Lie of Reynard the Fox

When Iver led Lily and Sherlock back down to the First Ring, it was almost dusk.

Although Iver had caused quite a commotion here just a few hours earlier, by the time Iver returned dressed in the archbishop's robes, the turmoil had already subsided.

Not many people recognized that the archbishop, who was frighteningly young, was the same young man from before.

The main reason is face blindness.

There weren't many people in the Theocracy to begin with. Even among humans, not all were necessarily of imperial lineage.

Although Avalon, Iris, and Star Antimony now use their own languages and have different customs, if we consider them five hundred years ago, they were essentially one family. They were all, in essence, Herasul people.

But humans in other places still have some trouble recognizing Iver —let alone other races.

The group returned to the First Ring from the quiet high circle.

Looking at the bustling crowd, Sherlock couldn't help but sigh, "If you only look at the First Ring, how could you tell that this is the Eternal Theocracy of the elves?"

Upon hearing this, Lily also looked up and gazed at the scene.

The street was teeming with people of all races—humans, goblins, Lizardman, trolls—densely packed together. What was relatively spacious at midday had become impenetrable by evening.

As a native of Lloyd District Avalon, she came up with a very apt metaphor—

This level of foot traffic is probably ideal for pickpockets to carry out in-depth work.

If this were Avalon, there would definitely be pickpockets mixed in here.

A strange worry suddenly arose in her mind. "If this continues, will there come a day when... the elves of the Theocracy will no longer be the main body?"

"Very likely—or rather, it's almost there."

Iver replied from the side, "After all, elves have a low birth rate."

Sherlock asked, "The physical level, or the mental level?"

"Spirit. Elves are generally poorly adapted to the Path of Love, which directly leads to a lack of strong desire between the sexes. And if both people are indifferent, they will affect each other when they are together. Many couples will not even sleep together for decades, and more often they will maintain their relationship as a pure spiritual love... Rather than being husband and wife, they are more like friends or roommates."

"Elves have only been fully open for a few hundred years, and now they only make up half of the main population of the Theocracy —although the activity range of the Short-lived Races is basically limited to the lower Fifth Ring. Today, the number of Half-Elf is even close to one-third of the main elven race, and also basically one-third of the number of Short-lived Races active in the Theocracy. You should know that there are not many elves willing to marry Short-lived Races, and this has only been a few hundred years."

"...If that's the case," Sherlock glanced at the number of people in the crowd, "The population of elves is probably about the same as that of Glass Island. Maybe a little more, but not by much."

"I even suspect that it may not have as many people as Glass Island."

Iver smiled helplessly.

Lily pondered for a moment, "If that's the case... I'm afraid that in another hundred years, elves will make up less than a third of the population."

Iver shook his head.

The elven population has been declining for many years. The number of people who die of old age, in battle, in accidents, as tree-turned, or as amber each year far exceeds the birth rate. Meanwhile, immigrants from abroad continue to flock to the region.

"I'm afraid that in another fifty years, elves will not even make up a third of the population in the Theocracy."

Sherlock figured it out easily.

He sighed, "I really don't know what will happen then..."

"What else could happen? The elves are so much stronger than them. In the end, this world is still ruled by the extraordinary."

Iver scoffed, "Do you expect these immigrants to give the elves a Thanksgiving?"

"What?"

"Nothing."

Iver shook his head, then led them onto the large roundabout, turning to a specific point—if you marked 12 o'clock for north, this would be roughly 2 o'clock. They had previously been at the 3 o'clock position next door, not far away.

The fairies consider the east to be beautiful, and the best spot is facing the sunrise.

Even though it was Iver's first time in the Theocracy, he walked around inside with such ease.

He even showed a clear sense of nostalgia, pointing to some tourist attractions and explaining their origins to the two of them, as if he were a local.

Sherlock became increasingly convinced of his conjecture— Iver had likely experienced some of the events of this era intermittently, either in dreams or elsewhere! That's why he knew things he shouldn't have known and saw things he shouldn't have seen.

