Shepherd Tantra

Chapter 987 Letter from Sherlock Hermes
"Dear Mr. Moriarty:

"I have received your letter a few days ago. Please rest assured that I have not forgotten our agreement: I will return in time and participate in your wedding with Her Majesty the Queen and the coronation of Isabel I on May 22. I expect to arrive at Glass Island before the 20th.

"I'm still living in the Duke of Vendôme's estate, and it's great here. All my worries are unnecessary. I just couldn't suppress my damn curiosity, and while helping my friend investigate - you know, the one I told you about before - I accidentally delved into some rather tense areas.

"There are too many specific events involved to be written in this letter. I will tell you in detail after we meet. What I can reveal now is that it involves the former Iris Royal Family.

"While investigating this matter, I accidentally learned a secret that you would never imagine but is closely related to you. Please forgive me for keeping it a secret, because I am so eager to see the surprise and curiosity on the face of the respected God Slayer with my own eyes -

"By the way, your heroic deeds in defeating the Fallen Angels have spread throughout Iris. You can't guess how much the people of Iris love you. Now sixteen theaters are rehearsing plays such as "The Brave Aiwass" and "The Pope of God Killer". Your famous black robe has also been made into a similar style by the tailor, and it has now become a best-selling fashion. I don't even dare to say that I know you, because if I do, there will definitely be a lot of your fans flocking to the Duke of Vendome's estate, but please forgive me.

"We have only been apart for less than half a year. It is really hard for me to imagine how the little fox in a wheelchair has become such a great figure. This makes me feel very complicated... I can only say that Ms. Aleister has taught her well.

"I haven't contacted the friends you asked me to contact yet. But fortunately, I don't need their help. The investigation here is progressing smoothly, so there's no need to worry about my safety.

"The case I'm dealing with has now reached a critical moment. In the next few days, I need to focus on some clues on hand, so I won't go into details here. If you write to ask, I'm afraid I won't be able to deal with your letter in time, so please don't reply.

"Please give my regards to Her Majesty the Queen, my friend, and give this letter to my brother Mycroft.

"—your faithful Sherlock Hermes."

Aiwass flipped through the letter sent by Sherlock and read aloud every sentence with intonation.

Isabel sat on the bed in her pajamas and carefully examined the postmark on the letter.

She was a little confused: "The letter dated May 12th... but it's already the 19th. Is it so slow to arrive?"

After Aiwas finished reading, he shook the letter in his hand and flicked the letter paper lightly.

"—what do you think, Isa?"

"I feel like...something seems a little off."

Isabel pondered: "I feel a subtle sense of disharmony, a dissonance. But I can't tell what's wrong..."

Her intuition told her that there was something wrong with the letter from Sherlock, but after a closer look, it seemed normal.

Aiwass smiled and said, "That's why he sent it to me instead of to you. Sherlock was just worried that you didn't notice it... He was calling you stupid. You must teach him a lesson when he comes back."

As he spoke, Aiwass shook the letter and his expression became serious: "In fact, this is a letter asking for help."

"...A letter asking for help?"

Isabel frowned slightly and sat up from the bed: "Should we send troops to rescue?"

She didn't ask Aiwass how he knew that - because she knew Aiwass would never joke about such a thing.

Aiwass shook his head: "There's no need to be so exaggerated. Let me explain it to you from the beginning...

"He received a letter from his friend Arsene de Vendôme asking for help and went to handle the case. He and we agreed in advance to contact each other at Mr. Maurice Leblanc's café. If we want to write a letter, we can send it here...right?"

"Yes," Isabel nodded, "so I sent the letter to this address this time. Just start it as he said - 'Mr. Hermes who works as hard as a bee'."

It's already mid-May and Sherlock hasn't come back yet.

Isabel was somewhat anxious - she planned to write a letter to urge the matter.

After all, Sherlock was a mutual friend of her and Aiwass, and one of Isabel's few friends. He was even a witness to the first meeting between her and Aiwass. She hoped that Sherlock would be present at the wedding. Her letter was sent on May 10, and Sherlock's reply was sent on May 12. When she received the letter, it was already the 19th - only three days left before the time Sherlock said, but he still hadn't come back.

"He called his proud 'curiosity' 'damned curiosity' and said that the matter involved the old royal family, but he did not mention the name of his friend - Mr. Arsene de Vendome, the son-in-law of the Duke of Vendome. He now lives in Vendome Manor, which means that he is still investigating this matter and it has not been concluded.

"'Ms. Aleister was well educated' is an important key. Although most people think that Aleister is my old lover, a Moon Child from the Hermes Empire... but Aleister is just a fake identity of my own. You know this, and Sherlock knows it too. He said this deliberately, and the implication is very clear - his letters are being monitored.

"In other words, he is now under control. Although he can receive letters normally, he believes that if this letter is sent out, it will be censored. So he did not mention those 'secrets unknown to outsiders', which is also a hint to me.

"And the sentence 'I haven't contacted the friends you asked me to contact yet' is even more important.

"Because there are only two friends that I asked him to contact... One is the assassins from the Hawkeye faction that he himself rejected. Because the problem his friend encountered this time might be related to Hawkeye. And the other one..."

At this point, Aiwas's eyes became deep: "It's Brother Edward."

"...Sir Moriarty...he is a diplomatic ambassador."

Isabel was shocked: "Does the Iris people dare to do anything to him?"

"I don't think he would dare to do that, especially after knowing how powerful I am..."

Aiwass smiled slightly, but there was not much smile on his face: "After all, they also participated in the war against the Fallen Angels. But it's another story for Sherlock.

"He said that if we were not allowed to write to him, he would not reply either - this was actually an excuse for him not being able to reply for a while. He also asked us to give the letter to his brother, in fact, to prevent me from not seeing the problem.

"That is to say, the entire process of him writing the letter, as well as the completed letter, should have been under the surveillance of others. They did not take action against Sherlock, presumably because they had something to ask of him. However, they chose to 'imprison him', which means that this matter probably involves some crime and secrets... Most likely they wanted to silence him afterwards.

"When he said 'I don't even dare to say I know you', the hidden message is actually 'he didn't tell anyone else that he knew us'. This is probably to prevent him from being killed immediately. Because if he reveals that he is unusually close to the big shots in Avalon, the people who imprisoned him will have to consider the risk of this matter."

"...Then will my writing to him harm him?"

Isabel was startled and a little worried.

Aiwass shook his head. "On the contrary, you may have saved him. Because as the Queen of Avalon, you have personally inquired about this matter, and clearly know his whereabouts and situation, and asked him to write back. In order to prevent you from being suspicious, Sherlock had a chance to send us a letter.

"In other words, they no longer have the chance to 'get rid of Sherlock cleanly and quietly'. Although I don't know what they plan to do next... but it's nothing more than transforming him into the Child of the Moon, or controlling him with drugs or something like that."

"Then what do we do now?"

Isabel blurted out: "Why not send troops?"

Ever since the Fallen Angels, Isabel seemed to have developed a certain dependence on sending troops.

She truly realized how powerful the Griffin Legion was, and instantly felt more confident.

"No need."

Aiwass shook his head slightly. "Sherlock said, 'You will never guess how much the Iris people like you' and 'I will tell you in detail after we meet'. This is actually a hint to me... He hopes that I will go there in person, preferably quietly."

He narrowed his eyes and spoke in a calm tone, "I originally wanted to dig out the family sword before the wedding... Now it seems that it may take a few days. I hope there won't be too much blood before the big day...

"——I want to see who dares to touch my friend."

(End of this chapter)