The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 1022

Chapter 1021
Heavenly Envoy Is Quiet, Must Be Causing Trouble

“…I originally wanted to give it to Her Majesty the Queen. In terms of performance, this is clearly her exclusive weapon,” Sherlock shook his head with a hint of regret. “It seems… not very suitable after all. I think it’s too dangerous to let a Heavenly Envoy become the ruler of Avalon.”

“Indeed.” Eivass also nodded in agreement. “I also don’t want Isabel to become a Heavenly Envoy using this mask. If it were just about obtaining power, that would be fine… but if there’s also a higher will mixed in, I would feel uneasy.”

Although Isabel had also created masks for others… including Lixia, Yulia, and even Eivass himself. He himself had descended into Isabel’s vessel during his own split.

But these were all people Isabel was familiar with and trusted, and she was certain their wills were normal, their spirits healthy, and their thoughts were not carrying any unspeakable contamination…

On the other hand, Isabel had given her own mask to many people. For example, Lily, Selene, Lixia, or Saint George… These people who obtained Isabel’s mask were all Isabel’s descending vessels. As long as Isabel called them and had them put on the mask, Isabel’s will and soul could directly descend upon them across space-time.

—However, there was a common point: their status was equal. The initiative was actually in the hands of the person wearing the mask… The person wearing the mask actually had clear bystander awareness and could take over operations at any time. Even in automatic mode, it could be switched to manual control at any time.

It was as if the person wearing the mask shared the operational control with the mask’s owner via remote desktop. While the mask’s owner could control the desktop, the person wearing the mask could also control it. They could even fight for the mouse, and both parties had the authority to terminate the sharing.

But the Heavenly Envoy’s mask was not like that—it was one-way control.

Just like Arsène’s hands suddenly stiffened after putting on the mask.

This meant that his “original actions” were directly terminated. Unless he explicitly refused the Heavenly Envoy’s intervention, the Heavenly Envoy decided when to leave. Although he had perception, he had no control over his body.

This was too dangerous for a monarch.

Especially since this Heavenly Envoy was clearly a god of mischief, which made Sherlock feel even more uneasy.

—But on the other side, Arsène became quite spirited.

“Does the Heavenly Envoy mean that I should take him to have fun?” Arsène quickly understood the Heavenly Envoy’s request through mental conversion and omission, as they were both on the Path of Beauty.

He was happy that his past performance was recognized by the Heavenly Envoy, and he readily—even proudly—accepted the task: “This is simple… I’ll just wear the mask when I go out as a phantom thief from now on.”

“Although this thing is essentially the Heavenly Envoy’s technique for bypassing the Wall of Balance… it is indeed a great gift for you.” Eivass reminded Arsène, “After all, it can genuinely save your life… If you encounter an enemy you cannot defeat, you can pull the Heavenly Envoy down to help you. Given that you are his divine descent vessel, the Heavenly Envoy will not stand idly by. You should show more respect to the Heavenly Envoy and try to satisfy his needs… This is a divine existence that can truly watch over you, help you immediately, and save you in the face of powerful enemies.”

“I understand.” Arsène waved his hand, not caring. “Actually, my current phantom thief performances are mostly to please my wife—she thinks I’m very handsome this way. When I was young, I liked to use such extravagant performances to gain fame and show off my abilities… but I don’t need that anymore. The money I can obtain is the most important thing—with this money, I can distribute it to those who need it more.

“To this day, it’s still quite tiring for me to continue performing in that extravagant style. I just don’t want my followers to be disappointed… Therefore, it’s just like having an additional VIP audience member, and a genuinely good audience member—I’m too accustomed to this kind of work.”

“It’s good that you know what you’re doing.” Eivass nodded. He realized that Arsène accepted the mask wholeheartedly, having clearly understood its meaning and requirements.

Arsène had indeed obtained another inheritance from the Heavenly Envoy! The “Secret Scroll of Stealing Heaven” was likely related to the power the Heavenly Envoy left behind. His performance style was too similar to the Heavenly Envoy’s…

However, when he thought about it carefully, the Heavenly Envoy was indeed a genius to be able to bypass the Wall of Balance in this way. Eivass also suddenly understood why the Heavenly Envoy was so low-key in his past life.

