Hanging King Tudor III

"... Hai Na Haina?"

Iver was somewhat surprised. "What a coincidence?"

He did know that Hai Na came from a small town, and probably a town where commerce was not very developed.

The best evidence is that she doesn't know how to do makeup and has little knowledge of skincare and fashion.

Hai Na was only pursued by so many classmates because of her good looks. Her everyday clothes were simply a light brown shirt and a brown leather vest. The only thing that could be considered jewelry was a leather wristband embroidered with a diamond pattern.

—Don't even mention girls, these days even boys wouldn't dress like this when they go out. It's more like a mercenary or explorer venturing into a remote area hundreds of years ago.

But unexpectedly, his biological father Julio, also came from that place.

"It's not a coincidence..."

Sherlock's eyes were lifeless, and his face was even somewhat pale. He staggered to the table and began rummaging through the honey jar. "Where's the honey...?"

"Are you experiencing low blood sugar, Sherlock?"

Ms. Mina was the first to react, pouring Sherlock a cup of lukewarm black tea and then adding several spoonfuls of honey.

Sherlock downed the drink in one gulp, exhaled deeply, and then slumped into his chair. The others remained silent, simply looking up at him without moving.

It took him quite a while to recover.

Sherlock leaned back slightly, instinctively reaching for his breast pocket—where there should have been a pocket containing his cigars or cigarettes. But he found nothing.

Why are you all staring at me like that?

As if to ease the awkwardness, he said coldly.

Seeing that familiar attitude, Iver was certain that he was truly cured.

"I think you'd like some hot brandy, Mr. Sherlock?"

Bishop Mathers asked the question.

"Thank you very much," Sherlock, who usually doesn't drink, surprisingly did not refuse. "If you could, could you give me some more cookies?"

A cup of honey black tea was enough to wake him up, but not enough to get him into his usual high-intensity thinking state.

Ms. Mina nodded. "I'll get it right away."

"Bishop," the man with messy black hair asked in his dreamy, ethereal voice, "Do you smoke?"

"Thank you, I don't smoke."

Bishop Mathers calmly replied, "And you shouldn't have drawn it. The healing from the Illumination Spell isn't entirely without side effects. It burns away the pain inside you, filling it with only false light. Your body needs to function on its own to replenish and restore its deficiencies."

"I know, damn it. I mean... never mind..."

Sherlock was somewhat annoyed; his words were still a bit incoherent. "I can drink, but I can't smoke. That doesn't make sense..."

"Of course," Bishop Mathers's rhythmic, almost scriptural voice rang out, "But the main reason is that I don't like people smoking. Especially in my house—I'm very sensitive to the smell of smoke, it makes me sneeze."

"Alright, I respect your custom, Your Grace... Thank you, Ms. Mina."

Sherlock accepted the biscuit from Ms. Mina.

Mina explained softly, her voice gentle. "The wine is warm, have some biscuits to tide you over."

"Thank you," Sherlock said softly. "That's enough. Consuming too much sugar in a short period of time can also cause dizziness."

As he crunched on his biscuits, he slowly explained to Iver, "I investigated you and Hai Na before. The reason she came to Royal Law University to take classes is because she knew your grandfather before."

"Your grandfather was Jacob, a poet who was not well-known, and also a children's author and novelist. Long ago, he was a local reporter in charge of the 《Cow and Harbor》 newspaper, which was published in Mubay County. When he was a reporter, Jacob came into contact with many extraordinary people, and he even personally experienced the establishment of the precursor to the ' Noble Red '."

"Noble Red?"

Upon hearing the familiar term, Iver frowned slightly and repeated it in a low voice.

Sherlock chuckled unconsciously, "You might not believe it... but the original Noble Red Society was merely an organization where some unlawful superhumans who Path of Transcendence gathered together for mutual support. Back then, they didn't have this name; they were called the ' Scaleless Hand,' meaning 'those who don't wear armor.'"

"At that time, Her Majesty Sophia had not yet ascended the throne; the King was still Tudor III."

As he spoke, his tone gradually became sharper and clearer. "He was known as the ' Hanging King.' The most famous product of Tudor III's reign was the ' Gallows Square.' The entire square was filled with people who had been hanged, and there were far more gallows than there are now."

