The Missing Clue

— Ritual Array.

Sherlock's heart tightened.

He had suspected it beforehand—he had begun to have doubts when he saw the neat circle of Eagle Cape Village from the high vantage point. But now he had finally confirmed it.

The entire Eagle Cape Village was essentially a large-scale ceremony of unclear significance.

But here's the problem.

—What is the purpose of this ritual?

If this were placed elsewhere, it would clearly be related to the anomalies here.

The problem is, there are just too many "abnormalities" in this haunted village.

The Wild Hunt King, anomalous timelines, abnormal lifespans, strangers emerging from the swamp, the Fairy Hole...

Sherlock rubbed his temples. Countless possibilities were piecing together in his mind, making his head throb.

He then asked, "Uncle Magnetic Hammer, what did you mean yesterday when you said that Sister Hai Na's biological father suddenly left because he was 'possessed by some evil spirit'? And he's been gone from Eagle Cape Village for so long and hasn't come back. Has he died out there?"

Such a direct and almost unreasonable question would likely have drawn a cold shoulder from the other party if the real Sherlock had asked it.

But now it's just right—I'm just a kid, it's normal for me to be ignorant. Speaking my mind is reasonable, you can't hold it against me, can you?

The dwarf with the Magnetic Hammer also had a somewhat subtle expression.

He paused for a moment, glanced at Hai Na's mother's back, and finally looked at Hai Na, lowering his voice to answer softly, "Actually... I think he might have run away."

"Escape?"

Sherlock lowered his voice, his face showing childlike astonishment. "Why? Is it because of those undead?"

Hai Na, who was standing next to her, also perked up.

It wasn't that she was disgusted by Sherlock's high-pitched voice... but rather that she was genuinely interested in the answer. She had asked her mother many times when she was little, but the mother had always brushed her off. Back then, she was actually a little afraid of her somewhat rude father, who looked completely different from her, so her relationship with the Magnetic Hammer wasn't very good.

Only now is she beginning to realize...

It seems that the problem lies with his own mother.

The dwarf father, who had only started taking care of him when he was a few years old and was not related to him by blood, was actually more normal.

"They're not undead—although I was quite frightened when I first arrived, these undead generally don't harm people. So I gradually got used to it."

Magnetic Hammer lowered his voice, reeking of alcohol, and brought his head close to Sherlock's face, forehead to Sherlock: "There's a rumor that... he saw something he shouldn't have seen, and that's why he went mad."

"Things I shouldn't have seen..."

Hai Na murmured, "Could it be that Grandpa Jacob did some evil research?"

"Ah, no, that's not it..."

Magnetic Hammer waved his hands repeatedly. "Your grandfather Jacob stays at home writing books all day, what kind of research can he do..."

"Actually, it's because he seemed to see another version of himself. In the days before he left, he was clearly restless. His master asked him about it and said that he seemed to have seen another person who looked exactly like him. Then a few days later, he disappeared... When I first arrived, this rumor was circulating in the village, so I remember it quite well."

"And then what?"

Sherlock tried his best to look scared. "After he left... is that 'other self' still there?"

"No, that's why it's called a rumor."

The Magnetic Hammer returned to its normal volume and laughed heartily, "Think about it, if there really is 'another self,' then he shouldn't have disappeared at all—when he disappeared, shouldn't he have been replaced by 'that other self'? That way, no one would have even realized he was missing."

"Old William also investigated this matter at the time, and even asked his colleagues to help investigate. But they never found any trace of him, not even in Bagpipe Town, there was no record of him leaving by train."

"But then... about two years later. At that time, Hai Na hadn't gone to school in Bagpipe Town yet, and her mother received a letter. It was from her bastard father, saying that he had been living on Glass Island for a long time and hadn't been able to contact his family. He had finally finished a big job and could take a break. He would come back to visit whenever he had some free time."

"But he never came back. He didn't leave his address either, so we couldn't send him a reply."

"Hai Na's mother is literate, and she confirmed that it was indeed the other person's handwriting. The village priest also confirmed it, and the handwriting was correct. So he's probably not dead. At least not more than ten years ago... But he hasn't sent any letters in so long, so either he forgot or he's dead."

"That's true..."

Sherlock chuckled awkwardly.

But he and Hai Na exchanged a silent glance, and his heart sank.

--wrong.

The problem here is that Hai Na's father disappeared suddenly.

The villagers and dwarves might not know, but Sherlock did—it's not so easy for someone to disappear if they want to.

Unless he can change his appearance, it's easy for him to leave various traces. The Inspectors are very good at tracking traces... Hai Na knew this too.

If someone moves to another place, they will need money at the very least. And if they want to earn money, they must engage in work they are familiar with.

No one mentioned that he absconded with the money, meaning he didn't have much cash on him. Besides, he was just a blacksmith's apprentice at the time, unlike Magnetic Hammer, who was a true master blacksmith. He wouldn't have earned much money anyway.

