After crossing the Griffin Bridge, Sherlock, who was walking on the side, glanced at Lily, the maid pushing the wheelchair behind Aiwass, and then whispered:
“To be honest, I didn’t expect Master Janice to give you that painting.”
“I actually didn’t expect that.”
Aiwass answered honestly.
"Although Master Janice looks very friendly, she is actually quite arrogant. If you don't get her approval, she will just stare at you with a half-smile and a foolish expression without saying a word."
Sherlock whispered, "The master values you very much... Does he want you to embark on the path of beauty?"
"Yes."
Aiwass nodded and joked: "She wants me to be the princess's junior."
"I guess you refused." Sherlock said without hesitation.
"Indeed. How did you guess that?" Aiwass asked.
"Because I don't see any passion for art in you."
Sherlock smiled and said, "Actually, I quite like playing the violin. I think I'm pretty good at it... It's just that I didn't have the opportunity to pursue the path of beauty."
Aiwass blinked. "It's not too late now, Mr. Sherlock."
"No, it's too late. Or rather, I shouldn't have chosen the path of authoritarianism from the beginning. Balance, wisdom and beauty... each one is more suitable for me."
Sherlock looked at Aiwass and said from the bottom of his heart: "I don't want you to embark on a certain path for a long time before realizing that you have no passion for it. The adaptability of a path is based on talent, not hobbies... But I think hobbies are more important than talent. Talent determines the height you can reach, and interest determines your adaptability on this path.
“If you have no interest in a certain path, but the gravity at the top of the path makes you want to go further like crazy... Believe me, the torment of self-pulling will drive you crazy.”
“…Thank you very much for sharing your experience, Mr. Sherlock.”
Aiwass knew that what Sherlock said was all valuable information. This was his advice from the bottom of his heart, and it was full of sincerity.
He didn't meet Sherlock very often, and he wasn't the emotionally driven type like Isabel - the source of this kindness undoubtedly came from his older brother Edward.
Then Aiwass became slightly interested.
Because he didn't know Edward that well. The age gap between Edward and himself and Yulia was too big. He was more like an uncle than an elder brother. They didn't interact much... In Aiwas's memory, there weren't many scenes involving Edward. He didn't even remember Edward's name.
However, Edward is the direct cause of Aiwas' death in the plot - he attacked the player with a fatal spell on the orders of his adoptive father, and Aiwas blocked the fatal blow for the player.
Even though his primary target was not Edwards, Edwards still shuddered when he thought of Edward.
"I have a question, Mr. Sherlock..."
Aiwass couldn't help but ask, "How do you know my brother?"
"We are classmates."
Sherlock replied simply: "He is the only good friend I have made during my college career."
"… But if I remember correctly," Aiwass asked, "Mr. Sherlock is only in his twenties this year, right?"
"I'm twenty-six years old," Sherlock replied.
"But my eldest brother is already 35 years old this year... How did you become classmates?" Aiwass asked.
Hearing this, Sherlock couldn't help but laugh.
He explained: “You young people who come from high school are not the only ones who can go to university.
"When Edward was your age, he didn't graduate from the Royal Law University. He graduated from Milton University in Greyshire."
Although the Royal Law University is the largest and oldest university for supernatural beings in Avalon, it is not the only university.
More than three hundred years ago, several professors at the Royal Law University were accused by their students of "teaching heresy that was not permitted by His Majesty the King" and were therefore sentenced to cruel boiling. Specifically, it was the mysterious knowledge of the Path of Wisdom and the Path of Balance.
After strong protests, the king of that generation reluctantly changed the result to stripping and parading in public. The professors were unwilling to accept such humiliation and fled the Royal Law University.
Bishop Milton from the Eternal Church happened to open a seminary in Grey County, far away from the Glass Island.
After hearing about the professors' experiences, the young elf felt sympathy and took them in. Later, many people wanted to escape from the Glass Island full of inspectors and the "Eye of Avalon", so Milton University gradually gained a strong faculty. Although the enrollment scale and the area of the college are far less than the Royal Law University... their teaching quality is not low.
Before Queen Sophia opened the fifth and sixth departments of the Royal Law Academy, Milton University was the only supernatural academy in the entire territory of Avalon that taught "heresy" and "forbidden arts". Because of Bishop Milton's close relationship with the Eternal Church, the Silver and Tin Palace chose to turn a blind eye to this.
Today, Dean Milton is still alive - even after Avalon was destroyed by the Star Antimony, Milton University still exists as a refuge in times of war.
"After graduating from Milton University, Edward studied at two more universities. He eventually skipped the Inspectorate and joined the Inspectorate, where he got his own Griffin.
"And seven years ago, he studied law and legal arts at the Faculty of Law of the Royal Law University... He was already 27 years old at that time, and I was only 18 years old."
Sherlock said with some nostalgia: "When I first entered university, I was very withdrawn. Because I thought that other people were a bunch of noisy idiots, childish, stupid and impulsive. Obviously I was already a college student, and in a place like the Royal Law University, but I didn't look much different from elementary school students. Basically, only a few smart people from the countryside could communicate normally... However, their knowledge was far from enough, and there was nothing in common to talk about.
"So I didn't want to socialize with people my own age. The people I interacted with the most were the various professors at school, hoping to borrow their private collections. And my lifestyle of frequently talking to various mentors would further keep those idiots away from me.
"Once, I went to Professor Moriarty to ask him about an astronomy question, but was bitten by Edward's griffin at the door of his office.
"His griffin is of impure blood. Its feathers are darker than those of ordinary red griffins and its body is slightly larger. Perhaps because of this, its temper is also more explosive... Edward is not a light cavalryman, so he cannot communicate with his griffin companion. He also came to see Professor Moriarty at that time, and the griffin stopped at the door.
