Chapter 252 Edward's Whereabouts
"What happened at the port?"
Aiwass was a little confused: "Is it the batch of goods smuggled by the former Minister of Trade that has arrived?"
He remembered that Sherlock had specifically mentioned this matter just this morning.
The cargo ship was originally scheduled to return to port today. It had been dispatched before Minister Droste was arrested, and with no communication after leaving the shore, they couldn't have known what had happened to Droste. Therefore, the previous smuggling plan should have proceeded normally.
So now it should be fully loaded.
"This kind of thing should be handled directly by the Inspectorate, right?"
Aiwass was a little confused: "Where's Edward?"
Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Edward for a while.
The last time they met was before Edwards faked his death - because Edwards was not confident in his acting skills, he did not inform him of his fake death.
After all, he wasn't like Sherlock... Given Sherlock's penchant for solitary investigations, his fake death had genuinely startled everyone. Because something might actually happen to him, he needed to notify everyone to avoid scaring his own people.
But Aiwass is obviously much more stable than Sherlock, and it is not so easy for him to deceive people, and he doesn't even have a corpse.
So Aiwass needs Edward to help him lie - Aiwass himself does not need to do anything, once Edward gets angry, others will know "Oh, it seems that he is really missing" and not hiding.
After dealing with the matters of Lloyd's and Minister Droste, the prince was cursed, the Supervisory Bureau was attacked by the giant prince Wolfram, a trap was set to kill the bone sculpture, and Ms. Meg was helped to shed her skin and be reborn... Then came Aiwas's advancement ceremony and final exams.
He has been very busy these past two weeks.
Aiwass simply forgot to look for Edward.
And now he remembered - Oh yes, I have an older brother.
Come to think of it, I've been "resurrected" for a week now. Why hasn't Edward come to see me yet?
—Or, when Prince Andrew died, why didn’t Edward attend the funeral?
"I don't know. I haven't seen him for a long time."
Isabel shook her head slightly.
Although she had begun to get involved in politics under the guidance of the Queen, she still had to take care of her studies and the improvement of her extraordinary abilities, and did not have the energy to directly take over the various political affairs of Avalon.
"Since he didn't even come to Prince Andrew's funeral, that means Edward may have disappeared a week ago."
Aiwass fell into deep thought, muttering to himself, "But His Majesty didn't specifically mention this to me. Ligeia didn't say anything either...so at least he should be fine."
"He's not faking his own death, is he?"
Isabel blurted out.
Aiwass almost choked on his own saliva.
"Not really... it shouldn't be that bad." Rationally speaking, this was definitely impossible, but Aiwass was suddenly a little unsure. "After all, as the Inspector General, he usually keeps a low profile. Anyone who can see him must be of high status or have committed some serious crime..."
"Don't you know?"
Suddenly, Janice's voice rang out: "Edward has gone abroad."
"Um?"
Aiwass was startled.
All the paintings hanging in the house have just been burned. Where did Janice come from?
Janice's voice came from the magic painting above Aiwas's bedroom—the one that looked like a window. It looked so much like a window that Aiwass forgot it was a painting at first glance.
It usually brought fresh air from outside to Aiwas, and now Janice had also emerged from the painting. Because the magic painting was not made of ordinary paper, it was able to survive the burning aura of the Morning Crow Fire.
At this moment, Janice was like a puppy with its paws on the edge of the bed, clinging to the painted "window" with both hands and poking its head in from outside.
"...How long have you been listening here?"
Aiwass had a complicated expression.
Janice smiled and said, "Start with 'I'm afraid of pain'."
——Didn’t you hear it all?
“Huh…?”
Isabel opened her eyes wide with curiosity.
Aiwass...are you afraid of pain?
She suddenly felt excited - maybe she was even better than Aiwass in this aspect.
——She is not afraid of pain!
Previously, during the promotion ceremony, even a headache did not affect her investigation; even if she blew her head off with a pistol, she could recover by just shaking her head.
"Don't worry," Janice lowered half of her head slightly, revealing only a pair of smiling eyes. "I'm just watching from the side. I don't want to be the one in the painting... If I do, I'll be deviated into the twilight path."
Janice really loved eavesdropping and peeping. She wouldn't leak anything, and her mouth was pretty tight, but she was simply filled with curiosity, wanting to get a peek at everything.
The "Painter" can enter any painting, but usually needs to keep jumping and has a certain distance limit; but if it is a painting drawn by oneself, then he can be transferred to it instantly even if it is far away.
I hope that when Isabel reaches a higher level, she won't imitate her teacher...
If Isabel also picked up this bad habit, it would be the end of her.
——After all, the Queen can decide the currency.
The paper money used by Aiwas today only came into widespread use about one or two hundred years ago. Before that, the most commonly used currency was various coins.
Coins at the time had no rims, so they easily became irregular with use. Many people would clip the edges of coins or grind off some of the powder, which, over time, could create a significant amount of silver or even gold. This is also why many coins on the market became smaller and lighter with use.
To prevent the rampant spread of bad money, a king introduced paper money over two hundred years ago. At that time, Prince Lloyd had not yet appeared, and the royal family still had complete and unchecked power. They could do whatever they wanted.
