When the plot-skips players into the game world

"Last Sunday."

Sherlock took a sip of his wine, the corners of his mouth turned slightly upward, revealing a self-satisfied smirk, "They first came into my view when Edward and I were investigating the Sweater Brothers Association.

"To satisfy my fatal curiosity, Mr. Edward chose to lure me with other puzzles. What he didn't anticipate was my study of psychology—I knew that when in such a situation, the 'second topic' that subconsciously comes to mind is often related to the matter at hand.

"The bait he used to distract me was a case, codenamed 'Redstone', that the Supervisory Court was investigating: a batch of high-power, small-sized portable alchemical bombs that were smuggled to Avalon from the Pelican Bar.

"To my knowledge, Avalon does not have the conditions to manufacture portable alchemical bombs. Avalonian alchemy started too late, even the explosives for mining and blasting had to be imported. These alchemical bombs could only have been the new creations of Star Antimony's alchemists. Moreover, the Pelican Bar was publicly prosecuted as a 'smuggling den', which confirmed my opinion.

"So, I had a bold guess, perhaps the Noble Red Society, a civil association formed by Avalonians, was an organization supported by Star Antimony Kingdom from the very beginning."

"Indeed, it is so," Mr. Aiwass nodded in agreement.

"Not only that, Aiwass. Following that lead, I investigated the history of the founding of the Noble Red Society and discovered that I could find no records. Which made me realize—most likely, the Noble Red Society had changed its name."

As Sherlock spoke, he crossed his legs and rhythmically tapped the table, his cheeks slightly flushed, leaning back smugly under the observation of the four, "Under what circumstances would an illegal Transcendent organization suddenly change its name? Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that they went mad. But considering the scale of the Noble Red Society, I favor the notion that the name change was meaningful... such as a change in ownership."

"Therefore, I turned my investigation to other Transcendence path Transcendent associations outside the Noble Red Society and found the 'Hand of the Scaleless' that slowly disappeared from sight fifty years ago—after my verification, they are indeed the same organization. While investigating the Hand of the Scaleless, I noticed the name of one of its founders: Jacob Alexander, who died of typhoid fourteen years ago... Before that, I had just investigated you, Aiwass. At that time, I was very sensitive to 'Alexander' and 'fourteen years ago'."

"Yes, Aiwass... he is your grandfather. When I found this out, the truth readily connected itself in my mind."

Sherlock placed his half-finished glass of wine on the table and looked towards Bishop Mathers, his voice louder than usual, "So, I don't quite agree with your earlier statement. I'm inclined to believe that the statements made by the Supervisory Bureau are true, just that some facts are hidden.

"Jacob Alexander could very well have hidden a secret within an unpublished poem. At that time, his eldest son was deceased, and his second son, Julio, had embarked on the Path of Devotion. Noble Red had become Avalon's largest, and the only Transcendence path civil society, and the legacy of the Curse Ritual Magician had effectively ceased to exist."

"That is to say, he had the motive to leave behind a secret. However, I prefer the theory that he realized 'Alexander' was cursed and thus sought to leave some evidence and clues. But eventually, someone discovered and erased the evidence following the curse."

"The Hook Demon can teleport by following the curse—if he hid his location by some means, but was cursed through blood relations, it would explain why old Jacob, living in a remote village, was attacked and had all his manuscripts stolen."

At this point, Sherlock, with a clear flush on his face, looked at Aiwass with his piercing eyes and asserted confidently, "I'm right, am I not... Mr. Fox."

Heard this, Aiwass blinked and remained non-committal.

He simply retorted, "How did you guess?"

"Simple, because I guessed you had already advanced to the second energy level. I just had to match up the timing—I had guessed it when I came to take you back from the Hall of Silver and Tin, and Her Highness said to me, 'Mr. Fox's business can wait.' Looking back, she must have recognized your identity then.

"Please don't look at me like that, Bishop, I did not eavesdrop on your conversations. It was through deduction that I found out."

The detective, who had only half a glass of drink and was slightly drunk, hummed a tune that was out of tune with pleasure.

Without waiting for others to inquire, he answered himself, "That key to the small chapel was given to Aiwass by you, and I am aware of that. It was you who led Aiwass on the road to Transcendence. The day he came home, I had seen Aiwass up close and noticed the key on his wheelchair. I remembered it then.

"But when you heard the news, you didn't show any shock or joy for Aiwass. Instead, you seemed rather angry. It was as if you were betrayed. I suppose you doubted he could wield the Sword and suspected he was hiding another Extraordinary Profession.

"However, later on, I saw you both chatting amiably and even discussing some secret past. This can only mean that you had confirmed Aiwass had indeed reached the second energy level."

Sherlock chuckled, "What I mean is... You're overly concerned. I can confirm that Mr. Aiwass is indeed a newcomer to the path of Transcendence; he participated in his first advancement ceremony a week ago, on the same day as my Path of Wisdom advancement. He is a true genius, a genius of the Path of Devotion... That's not a bad thing. Much better than being a genius in the Transcendence path."