The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 158

Chapter 159
Eivass: Can’t wait a moment.
Gordon remembered that person, vividly.
Even now, recalling the evil laughter, he couldn’t help but feel sharp, needle-like pains in his heart—
During the Ascension Ritual, he was impaled by a shadow spear wielded by the Fiend codenamed “Alistair,” and killed with ease.
His corpse was dissolved by shadows in the blink of an eye, and the intense pain did not completely dissipate even after he woke up, with a part of it still lingering in his memory.
Gordon was indeed getting on in years.
The weakness caused by his failed Ascension had taken Gordon several days to recover from. Now his body would occasionally lose strength and his mind would wander, making it impossible to work normally. However, even so, he was still on duty. He was only doing odd jobs and had not taken leave to rest at home.
Before, when he ended the Ascension Ritual and had just woken up, he had used his already somewhat blurry memory to clearly record what happened in his dream. As he was an Inspector himself, even if it couldn’t serve as evidence, it could be used as a reference for the team’s investigation.
Gordon opened his dream record book and turned to the most recent ritual. He found the page for Alistair.
On this page, he had, for once, remembered a lot of details.
Because the other party was also participating in the Ascension Ritual for the first time and knew nothing.
Not only did they disdain to make up a codename, but they also revealed their own background information.
Old Gordon had been a soldier, and after retiring, he became an Inspector. He now had some experience in case processing and intelligence summarization—the pickpockets, ruffians, and gang members rarely told the truth, but their fabricated lies themselves had value.
Even if part of the lie was mixed in, as long as you didn’t give this person time, their instinct to fabricate lies could reveal what information they wanted to hide and what they took for granted. They could hide the truth, but they couldn’t hide the perspective that differed from others due to their knowledge of the truth.
However, Gordon knew little about psychology; Inspector Edward was more adept at such matters.
Gordon did not hesitate to inform Inspector Edward of all the information he knew, including what he had witnessed in his dream.
Edward was currently anxious about Eivass’s disappearance.
He had been woken up by a phone call at 2:30 AM. He was a bit grumpy at first, but when he heard that Eivass was in trouble, he immediately rushed to the Inspection Department’s office without even washing up or getting dressed.
The information from Gordon precisely calmed him down.
And it provided Edward with a very clear direction for the investigation.
But he didn’t expect that after carefully reading Gordon’s information, Edward became even more anxious—
“He has been possessed by a demon since childhood. And it’s a highly intelligent Shadow Demon with an independent personality.”
Edward frowned deeply, “This means that in addition to his teacher and parents, that Shadow Demon has been constantly educating and influencing him in his mind.”
Gordon nodded, “That’s right, his worldview is clearly different from that of a normal person.”
Fiends could not be trusted for this very reason—no one knew what forbidden knowledge and erroneous common sense the demons had taught them.
Edward continued his analysis, “His parents are both followers of the Nine Pillar Gods, but he only believes in Father Snake—Nine Pillar God followers generally worship Candlemaster the most. This indicates that he is completely uninterested in the Path of Devotion, and even disgusted by it. He likely has no good feelings towards priests.”
And Eivass was a priest.
A moment of silence fell between the two.
Edward suppressed his unease and continued reading, “He only studied in the countryside, with an education level of junior high school. After inheriting his father’s legacy, his first choice was mountaineering and rock climbing—these are dangerous and challenging sports. Such a choice suggests he has a restless heart, ignoring external dangers, and even willing to embark on them.
“He did not understand the ideals of the Noble Red Society at all, but he did not resist. So he was most likely deceived into joining—and he doesn’t even know the identity of his guide.
“In other words, this Alistair is a rural young man whose three views are clearly different from those of a normal person, whose personality is cruel and rebellious, used as a tool by the Noble Red Society, uneducated, and likes to seek thrills, and who intensely dislikes priests.”
Edward frowned deeply, “Undoubtedly, this person named Alistair is extremely dangerous.”
He clearly realized that Eivass, who had suddenly disappeared, was probably in real danger this time.
