Chapter 266
The Gryphon Minister of Avalon
After dealing with the ritual site, Eivass let Sherlock return to the Bishop’s house alone.
Sherlock was initially somewhat resistant. He had wanted to keep this a secret, not to tell anyone he knew about his shrinking. After all, he would return to his original form once he was promoted again.
This immediately energized Sherlock, who had previously had little desire for promotion.
However, he was persuaded by Eivass’s “Don’t you want to go back and get some sleep?” Still somewhat unwilling, he chose to obey his body.
—To be honest, he was indeed a bit sleepy.
After all, he had only studied two subjects he wasn’t proficient in the previous night, using all his strength under the “Stupidity Curse.” And after he had roughly mastered them through cramming, Eivass had reshaped his body with a ritual.
Sherlock, who hadn’t eaten or drunk much water all night, then found himself wearing uncomfortable clothes after returning to his teenage body of thirteen or fourteen years old. He spent an hour craning his neck to paint a wall, and then helped Eivass move a dead cow. The latter task almost made him faint.
“…Did you have to drag me into it when you were working!? Or rather, I couldn’t help much at all, and in the end, didn’t you do it all by yourself?” Sherlock couldn’t help but say.
“That’s right, but don’t even think about escaping alone.”
Eivass chuckled, “Working together, that’s what good brothers do!”
After forcibly dragging Sherlock to finish the work, Eivass used a “Fire Worship” and went energetically to help Haina deal with the Gryphons.
Sherlock did not have the ability to recover his strength. Moreover, after the “Stupidity Curse” was temporarily nullified by the ritual, he faintly felt his head start to hurt again.
However, it was still better than before. Now it was probably just a normal level of a migraine, and he often experienced such pain when working overtime before, so it was bearable.
Although he hadn’t advanced yet, Sherlock’s body was now much stronger than before. If he had been made to do so much physical labor before completing his initiation ritual, he would certainly have collapsed on the spot by now.
Sherlock suddenly understood—what Eivass meant by “working together” was that he just wanted to test the effects of his ritual!
So, you didn’t know what the ritual’s effect was either!
After Eivass finished his observation, Sherlock felt cold, sleepy, hungry, and exhausted. In the end, he swallowed his previous vow of “I won’t tell anyone about this” and shamefully scurried back to the Bishop’s house.
“Here I come—”
Madam Mina, who had just woken up, came to open the door when she heard the doorbell.
She had initially thought it was someone delivering newspapers or selling milk. But when she opened the door and saw Sherlock in loose clothes, Madam Mina hesitated for a while.
Then, she blinked—a fragmented radiance like stars enveloped her eyes.
This was the Astral Vision unique to Prophets of the Path of Adaptation. It could easily see a person’s fundamental spiritual essence, thereby discerning their true identity.
The next moment, Madam Mina showed a look of surprise:
“…You’re, Sherlock?”
“Thank you, Madam. You didn’t say anything hurtful like ‘Whose child is this?’.”
Young Sherlock sighed, waving a sleeve that covered half his fingers, “This is Eivass’s new invention, pretty amazing, right?”
“You’re so cute.”
Madam Mina first praised him with a smile before inviting Sherlock into the house.
She and Bishop Mathers had no children. They had originally taken care of Sherlock as if he were their own child…
And now that he had truly become younger, it naturally pleased Madam Mina even more.
“I’d rather you said something like I’m young and energetic now.”
Sherlock said coldly, placing his hands on the sides of his mouth and lifting them into a smile, chuckling dryly, “Otherwise, I feel like I’ll be dead from sleepiness any second, haha.”
Madam Mina couldn’t help but ruffle his hair, “Oh, you poor thing… Your hair has become finer and softer too. But you do seem more energetic than before… For example, if it were you before, being this tired, you would have just sighed deeply, then curled up on the sofa after coming in and lazily asked me for a cup of hot apple wine.”
Sherlock wanted to refute, but he found that Madam Mina was telling the truth. So, he chose to remain silent.
Mina sighed, “This is incredible, a Ritual of Rejuvenation…”
She was not an Ordinary Person who knew nothing about the extraordinary path.
It was precisely because she had contacted many hidden prophets that she understood the miraculous nature of Eivass’s ritual even better.
