The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 825

Chapter 824
Isabel’s Growth
March 31st.
Avalon, the Silver and Tin Hall.
Yulia was engrossed in fiddling with something in her room, wearing monocle glasses specifically designed for magnification.
Just then, there was a soft knock on her door.
…Who is it, at this hour?
She frowned slightly, set aside the tools in her hand, and paused her work: “Come in.”
Yulia pressed a button, deactivating the alchemical glasses on her left eye, which sprang open automatically.
If she were at home, Yulia wouldn’t have bothered. But this was the Silver and Tin Hall… a distinguished figure or an important matter might be seeking her out.
“Yulia~”
At that moment, a voice she found incredibly familiar echoed from the doorway.
Yulia’s body stiffened, and she abruptly looked up at the door.
Eivass, with a playful smile, opened the door and leaned against it, half of his body still outside: “Have you missed me?”
She instinctively took a step forward… but realized herself after just one.
“…Your Majesty, are you bored?”
Yulia puffed out her cheeks and said with a huff.
For a fleeting moment, she had thought Eivass had actually returned!
But Eivass usually called her Yuli, and he never knocked so softly.
Besides, Eivass wouldn’t have had time to return at this hour…
“What’s wrong! Isn’t this also Eivass!”
Isabel removed the mask from her face, discarding it into the void, where it turned into nothingness.
She gracefully strode in, not forgetting to close the door behind her.
Isabel then plopped down onto the chair beside Yulia and hugged her, beginning to fake cry, “Little Yulia has become distant, calling me Your Majesty now, wuwuwu…”
Yulia felt a sense of helplessness and casually sat down on Isabel’s lap, hugging Isabel’s neck in return.
For an “iron-fisted Queen,” this was an act of presumption. But Isabel cherished Yulia’s displays of affection.
Isabel’s fondness for Yulia was no longer tied to Yulia’s kinship with Eivass… The two young girls, both lacking friends yet kind and sincere, had spent so much time together in the Silver and Tin Hall that they had already become inseparable, close friends.
As they spent more time together, their behavior increasingly mirrored their true personalities.
Isabel was no longer the gentle, wise, generous, and considerate person she was at the beginning—in other words, she no longer put on airs. Once Yulia became Isabel’s closest friend, Isabel enjoyed teasing her, playing jokes, or acting spoiled.
And Yulia was no longer the soft and doll-like person she was at first.
Her true personality wasn’t that delicate at all… If anything, she had been dazed by the Butterfly and lacked the strength. She lived in a constant state of grogginess and weakness. It was less gentleness and more frailty.
She continued to act that way simply because the Yulia that Eivass knew was always that past version.
She didn’t want the person she trusted, was closest to, and loved the most to suddenly feel like she had become a stranger—especially after Eivass had saved her from a life-threatening crisis.
Or rather, she instinctively feared… feared that Eivass would distance himself from her because of it.
Rationally, and even based on her understanding of Eivass, such a thing wouldn’t happen—yet she was still afraid. Fear had always been divorced from reason.
However, in the face of Queen Isabel, who could see into people’s hearts, Yulia’s pretense appeared childish and thin.
Isabel enjoyed teasing Yulia, always provoking her to break character, but never truly angering her. Each time Yulia became flustered, Isabel would gently comfort her. After a few cycles of this, Yulia simply gave up pretending.
“By the way, Isa.”
Yulia said softly, “I have something to discuss with you.”
“Tell me,” Isabel replied without hesitation.
“Not long ago, Master Nobel came to see me.”
Yulia’s voice grew serious: “He said there was an alchemist competition in Star Antimony…”
“You want to go to Star Antimony?”
Isabel immediately guessed Yulia’s intention.
Her brow furrowed slightly as she fell into thought.
Yulia continued, “Teacher was ostracized by people from Leipzig a long time ago. He was once a remarkably talented alchemist, but was envied… And to this day, those who ostracized him are long dead, and everyone knows Nobel was a genius who was driven away out of jealousy.
“But at this moment, someone claiming to be Master Nobel’s sole direct disciple has appeared in Star Antimony—he claims to be Master Nobel’s only direct disciple, has registered patents for all of Nobel’s formulas, and has presented a series of ‘Nobel’s inventions from these years.’ However, these inventions all involve almost all claims of infringement…
“—Because the ‘Nobel’s disciple’ claims they are all ‘old inventions,’ things the teacher created in past eras. But the invention date of each of them predates other inventions made around the same time. This means that if his claims hold true, the inventors of these items would be replaced by Teacher…”
“…That would cause controversy,”
Isabel blurted out, “Isn’t that just stirring up animosity for Master Nobel?”
She was already very intelligent. Under Eivass’s intentional and unintentional training, she had an almost instinctive sensitivity to interpersonal relationships.
Especially now, with Star Antimony having just lost the war against Avalon, their previously dismissive and arrogant attitude towards Avalon would definitely do a 180-degree turn. In such times, Master Nobel, who had lived in Avalon due to jealousy, would invariably attract either animosity or praise.
Envy because his assistance had undoubtedly boosted Avalon’s strength, thus tipping the scales of victory;
Praise because if “he hadn’t left Star Antimony for this reason,” the outcome of the war might have been different!
If the media were willing and no one intervened, they could even inflate Nobel’s importance to the point of determining the outcome of the war through a chain reaction—Isabel believed at least that much was achievable.
In this context, with a “Nobel’s disciple” emerging to “vindicate” him, wildly snatching patents and reputations from others. If people became fanatical, anyone who stepped forward to stop him would be labeled a “jealous individual who suppresses talent” and become a “culprit who forced the talented away from Star Antimony.”
