The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 51

Chapter 51
Lily
After Eivass woke up, the first thing he did was clean up his ritual site.
The smoked white crystal pendant was no longer pure. Eivass ground it into powder and set it aside for later use.
After channeling the aura of the Dream Realm, the spirituality within it became too mixed, causing it to lose the concept of “white crystal.” In any alchemy or ritual that required “white crystal,” it would only lead to failure.
However, it wasn’t entirely useless. This item, scientifically known as a “Sub-Dream Crystal,” possessed a very weak concept of confusing dreams and reality in alchemy and ritual studies.
If one were to inject two opposing forces into a portion of crystal dust, mix it with the extract from the entire brain of an adult squid, and then add it to a bottle of white wine, distilling it down to half its original volume, they would obtain three bottles of Forget-Worry Potion. Drinking one dose would allow a person to forget their most sorrowful matters as if they were a dream.
—In the game’s main quest, after Yulia died, “Eivass” fell into grief, becoming noticeably depressed and gaunt. At that time, under the guidance of Eivass’s foster father, Professor James Moriarty, the player used the white crystal pendant, which had been gifted to the player character by Eivass as a memento after his advancement, as the material to create this potion and administer it to Eivass.
After drinking the potion, Eivass fell into a deep slumber. When he awoke, he was noticeably much better.
It was as if the incident hadn’t happened a few days prior, but several years ago.
That was also the first time James Moriarty was involved in the main storyline in the game.
…Now, with Eivass preparing this potion himself, it felt somewhat peculiar.
However, Eivass reflected… it was probably around this quest that it began to hint at Old James possessing quite decent alchemy knowledge, as Forget-Worry Potion wasn’t a common potion. At least, in Eivass’s memory, it never appeared in any subsequent main quests.
After clearing all traces of the ritual from his bedroom, Eivass left his room.
He informed the house’s housekeeper that his room was ready for cleaning. Mrs. Rowe, the housekeeper, acknowledged and called for Eivass’s personal maid.
Generally, servants didn’t need to follow their masters around like a shadow. When working, their schedules usually didn’t overlap. Moriarty Manor was in the White Queen District, and while not impossibly large, the main building alone had over twenty rooms… this required constant cleaning by the servants.
External affairs were usually handled by Butler Oswald, while internal matters fell under Mrs. Rowe, the housekeeper. They were the easiest to find.
The former was the guardian of the Moriarty Family, while the latter was merely a hired human housekeeper.
In other Knight families, masters didn’t need to explicitly give orders—as soon as they left a place, the housekeeper would immediately instruct someone to clean where they had been.
But Moriarty Manor was an exception.
This was because among the four masters of the house, Eivass rarely left home after graduating from middle school. Yulia was not allowed to leave or go near open windows. Edward only returned for a day or two each month… only James frequently went out and came home.
There were few arrangements for banquets or travel, and not much household waste was generated. Besides the routine cleaning of rooms, the servants would gather in places unseen by the masters to chat.
Furthermore, the servants knew that the Moriarty Family was an extraordinary family, and they researched occult knowledge. The books spread open could contain dangerous information that would cause a normal person to go mad or die upon a single glance; and the various objects placed on tables or the floor could be part of a ritual or a barrier.
Thus, until the housekeeper announced, “It can be cleaned,” they would not enter the bedrooms to dispose of trash. Even when they did clean, they would merely restore items to their original positions, trying not to disturb them as much as possible.
“Good morning, Young Master Eivass.”
A maid with long, curly flaxen hair, who had been tending to an oil painting nearby, walked over and greeted him softly.
“Good morning, Lily.”
Eivass also friendly returned the greeting to his personal maid. “I have good news for you… you can go to school too.”
Upon hearing this, Lily’s eyes widened suddenly.
“…I can go to school too?”
She had been Eivass’s personal maid since he first arrived at the Moriarty Family.
Eivass was six years old then, and Lily was only fourteen. They had become quite familiar with each other.
Lily was usually responsible for cleaning Eivass’s bedroom, washing and changing his personal clothes, and accompanying him when he went out.
Considering safety, decorum, and appearance, these personal male and female servants were usually not of commoner origin in the strict sense, but rather children of relatives or illegitimate children from other families.
For example, Lily was the child of an old knight and a prostitute.
