Every morning, a Kung-Fuist who finishes Breath Control, establishes the day’s chivalry agenda, and puts it into action is the sa as one who, even if he falls into a maze-like inner demon amid the chaotic martial world, is still gripping the ten-thousand-year heavenly silkworm thread that surely leads to an exit.
-Victor Hugo-
“To hasten the ti when the Vermilion Phoenix’s chick hatches, is it…?”
Elder Darwin looked dazed, as if he had taken no small shock, but soon showed a faint smile.
Compared to those who live on nothing but the sword, Elder Darwin was indeed the type of Kung-Fuist who carried the thick scent of ink.
However, he was the North Star of Mysticobiology, a polymath among Kung-Fu scholars who had long enforced his will in the martial world with nothing but his fists.
The virtues of an old veteran who had carved his mark into martial world history after countless crises were not limited to outstanding force alone.
The fact that he was still alive with all four limbs intact at the age of seventy-two suggested many things to .
People of the martial world who made many enemies in their youth yet still enjoyed a comfortable old age generally fell into two types.
Either their skill did not decline even with age, and they repelled every ambush.
Or they precisely understood Murim people’s common mindset and knew how the dynamics of grudge and grace were ford.
“A clever move.”
I could not know which type Elder Darwin was, since I had not known him long, but it was certain he understood the way of conduct of Kung-Fuists in the latter category.
“Even in the Galapagos, where spirit beasts struggle without end, few beasts are eager to rush to an early death. If you live holding the resolve of a suicide attack, you can earn the fear of the wise.”
“That is exactly it.”
If we bound the Tsar in London and made the Vermilion Phoenix’s chick hatch earlier than scheduled, I guarantee sothing quite delightful will happen.
Humans are dull creatures.
No matter what pain it is, one cannot empathize without experiencing it firsthand.
If he wanted to burn this lovely city, would it not be fair for the Tsar himself to feel even a little of the Vermilion Phoenix’s heat as well.
“With that, the direction is roughly set. Thank you for your cooperation. However, may I borrow the materials Elder Gould left behind for a ti? I want to read the rest before handling the matter.”
Apart from personal interest, I wanted to check in more detail the information the late Elder Gould obtained while observing the chick.
To carry out the plan smoothly, it was necessary to grasp concretely the process by which the Vermilion Phoenix’s young broke out of the egg.
I considered reading it here and then leaving, but for now it seed better to save ti and finish checking the material while moving by carriage.
Above all, it would be easier to move the Butler Agency if I showed it to Mycroft as well.
“Hm…”
anwhile, Elder Darwin looked unwilling.
“I can return it in three days, but it seems it was an unreasonable request after all.”
It was the reaction I expected.
If a Super Junior he t for the first ti today said he would take a secret manual left by a Kung-Fu scholar who had been his close friend, how many people would permit that.
If he would not permit it, then I had no choice but to spend so ti and read it all before leaving.
That was what I thought, but.
“It cannot be helped. The situation is urgent.”
“You will permit it? Thank you!”
Elder Darwin’s answer betrayed my expectation in a good way.
“However, there is one condition. Since you would borrow a precious secret manual from , I too would like to keep sothing of value in trust during that ti.”
No. Perhaps in a bad way.
“…Is there sothing you want in particular?”
“Your cane will do.”
“This is a distinct weapon my master left to .”
“I know.”
A demand that was sowhat out of the blue, and impossible to understand.
Only after hesitating for a long ti could I make up my mind.
A little later.
“Haa…”
I was sitting alone in the carriage seat.
In my hand was the draft of A Century of Birds I had obtained from Elder Darwin.
“…In the end, I did bring this back.”
I did not expect Elder Darwin, of all things, to try to take the Heavenly Demon Cane as collateral.
No matter how precious the material Elder Gould left was, to tell to leave behind my master’s sacred token.
No. From the mont he told to hand over my weapon to another Kung-Fuist, it was a remark that crossed the line.
To think that mild old man would make such an absurd demand.
“It is fortunate I made him compromise within reason…”
Needless to say, I refused Elder Darwin’s proposal.
No matter how much I loathed my master, the Heavenly Demon Cane was a cherished weapon as good as my life.
Perhaps I could show it briefly, but there was no way I could leave it in another’s hand for three days.
Above all, Elder Darwin still had a secret he had not revealed to yet.
“…Should I be glad I noticed in ti?”
I had steadied my Qi Frequency as much as possible and disguised a calm manner, but he couldn’t deceive my eyes.
