When the plot-skips players into the game world

Chapter 758: Chapter 141: Who Dares to Misappropriate the Funds of the Gods?

Chapter 758: Chapter 141: Who Dares to Misappropriate the Funds of the Gods?

Sherlock raised his wand and gently tapped the table where Aiwass and Yunus were drinking.

The crystal glass trembled, signaling both of them to look at him.

“Think carefully, Mr.

Yunus—”

Sherlock reiterated the question with a grave expression.

—The elf girl named Anastasia, out of gratitude for Yunus saving her life, left a token and invited him to visit her home as a guest.

—But after her father received the token, he told Yunus directly that she had already died and had never been to Avalon.

“Normally, shouldn’t it be standard to first ask you… what exactly happened?

‘How did you come to possess it,’ ‘Could it be that Anastasia is not dead’… even the suspicion that her body might have been defiled by a Necromancer is valid—although normally, one stricken with the tree plague would be cremated, leaving no corpse.

Did he not consider the possibility that Anastasia became an apostle of the Candle Master or some other Phantom Demon, and was summoned into the Material Realm?

“He says Anastasia fully transformed into a tree over twenty years ago—yet wasn’t he building houses in Horus twenty years ago?

“If one were to say that he was so overcome with grief that he had to immerse himself in his work…

then why isn’t he at all concerned about the information you’ve brought?”

Sherlock spoke with a meaningful tone, “Under what circumstances can a father, who loves his daughter, show no concern for information about her?

“There is only one truth—he could always see Anastasia.

And he also knew her recent circumstances… This is why he has been so earnestly hospitable towards you, yet indifferent to your doubts and my investigations.

Because he knows that you truly saved Anastasia, but he cannot explain why he is aware and understands this matter.

“He stayed in Horus for so long, only returned a few years ago to Iris Flower, and has just recently come back.

Yet, he knew about Anastasia’s recent circumstances?@@novelbin@@

And even that it was you she met in Avalon?

“That suggests one thing—he could see Anastasia regardless of where he went.”

“—So it’s clear now.

Anastasia didn’t die from the tree plague; she was secretly sent to the Fairy Kingdom… Nearby here is a Fairy Forest, and even a Fairy Hole.

And Anastasia, still so young, already had the surname ‘Moonlight’.

But according to your description, she was just a child—she had no chance to receive a complete heritage, so how could she acquire a surname?

“It’s very simple.

The ‘Moonlight’ heritage could only come from either Maxim or his wife’s original surname.

They gave up their own family heritage after that and took up another’s, which is why their surname was changed.

“And their child Anastasia was not yet of age to start receiving the heritage, so she could only use the original surname for the time being…”

—The same way Inielis inherited the surname “Vanhua.”

At this point, Aiwass added in his mind.

“And Maxim, two hundred years ago, had already helped the people of Star Antimony build railways.

He was already a ‘Rock Excavator’ at that time.

“Therefore…”

“—It was me.”

A sweet, girlish voice suddenly came from the corner of the room, “My name used to be… Grace Moonlight.”

All three turned their gaze in that direction.

There stood Grace Withered Leaf Butterfly, who had managed to arrive there without making a sound.

She was dressed in an apricot-yellow short dress with white long stockings, with a spring blossom hair clip on her head—its color very similar to Nilim’s dress.

From her appearance, she didn’t look like a mother but rather like a young girl of seventeen or eighteen.

Meanwhile, Nilim was calmly perched upon her extended finger, as quiet as a moth resting here, sound asleep.

Just like a butterfly transforming into a withered leaf, invisible at first glance.

Clearly, she had been standing there for a long time.

At least since before Sherlock had entered, she had remained quietly in that spot… Nilim’s sudden disappearance must have been her doing.

“I guessed as much.”

Aiwass nodded slightly, “Ever since that underage fairy appeared, I had my suspicions.

When I touched this headband and confirmed that it was a normal item rather than an Extraordinary Item, I mostly understood.

“Withered Leaf Butterfly is the heritage of the paths of Adaptation, Beauty, and Twilight, also demanding a considerable level of skill in dance.

This means that your level in the Path of Beauty must be very high… and the main path of the ‘Moonlight’ heritage would probably be the Path of Beauty.”

“…For a human to be aware of this?”

Grace looked surprised at Aiwass.

Aiwass nodded with modesty, “I just read a lot of books…”

—In a way, his statement struck a chord.

