The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 1003

Chapter 1002
Annie de Vendome
– This can be considered a pleasant surprise.
Eivass never expected to learn the true identity of his birth mother so easily…
Annie de Vendome.
This should be Eivass’s mother’s real name before she married.
If Annie were still alive, she would probably be in her forties now.
Arsen is currently around forty years old… and Angeleke is eight years older than Arsen, meaning she should be at least nearly fifty. She should be Annie’s older sister, Eivass’s aunt.
The current Duke Vendome is an old man. Eivass doesn’t know his exact age… and since Angeleke is the second daughter, he should be at least seventy or older.
But Abigail, whom Eivass sees now, looks only about seventeen or eighteen years old!
“Your Grace… how many children do you have?”
Eivass couldn’t help but ask, “Generally speaking, shouldn’t the reproductive abilities of High-Tier Extraordinary diminish?”
“Yes, but the Duke himself is only Fourth Tier, so the reduction isn’t too strong. Furthermore, the blessings of the Path of Love allow him to have many children… and he can afford to raise them all anyway.”
Arsen nodded, “The Duke has a total of seventeen children. My wife, Angeleke, is the second… and the Duke’s eldest son has already passed away from illness. Because of this, I, as a live-in son-in-law, was able to join the Vendome Family… The Old Duke wanted Angeleke to inherit the family.”
“A Duchess?”
“Mm, we have quite a few Duchesses of the Iris Flower. This is somewhat different from Avalon and Star Antinomy.”
“What about Abigail? Which number is she?”
“The youngest. She’s only sixteen this year and is still in middle school. Perhaps that’s why Mia dreamt of her.”
So, Abigail should be the Duke’s youngest daughter… practically Eivass’s aunt?
Although she’s his aunt in terms of seniority, she’s younger than Eivass…
And Annie should be between Angeleke and Abigail. Eivass doesn’t know which number daughter she is. It’s unexpected that Duke Vendome has so many children; it’s quite rare for an Extraordinary family.
Thinking of this, Eivass’s expression became somewhat subtle.
From this perspective… Arsen is practically Eivass’s uncle-in-law?
With that thought, Eivass recalled the contents of the letter Sherlock had sent him, and suddenly understood:
[While investigating this matter, I also unintentionally uncovered a secret that you would absolutely not expect, yet is closely related to you. Please forgive me for leaving you in suspense, as I am so eager to witness the surprise and curiosity on the face of the Respected Godslayer myself—]
Although Sherlock was under house arrest at Duke Vendome’s mansion, he must have met Arsen’s wife, Angeleke de Vendome, or her other sisters. There’s even a good chance he saw portraits of past “Vendomes,” which might have included Annie de Vendome.
And in the Ascension Ritual where Sherlock first encountered Eivass and Isabel, he, playing the Newsboy, had already seen Annie Alexander, played by Isabel. This means he actually knew what Annie de Vendome looked like.
—With Sherlock’s intelligence and wisdom, the moment he saw others from the Duke Vendome’s family, he should have already known Eivass’s mother’s origins. This is also the “hint” he wrote in the letter without explicitly stating it.
Because Sherlock couldn’t truly “leave you in suspense”—once Eivass arrived near Duke Vendome’s mansion, he would surely know about this matter. It’s a fact that cannot be hidden. However, his not mentioning it in the letter was also an indication that his current situation made it inconvenient to speak.
If Eivass hadn’t met Arsen and didn’t know that Sherlock was imprisoned in the Dream Realm… he could at least have used this method to let Eivass realize, at the latest upon arriving at Duke Vendome’s mansion, that Sherlock was in a state where normal communication was impossible.
Fortunately, he didn’t meet Arsen in his true form, otherwise, he might have seen through Eivass’s identity in an instant. This platinum-blond hair is too distinctive… especially since he has had so much contact with members of the Vendome family.
But thinking of this, Eivass sharply realized a problem:
Why do Abigail and Annie look so alike?
If the Old Duke had multiple wives, the facial differences among these children should be significant… but if he only had one wife, she should have gone through menopause. She shouldn’t have had Abigail.
With that in mind, Eivass asked, “How many wives did the Old Duke have? Are they related by blood?”
“…How did you know? He had three, but…”
Arsen was first a bit surprised, then his expression turned somewhat subtle, “They are indeed slightly related through collateral lines—because they all came from the Sarzo family, with over a decade between them. The second was the first’s niece, and the third was the second’s niece. There were two generations between them.
“However, for an Extraordinary of the Path of Love, this isn’t overly wild… at least they weren’t his own daughters. For nobles of the Iris Flower, this isn’t considered a taboo. Instead, it’s considered fashionable. It’s just that the Old Man’s preference for women from the Sarzo family is puzzling.”
…No.
Eivass narrowed his eyes slightly.
This sounds rather unusual. More than a specific XP, Eivass felt like it was some kind of ritual.
The relationship between the Old Duke’s three wives was too regular. Such regularity, appearing like test questions, likely formed part of some ritual in this world.
Speaking of which, what exactly did he want Sherlock to investigate…
Eivass suddenly fell silent, lost in thought.
“What’s wrong, Eivass?”
Arsen, seeing Eivass’s long silence, looked confused, “Still thinking about Abigail?”
“…Sort of.”
Eivass replied vaguely.
He asked Arsen the question that concerned him the most: “Did the Duke have a daughter… who went missing?”
“Could you be more specific?”
“For example, she went abroad to study and then stayed in Avalon and didn’t return…”
Eivass asked, staring at Arsen.
Arsen did not respond immediately.
He reached out and stroked his chin, thinking seriously for a moment, but did not provide an answer. This made Eivass’s heart sink.
“Her age?”
Arsen asked, “Approximately how old?”
