understand my plan. I said I was going to the Pelican to prepare my weapons - I didn't say I was going to buy guns."

“…Extraordinary props?”

Lulu asked cautiously: "Do you... have a channel in the Pelican Bar?"

"No."

Aiwass closed his eyes and answered softly, "The weapon I prepared is called Sherlock Hermes. You are right, both of our paths are auxiliary, so even if we get the weapon, it's just that. What we really need is to find a partner with fighting ability.

“I believe that even if we had no communication or agreement before... Mr. Sherlock would definitely come to the Pelican Bar to meet us.

"—To be precise, they came to meet me and Mr. Knight."