Her original surname was Dross, but after becoming a maid for the Moriarty Family, she lost her surname.
The Dross Family did not wish for the child of a prostitute to have a chance at inheritance, nor did they feel that her attending school with the Dross surname would bring honor to the Dross Family. However, letting her live on her own outside would also be a disgrace.
In the end, the old knight asked Old James to hire Lily as a personal maid.
This was not just hiring a maid; it could also be considered fostering a child. Professor Moriarty treated her well—although her work as a maid prevented her from continuing her education, her junior high school level studies were sufficient for her to grasp basic knowledge. The family also provided her with various books so she could self-study subjects she was interested in during her free time.
“Of course, though you’ll just be accompanying me, you’ll also be auditing the classes.”
Eivass smiled gently and patted the wheelchair beneath him. “I can’t possibly have Mr. Oswald accompany me to school, can I? I’d be ridiculed by my classmates. I need someone to push my wheelchair.”
“Then… what about Mr. Wade? He can still protect you.”
Wade was the name of Old James’s personal male servant.
Eivass shook his head. “I’m not qualified enough yet.”
According to Avalon etiquette, only those of sufficient status could have a personal male servant, just as only Knight families could hire male servants. Merchants, social climbers, and high-ranking civil servants who had not yet received their knighthood could only hire female servants. This was not only because many physically demanding tasks required male servants, but also because personal male servants simultaneously served as guards and bodyguards, responsible for protecting the mansion’s security along with the male butler.
The Moriarty Family had two personal male servants, one belonging to Old James and the other to his elder brother, Edward. Edward had assigned his personal male servant to another house he owned in the Red Queen District—for convenience in commuting to work, he had bought an apartment near the Inspection Department. He only brought his personal male servant home with him when he returned.
When he previously visited Bishop Mathers, it was Butler Oswald who personally took him, because Bishop Mathers’s status was high enough.
However, Butler Oswald could not take care of him every day.
Eivass would evidently be unable to leave his wheelchair until he obtained Third-Tier Shadow Affinity and could fully control the Shadow Demon, or until his Dark Mana Pool reached 50 points and he could create a Blank Card to seal the Shadow Demon.
It was fine within his own house. Or perhaps anywhere there were no people.
But even if the Shadow Demon remained quiet and behaved, as long as Eivass stood on his own shadow, he would conceptually be linked to his Shadow Demon. Then his shadow would boil—becoming dense, almost corporeal, and constantly writhing and smoking.
This was clearly going to cause trouble. And pushing the wheelchair himself, while not impossible, would be too tiring.
“…Can I really?”
Lily asked somewhat nervously, clutching the hem of her clothes. “My father… that man said he didn’t want me to go to school. And… and even if I push your wheelchair, won’t you be gossiped about by your classmates?”
She clearly wanted to go, but was afraid of causing trouble. It was less about persuading Eivass and more about convincing herself why she couldn’t go.
“Not at all,” Eivass chuckled. “They’ll be envious. After all, I’ll have such a beautiful girl accompanying me to class.”
Of course, the real reason was… he knew Lily desperately wanted to go to school and was thirsty for knowledge.
Although theoretically he wasn’t qualified for a personal male servant, his circumstances were special after all. The school should be able to grant a special approval.
But Wade wasn’t interested in this; it was better to give the opportunity to Lily. After all, she had been like an elder sister who had taken care of him since he was little…
In his original timeline, Lily would die in a side quest a few months later. Her death would be insignificant and unimportant.
It would be better to let her accompany him to school.
These characters who didn’t appear in the “plot” possessed “unknown” possibilities in a sense.
“…Don’t say that. You flatter me.”
Hearing this, Lily blushed deeply.
While she had some girlish confidence in her appearance, she knew Eivass was joking to comfort her.
The serious-faced housekeeper beside them couldn’t help but smile.
She clearly had a good impression of this polite and somewhat introverted young maid, and gently patted Lily’s shoulder, reminding her, “Thank Eivass Young Master quickly.”
“Thank you, thank you…”
Only then did Lily react and bow deeply.
She couldn’t control her tears, and her vision became somewhat blurred.
She realized that Eivass wasn’t just casually mentioning it or joking—he was serious.
This made her heart fill with joy.
Even the slightly blurred world before her eyes seemed to shine brightly under the dawn.