"Normally, prisoners who were hanged were to be displayed after their death, but during the Tudor period there were sometimes not enough people to make room for the next person to be hanged."

"At that time, other types of death penalty had not yet been abolished, and hanging was just one of many forms of execution. According to the laws of Avalon, the death penalty required the signature of the King or Queen to be carried out. The laws enacted by Tudor III were extremely harsh; stealing more than fourteen red candles at once could result in a death sentence—a number that was less than a white crown."

"Because this standard is too low, many judges will amend the prisoners' testimonies, changing the amount stolen to 13 red candles and 9 Copper Hourglass to avoid too many people being executed. Ironically, this standard of theft only results in ten days of detention. After the thief's detention ends, the judge will immediately send them back to prison to make up for the missing amount of theft—that is, to split the original amount of theft into multiple detentions."

"That's true."

Bishop Mathers nodded. "When I was a child, there was a joke that was popular: A thief was told by a judge, 'You will be sentenced to eleven days of detention.' The thief burst into tears, saying that he didn't want to die and begged the court to show leniency. The judge asked in confusion, 'It's only eleven days of detention, it can't be that serious, can it?'"

"And then?" Iver asked with interest.

By the time he gets to that age, he won't hear that joke anymore.

The bishop smiled and then vividly recounted, "The thief said, 'You must have just taken office. As everyone knows, our King can only count to ten; if he counts beyond ten, he gets so angry he wants to kill someone.' There's also a joke about the bishop and the King: The bishop advised the King that we should make friends with our friends and eliminate our enemies. And the King nodded."

"Thank you for your teachings. I have always adhered to this principle, and today I have no enemies left," the King said devoutly. "Those people have all been killed by me."

"... He sounds like a tyrant."

Iver commented.

His words were not in accordance with Avalon's rules. However, among those present, Sherlock, the only one who had experienced the Path of Authority, did not yet hold any official title, so no one objected.

Sherlock even nodded in agreement, saying, "That's why we praise Her Majesty Sophia. The many policy reforms she implemented after ascending the throne have greatly eased the tense atmosphere in Avalon. Conversely, it is precisely because of people's resentment towards the old King that they so fervently support Her Majesty the Queen."

"Without such a foundation, Her Majesty the Queen would certainly face great political resistance if she wanted to carry out so many reforms in a short period of time."

"But even so," Bishop Mathers added, "There are still many people who harbor resentment towards the royal family."

"The Noble Red Society was a product of that era."

As Sherlock spoke, he reached out and took the hot wine from Ms. Mina.

"I remember you said you 'never drink,' Sherlock?"

Iver raised an eyebrow.

Sherlock nodded. "I don't drink alcohol; it only damages my brain. But when I feel unwell, I'll have a glass of hot brandy; I treat it like medicine."

"I bet you had a headache this morning, right? This should do a good job of treating it. I added a lot of apple juice, along with cinnamon powder, ginger slices, and lemon peel. Besides being refreshing, it should also help dispel the cold; you caught a bit of a chill yesterday..."

Ms. Mina said gently in a soft voice, "It would probably taste even better if it were stewed for a little longer. But it tastes pretty good now."

"Praise be to you, Mrs. Mina."

Sherlock bowed deeply in gratitude, smiling as he flattered her cooking, "I could smell the fragrance from a great distance. Whoever marries you will be very lucky."

"Indeed, I was lucky to win Mina's heart back then."

Bishop Mathers smiled and said smugly, "I am very happy every day now... I really hope it can stay this way forever."

Iver pressed on, "And then, Sherlock? How did those spontaneous organizations of ordinary superhumans turn into the Noble Red?"

"It seems you already know about the fact that the Noble Red Society is backed by the Stibnite Person... and I guess Edward probably didn't tell you who the higher-ups of the Noble Red Society are. Well, I'll tell you for him, now you should know this too."

Sherlock raised an eyebrow, took a sip of hot cider, and said softly, "Your grandfather Jacob was a Path of Transcendence Ritual Mage. He was once a member of the ' Scaleless Hand '."

"--What?"

Upon hearing this, Iver's eyes widened suddenly.

"Is that so?"

Bishop Mathers was also quite surprised. "Ritual Mage... I haven't heard of this profession in a long time."