When the plot-skips players into the game world

Sherlock sighed and picked up his cigar again, speaking calmly, "Don\'t be nervous, my dear friend. When I realized that Aiwass truly desired to protect Princess Isabel from the bottom of his heart, none of that mattered anymore."

"Her Majesty saved my father\'s life, and I must repay her. That\'s why I\'m working for Mr. Kent. I don\'t work for Avalon, nor do I submit to the Round Table Hall. I serve only the royal family—or rather, I am loyal only to Queen Sofia."

"I am not a stickler, Edward. You know me. I\'m not after justice or order, I\'m just a bit curious about the truth. As long as it\'s not something outrageous, I might even help you. So what exactly is it that you must keep in your heart and cannot tell me?"

"... I don\'t tell you because it\'s for your own good."

Edward remained silent for a long time, then shook his head sincerely and said, "All I can tell you is that my father bears no malice toward the royal family. That\'s already the limit, you really should stop investigating further."

Sherlock pressed on, "So we are not against each other..."

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

Still dressed in the black suit that resembled mourning attire, the upright Edward spoke in a low and magnetic voice, "Moths get caught by spiders; the best choice is to stay away from the web. The less you know, the safer you are."

"...Alright. I trust you, my dear friend. I won\'t probe into this matter on my own again without your permission."

Sherlock shook his head and sighed.

He still couldn\'t figure out what his old friend was worried about.

But there were still some results, after all.

At least now there had been a preliminary showdown and compromise between them.

In this risky engagement, their friendship was not only unblemished... it had even become more solidly established.

Sherlock felt somewhat relieved, yet also regretful, "I originally thought that you, too, were one of the manipulated, just like Aiwass... trying to break free from the shackles of your foster father. But it seems now that you stand on the other side."

"Wait... you said, Aiwass?" Edward paused, then repeated quietly.

"Yes, he was previously chosen by Master Yanis as a companion for Princess Isabel. And now that he has saved the princess, it\'s likely that even Queen Sofia will want to summon him personally. This must be his plan, a way to break free from the chains of destiny... If, as you say, the professor harbors no ill will towards the royal family, then he probably won\'t interfere with Aiwass anymore."

Sherlock shook his head, "If my earlier judgment is correct, and the murderer is connected to the spies of the Iris Flower, I believe the princess was not their intended target. To the Irisflower People, Isabel is Avalon\'s best ruler. They wouldn\'t want to kill her.

"From this point of reasoning, the assassin entered the princess\'s shadow clearly to evade Director Gordon\'s perception. And she heard Director Gordon\'s words, knew you would be arriving soon... In the presence of several high-ranking Transcendents, a Transcendent of the Path of Adaptation would generally opt to hide or flee."

"And she clearly is very proficient in her Shadow Stealth skills, so she would choose \'a person who was certain to leave the venue,\' whose shadow was the most stable."

That was the wheelchair-bound Aiwass—this is why Aiwass\'s first shot was at his own shadow.

Although for some reason, Aiwass understood the knowledge of Shadow Stealth... his stance had no issues. This was evident from the second shot alone.

"Aiwass fired two shots because he actually didn\'t know where the criminal was. Firing the second bullet at the shadow of Princess Isabel was a dangerous move. If that shot missed and Princess Isabel subsequently met with misfortune, Aiwass would likely be held responsible.

"A person with ill intentions would try to maintain their innocence, not engage in meaningless actions fraught with risk. Especially when they are intelligent and had previously remained completely out of everyone\'s focus.

"—It is from this shot that I deduced Aiwass genuinely wanted to protect Isabel.

"Further reasoning leads to the conclusion that Aiwass had Director Gordon search the second floor carefully before your arrival, with the aim of \'forcing the murderer back to the first floor, where so far no other high-ranking Transcendents were present\'. The space on the second floor of the club was too ample, and without the scrutiny of a high-ranking Transcendent, those Inspectors would probably not notice her presence.

"And at that time, you were about to arrive. Once you reached the scene, there would also be people on the first floor, so she would no longer be able to move. She must have heard these words.

"So from that moment on, she had to make an immediate decision—whether to abandon the second floor, which might be intensively searched, and move to the relatively loose and safe first floor.

"The time given to her to think was very limited, and Director Gordon\'s slow search was continuously putting pressure on her."

"Once the assassin came down from the second floor, the places she could hide were extremely limited. The first possibility was beneath Aiwass, and the second was beside him near Isabel. Only they would definitely not run, and no one would interrogate them.

"The \'deductions\' mentioned in the newspapers are all nonsense. Or rather, Aiwass did not deduce at all—more precisely, what he did was a scam. He was not deducing past truths but actively guiding the future.

"He had no idea where the assassin was, but like a spider weaving a web, he invisibly manipulated that ignorant assassin, step by step, into the trap he had prepared in advance.

"—I think that should be the entire truth."

Aiwass was only nineteen years old this year and had never come into contact with such things before, nor had any record of using this skill.

No matter how intelligent, he could not possibly comprehend this knowledge out of thin air. Where could he have learned this skill?

That leaves only one possibility: from the professor.

"The only time he was out of the public eye was from the time he graduated from middle school until mid-November. I think it was probably during this period that Aiwass learned the professor\'s skills, understood the professor\'s plans, and began to oppose his principles... In a way, compared to you, Aiwass may be even closer to the professor."

Sherlock had some feelings for the professor. Therefore, he did not want to use the word "conspiracy" but chose "planning" instead.

He confidently said, "Precisely because of this, I am convinced of Aiwass\'s intelligence, reliability, and innocence, as well as the fact that the professor has problems.

"So I am now being frank with you before I truly start investigating. Just as I determined that this matter was not done by Professor Moriarty, for it was too simple for him. If Aiwass were also involved, the true nature of the case could not have been easily seen through by me. For this reason, I deduced that Aiwass\'s stance must be diametrically opposed to the professor\'s.

"If there are things you find difficult to discuss with me or cannot say to your father, then consider talking with your brother Aiwass. He is much more intelligent than you think.

"Or rather, he is far more intelligent than you."

Sherlock gave a ruthless yet friendly suggestion.