"But when the griffin saw me trying to push the door, it bit me. It only took one bite to make my flesh bloody, and two bites almost broke my thigh... Edward quickly sent me to the Candlelight Cathedral and asked the bishop to use the illumination magic on me personally, so that I didn't leave any disability or scar.
"Although the Bishop healed all my injuries, I was indeed frightened. And I still felt a vague pain in my legs, which only disappeared two weeks later. Edward came to visit me at my home and talked with me. I soon discovered that he was a very smart man... He also had extraordinary wisdom. Although his personality was different from mine, we were undoubtedly the same type of people - smart people without friends.
"—So we became friends. We studied law together. I was an initiate, and he was an advanced practitioner. But we still had common topics. After that, he taught me boxing—he was so good at it that he could even integrate the power of authority into his fists. He was stronger than the strongest boxer I knew. If he planned to enter the ring, he would still be a star in Avalon... A genius is like this, no matter what field he chooses, he will be equally good."
In response to Edwards' question, Sherlock talked about his experience with Edward.
He was obviously happy to talk about this topic. Sherlock didn't change the subject until he dropped Aiwass off at his doorstep.
When he arrived at the gate of Moriarty Manor, Aiwass noticed a dark griffin appeared in the yard. It had scarlet pupils, like a darker ruby.
—He recognized it at a glance; this was the griffin Edward had raised.
Didn't Edward leave for something and asked Sherlock to pick him up
Why did he come back first
Thinking of this, Aiwass asked casually, "What was my brother going to do before?"
"It's still the warehouse explosion," Sherlock replied, "and it may also be related to those people in the Pelican Bar.
"From all the traces, it's very similar to the explosion at the Little Jack Codfish Warehouse a few days ago - there are also traces of fire essence, and it's also an unmanned warehouse, and there were no casualties. But this time the accident happened in an abandoned stone warehouse... We haven't found the common point yet. But Edward rushed over to take the case as soon as possible, so we should be able to find out.
"Oh, right. Do you know what a fire spirit is?"
"It's similar to demon blood, a red powder that's slightly salty like salt. It's just the trace left by the fire-attributed phantom demon in the material world." Aiwass replied.
"Indeed, but what you said is the standard definition. Phantoms with fire attributes are quite rare, but it is not complicated to imitate Fire Essence using alchemy, and the raw material is just ordinary sulfur. So when the Supervisory Bureau mentions Fire Essence, it usually refers to Imitation Fire Essence. The purity of Imitation Fire Essence is lower than that of natural Fire Essence, but the effects and uses are actually similar."
Sherlock explained: "It is a spellcasting material commonly used by wizards. It is also one of the ritual materials that demonologists must use when summoning any demon.
"Just like 'salt' is the essence of the sea, if you put it into water in a certain proportion, it will turn the water into sea water, giving the water a stronger concept of 'water'. Just by putting a little bit of fire essence into fire, it will make the fire burn more vigorously and strengthen the concept of 'fire'.
"For low-level mages, it is difficult to use high-temperature flames without relying on fire essence. It is a necessity, but also a dangerous item with purchase restrictions.
"If enough fire essence is added, things that were originally incombustible will be able to burn because the concept of fire is strengthened... For example, ice, steel, or stone. This time, the stones in the stone warehouse were ignited."
Hearing this, Aiwass's expression froze slightly.
… etc
Something seems wrong.
Aiwass remembered... Wasn't it the evil warlock Veronica from the Pelican Bar who caused the first explosion? Because he controlled the shadow demon, she went to summon the demon again the next day. If she failed to summon the demon, then the failed ritual could indeed cause the warehouse to explode.
But she had been killed by Aiwass himself.
Could it be that the society has sent people to summon the devil again
That's not right... We've already failed once, so we can't allow a rookie who might cause the ceremony to fail again, right
Sherlock comforted her: "Don't be afraid, this case has actually been solved.
"Because the purity and structure of the Fire Essence synthesized by alchemists of different schools and methods are slightly different, just like the composition of salt extracted from different seawater is different. The previous batch of Fire Essence has been sent for testing, and combined with the Fire Essence this time... Once the final results come out, we will know where their Fire Essence comes from."
With doubts in his heart, Aiwas said goodbye to Sherlock.
Butler Oswald came out of the manor, nodded to Lily, and took over Aiwass's wheelchair.
"You have returned just in time, Master Aiwass."
The old elf, who had remained silent the whole time, bowed slightly after entering the room and spoke softly, "Please come over and treat Miss Yulia first. Miss is not in a good condition."
… Strange, didn’t I have treatment this morning
Aiwass was a little confused, but didn't say anything.
He motioned for Lily to leave, then pushed Aiwass into Yulia's room.
Aiwass's eyes suddenly widened.
He saw that Yulia was bound by silver glowing shackles, while Edward stood beside her with a serious expression, with white light shining in his pupils.
Yulia's head was covered in cold sweat and her consciousness was obviously a little fuzzy.
She didn't even notice Aiwas coming in. She just muttered to herself in a low voice as if she had a high fever, saying nonsense that no one could understand.
There were obvious burn marks on her pajamas, and red glowing cracks all over her fair skin, like cracked porcelain or shattered glass in the summer heat. From time to time, a faint flame would emerge from the cracks for a moment, and then be suppressed again.
Edward controlled the silver chains to bind Julia, squeezing her body, and forcibly using external force to slowly "stick" her broken body back together.
When Aiwas got closer, he noticed that Yulia's sweat was not transparent... but rather very light blood.
—When it dries up, it leaves behind a red powder.