Looking back now, it did seem strange… How could such an active god of mischief be so well-behaved and not make any noise during the chaotic times?

This was clearly impossible.

A quiet child was likely up to no good. It was like when a mischievous child was confined to their room, and parents were surprised to find, “Hey, why is this child so good today, not crying or making a fuss?”—but in reality, they had already climbed out the window and over the wall to escape!

Perhaps he had long found one, or even several, vessels and had been roaming the Material Realm all along!

…No wonder the Heavenly Envoy seemed to know about the Ouroboros Ring ritual but wasn’t worried about being summoned. Since he was already in the Material Realm, the Ouroboros Ring ritual naturally couldn’t summon him!

“In that case,” Eivass said, “if Sherlock has no objections, this mask is yours. Give it a name.”

“I have no objections.” Sherlock yawned and said dismissively.

“—Let’s call it [Mystery Mask].” Without much thought or hesitation, Arsène immediately replied, “‘The mystery is the answer,’ I really like this sentence.”

“Speaking of which,” Sherlock suddenly said, “the matter Duke Vendome asked me to investigate is also related to the Heavenly Envoy.”

“Oh?” Hearing this, Eivass showed some interest. “I heard from Mycroft that it’s about the truth of the ‘Third Rebellion’?”

The most talked-about aspect of the Iris Kingdom was their humorous serial drama, the “Fourteen Uprisings.” They were constantly rebelling, changing their political systems one after another, and changing their national name and flag up to four times a year; rulers were replaced one after another.

If a group of students were focused on preparing for college entrance exams and couldn’t keep up with current events outside, it was even possible for a class of thirty students to give more than five different answers to the question, “What is the name of our country?”

From monarchy to republic, then to empire, then to constitutional monarchy, and then back to republic… The previous dynasty repeatedly restored itself, and forces that seemed to have been completely eradicated would revive after more than a decade. It was like a group of people competing in sit-ups, and this didn’t even count the commonplace matter of cabinet reshuffles.

The Iris people seemed to have a deep-seated logic etched into their genes—if they encountered a problem and couldn’t solve it, they would just change the people in charge. And if the problem was still not solved? Then they would change again.

The Iris people lacked patience and were too impetuous. They had to see results immediately. As a result, everyone had their own ideas and proposals. Orders were changed as quickly as they were given, and the vast kingdom had no policy that lasted more than twenty years. With the internal strife in Star Antinomy almost tearing it apart and Avalon in isolation, the Iris Kingdom also fell into a cycle of internal consumption.

It could only be said that the countries that split from the former Hrasal Empire each had their own unique skills. And now…
If Sherlock’s words were anything to go by, was there a hidden manipulator behind all this?

“While there isn’t sufficient evidence for the other times, at least in the ‘Third Rebellion’—the action that led to the beheading of the last King of the Iris Kingdom—the Heavenly Envoy’s guidance was indeed present.” Sherlock said slowly. “However, this is not why I investigated. Duke Vendome seemed to know from the very beginning that the Heavenly Envoy was involved. He must have some sort of cooperation with the Heavenly Envoy, which is why the usually very mysterious Heavenly Envoy appeared here—I even believe his faith might be in the Heavenly Envoy.

“—And the real problem is that the ‘script’ back then got out of control.”

“…Are you saying that the plot originally arranged by the Heavenly Envoy was not ‘regicide’?” Eivass realized what Sherlock meant. “Then Duke Vendome asked you to investigate this matter from the Dream Realm…”

“It was to avoid prophecy spells. Any action taken in the Material Realm would leave traces and be captured by astrology.” Sherlock said, placing his right hand, which was burning with blue flames, on the table and incinerating all the documents on it. If this were in the Material Realm, such an action would likely have caused a conflagration spreading throughout the library. But this was in the Dream Realm, so it only required resetting this painting.

He glanced at Eivass, his gaze deep. “I suspect… this matter might be related to your grandfather.”

“Too much of a coincidence.” Eivass sighed. “I suspect the same thing.”