Chapter 266: The Griffin Minister of Avalon
After finishing the ceremony, Aiwass let Sherlock return to the bishop's house by himself.
Sherlock was initially a bit resistant to this – he had wanted to keep it a secret, not tell anyone who knew him that he had become smaller. Anyway, he would be able to change back to normal once he was promoted again.
This immediately cheered up Sherlock, who originally had no desire for promotion.
However, he was persuaded by Aiwass's words, "Don't you want to go back and catch up on some sleep?" He still chose to obey his body reluctantly.
——To be honest, I am indeed a little sleepy.
After all, he had just endured the mental retardation curse the previous night and tried his best to learn two subjects he was not good at. And when he had almost mastered them, he was recast by Aiwass's ritual.
Sherlock, who had not eaten or drunk much water all night, turned back into the adolescent body shape of thirteen or fourteen years old. He wore uncomfortable clothes, stretched his neck and painted the wall for an hour, and then moved the dead cow out with Aiwass - the last job almost made him faint from exhaustion.
"...Do you have to drag me along when you work? Or maybe I can't help at all, and in the end you did it all by yourself, right?" Sherlock couldn't help but say.
"That's true, but you can't escape alone."
Aiwass chuckled: "Working together is what good brothers do!"
So after forcing Sherlock to finish the work, Aiwass used a "fire sacrifice" and went to help Haina deal with the griffin with full energy.
Sherlock had no ability to recover his physical strength. And after the "mental handicap curse" was ineffective due to the ritual for a while, he vaguely felt his head start to hurt again.
But it was better than before. It was now roughly the level of a normal migraine, a pain he'd often experienced when working late at night, so it was still bearable.
Although he has not yet advanced, Sherlock's body is now much stronger than before - if he had been dragged to do so much physical work before completing the initiation ceremony, he would definitely have collapsed on the ground now.
Sherlock also understood immediately - what did it mean to work together? You just wanted to try out the effect of your ritual!
It turns out that you yourself don’t know the effect of this ritual!
After Aiwass finished his observation, Sherlock felt cold, sleepy, hungry and tired. In the end, he swallowed his previous promise "I will not tell anyone about this" and ran back to the bishop's house in shame.
“Here it comes—”
Mrs. Mina, who had just gotten up, came to open the door after hearing the doorbell.
She originally thought someone was here to deliver newspapers or sell milk, but after opening the door and seeing little Sherlock in loose clothes, Mrs. Mina hesitated for a long time.
Then, she simply blinked—and the star-like fragmented light enveloped her eyes.
This is the astral vision unique to prophets attuned to the Tao. It can easily see through a person's fundamental spiritual essence, thus discerning their true identity.
The next moment, Madam Mina showed a surprised expression:
"…You are, Sherlock?"
"Thank you, ma'am. You didn't say anything hurtful like 'whose child is this?'"
The young version of Sherlock sighed and waved his sleeve, which covered half of his fingers. "This is Aiwass's new invention. Isn't it amazing?"
"You're so cute."
Madam Mina first praised with a smile before welcoming Sherlock into the house.
She and Bishop Mathers had no children. They had cared for Shylock as if he were their own child...
And now that he has truly become younger, this naturally pleases Madam Mina even more.
"I'd rather you say I'm young and energetic now."
Sherlock said coldly, put his hands on both sides of his mouth, raised them upwards to reveal a smile, and laughed dryly: "Otherwise I think I would be dead in the next moment, haha."
Madam Mina couldn't help but ruffle his hair. "Oh, poor thing... even your hair has become thinner. But you do seem to be more energetic than before... For example, if you were the old you, you would probably just sigh deeply when you were so tired, then curl up on the sofa after entering the house and lazily ask me for a cup of hot apple cider."
Sherlock wanted to retort, but he realized that Mrs. Mina was telling the truth, so he chose to remain silent.
Mina exclaimed, "This is incredible, a ritual of rejuvenation..."
She is not an ordinary person who knows nothing about the extraordinary path.
Precisely because she was a prophet who had come into contact with many secrets, she was able to better understand the incredible nature of Aiwas's ritual.
