Not long after Haena left, James Moriarty returned home carrying a heavy suitcase.
"Are the people from the Supervisory Bureau leaving now?"
Old James asked as soon as he entered the door.
He apparently met Haina at the gate of the manor and exchanged pleasantries.
James is a polite old gentleman with obvious wrinkles on his face. His gray pupils are a little cloudy, his eye sockets are deep, and his hair is gray and sparse. However, his skin is well maintained. His cheeks are thin and his cheekbones are high. Although he looks thin in his coat, you can immediately feel that he is not thin when he takes off his coat.
He always spoke in a soft and gentle voice with a long, soft and curled tongue. It was obvious that he had a very good upbringing and a good temper.
He put down the suitcase at the door, took off his double-breasted trench coat and top hat, and handed them to the valet standing at the door: "Their people didn't question Aiwass for several hours... Well, thank you, Wade. Remember to send this box to Aiwass's room later."
"Yes, sir. I've made a note of that." His valet responded in a low voice and retreated with the things.
"Ms. Haena is late."
The old elf did not choose to hide the situation for her, but expressed his dissatisfaction directly: "She is always like this, thinking about the hat and forgetting the tie, so rash. If she continues like this, sooner or later she will miss something important and be severely punished by her boss."
"It's a matter of time, so let's wait until it happens. If she makes a mistake because of her bad habits, let her mistakes teach her a lesson."
The old man just smiled, narrowed his eyes and said gently: "Don't blame her now for the mistakes she may make in the future, Oswald. You are just her instructor, not her boss."
He was quite friendly and approachable to his elf butler named Oswald.
This is normal, because more than 60 years ago, when he was about the same age as Edwards is today, he was also raised by Oswald.
In addition to the old housekeeper, the house also employed 16 other live-in servants, including a housekeeper, two personal maids, two personal valets, two maids, five valets, a cook, two kitchen assistants, and a coachman. Aiwass's eldest brother usually did not go home, so besides him and Yulia, the only master of the house was the old man.
James was usually low-key and calm, and was very polite even to the servants. Although he rarely smiled, he never got angry or mad at the servants.
—Or to be more precise, no one has ever seen him get angry in the past few decades. Even when facing the most rude guests, the old man always maintains his demeanor.
Yes, old man.
Although James is nominally Evans' adoptive father, he is actually old enough to be Evans' grandfather.
This made sense... When he adopted Aiwass, Aiwass was only six years old. Now he is eighteen years old.
Edward Moriarty, the eldest brother of Aiwass and Yulia, was adopted by James when he was eight years old. He is now thirty-five years old.
"… dad."
Yulia, who was standing next to Aiwass, walked over and greeted him softly.
She was like a well-behaved cat, she leaned her head closer and was touched lovingly by the old man.
"How are you today, Yulia?"
He asked seriously, "Did you take your medicine properly?"
"have eaten."
Yulia spoke softly, her voice giving people a sense of transparency like a dream.
"Go to bed early and don't read too late. You will never finish learning."
The old man warned carefully: "Don't go to bed later than nine o'clock at night. You are not in good health. Did you hear me, Yulia?"
Seeing that Yulia's eyes began to drift to the side while he was talking, he raised his voice a little and emphasized: "Yulia?"
"Yeah, I know."
Yulia responded vaguely.
The old man sighed helplessly and emphasized again: “Don’t stay up late, you silly girl.
"You don't go out, so there's no difference between day and night. So why not go to bed early and read any books during the day. That's better for your eyes."
As he spoke, Yulia fell silent again.
Old James had no choice but to emphasize, "I'm old now and can't stay up late. I have to go to bed at 10 p.m., and I can't answer any questions you have. But if you read during the day, you can always come to me if you don't understand. I don't have classes tomorrow, Friday, and I'll be at home for three days this time. You can come and ask me if you don't understand anything, okay?"
"… good."
