The Shepherds Are Dense

Chapter 150. The Moriarty Family

After retrieving the wheelchair, Lily brought Aiwass and Yulia back to 14 Ronin Street, where she poured tea for them.She recounted her recent experience and the “family secret” Oswald had shared.

“The Droste family’s guardian…” Aiwass murmured, fingers tapping unconsciously on his wheelchair—a habit when deep in thought.

He needed to find a way to kill Minister Droste.

The guardian posed a problem. Avalon’s elven guardians, former papal guards, were elite warriors. Worse, they were virtuous, symbols of the Theocracy’s honor and the bond between it and Avalon.

Killing one with underhanded tactics would escalate matters, potentially turning Droste’s death into an international incident, spiraling beyond Aiwass’s control and defying his foresight.

It was best if Droste, that old schemer, died quietly.

Fortunately, Lily’s account suggested Diomedes held some dissatisfaction with Droste.

After leaving the Inspectorate, Oswald had warned Lily of potential danger and explained the rules governing the Theocracy’s guardians and the essence of the Moriarty family.

In short, they protected not the family head, Avalon, the Queen, or her heirs, but solely the “continuation of bloodlines.”

The Moriarty family was an exception. From its inception, it relied on adoption. Among Avalon’s twenty founding families, only the Moriartys sought genius foster children to inherit their legacy, generation after generation, embodying “the possibility of change.”

“According to Mr. Oswald,” Lily said to Aiwass and Yulia, “the apostle Mordred, the Moriarty family’s origin, was himself an adopted son.”

Mordred had a wife and two children, but he also chose a foster son, passing down his skills. After ascending as an apostle, this foster son inherited his position.

Lily continued, “Later, Mordred’s two biological sons opposed him, making a grave mistake—they allied with remnant giants. His foster son hunted them down and killed them himself.”

Afterward, the foster son changed his surname to Moriarty, becoming Constantine Moriarty, Avalon’s first Moriarty.

“He was a noble knight,” Lily relayed. “Having killed his foster father’s children, he refused to let his own inherit the Moriarty name or wealth, feeling it would be like usurping his foster father’s legacy. From then on, the Moriarty family passed only to adopted heirs.”

“I see…” Aiwass murmured.

This explained the absence of ancestral portraits in the household. Each Moriarty looked different, and revealing this early might make foster heirs see themselves as legitimate successors, undermining the adoption’s purpose.

Then, another realization hit. “This is just like the Lloyd Society!”

The Moriarty family’s inheritance, minus the bloodshed, mirrored the Lloyd Society’s succession mechanism.

This secret was likely reserved for the next family head during a transition. Oswald sharing it with Lily, Aiwass’s maid, suggested he was prepared for the possibility that Professor Moriarty might not return. If so, Aiwass was the legitimate heir.

“Oswald likely wants me, as the Moriarty head, to negotiate with the Droste family to protect you,” Aiwass said, eyes narrowing. “This opens a new possibility.

“Droste might not truly want to kill you. He could be waiting for me to plead for your life.”

“What?” Lily blinked, startled.

Aiwass explained calmly, “Let’s break it down. The starting point is that Droste believes ‘Mr. Gray’ is from the Lloyd Society, a disciple of Lady Greygreen. His assassination order is real but impulsive.

“The first possibility is revenge against me for linking his assassinated secretary to a smuggling case, which led to Droste’s scrutiny by the Inspectorate after an Iris Kingdom attempt on his life.”

That explained Diomedes’ presence at the Inspectorate.

“But there’s another angle,” Aiwass continued. “He might want me to know he’s targeting you, not caring if the assassination succeeds, only that it happens quickly. There’s no guarding against a persistent threat forever. Without concrete evidence of his order, he can keep funding assassins, keeping you in danger.

“He’s waiting for me to beg. Given his ties to the Lloyd Society, he likely knows the professor is probably dead, making me the next Moriarty head. If I, his primary adversary, align with him, the Droste family’s crisis might dissolve.

“If I fail to protect you, it’s a desperate deterrent. Everyone knows his days are numbered, but no one dares provoke a dying beast lest it bites back. This could buy him time.”

Aiwass sighed. “The old fox has some moves. Thanks to Oswald’s intel, I didn’t fall into his trap.”

Yulia, already told of their foster father’s possible death, showed little reaction but caught another detail. “Is Minister Droste our enemy?”

“He’s enemy,” Aiwass corrected, patting her head. “He’s Lily’s biological father, yet he had her mother killed and now targets her to strike at me.”

Yulia’s eyes flashed with ferocity, like a hissing kitten, more cute than intimidating.

Without hesitation, she asked, “Are you going to kill him, Brother?”

“Yes,” Aiwass said softly, stroking her head. “I’m figuring out how to bypass Diomedes’ protection. Droste’s likely a fourth-tier jurist, not weak himself. If the fight drags on, Diomedes will intervene, duty-bound, despite any personal dislike for Droste.”

Aiwass had means to kill quickly—the shadow demon was a perfect tool and excuse.

The challenge was separating them.

Droste, paranoid about death, rarely went anywhere without his elven butler, relying on secretaries for dealings due to his many enemies.

Aiwass couldn’t devise a perfect solution yet.

But he needed to set the stage for the shadow demon soon. When would the Lloyd Society’s assassins strike? He was growing impatient.

His newly acquired Butterfly of Paradoxical Flame was ideal for “Aiwass’s” counterstrike.

Afterward, he could enter his fake-death state—and go on a killing spree.

Just then, his phone rang.

“This is Aiwass Moriarty,” he answered.

“I called you six times! Where were you today?”

The exasperated voice belonged to York Hermes of the Lloyd Society.

(Chapter End)