Chapter 292
Large Ritual Array
When Haina brought young Sherlock home, she was stopped at the blacksmith shop entrance by her mother before she could even enter the inner room.
She fanned herself in front of her nose, her brows furrowed and her expression changing: “You took a guest to the swamp?”
“…Huh?”
Haina blinked in surprise, then realized that the stench of the swamp had clung to her.
Sherlock by her side let out an appropriately timed sigh.
“—Hey, what are you sighing about! Didn’t you not notice it either!” Haina felt a little indignant.
But she was no longer the naive girl she was right after graduation. In the months spent dealing with those troublesome people who twisted logic, Haina had mastered the professional skill of weaving lies to fit others’ words.
Of course, it might also be a subtle influence from Eivass.
Having interacted with him more now, Haina was finally beginning to realize that Eivass really loved to lie!
Back when she first met Eivass, she had no idea how much of what he said was true…
But it didn’t matter anymore.
He was Minister Eivass now. Even if it was fake, it could be treated as true.
Haina’s thoughts raced, and then she said with an unchanged expression, “Just reminiscing about childhood. I used to like playing there when I was little.”
“You know how dangerous it is there? It’s a restricted area in the village!” Haina’s mother frowned deeply. “What if you fell in? It’s all poisonous swamp!”
“Oh, we wouldn’t fall in. I’m very familiar with that swamp…” Haina chuckled, pretending to be unconcerned. “I went there all the time when I was a kid, and I never saw any danger. If I didn’t encounter danger when I was little, Arthur… Arthur would surely be fine too. Children are light, and I was watching him.”
She almost forgot that Sherlock’s current name was Arthur Conan Doyle.
But as expected, her deliberately casual attitude caught her mother’s attention.
Haina’s mother immediately overlooked the reason why they went to the swamp and assumed she was deliberately seeking a thrill.
Her eyes widened, and her voice rose a notch: “Even if you wouldn’t fall in yourself, what if you were sneak attacked by the undead there and stepped into an empty space? It’s one thing for you to go to dangerous places alone, but to bring such a young guest with you? You’re old enough to know better, Haina!”
Her incessant scolding continued for an unknown duration.
Haina just smiled foolishly throughout, with an attitude of ‘in one ear and out the other,’ like a dead pig not afraid of boiling water.
When Sherlock yawned for the second time, the scolding finally ended.
“Sigh, really…” She ended with this sentence, then affectionately patted Sherlock’s hair. “It must have been hard being dragged around by her, right? I’m not scolding you… You should find a place to sit inside. I’ll get you some fruit – would grapes be okay?”
She then moved away from the door she had been blocking.
After Haina’s mother had completely left, Sherlock said leisurely, “It seems someone’s grace period for returning home has ended.”
“You should praise me for my quick thinking,” Haina said, half complaining and half proud. “You didn’t react to the smell of the swamp yourself either.”
“Yes, yes, I didn’t react,” Sherlock said casually. “Believe what you want, but I’ve already obtained the intel I need.”
“…Intel?”
“Yes, this is how your mother reacted to us going to the swamp. This allows us to judge whether she is aware of the swamp’s situation, and from there, we can infer the attitude of the locals towards the swamp—whether they know what this forbidden area signifies.”
Sherlock narrowed his eyes. “Now, we can confirm one thing. That is, the perception of locals and ‘outsiders’ on this matter is different. If they truly regarded the swamp as a forbidden area, then your mother couldn’t have rescued Mr. Magnetic Hammer. Because she wouldn’t have had the opportunity to come into contact with the swamp—when she learned we went to the swamp, her attitude was very tense, and her tone chilled. But when you said you were just going for a walk, she relaxed, and even mentioned the undead in the swamp before we brought it up… If we hadn’t encountered any undead, hearing her say that might have made us curious enough to go back and check the situation. This is a simple psychological principle—when a criminal is interrogated, they will choose to expose minor mistakes to hide bigger ones. During this process, their attitude is quite proactive, aiming to attract others’ attention. Such an attitude often means the other party is hiding more. You are like this, and so is your mother.”
