Chapter 292 Large Ritual Formation

When Haina brought little Sherlock home, she was blocked by her mother at the door of the blacksmith shop before she even entered the inner room.

She fanned her nose, frowned and her face changed: "You took the guests to the swamp?"

...Huh?

Haina was stunned for a moment, and then realized that she was stained with the stench of the swamp.

Sherlock beside her sighed appropriately.

——Hey, why are you sighing! Didn't you notice it yourself!

Haina was somewhat dissatisfied in her heart.

But she is no longer the naive girl she was when she just graduated - in the few months of communicating with those troublesome logical circle people, Haina has mastered the professional skills of making up lies according to what others say.

Of course, it may also be the subtle influence of Aiwass.

Now that she has more contact, Haina finally gradually realized that Aiwass really likes to lie!

When I first met Aiwass, I didn't know how much of what he said was true...

But it doesn't matter.

Anyway, he is now Minister Aiwass. Even if it's fake, it can be true.

Haina's mind was racing, and then she said calmly: "Remember my childhood. I liked to go there when I was a child."

"It's dangerous there, don't you know? It's a restricted area in the village!"

Haina's mother frowned: "What if you fall in? It's all poisonous swamp!"

"Oh, you can't fall in. I'm familiar with the swamp..."

Haina laughed and pretended to be indifferent: "I went there every few days when I was a child, and I never saw any danger. I didn't encounter any danger when I was a child, and Sherlock... Arthur must be fine. Children are light, and I'm watching him."

She almost forgot that Sherlock is now called Arthur Conan Doyle.

But as expected, her deliberately casual attitude attracted her mother's attention.

Haina's mother immediately ignored what they were going to do in the swamp, and thought that she was just looking for excitement.

Her eyes widened and her voice rose to a higher level: "Even if you may not fall, what if you are attacked by the undead in the swamp and step on the air? It's okay for you to go to a dangerous place to play by yourself, but you also take such a young guest with you? You are so old, you should understand things, Haina!"

I don't know how long she scolded.

Anyway, Haina just smiled silly throughout the whole process, with an attitude of not fearing anything.

When Sherlock yawned for the second time, the scolding finally ended.

"Hey, really..."

She ended with this sentence, and then touched Sherlock's hair with some heartache: "It must be hard to be carried around by her? I'm not scolding you... You should find a place to sit down first.

"I'll get you some fruit - grapes, okay? "

Then, she opened the door that she had blocked.

After Haina's mother left completely, Sherlock said leisurely: "It seems that someone's forgiveness period for returning home has ended."

"You should praise me for my quick reaction."

Haina half complained and half proud: "You yourself didn't react to the fact that the swamp has a smell."

"Yes, yes, I didn't react."

Sherlock said casually: "Whatever you think, but the information I want to collect is already in hand."

"...Information?"

"Well, this is your mother's reaction when she saw us going to the swamp. This can determine whether she knows about the situation in the swamp, and then infer the attitude of the locals towards the swamp-whether they know what this forbidden area means. "

Sherlock narrowed his eyes: "Now it seems that one thing can be confirmed. That is, the locals and "foreigners" have different perceptions of this matter.

"If they really regarded the swamp as a forbidden area, then your mother would not have been able to save Mr. Magnet Hammer. Because she had no chance to contact the swamp - when she learned that we were going to the swamp, her attitude was very nervous and her tone became cold.

"But when you said you were just going for a stroll, she relaxed, and even took the initiative to say that there were undead in the swamp before we mentioned the undead... If we hadn't encountered the undead, we might have been curious to go back and check the situation after hearing her words.

"This is a simple psychology - when prisoners are interrogated, they will choose to actively expose some small mistakes in order to hide bigger mistakes. In this process, their attitude is quite positive, and their purpose is to attract the attention of others. And this attitude often means that the other party has hidden more.

"You are like this, and your mother is too."

