When the plot-skips players into the game world

But the reason Aiwass could propose this deadline is because he already had a plan in mind.

"Let's do it Sherlock's way—"

Aiwass looked at the Old Duke, and said with utmost confidence, "First, bring all the information on the Count of Moon's Son, and we'll eliminate them one by one."

The Old Duke, upon hearing this, glanced at Arsene.

"Did you hear that?"

The elder spoke with authority: "Get to it!"

"Oh, sure!"

Arsene immediately sprang into action and dashed off.

Even though he was ordered to do the task, he felt no displeasure in his heart.

Rather, he was filled with curiosity—

Twenty-four hours.

In just twenty-four hours, to find and capture someone who can alter reality and reshape the minds of everyone?

Is it possible?

That seems much like magic, like a "miracle"!

At this moment, Arsene was filled with the same anticipation he had as a child when he first saw a magician perform magic.

Concentrating and igniting the "impossible," emitting a dazzling flare—

The simple magic he saw at that time, Arsene learned to perform without a teacher in less than two years. Yet, he would never forget how his younger self widened his eyes in disbelief, filled with wonder.

Later, when he was engaged in the career of a phantom thief, he always sent out a notice before taking action—an agreed-upon magic of sorts. Like a magician announcing "what I am going to do," only performing when people's full attention is captured. People looked at the miracle he created with awe, and that feeling satisfied him.

He felt that sensation once more when he first met Sherlock...

Exceptionally brilliant reasoning, to him, seemed like a magic performance.

——And now, it seems he is about to witness it a second time.

The power of the Iris Duke surpassed even Aiwass's expectations—

After Arsene relayed the order, within just forty minutes, the preliminary compilation of the "Count of Moon's Son" information was completed and began being submitted layer by layer. Finally, ten minutes to two o'clock in the morning, it was delivered to Aiwass.

Even Avalon, a country of authority, could never achieve such a feat!

Aiwass was ten percent sure that even if Isabel—let alone the Old Queen—ordered it personally, he would be quite satisfied to see these materials by the next noon. And it would likely be delivered in a sealed briefcase after numerous reviews, with around two to three hundred pages of detailed intelligence, half of which might well be superfluous.

Of course, after reading the summary, one could always skip to the end to read the conclusion. This was Isabel's typical style of dealing with government affairs.

And this first batch of handwritten intelligence, including transit time, was delivered to them in just one hour. Eighteen pages, all filled with essential information, densely packed with twenty-two lines per page... Aiwass couldn't even fathom how long it would take to handwrite all this.

It's said that even the Duke was not satisfied with this speed—apparently because it was already one in the morning when the need arose, and many were already asleep and had to be temporarily woken up. The Duke, feeling somewhat disgraced by this speed, went out himself, reprimanding someone for something.

When Old Argon returned, they received more good news—the second part of additional information would arrive in three hours, expected to be forty-eight pages.

——They could even precisely predict forty-eight pages!

Aiwass and Sherlock both marveled at the Irisflower People's astonishing administrative efficiency... if the Duke Domain's Secretary could also be considered a form of administrative efficiency.

"Sometimes I wonder if Your Majesty has been too kind to them..."

Sherlock perused the materials and made an offhand comment to Aiwass.

Now, he and Aiwass were in the records room sorting through intelligence... while the Old Duke decided to go back for a nap. There was already nothing for Arsene to do here, but he did mention to Aiwass to definitely take him along when they decided to go out.

As for Annie, she couldn't offer much help... but she stayed by Aiwass's side nonetheless.

The Duke Mansion did not lack male and female servants. Even just standing in the corridors, every hallway had two servants. But Annie strictly prohibited any servants from entering the room—she claimed it was to prevent leaks of information, and personally received tea and snacks brought from the door, delivering them directly to Aiwass and Sherlock's table.

Sherlock always preferred having coffee and snacks while thinking, and Aiwass was simply hungry.

"Have some more, Aiwass."

Sherlock praised the Duke Mansion's snacks: "To be honest, the thing that first made me feel at ease working here was the snacks."

He phrased "house arrest" as "work"—and according to Aiwass's understanding of Sherlock, this didn't seem to be a polite way of speaking, but rather an attempt at a joke.

A rather dull joke, with a punchline only he could understand.

And Aiwass appropriately chuckled lightly: "How does it compare to those in Avalon?"

"Each has its strengths. But at least, they're not bad—though if I have to say, I still think my mother's cake is the best."

Sherlock critically observed: "However, the main meals here do taste quite good, much better than the rubbish the Avalonians make."

"I was wondering why you seemed to have put on at least five kilograms…"

"That's an exaggeration, it's not that much."

A noticeably rounder-faced Sherlock stated precisely: "About three and a half kilograms."

He said this while turning the documents facedown.

Annie immediately became alert: "What is it, have you found a clue?"

"Of course."

And Sherlock looked to Aiwass, raising his eyebrows: "You probably found it as well."

"It actually only took about three minutes," Aiwass modestly replied, "the rest was just time to rest. After all, I haven't eaten all day."

"...Did you withhold information?"

Sherlock squinted his eyes: "Otherwise, how did it go so fast?"

"Yes," Aiwass admitted, "but I did it to avoid misleading you."

"Let's compare answers then."

Sherlock said, writing with a pen on the inverted document: "There are a total of eight Counts of Moon's Son, among them, five were human counts transformed before the era of the Swan King, and three rose during the era of the Swan King.

"Among the three counts who rose, Count Halik is included. If Count Halik is an interference factor, the target can actually be narrowed down to a choice between two.

"——Count Gould, and Count Duderburg."

"Not very rigorous, my friend."

Aiwass evaluated: "Although Count Halik is an interference factor, the other two are quite suspicious… but how did you directly exclude the former? Could it be that the individual deliberately avoided benefiting, having such intentions in mind right from the start?"

"You're right, it's possible."

Sherlock nodded his approval, yet acknowledged: "After all, his goal is rebellion. And in a rebellion, if his status is not high, he would only be preparing wedding clothes for others. He didn't know exactly what this head signified nor what it could achieve—you were too preconceived. He needs to experiment repeatedly with this head's limits before writing himself into the script.

"Thus, at first, I thought Count Duderburg was the most likely candidate. Because he is the last to become a count among these counts… and also the one who developed best during the third rebellion. But I excluded him later.

"The reason is simple—because he held far too many banquets at his home. If the Box of Emptiness was with him, any of those banquets could have led to information leaks.

"And clearly, the Irisflower's Son of the Moon did not know this plan—in other words, the holder of the Box of Emptiness intended to benefit on their own. So, I turned my sights to the more reclusive Count Gould…"

"So you think it's Count Gould?"

Aiwass raised his eyebrows on hearing this: "Done talking?"

"Of course not," Sherlock denied, "but you say first."

"I think it's neither of these two. Because I found more direct evidence—the number of offspring, and the volume of imported blood."

Aiwass pointed to an inconspicuous line in the data: "The one who consumed the most blood… is none other than the Count of Orleans."