The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 19

Chapter 19
Silver and Tin Hall

Haina froze for a moment, then the fear of what she had said dawned on her.
Thankfully, she had asked Mr. Sherlock and not Director Kent!

“As for why I don’t join the Inspection Bureau…”
Sherlock said with a faint tone, “It’s because you and I are similar yet different people. I also can’t go too far—this world isn’t a place where only those with more talent and excellence can go higher. I understood this when I graduated.”

“…What do you mean?”

“It means I’m like you. Compared to the Path of Authority, I lean more towards other Paths.”
The dark-haired youth said fearlessly and frankly, “What I asked from Mr. Kent were the mysterious books of the Path of Wisdom. I help him with difficult problems, and he gives me forbidden books in a private capacity—it’s a fair trade of mutual exploitation. Now, my second Path is already close to reaching Level Two… Compared to the Path of Authority, the Path of Wisdom is the Path I truly yearn for.”

“But…”
Haina wanted to say something more.
But her intuition was suddenly triggered. She immediately became vigilant and fell silent.

After they faced each other in silence for five to six seconds, a middle-aged man out of breath ran over from the corner.
“Haina—I finally found you! I’ve been looking for you all day! Oh, Advisor Sherlock is here too! Great, the Director is looking for you both!”

“Does Mr. Kent have something to discuss?”
Sherlock asked somewhat impolitely, “I have other things to do right now.”

“He didn’t say… but I think you might as well go and see. It won’t take too long, will it?”
The middle-aged man said with a smile, “You know, Mr. Sherlock—if it were something uninteresting, the Director wouldn’t have specifically asked you to come, right?”

“Fine.”
Sherlock nodded in agreement.
After speaking, he looked at Haina, “This is another reason.
“I’m a restless person. If I have nothing to do, I become uneasy… But if I’m made to do ordinary, repetitive work, I get bored. I need challenges and strong enemies to get excited.
“Your daily patrols are too boring. I’d rather read more books or do some experiments in that time. Even traveling alone like a wandering monk would be more meaningful than those repetitive days.
“I don’t want fame or achievements. I just want work that allows me to use my intelligence, where my pent-up energy can be unleashed—and incidentally satisfies my curiosity. This is why I cooperate with you.”

“Alright, Mr. Sherlock.”
The middle-aged man said with a wry smile, “You should get going quickly—after you hear the Director’s mission, you can attend to your own matters sooner, can’t you?”

Sherlock didn’t make a decision, and walked towards Director Kent’s office.

On the other side.

In the center of Glass Island, the capital of Avalon Kingdom, there was a clear and transparent lake, like a sapphire.

The Royal Family of Avalon Kingdom resided on an island within the island—in the very center of the lake island within the capital, Glass Island. It was the Silver and Tin Hall, blessed by the Silver Crown Dragon and having glass steps. It shone with a brilliant fire of light under the sunlight on clear days, and even on cloudy days, it emitted a dreamlike, gentle radiance.

Inside the Silver and Tin Hall, a girl of about fourteen or fifteen, with golden hair and blue eyes, was quietly flipping through today’s “Glass Steps Herald.”
She seemed to have Elf blood, so she looked younger than her actual age. Her appearance was gentle, her back straight, and the smooth nape of her neck revealed by her dress reflected the radiance of the sun, along with the Silver and Tin Hall she was in. She possessed a quiet aura befitting a budding artist, her eyes as calm as water.

And an Elf, appearing to be in her twenties or thirties, with both the mature charm of a woman and the innocence of a girl, sat opposite the girl, smiling and resting her chin on her hands. She had a distinct artistic temperament—not an illusion, but the influence of The Path of Beauty.

“I didn’t lie to you, did I, my little princess?”
The Elf artist said with a smile, “I told you yesterday that I saw a very handsome person. I specifically left him a full twelve seconds this time, just to preserve that crucial backward glance and smile.
“My aesthetic sense is definitely not wrong—that smile is the key, maximizing his charm. Honestly, I even wanted to paint him. But I don’t think there’s an urgent need for that at the moment; there will definitely be opportunities to meet him later.”

