When the plot-skips players into the game world

"As a mortal yet possessing such a close connection to those great beings of the Dream Realm... that's even more astonishing than the reincarnation of a Celestial Marshal or an Angel Envoy. I dare not divine his future any longer... I can see his chaotic threads of fate, and following the clearer threads, I behold those great existences — that is probably a kind warning."

Otherwise, she might have fainted on the spot. Whether she can wake up now is hard to say.

As an Adapter, she chose to follow the guidance of her heart.

After discussing Aiwass with Sherlock for a while, Mrs. Mina went to make breakfast.

Although Sherlock insisted that only his appearance had changed, Mrs. Mina still firmly refused his request for hot apple cider.

After Mrs. Mina left, Sherlock, curled up on the couch, fell into deep thought.

— He always felt Mrs. Mina was hinting at something.

Was she saying they might encounter danger this time? Or that Aiwass was a chess piece of the Celestial Marshals?

What danger could their group possibly encounter?

Himself at dual third Energy Level, Hayna at the third, the Priest at the third and even mixed with an undisclosed level of the Transcendence Path profession, and then his mysteriously appearing maid... Sherlock felt they could even easily defeat fourth-level powerhouses. Because their combat strength was simply not on the same scale as those of regular third-level.

But still, hearing Mina speak of Aiwass's chaotically intertwined fate, Sherlock felt a pang of apprehension.

... Just to be safe, he should visit Edward's house and bring all his backup equipment.

As Edward's close friend, Sherlock knew exactly where he tended to hide them.

Now, as Aiwass was not yet officially the Minister of the Department of Care of Magical Creatures, nor was he the Department's secretary... He was neither from the Supervisory Bureau nor the Supervisory Court, without official authorization, his strength as a Legal Mage was a mere fraction of its potential.

But he could simply borrow Edward's identity.

Just by taking Edward's gloves, ceremonial sword, pistol, and identification, he would be temporarily granted Edward's authorization. Only then could he wield the power of the Path of Authority.

Of course, he had another method... which was to directly ask the Queen for a special warrant. The effect would be the same.

However, Sherlock did not wish to trouble Her Majesty. Nor did he want to make her worry about him... just as Sherlock did not wish to inform his brother of this journey.

— After all, he was stealing things to protect his younger brother; leaving a note should do the trick.

Meanwhile, Aiwass had fully mastered the new skill [Dawnfire] — seeing it appear on his panel confirmed that he had indeed acquired it. It was no illusion caused by getting burned too many times.

However, he clearly still found it inconvenient to use at the moment, for there was not enough space for him to test it. And he needed to conserve his state for the long journey ahead today.

After freeloading breakfast at the Hall of Silver and Tin, Aiwass then visited the Gryphon Minister of Avalon.

This minister lived in the backyard of the Hall of Silver and Tin.

He might be one of only two ministers residing at the Hall of Silver and Tin.

The other was Aiwass.

This minister, whose true name was not known, was extremely large. It was the biggest gryphon Aiwass had ever seen.

The Gryphon Minister was currently lying atop a square block of pure white stone, with its cat-like front paws tucked under its chest, hidden by the white fluff of its chest, its entire body's feathers as pure white as jade. To human eyes, the stone would seem a little cramped, but it fit the entire body of the Gryphon Minister perfectly.

And such a cat-like adorable pose appeared quite majestic — the reason was simple; it was enormous.

The platform was almost one meter high. Just having its upper body propped up on it made it about four meters tall.

That was nearly the height of a building. Aiwass had to look up to talk to it properly.

"The top female student of this cohort?"

With paws tucked in, the Gryphon Minister spoke in a deep and authoritative voice like an old man, "She should have had a griffon by now, shouldn't she?"

"I think they previously wanted to assign her a White-Feathered Griffon — after all, she is considered Meg's last apprentice."

Aiwass said with a smiling expression.

He was actually meeting the Gryphon Minister for the first time, but appeared utterly unfazed... This old gentleman was currently Avalon's eldest gryphon and the longest-living gryphon to date.

