The Underlying Currents of Glass Island

Sherlock paused for a moment, then carefully read through the entire front page headline.

He immediately understood. "You're copying me?"

"The method doesn't have to be new, as long as it works."

Iver said with a smile, "I think your fake death plan works pretty well."

"But I'll fake my death too, and you'll fake your death too... What about Uncle York?"

Sherlock frowned. "How about I try writing an anonymous letter and have Edward arrest him directly?"

"No need for that, because York is also missing."

Iver answered immediately.

"...ah?"

Sherlock paused for a moment.

Iver narrowed his eyes and slowly added, "He's really gone—never to be found again."

"Did you just kill him?"

Sherlock frowned slightly. "If we can't search his memories, what about the clues?"

Iver explained, "Because I have now confirmed what I needed to search my memory to determine— York's superior is Bran Boca, and they are both members of the Noble Red Society. Lloyd's's and the Noble Red Society do have an inseparable relationship, but there are also serious contradictions and disagreements within them."

"Bran Boca?"

Sherlock thought for a moment and then remembered his identity, "A judge of the First Intermediate Court of the White Queen District?"

"That's him. He's a Fourth Level Law Mage and also Fourth Level Demon Scholar. His contracted demon is the Ice Demon."

Iver provided Sherlock with the intelligence he had just obtained through interrogation.

Sherlock gasped in shock. "He's also... and, at the Fourth Level?"

At this level, it's basically impossible to catch them even if you want to.

Because Avalon could not possibly have Fifth Level Court Ritualist. In other words, they had no way of knowing whether the other party was Demon Scholar or not—if this were hundreds of years ago, they might have resorted to torture or memory extraction.

But we live in a civilized age now. Extracting memories is tantamount to killing someone outright. Without evidence, they can't act... After all, Boca isn't an ordinary person; he's a knight who can also enter the Round Table Hall to participate in political discussions. So, this is essentially "the royal family trying to interrogate an Old Knight of the Round Table Hall to death without any clear evidence," which they would never do.

Compared to the Round Table Hall, the royal family of Avalon has always been at a disadvantage.

In this situation, if you want to interrogate a criminal who is indeed not clean but for whom you can't find any direct evidence, then you're not just dealing with that one person... but with the entire network of relationships behind them.

In order to avoid being dragged down with him, everyone associated with him will launch a fierce counterattack.

For the royal family, this was merely the purge of an ordinary judge, but for others, it was a matter of life and death—the two sides attached different levels of importance to this matter and were more determined to make the same decision.

Based on Sherlock's understanding of Avalon, this matter will eventually be left unresolved.

Judge Boca might even be recruited by the royal family... because even if the royal family doesn't intervene, the Round Table Hall will. To prevent the Round Table Hall's power from increasing further, Bran Boca's status will actually rise—once he accepts benefits from the royal family, the Round Table Hall will be unlikely to accept him with peace of mind.

Sherlock felt a growing headache.

He rubbed his head, his brows furrowed. "That's troublesome..."

"Not only that, I can also tell you something. Although your uncle is only Third Level Law Mage, he is also Fourth Level Parasitic Fiend —an advanced profession of demon."

Iver narrowed his eyes. "Did you know he used to be a demon?"

"... I had my suspicions, but I had no evidence."

Sherlock confessed, "When I investigated Uncle York, I reviewed his earliest case files. Judging from the written records alone, his logic was not rigorous, and his defense testimony was not inflammatory. Yet he was able to change the opinions of judges and jurors... I suspected at the time that he used some kind of supernatural means, which might be related to his hidden spiritual abilities. But I was not sure which direction his other spiritual path led.

"Now it seems that it might be some kind of demon that can manipulate the will of others."

However, the Fourth Level...

Sherlock felt a lingering fear.

—Thank goodness we didn't go straight to arrest him! Sherlock was only Third Level Law Mage, and Edward was just a newly Fourth Level inspector. If they, along with Iver, had gone directly to arrest York, they might very well have been killed instead!

"So, even if we tell Edward about this, it won't help. He can't deal with the other party—he can't catch them, he can't convict them. So it's better to just make them disappear."

Iver squinted.

A thought suddenly popped into Sherlock's mind.

He looked at Iver strangely and asked, "Then how did you make him... 'disappear'?"

"That's the secret."

Iver smiled and put his hand to his mouth in a shushing gesture, "If you're interested, go investigate for yourself."

He doesn't intend to deliberately hide his other identity, but he also doesn't intend to reveal it voluntarily.

I'll only reveal my hand when they find out.

It's not that I'm trying to hide any sins.

Even "Aleister" only killed villains. That was simply something "Iver" couldn't do.

But Iver understood one thing deeply... that if you want to deceive others, you have to deceive your own people first.

There is no evidence more convincing than Sherlock's diligent investigation of Aleister that "Iver has nothing to do with Aleister."

"Good."

