Shepherd Tantra

Chapter 4 The Gaze of the Silver Crowned Dragon

No sooner had Haina left than James Moriarty returned home with a heavy suitcase.

"Is the person from the Supervision Bureau leaving now?"

Old James asked as soon as he entered the door.

He apparently met Haina at the gate of the manor and exchanged pleasantries for a while.

James is a well-mannered-looking old gentleman with obvious wrinkles already on his face.His gray pupils were cloudy, his eye sockets were deep, and his hair was gray and sparse.His skin is well maintained.The cheeks are thin and the cheekbones are high.Although he looks thin in his coat, it is immediately apparent that he is not thin when he takes it off.

When he speaks, he always speaks in a soft voice, with a long drawl, soft and tongue-twisting elf accent.One can tell at a glance that he has a pretty good tutor, and his temper is definitely not bad.

He put down his suitcase at the door, took off his double-breasted trench coat, and took off his top hat, handing them to the valet standing at the door: "Their people will not have questioned Aiwass for several hours... um, Thank you, Dole. Remember to send this box to Aiwass' room later."

"Yes, sir. I've made a note of it." His valet responded in a low voice, and retreated with his things.

"Miss Haina is late."

The old elf did not choose to hide the situation for her, but expressed her dissatisfaction bluntly: "She is always like this, thinking about her top hat and then taking off her tie, she is reckless. If this continues, sooner or later she will miss some important event and be caught by her. The boss will teach you a lesson."

"Sooner or later, let's wait until 'sooner or later' happens; if she makes mistakes because of her own bad habits, let her mistakes teach her."

The old man just smiled, squinted his eyes and said softly: "Don't scold her now because of the mistakes she may make in the future, Oswald. You are only her instructor, not her boss."

He was quite friendly and affectionate to his elven steward named Oswald.

This is also normal, because more than 60 years ago, when he was about the same age as Aiwass today, he was also watched by Oswald when he grew up.

In addition to the old butler, sixteen other live-in servants were employed in the house—including a housekeeper, two valets, two valets, two maids, five valets, and a cook. , two helpers, and a coachman.Aiwass' elder brother would not go home normally, and apart from him and Yulia, the only other people in the house were the old man.

James usually acts in a low-key and calm manner, and is very polite even to the servants.Although he seldom smiles, he never gets angry or angry with others.

——Or to be more precise, no one has seen him get angry or angry in the past few decades.Even in the face of the most rude guests, the old man has always maintained his demeanor neither humble nor overbearing.

yes old man.

Although James is Aiwass' adoptive father in name, he is actually old enough to be Aiwass' grandfather.

It made sense too... Aiwass was only six years old when he adopted him.And now he has.

Aiwass and Yulia's eldest brother, Edward Moriarty, was adopted by James when he was eight years old.Now he is 35 years old.

"……dad."

Yulia, who was standing beside Aiwass, greeted him and greeted him softly.

Like a well-behaved cat, she leaned her head over and was stroked lovingly by the old man.

"How is your health today, Yulia?"

He asked seriously, "Did you take any medicine?"

"have eaten."

Yulia said softly, her voice gave off a sense of transparency like a dream.

"Go to bed early, don't read too late. Knowledge can never be learned."

The old man warned carefully: "You can't go to bed later than nine o'clock at night, you are not in good health-did you hear that, Yulia?"

Seeing himself talking, Yulia's gaze began to drift to the side, so he raised his voice a little louder, emphatically: "Yulia?"

"Well, I know."

Yulia responded vaguely.

The old man sighed helplessly, and emphasized again: "Don't stay up late, you silly girl.

"You don't go out, there is no difference between day and night. It's better to go to bed early and read some books during the day. It's also good for your eyes."

As he talked, Yulia fell silent again.

Old James did the same thing, and could only emphasize: "I am old now, and I can't stay up late. I have to go to bed at ten o'clock in the evening, and I can't answer you if you have any questions. But if you read during the day, If you don’t understand, you can come to me at any time. I won’t have my class tomorrow Friday, and I will stay at home for three days this time. If you don’t understand anything, you can ask me, okay?”