“The phenomenon of humans aging with the passage of time belongs to the domain of the Hourglass; while the growth, development, change, and aging of the physical body are related to the blood domain of the Path of Love. Neither of you belongs to Balance nor Love, yet you have achieved the miracle of reversing time… As expected of him. I don’t think anything he does now will surprise me.”
Mina mused, “The last time I divined, I noticed his fate line was closely related to many ‘High-tier Phantom Demons.’ At that time, I suspected he might be a reincarnated Heavenly Envoy… But later, I divined again and found that he is indeed just a mortal.”
Sherlock immediately understood Mina’s meaning.
Besides High-tier Phantom Demons in the usual sense, Discs, Heavenly Envoys, and Pillar Gods also belonged to the category of High-tier Phantom Demons in terms of species classification.
“To be so closely connected with those great Dream Realm existences as a mortal… This is even more astonishing than a reincarnated Heavenly Envoy or Disc. I no longer dare to divine him… I can see his chaotic fate lines, and following the clear threads of fate to those great beings, this is probably a kind warning.”
Otherwise, she might have fallen unconscious at that moment. It was uncertain if she could even wake up now.
As an Adapter, she chose to follow the guidance of her heart.
Mina chatted with Sherlock about Eivass for a while longer before going to prepare breakfast.
Although Sherlock insisted that only his appearance had changed, Mina firmly refused his request for hot apple wine.
After Madam Mina left, Sherlock, curled up on the sofa, fell into thought.
—He somehow felt that Madam Mina was hinting at something.
Did she mean they would encounter danger this time? Or was Eivass a pawn of the Heavenly Envoys of all realms?
What danger could they possibly encounter with their current lineup?
Himself at Third Tier, Haina also at Third Tier, a Priest at Third Tier, possibly even a Transcendent Path profession of unknown level, and then there was his elusive maid… Sherlock felt they could even easily defeat a Fourth Tier powerhouse. This was because their combat power was not at the level of a normal Third Tier at all.
But upon hearing Mina say that Eivass’s fate line was unusually chaotic, Sherlock still felt a bit uneasy.
…Just in case, he should go to Edward’s house and bring all his backup equipment.
As Edward’s close friend, Sherlock knew well where Edward habitually hid them.
Currently, Eivass was not yet a formal Minister of Affairs, nor was he a secretary of the Ministry. He was not part of the Inspection Bureau or the Inspection Department, and he had not obtained formal authority. His strength as a Law Master was less than ten percent of its full potential.
But he could simply borrow Edward’s identity.
As long as he brought Edward’s gloves, ritual sword, handgun, and identification, it would be equivalent to temporarily obtaining Edward’s authorization. This would allow him to use the power of the Path of Authority.
Of course, he had another method… that was to directly ask the Queen for a special permit. The effect would be the same.
However, Sherlock did not want to trouble Her Majesty the Queen. Nor did he want her to worry about him… just as Sherlock did not want to tell his brother about this journey.
—In any case, stealing things was for the sake of protecting his younger brother, so leaving a note would suffice.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Eivass had completely mastered the new skill [Dawn Fire]. Seeing it appear on his status panel, Eivass could confirm that he had indeed mastered it, and it wasn’t a hallucination from being burned too much.
However, it was clearly inconvenient for him to use it at the moment, as there wasn’t enough space for him to test it. Moreover, he had to go on a long journey today and needed to conserve his energy.
After returning to the Silver and Tin Hall for breakfast, Eivass visited Avalon’s Gryphon Minister.
This minister lived in the backyard of the Silver and Tin Hall.
It was possibly one of the only two ministers living in the Silver and Tin Hall.
The other was Eivass.
This minister, whose true name was unknown, was enormous. It was the largest Gryphon Eivass had ever seen.
The Gryphon Minister was currently lying on a square, pure white stone, its two forelimbs tucked in front of its chest like a cat’s, hidden by the white down feathers on its chest. Its entire plumage was pure white like jade. The stone was slightly small by human standards, just enough to accommodate the Gryphon Minister’s entire body. But for it, it was just right.
And this cute posture, like a cat, somehow appeared majestic—the reason being, it was simply too large.
The stone platform was nearly a meter high. And just by supporting its upper body to lie on it, it was almost four meters high.
This was basically the height of one floor. Eivass had to look up to converse with it normally.
“The top female student of this cohort?”
The Gryphon Minister tucked its paws and let out a deep, majestic voice like an old man’s, “Then there should have been a Gryphon long ago.”
