When the plot-skips players into the game world

Whether it's Avalon, Star Antimony, or the Iris Flower, when they actually locate spies, they often don't immediately apprehend them. Instead, they follow the trail to hunt for more evidence or even take control of the information being sent back by the spy.

When their own spies are captured overseas, they would immediately arrest some spies under surveillance and engage in a hostage exchange with the other side.

Spies are obligated to keep secrets during interrogation, and the agencies behind the spies are also obliged to ransom their captured spies back.

Usually, the exchange is one for one, but if an important spy is caught, they can demand a two-for-one or even a three-for-one exchange.

However, Sherlock leaving Watson behind wasn't because of his personal friendship with Dr. Watson.

It was because of another very important matter which the Queen also knew about.

That is, Dr. Watson was part of the restoration faction of the Daffodil Territory. The Duchy of Narcissus had an okay relationship with Avalon, and their restoration faction was one that Avalon supported. This was also why the Iris Flower would employ a "hemostasis operation" towards Avalon.

In other words, Dr. Watson's son, Andre, was actually a double agent.

When Dr. Watson sent Andre to the "Chamber," he relied on his connections. His immediate exile to Avalon was also orchestrated by his father, Dr. Watson... This way, it was easier for him to send intelligence to the Duchy of Narcissus from Avalon without being easily detected by the people of the "Chamber."

But over the past few years, the political atmosphere in Star Antimony had gradually become tense. Recently, alchemists and the Demon Scholar clashed openly, even attempting murder on the streets. The superior who looked after Andre has now been expelled from the Chamber amidst political struggles.

In such a scenario, sending Andre back to Star Antimony would be akin to killing him—because he's now highly likely to fail a lie detector test.

Although Detective Watson was very confident, in reality, he hadn't passed Avalon's screening either.

Andre always thought he was protected by his father's "Spell" from being detected.

But in reality, there was no such thing. Or rather, that "Spell" was called "human relations" and "interests."

Because Detective Watson's information gathering was so blatantly indiscreet, the Supervisory Court had long since targeted him.

The intelligence sent back by Detective Watson would be intercepted en route by the Supervisory Court, confirmed to be non-problematic, and then allowed to continue on its way.

Every activation of a spy channel increases the risk of exposure and involves a substantial cost. Therefore, unless the intelligence is extremely important, its volume per transmission should not be too large.

This is why the "Chamber" trains spies to synthesize and analyze what they see and hear, trying to discern the scent of major events from a range of data and details, then consolidate possible conjectures before sending back the summary.

Since many spies are dispatched simultaneously, there is no need to worry about biased information—the many perspectives gathered can often pinpoint a deeper and more complete picture of the incident.

Among all the spies from the "Chamber," Detective Watson's conclusions tend to be the most outlandish.

Yet the Supervisory Court would deliberately echo his bizarre deductions, reminiscent of second-rate detective novels, in order to make the fabricated intelligence seem real.

For this reason...

One could say that Detective Watson, under the strenuous efforts of the Avalonians to protect him, had not been recalled by Star Antimony for sending back too much junk or incorrect intelligence and could still utilize resources from Star Antimony.

Sherlock had obtained information about "Professor Moriarty" and the "Lohar Society" from Watson's channels at the time of his investigation.

Because of their decent relationship, Sherlock didn't have much trouble extracting this intelligence.

If he had gone through official channels for the investigation, Sherlock definitely would have found out nothing.

Given Professor Moriarty's status, it's likely that "Sherlock is investigating himself" would have reached Moriarty Manor even before Sherlock began his attempts to investigate.

This so-called "frenemy" status—someone who's not quite a friend, but with whom one can exchange a few words—was Sherlock's source of intelligence.
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The saying goes, "A clever wife cannot cook without rice"... Without enough intelligence, even an excellent detective can hardly deduce the truth of an event.

...However, Watson actually managed to find Eagle Cape Village.

Sherlock realized that he had underestimated him.

"There's one more thing, Detective Watson."

Little Sherlock, holding his newly acquired walking stick, unapologetically prodded him—nowadays, Watson's life depended almost entirely on his care, and in a sense, it wouldn't be too much for the other party to address him as a stepfather. Therefore, Sherlock showed no hesitation in his directness.

