Edward's Reckoning

As Sherlock finished speaking, his cramped room fell into complete silence for a moment. Only the rhythmic, slow chewing of Edward's sandwich remained.

After a few seconds of pause, Sherlock smiled and said, "Of course, that's impossible."

"Because if the professor were the mastermind, he couldn't have used such a simple and flawed method. He was already acquainted with Minister Drost and had various connections within the kingdom. He could have easily achieved this goal without showing his face."

At this point, under Edward's silent gaze, Sherlock took out a box of matches and a cigar, and began to spin the cigar to heat it evenly.

As he bent down to process his cigar, he said casually, "And the person who does this now has a flawed motive."

"The plan itself is also ingenious. First, assassinate Secretary Raff, then attack Her Highness the Princess. This action naturally exposes Minister Drost's possible close connection to the Alchemy Product Smuggling Case. It also maximizes the social impact of the matter, making it impossible for old Drost to suppress it even with his connections."

"But on the other hand, if she could devise such a plan, why didn't she use more direct means? Her purpose was never to bring down Drost or cause trouble for the Drost Family; she wasn't trying to steal information or stop smuggling; she wasn't trying to throw Avalon into chaos, nor was she trying to uphold justice or defend the truth."

"It's as if the person's sole purpose was to 'expose Minister Drost's actions,' and that was all she wanted to do. To devise such a plan, to have such a degree of execution, yet to have such a conservative objective—I conclude that the person executing this plan must be acting on someone's orders—someone with very little influence in Avalon's upper echelons, who therefore needs to rely on public opinion to achieve their goal."

"—For example, spies from other countries. Considering the hostile relationship between Iris and Star Antimony, I think it might be spies sent by Iris."

As Sherlock spoke, he put the smoking cigar in his mouth and exhaled deeply.

He raised his head, his gaze clear as he looked at Edward: "Since you didn't attack me just now... so I guessed right?"

Edward remained silent, slowly chewing his food.

"You've been chewing this sandwich for almost a minute now, my dear friend."

Sherlock spoke lazily, crossing his legs.

He smugly blew a puff of smoke into Edward's face, his eyes showing no fear. "Looks like my earlier guess was right. The Moriarty Family's business... doesn't seem to be all that legitimate."

"You'd better not investigate any further, Sherlock."

The food in his mouth was swallowed silently, and Edward, who had been silent for a long time, said with a sullen expression, "Just take this as my request to you."

"... I'm so glad, Edward. You consider me a true friend."

Sherlock's lips curled into a smile, and the smoke slowly enveloped him. "Based on my trust in you, I will temporarily suspend my investigation into ' Moriarty.' All my findings so far are in the folder on your left bookshelf that begins with the letter M. There's a blue envelope on it that says ' Moriarty.'"

Hearing Sherlock's words, Edward got up without hesitation, walked to the bookshelf, and reached into the folder to find the envelope.

"Do you have a copy, Sherlock?" Edward asked.

"You know I never keep things like that, my dear friend. But I strongly urge you not to destroy it directly; it would be best to open it and take a look now."

Sherlock said leisurely, "Aren't you curious about when I started to suspect the professor, and why I dared to say these things to you here?"

Edward is not a fool.

His rugged, angular face now displayed a silent, steely quality.

"... Was it because Father suddenly left Glass Island?"

"Partly. But mainly because of the warehouse explosion."

Sherlock replied, "You were too focused on that case that day. But afterwards, you didn't continue investigating it. You didn't report it to the media, and you didn't even mention it to me again. I think you were afraid I would pay too much attention to it. But it was precisely because you didn't say anything that I noticed something was wrong."

"It was easy for me to find out that the next day, under the pretext of taking Iver to school, you went to the university to see William Wayne Westcott. He happens to be the one who analyzed the ' Fire Essence ' component in this case..."

"What does this prove?"

Edward countered, "Or did Dr. Westcott say something to you?"

He didn't sit down, but stood directly next to the bookshelf and slowly opened the blue envelope.

To Edward's surprise, the blue envelope contained only a blank sheet of paper.

"Yes, I have no evidence. But your reaction tells me... I'm right."

Sherlock got up from the rocking chair and poured himself a glass of cold water.

He held a cigar in his left hand and a glass in his right, then gulped down a mouthful of cold water. Clearly, Sherlock had been somewhat nervous.

"Actually, it was because I found that I couldn't find any evidence to prove that Professor Moriarty was involved in the crime that I vaguely sensed something was wrong."

"Is it really possible for a Founding Family, situated at the very heart of the capital's social circle, to have remained completely clean and without a single flaw over the years? I find it hard to believe. Whether it's you, or Iver and Yulia... your adoption records are all so clean."

"And the professor has no relatives, no wife, and no record of his parents—as you just said, you've been married too. You're urging me to get married soon. So, hasn't anyone urged Professor James to get married?"

"There are only adopted children and friends, but no closer social relationships. None at all, not even death records can be found."

Sherlock sighed, picked up his cigar again, and said calmly, "Don't be nervous, my dear friend. When I realized that Iver genuinely wanted to protect Princess Isabel, none of this mattered."

"Her Majesty saved my father's life, and I must repay her. That is why I work for Mr. Kent. I do not work for Avalon, nor do I obey the Round Table Hall. I serve only the Royal Family—or rather, I am loyal only to Queen Sophia."