“Probably wanted to pair her with a White-feathered Gryphon—after all, she’s Meg’s last disciple.”
Eivass said with a smile.
He was actually meeting this Gryphon Minister for the first time, but he wasn’t nervous at all… This old fellow was the oldest Gryphon in Avalon and the longest-lived Gryphon to date.
It was an “Founding Elder” who had existed almost since the era of the first Knights of the Round Table.
Now, it was too old and heavy to fight… Its body, which would seem too fat for a human, was very pleasing for a Gryphon with half a cat’s body.
The Gryphon Minister of Avalon was not always this one—in fact, the old fellow had given this position to humans several times.
This was because Gryphons were far less intelligent than humans, and their physiology was not conducive to handling various documents. And because Gryphons were powerful and able to speak, as favorites of the Silver Crown Dragon, they did not worry about being treated unfairly.
After all, strictly speaking, the Gryphon Knights, whose lifespans were much shorter than Gryphons, were merely the nannies and poop scoopers of the Gryphons.
It was just that since it had outlived the previous Gryphon Minister, it was temporarily filling the role again until the Queen found a new Gryphon Minister. In any case, it only needed to squat here as a mascot.
When there were important documents, its secretary would come and ask it to peck a beak print.
This was the benefit of Avalon’s civilian bureaucracy system—regardless of whether the minister above their heads was human or Gryphon, the civilian officials could complete their tasks normally. The ministers only needed to sign.
And as an old Gryphon, its work efficiency might even be stronger than that of humans. At least it wouldn’t have scandals or be bribed by foreigners.
“Little Meg…”
The Gryphon Minister spoke with some nostalgia, “Her judgment has always been good. Is there anything you need me to do?”
“Please peck this document.”
Eivass squatted on the ground, spreading out the document. He pointed to the position that needed a signature with his finger.
The Gryphon Minister did not get off the stone but remained still.
It merely extended its neck like a spring, easily reaching from the one-meter-high stone to peck the document.
“And this one.”
Eivass collected that document and took out another one, “Peck here. Hmm, and here. Here. All right, thank you for your trouble.”
“No problem.”
The Gryphon Minister let out a gentle voice, encouraging, “Your name is Eivass, right? The Crown Lord is watching you… Perform well.”
Eivass’s hand trembled, and he said with a wry smile, “Yes, I will do my best.”
…To be honest, being watched by a Pillar God was not something to be happy about. It put a lot of pressure on Eivass.
Fortunately, there were no issues of leaking secrets this time.
The Great Sin ritual was destined to happen in the future due to the demise of a Fallen Heavenly Envoy, so Eivass didn’t dare to mention a single word to anyone.
But the Mithra ritual did exist in the past, thousands of years ago. It was an ancient ritual that had truly been passed down in the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi, and it could indeed be revived through Sherlock, becoming a widely promoted Path in Avalon.
Although Eivass had lied many times using this excuse, this time it was true.
He could indeed see this ritual from books, unlike his creation of the Butterfly, which he had forcibly invented.
It was like how a Priest could obtain the help of Discs of other Paths through prayer, or how a Blood Mage could learn spells from other Paths. This was one of the means for the Path of Wisdom to gain abilities from other Paths.
And the first two abilities it gained in the early stages were precisely Avalon’s mainstream Paths—Devotion and Authority. There was no pressure to promote this profession, and even the most troublesome rituals could be standardized.
After drawing the symbols on the wall, when the gaze of Hengwo’s prayer arrived, he could kill several cows at once to help several people complete the ritual. And after this batch of people completed the ritual, there was no need to clean the ritual site, and the next batch could begin.
Although the gaze of the Pillar God could not be requested too many times consecutively, the ritual site did not need to be cleaned up. This optimized efficiency and cost.
Of course, perhaps the biggest problem was that Avalon simply couldn’t find so many High-tier mages…
They couldn’t possibly have all the mages from the Daffodil Duchy come to Avalon, could they?
Then Star Antinomy would really have to fight Avalon.
…But maybe not. If those mages really came to Avalon, perhaps Star Antinomy wouldn’t fight Avalon after all.
Because then Avalon would have “weapons of mass destruction.”
—Hmm, is this a solution?
Eivass fell into thought, contemplating whether he could find a way to poach some people.
