Instant Box-Opening Machine Continues to Operate

When Sherlock woke up and called Iver "Moriarty," Iver' heart skipped a beat.

Something seems off.

Iver knew Sherlock very well. This great detective usually acted without any sense of boundaries, and when the mood struck him, he liked to do things on his own. Only after he had finished would he explain what he had been doing. When talking to friends, he would usually call them by their first names or even nicknames... It was only when speaking to strangers or people of high status that he would maintain a distant politeness and reserve.

... Of course, when Sherlock is being pretentious and sarcastic, he will occasionally address him slowly as "Mr. Moriarty".

According to the Imported CG, in this timeline, Iver's relationship with Sherlock is even closer than his relationship with Isabel. That's why Iver directly calls him Sherlock, to prevent the overly perceptive Sherlock from discovering that "he is not that Iver."

Before meeting her, Iver was actually quite wary of Sherlock.

These overly intelligent, perceptive, and suspicious friends are also too familiar with you, so you can easily slip up in front of them. Especially since the world itself has the ability to impersonate others or change their perceptions, being suspicious isn't entirely wrong; it can simply be considered being cautious enough.

He even considered simply knocking Sherlock unconscious. He could then knock him unconscious again when he woke up, repeating this cycle... and then send him directly to the Theocracy to complete his mission.

As long as I don't have any contact or communication with Sherlock throughout the entire process, I will absolutely not expose myself in front of him.

... But soon, Iver realized that the same things he feared applied to "Sherlock."

However, just the word "Moriarty" is not enough to conclude that he has a problem.

So Iver made further probes.

Sherlock should have known that Minister Drost might be planning to harm Princess Isabel. And during Sherlock's interrogation, he clearly understood this, and might even have learned the truth—given Drost's flamboyant personality, he would most likely boast about it, or even say something like "Isabel is dead," to put pressure on Sherlock.

So Iver deliberately changed the subject, mentioning "Shafiya" to get Shafiya to speak up and indicate that she was nearby.

Sherlock must know who Shafiya is.

Therefore, when Iver mentioned Shafiya, and Shafiya sounded relaxed, he should have immediately guessed that "the Princess might not have been killed." Given Sherlock's loyalty to Queen Sophia, he would almost certainly force himself to ask Shafiya what had happened.

Even the Silver and Tin Palace was blown up—how could he be so calm, not even a little worried?

Of course, there is a very small possibility that... that Sherlock has already guessed that Isabel is still alive and therefore is not in a hurry at all.

So Iver made a third attempt.

He told Sherlock to "stop thinking." But as Third Level Law Mage and a Third Level mage, Sherlock should have "Spiritual Body Imbalance." His overly powerful thinking ability made it impossible for him to stop thinking. Even if he had barely adapted to the disorder, thinking was definitely more relaxing for him than not thinking.

Therefore, the moment Sherlock truly stopped thinking, Iver was certain that this was definitely not Sherlock.

He can only be an "advisor".

A cultivator who has ascended the Path of Wisdom from the star Antimony, a mage of the Third Level.

But Iver did not make a fuss.

While killing the enemy in the shadows is the most conservative option, it's far too inefficient and completely fails to leverage intelligence advantages.

Now that we've identified the other party and haven't exposed ourselves at all... even if we don't intend to use them to complete our mission, we can still use them to pass on some false information or set traps for the Stibnite Person.

The smarter a person is, the more they will believe in the information they have personally gathered and the more they will trust the conclusions they have personally deduced. Few people can completely overturn all their views and start over from scratch before their logic reaches a dead end—especially when the logic of false information is complete and the evidence is sufficient, while the truth is missing a large part of the logic.

However, if we want to plant some false information, Iver alone isn't enough. We also need Isabel's cooperation and support.

So Iver, after considering his options, brought Sherlock back to the Moriarty Manor.

Isabel was hiding behind the curtains, looking towards the Silver and Tin Palace.

"Iver!"

When Iver and the others returned, Isabel immediately greeted them with joy, "Are you alright?"

She was talking with Professor Moriarty in the living room when she suddenly felt a slight earthquake.

Isabel peeked out from behind the curtains and saw that the Silver and Tin Palace had exploded—not only was there a violent explosion, but the entire palace was gradually engulfed in flames.

Although Iver brought Oswald and Shafiya with him... there were still two legitimate Fifth Level Transcendent there, and Iver couldn't summon Night Demon yet.

She was worried that something might have happened to Iver, but she knew there was nothing she could do in a battle of this scale... so she could only remain calm and try her best not to cause Iver any trouble.

But clearly, the conversation couldn't continue. She simply didn't have the energy to be distracted by worrying about Iver and then go back to learning more about the mystical from Professor Moriarty.

Fortunately, no Death Knell sounded, which allowed Isabel to barely maintain her sanity.

"I'm fine."

Iver winked at her. "But Detective Hermes might have a problem—he's badly injured. I need to find a quiet place to treat him properly."

... Huh?

Isabel paused slightly upon hearing this.

Does Iver's treatment... also need to be done in a quiet place?

From the first time I met Iver during the Promotion Ritual, Iver demonstrated his exceptional healing skills—not only were his healing abilities unusually consistent, but he could also use either hand.

Later, during the attack on the Bureau of Supervision, Iver single-handedly saved the entire Bureau of Supervision. Isabel only learned afterward that it was Iver's special ability called "Flame Butterfly," which could instantly provide powerful healing to a group of people.

Isabel immediately understood Iver's implication—he most likely had something to say to her and needed to be away from others.

But Isabel glanced cautiously at Sherlock and said softly, "Can I come with you? I'm also worried about Mr. Hermes."

She usually calls him Sherlock directly, but now she subtly follows Iver and changes "Sherlock" to "Hermes".

Iver nodded, then reminded him, "Okay, but keep quiet. Be careful not to wake Sherlock."

Isabel's tacit understanding with Iver allowed her to immediately grasp Iver's meaning.

—There is something to whisper, but we must keep it away from Sherlock.

Sherlock has a problem!

He is that old man called "Consultant"!

Isabel's intuition told her that her guess was probably correct.

Suddenly, she felt a chill run down her spine and her scalp tingle—her long-time friend was now inhabited by another person's soul. And he was impersonating that person, mimicking their every word and action, trying to deceive her.

Just thinking about it made Isabel feel a little scared.

"...Come on, Isabel. You can lend me a hand as well."

Iver smiled and said this to her.

Isabel understood Iver's subtext—let's fool him together.

So that's it. You discovered their identity but didn't kill them... Was that why? —If it's just an act, I'm very confident!

Isabel felt much more at ease.

She nodded politely to Shafiya and Professor Moriarty, and then followed Iver to his bedroom.

She could tell Iver the mysterious knowledge that Professor Moriarty had told her at any time... it wouldn't be too late to bring it up after the Promotion Ritual.

"I'd better get down to business first," Isabel thought.

But then another thought popped into Isabel's mind—

Since he's serving as an advisor to the Stibnite Person, he'll be appearing as the sorcerer Sherlock...

Yulia's mentor, Master Nobel, was an alchemist; the two Court Ritualist were also Ritual Mage Path of Transcendence.

Will they become "Strangers" and "Olive"?

Thinking of this, Isabel, who hadn't even seen these people, became more wary.