The Shepherd's Secret Sequel

Chapter 3: Aivas Moriarty

Currently, Aivas cannot remember the early main storyline at all. Instead, he has a stronger recollection of the later plot, as the story development in the main storyline raids was quite impressive. Even without paying close attention to the earlier storyline, one can still get a general idea through the unavoidable raid cutscenes.

At the very beginning of the main storyline, Aivas makes his appearance. In the winter of the year 1890 according to the Tenscale Calendar, he is abducted and taken to an altar for a ritual. By chance, the passing "player" inadvertently breaks the barrier that was keeping people away and witnesses the gruesome sacrificial scene. In a critical moment, Aivas pretends to have reported the incident to the Inspectorate and leads the Inspectorate's Griffin Knights, scaring off the two individuals.

Aivas is rescued from the ritual altar by the "player" and offers hospitality to the player, who is homeless and has lost their wallet and identification. They go to Aivas' home for food and rest. Subsequently, Aivas joins the player in enrolling and growing together, continuing the investigation of the case. As they delve deeper, they realize that the case expands and even involves high-ranking figures in the kingdom...

As Aivas faces a life-threatening situation, his younger sister, Yulia, suddenly loses control. Catalyzed by a Blood Crystal, she transforms into the "Phantom Demon, the Butterfly of Contrary Flames," the first eight-player raid boss. This is also the first encounter with a phantom demon in the game.

Her true form curls up, encased in a transparent butterfly abdomen resembling amber, protected by wings made of flame spirits. Since the raid's difficulty is low, this eight-player raid is the easiest to access in the daily random raid, with an average of three to four battles against Yulia per week. Yulia doesn't have any desire to harm Aivas, so she lacks aggressive intentions and intricate mechanics, making her an entry-level boss where players respond to her actions. If the player's level is high enough, they can even focus solely on attacking her true form throughout the fight, ignoring the mechanics. After defeating Yulia and consuming the main storyline book, players receive certain rewards related to appearance.

In the end, Yulia is slain, losing a significant portion of her consciousness and shrinking into a flame butterfly. Aivas establishes a contract with her, making her his first familiar. Through this method, Aivas preserves her consciousness, hoping to find the legendary "Master Verper" who possesses the ability to resurrect and bring her back to life.

In the 5.0 version of the main storyline, Aivas acquires a new power. He gains the ability to seal phantasmal demons that are theoretically impossible to kill into cards, strengthening his familiars with enhanced equipment. This marks a substantial enhancement exclusively for Aivas.

Afterwards, Aivas no longer accompanies players in raid battles but instead becomes the plot's executioner against phantasmal demon-type bosses in CG cutscenes.

"...Brother?"

Just as Aivas ponders this, he suddenly hears a tender voice.

He is startled.

Haina, who was engrossed in a conversation about "Sherlock and Deduction" with Aivas, instinctively turns her head.

There, a little girl silently stands at the door.

"When you woke up yesterday, I was actually asleep. After I woke up, you fell back asleep."

Having just awakened in the evening, she expresses a mixture of distress and astonishment, saying, "Brother, why are you... sitting in a wheelchair?

If you have already apprehended the culprit, why bother troubling our poor young master, Aivas? It would be better for you to leave and I will explain the situation to Mr. Kent," said the butler in a peculiar tone.

Kent was the director of the White Queen's District Inspection Bureau. Even if Haina had been promoted, Kent still outranked her by three levels.

If the butler didn't sound so ambiguous, she would immediately run away and pass this troublesome matter to her superiors. However, the problem was that she was still a fourth-year student. Despite her influential position in school, she hadn't graduated yet.

Lacking sufficient social experience to discern the butler's true intentions, she had a gut feeling that if the old man hadn't intended to do as he suggested, she would have been better off escaping before she got herself into real trouble.

"...I'm truly sorry," Haina had no choice but to apologize, lowering her head. "I will also apologize to Mr. Aivas."

Regardless, she had already made an appointment for the meeting and had been late without prior notice. She was indeed at fault.

As she looked at the iron gate that separated her from the old man, her thoughts began to drift.

The black iron gate was adorned with understated thorny patterns. It didn't look like the entrance to a prestigious mansion.

