"In the Star Antimony Kingdom, the extraordinary profession that corresponds to the Inspector is the Demon, and the one that corresponds to the Legal Mage is the Demon Scholar. A commoner who enters the Royal Law University to become a Transcendent wouldn't be able to become a Light Cavalry upon graduation. Because the resources for pure Gryphons are scarce, it is necessary to ensure the loyalty of the Light Cavalry, hence Light Cavalry can only be selected from within the Knight Families—just like our 'Knight' Mr., who wore a helmet during the ceremony."
"Knight" might not have realized, but he actually was the first person to open the box himself, even faster than Lulu.
Because in Avalon, it is forbidden for anyone outside the Knight Families to possess armor privately. Most likely, that would result in a death sentence.
This means that either his father or his mother must be a knight of the Round Table Hall. That's how he could get a Knight's helmet and also how he could become Light Cavalry.
"...Noble of the Star Antimony Kingdom?"
Lulu muttered, "I've heard that over in Star Antimony, there are hereditary 'nobles.' They have titles, as well as their own lands and manors. I've read about it in many plays and poems."
Although Avalon regards Star Antimony as an enemy state, they dare not launch a direct war... One part of the reason is that they cannot be sure if the Royal Curse originated from the Star Antimony Kingdom. And the power in Avalon is not so much concentrated in the queen's hands as it is in the Round Table Hall... Such a blurred excuse is not sufficient for Avalon, which is much weaker in national power, to declare war proactively on Star Antimony.
The Star Antimony Kingdom is currently the most powerful country on this continent.
They were once the only empire across this land. Even after splitting into four separate nations, they remained powerful.
The Star Antimony Kingdom established by Valentine I, who penned the sacred scripture 'Triumphal Chariot of Antimony' for the Path of Balance, has now reclaimed two of the pieces from the former empire, restoring eighty percent of the empire's territory.
Avalon could defeat the Iris Flower, but would definitely fail against Star Antimony. The alchemy research that was over fifty years more advanced than Avalon's allowed Star Antimony's technology to be exceptionally developed. They had just launched a war in the previous years, annexing another neighboring country that had split from the empire... The sight of those enormous regenerating magical constructs on the battlefield was fearsome.
Only when Avalon, the Iris Flower, and the Holy Nation unite, can they barely maintain a balance of power in the political landscape. However, if anyone were to be attacked by Star Antimony, unless showing strong resistance, the other allies might not necessarily join in the defense.
But another question arose in Princess Isabel's mind:
Why did that noble of such a mighty country become a Transcendent at this age?
Though she appeared very young, as if she were just over twenty, Princess Isabel's keen perception from the Path of Beauty and her awareness as a woman assured her that Miss Coco... or rather, Lady Coco had to be at least in her thirties.
She must have used alchemical medicine capable of preserving youth to maintain such a young, pure appearance.
Becoming a Transcendent at over thirty years old—could that be too late?
Then she immediately realized and confidently stated, "Coco must be the person with Dual Paths!"
"Why are you so sure?"
Sherlock asked in return.
"Because Miss Coco is not as young as she looks; she must be over thirty. She has used alchemical medicine to maintain her youth."
"...I see. That makes sense... The fifth survivor should be Coco."
Sherlock nodded slowly, his expression becoming more grave, "That might not be good."
Aiwass raised an eyebrow, "You mean, the enemy might be a Demon Scholar?"
"Listen, both of you. I've remembered an incident."
Sherlock said in a low voice, "Ten years ago, in 1888, which is four years from this current timeline, a series of serial killings took place in Lohar District. Every eight days, a pregnant woman would be murdered, her unborn baby brutally cut out, and her kidneys taken. These are clear traces of ritual killings."
"The Supervisory Bureau called it the 'Jack the Ripper' case. I was sixteen years old at the time and participated in the investigation of this case."
The boyish-looking Detective slowly began, "The murderer of this case was a young Demon Scholar, who inherited a Hook Demon from his own mentor. That was a demon born over a hundred years ago from the notion of 'surgical abortion'. Therefore, he tried to strengthen this notion, to enhance the demon he had received through this ritual."
"He was eventually caught by us and executed. But before Jack was executed, he confessed that he had another master."
"— He confessed that his master had stayed on Glass Island for a long time, apparently serving someone continuously. In the past few years, he killed many people for that backstage manipulator. Recently, he went abroad, supposedly heading to the Horus Empire or Parthian Ancient Country. 'To pass through the desert, he needed to maintain his own purity, so he transferred the demon to me,' after which his master never returned."
"Based on the timeline, that Demon Scholar should be on Glass Island right now. The Hook Demon itself is a lower-level demon, not very powerful in direct combat, but especially skilled in ambushes..."
As Sherlock got to this point, he suddenly asked, "Did you have a curse on you when you appeared?"
Aiwass and Lulu looked at each other and replied, "We didn't, but Little Aiwass did. It was a curse of little power, but one used for tracking."
Sherlock confirmed, "I had one on me when I appeared, the exact same type. I dispelled it with a spell myself. This may well be the reason we have not been attacked yet... curse tracking counters the hiding ability of the Path of Adaptation. The person who just died, must have been Basil. She held on for a long time but still couldn't escape."
"The Hook Demon can locate its target through a curse and jump directly across space. The similarly required Mirror Demon needs a mirror as a medium, the Shadow Demon cannot appear at noon. And these two demons are upper-level demons..."
"Coco is only first-level in energy, correct?" asked Aiwass.
"Transcendence Path is inherently proficient in demon knowledge. Her anti-demon ritual should be able to dispel lower-level demons. It's also possible that she transferred the curse on herself to someone else."
"So, our enemy is that Demon Scholar who commands the Hook Demon?" Lulu clarified.
"Yes, precisely, the Hook Demon that is being remotely controlled by him. The only problem is, although the Hook Demon is only second-level in strength, its speed is too fast, and it's good at stealth attacks... nearly impossible to defeat for second-level Transcendents. Unless one of us is a Legal Mage, capable of instantly suppressing it, we may be able to kill it."
Sherlock frowned tightly, muttering discontentedly, "I wonder just how much more difficult they've made this ritual— they've upped the difficulty, yet they don't cooperate with us!"
"The three of us definitely cannot defeat the Hook Demon, and adding the 'Knight' probably wouldn't work. He is not an Inspector or a Legal Mage, but a Light Cavalry, without the power of suppression. Judging by the difficulty of this ritual, it seems that we only have a chance to repel the Hook Demon if at least one of Coco or the Bone Sculptor is willing to cooperate with us."
"Now we can only hope you haven't left behind any other cursed objects... A second-level Demon Scholar can only curse one person once a day. I've already been cursed, leaving just you two. If we're lucky, maybe we can drag out the time until the end... which leaves us with just two more hours."
Hearing this, Aiwass subconsciously touched his nose.
I'm not bragging, but.
If the enemy is a demon... then I may have inadvertently raised the difficulty of this ritual.