This time, Yulia didn't pretend not to hear. She raised her head seriously and stared at the old man with her ruby eyes: "I've been reading a book on alchemy recently... a treatise from the Path of Balance. Does Dad know anything about this?"
"Dad knows all the books in the house."
The old man said calmly: "Dad knows a little about the nine great ways."
His tone was calm, but there was a sense of confidence in it.
"Then I will go to bed early today."
The girl put two fingers to the sky beside her ears and said seriously: "I swear, I will keep my word—"
"Don't."
The old man simply reached out his hand, gently bent the girl's fingers, and retracted his fist.
"do not do that."
James said seriously: "This is a simple oath, a spiritual gesture. If you break the oath, you will be punished."
“… I just wanted to try.”
Yulia whispered, "I just read this in a book today... Was my gesture correct?"
"Correct. So don't do it again next time."
The old man sighed tiredly: "Go eat quickly, I have something to talk to Aiwass."
Yulia responded and followed Oswald to the dining room. There were only two people left in the living room.
James fell silent again and sat opposite Aiwass.
The old man picked up the cup of tea that Supervisor Haina had not touched, poured it out, and then poured himself a cup of hot tea.
Looking at Aiwass who remained silent, he held the teacup tightly and asked softly, "How do you feel... How is it now? Is it still stable?"
The one he was talking about was the shadow demon that Aiwass had contracted.
This kind of thing can't be hidden from my adoptive father.
Since Aiwass was lying at home when he woke up, it meant that it was most likely that Butler Oswald brought him back in a coma. James must have examined his body and performed a simple universal seal. At least he didn't let the Shadow Demon take over Aiwass' body when he was unconscious.
It can be said to be very thoughtful.
In the "future" picture, the crazy, gloomy, hunched-over James Moriarty and the kind old man in front of him who cares about him seem to be completely different people!
All he remembered were scenes of James loving him.
When Aiwass was in his early teens, he once inadvertently remarked that he missed the special fried cod fillets that Aunt Misu would make for them during the holidays when they were in the orphanage.
As a result, the next day, Aunt Misu was invited to work as a kitchen helper at her home with a high salary. She not only taught the special fried cod fillet, but also taught the other "common dishes" she knew to the cook at home. When she was asked to leave, she was also given an additional reward.
Aiwass was so scared at that time that he didn't dare to say what he wanted to eat or what he wanted for at least half a year, for fear that someone would buy it right after he said it.
Even though little Aiwass had not yet recalled his past life, he had always been very clear about himself - after all, he was not James Moriarty's biological son. He did not deserve to enjoy such preferential treatment.
It was because Aiwass himself was quite sensible that he did not become a dandy under such pampering.
So now when Aiwas looks at his adoptive father, he always feels complicated. He still has a sense of luck.
… Is it possible that the adoptive father was not the mastermind at the beginning of the story? Or is it that he fell into evil when the Kingdom of Avalon fell apart
It's not impossible.
In the original story, when the Kingdom of Avalon fell apart, Aiwass followed the protagonist to flee to the Theocracy. From that time on, he and his adoptive father had been separated. It was three years later when they met again.
maybe…
What happened in these three years
…But that doesn’t explain why Aiwass was a spy and infiltrated the “player”.
"—Aiswas?"
Seeing Aiwass lost in thought again, the old man called out softly again: "If it doesn't work, I'll go find the bishop to help you exorcise the evil spirit that's possessed you, okay?"
"... Ah, I'm fine, father. The demonic knowledge I got from that group of people just happened to contain the means to seal the shadow demon."
Aiwass looked up and said with a comforting smile: "I was just thinking about something else."
"Then I believe you."
The foster father nodded slowly. "I have brought back the materials you asked for yesterday. The rope on the gallows is easy to find... But the nails on the head of the victim of the punishment of being torn apart by a chariot are too hard to find. The punishment of being torn apart by a chariot was abolished after the queen ascended the throne. I found it in a museum.