Sherlock raised his head and glanced at Haina coldly: "I know that the supervisors of Avalon are accustomed to using confinement, torture, intimidation, and using legal spells to force others to tell the truth, and even directly search their memories and other violent means to obtain the truth. But if you want to go higher, you have to try to master some additional skills - such as psychology.

"Avalon's supervisors are different from the police of Star Antimony and Iris. You have received extensive training in swordsmanship, horsemanship, individual tactics and other combat subjects in school, as well as training in multiple languages ​​in order to improve your extraordinary skills in the future, but you are very lacking in training in various criminal investigation techniques. I will propose this to Minister Aiwass later. The Royal Law University will have to add a few more courses."

"Add it."

Haina said without thinking: "I have graduated anyway, so let's give them a few more courses."

"What are you thinking about?" Little Sherlock sneered, "You have to learn it after graduation."

"Eh--"

Haina wailed, then thought of something and tried to change the subject to escape reality: "By the way, what have you tried out?"

"This kind of escape mentality often means that the prisoner has a guilty conscience. Because he cannot withstand the increasing psychological pressure, he will actively try to say something, so he will tend to be talkative and take the initiative to lead the conversation."

Sherlock responded coldly, and then explained: "This means two things. First, your mother knows many secrets, which are deeper than the undead in the swamp, and are even most likely related to the appearance of your father.

"Second, she has not received systematic training, and she lacks sufficient vigilance and discernment. This shows that she is not a professional, but a real villager... These two things are enough.

"This shows that the anomalies in Yingjia Village are not natural. This 'tradition' is man-made, and this person's behavior is beneficial to them, or this person himself is kind to them. Based on the previous clues, I highly suspect This man is Aiwass’s grandfather Jacob.”

Sherlock analyzed.

Soon, Haina's mother came back.

They took the fruit and went to chat with the magnetic hammer.

Magnetic Hammer obviously had a good impression of Aiwass. Hearing that Aiwass was going for a walk, he felt a little regretful that he didn't call him.

"I should take him to play!"

The magnetic hammer slapped his thigh, and he cursed Haina's brother Jack casually: "You brat, why didn't you wake me up!"

"ah?"

Jack on the side looked confused.

And Sherlock said in his childish voice just right: "Brother Aiwass is not going to play... he is going to investigate his grandfather's affairs."

"I also know about Jacob!"

Qi Shui shook his head: "Why didn't he ask me yesterday? I can only say that he was too happy to drink... Anyway, we will drink and chat when he comes back tonight - you should stay here for a few more days. ?”

Sherlock and Haina looked at each other, and Haina paused in silence for a few seconds before finally reacting.

She quickly replied: "Ah, yes... they have to stay for a few more days. But it's hard to say how long they can stay... Dad, why don't you just talk to us directly? I don't know about Grandpa Jacob yet. What’s the story?”

"Don't you know? Oh, you don't know. You are too young..."

Magnetic Hammer said disapprovingly: "Your Grandpa Jacob is amazing. I came too late, but I know one thing... Your Grandpa Jacob came here when he was in his twenties.

"At that time, all the houses in this village were rebuilt with his help and were particularly strong. He also repaired the roads - even our house was repaired with his help."

"...He's still an architect?" Sherlock was stunned for a moment.

"No, he's a ritualist."

The dwarf magnetic hammer said seriously: "But the rituals he mastered are very powerful - to be honest, this is the first time I have seen a ritual that can build a house. I also want to learn from him, and I want to give it to him when I return to my hometown in the future. I wanted to build a house in the countryside, but after he pushed back a few times, I gave up. After all, I probably wouldn’t be able to learn it even if he taught me.

"It's nice to stay here, carefree... I don't want to go back. Besides, what will you two siblings do if I go back?"

The magnetic hammer took a grape and threw it into his mouth, and said casually: "He is a very serious person in his work. I don't know if you have seen it from above - the houses in Yingjia Village are very well decorated and neat. Yes. A very standard circle filled with a lot of geometric patterns.

"——It's like a ritual formation."