"The phenomenon of human aging over time belongs to the realm of the sand clock; the growth, development, change, and aging of the body are related to the blood realm of the path of love. You two are neither balanced nor love, yet you can accomplish the miracle of reversing time... As expected of him. I don't think I would be surprised by any miracles he performs now."
Mina sighed, "The last time I divined, I noticed that his fate was closely connected to many 'Higher-Level Phantom Demons.' At that time, I even suspected he was a reincarnated Heavenly Master... but then I did another divination and discovered he was indeed a mortal."
Sherlock immediately understood what Mina meant.
In addition to the upper-level phantom demons in the usual sense, apostles, celestial officials and pillar gods also belong to the upper-level phantom demons in terms of racial classification.
"As a mortal, yet able to have such a close connection with those great beings in the dream world... This is even more astonishing than the reincarnation of a celestial minister or an apostle. Now I no longer dare to do divination for him... I can see the tangled threads of his fate, and along the clear threads of fate, I can see those great beings. This is probably a kind of friendly warning."
Otherwise, she would have fainted at that time. It is hard to say whether she can wake up now.
As an adaptor, she chose to follow the guidance of her heart.
Mina chatted with Sherlock about Aiwass for a while, then went to make breakfast.
Although Sherlock insisted that only his appearance had changed, Mina firmly refused to offer Sherlock hot apple cider.
After Madam Mina left, Sherlock curled up on the sofa and fell into deep thought.
——He always felt that Madam Mina was hinting at something.
Does this mean they will be in danger this time? Or is Aiwass a pawn of the Gods?
What dangers could they encounter with this configuration?
With two third-level warriors, Haina at the third level, a third-level priest mixed in with a class of unknown transcendental path, and then add his elusive maid... Sherlock felt that they could easily defeat even a fourth-level warrior. Because their combat power was simply not at the level of a regular third-level warrior.
But after hearing Mina say that Aiwass's fate was extremely complicated, Sherlock still felt a little uneasy.
...Just in case, I should go to Edward's house and take all his spare equipment.
As Edward's best friend, Sherlock knew exactly where Edward used to hide them.
Now Aiwas is not yet an official minister without portfolio, nor is he yet a secretary without portfolio... He is not a member of the Supervisory Bureau or the Inspectorate, and without formal authority, his strength as a lawyer is only one tenth of what it was.
But he only needs to borrow Edward's identity.
As long as he wore Edward's gloves, ceremonial sword, pistol, and ID, he would have temporarily obtained Edward's authorization, allowing him to use the power of the Path of Authority.
Of course, he had another option... which was to directly ask the Queen to issue him a special charter. The effect was the same.
But Sherlock didn't want to trouble Her Majesty the Queen, nor did he want her to worry about him...just like Sherlock didn't want to tell his brother about this trip.
——Anyway, he stole things to protect his brother, so just leave a note.
Meanwhile, Aiwass had completely mastered his new skill, [Sunfire]. Seeing it appear on his dashboard confirmed that he had indeed mastered it, and it wasn't just an illusion from being burned too much.
However, it's obviously not very convenient for him to use it at the moment, because there is not enough space for him to test it. Moreover, he is going on a long trip today, and he also needs to save some status.
After returning to the Temple of Silver and Tin for breakfast, Aiwass went to visit the Griffin Minister of Avalon.
The minister lived in the backyard of the Palace of Silver and Tin.
It may be the only two ministers living in the Palace of Silver and Tin.
The other one is Aiwass.
This minister, whose real name is unknown, was enormous. It was the largest griffin Aiwass had ever seen.
The Griffin Minister was currently sprawled on a square, pure white stone, his front paws tucked into his chest like a cat, hidden by the white fur on his chest. His feathers were pure white, like jade. The stone, while somewhat small from a human perspective, barely contained the Griffin Minister's entire body. But for him, it was just right.
Yet, this adorable, cat-like pose appears quite majestic—for no other reason than that it is so huge.
The stone platform was about one meter high, and just with its upper body propped up and lying on it, it was about four meters high.
This is basically the height of a floor. Aiwass has to tilt his head up to talk to it properly.
"Is this year's female chief?"
The Griffin Minister folded his paws and uttered a deep and authoritative voice like an old man: "Then there should have been griffins a long time ago."