Lily, however, didn't understand.

She was amazed by Iver's familiarity with the terrain. "Young Master, how do you know this place so well... Did you look at a map beforehand?"

"What's the big deal?"

Iver didn't seem to care. "If you've played Ubisoft games, you can easily become familiar with the local terrain even when you're traveling. I only know a few landmarks."

"...What?"

"Hmm, it's nothing. Actually, I had already looked at the map before."

Sherlock noticed that Iver had been mentioning things that no one could understand more often these past two days. If Iver had previously deliberately concealed his sources of information, he had gradually stopped pretending these past few days.

Is he... feeling lonely? Sherlock quietly observed Iver, a fiery blue light igniting in his pupils before slowly fading away.

He felt that he was gaining a deeper and deeper understanding of the nature of Iver.

Because he can't return to the era that truly belonged to him, and is now forced to separate from Isabel, he wants to say things that others can't understand in order to maintain his independence. He can't forget those memories, but he can't truly recall them either, so he can only feel this empty longing.

It's like after breaking up with your ex-girlfriend, when you're drunk you keep rambling on and on about her to your friends... You say you've moved on, but saying you've moved on doesn't really mean you've truly let go.

Sherlock had a high school classmate who was just like that, and now that person is doing business in the Theocracy.

He could tell that Iver had clearly never actually been here.

On the main road, Iver found his way quite decisively. But after turning into the alley, his actions became noticeably hesitant.

Iver would try to find landmarks first, and then think about it for a long time.

Sherlock had such an experience.

On one occasion, when he was handling a case, he had to analyze the background of a painting to deduce which city the painter lived in and where the painter was from.

Iver seems to infer the location of a store more by examining the relative relationships between buildings.

But in the end, Iver succeeded on his first try.

He hadn't gone to the wrong place at all; he arrived in front of a certain building.

This is a residential house in a small alley.

It is a typical shop converted from a residential house.

A sign hung outside the house that read "The Lie of Reynard the Fox." But from the sign alone, it was impossible to tell what the house actually sold.

Iver rang the bell at the door and then pushed the door open.

Sherlock looked up as he entered, his sharp eyes scanning his surroundings.

—This looks like a bookstore, but it also looks like a coffee shop.

Such a thought popped into his mind.

Because there are bookshelves everywhere, and each bookshelf is filled to the brim with different books. There are also four round tables, each seating only four or five people. The air is filled with the aroma of coffee, and a little girl who looks only seven or eight years old is quietly grinding coffee while standing on a stool.

This little proprietress looks like an elf, with light golden hair and clear amber eyes.

There were no other guests in the space, which was about 20 or 30 square meters.

"A respected archbishop."

The girl didn't panic when she saw Iver.

She simply bowed respectfully to Iver and uttered in a childish yet clear voice, "May the Candlekeeper protect your light."

"May the candle keeper protect you, Lady Hypatia."

Iver returned the greeting to the girl.

Hearing Iver's words, the girl raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. "Excuse me, who was your matchmaker...?"

"Grey told me."

"Iver replied."

Which Grey?

The girl, known as Hypatia, cautiously pressed for an answer.

"Naturally, it is the Pure White Saintess," Iver replied gently. "She said that you have some Grimoire here."

"Oh, that child..."

Hypatia shook his head, somewhat helplessly jumping off the stool. "Please, sit wherever you like. Would you like sugar in your coffee?"

"Add two parts milk and one part sugar."

Iver said with a smile, "Thank you for your help, ma'am."

This is an apostle under the Geometric Angel Division of the Path of Wisdom, and is currently in the same reincarnation state as Vivian.

Her secret, of course, couldn't have been told to him by Chunbai—it was a side quest within the game. When Chunbai encountered trouble, she would tell the players about this place, directing them to find Hypatia for rescue. From then on, this place also served as a base for the players.

It's not a big problem to slightly overdraw on personal relationships.

Anyway, Iver will help Pure White, it's just a matter of order.