The Shepherds Are Dense

Chapter 4: The Gaze of the Silver-Crowned Dragon

James Moriarty came home with a heavy bag in his hand shortly after Haina had departed."Did the Inspection Bureau people just leave?"

No sooner did old James open the door than he queried this.

It was evident that he had met Haina at the manor gate and greeted her kindly.

James seemed to be a polite and cultured old man.

His face was creased with age, with deep-set eyes and thinning, graying hair.

His gray eyes were somewhat clouded.

Despite his age, his complexion was surprisingly good.

His cheeks were gaunt, and his cheekbones sharp.

He appeared frail in his overcoat, but when it was taken off, it was clear he was anything but weak.

He always spoke quietly, drawling out his words in a softly lilting Elven cadence.

It immediately became clear that he had been well educated and had a peaceful, even temperament.

He put the suitcase down at the door, removed his double-breasted overcoat and hat, and gave them to the attendant waiting beside him.

"They didn't question Aiwass for hours, did they.? Mm, thank you, Wade. Make sure this suitcase gets sent to Aiwass's room later."

"Yes, sir. I’ve taken note," the attendant murmured respectfully and retreated with the items.

"Miss Haina was late again."

The old Elf made no attempt to cover for her, expressing his discontent directly.

"She's always this way—if she recalls the hat, she has forgotten the tie. Dashing around inattentively. If she continues this way, she will one day miss something vital and receive a good ticking-off from her boss."

"Then let that 'one day' arrive when it does. If she gets something wrong as a result of her poor ways, let that serve as her lesson."

James merely smiled, furrowing his brows as he spoke in his warm tone.

"Don't reprimand someone now for errors they have yet to make, Oswald. You're her teacher, not her boss."

He addressed Oswald, the Elf butler, with kind and close words.

That was entirely natural.

More than sixty years earlier, when James was roughly the same age as Aiwass was now, Oswald had also brought him up.

Apart from the aged butler, the manor had sixteen live-in staff—

a housekeeper, two female attendants, two male attendants, two maids, five footmen, a cook, two assistants, and a coachman.

Aiwass's older brother did not come home very often.

Besides Aiwass and Yulia, the only one who lived there permanently was the old man himself.

James was famous for being reserved and steady.

Even with the servants, he was always polite.

He hardly ever smiled, but never once lost his temper or spoke in a raised voice.

—Or to be more accurate, nobody had ever seen him get angry in decades.

Even when dealing with impolite visitors, he would always keep his cool and dignity.

Yes, he was an old man.

Although James was technically Aiwass's adopted father, in reality he was old enough to be his grandfather.

Which was understandable—

Aiwass had been adopted when he was just six years old.

Now he was eighteen.

Edward Moriarty, Aiwass and Yulia's big brother, had been adopted when he was eight years old.

He was now thirty-five.

".Father."

Yulia, standing by Aiwass's side, went up to greet him softly.

Like a well-mannered kitten, she tilted her head forward to be softly patted by the old man.

"How's your health today, Yulia?"

He inquired sincerely, "Did you take your medicine correctly?"

"I already did."

Yulia answered softly, her tone light and dreamlike.

"Don't keep up late reading again. Knowledge has no end."

The old man warned her seriously.

"You should retire by nine at the latest. Your health is fragile—did you hear me, Yulia?"

When he noticed her eyes begin to drift off in the middle of a sentence, his voice became pointed.

"Yulia?"

"Mm, I see."

Yulia answered vaguely.

The old man let out a helpless sigh.

"Don't keep up late, foolish child."

"You don't go out in any case, so day and night don't matter for you. It's better to sleep early and read in the daytime. It's better for your eyes."

But Yulia once again became quiet.

It was not in Old James' power to stress,

"I'm growing old. I can no longer go on staying up late. I have to sleep by ten."

"If you get yourself into some kind of trouble at night, I won't be there to help."

"But if you're reading during the day, you can visit me at any time. I will be home for a few days. You can ask me anything, okay?"

".Alright."

Yulia replied seriously this time.

She glanced up, her ruby-colored eyes locking onto the old man's stare.

"I've been reading alchemy books lately… about the [Equilibrium] Path. Do you know it?"

"I know all the books in the house."

The old man replied quietly.

"I have some knowledge of all nine Paths."

His tone was not stern, but it conveyed self-assurance.

"Then I'll go to bed early tonight for certain!"

The girl held up two fingers to her ear, swearing on her honor.

"I swear. I mean it—"

"Don't."

The old man carefully tuckered her fingers back into a fist.

"Don't do that."

James spoke gravely,

"That's a [Simple Oath]. It's a gesture charged with spirit. If you violate your oath, there will be actual consequences."

"I just wanted to try it."

Yulia grumbled,

"I just learned about it today in a book… Did I get the gesture correct?"

"You did. So don't do it again."

The old man let out a tired-looking sigh.

"Go have dinner. I need to talk to Aiwass."

Yulia nodded and headed with Oswald towards the dining room.

The parlor was vacant except for the two of them.

James lapsed into silence and sat opposite Aiwass.

He took up the untouched teacup Haina had left behind, poured it out, and poured himself another cup.

Observing Aiwass sitting quietly, he asked in a gentle manner,

"How do you feel now? Is it still stable?"

He was talking about the Shadow Demon Aiwass had contracted.

Things like that could not be concealed from his foster father.

Since Aiwass had woken up at home, it meant Oswald had likely brought his unconscious body back.

James must have studied him, and cast a simple sealing spell—at least keeping the Shadow Demon from possessing his body while he lay unconscious.

He had been so considerate.

