The Shepherds Are Dense-Chapter 3: Moriarty Aiwass

Now, the Shadowfiend summoned through the ritual resided in the shadow beneath Aiwass's feet.
He sat in a wheelchair—not for the reason that his legs were offered to the Shadowfiend and immobilized, but because to step on his own shadow would activate the Shadowfiend and cause it to take on a physical body.
This was something he had requested the elderly butler as soon as he had awakened.
Now, because at the moment, his [Shadow Affinity] was too low.
The Shadowfiend was a high-level demon. Shadow Affinity had to be level 3 or more to dominate it, level 5 to become one with it.
Previously, he could only summon part of the Shadowfiend's power to wield as "abilities."
Although the Shadowfiend would not attack him—indeed, thanks to the contract, it would guard Aiwass—it was still autonomous, out of his control.
From this perspective, demonologists who bind low-grade demons are akin to individuals walking dogs.
But Aiwass? He was the dog, being walked.
Sealing the Shadowfiend wasn't something "Aiwass" would have known.
It was derived from recollections of another realm.
Moriarty Aiwass.
Paths.
Demonologist.
Kingdom of Avalon.
This world belonged to an MMORPG titled
Ouroboros Ring
.
The game had been created and released by their firm,
Faceless God Studio
.
He referred to "their company," but in reality, Aiwass had nothing to do with the development of the game.
He wasn't even part of the dev team.
He had just recently joined the company as an HR manager—Human Resources.
Aiwass left his previous job three years ago and was left unemployed.
Suffering a feeling of fatigue of life, and having reasonable savings, he took himself an extended vacation.
It was during this period that his best friend dragged him into the game.
That friend was one of the game's narrative designers—continuously hyping the game in his ear, blabbing nonstop about the Easter eggs he'd written.
Finally, Aiwass relented and gave the game a try.
It was actually a good game—if a little grind-heavy.
But it served to kill time during unemployment.
Later, he learned that
Faceless God Studio
was looking to hire.
Having cleared the cooldown period, he applied.
Initially, he had hoped to get his foot in the door at game writing, but the company selected him once again for HR.
He had no choice but to take it—HR was still a salary position, after all.
But before he had even completed the onboarding process, he was struck by a construction van—right while crossing the street responding to a message from his boss—and brought into this world.
'If I'd known I'd transmigrate, I would've read more internal docs or scrolled more lore threads!'
That was his biggest mistake.
Because essentially, Aiwass had never really had much interest in the game's story or characters.
He was an extreme grinder who avoided lore.
Although he'd picked up a lot of secret settings, character histories, and coming main plot points by talking to friends or hanging out in chat groups.
He never had an interest in the main story.
The side quests and characters were more enjoyable.
Aiwass had entered the game during patch 3.0.
Immediately after defeating the first raid boss, he used a Main Story Book to complete all the pre-3.0 quests at once.
In his leveling process, and in entering dungeons, he skipped all the cutscenes he could.
The non-skippable ones got constant click-fast forwarded.
With this, Aiwass had very few memories of the early main story.
What he recalled more vividly were the latter sections, thanks to the well-crafted raid cutscenes.
At the beginning of the main storyline, the "Aiwass" had already been seen.
It was during Year 1898 of the Libra Calendar when he was abducted and employed in a summon ritual.
A passing "player" inadvertently destroyed the ward that kept intruders off, and stumbled over onto the altar of sacrifice.
At the crucial time, Aiwass feigned that he had already informed on the Inquisition, and stated he was guiding the Griffin Riders in their direction.
The two cultists panicked and ran away.
Aiwass was saved by the player.
He then entertained the impoverished, ID-less, and homeless player in his home, providing food and rest.
Then, Aiwass would attend school with the player, develop alongside them, and assist in investigating the tragedy—only to learn the case went all the way into the Kingdom's upper echelons.
Because Aiwass was threatened by a crisis that could take his life, his sister Yulia lost her grip.
After being enthralled by Bloodcrystal, she became the "Phantomfiend: Butterfly of Reversed Flame," the first 8-player raid boss.
This was the first Phantomfiend players ever had in the game.
She was curled up within a glowing, amber-colored butterfly body, enclosed in flame-essence wings.
Since it was a low-rank dungeon, this 8-player raid tended to be displayed daily—players found themselves battling Yulia three to four times per week on average.
Yulia did not wish to harm Aiwass.
So she had no actual mechanics or hostility—typical tutorial boss: attack what spawns, avoid what falls.
At high levels, you might disregard mechanics and burst her down.
Defeating Yulia prior to accessing the Main Story Book provided special cosmetic rewards.
Ultimately, she was killed.
Her soul weakened, she became a blazing butterfly.
Aiwass contracted her as his first familiar, keeping her essence with the hopes of bringing her back to life one day.
He searched for the fabled "Amberworm" master who was claimed to possess the art of resurrection.
In Patch 5.0, Aiwass got his new power at last.
Capable of imprisoning supposedly indestructible Phantomfiends in cards and employing them to give his familiars special abilities, Aiwass was endowed with his much-anticipated power boost.
He never reappeared in player raids from then on.
He was a cutscene-only character—putting Phantomfiends down in dramatic CGs.
".Brother?"
As Aiwass's thoughts had reached this stage, a youth's voice echoed.
He stood motionless.
Haiena, bubbling with enthusiasm over "Sherlock and deduction," turned automatically towards the sound.
There, in the doorway, was a little girl—silent as a ghost.
"When you awoke yesterday, I was sleeping.
When I awoke, you'd already passed out."
She rubbed her eyes and looked rather hurt and puzzled.
"Brother, why… are you in a wheelchair?"
"—And who's she?"
She had on a matching white fleece pajama set like Aiwass's.
