The Great Demon Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 31: Two Types

Priest Thompson is 48 years old this year, a contractor in the first stage of evolution.

At 15, he awakened his dream; at 16, he became a believer of the Church; at 19, he was promoted to priest with the best grades of the year; at 20, he underwent an initiation ceremony; at 27, he crossed the first stage, touching the threshold of the second stage, and even had a faint symbiotic connection with his contracted demon.

Such a resume undoubtedly qualifies him as a genius. The London newspaper,"The Holy Announcement" even gave him a 3000-word report, claiming that once he entered the second stage, he would inevitably become a clergyman!

And after that, Priest Thompson was in the first stage at 30!

At 35, the first stage! At 40, the first stage! And now, at 48, he's still in the first stage.

The omniscient and omnipotent Holy Light seems to have played a not-so-small joke on him.

No matter how devout or hardworking he was, he couldn't cross that threshold… As the years carried his body to the peak of his life, then began to decline and fall, until he was nearing the age of 50, he remained at the same stage he had been twenty years ago.

Time had washed away all his talent, turning him from a genius into an ordinary person—undoubtedly a cruel torment.

Yet, even so, this once-genius priest still prayed with the utmost devotion every day. He never married, never had children, never even had love or friends. Even after leaving the monastery for over 20 years, he still adhered to the precepts he had taken upon entering.

He seemed to be using his life to verify the words in verse 12 of the Gospel of Light…

"Piety makes you strong, but if you have expectations of it, then it is not piety."

…At this moment, sunlight filtered through his meticulously styled hair, clearly revealing his serious and extremely displeased expression.

Such a devout man must have felt a deep-seated disgust for someone like Shylock.

In his eyes, Sherlock was undoubtedly the kind of "connected" individual—someone from a powerful family, yet utterly incompetent and only interested in adding to his resume at the lower levels of the Holy See.

This person had already undergone the initiation ceremony, but didn't even know about "Contractor Classification," meaning he hadn't attended the pre-initiation contractor lectures.

A typical good-for-nothing from a powerful family…

However, despite his annoyance, Thompson couldn't really unleash a torrent of a***e on Sherlock;

After all, the letter of recommendation came from a high priest!

At the same time, as a monk, he also had the responsibility of preaching and enlightening, so he could only suppress his displeasure and give Sherlock a simple explanation.

…Contractors are divided into four stages; this isn't a secret, and can be found in some popular books.

However, those books generally don't mention the two types of contractors, because this is something only taught in the Holy See's educational institutions, such as monasteries—

they are the [Manipulator] and the [Symbiotic].

First, let's talk about the "Manipulator"... As the name suggests, these are people who are highly skilled at controlling their contracted demons!

These individuals are often extremely intelligent, possessing astonishing computational abilities, and can control their contracted demons with unparalleled precision.

Take the old priest I met a few days ago as an example; his level of control was exceptionally high.

Every silk spit and every movement of the spider's limbs was personally controlled by the old priest. Beyond that, there was the force of the attack, the feedback between gravity, inertia, and the action; even whether the next step would miss, whether the next attack would be dodged, what to do after dodging, what situations to flank, where to break through, where to charge forward… all these events were personally controlled by the contractor.

Moreover, a precise, instantaneous judgment or preset must be made before control is implemented.

This requires the contractor to possess extremely strong mental processing abilities. Therefore, after seeing Sherlock, the old priest held great hope that he would become a "Manipulator."

The advantage of this type of contractor is that the demon is extremely powerful, even possessing various highly functional abilities such as invisibility, hypnosis, and shapeshifting. However, the contractor themselves are not very strong, as all their energy is spent controlling the demon.

Conversely, there is the [Symbiotic].

This type of contractor has very weak control over their demon. In most cases, they simply tear open a rift in the void, release the demon, and let it act on instinct.

But the advantage is that the Symbiotic can devote more energy to sensing the changes brought about by the contracted demon, thereby making their own body increasingly powerful.

For example, Bardell Deacon is a typical Symbiotic. His body has already reached a level that can withstand firearms, and at the second tier, he can establish an even stronger symbiotic relationship with the demon, achieving a wondrous life form where the demon's survival is intertwined with his own.

Of course, the distinction between "Manipulator" and "Symbiotic" isn't absolute; just because someone loves meat doesn't mean they can't be a vegetarian.

However, within the Church's training system, contractors are encouraged to focus their efforts in one direction. After all, being a jack-of-all-trades means being weak in nothing.

Besides the four stages and the two types mentioned above, contractors have another crucial characteristic: their control range.

This refers to the maximum distance a contractor and their demon can be within.

Generally, 'Symbiotics' have a very short control range, while 'Manipulators' have a much longer range. Some Manipulators can even maintain a distance of two or three hundred meters, suddenly opening a void rift to control their contracted demon to kill enemies and then escape.

If the demon is too far from its contractor, various situations can arise. Some demons might spontaneously generate void rifts and return to another world; others might break free from the contractor's control and begin indiscriminate s*******r; weaker demons might even die instantly, while the contractor suffers extremely painful backlash.

In short, control range is a key factor in determining a contractor's strength.

Father Thompson dutifully explained the basics to Sherlock, completely unconcerned whether he remembered them or not. He simply pulled a document from under his desk:

"You must be at your post before 8 a.m. every day. If there's no action, you leave at 5 p.m. Late arrivals and early departures will result in deductions from your bonus. There's a lunch break, and you're paid on the 1st of each month. All missions and operations are subsidized by both the government and the Vatican. You'll receive a free physical examination and psychological evaluation every three months."

He then pushed the document towards Sherlock: "Sign on the last page."

Sherlock took the document, flipped through it, and hesitated for a moment.

Finally, he smiled apologetically:

"Mr. Thompson, you seem to have misunderstood something… I'm not here to work."

"What?" Father Thompson frowned.

“You must not have read the letter of recommendation carefully; it says I am a detective who can assist you in your mission…

It’s ‘assist,’ not that I have an obligation or responsibility to help you.

So, if you encounter any trouble, you can consult me. If I’m interested, I will certainly take on your case.

Oh, by the way, my office recently moved location and hasn’t installed a phone yet…”

As he spoke, he scribbled a few words on the last page and handed it to Father Thompson.

Father Thompson took the contract with some surprise, his gaze instinctively sweeping over it, noticing an address written at the signature: 221B Baker Street.

“If you need help, come find me here.”