Sherlock readily agreed.

He viewed this as a difficult problem posed to him by Iver, a challenge from a friend.

"In short, there's no need to worry about York. I can be 100% certain that your father was framed because of him; I can also be fairly certain that the curse on the Avalon royal family is related to them. So although I didn't catch him, I've essentially completed your mission."

"The people who attacked me last night belonged to the Noble Red Society. They wanted to kill me to silence me, and I realized that I was no longer safe."

Iver said seriously, "So I deliberately withdrew and laid clues to confuse them. I made them suspect each other and attack each other."

Sherlock for a moment and immediately realized. "You want them to think that you were captured by the other faction?"

"But if we compare our information, we can figure it out quickly. You can't keep up the lie for long."

"Therefore, it's not two parties, but three parties."

Iver narrowed his eyes. "The Noble Red Society probably looks down on Lloyd President as well."

Although Lloyd of this generation was also Mixed-Blood Giant, the result was the same.

The reason is simple.

—Because he is not good enough.

As someone Transcender, he chooses to turn around and suppress his juniors to consolidate his own position. This behavior itself will make him look down upon and even be despised by those in the Noble Red.

For Path of Transcendence, this is an underhanded tactic used only when they can't afford to lose. Lloyd President himself must understand this.

So while Vice President Boca believed that "Aleister" was on Lloyd President's side, Lloyd President, whom Iver had never met, would only think that "Aleister" came from the Noble Red Society's faction that disliked him—just to cause trouble for him.

It would be better if Iver were dead, but he's missing. Missing means he could reappear at any time... and most importantly, it means the Bureau of Supervision and the Inspectorate will be desperately investigating and searching for Iver.

Therefore, Lloyd President would never do such a thing.

Even if he wanted to kill Iver, he would definitely have someone from Boca do it so that he could easily distance himself from the situation afterward.

However, this matter is very much in line with Lloyd President's style of doing things... Therefore, the people in Noble Red would also think that this matter was most likely done by Lloyd.

However, there is only one thing they have in common.

Whether it's the Inspectorate, the Bureau of Supervision, the Royal Family, Vice President Boca Juniors, Lloyd President, the Noble Red... everyone is looking for Iver.

But they are not the only ones looking for Iver.

In the Wooden Barrel Club, sculptor Lars Graham slowly put down his newspaper with trembling, aged hands, looked at the news of Iver's disappearance, and sighed silently.

... just a little short.

He has determined that Chloe's disappearance is most likely related to Iver.

It's highly likely that she didn't heed her own advice. During the assassination attempt on Iver, she was killed by his Elf Butler Oswald, before she could even send a signal.

Although Chloe was his immature disciple, she was still his old friend's granddaughter.

After finally waiting for Oswald to leave Avalon... Lars Graham planned to personally kill Iver.

As a rare triple-path transcendent, Lars Graham possesses the Fifth Level Path of Beauty, the Fourth Level Path of Adaptation, and the Second Level Path of Twilight. Although his lifespan has completely burned out and he may die of old age at any time, killing Iver would be a piece of cake.

... As a result, that group of foolish and reckless Stibnite Person directly attacked Iver.

Now the person is missing. We don't even know where they went.

Even if Iver were to return, the school's security measures would certainly be significantly enhanced. It wouldn't be so easy for him to strike again.

It's not that I might not be able to kill Iver, but rather that I might expose myself. That could cause trouble for the Speaker and the organization.

His mission is basically complete, and he'll be returning home in two months. He doesn't have much time left to cause trouble in Avalon.

Let's give those Stibnite Person some trouble then.

Lars Graham thought so.

On the other side...

Minister Drost is calling Vice President Boca to discuss this matter.

"Something has happened to York."

Vice President Boca said briefly, "He was attacked by a man named Aleister... a Lloyd's man."

"... Aleister?"

Upon hearing the name, Drost's brow relaxed. "I know him. He was probably responsible for Iver's disappearance as well."

"You know Aleister?"

Boca countered, adding what he knew, "York has also gone missing. His servant said that the security ritual at his office was triggered in the middle of the night, so he went inside. But he didn't leave until dawn. And when they investigated further, they found that he had simply vanished from the office... and apart from losing a telephone receiver, nothing else was missing."

"Actually, I think it's possible that they didn't just disappear... but were directly devoured by the Shadow Fiend. Their remains were never found."

Drost replied, "Aleister is a demon possessed by a shadow demon. I met him during my Promotion Ritual."

"Give me more information about him, Mr. Drost."

Boca said seriously, "The situation is urgent, and we must unite."

"Can."

Drost stopped haggling and simply said in a deep voice, "I'll compile the intelligence into a paper document and have Diomedes deliver it to you this afternoon."

Although the results of his investigation into Aleister have not yet returned, it is now too late.

The lawless "Aleister" has become a huge threat looming over the entire Glass Island.

Update complete!