—It was their own invention, they had done nothing wrong, yet they would be attacked by fanatics for asserting their rightful claims…
Just thinking about it, Isabel, with her strong empathy, felt an indescribable discomfort and stuffiness.
“…If I were these researchers, even if I knew this person was a liar, I’d likely develop a strong aversion to Master Nobel,”
Isabel said softly.
Yulia nodded, “And many people are unaware of this matter, as they weren’t very familiar with Master Nobel to begin with. As Master Nobel was suddenly lauded, many of these master alchemists criticized him, urging people to be calm. With the appearance of this ‘only disciple,’ people feel they have realized the truth—that they were all trying to suppress the many actions to vindicate Master Nobel out of jealousy and fear.
“Therefore, when this news reached him, Master Nobel was furious. He wanted to return to Star Antimony to clear his name, and as it happened, Count Leipzig was planning to hold an alchemist apprentice competition in Leipzig… So Master Nobel wanted to take me along to participate, and incidentally transfer all his patents and assets to me, passing on his genuine connections to me.”
“…This must be a conspiracy by Star Antimony,”
Isabel astutely discerned, “Something feels off.”
But she was still contemplating, so she held Yulia tighter as she thought, “Tell me first… what do you think?”
“—I also think it’s a conspiracy,”
Yulia said gravely, “If Teacher were to be secretly assassinated, no one would be able to explain ‘that person isn’t his disciple.’ And his death would further intensify the internal conflicts within Star Antimony, possibly even becoming fodder for that swindler.”
“…No,” Isabel frowned deeply, “I feel the entire situation is off. But I can’t pinpoint why…”
So Yulia stopped talking and quietly waited for Isabel to collect her thoughts.
Suddenly, Isabel spoke, “Is there a possibility… that their target is you?”
“Me?”
Yulia blinked.
She had never considered such a possibility.
And Isabel realized, “When I was attacked by that succubus Emma, she used your face… No wonder!”
She still hadn’t figured out why Emma wanted to abduct Yulia.
At the time, she could only guess it might have been a conspiracy against Eivass. To make Eivass hesitate by kidnapping Yulia, thus restricting or even wooing Eivass, and subsequently controlling her and all of Avalon.
But now, she belatedly realized—the Star Antimony people might have intended to obtain Yulia from the very beginning!
If this were the motive, everything would become clear!
“…Since the target is me,” Yulia immediately became nervous, “Then I won’t go. Otherwise, I might cause trouble for Eivass…”
She had already heard at dinner a few days prior that Star Antimony was in a state of anarchy, its monarch had died again, and the first Red Phase had been killed by “Miss Alistair”—which was Eivass’s clone and alias. Considering the Church hadn’t interfered, Eivass likely hadn’t killed the Star Antimony monarch; it was a “natural death.”
This meant Star Antimony’s situation had descended into chaos to the point where even their own king could suddenly die.
And Yulia was merely a Third Tier alchemist.
She hadn’t yet Ascended to High-Tier Extraordinary, and might struggle to protect herself…
“…No, wait.”
Isabel suddenly had an idea: “You can go.”
“But…”
“—Because I will go with you.”
Isabel replied.
Her eyes brightened, “Star Antimony currently has no monarch, only the former Queen acting regent—and that Queen was a friend of my grandmother’s, whom she had met before. At such a time, my official state visit would be perfectly justifiable.
“Coincidentally, the war in Star Antimony has also ceased—just yesterday, the Daffodil Duchy completed its establishment. And Star Antimony chose to default. That being said, the Black Hawk Duchy should be establishing itself soon as well… Star Antimony is currently suffering greatly from internal chaos. With the passing of the Red Phase and the silence of the Black Phase, I suspect they must have descended into rampant infighting.
“At this juncture, a state visit from me could further muddy the waters. Whether it’s Daffodil, Black Hawk, or Star Antimony, they all crave an ally. Avalon is a highly credible ally—even though they recently attempted to invade Avalon, they will now humble themselves to gain Avalon’s goodwill and recognition.
“At the same time, splitting Star Antimony into three parts would also be beneficial to Avalon’s stability.”
In the past, such matters were handled by the Star Antimony people or the Iris people.
But Isabel felt she might be able to do it too—
Her talent was imitation.
She had imitated Eivass’s thought process, and she had imitated Teacher Janis’s piano playing and painting. As an artist, it would be difficult for her to achieve personal accomplishments. This was also why she was currently stuck at Fourth Tier.
But as a monarch… her talent for imitation allowed her to grow even faster.
However, if she imitated enough people, her own achievements would surely emerge from it.
“Since I will be visiting Star Antimony, the Queen’s Guard will naturally accompany me. With the support of the Church’s strength, the chaos in Star Antimony will naturally be nothing to fear—and you and Master Nobel can be protected together.”
Isabel’s mood became cheerful.
But she added cautiously, “However, we’ll have to wait a little longer—Tonight is Eivass and Alistair’s Ascension Ritual, and the snow hasn’t stopped yet. Regardless, we’ll have to wait for the snow to stop before we can travel and the competition can begin.
“I’ll confirm the specific details with Alistair in my dreams in a couple of days.”
“Ascension Ritual…”
Yulia fell into a brief trance, “Brother is already going to Ascend to Fifth Tier? But I’m still…”
She hadn’t even reached Fourth Tier yet.
She bit her lip, feeling a sense of urgency.
Even if she couldn’t help much… she didn’t want to be left too far behind.
With that thought, Yulia looked up at Isabel.
She must have felt the same way, surely…
(End of Chapter)