"Last Case"

Iver and Oswald returned very late.

Bishop Mathers did not spend very long teaching the Sacred Arts.

Once everything that needed to be said had been said, all that remained was persistent practice.

This kind of thing could not be rushed. Ultimately, these mysterious powers came from Extraordinary Ones walking their respective paths and following the philosophical essence of those paths, thereby resonating with them.

The reason learning, practicing, and using Sacred Arts could raise one's Extraordinary Profession level was that while Extraordinary Ones practiced these arts, they were effectively cultivating their respective paths.

Since it was cultivation, it could not be accomplished overnight.

Unless one cheated like Iver.

Aside from "prayer," Iver had already quietly mastered the other three Sacred Arts. Prayer did not need to be taught specifically, because it was precisely what the Theological Academy taught.

Iver's original "Basic Prayer" simply meant that he had yet to learn the correct prayers and rituals. Teaching those would take far too long and be far too troublesome... Moreover, whether he knew the proper method of prayer or not did not affect his profession advancement.

The proper prayers merely allowed one to channel the Candle Holder's power to nourish the soul. Bishop Mathers also demonstrated it for Iver.

Countless specks of light, resembling larvae, flew toward Mathers from the light sources all around him. As he prayed, a thin shell of light gradually covered his body, growing brighter with the passage of time.

During this process, Bishop Mathers's Light Attribute mana slowly recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Generally speaking, an exhausted mana pool could only be fully restored after sufficient sleep.

However, spellcasters of the various paths usually had emergency replenishment methods besides that.

For the Dedication Path, that method was "prayer."

Aside from ordinary sleep, those of the Dedication Path had two opportunities to pray during the daytime each day. Under the guidance of sustained prayer, their Light Attribute mana pool would slowly refill, recovering at most half of its maximum value. Illumination Spell consumed far too much mana. Without using prayer to recover mana while out of combat, there simply would not be enough to use.

The greatest advantage of prayer as a Sacred Art was that it required no materials, no preparation, and could never fail.

As long as one prayed twice a day, for at least three minutes each time, one could steadily gain skill experience.

Skill levels could grow steadily over time.

Even the timing of prayer was quite flexible. If one was busy, the two prayers could be combined before evening; if one was truly busy, skipping prayer altogether was also fine—it simply meant missing out on that free, steady experience.

Afterward, Bishop Mathers specifically explained the most important piece of knowledge to Iver: "The Nine Pillar Gods actually don't need faith.

"From a certain perspective, we're actually using faith and prayer to restrain the Nine Pillar Gods' behavior. Or rather, we're like stakes driven into the land, while faith is the rope..."

But he did not explain the specifics.

Those were things Iver was not yet supposed to know.

In any case, even if Iver had not mastered the correct method of prayer, it only meant that he could not use this skill to recover mana. Once he acquired more divine knowledge and the proper prayer rites, Basic Prayer would naturally become a prayer of the same level.

After that, Iver stayed in the chapel and had a simple lunch. The food was the sacrament sanctified by the ritual when Bishop Mathers demonstrated the Sacred Art of blessing. Eating it granted a temporary buff that stabilized the mind and steadily restored stamina.

In a sense, the lunch Iver ate was his lesson for the day. There was not the slightest waste.

Iver also noticed that Bishop Mathers never mentioned his wheelchair at all.

He did not even specifically offer to heal Iver and help him "stand again."

A healer of this level could probably tell with a single touch that Iver's vitality was vigorous and that he was neither ill nor disabled.

Then why did Iver use a wheelchair? Bishop Mathers would surely have wondered about that. If Iver's adoptive father, James, had not specifically mentioned it to him, then the bishop's emotional intelligence had simply been maxed out—though he did not know why, if Iver did not bring it up, he would not ask either.

Better to avoid unnecessary trouble. He would act as though he had seen nothing and knew nothing.

After that, Bishop Mathers took Oswald to watch what appeared to be a large-scale football match.

The two sides were the "Unicorn Club" and the "Lake Sword Club."

The former was the Theocracy's team, while the latter was Avalon's.