Elder Darwin was suffering from a severe inner-demon.
Earlier, because Watson and Mrs. Darwin were present, I intentionally avoided ntioning it, but the symptoms he showed were those seen in n who had given their inner-demon an opening while facing the wall and the like.
If I sought a close example at once, Her Majesty once had those eyes during a Sword Debate chess match with .
Perhaps his fixation on the Heavenly Demon Cane too was an act ant to overco his inner-demon. Though I could not even guess what, specifically, he intended.
“Well, I must return Elder Gould’s manuscript anyway, so I will have to ask again then why he wanted the Heavenly Demon Cane.”
Elder Darwin lent the precious material on the condition that later, he would examine the Heavenly Demon Cane in front of .
When I visited his estate again, my curiosity would likely be resolved as well.
“There won’t be any trouble…, will there?”
For now, I should handle the imdiate concern first.
-Knock knock-
When I knocked on the carriage wall, the small sliding door connected to the driver’s seat opened.
“What is it, sir?”
A bright, brisk driver’s voice.
But I knew it was put on.
“Stop with the acting. That doesn’t suit you.”
/
The driver replied not with his voice but with a Direct ssage, then removed his mask.
So much for ‘silent practice,’ when he could put on a voice so well while disguised.
“Recently I opened my minor ridians, so my five senses have grown keen. You could have at least concealed the scent of Dusk Ink.”
/
“Then the note I sent through Watson?”
/
“Good.”
When I heard from Mycroft in front of Claridge’s that Butler Agency agents went about disguised as drivers, the first thing that ca to mind was sothing from my previous life.
Before I went for a suicide attack with Moriarty, Watson and I fled abroad to evade the killers he sent.
In that process, we repeatedly joined and split up while shaking off villains, and on the first day of flight, the driver who took Watson to the station had been Mycroft in disguise.
I never dread I would live to ride in a carriage driven by my own elder brother, but one does learn by living long.
/
“I found what I wanted.”
Before I examined the material, I explained to Mycroft the matter of the Vermilion Phoenix’s chick and the outline of the plan.
/
“The Tsar’s plan must have been to freeze the egg with the House of Romanov’s fierce ice arts and take it to Saint Petersburg. The closer the Vermilion Phoenix’s chick is to hatching, the stronger its intent becos, so once it is frozen, it won’t be able to properly inform its mother or father of its location.”
/
“If we hatch the egg early and then head to the sea with the chick, it ans we can lure the Vermilion Phoenix.”
/
Mycroft nodded heavily.
The plan after securing the egg is already decided.
Bind the Tsar’s feet, and return the chick to the Vermilion Phoenix.
Simply executing this simple concept would make the Tsar swallow a big mouthful of water.
/
“That is why I recruited a Civil Engineering expert.”
/
“I will tell you that separately later.”
/
“She is the party leader of the Afternoon Tea Party. Shouldn’t it be normal that she is difficult to deceive?”
/
“For a Butler Agency Chief not to even know that. Why not wash your hands with a gold basin and leave the martial world already.”
Of course, it was sothing I learned after eting Moriarty, but if I could mock Mycroft, there was no need to choose ans and thods.
/
“If the upper water is clear, the lower water will be clear.”
/
“I do not know why you vent your anger in the wrong place.”
/
“Did you just change the subject?”
Mycroft continued as if nothing had happened.
“Answer, Sherlock. How do you intend to steal the Vermilion Phoenix’s egg held by the unorthodox ringleader of a vast intelligence organization? Will you enter the party leader’s estate and leisurely set up civil engineering to show hallucinations? Will they leave you alone?”
“Didn’t I say it? She is not a woman who would fall for a half-baked trap.”
/
“All I need to do is this.”
I took a handkerchief from my coat and held it out to Mycroft.
That’s right. It was Irene Adler’s handkerchief. The one I had shown to Moriarty and then retrieved.
“Of course I must go to the estate in person. The hoowner even invited , saying I could co anyti.”
/
“Stop spouting nonsense. In any case, once I get inside, I will certainly steal the egg.”
In my mind, mories of entering Irene Adler’s ho before my regression were reviving.
I did not intend to use exactly the sa thod as then, but as I revisited those mories, a new stratagem ca to mind that would fluster her.
“I have a stratagem that will completely knock that woman’s wits out, so leave it to .”
That is why one must be careful when inviting into one’s ho a man one has only t a few tis.
No matter how upright a gentleman he appears to be, until he shows his true nature, you can’t know what dark intent he harbors.
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