"I don't know if you'll need them later, but I brought back the four that are still there. The collection records are also very clean, so you don't have to worry about anything. If you need anything else, just tell me... Don't trust outsiders so easily anymore."
… Found it so quickly
Aiwass couldn't believe it.
He didn't expect that just one day later, his adoptive father would actually find them.
Is this the power that the Moriarty family could exert while the Kingdom of Avalon still existed
"Great! With them, I can seal the Shadow Demon more stably."
Aiwas felt warm in his heart and said gratefully from the bottom of his heart: "Thank you, Dad!"
The two ritual materials he asked for were not actually used to seal the Shadow Demon. Because sitting in a wheelchair was the simplest and most stable sealing method, and this was the optimal solution tested by the demonologists of the Star Antimony Kingdom four years later.
"Then I won't have dinner today!"
He felt a little itchy in his heart and looked a little impatient. Aiwass was originally such a fan of mysticism, so it would not be out of place for him to do such a thing now.
"Let me do it."
Seeing that Evans was about to push his wheelchair away, old James quickly took two steps forward, held the back of the wheelchair, and pushed Evans to his room.
On the way, the old man said softly: "Evans, although you may be unhappy with what I said... Dad still has to say something.
"In the ceremony, you must not use humans or human corpses as materials or sacrifices. Other than that, Dad will find a way to find you any material you want... Can you promise Dad?"
Hearing this, Aiwas, who was sitting in a wheelchair, opened his eyes slightly wide in surprise.
It’s not because I’m surprised that my adoptive father, who is the mastermind behind the scenes, actually made such a seemingly moral request...
But it was because he knew that what the old man said was absolutely right.
It was not until the advent of the "Fallen Angels" and the level cap of demonologists was raised that the demonologists of the old era realized that their path was completely wrong.
They all thought that the focus of Demonologists was on the "demon", but they didn't realize that the focus was on the "scholar".
Humans cannot use humans as ritual materials, and spirits cannot use spirits. If it is a transformed undead spirit, the bones of any animal cannot be used as materials. This is a taboo of "Heavenly Evil".
Any demonologist who has used sacrifices of his own race and violated the punishment of heaven cannot be promoted from this profession to "Scholar of Great Sin". Those demonologists at level 40 can only transform themselves into various demons. That can't even be considered an advancement, it can only be regarded as exchanging one's professional level for a race template that is stronger than humans.
There is no doubt that such upper limit and ability will be much weaker than the "Scholar of Great Sin" as a heroic profession.
From the very beginning, players cannot use their own kind as ritual materials, so they cannot meet the conditions for incorrect advancement.
Now, James has spoken the secret so clearly.
Is it a coincidence, or...
Aiwas' heart moved, and he just nodded seriously.
He stretched out two fingers of his right hand, raised them to his ears and swore word by word: "I swear that I will not use the lives and corpses of my own people as materials and sacrifices for my rituals."
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly saw a vision—
In the dark night, on the snowy mountains.
Wearing a silver crown on its head, a dazzling dragon that looked like crystal, diamond and silver was staring at him quietly.
The illusion lasted only a very short moment, less than half a second, but when Aiwas woke up, he was already covered in cold sweat.
You feel the gaze of authority
You get the trait: Authority-Silver Scale
Authority - Silver Scale: With this mark as a sign, the Silver Crown Dragon is watching you. You have made a promise that cannot be violated. When you attack someone who violates the promise, you gain +1 advantage (divinity).
"… I don't know whether it's your luck or misfortune, but just the 'simple oath' made Him notice you. It must be a coincidence…"
The old man behind Aiwass seemed to sense something and paused.
He was silent for a long time before he continued to push the wheelchair slowly and said softly, "But no matter what, the God of Authority has heard your oath, so you can't break it."
"certainly… "
Aiwass closed his eyes tiredly, feeling his heart beating so hard that it felt blocked: "I will never go down the path of depravity from which there is no turning back."