"……it is good."

Yulia didn't pretend not to hear this time. She raised her head seriously and stared at the old man with ruby ​​eyes: "I've been reading a book on alchemy recently... from the discussion of [Equilibrium] Dao. Dad understands In this regard?"

"My father understands all the books at home."

The old man said calmly, "Father knows a little bit about the Nine Great Ways."

His tone was flat, but there was a sense of self-confidence spontaneously.

"Then I must go to bed early today."

The girl pointed two fingers to the sky by her ear, and said seriously: "I swear, what I say is true—"

"do not."

The old man just stretched out his hand, slightly bent the girl's fingers, and retracted his fist.

"do not do that."

James said seriously: "This is [simple oath], a spiritual gesture. If you violate the oath, you will really be punished."

"...I just wanted to try."

Yulia whispered, "I just read it from a book today...was my gesture right?"

"Correct. So don't do it next time."

The old man sighed tiredly: "Go and eat quickly, I have something to tell Aiwass."

Julia responded and followed Oswald to the restaurant.There were only two people left in the living room.

James returned to silence and sat opposite Aiwass.

The old man picked up the cup of tea that Haina inspected hadn't touched, poured it out and refilled himself with a cup of hot tea.

Looking at Aiwass who was silent, he held his teacup and asked softly, "How do you feel... how is the current state? Is it still stable?"

What he said was exactly the shadow demon that Aiwass had contracted with.

This kind of thing can't be hidden from the adoptive father.

Since Aiwass was lying at home when he woke up, it means that the butler Oswald probably brought him back in a coma.Then James must have checked his body and performed a simple universal seal.At least the Shadow Fiend didn't let Aiwass take over his body when he was unconscious.

It can be said to be very considerate.

In the picture of "Future", the crazy and gloomy James Moriarty with a hunched waist, and the kind old man who cares about him in front of him seem to be not the same person at all!

In his memory, there are all pictures of James loving him——

When Aiwass was in his early teens, he once casually said that he somewhat missed the special fried cod steaks that Aunt Misu would make them for the holidays in the orphanage.

As a result, Aunt Misu was invited to work as a kitchen assistant at home for a while with a high salary.Not only the special fried cod steak, but also other "civilian dishes" she knows are also taught to the cook at home.Later, when he asked her to leave, he gave him an extra reward.

Aiwass was so scared at the time that he didn't dare to say what he wanted to eat or what he wanted for at least half a year.I was afraid that as soon as I finished speaking on my front foot, I would immediately buy it on my back foot.

Even for little Aiwass who has not recalled the memory of his previous life, he has always had a clear understanding of himself-he is not James Moriarty's biological son after all.He doesn't deserve this privileged treatment.

That is to say, Aiwass himself is more sensible, so he didn't become a dandy under this kind of pampering.

So when Aiwass looked at his adoptive father now, he always felt complicated.He also has a fluke mentality.

... Is there a possibility that the adoptive father is not the mastermind at the beginning of the plot?In other words, he fell into evil ways when the kingdom of Avalon fell apart?

This is not impossible.

In the original plot, when the Kingdom of Avalon fell apart, Aiwass fled to the Theocracy with the protagonist.Since then, he and his adoptive father have separated.It was three years later when we met again.

maybe……

What happened in these three years?
...However, that cannot explain the fact that Aiwass, as a spy, infiltrated the "player".

"—Aiwass?"

Seeing that Aiwass was lost in thought again, the old man called again softly: "If not, I'll go to the bishop to help you get rid of the possessed demons?"

"...Ah, I have no problem, father. The demon knowledge I got from them happens to have the means to seal Shadow Demon."

Aiwass raised his head and said, showing a comforting smile: "I was thinking about other things just now."

"Then I believe you."

The adoptive father nodded slowly: "You looked for the materials I asked for yesterday, and I have brought them back to you. The ropes on the gallows are easy to find...the nails on the head of the dead who were tortured by the car, this is really hard to find After the queen came to the throne, the car cracking punishment has been abolished. I found it from the museum.

