When the plot-skips players into the game world

At this point, he glanced at Lulu, "I am more inclined to believe it's the Path of Beauty. He could be a sculptor, or perhaps a collector."

"Do you understand now, Fox? Allies of the Path of Beauty are not reliable. When their strength is weak, they usually seem quite normal, but their perception is too keen, and their nerves too sensitive. This leads them to easily lose control, to go mad, becoming an unstable factor in the advancement rituals."

"Moreover, a seasoned practitioner of the Path of Beauty can easily become indifferent to life. They value art over law and morals. Without this, it's difficult to observe the world through the pure concept of 'beauty,' and even harder to delve deeper."

"Not necessarily..."

Lulu instinctively retorted, "I also know very kind-hearted master artists..."

"I know," the Newsboy nodded calmly, "I know some as well. And you are an exception. In my eyes, you do not qualify as a standard 'believer of beauty.' You value morals... which is good."

"...You just said that is very dangerous."

"That's not a contradiction."

The boy was too lazy to explain further and fell back into his own thoughts, murmuring to himself, "When I get back, I need to check the recent missing persons files at the Supervisory Bureau. Maybe it will give me some inspiration..."

"To step onto the Dusk Path so suddenly at an old age, why? Because of a serious illness? Or a terminal disease? Is it a sense that their time is short-lived, a sudden strong attachment to life, a desire to continue living... Is it because there is no student to carry on the legacy, or are their own descendants too disappointing, squabbling over the inheritance?"

"...If it's an elderly artist from Glass Island," the overlooked Lulu gathered her courage and suddenly spoke up softly, "it might be Old Lars. He was diagnosed with bone tumors this summer."

"Old Lars?"

Sherlock was taken aback for a moment, then remembered, "Lars Graham, Sir? Didn't he create for the Queen..."

He suddenly stopped speaking.

His gaze towards Lulu deepened, and he said nothing more.

Aiwass took a look at her too.

...Good grief.

This fully-automatic box opener can also be used to open other people's boxes?

So the Princess even has this feature.

"...'Knight' Sir is not here yet. Perhaps he didn't think of this, given that he appears to be quite a careless man," Sherlock's tone shifted, as his attitude clearly changed, "but it's just as well with just us. Remember to keep close to me..."

Rather than the previous strategy of prioritizing aid to the Knight and Fox, Sherlock's tactic suddenly changed to prioritizing help to the Fox and Lulu who were present.

Clearly, Sherlock must have guessed that Lulu was Princess Isabel... For him, this was not difficult.

Luckily, Sherlock is a loyalist of Queen Sofia's faction.

Aiwass knew his father had once been a minister and had been framed and embroiled in trouble due to certain issues. Queen Sofia had granted his father a special pardon, a kindness to him.

Since then, Sherlock served the royal house in secret. On some occasions, the Queen would invite Sherlock to join an investigation because he was reliable and, additionally, discreet.

So compared to an average person, Sherlock would be much more privy to royal secrets.

At this moment, this matter was still a secret. Even Princess Isabel herself probably didn't know about it.

So that's how it is...

Aiwass realized.

Before his alteration of history, allowing himself to be present at this advancement ceremony he was not supposed to partake in, Princess Isabel had indeed relied on Sherlock to win her way through the ritual.

——Just then.

All three suddenly fell silent.

Because in their minds, a clear chime of a bell suddenly rang out.

No one around them heard it, only the three of them did. About a few seconds later, another bell sounded.

"...That's the Death Knell," the boy's expression turned grave, "bad news... or perhaps good news. Two individuals have been disqualified. Your chances of passing the ceremony just increased."

"Two people?"

At this, Lulu instinctively looked toward Aiwass, "Were they together as well?"

What she wanted to say first was actually whether they were also a married couple?

But the words were too embarrassing, so before she could speak, she swallowed them back down.

Aiwass then asked the Newsboy, "What does the Death Knell signify? Exposed identity, or death?"

"Death. If it's just exposure of identity, the remaining people will hear the sound of 'roaring laughter.'"

Sherlock's speech sped up to more than double its normal pace, "This is just the first hour, and we have three more hours of survival time. Yet the killer has already started, and two people together cannot withstand them. During the 'safe' difficulty of the ritual, we only encounter one enemy, and it's not too strong. It's definitely something we can easily handle when we cooperate."

Considering that the Bone Sculptor might act alone, among the remaining people, except for the little girl from the Path of Love and the drug dealer from the Path of Balance, the others' combat strength should not be bad."

"Unless it just so happens to be those two who encounter the killer together..."

"——That would mean the monster can consecutively kill two people in a short interval."

Aiwass picked up, "Fast enough that the other person has no chance to escape."

"It's definitely a sneak attack."

Sherlock concluded, "They didn't come to Judiciary Square, which means the enemy isn't waiting here. This place might actually be a safe zone and we would only encounter that enemy at the last moment."

"Not necessarily."

The young cleric's gaze slightly lowered, adding another possibility, "It could also be that the foreigners ran into the Strangler Party, as they don't understand Avalon."

"Yes, you're right."

The boy nodded, glancing around cautiously, "Anyway, be careful of shadows and corners... I'll follow close behind you, to prevent me from being ambushed and dragged away without you noticing."

"Where are we going?" Lulu asked in a low voice.

"The Pelican Bar——Now give me a reason to take you to the Pelican Bar."

Upon hearing Sherlock's quiet command, the young cleric's face immediately lit up with a warm, sunny smile.

"How polite of you, young sir. May the Candle Master illuminate your path."

Aiwass slightly raised his voice so others could hear clearly, "Thank you for your compliment to my wife——it's so hot today, why don't I buy you a drink? What would you like?"

"...Don't get me alcohol, Fox."

Sherlock lowered his voice as a reminder, "I can only drink milk right now... Alcohol will disturb my intellect and weaken my spells."

"How about milk, then? You're still too young to drink alcohol."

Aiwass went along with the suggestion amicably.

"...I know a bar."

Sherlock's volume returned to normal as he spoke in a childlike, youthful voice, "We call it the Pelican Bar!"

Hearing Sherlock's somewhat clumsy attempt to sound young, Aiwass's expression became subtly complex.

You don't have to force it, Mr. Sherlock.

Your affected voice reminds me of another detective whose body is a child's but whose mind is an adult's...

But at that moment, they heard another prolonged ring of the death knell.

Aiwass's expression turned grave.

——The third person is dead.

It was only two minutes since the previous chimes.

"Wait," Sherlock suddenly changed his expression, no longer caring about his role, "Something's not right! They're dying too fast!"

It's one thing for two people, as they might have been ambushed together. The second person might have been caught and killed while running away.

——But it's unreasonable for three people to die in succession when there's clearly only one enemy!

This is not a competitive killing ritual, with nine people arriving in different locations with different identities.

The difficulty of this ritual is clearly not right!

——Is it because of Sherlock or the Bone Sculptor's presence that the enemy's strength has been increased?

Soon, Aiwass realized something else:

He had thought the first two victims were foreigners. But with three deaths, it's not so certain anymore.

The Knight never showed up, and it might not be because he didn't think of the Pelican Bar.

Rather, he might have gone somewhere else and possibly already died on the way!

Where did they go after all?

"We can't go to the Pelican Bar anymore. It might not be absolutely safe, and we won't be able to escape if we get cornered. If the Knight hasn't shown up or is already dead, we can only rely on the detective's spells, and the first-energy-level spell strength isn't enough."

Aiwass immediately altered the plan, taking command from Sherlock with practiced ease:

——We need to take a detour and hide first to see if anyone else dies. I know a hidden path here. Follow me."