The first banknotes bore the royal portrait, much like the Triangle of Avalon on ancient silver coins, but counterfeit coins soon appeared.
Even the king's use of the Nine Clans Elimination Game was of no avail – counterfeit coins were rampant, disrupting Avalon's economy and causing chaos within the country. The king was forced to reintroduce coins, mixing paper money with coins.
But things got increasingly chaotic. Over a hundred years ago, a king creatively decided to abolish the circulation of gold coins, making silver the highest-grade currency, and then creating two grades of silver coins, red copper and copper coins, and printing brand new paper money.
He had the coins wrapped with a border to make them easier to detect if cut, and he had the coins and banknotes stamped with the symbols of the Silver Crown Dragon, the Candlelighter, and the Sand Clock, claiming that this was currency used under the supervision of the Pillar God, and that making and using counterfeit coins was tantamount to blasphemy.
The Theocracy was invigorated upon hearing this, and requested the bishops of Avalon to assist in promoting the product. From that point on, counterfeit currency in Avalon was virtually eliminated.
When people encounter counterfeit coins with the King's Head or Avalon logo, or coins with insufficient weight, they will likely pretend not to know and use them secretly. As a result, more and more counterfeit and inferior coins are circulating in the market.
——But since this is related to the Nine Pillars of God, people are not brave enough.
Originally, even if counterfeit money was used, it would not be a big deal, after all, it was not made by them. If it was discovered, the worst that could happen was to replace it with real money. But now, if counterfeit money is used, there is a risk of blasphemy - although in terms of probability, the Nine Pillars of God cannot keep an eye on everyone who uses money, and may even be too lazy to care about such things.
But people don't dare to gamble.
Because there really is a God in this world.
This is the authoritarian royal family's way of solving problems.
If Isabel became queen, she would have another solution: to print her own hand-drawn paintings on all coins. Even larger denominations could be printed with magic paintings. This would undoubtedly be the best anti-counterfeiting mark, and once production volume increased, the cost could be kept down.
If so, it means that Isabel has "eyes and ears" all over the country.
Anyone with money will become Isabel's surveillance camera. She can also use these banknotes to jump and teleport at will...
That's too scary.
If people knew about this, it might cause panic.
...And Aiwass had a feeling that if Isabel really did this, he might also be painted on the money.
I hope Isabel doesn't remember this - or rather, I hope I can stop Isabel from having this thought.
Aiwass thought for a moment and asked, "Did Edward go to the Church?"
His first reaction was, "Did Edward go to see Mr. Oswald?"
Their old butler said he would be back soon, but now, almost two weeks later, there is still no news from him. If Aiwass hadn't known that Oswald's combat power was approximately equal to the fifth energy level, he would have suspected that something had happened to him as well.
- It would be funny if the adoptive father disappeared, the butler went to look for him and then disappeared too; then Edward went to look for the butler and disappeared too.
Calabash Brothers saves grandpa, right?
"It's not the Theocracy, it's Iris."
Janice replied, "The Queen's order—Do you remember the girl who tried to assassinate you? According to the Inspectorate's investigation, her grandfather was the Vice Chairman of the Iris Public Safety Committee, a fifth-level Iris expert, equivalent to our Grand Judge. This is already a diplomatic incident... To protect Avalon and your interests, Edward has volunteered to handle this matter."
"He was originally going to have to fight for a while because we lacked evidence, which was very troublesome. Fortunately, Lars Graham revealed a flaw - there is no doubt that we will win this time.
"If you're curious about the port, you don't actually need to go there. Madame Red has already gone to arrest someone... This time, a smuggler who was in contact with Droste came aboard the ship. He's the witness who came to our doorstep.
"Oh, right. You might not know her... Madam Red is Edward's deputy. You can just go to the Inspectorate and wait. But I think she can handle this matter."
...Madam Red?
Aiwass still remembers this man.
She seemed to have some connection with Minister Droste and also seemed to have some connection with Lloyd's... but Aiwass was not very sure.
He and Lily looked at each other to confirm that there were no omissions in their impression of each other.
—I must go and see her. Not only the smuggler, but also the Red Lady.
However, the smugglers from Star Antimony who sell goods to Droste...
For some reason, Aiwass always felt that it sounded a little familiar.
Then Aiwass said, "Then let's go and take a look. Isabel, do you have an exam this afternoon?"
"without."
Isabel shook her head. "I only have one subject left, and it's tomorrow afternoon."
"I'm almost there," Aiwass smiled and patted her hand. "Shall we go?"
"...Is this all you're wearing? How about I step aside for a moment and come back after you've changed your clothes?"
Isabel replied crisply.
but……
Is his hair getting longer?
She looked at Aiwas's soft platinum hair, which had now grown into shoulder-length hair, and felt a little confused.
Isabel knew that Aiwass was reading the secret book - a servant had told her about it.
——Is this some kind of tantra of growth and development?
If Aiwass looks at it again, will his hair become waist-length?
Isabel felt a little itchy in her heart.
She decided to draw a magic picture of Aiwass with waist-length hair after the exam - although Aiwass's hair was far from growing that long, her imagination could make up for the length!
Update completed!
(End of this chapter)
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