In fact, Professor Moriarty, the foster father of Aivas Moriarty, who was involved in the recent incident, was truly a low-key, wise, and knowledgeable person. Professor Moriarty had been Haina's teacher during her university years, teaching subjects such as astromancy, astronomy, and advanced mathematics.

Inheriting the Moriarty Trading Company, owning three museums, and even funding the only observatory in the White Queen's District, he was undeniably wealthy. Yet, he chose to quietly pursue academic research at the university. He even sponsored many orphanages and adopted numerous orphans, making him an extraordinary and benevolent figure.

The captain had specifically warned her that the Moriarty family was not only wealthy but also had elves serving them. Although the head of the family, Mr. James, had a gentle personality, she still had to be cautious.

According to the rules, any direct participants involved in a demon ritual, once out of immediate danger, must be immediately restrained with a Discipline Lock and sent to the local Inspection Bureau for a mental examination conducted by a prosecutor. Only after confirming their innocence would they be returned to the hospital or a convalescent home.

This was because the identities of the ritual officiator, participants, mentors, and sacrifices were not simply determined by whether they were injured or not.

If the sacrifice survived, it indicated that the ritual had roughly failed. However, sacrificial victims were usually killed to prevent leaks. Therefore, when there were injured individuals instead of dead ones, the injured person might not necessarily be the sacrifice but could be someone related to the ritual.

However, this rule seemed to be ineffective now.

---Who is she?"

She was wearing the same pure white fluffy pajamas as Aivas, with silver-white hair that fell to her shoulders and deep red eyes that reminded people of roses. Her delicate and gentle features evoked the image of a white cat or rabbit, a completely different type from Aivas's dazzling handsomeness. Whether it was her eyebrows, eyes, hair color, or eye color, they were enough to prove that the two had no blood relation.

If there was one similarity between them, it would be their inherited frailty.

She had a frailty similar to Aivas but even more pronounced.

The girl's skin was pale, almost translucent, with a somewhat sickly appearance. When she stood at the doorway, she would unconsciously lean against one side of the door frame, tilting her body slightly to shift her weight and relieve the pressure of standing upright.

--Such a cute girl!

Haina's eyes brightened.

Like seeing an adorable pet, she wanted to get closer to her but also worried that she might scare the girl.

"It's okay, Yulia. It's only temporary. This is Haina, a senior at the academy who has some things to ask," Aivas smiled and called the girl by her nickname, just like he used to. But for some reason, it felt like this nickname was unfamiliar and awkward.

It was like not calling friends by their names for a long time and suddenly using their full names, it just didn't feel like their name anymore.

After a moment of confusion, he slightly opened his arms towards Yulia. "Come here for a hug."

"......Mm."

Yulia obediently walked over, swaying unsteadily. It was as if she had just woken up, with a sense of weakness that made people worry if she would stumble and fall.

As Aivas embraced the leaning Yulia, he suddenly had a moment of confusion.

At this moment, he was hugging Yulia, but it also felt like another "Aivas."

The memories of being the "Aivas" in this world merged with the memories of his previous life, becoming clear. It was like a drowsy person suddenly being startled awake by a nightmare and finally realizing whether they were in a dream or not.

After two days in this world, he finally realized that he wasn't dreaming. He had truly crossed over.

He had arrived in another world.

However, he was also acutely aware of another fact—the current storyline was already different.

The Aivas in the game definitely did not have a contract with a Shadow Demon.

Because this time, the ritual was interrupted by the player and didn't succeed at all.

And that probably meant that there were no "player characters" in this world.

In an epic fantasy game, players usually played the role of a one-time savior; and if the game was an online game, players were usually continuous, high-frequency, low-fault tolerance saviors.

Every major update required saving the world once.

...And that would be troublesome for him.

Because the "player" in the setting is a descendant of the "Snakefather," one of the Nine Pillars Gods who has control over the "Path of Transcendence." It is because of this that the player can possess "experience points" and "levels," continuously growing stronger without any limitations or regard for talent. In the setting, the player doesn't engage in partying or teaming up, but single-handedly defeats all enemies.

However, Aivas, despite being an important character, cannot defeat the world-ending calamities like the "Fallen Celestials," "Cataclysmic Dragon," or the "Shadows of Avalon" in the conventional sense of being a "strong" individual.