"I'm not a pedant, Edward. You know me. What I'm pursuing isn't justice or order; I'm just curious about the truth. As long as it's not something immoral, I can even assist you. So what is it that you must keep to yourself and can't tell me?"

"... I'm not telling you this for your own good."

Edward remained silent for a long time before shaking his head and saying sincerely, "All I can tell you is that my father has no hostility towards the royal family. That's the limit. You really shouldn't investigate any further."

Sherlock pressed on, "So we're not adversaries..."

"This is not a warning, Sherlock. This is a warning."

Still wearing that black suit that resembled mourning clothes, Edward stood ramrod straight, his voice deep and magnetic. "Moths get caught by spiders, and the best you can do is stay away from spider webs. The less you know, the safer you are."

"... Alright. I trust you, my dear friend. I won't investigate this matter further until you give me permission."

Sherlock shook his head and sighed.

He still couldn't get the answer out of his old friend what was worrying him.

But there were still some results.

At least for now, both sides have reached an initial showdown and compromise.

In this risky encounter, their friendship was not only not destroyed... but actually became even stronger.

Sherlock felt a mixture of relief and regret. "I originally thought you were one of the manipulated ones, like Iver... trying to break free from the shackles of your adoptive father. But now it seems you're on the other side."

"Wait...you mean, Iver?" Edward paused for a moment, then repeated in a low voice.

"Yes, he was chosen by Master Agnes to be Princess Isabel's companion. And now that he has saved the Princess, Her Majesty the Queen will probably summon him personally. This must be his plan to break free from the shackles of fate... If, as you say, the professor has no hostility towards the royal family, then he probably won't care about Iver anymore."

Sherlock shook his head. "If my earlier judgment is correct, and the murderer is connected to the Iris's spies, I don't think the murderer intended to attack Princess Isabel. Because to the Iris People, Isabel is the best ruler of Avalon. They wouldn't want to kill her."

"Following this line of reasoning, the assassin would have entered Princess's shadow to avoid Chief Gordon's senses. And she heard Chief Gordon's words and knew you were almost there... With several high-level superhumans present, superhumans Path of Adaptation will definitely tend to hide or run away."

"And she is clearly very skilled at using her Shadow Stealth, so she will choose the person whose shadow is the most stable among those who are 'definitely going to leave the venue'."

That was Iver in his wheelchair—that's why Iver ' first shot hit his own shadow.

Although for some reason, Iver knew about Shadow Stealth... his stance was not problematic. This was evident from that second shot alone.

"Iver fired two shots because he didn't actually know the exact location of the culprit. Firing a second bullet at Princess Isabel's shadow was a very dangerous move. If the shot missed and Princess Isabel subsequently met with misfortune, Iver would most likely be held responsible."

"A person with ulterior motives should try to maintain their innocence rather than take meaningless but risky actions, especially if they are intelligent and have not previously been exposed to anyone's attention."

"—It was from that shot that I realized that Iver genuinely wanted to protect Isabel."

"Further reasoning leads to the conclusion that Iver instructed Director Gordon to conduct a thorough search of the second floor before your arrival in order to 'force the murderer back to the first floor, where there are currently no other high-ranking superhumans.' The second floor of the club is too large; without a high-ranking superhuman conducting a thorough search, the surveillance personnel would likely not notice her presence."

"And by then, you'll be almost there. Once you get there, there will be people on the first floor, and she won't be able to move. She must have heard those words."

"So from that moment on, she had to make an immediate decision—whether to abandon the second floor, which might be subject to intense searches, and move to the first floor, which was relatively less guarded and safer."

"She has very limited time to think, and Chief Gordon's slow investigation will continue to put pressure on her."

"Once that assassin comes down from the second floor, her hiding places will be extremely limited. The first possibility is under Iver, and the second possibility is Isabel beside him. Only the two of them will definitely not run away, and no one will interrogate them."

"All the 'reasoning' in the newspapers is nonsense. Or rather, Iver didn't reason at all—to be precise, he was committing fraud. He didn't deduce the truth of the past; he was guiding the future."

"He had no idea where the assassin was. Instead, like a spider weaving its web, he manipulated the ignorant assassin, leading her step by step into the trap he had prepared long ago."

"—I think this must be the whole truth."

Iver is only nineteen years old and has never been exposed to these things before, nor has he ever used this technique.

No matter how intelligent he is, he couldn't possibly acquire this knowledge out of thin air. Where did he learn this skill from?

Then the only way is to get it from the professor.

"The only time he was out of the public eye was from the time he graduated from high school until mid-November. I think it was probably during this period that Iver learned the professor's skills, understood the professor's plans, and began to oppose his ideas... In a sense, Iver was probably closer to the professor than you were."

Sherlock still had some feelings for the professor. Therefore, he didn't want to use the word "conspiracy" but chose "scheming".

He stated definitively, "That is why I am certain of Iver's intelligence, reliability, and innocence, and that the professor is problematic."

"That's why I'm being honest with you now, before I really start investigating. Just as I concluded that Professor Moriarty wasn't behind this because he's too simplistic, if Iver were also involved, the truth of the case wouldn't be so easily revealed to me. That's why I'm certain that Iver' stance is completely contrary to the professor's."

"If there's anything you can't say to me or your father, then you might as well talk to your brother Iver. Iver is much smarter than you think."

"Or rather, he is far smarter than you."

Sherlock offered a ruthless yet kind suggestion.

Over 7,000 words! Requesting votes at the end of the month. I feel like there's a chance it will break into the top 100 monthly votes in its very first month!