In this situation, it is virtually impossible for him to leave on his own accord without leaving any trace.

There are actually only two possibilities.

Either he was kidnapped or murdered, or someone else helped him track his movements, meaning he had accomplices.

Or perhaps he disappeared suddenly—for example, by being teleported away or falling into a swamp.

But he was still able to send letters years later, and the handwriting was confirmed to be his own. As for whether the letters were written years ago, Sherlock believed that Magnetic Hammer wasn't that foolish.

So, assuming her father is still alive several years after his disappearance, and doesn't want the villagers to know his whereabouts, another possibility can be deduced...

—The "father" who suddenly disappeared was actually the clone. Because he was created through ritual or magic, he vanished without a trace.

The true entity, however, had already traveled to Glass Island with the assistance of others.

If "copying a person" is a ritual effect, then the person who helps him must be a powerful ritual master.

Does Eagle Cape Village have such a ritual master? Yes, it does.

That was Iver's grandfather, Jacob Alexander.

Although Sherlock didn't know Jacob's exact energy level, since two Noble Red of the Fifth Level couldn't kill him directly, Jacob must be at least the Fourth Level, or even possibly the Fifth Level.

Could his special trip to Glass Island be to help Jacob remotely arrange some rituals? After all, Jacob was being hunted by the Noble Red at the time, so it was inconvenient for him to go to places with many people.

Several years later, he completed that ceremony.

...etc.

etc?

Sherlock suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

—A few years later? He thought of something and went through the Timeline from the beginning—

When Sherlock investigated Iver before, he found out that his grandfather had died when Iver was about four years old from a "cold".

Haina was four years older than Aiwas, which would be roughly the time when Haina was eight years old. This roughly corresponds to Haina's experience of learning to read from Jacob.

—And Jack is eight years younger Hai Na.

In other words, a year before Jack was born, his biological father disappeared; six months later, Magnetic Hammer arrived in Eagle Cape Village; and less than a year later, Jacob died. After his death, his belongings were somehow stolen by the Noble Red, but they couldn't find what they most wanted.

Immediately afterwards, a threatening letter arrived with unclear meaning. They claimed to have killed Julio's niece, Lisa, and in the letter mentioned that Iver's father Julio Alexander, "did not do as they said," threatening to kill Iver.

Iver's biological parents perished, leaving him an orphan. However, he was later taken to Orphanage and was no longer hunted down.

Then Hai Na's father sent a letter... saying he had been living on Glass Island for a long time. After that, he really disappeared and didn't come looking for her until Hai Na graduated from university and was in the newspaper.

During the time that Hai Na's father went to Glass Island and sent back letters, did anything special happen on Glass Island that only a ritual master could accomplish? — Yes, it did.

That was the day Sherlock told Iver that Eagle Cape Village was Hai Na's hometown. That day, Sherlock overheard Bishop Mathers explaining to Iver why he wasn't there that day... The answer was that the curse of the Red Hilt Sword had been accidentally revealed the night before.

Sherlock wasn't fully awake at the time, so he didn't have a chance to argue. Later, he came to his senses, but the topic had already been moved on, and he couldn't go back to it—but he always remembered that incident.

Because he sensed something was wrong right then and there.

The seal on the Red Hilt Sword was placed by Merlin.

Although she hated that guy, Sherlock knew that Merlin's technology was excellent, so how could it be easily leaked?

Let alone a leak, even being tricked into unsealing something requires a top-tier ritual master.

It has only been leaked once in all these years, and that happened to be on that very day.

Sherlock did not believe in coincidences.

That's highly likely because Hai Na's father remotely assisted Jacob in the ritual on Glass Island, causing the seal on the Red Hilt Sword to be leaked! — Up to this point, the timeline, abilities, and perpetrators all match up.

But then things got even stranger.

The question that puzzled Sherlock was...

Why did Iver's grandfather plot to kill Iver's parents before he died?

Sherlock remembered that the person who killed Iver's parents was a Curse Master from the desert who wielded Iron Hook Demon. This shouldn't be Jacob's man.

But the person who led them to Glass Island and made it impossible for them to find Bishop Mathers was Hai Na's father. He had arranged for the bishop to be absent that day.

Or perhaps Jacob didn't intend to kill Iver's parents, but his plan simply went awry? Was the Curse Master also one of Jacob's men? That's why Iver wasn't pursued further afterward.

But what's the point of all this...?

"Strangeness..."

Sherlock tugged hard at his hair.

This cannot be explained in any way.

His instincts clearly told him that he was missing a crucial clue in this final part of his reasoning. He was just one step away from connecting the truth, but he was missing that one vital sentence.

"Hateful!"

Sherlock instinctively punched Hai Na next to him, intending to go find Iver first to share some information.

Update complete!