Although Iver did not know what these two high-level Extraordinary Ones found interesting about watching a group of ordinary people play football... it seemed to be a very important match. That was why Oswald had not sent Iver home, instead half-reluctantly agreeing and taking him to the stadium as well.

With the two of them protecting him, nothing could possibly happen anyway.

Although Iver was not interested in it, both men were respectable elders. He could simply treat it as accompanying an old man out for some fun.

Thus, Iver also put on a cheerful, lively act. Judging by the result, he had apparently done a good job keeping them company.

The former beat the latter four to zero—a completely one-sided match that even someone who knew nothing about football could recognize. Oswald looked very happy. Bishop Mathers had no particular reaction, merely complaining, "I knew there was something wrong with the Lake Sword Club's manager." Overall, it could be considered a happy ending for everyone.

However, Iver gained a strange piece of information from their conversation—

The old butler of the Moriarty Family, Oswald, had served the Moriarty Family ever since the founding of the Avalon Kingdom. Yet he held deep feelings for and identification with the Eternal Theocracy.

Even so, when Iver tentatively asked whether he wanted to go back and have a look, Oswald merely shook his head.

"I can't go back." The old butler sighed and casually said, "The Theocracy is good in every way, but I no longer have a home there. Better not to return."

This was also the first time the taciturn Oswald, silent as a shadow, had slightly mentioned his past in front of Iver and the other "little masters."

After that, Iver fell somewhat silent as well.

By the time Oswald slowly pushed Iver home, evening had arrived.

The setting sun hung at the edge of the sky, and the lake within Moriarty Manor shimmered with fragmented golden light. Before the iron gate at the manor entrance, a slender young man with black hair and brown eyes was quietly leaning there.

He was openly leafing through the dark-gold book in his hands, paying no attention to the world around him.

The pages of the book emitted a mysterious blue-green radiance. Its light was like a crystal-clear lake.

He was reading a forbidden book right in front of Moriarty Manor, yet showed no fear whatsoever. Clearly, he was familiar with and trusted this place.

Because Iver was sitting in a wheelchair, his line of sight was lower, allowing him to see the name of the book in the young man's hands at a glance.

—"Void Clarity Codex."

Iver knew this book.

It was a mysterious art from ancient times. Back then, the boundaries between paths were not as distinct as they were now, so many ancient arts could potentially belong to several paths at once. This book, however, was an exception.

Its Path of Wisdom attributes were exceptionally strong. The "Void Clarity Art" it described was the origin of the Path of Wisdom's later mysterious art, "meditation."

In the game, this book's owner should have been Sherlock Holmes. It was a collection he had acquired not long after the beginning of the main storyline.

Sherlock was a powerful Extraordinary One with adaptability to both the Path of Wisdom and the Path of Authority. In Version 1.0, he already possessed the dual professions of Law Mage and Mage.

He was a powerful ally who existed outside the protagonist's party.

Although he never became the players' companion, he would occasionally help them solve a few difficult problems. After the destruction of the Avalon Kingdom, he did not follow the players to the Theocracy, nor did he go to the Stibium Kingdom. Instead, he accepted an appointment from the Iris Flower Kingdom and served in a government position for a time.

His name alone made it clear that this character was based on Sherlock Holmes.

But unlike the stereotypical image of Holmes with his "pipe and walking stick," Sherlock was a quasi-insider of the Bureau of Supervision on Glass Island, as well as a high-level Extraordinary One. He was far wealthier than the Holmes of the original work, had become famous much earlier, and did not yet have a Watson of his own.

When the main storyline began, Sherlock was only twenty-six years old. Yet by then, he was already the "Chief Consultant" whom even the head of the Bureau of Supervision in the White Queen Division treated with utmost courtesy.

As a Law Mage from the Path of Authority, he also spent money much more lavishly on his pleasures.

He would buy the most expensive cigars he could afford rather than cheap pipe tobacco. He would not economize on food, and he took the players to restaurants whenever they met. He would even travel abroad specifically to listen to the finest concerts. The gifts he gave his friends were also highly valuable—for instance, the gifts the developers sent the players in his name were almost all precious premium materials.

This was a typical characteristic of the Path of Authority: only the best. It was not about enjoyment itself, but about obtaining "the best."

