When the plot-skips players into the game world

Under the guidance of Playful Sky Department, Aiwass and Arthur swiftly moved through the Mirror Hall.

They weren't running, nor were they flying.

They were merely walking slowly behind Playful Sky Department, but the world around them changed with each step.

It felt as if they were filming some sort of music video, with lively piano notes even playing.

After just a dozen steps, they arrived in a room almost identical to the previous one.

Sherlock's posture was exactly the same as before—supporting his forehead, deep in thought.

"Look," Playful Sky Department elegantly extended a hand, "the person you're looking for is right here."

Hearing the voice, Sherlock suddenly snapped out of it.

He frowned and looked over.

Upon seeing that the visitors were Aiwass and Arsene, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

However, Sherlock didn't stand up to greet them; instead, he leaned back in his chair with a calm and melodious tone: "Long time no see, gentlemen."

It seemed as if he'd always been certain that Aiwass would come to rescue him—and would definitely find him.

He believed so strongly that there was neither surprise nor unexpectedness.

Merely with polite and sincere elegance as he stood and saluted, those calm eyes became a bit brighter, and there was a barely visible curve at the corner of his mouth: "Thank you very much for coming to save me."

—This was indeed the genuine response Sherlock should have.

Aiwass breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Upon finally seeing Sherlock again, Arsene should have had a lot to say.

But he'd already expressed his emotions in the most heartfelt part of the previous statement, and now repeating it from memory felt a bit like reciting lines. It added an unnecessary awkwardness.

"Thanks to the guidance from Playful Sky Department, it would have been hard to find otherwise."

Aiwass nodded toward Playful Sky Department's direction and carefully examined the "real Sherlock": "It seems... you haven't suffered much. Mycroft thought you'd been silenced."

"After all, it's dream work, but meals are still in the Material Realm, what suffering can there be?"

Sherlock sighed: "My brother is always too worried about me. The only harm, I guess, is that I've gained almost five kilos from just eating and sleeping to nourish my brain with high-calorie, high-nutrient food — I guess that's also a workplace injury."

"Work... and not imprisonment?"

"At most, it's soft confinement. But if this level counts as imprisonment, then everyone going to work at a company is being imprisoned."

Sherlock sighed helplessly: "After all, I took on this task willingly in the first place—I didn't expect it to be this troublesome. But for me, it's fine; such a challenging job is quite interesting, and my boss also respects me. The only issue is, my boss seems reluctant to let me off work, and they don't allow me to contact the outside world... otherwise, I wouldn't have written to ask for your help by now."

"That's pretty normal; standard procedures for resigning from a regular job can be difficult too. Especially when there's no one to hand over the work to."

Aiwass sharply remarked: "But not letting you go even for holidays is a bit too much. Is he afraid you won't come back? Should I give you some assurance?"

Hearing this, Sherlock gave Aiwass a subtle look.

He then glanced at Arsene, nearly certain with a declarative sentence: "Aiwass knows his mother's surname now—you told him."

Sherlock understood Aiwass very well.

This guy, before he became the Minister of the Department of Unconcern, was provoked by the Lohar Society, and his first reaction was to take them down; his maid was murdered by an employed nation builder, he went directly to kill that nation builder; his sister was targeted by Noble Red, so he directly killed the entire leadership of Noble Red.

Though he was always smiling warmly, seeming gentle... in handling matters, Aiwass was unexpectedly ruthless and impatient. If killing someone could solve a problem without leaving future troubles, he would usually act decisively.

And now he's even stronger... but when he encountered this case, he didn't choose to wipe out the entire family of the Duke of Vandome right away...

One reason could be that he and Arsene became good friends, so he had to consider his friend's feelings...

The other reason might be that he discovered his true ancestry—and learned that the one suspected to be his mother, Annie de Vandome, was currently in the Duke of Vandome's mansion.

So Aiwass patiently, for once, picked up his brain to resolve the issue fundamentally, rather than using the simplest method of "stop hearing, just kill everyone."

As Sherlock commented before about Aiwass: This clever fox is very smart, just too lazy to use his brain.

Yet this laziness... is not because Aiwass is simple-minded, but because he always reserves an alternative plan, which is killing.

Previously, Sherlock had analyzed Aiwass's psychology.

Even though Aiwass is kind, just, responsible, and self-sacrificing, he had some moral deficiencies concerning "the weight of life." It seemed that Aiwass never considered murder as something significant or unforgivable... rather, it's as if Aiwass actively sought reasons to kill.

Sherlock thought that, many times, Aiwass was intentionally seeking trouble.

Like a beautiful girl with a knife, walking alone through a bad neighborhood at night—aiming to counterattack anyone with ill intentions.

Though unclear why, Sherlock distinctly sensed a desire to kill within Aiwass. But it wasn't a senseless slaughter... he showed no interest in the innocent and weak, but instead, actively sought those who were strong and adversarial.

Like a spider setting a void trap to kill mosquitoes and flies.

—Seemingly gaining an irreplaceable benefit from such predatory behavior.

Only this could explain Aiwass's seemingly deliberate big stirring up, eagerly touching others' plots and traps.

During Aiwass's trip to the Holy Nation, Sherlock sensed an even stronger desire within him. One of the reasons he left Aiwass to do tasks was being slightly annoyed by seeing his approved friend so obsessive in that regard.

Sherlock wasn't one to nag and educate others, and besides, Aiwass only killed bad guys, even those that needed to be killed... thus, Sherlock never voiced his inner thoughts.

However, during this period, who knows what experiences Aiwass has been through...

But upon seeing Aiwass again now, Sherlock felt that Aiwass no longer craved "killing" as much.

This relieved Sherlock quite a bit.

Sherlock had specially emphasized "the duke treated him well" earlier, to prevent Aiwass from going out and casually killing them all.

"—Yes."

Arsene nodded, affirming Sherlock's assumption: "Vandome—I was quite surprised myself at the beginning."

"Does the Duke of Vandome know about this?" Aiwass asked.

"He absolutely can't know."

Sherlock replied affirmatively.

As he spoke, Mr. Detective's lips curled slightly: "If he had written to tell you, I wouldn't have seen this fun. It's a pity… you stumbled upon Arsene. Otherwise, I would personally have told you—missed a good show."

With that, Sherlock's face showed genuine regret.

He really anticipated this rare high-quality fun!

Sherlock had always been all about novelty, but he never liked to feast on others' suffering. With such a moral compass, many kinds of fun were off-limits, like not finding hell jokes amusing—let alone jokes about his friends!

If this entertainment were about Aiwass, its value could at least triple—no, quintuple!

Thinking of this, Sherlock suddenly thought of something.

He looked at Arsene, asking with interest: "Why are you so silent today, Arsene? Is it because Aiwass is here that you're feeling tense around strangers?"