Because this time, he truly did learn it from a book, not from some “mysterious intelligence” that he couldn’t disclose.

“You’ve guessed correctly… Archbishop Aiwass.

The ‘Moonlight’ heritage relates to fairies and Illusion Techniques, in the domains of Beauty and Adaptation, and has good relations with the Fairy Queen.

I mastered the Withered Leaf Butterfly heritage only in these past few years.”

Lady Grace sighed softly, bowed slightly to the others, “But please spare us…”

“…Spare her?”

Yunus murmured.

“It’s probably because the ‘tree-ification disease’ is considered a sacred act in the Holy Nation,”

Sherlock reminded from the side, “After all, it is an approach to our ancestors.”

“Not entirely,”

Aiwass shook his head.

At least from the attitude of the current generation’s Eternal Saintess, she clearly didn’t regard the tree-ification of the Eternal Pope as a good thing.

The same went for the other Cardinals… hardly anyone truly saw this event as an honor.

However, in a sense, to openly say that tree-ification disease is bad is obviously not acceptable.

In the Holy Nation, that’s a form of “political correctness”: The Great Tree created the Elf race with its own flesh and blood, then offered its shell to them, becoming the Great Tree Nation that houses them.

If life approaches the form of The Great Tree, retraces the miracle of the ancient Great Tree, enters the Dream Realm, and comes to the side of The Great Tree and the Candle Master, what is there to disagree with, what is wrong?

“…But both Maxim and I adopt a more pragmatic attitude,”

Lady Grace said softly, “We do not wish… for Anastasia to ascend to the Dream Realm called by the tree’s grace without even having experienced her childhood.

“I think… at the very least, she should be able to play happily and healthily for several decades.

Maxim simply doesn’t want his daughter to die.

“More than twenty years ago, a human friend warned me, and that’s when I thought of this method—to send Anastasia to the Fairy Kingdom.

When we want to see her, we summon a Fairy and use a True Illusion to manifest her.

As long as she does not return to the Material Realm in her physical body, her tree-ification disease will not worsen to the final stage.

She can still play and be happy…

“…In the Holy Nation, we claim that Anastasia has already become tree-ified, and we have burned her tree-ified body and personal belongings to ashes.”

—However, whether it is falsely claiming death from tree-ification disease or using extraordinary means to forcefully prevent tree-ification disease… in the Holy Nation, both are inevitably taboo.

Especially the latter…

it is equivalent to the Fairy of the Path of Beauty being poached from the Path of Devotion by the Fairies, and the Fairy Queen is merely at the level of a Celestial Marshal.

The Great Tree is an apostle of the Candle Master and can also be considered a demigod.

Those summoned by the tree-ification disease directly become “apostles of the apostle,” which is the same level as Sister Sasha.

If the nature of this matter is translated into other paths, it is as though the Fallen Celestial Marshal used the Mark of Sin to turn Sister Sasha, who has not yet entered the Dream Realm, into a Succubus.

The three Aiwass fell silent.

And Lady Grace earnestly said, “The Anastasia seen by Mr.

Yunus is not a True Illusion, she is the real Anastasia—who, for some reason, suddenly fell out.

It seems she was passing by the Fairy Hole and got sucked out.

Thanks to Mr.

Yunus for saving her from the bandits, the Fairies could find her again, or else…

“—We never intended to keep Anastasia forever!

We just wanted her to live happily for several more decades—our Elves generally have lower work efficiency.

When she has had enough play, it will not be too late to come back and reundergo tree-ification, ascending into the Dream Realm…”

Aiwass came to understand.

Lady Grace and her companions were aiming to gain some time.

They risked great dangers—even the immense risk of their spirits being punished by the Candle Master—to let Anastasia stay for a few more decades.

It wasn’t a long time.

In the sense of time of the Elves, it was equivalent to only a few years for humans.

And all this time, just for Anastasia to have a happy childhood.

After fifty years, when Anastasia returns and undergoes tree-ification… the “accounts” on the side of the Holy Nation could finally be reconciled.

It can also be considered a kind of embezzlement—only that what is embezzled is an apostle of the divine.

Who would dare incite Mr.

and Mrs.

Grace to do such a thing…

And what was their purpose?

…Wait a moment, incite?

“Right, that human friend…”

Aiwass suddenly had a hunch and asked anxiously, “What’s his name?”

“…Actually, I never knew his full name.

He calls himself ‘Spider’.”

Lady Grace shook her head, “And the Fairy Queen calls him ‘James’.”