Yet after quickly spending all the money he had received, he would calmly downgrade his spending and live contentedly without money until the next event made him wealthy again.

Sherlock's greatest characteristic was that he absolutely never saved money. He never considered the possibility that he might "run out of money someday."

That was because the young Sherlock was brimming with confidence in his own abilities. As long as he had his abilities, he could obtain a sum of money at any time—he simply did not earn it because he was uninterested.

He believed that if he considered what he should do in the future, it would amount to subconsciously implying that his talents would eventually deteriorate. Compared with a decline in his quality of life, admitting that he would one day become dull and foolish was even more unacceptable to him.

An NPC like this—talented and extremely proud, yet friendly toward the players—had always been quite popular among them. There were also plenty of fan art, cosplays, merchandise, and fan-made videos.

Sherlock remained highly active throughout the main storyline up to Version 5.0, with many standout moments.

In the end, he died during the Version 5.1 main storyline.

The cause of death was bizarre—while investigating a certain case, he was ambushed and killed to silence him after pursuing the investigation alone.

Although the plot differed from "The Last Case," perhaps to hint at the direction of the story to come, that major arc was named "The Last Case."

Thinking back now, the person who killed Sherlock might have been Iver's adoptive father, James Moriarty. It was only after Sherlock's death that Iver's adoptive father reappeared in the story.

At the time, players had said, "Oh no, Moriarty really did come back from 'The Empty House.'"

Iver had been deeply impressed by this event.

When the main storyline's suggestive name was revealed, online discussion and hype exploded instantly. When the final plot really arrived, the players' reactions were simply unbelievable.

Compared with anger and sadness, more comments said things like, "They really dared to kill him off," "He's not actually dead, is he?" and "Waiting for him to return from the Empty House."

They did not believe it was real. But they were also afraid that it was.

It was like the way an elementary schoolboy might say, "You're really crying?" after making a girl cry.

Even Iver had specifically asked one of his friends among the writers whether Sherlock was really dead.

The response he received was equally vague: "Probably."

But until Iver crossed over, Sherlock's "Empty House" storyline still had not arrived. Instead, James Moriarty had appeared, revealing himself as the final BOSS of the version's main storyline.

As if noticing the extremely complicated gaze, Sherlock suddenly raised his head and looked toward Iver.

When he saw Oswald pushing the wheelchair over, he smiled and closed the book in his hands.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Oswald."

He cheerfully greeted the old butler and smiled as he nodded at Iver.

Oswald clearly knew Sherlock and greeted him warmly. "Mr. Sherlock, why don't you come inside and sit for a while? The professor has mentioned you quite often lately."

Iver knew that the old butler was extremely proud, with the stubborn temper and lofty bearing of an elf.

Unless it was someone he acknowledged, he would never show them such warmth.

"Perhaps not. If I go in, the professor will nag me again. I'll leave after delivering the item. I have something else to do—please give the professor my regards."

The black-haired young man politely refused.

"If you have something to do today, why not come to the family dinner tomorrow? I'll tell the cook to prepare some good dishes in advance."

Oswald pressed the matter warmly, his attitude completely different from the indifference he had shown Hai Na. "The professor really has been talking about you for a long time—and it's been nearly a year since you last came to visit him, Mr. Sherlock."

"I do have something to do tomorrow evening... You understand. Once I have some free time, I'll send a calling card and pay a formal visit."

Sherlock spoke evasively.

He exchanged a glance with the old butler, and Oswald immediately understood. He nodded and did not continue bringing up the subject.

Iver also realized what Sherlock meant.

If something major was happening tomorrow evening, it was very likely an advancement.

His attitude was so vague that this advancement was probably illegal. He even dared to openly read an occult book of the Path of Wisdom, yet was so evasive about this matter.

That meant he was definitely about to advance the Mage profession of the minor Path he had only recently obtained—the Path of Wisdom—to the Second Level!

...Just like me.

Iver froze for a moment.

Well, well.

—Could the two of us be meeting in the Dream Realm?

Today's update was over six thousand words again. I really can't control the word count, sob...

Happy Children's Day to all my dear readers!