"I don't know if you want more in the future, I brought back all the existing four. The collection records are also handled very cleanly, so you don't have to worry about everything. Just tell me if you want anything... Don't trust outsiders so easily. "

...found it so quickly?

Aiwass couldn't believe it.

He didn't expect that after only one day, the adoptive father really found them.

Is this the power that the Moriarty family can exert when the Kingdom of Avalon still exists?
"Great! With them, I can seal Shadow Demon more stably."

Aiwass felt warm in his heart, and thanked him from the bottom of his heart: "Thank you, Dad!"

The two ritual materials he asked for were not actually used to seal the Shadow Demon.Because sitting in a wheelchair is the simplest and most stable sealing method, and this is the optimal solution tested by the demon scholars of the Star Wars Kingdom four years later.

"Then I won't have dinner today!"

He felt a little itchy in his heart, and looked a little impatient.Aiwass was originally such a fanatic of mysticism, and he would not feel any sense of disobedience if he made such a move now.

"Let me do it."

Seeing that Aiwass was about to push the wheelchair away, old James hurriedly stepped forward, held the back of the wheelchair, and pushed Aiwass to his room.

On the way, the old man said softly: "Aiwass, although you may be unhappy when I say this...but Dad still has to say something.

"During the ceremony, you must not use humans or human corpses as materials and sacrifices. Besides, Dad will find a way to find any materials you want...Can you promise Dad?"

Hearing this, Aiwass in the wheelchair opened his eyes slightly in surprise.

It's not because I was surprised that the adoptive father who was behind the scenes actually made such a seemingly moral request...

It was because he knew that what the old man said was absolutely correct.

It wasn't until the arrival of "Fallen God" and the increase of the level limit of demon scholars that the demon scholars of the old era realized that their path was completely wrong.

They all thought that the focus of demon scholars was on "demons", but they didn't expect that the focus was on "scholars".

Humans cannot use humans as ritual material, nor can elves use elves.If it is a transformed undead, you cannot use any animal bones as materials.This is the taboo of "Heavenly Evil".

Any demon scholar who has used sacrifices of the same family and violated the punishment of heaven's evil cannot be promoted from this profession to "Scholar of Great Sin".Those level 40 demon scholars can only transform themselves into various demons.That can't even be considered advanced, it can only be regarded as exchanging one's professional level for a racial template stronger than humans.

There is no doubt that such an upper limit and ability will be much weaker than that of the "Scholar of Sin" who is a hero profession.

And the player couldn't use the same family as the ritual material from the very beginning, so they couldn't achieve the conditions for wrong advancement.

Now, James has said the secret so clearly.

Is it a coincidence, or...

Aiwass' heart moved, and he just nodded seriously.

He stretched out two fingers of his right hand, held them up to his ear, and said the oath word by word: "I swear, I will not use the life and corpses of my fellow clan as my ritual materials and sacrifices."

After he finished speaking, he suddenly saw a mirage——

In the dark night, above the snow-capped mountains.

Wearing a silver crown on its head, the resplendent dragon whose whole body looks like crystal, diamond and silver stares at him quietly.

The phantom only lasted for a very short moment, not even half a second.But when Aiwass woke up, he was covered in cold sweat.

【You feel the gaze of 'authority'】

[You got the characteristic: Authority - Silver Scale]

[Authority-Silver Scale: With this mark as a seal, the Silver Crowned Dragon is watching you, and a certain oath you have made cannot be violated.When you attack anyone who breaks the oath, gain +1 advantage (divinity)]

"...I don't know if it's your luck or misfortune, but the 'simple oath' made him notice you. It should be a coincidence..."

The old man behind Aiwass also seemed to have sensed something, and paused.

He was silent for a while, then continued to push the wheelchair slowly, and said softly: "But no matter what, the God of Authority has heard your oath, so he can't break it."

"certainly……"

Aiwass closed his eyes a little tiredly, feeling his heart beating violently to the point of being blocked: "I will never embark on that path of depravity that cannot be turned back."

(End of this chapter)