Chapter 295
James and Jacob
Merlin narrowed his eyes slightly. He recognized the old man, and very well at that. They had known each other for a long time.
The man imprisoned in Titania’s birdcage was none other than James Moriarty, Eivass’s foster father. Despite being confined, the old man looked remarkably well. His attire was as formal as if he were attending a banquet, with his hair neatly combed back and meticulously styled.
The birdcage was furnished not only with perches for birds but also with a chair for sitting. James was seated comfortably, even crossing his legs, and smiled at Merlin.
“…I heard you were missing for a long time. I didn’t expect to find you here.”
Merlin spoke, “They all thought you met with an accident in the Church.”
“I did go to the Church. Partly to retrieve something, and partly to worship the giant tree.” James said with a smile, “I have great respect for the giant tree – bearing an entire civilization on its own, creating a race with its own flesh and blood. If the giant tree’s power were a bit stronger, I imagine it would choose to nourish the whole world.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Merlin said casually, “How have your recent studies been going? You haven’t summoned me in quite some time, so I presume everything has been going smoothly?”
“You could say that.” James chuckled lightly, “But let’s not discuss such uninteresting matters in front of Her Majesty – what brings you to the Fairy Kingdom?”
“You’ll have to ask your child.” Merlin said without hesitation, “While you’ve been a guest here, they haven’t been idle.”
“Which child of mine?” James countered, “Son or daughter?”
“Of course, it’s that little fox from Giulio Alexander’s household. Thanks to him, I discovered Viviane was causing trouble again – she altered my Shadow of Avalon ritual. But she wouldn’t have the ability to do that on her own, so I suspect it was Jacob’s doing. As a ‘Grand Mage,’ he often borrows power from other Paths through rituals, and the Disciple he knows on the Path of Love is Viviane. So, they are connected.
However, if it wasn’t Jacob… then the situation becomes even more complex. It’s possible even Heavenly Envoys and Pillar Gods are involved. While my skills aren’t top-tier, it’s not something just any Ordinary Person can alter at will.”
Merlin tugged at his wide-brimmed hat and said seriously to James, and also to the Queen of the Fey, “So I need to go to Beheading Valley to see if Alexander left anything else behind. But it has been engraved by the Amber God, and I, no longer possessing a physical body, cannot enter through normal means.
Therefore, I need to borrow the Fey’s Cave. If he left any ritual there, there will surely be clues in the Fey’s Cave.”
“Shadow of Avalon…” Queen Titania of the Fey asked with interest, “Is that the ritual used to resurrect Lancelot? What did Viviane change it into? Is it interesting?”
“I can’t say.” Merlin shook his head cautiously, “But it certainly wouldn’t resurrect Lancelot. Whether it’s interesting or not is uncertain, but it will definitely be troublesome. So, I’ve stopped the ritual for now.”
He was actually unsure if the ritual would, as Eivass had suggested, pull down a Shadow Heavenly Envoy. In Merlin’s understanding, there was no ritual capable of directly pulling a Heavenly Envoy into the Material Realm. If Heavenly Envoys could be pulled down so easily, wouldn’t they have been so long ago?
Although Heavenly Envoys and Discs could reincarnate, it was an active choice. Usually, it was done to advance further or to change Paths, to “start over.” Merlin’s understanding of rituals was partly due to him being half-demon, possessing some intuitive abilities related to the Transcendent Path. However, he was ultimately not a professional ritual mage… his main path was the Path of Wisdom. In terms of rituals, he could only be considered a novice—a novice at the Disciple level, of course.
He analyzed it logically and felt that the ritual did indeed have such an effect… but Merlin wasn’t sure if the final outcome of its operation would be precisely that. Generally, when Merlin encountered rituals with uncertain effects, he would let them run their course to test them. But this ritual felt a bit too dangerous, and he was hesitant to try it—who knew if he might accidentally pull down an acquaintance?
What were Viviane and Jacob really doing? Was that something you could tamper with?
“Regarding this, I might actually know a little.” James raised an eyebrow and said calmly, “When Eivass’s parents came to Glass Island, they brought a letter. The letter mentioned his father’s research… it was a letter sent by his elder brother.”
“Whose brother?”
“Giulio Alexander, Jacob’s second son, who is Eivass’s father. His elder brother – Jacob’s eldest son – sent a letter to Giulio.”
“…I don’t really recall.”
“Well, Giulio was just a young Priest. Not even a Bishop, so it’s normal you don’t remember.” James nodded and continued to explain to his old acquaintance, “His eldest son was also not very famous. He later inherited Jacob’s Path of Desire and became a Demon Scholar, infiltrating Noble Red. But he was later killed by people from Noble Red. It was also because of this that Noble Red became aware of Jacob’s research.”
“Haven’t heard of that either.” Merlin shrugged and smiled helplessly, “Just tell me directly, what did the letter say? What exactly was Jacob researching? I only know it seems to be related to artificial humans… or rather, Elini told me that he used wrong methods to reach the highest pursuit of Alchemy. And because of that, Jacob was later cursed by the Hourglass.”
“Jacob lived incognito back then because of his research. I was also in the Lloyd Society at the time, and in my youth, I clashed with him many times.” James narrowed his eyes and said softly, “He was indeed a genius. But geniuses can usually only go one step ahead, and going two steps ahead makes one a madman.
He went more than two steps ahead – his research was truly forbidden. Even replicating souls was merely a necessary component of his speculative technology. I believe what he truly wanted to do was to create gods. The letter mentioned that he attempted to integrate Fragments of Phantom Demons into human souls to create individuals with innate special characteristics.”
“…Isn’t that the Phantom Demon Egg?” Merlin frowned deeply, “What’s the point of that?”
“I don’t know. His death was peculiar, and I actually suspect he’s not dead… or perhaps he quietly became a Disciple of some God. Although I don’t know what he intended, it’s certainly correct to thwart all his plans.” James replied calmly, “According to his original plan, Eivass Alexander would have been handed over to Bishop Mathers by Giulio; and Yulia Heracros would eventually have been adopted by the Barton couple.
So, I interfered to a certain extent… raising both Yulia and Eivass under my watch. I just didn’t expect them to find each other.”
“Your sudden feigned death was for this too?” Merlin countered.
“Yes, after Eivass came into contact with Noble Red, he suddenly became very wary of me, and inexplicably gained some hidden knowledge that he shouldn’t have, concerning Heavenly Envoys and Pillar Gods. I suspect he was influenced by Jacob, perhaps receiving some knowledge in his dreams.” James narrowed his eyes, “So I decided to give them some space… to see what would happen if I wasn’t around. Therefore, I came to Her Majesty Titania and asked her to take me in for a while. Since you’ve been keeping an eye on Avalon, please tell me – what have they been up to during this time?”