Silver locks to her shoulders, rose-colored eyes.
Her face was pale and delicate—hinting at a white cat or bunny.
A contrast, as if on purpose, to Aiwass's sun-like, stunning beauty.
Their appearance, hair, and eyes indicated that—they were not related by blood.
But they did possess the same delicate energy.
In fact, her ill energy was even more pronounced than his.
Her complexion was pale to a pale translucence.
Even standing in the doorway, she leaned barely against it, shifting her weight to one side to avoid straining.
'Such an adorable girl!'
Haiena's eyes sparkled.
She felt like she'd seen a cute pet—hoping to get close, but afraid she would frighten it off.
"It's alright, Yuli. It's only temporary.
This is Senior Haiena. She was wondering about a couple of questions."
Aiwass smiled, addressing her by the same nickname from his memory.
But for some inexplicable reason, the name sounded a bit off—uncomfortable in his mouth.
As if out of the blue, addressing a long-time friend by their full rather than a nickname.
After a moment's haze, he softly flung his arms around Yulia.
"Come on. Hug me."
"…Okay."
Yulia moved obediently over—half-asleep still, her movements unsteady, as if she were going to fall over at any moment.
When she hugged him and leaned into him, Aiwass was momentarily dazed.
At this instant, he was embracing Yulia—but also… another world.
Upon acquiring the "prophetic" memories of his former life, Aiwass had a chill for the future.
Yulia would become a monster… and perish.
In this moment, his recollections and reality became one—completely merged.
The two lives were now uncomplicatedly clear.
As if awakened rudely from a nightmare, at last aware of what was a nightmare and what was real.
It had taken two days since his memories came back to realize that this wasn't a dream.
He actually transmigrated.
He had been here in this world since early childhood.
It was only two days ago that he recalled who he actually was.
And he also figured something else—
This story was already diverging from the game.
In the original game, Aiwass never got infected with the Shadowfiend.
Because the summoning ritual was disrupted by the player and never finished.
Which probably meant.
There were
no "player characters"
within this universe.
In a epic fantasy MMORPG, players typically play one-time saviors.
If it's an MMO, they're repeating, high-frequency, low-tolerance saviors.
Each big patch, the world needed saving once more.
That meant serious business for him.
Because players were canonically the descendants of the Serpent-Father, one of the Nine Pillar Gods and lord of the [Path of Transcendence].
That heritage provided them with levels, experience points, and growth with no obstacles or natural talent.
Story-wise, they defeated all the bosses single-handedly.
But Aiwass—while an important character—was still no match for world-ending villains such as the "Fallen Choir," the "Calamity Dragon," or "Avalon's Shadow."
Aiwass was aware that something would occur to the Kingdom of Avalon within half a year.
He did not remember the entire main plot, but he remembered the version update timetables.
What he had said to Haiena wasn't a lie.
The kingdom actually would be devastated in six months.
And the accident that they now investigated—the demon summoning ritual—was also connected to it.
But now, Aiwass had the opportunity to turn everything around.
To turn fate—
He wrapped Yulia tighter in his arms instinctively.
The girl, always keen-witted, sensed something.
"Brother?"
".It's nothing."
Aiwass smiled calmly.
"I just… had a lengthy dream yesterday.
In the dream, Yulia abandoned me."
But at that time, he obviously sensed Yulia stiffen in his arms.
'Hm'
There was a slight change on the part of Aiwass.
Attempting to disguise it, Yulia suddenly inquired,
"How long will you be staying in the wheelchair?"
"About… a year, I suppose?"
Aiwass turned to the old butler.
"The doctor told us so, wasn't he?"
"Yes, Master Aiwass."
The butler replied readily.
"So, shall we seek another year of leave? You've already been away on leave for three months."
It was a falsehood.
On both sides.
No doctor had told Aiwass to use a wheelchair.
It was his own decision.
Demonologists who couldn’t yet control their contracted demons often sealed them this way.
They also avoided sudden movements, kept their heart rate low, and even took medication to suppress it—all common techniques for suppressing demons.
"No need," Aiwass said.
"Once this incident is resolved, I’ll return to school."
"…This incident?"
Haiena only now realized something.
In that instant… Aiwass’s demeanor shifted.
She recognized this sensation all too well.
During her first year of university, she believed she was still the prodigy from a far-off town.
Then came the final for astrology—barely passed.
That revelation shook her awake.
She was not just some untouchable prodigy.
She was a diligent genius at best.
She worked diligently enough from that time forward to graduate with the seven-petal stamp—a sign of perfection.
But it began with that burning-red three-petal stamp, branded by Professor Moriarty.
For everyone else, it meant passing. For her, it was a slap in the face.
That was the energy Aiwass conveyed to her now.
The sensation of waking up from a dream when you look at your grades—
"Yes. I'll join the investigation."
Aiwass affirmed.
"If they kidnapped me once, they'll kidnap me again.
I won't feel safe until that cult is destroyed."
"I won't be able to sit here waiting for a result I may not approve of.
So I will investigate as well."
Haiena felt uncomfortable.
Obviously, a dig at the Inquisition's plodding ways.
Constrained by "protocol," they had to everything up the chain and adhere to every procedure.
Thus, they did nothing—and required external assistance.
Such as Sherlock, a renowned detective in the newspapers.
He graduated from the Royal Law University, but did not become a member of the Inquisition or Judiciary.
Now, as an independent special consultant, without constraint, he cracked big cases and outshone many of his colleagues.
"If Miss Haiena is unable to make up her mind, maybe you could transmit my message to your chief."
Aiwass clasped his hands in a peaceful gesture.
"You'd have to write a complete on our discussion anyway, wouldn't you?"
Somehow, Haiena was reminded of the Inquisition interviewers.