"Maybe they wanted to pair her with a white-feathered griffin—after all, she's Meg's last disciple."
Aiwass said with a smile.
This was actually his first time meeting this Griffin Minister, but he wasn't nervous at all... This old man was currently the oldest Griffin in Avalon. He was also the longest-lived Griffin to date.
It has been a "founding elder" that has existed almost since the time of the first Knights of the Round Table.
Now it is unable to fight because it is too old and too heavy... Its body, which would look too fat for a human, looks very pleasing to the eye on a griffin that is half the size of a cat.
It hasn't always been the Griffin Chancellor of Avalon - in fact, the old man has given this position to a human several times.
Because griffins are indeed far less intelligent than humans, and their physiological structure is not convenient for processing various documents. However, because griffins are powerful and can speak, and as the favorites of the Silver Crown Dragon, they do not worry about being treated unfairly.
After all, strictly speaking, the griffin knights, whose lifespan is much shorter than that of the griffins, are nothing more than the griffins' nannies and poop scoopers.
It was simply because it had outlasted the previous Griffin Minister, so it was taking over temporarily until the Queen found a new one. Anyway, it just had to stay here and act as a mascot.
When there are important documents, its secretary will come over and let it peck a beak mark.
This is the advantage of Avalon's civil service system - no matter whether the minister above them is a human or a griffin, the civil servants can complete their work normally. The ministers only need to sign.
As an old griffin, its working ability might be much better than that of a human. At least it wouldn't cause a scandal or be bribed by foreigners.
"Little Meg..."
Minister Griffin said with some nostalgia: "Her vision has always been good. What do you need me to do?"
"Please just peck at this document."
Aiwass squatted on the ground, spread out the document, and pointed to the place where signature was required.
The Griffin Minister did not come down from the stone, but remained motionless.
It simply stretched its neck forward like a spring, and easily lay on the one-meter-high stone and pecked at the document.
"And this."
Aiwass put the file away and took out another file. "Peck here. Um, and here. Here. Okay, thank you for your hard work."
"fine."
The Griffin Minister spoke in a gentle voice, encouragingly, "Your name is Aiwass, right? The Crown Master is watching you... Perform well."
Aiwass's hands trembled, and he smiled bitterly: "Yes, I will definitely work hard."
...Frankly speaking, being watched by the Pillar God is not something to be happy about. This put a lot of pressure on Aiwass.
Fortunately, there were no leaks this time.
The Ritual of Sin took place in the future because of the death of the Fallen Angels, so Aiwass didn't dare to tell anyone a word.
But the Mithraic ritual did exist thousands of years ago, and it is an ancient ritual that has been passed down to this day. It is also a path that can be revived by Sherlock and popularized in Avalon.
Although Aiwass has told many lies using this excuse, this time it is true.
He actually saw this ritual in a book, and it wasn't something he invented out of thin air like he did when he created the Flame-Bending Butterfly.
It's like a priest can pray to gain the help of apostles from other paths, or a blood mage can learn spells from other paths. This is one of the ways that the Path of Wisdom can gain the abilities of other paths.
The first two abilities it acquires in the early stages are precisely the mainstream paths of Avalon: Devotion and Authority. This class is incredibly easy to implement, and even the most complex rituals can be streamlined.
After the symbols on the wall are painted and Heng I pray for them to come, I can kill several cows at once to help several people complete the ceremony. After this group of people completes the ceremony, the ritual on the wall does not need to be wiped off, and the next group can be directly replaced.
Although the Pillar God's gaze cannot be requested too many times in a row, the ritual site does not need to be cleaned up. This can optimize efficiency and costs.
Of course, perhaps the biggest problem is that Avalon simply can't produce so many high-level mages...
We can't let all the mages from the Narcissus Duchy come to Avalon, right?
Then Xingti might really have to fight with Avalon.
...But that's not necessarily the case. If those mages really came to Avalon, perhaps Xingti wouldn't have fought Avalon.
Because then Avalon would have "real weapons of mass destruction."
——Hey, this seems like a solution?
Aiwass fell into deep thought, wondering if he could find a way to recruit some people.
(End of this chapter)
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