Begging You Not to Send Them So Fast

Although Iver had other places to temporarily hide, none were as good as Bishop Mathers's house.

It's safe enough here that no one will come to investigate; and the living environment is clean and comfortable, plus Ms. Mina will provide meals—even by Iver's picky standards, her cooking is quite good.

Ms. Mina, after all, was born into the Iris. It's quite reasonable that her cooking was better than most Avalon '.

Most importantly, newspapers are readily available here. At Sherlock's insistence, Ms. Mina now buys a large number of newspapers daily, including not only the Glass Staircase Newspaper but also numerous tabloids.

According to Sherlock, despite the abundance of exaggeration and lies in those tabloids, they still possess some value. They contain things the Glass Staircase Newspaper would never report, and important information might be hidden in a seemingly insignificant sentence.

Therefore, at Ms. Mina's urging, Iver and Lily decided to stay there.

The only problem is that there aren't enough rooms. Iver and Lily have to sleep in one room.

However, Lily was, after all, Iver's personal maid, and the two had a close enough relationship that there was no problem with them sleeping in the same room, or even in the same bed.

After confirming that Iver was safe, Hai Na returned to her dormitory with peace of mind.

She couldn't help but feel relieved... thankfully, she hadn't rushed to find Dean Meg to rescue Iver, but instead came to Sherlock for advice first.

Otherwise, if she had just asked someone for help and then found Iver peacefully playing chess with Sherlock... she felt she might get beaten up.

After seeing Hai Na off, Iver and Sherlock played a game of chess for a while, and then Sherlock went back to work.

He's been conducting experiments and writing a book lately—taking advantage of this rare free time, Sherlock plans to use a color camera to photograph all the ash from over 140 kinds of Avalon, cigarettes, and pipe tobacco that he can get his hands on in Avalon and surrounding countries, recording it in a notebook and summarizing and distinguishing the details of the ash.

"Don't underestimate cigarette ash. Sometimes, these inconspicuous things may be the most important, or even the only, clue in the whole case."

Sherlock explained, "Sometimes criminals are very experienced and will pay special attention to destroying evidence after committing a murder. But they often overlook some details, such as the cigarette ash that falls on the ground."

"If you can confirm that someone who Iris 'Jasmine' brand cigarettes was at the scene not long ago, even if they didn't leave any other evidence, you'll already have a line of reasoning for your investigation; and if you've already identified a few suspects, this could even be the only evidence."

"The Bureau of Supervision is primarily responsible for criminal cases involving ordinary people—compared to cases involving supernatural forces, there are far more serious incidents between ordinary people. I believe this book can effectively help them investigate these cases, which in turn shortens the work cycle and improves their work efficiency."

"Although you're not an inspector, I don't think Director Kent cares about the Bureau of Supervision as much as you do."

Iver commented.

All I can say is that Sherlock really has nothing better to do.

Coincidentally, Iver was also free—he was waiting for things to develop further. So he simply stayed with Sherlock while he wrote the paper.

Sherlock was delighted and said he would include Iver's name in the list.

Iver refused without hesitation. "I can only help you for now. I'll probably be busy in a few days."

"But you helped me for at least a day."

Sherlock chuckled.

But none of them expected that Iver would only help for one day.

Because the next day, Thursday morning, Iver saw unexpected news in the newspaper.

"Judge Bran Boca turned himself in?"

...ah?

When Iver saw the front-page headline of the Glass Staircase Newspaper, he paused for a moment.

He glanced back again.

— Tommy Lloyd, the current president of Lloyd's, was arrested on 21 felony charges, including violent murder, murder, coercion of others to commit crimes, smuggling dangerous goods, and desecration of corpses.

"...ah?"

Iver paused for a moment.

What's going on? So Iver took another careful look at the main text.

Although the news report was vague, Iver could basically deduce from the few words that Vice President Boca surrendered first and then set a trap—and then Tommy took the bait.

He came to assassinate Boca, but was caught red-handed by the people lying in wait.

Tommy, as a high-ranking superhuman, personally led a demon to attack others... those who could stop him might even be among the few whose titles include "Great." After all, the temptation of Boca's surrender is still very great—as the vice president of Lloyd's's and a member of the Noble Red Society, he can implicate a large number of people.

Based on Iver's understanding of them, the person in charge of this matter was either the Grand Guardian, Saint George, or the Grand Arbitrator Meg. They were undoubtedly the highest-ranking officials in Avalon with real power, and both were loyal to the royal family.

Tommy Lloyd was caught red-handed... No matter what his people do, it will be very difficult for him to get out.

After all, the head of the Glass Staircase Newspaper was Master Agnes, and her opinion basically represented the Queen's opinion.

Since the newspaper has directly and plainly stated Tommy's twenty-one felony charges without any concealment, there's no possibility of overturning his conviction. This newspaper is now putting pressure on Lloyd's —telling them that we are determined to convict Tommy and to stop making pointless moves.

"Wow, my fake death was this efficient? Sherlock, look!" Although things were indeed going to develop in this direction as Iver had expected... his escape early Wednesday morning and the fact that both of them had been arrested by Thursday morning still made Iver somewhat uneasy.

Could you please not deliver so quickly?

Iver wanted to wait for them to pull each other apart.

Only after he had completely muddied the waters would it be easier for him to assassinate Minister Drost.

As it turns out, the two men died as swiftly as the wind— Lloyd's's mid-level managers probably didn't even realize that their two superiors were gone. And so Avalon suddenly became peaceful again.

"...etc?"

Iver suddenly realized the problem.

This time, the two of them didn't even have a hair-pulling incident, and they were both immediately imprisoned... So, is it possible that they might implicate Iver?

Boca might not do that, given he's already bet on Iver. But Tommy will most likely.

This was both revenge against Boca and a way to prove his innocence—to prove that Aleister was not one of their people.

Even if Tommy didn't do that, his memories would most likely be taken away anyway. And when that happens, Iver still won't be able to hide it.

Iver frowned slightly at that moment.

The main problem is that these days, the name "Demon Scholar" just doesn't sound good. It's because these people in the Noble Red have an evil initiation ceremony... not only for its mystical significance, but also to ensure that new members are immediately burdened with deaths and have no way to turn back.

—As long as they are Noble Red Demon Scholar, killing them all is the only way to ensure that none of them are innocent.

This has led to a problem... that is, it is very difficult for Iver to prove his innocence.

As Demon Scholar, he must have his own contracted demons, right? If he were to reveal his Shadow Fiend... that would be tantamount to exposing his entire plan.

... What should we do? Should we ask Isabel for a pardon?

"...No."

Iver quickly made up his mind. "There's another way."

He couldn't help but feel fortunate—thankfully he had a backup plan.

He got up, changed his clothes, and called to Lily, "Get ready to go out, Lily."

Where are we going?

Lily obediently followed, and asked with some surprise, "Going out this morning?"

After all, both Lily and Iver are the type whose fighting power is much stronger at night than during the day.

"Because we don't have much time, we need to hurry."

Iver narrowed his eyes, put on the ring symbolizing the Noble Red Society, and said calmly, "Let's go and silence them."

Chapter Two will probably still be around 2 AM—

My sleep schedule is being adjusted, it's being adjusted, sob sob...