'In the visions of the future,' Aiwass mused,

'the hunched, distorted, brooding James Moriarty appeared a very different man from the concerned, kindly old man sitting here in front of me.'

His memories were crowded with images of tenderness and concern.

When he was a little more than ten years old, Aiwass had once told him he missed those special fried cod cutlets Miss Misou used to prepare at the orphanage during holidays.

The following day, Miss Misou had been employed as a temporary assistant chef at the mansion.

She not only cooked those cod cutlets, she also instructed the household cook on all her other "commoner dishes."

When she departed, she was given a handsome farewell bonus.

The gesture had gotten Aiwass so flustered that he didn't have the nerve to ask for anything else for over half a year—

fearing that whatever he desired would be the next day.

Before remembering any of his past-life recollections, young Aiwass was always self-conscious—

He was not James Moriarty's biological son.

He didn't think he was worth it.

Fortunately, Aiwass had a level-headed disposition, so he hadn't become a sniveling aristocrat brat.

Even now, whenever he gazed at his foster father, conflicting emotions in his heart.

He couldn't help but cling to a thread of hope.

'Perhaps, perhaps. James was not a villain at the beginning of the story. Perhaps he plunged only into darkness after Avalon's fall?'

It wasn't out of the question.

In the initial narrative, after the Kingdom of Avalon collapsed, Aiwass had escaped with the protagonist to the Holy Nation.

That was when he and his foster father had parted.

Three years went by before they met.

So maybe—

'Something happened in those three years.?'

But that wouldn't account for how Aiwass had entered the "players" as a spy.

" —Aiwass?"

James's voice snapped him back to himself.

"If it's too much, I can ask the Archbishop to help exorcise the demon."

"Ah, I'm all right, Father. Of the demonology I learned from them, there was just such a technique to seal a Shadow Demon."

Aiwass lifted his eyes to a reassuring smile.

"I was merely thinking about something else."

"Then I believe you."

James slowly nodded.

"The things you requested yesterday—I've brought them. The noose off the gallows wasn't difficult to obtain… but the nail from the skull of a drawn-and-quartered criminal—now that was unusual. That form of punishment was outlawed when the Queen ascended to the throne. I had to take it from a museum."

"I don't know if you'll need more, so I brought all four that are left. The museum records have been wiped clean. You don't have to worry about a thing. If you do need more, just let me know… but for goodness' sake, don't trust outsiders so readily again."

'Already? That fast?'

Aiwass was hardly able to believe it.

He hadn't expected his foster father to go and get them in one day.

‘So this is the power of House Moriarty while the Kingdom of Avalon still stands…’

"That’s amazing! With these, I’ll be able to stabilize the Shadow Demon’s seal even more."

Aiwass felt a genuine warmth in his heart.

"Thank you, Father!"

In truth, the two ritual materials weren’t meant for sealing the Shadow Demon.

Because the wheelchair itself was already the simplest and most stable sealing method—

a solution that demonologists in the Star Antimony Kingdom would confirm four years later.

"Then I’ll skip dinner tonight!"

His enthusiasm was hard to hide.

Aiwass had always been a mysticism fanatic, and his eagerness felt perfectly in character.

"Let me do it."

Seeing Aiwass try to move the wheelchair himself, old James quickly stepped forward and took over.

As they walked, the old man spoke softly.

"Aiwass, you may not approve of me saying this. but I must insist."

"Never use a human—or human remains—as ritual materials or offerings. If it's something else, I'll assist you in finding it… but promise me this, will you?"

Aiwass opened his eyes a little wider, taken aback.

Not due to the fact that the so-called villain would issue such an ethically sound request—

But because what James had stated was downright true.

Only upon the coming of the "Fallen Division," when demonologists achieved greater levels, did they realize they had gone down the wrong path altogether.

They believed the study of their craft centered upon "demon," but in reality, it centered upon "scholar."

Humans were not able to utilize other humans as ritualistic material.

Elves were not allowed to utilize other elves.

Undead were not allowed to utilize any creature bones.

That was a "Heaven's Bane" taboo.

Anyone who applied same-kind sacrifices and used Heaven's Bane would not be able to reach "Great Sin Scholar."

They only could convert themselves into demons—

which wasn't progress, but only swapping class levels for a more powerful race template.

Those kinds of creatures were much weaker than real heroic-class Great Sin Scholars.

Players, kept from equipping same-species materials in the first place, steered clear of this mistake by default.

But now James had explicitly stated this hidden fact.

Was it coincidence, or.

Aiwass's heart moved.

He nodded gravely.

Two fingers went to his ear and he swore unequivocally,

"I swear, I shall never employ the lives or corpses of my own people as ritual objects or offerings."

The moment the words had left his mouth, a vision abruptly flashed before him—

A snowy peak in the dark.

A shining dragon, crowned with silver, its form crystalline like diamond, silver, and ice, looked silently at him.

The illusion had lasted less than half a second.

But when Aiwass came back to his senses, he was covered in cold sweat.

[You have felt the stare of 'Authority']

[You have acquired the quality: Authority – Silver Scale]

[Authority – Silver Scale: Marked by this seal, you are under the gaze of the Silver-Crowned Dragon. The oath you have sworn may not be broken. When attacking any who violate their oath, you gain +1 Favor (Divine).]

".I don't know if that was your fortune or your misfortune," the old man murmured.

"To attract His attention with just a Simple Oath. it must’ve been a coincidence."

He stood for a moment, then continued slowly pushing the wheelchair.

"But in any case, the god of Authority has heard your oath. You cannot break it now."

"Of course."

Aiwass closed his eyes, and his heart was thudding so violently that it almost restricted his breathing.

"I will never go down that road of no return."

[End of Chapter]