“…Indeed.”
The girl nodded quietly, “Teacher Janis is right. Mr. Eivass’s smile reminds me of the sun.
“Being the same age and at the same Path Level, he could personally lead people to capture a Demon Scholar much stronger than himself… The reconnaissance, judgment, and reasoning throughout the process were flawless. He was very strong and brave.”
She whispered, “I couldn’t do that. Because I’m very timid.”

There was a look of yearning and dejection on the girl’s face.
—It was the yearning from the bottom of one’s heart when a sober, kind person sees a peer much stronger than themselves; and the dejection that comes from not being jealous or deceiving oneself, but honestly recognizing the fact that one is far inferior to the other.

“He’s so amazing.”
The girl repeated.

“Ah—”
Seeing her like this, Janis looked at her with affection—and also with a touch of madness, making a sound like one would to tease a puppy, and pulling the girl into her embrace, ruffling her hair a few times, “Little Isha, you’re so cute!”

“Please call me Isabel, Teacher Janis.”
Isabel let out a small sound, covering her hair with her hand and saying seriously, “And please don’t mess up my hair—
“Also, I don’t know why I’m cute. I’m just speaking the truth.”

“You’re cute precisely because you explain things that don’t need explaining so earnestly.”

“It sounds so stupid. I’m an idiot.”
Isabel was somewhat annoyed and also a little disappointed, “I can’t even draw well.”

“You are already a genius, Isabel.”
When it came to this topic, Janis became serious, “It’s just that everyone you’ve come into contact with is even more of a genius than you.
“Your Path of Beauty is also close to advancing, isn’t it? Being able to reach Level Two at this age is already admirable… And I’m teaching you using a path with a more solid foundation, so you’ll start slightly later, but you’ll be able to go further.”

“I think it’s just because my father is Prince Albert.”
Isabel lowered her head, and whispered, “I myself am nothing special.
“If Mr. Eivass were also a prince, he would have gone further and earlier than me.”

“Eivass is an exception. You don’t need to think too much about him. Even Her Majesty the Queen said he was an admirable young man when she saw the newspaper… You don’t need to compare yourself to someone like that.”

“…Grandmother too?!”
Isabel was very surprised, “Grandmother rarely praises people… Is that Demon Scholar really that formidable?”

“It’s not about combat, or even his search capabilities. What the Queen values is his decisiveness when he fired those two shots. In terms of results, although these two shots only killed a Level Two Demon Scholar, they actually demonstrated his outstanding and swift judgment, his confidence in his own judgment, and his steady execution ability.
“Her Majesty personally said he has the demeanor of a great general. And you should consider, it must have been with her approval that I dared to put him on the front page with such a large layout. It’s precisely because Her Majesty said that the young people of the Kingdom should learn from him—although I don’t think they’ll ever learn, it’s also good to let everyone see a handsome young man.”

Janis shook her head helplessly, “You should change this habit of only comparing yourself to the strongest people, and then immediately becoming inferior and retreating when you can’t measure up.”

“I believe that if one is to compare with peers, one must compare with the strongest group.”
Princess Isabel said seriously, “Because I enjoy the best resources, if I don’t become the best, it’s a waste of resources. They should be given to people who need them more.”

“…You.”
Janis sighed, finding Princess Isabel incredibly stubborn.

“Oh, right, Teacher Janis.”
Isabel suddenly asked, “What did Mr. Eivass see at the time? What was he waving at?”

“Actually, I wasn’t at the scene either.”
Janis shook her head, “But I asked the videographer. He said it was a little girl selling flowers nearby.
“That girl called him ‘a very kind big brother.’ I think he must have politely bought a bouquet of flowers from her before. Eivass is indeed a very polite young man—if there’s an opportunity, we can invite him to the Silver and Tin Hall for a chat. To talk about the story that happened at the time, and what he was thinking, how he made his judgments… I think that would be very interesting. And the Queen would likely allow it.
“—You must be looking forward to it too, Isabel?”

Isabel didn’t reply, but merely clenched her small fists slightly, her beautiful, emerald-like eyes widening with yearning like a child.

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