“She should be… in her forties now.”
Eivass said directly, “Her name is Annie.”
“—Annie de Vendome? Ah, yes, there is such a person.”
Arsen directly spoke her name, and Eivass’s heart stirred slightly.
But Arsen’s next words sent a chill down Eivass’s spine: “But she didn’t stay in Avalon; she’s been at home all along. Perhaps she traveled abroad before, but she didn’t stay there.”
…What?
“Is she married, then?”
Eivass pressed.
“No, she has never married. But it’s said she has someone she likes, so my father didn’t force her.”
Arsen smiled, “The Vendome Family is thriving… and there’s no need to form alliances with other families. Keeping an idle person around is fine; they can be supported until death.
“Besides, Miss Annie isn’t entirely idle—she’s a very good opera singer. It’s just that with age, her vocal condition has declined, so she’s been staying at home… Do you know her? No wonder you’re concerned about Abigail, they do look quite alike.”
“…Perhaps. I’m not entirely sure.”
Eivass replied slowly.
After hearing Arsen’s account, Eivass had roughly guessed the truth—
—It was the Swamp Dweller.
This would explain why a Duke’s daughter could stay in Avalon, or even die there, without causing any diplomatic pressure; Eivass had originally thought it was because the Duke had too many children, but now it seemed… it was because “Annie” had already returned!
Duke Vendome had no idea he had a daughter who stayed in Avalon!
But… was it the Swamp Dweller who stayed behind, or the one who returned?
Judging by her actions, she clearly knew of the existence of “another Annie.” She never married and had someone she liked… this referred to Eivass’s father, meaning this Swamp Dweller must have been created after she fell in love with Eivass’s father.
For a moment, Eivass desperately wanted to return to the Material Realm and go to the Duke’s mansion to meet this “mother’s doppelganger.”
However, he suppressed his cluttered emotions and decided to rescue Sherlock first.
But he changed his sightseeing attitude, becoming much more serious:
“—Let’s not talk about that for now. Let’s enter the Dream Realm first.”
Eivass strode ahead, generously sharing his precious knowledge of the Dream Realm with Arsen: “To enter the Shadow Realm, one needs to pass through the gap between shadows and folded shadows.”
After all, Arsen was somewhat related to him—even without blood ties, he was Eivass’s “relative” in a real sense.
“This gap must be at least thirty degrees, but not exceeding one hundred and twenty degrees. And each step must deviate by at least one degree. Generally, this can only be achieved when one is lost in a dark forest… but there are such places in schools—namely, spiral staircases.”
Saying this, Eivass led Arsen towards a bell tower on campus.
He searched several places… and discovered that the staircase in this bell tower happened to be spiral.
He led Arsen up the stairs, instructing him at the same time, “Don’t try to count the steps on the stairs, nor count how many steps you’ve taken. Dreams are illusory, subjective… You need to use your imagination to override the dream’s imaginer. We need to go down this staircase a total of three thousand six hundred degrees, which is ten full rotations—I know this bell tower doesn’t have ten floors, but that doesn’t prevent us from going down. Do you understand? Don’t focus too much on ‘common sense,’ but pay attention to your imagination…
“If you really can’t do it, cover your eyes.”
This was like Platform 9 ¾; on a common sense level, such a gap didn’t exist—just as this staircase had no tenth floor.
In a forest, it would require “getting lost ten consecutive times and returning to the starting point ten times” to trigger the condition, but descending stairs could achieve this more conveniently and stably.
“…I’ll try my best,”
Arsen said seriously, a little nervous. Clearly, Eivass’s request was still a bit difficult for him—to forget, or even ignore, the “ground on the first floor,” and forcibly continue downwards…
“Don’t be too tense, and don’t count how many degrees you’ve walked. Listen to my footsteps; if I walk, you walk.”
Eivass comforted him.
As they spoke, they reached the top of the bell tower and closed all the doors and windows along the way, plunging the space into darkness.
He looked around and simply tore a hole in his hat, turning it into an eyepatch, and tied it over Arsen’s eyes.
As for Eivass—he didn’t need such an aid.
Arsen held his shoulder while Eivass walked in front. They descended the stairs step by step in the pitch-black environment.
As expected.
As long as Eivass kept descending, the spiral staircase extended infinitely. It had already far surpassed the length of Eivass’s ascent, yet it showed no signs of stopping…
The further he descended, the darker the surroundings became. He couldn’t count how many steps he had taken, but at least after six hundred steps, it was so dark that nothing could be seen.
Suddenly, Eivass’s foot touched flat ground.
He paused, took a step forward, and let Arsen step down as well.
Eivass quickly blocked Arsen, who was still trying to go further down, and removed his eyepatch.
Arsen subconsciously took a step back, only to find that there was no staircase behind him—
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck, illuminating the gloomy black-grey sky.
As the lightning faded, they keenly scanned their surroundings.
There was no sun or moon in the sky; it was a black-grey sky perpetually swirling with dark clouds. Only during thunderstorms could the outline of this world be vaguely discerned.
They were in a vast, black-grey wasteland.
Nowhere to be seen for miles.
The good news was that there were no threatening Phantom Demons around.
The bad news was that they didn’t even know which direction to go.
“We’re here,” Eivass said, looking around, not entirely certain, “This should be the Shadow Realm.”
“…Should be?”
Arsen was astonished, “Didn’t you… haven’t you been to the Dream Realm before?”
“I haven’t been here, but I should have an acquaintance here… I’ll call them over to ask.”
As Eivass said this, he dispelled his Mirror Transformation. This Child of the Moon body was not suitable for using Prayer techniques.
Before the light disappeared, Arsen caught a glimpse of Eivass’s face.
At that moment, his eyes widened in surprise.
(End of Chapter)