"...Please, go ahead."

Although Watson didn't quite understand why the short man was so bold, he keenly sensed Sherlock's attitude and confidence. Thus, he was very deferential to the child's "Newsboy with a cane" demeanor.

"Why did you come to Eagle Cape Village? Why did you think that Sherlock was in Eagle Cape Village?"

Sherlock asked sharply.

He had come to Eagle Cape Village after shrinking, following Aiwass.

Meaning, if Watson had tracked him through normal channels, he shouldn't have known about his arrival in Eagle Cape Village at all.

But he did not know that he himself was Sherlock Hermes.

Sherlock had to interrogate himself to make sure he hadn't overlooked anything—or rather, to consider the possibility that someone who knew about this matter had leaked information.

However, Watson's response was completely unexpected for Sherlock: "I did not come here in pursuit of Mr. Hermes."

"No?"

"I came following Aiwass Moriarty."

Watson answered seriously, "He disappeared here for a while before. After he returned, a lot of significant events transpired on Glass Island... I believe this place is key."

—It was almost after Aiwass's return from here that Princess Isabel suddenly became ruthless and unscrupulous.

If Aiwass's return trip symbolized some important change, then in the absence of access to Aiwass and the fear of approaching him, he had no choice but to indirectly investigate the events Aiwass had experienced.

He had already relayed the intelligence that "Avalon might form an alliance with the Iris Flower and declare war on Star Antimony" back to the Mage Tower but had not yet shared it with Star Antimony.

Because he still had his doubts.

If this intelligence were to be relayed back, it might have a significant impact. So he held onto the hope that it wasn't so, looking for evidence that would allow him to discard this conjecture.

"Significant events?"

Sherlock raised an eyebrow: "What significant events?"

Watson hesitated for a moment, but a mysterious impulse, and trust in the child before him, made him unthinkingly put forth his speculation—after all, it was just a groundless guess: "I suspect that under the influence of the great nobleman Aiwass Moriarty, Avalon may actively declare war on Star Antimony!"

"... Huh?"

Sherlock paused for a moment.

He felt Watson's logic was incoherent, completely unfathomable.

So he could only helplessly tap his knee, signaling him to get up: "Let's go back to Glass Island, Mr. Watson. There's nothing here anymore. If you care about what he did here, I can tell you about it on the way.

"And if you're looking for dirt on Aiwass, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed.

"He did indeed appear here—but he was involved in a fight to the death with the leader of the Noble Red. This is no secret, and I can assure you of its veracity, Mr. Watson. You might as well record all this in your ridiculous novel."

Little Sherlock spoke calmly.

Meanwhile, at another place.

On a luxury cruise ship at the harbor, a voluptuous and alluring woman disembarked.

She was dressed in an elegant yellow gown with butterfly-like black dots, which from afar looked like so many eyes.

Her skin was as white as snow, and her bust was impressively large, like sweet and soft mounds of cake.

What made her even more conspicuous was her platinum curly hair and tender, pink pupils.

She had barely stepped off the ship when the crowd screamed with welcome.

They held up signs with the name "Emma" and parted a path through the crowd.

People whispered in surprise asking who "Emma" was, nearly inciting angry fans to violent outbursts.

But before a fight could break out, Arbiters clad in shining silver armor arrived at the scene, maintained order, and prevented the conflict.

More Arbiters arrived one after another, nodding respectfully towards Lady Emma.

Emma simply smiled graciously, waved to the crowd, and elicited even more intense cheers.

Watching the crowd push, curse, and even come to blows just to be near her, she narrowed her eyes slightly, revealing a pleased and alluring smile.

That lusciously tempting sigh, with her breath, gradually permeated the entire harbor area.

And the Arbitration Hall Knights, seemingly presiding over order, already seemed to encircle the entire harbor area. They watched each other warily and attentively.

—Even without the intelligence from the Supervisory Court, without the eyes of the Gryphons.

When the people on Glass Island smelled that sweet, cloying scent in the air, an illusion like agitation, they knew enough...

That the top powerhouse of Star Antimony's Fifth Power Level, one of the leaders of the Demon Scholar, Countess Emma, the current First Secretary of the Red Chancellor—had arrived in Avalon openly and unabashedly.

She came in the name of peace.