Sherlock looked up coldly at Haina. “I know that the supervisors of Avalon are accustomed to using confinement, interrogation, intimidation, and Law Spells to force others to tell the truth, and even directly searching memories, and other violent means to obtain the truth. But if you want to go higher, you have to try to master some additional skills—for example, psychology. The supervisors of Avalon are different from the police of Star Antinomy and Iris Flower. You extensively train in combat subjects like swordsmanship, horsemanship, and individual tactics in school, and have trained in multiple languages for future extraordinary skill advancement, but you lack training in various criminal investigation techniques. I will propose this matter to Minister Eivass later. Royal Law University needs to add a few more courses.”
“Add them,” Haina said without hesitation. “I’ve already graduated anyway, so let them add a few more courses.”
“What are you thinking?” young Sherlock sneered. “Even if you’ve graduated, you’ll still have to study them.”
“Ehh—” Haina cried out tragically, then seemed to recall something and tried to change the subject to escape reality. “By the way, what did you find out?”
“This tendency to escape also often signifies a guilty conscience. Because they cannot withstand the gradually increasing psychological pressure, they will actively try to say something, thus having a tendency to become a chatterbox and proactively guide the conversation.” Sherlock retorted coldly, then explained, “This indicates two things. First, your mother knows many secrets, secrets deeper than the undead in the swamp, and they are likely related to your father’s appearance. Second, she has not received systematic training, and lacks sufficient vigilance and discernment. This indicates that she is not a professional but a true villager… These two points are sufficient. This means that the abnormality in Eagle Cape Village is not natural. This ‘tradition’ is man-made, and this person’s actions are beneficial to them, or this person has been kind to them. Based on previous clues, I highly suspect this person is Eivass’s grandfather, Jacob.” Sherlock analyzed.
Soon, Haina’s mother returned. They took the fruit and went to chat with Magnetic Hammer.
Magnetic Hammer clearly had a good impression of Eivass. Hearing that Eivass had gone for a walk, he seemed a bit regretful that he hadn’t been invited.
“I should have taken him to play!” Magnetic Hammer slapped his thigh and casually cursed Haina’s brother, Jack. “You brat, why didn’t you wake me up!”
“Huh?” Jack, standing nearby, was bewildered.
Sherlock then appropriately said in his young voice, “Brother Eivass isn’t going to play… he’s going to investigate his grandfather’s matters.”
“I know about Jacob’s matters too!” Magnetic Hammer shook his head. “Why didn’t he ask me yesterday! I guess he drank too happily… Well, we’ll discuss it over drinks tonight when he gets back—you guys will still be here for a few days, right?”
Sherlock and Haina exchanged glances. Haina was silent for a few seconds before finally reacting. She quickly replied, “Ah, yes… they still have a few days to stay. But it’s hard to say exactly how long they’ll stay… Dad, why don’t you tell us about it directly? I don’t know Grandpa Jacob’s story yet.”
“You don’t know? Oh, you don’t. You were too young…” Magnetic Hammer said dismissively. “Your Grandpa Jacob was amazing. I came here late too, but I know one thing… Your Grandpa Jacob came here in his twenties. Back then, all the houses in this village were rebuilt by him, and they were especially sturdy. The roads were also built by him—even this house was repaired with his help.”
“…He was also an architect?” Sherlock was stunned.
“No, he was a Ritualist,” the dwarf Magnetic Hammer said solemnly. “But hisRituals were very powerful—honestly, it was the first time I’d seen aRitual that could build houses. I even wanted to learn from him, hoping to build houses for my village when I returned home. But he declined a few times, so I gave up. After all, even if he taught me, I probably wouldn’t be able to learn it. I live quite well here, carefree… I don’t want to go back. Besides, what would happen to you two siblings if I went back?”
Magnetic Hammer popped a grape into his mouth and said casually, “He’s a very serious person when it comes to his work. I don’t know if you’ve seen it from above—the houses in Eagle Cape Village are arranged exceptionally well, very neatly. It’s a standard circular shape, filled with many geometric patterns. —It’s like a Ritual Array.”