Aivas knew that the Kingdom of Avalon would likely face a catastrophe in about half a year. Although he couldn't recall the main storyline clearly, he remembered the critical points of version changes. He wasn't lying to Haina. The Kingdom of Avalon would indeed suffer a devastating disaster in half a year, and it was closely related to the demonic ritual they were currently experiencing, which no major figures paid attention to.

But now, Aivas had a chance to change everything.

Change everything...

He instinctively held Yulia tighter, and the girl perceptively sensed something, asking, "Brother?"

"...It's nothing," Aivas calmly smiled. "I just had a long dream yesterday... about Yulia leaving me."

However, at this moment, he distinctly felt Yulia's body suddenly tense in his embrace.

...Hmm?

Aivas felt a slight shift in his heart.

As if to conceal something, Yulia suddenly asked, "Brother, how long will you need the wheelchair?"

"Probably... about a year?" Aivas replied, looking at the butler beside him. "That's what the doctor said, right?"

"Yes, Master Aivas," the butler answered without hesitation. "So, are you planning to take a year off from school? You've already been on leave for three months anyway."

This was a lie.

And both sides knew it.

There was no doctor who instructed Aivas to use a wheelchair; it was his own request. The demon scholars who had contracted with Shadow Demons would use this method to seal the demons when they couldn't control them. Besides using a wheelchair for regular movement, Aivas also needed to avoid strenuous activities and slow down his movements to lower his heart rate—this was a common method of suppressing demons.

In addition to that, he could also take medications that suppress heart rate to keep the sealed demon dormant.

"No need," Aivas said. "Once this event is resolved, I'll go back to school."

"...Once this event is resolved?" Haina belatedly realized something.

She instinctively recognized that in that instant... Aivas's attitude seemed to have changed.

That feeling was quite familiar to her.

When she was a freshman and still immature, Haina thought she was a genius in her remote town. However, during the final exams that year, she barely passed Astrology, which scared her quite a bit.

But it was because of this that she became serious, realizing that she wasn't as outstanding as she had thought in the highest institution of learning in the Red Queen District of Glass Island, the capital. At least... she wasn't a pure genius but a hardworking one.

She couldn't approach her studies with a casual attitude anymore; even with perfect attendance, there was a possibility of failing. Graduating with the seven-petal flower emblem representing excellence was possible for her now because Professor Moriarty's bright red three-petal flower emblem representing "passing" had awakened her.

For ordinary students, this emblem was a mark of liberation, worth celebrating. But for the proud Haina, it felt like a slap in the face, stinging and leaving her silent, her mind blank.

At this moment, Aivas gave her the same feeling.

When she saw the report card, she felt as if she had been jolted awake from a dream.

"Yes, I want to participate in the investigation," Aivas suddenly became serious. "Since they have kidn*pped me once, there will be a second time. I can't leave home with those cultists still lurking around, and I can't wait at home anxiously for investigation results that I might not be able to accept. That's why I want to be involved in the investigation."

Haina felt somewhat awkward upon hearing this. Undoubtedly, Aivas was indirectly referring to the extremely slow efficiency of the Inspectorate.

The Inspectorate was extremely particular about "procedures," everything had to be reported to superiors, and everything had to follow standard protocols. These were the rules set by the knights and lords of the Senate.

Because they could hardly find anything, they even needed to request assistance from detectives. The "Sherlock" Haina mentioned earlier was a detective who had recently gained considerable fame in the newspapers.

Sherlock had graduated from the Royal Law University years ago but chose not to enter the Inspectorate, the Courts, or the Arbitration Hall. Yet, he now served as a special consultant to the Inspectorate, conducting investigations without being bound by the Inspectorate's regulations. He had solved several major cases consecutively, and his position was even higher than his old classmates who had joined the Inspectorate after graduation.

"If Miss Haina can't make a decision, you might as well report my words to your superior and ask for their opinion," Aivas suggested, crossing his hands calmly. "After all, according to the rules, you should submit the contents of this conversation to your superiors, right?"

For some reason, the current Aivas reminded Haina of the interviewers from the Inspectorate.