Their foster father, James, had only recently disappeared, and now Eivass was gone. And they both seemed to be in a bad situation, yet he was powerless to do anything about it…
A thought flashed through his mind: Fortunately, Yulia was taken to the Royal Palace by Princess Isabel.
He hoped that Her Highness the Princess could keep her emotions in check. Yulia had always had a good relationship with Eivass, even better than with their foster father James, or with Edward himself.
But this might not be enough.
…Because it seemed Princess Isabel also had a good relationship with Eivass. Yulia might not have a channel to know this, but Princess Isabel would definitely have found out immediately. If she knew, Yulia should know too.
If Yulia knew that Eivass had disappeared, and that he had been captured by an extremely dangerous person… her emotions might spiral out of control, and the Phantom Demon inside her would burst out. It would be best not to tell her about this.
If the identity of the Phantom Demon Egg was discovered, then Yulia would also be in danger…
But soon Edward suddenly realized that Yulia was no longer the Phantom Demon Egg.
This was something the old butler, Oswald, had told him before he left the night before last. Although it was difficult to comprehend, Edward was relieved.
—This was probably the only good news.
He didn’t have to rush Yulia home to try and hide her identity… and now that Oswald was not at home, Yulia was much safer at the Silver and Tin Hall than at Moriarty Manor.
He had to go find Eivass himself and had no time to protect or care for Yulia.
Edward had always been taciturn and not good at comforting people. If Yulia came back crying, Edward wouldn’t know how to console her.
This was something Eivass had always done before.
Just thinking about it gave Edward a headache.
I wish I had disappeared instead!
Now, all he could do was pretend to be dead and leave Yulia at the Silver and Tin Hall for now. With the care of Princess Isabel and Master Janis, at least Yulia would be out of worry.
“Damn it!”
Edward was extremely anxious and annoyed.
He clenched his fists and punched the table. The thick solid wood table immediately cracked slightly.
Although his personality was cold, Edward cared deeply for his family.
At this moment, he felt an unprecedented rage, swirling within him.
—Alistair.
—Noble Red.
I will remember these two names.
Edward muttered in a low voice, “I must find Eivass.
“Wait for me… Eivass. I will definitely find you.
“Candlemaster above, Silver Crown Dragon above… please let Eivass live… as long as he lives.”
Edward closed his eyes and prayed in a low voice.
On the other side, Eivass and Lily stood quietly in a corner in the dead of night.
Both of them were almost blended into the shadows, and even when other low-level Inspectors passed by them, they were completely unaware of the two.
“Young Master, should we wait until tomorrow to act?”
Lily’s voice asked Eivass, “The martial law is getting stricter.”
It could only be said that the name Eivass carried some weight now.
Starting from 2 AM, the number of patrolling Inspectors on the streets increased at a visible rate. Griffins of all colors flew everywhere, and those who couldn’t ride griffins rode horses, galloping through the city streets sounding their hoofs.
By 3:30 AM, even Law Masters appeared on the streets. They sternly investigated the backpacks of suspicious individuals passing by, paying special attention to checking the carriages of all those operating late at night. Every inn was being searched urgently, and knights in armor suddenly stormed various organizations’ hideouts in the middle of the night, accompanied by stern-faced Law Masters.
Clearly, the matter was gradually being taken over by higher-ups.
It was now 4:50 AM, and the streets were brightly lit.
In the last ten minutes, Eivass had seen more than one White Gryphon fly overhead.
It was still night, and the Shadow Demon’s concealment ability was a dead end for these low-level Inspectors and Law Masters. Only these White Gryphons could detect anomalies in the darkness. Therefore, every time a White Gryphon flew by, they had to hide for a short while.
“Can’t wait a moment.”
Eivass replied decisively, “If we let them communicate peacefully tomorrow, and their information matches, they will definitely know something is wrong.
“The fire isn’t big enough yet—we need to add some fuel.”
“Who shall we start with?”
“Lawyer York, of course.”
Eivass narrowed his eyes slightly and said softly, “We’ll go get revenge for Sherlock first.
“When this flock of gryphons leaves, charge!”
Chapter 2 is only two thousand characters long, I’ll add a bit more before posting!
So the second update will be a bit later—