He was almost a foundational minister from the era of the original Knights of the Round Table.

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Now, because it's too old and heavy to fight... A body that would seem too fat for a human looks quite pleasing on a griffon that's half cat.

The griffon minister of Avalon wasn't always him—in fact, the old geezer had ceded the position to humans several times.

Because griffons indeed aren't as clever as humans, and their physiology isn't convenient for dealing with all kinds of documents. And because griffons are powerful and can speak, as the pets of the Silver-Crowned Dragon, they don't worry about being treated unjustly.

After all, strictly speaking, the griffon knights, who live considerably shorter lives than the griffons, are nothing more than their nannies and poop-scoopers.

It's just that because it outlived the previous griffon minister, it's acting as the temporary replacement until the queen finds a new griffon minister. Anyway, all it needs to do is sit here and be a mascot.

When important documents come, its secretary will ask it to peck a seal on them.

That's the beauty of Avalon's bureaucratic system—whether their minister is a human or a griffon, the bureaucrats can carry out their work as normal. The ministers just need to sign off on things.

And as an old griffon, perhaps its working capacity is even greater than that of humans. At least it won't cause a scandal or be bribed by foreigners.

"Little Meg..."

The griffon minister nostalgically reminisced, "Her judgment was always sound. Do you need me to do something?"

"Just peck this document here, please."

Aiwass squatted on the ground, spreading out the document and pointing to where a signature was needed.

The griffon minister did not descend from the rock but stayed still.

It merely extended its neck like a spring, effortlessly leaning from its perch a meter high to peck at the document.

"And this one."

Aiwass put away that document and pulled out another, "Peck here. Yes, and here. And here. Good, thank you for your trouble."

"It's nothing."

The griffon minister's voice was gentle, encouraging, "Your name is Aiwass, right? The Crown Lord is watching you... make a good impression."

Aiwass's hand trembled, and he said with a wry smile, "Yes, I'll do my best."

...To be frank, being watched by a Pillar God isn't exactly something to be happy about. This put Aiwass under quite a bit of pressure.

Fortunately, there were no leaks this time.

The Great Sin Ritual is something that happens in the future because the Fallen Celestial Marshal kicks the bucket, so Aiwass doesn't dare tell a word to anyone.

But the Mithra Ritual truly existed thousands of years ago in the past, an ancient ritual that was actually passed down in the Parthian Ancient Country and indeed could be revived through Sherlock, becoming prevalent in Avalon.

Although Aiwass used this excuse to tell many lies before, this time it was true.

He really could read about the ritual from a book, unlike when he had to concoct the Defiant Flame Butterfly out of thin air. Discover stories with My Virtual Library Empire

It's like a priest being able to seek help from other Path followers through prayers, or a Blood Magus learning spells from other Paths. It was one way for the Path of Wisdom to acquire abilities from other Paths.

And the first two powers it initially received were precisely Avalon's mainstream Paths—Dedication and Authority. This job could be said to be pressure-free to promote, with even the most troublesome rituals being streamlined on an assembly line.

After painting the symbols on the wall, and having called upon the Eternal Self for attention, one could slaughter several cows at once to help several people complete the ritual. After one batch completed their ritual, there was no need to wipe the wall clean—just bring in the next batch.

Although the Pillar God's attention couldn't be requested too frequently, there was no need to tidy up the ritual site. This optimized both efficiency and cost.

Of course, perhaps the biggest issue is that Avalon simply can't conjure up that many high-level mages...

You can't have all the mages from the Narcissus Duchy coming over to Avalon, can you?

If that happened, Star Antimony would really have a bone to pick with Avalon.

...But maybe not necessarily. If those mages actually came over to Avalon, perhaps Star Antimony would not pick a fight after all.

Because then Avalon would be "genuinely armed with weapons of mass destruction."

— Eh, could that be a solution?

Aiwass fell into deep thought, pondering whether he could find a way to coax some people over.

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