Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Not only was Tobesk drenched in rain today, Midshire Fort was also experiencing rainfall. However, as the sky was already gloomy during yesterday's afternoon investigation at the Academy Castle, Shard had prepared an umbrella in advance.

Fortunately, the Ruined Tower did not leak, so Shard completed the last set of 100 sword swings for the week inside the tower before heading into the city.

First, he visited the House of the Blind, where Sister Delphine had not yet prepared the special blood, but Shard received a letter from Captain Lades there, learning about the latest developments in the serial murder case they had investigated the day before.

Though the criminal was too injured to wake up, the evidence was conclusive, so there were no surprises. Captain Lades took all the credit for the case, and City Hall was happy to promote how the Kingdom Army Captain and the police had cooperatively solved the serial murder case.

Shard even saw a newspaper at the House of the Blind featuring a frontal half-body photo of Captain Lades, a topic that might become the talk of Midshire Fort's citizens for the entire autumn. Although Lades wouldn't likely be promoted just because of this case, he was sure to receive a commendation.

In the letter, the captain once again invited Shard to visit next Thursday at the Traveler's Camp on Rising Wind Trail. Next Thursday was the captain's day off, and he planned to take Shard on a tour of Sicarl Mountain or go hunting together.

"Then next Thursday, I'll head into the mountains to find that sword. I'm not familiar with the terrain of Sicarl Mountain, and finding a specific cave in the mountains won't be easy."

This was the reason Shard had been aimlessly wandering around Midshire Fort, without rushing to search for the sword in the mountains.

After leaving the House of the Blind, Shard visited the Cassandra Auction House, where he met the Old Witch. Granny Cassandra was somewhat busy today, and Shard had to wait half an hour to see her.

The Witch had already learned the full story from Professor Dunn, and she was satisfied with Shard's quick action, thus she directly handed over the promised vial of blood:

"The blood of the Third Era Evil Spirit Demon - Devourer Sakatto."

"Demon blood..."

Shard carefully took the bottle in hand, and although it was not actually heavy, he felt as if he were holding something heavier than a lead ball:

"Could this bottle of blood be dangerous?"

Having dealt with Daknis and Human Pus, he was very cautious about associating with demons unless necessary.

"This is blood I got from my teacher; she said it's not dangerous."

The Old Witch reassuringly said.

Still, Shard decided to keep this vial of blood in the "God's Gift Box" until Sunday at dawn, before attending the final soiree.

"Also, I initially planned for you to meet my current apprentice. But after giving it some thought, I'd rather not let more witches know about your existence."

Granny Cassandra said again, her hand adorned with an emerald ring grasping the armrest of the chair:

"I'm already quite old, and I won't interfere in the affairs of you young people. As long as you do not harm the Council's interests, I will not disclose your existence to other members of the Council, young man; you need not worry about that."

"I understand."

"Moreover, after you inquired last time about the Chosen One of the Dark Gift, I spoke with Galina, who said she had already fully explained the 'Whispering Verses' to you."

"Yes, and about the Chosen One."

There was no need to lie, and Shard, sitting opposite the Witch, answered fluently:

"Miss Galina's actions in Tobesk tend to draw attention easily, and there are places her female followers simply cannot go. So when investigating Ivan Daknis, who is concealed in Tobesk, she had me do some things, and thus I also became aware of this matter."

The Old Witch nodded, her face maintaining a kind and gentle expression:

"Then let me also share some information with you:

Recently, the Speaker communicated to me some intelligence about the third Chosen One. The only thing we can confirm at this time is that the third Chosen One is definitely already in Midshire Fort."

Thus, a large number of people can be ruled out.

"The Council holds very little of the poem chapter corresponding to the third Chosen One, and the Three Great Magics Academies are the same. But the Church of the Five Gods, particularly the Church of Nature, seems to have critical clues. It is reasonable to believe that the third Chosen One corresponds to 'death'."

This was consistent with Shard's conjecture.

"So do I need to be at Midshire Fort to help you investigate something?"

He asked again.

"Not for now, I just wanted to let you know about some matters to prevent any accidents during your time at Midshire Fort."

The old man smiled, shaking his head slowly as he spoke:

"Considering my age has advanced too, the Council has deliberated and after discussion, decided that next month, another Grand Witch will be dispatched here to assist me with the investigation."

This was probably not only because Granny Cassandra only had Ten Rings and her age was old, but also because of the Darkness Descends event in Tobesk, which made the organizations of Circle Sorcerers in the material world realize the greater importance of The Chosen One.

"May I ask which one?"

Shard decided to wrap up the matters of Midshire Fort in the remaining days of this month and to visit less next month.

"Don't worry, it's Hevy, Hevy Aurora."

The old man said cheerfully, clearly knowing that Miss Aurora was aware of Shard's situation:

"To avoid suspicion, she won't be coming at the start of next month. The exact date hasn't been set, but I think she will be very pleased to see you here."

Miss Aurora was very kind to Shard and also she was the third seat of the Council, a magician of Twelve Rings and a witch of Twelfth Rank, also the first to bring Shard into the Witch Council. If this witch was present, then the matters at Midshire Fort would be much simpler.

"May I ask, has the Council decided how to handle the situation beneath Midshire Fort?"

Shard asked again, as Granny Cassandra, being the resident Grand Witch, couldn't possibly allow this city to turn into a ghost specter.

"The three passages in the Interstice, the door at the mountain's foot was temporarily sealed by an unknown Circle Sorcerer on the day you rescued your friend; the top of the mountain is guarded by the Ancient One, which the True God Church will handle; as for the passage at the mountain's waist hidden by the Witch Empress, the Council's thought is for us to find the location and reinforce the seal."

This means, for now, there's no issue at the mountain's foot, the Church is responsible for reinforcement at the top, and the witches will search for the passage at the waist. It seems, even if the Interstice's problem can't be completely solved, at least Midshire Fort won't be destroyed this fall due to the outbreak of death.

The old witch sighed:

"The Witch Empresses might have left something near the passages in the Interstice, maybe even fragments of the 'Whispering Verses', so those young girls are all very concerned."

"Granny Cassandra, so with that said, not only do you need to find the third Chosen One, but also the passage in the mountain's waist of the Interstice? Oh, this is certainly not easy."

"Yes, the young girls in the Council really don't consider this old lady,"

She laughed, shaking her head, it wasn't a complaint but rather a jest:

"So, Hamilton, before Hevy arrives, I might still entrust you with some other matters. Galina did say, although you're only of Three Rings, you handle things very solidly."

Shard was actually more curious about what else Miss Galina had said about him:

"No problem, I am at your service."

In the following days, nothing new happened. Since he knew that the disaster at Midshire Fort was being taken seriously, Shard lost his enthusiasm for probing the secrets of the Interstice of Life and Death.

The matters he needed to handle in the area of Midshire Fort were almost entirely concluded. Since he wasn't in a hurry to find the sword, he thus visited the address listed on serial killer Henry Val's notepad that Friday.

As expected, it indeed was the address of the boy who "could see the death date and manner."

When Shard knocked on the door of Building A, No. 8 Pig Tail Alley in the pattern noted on the sheet—three long, two short, three short, two long—he learned from the person who opened the door that this was the address of the "Raven Club."

Shard knew of this club, as Sister Delphine had provided information on this local, small Circle Sorcerer organization. This organization was very small, not to mention comparing to the Spiritual Practice Order, which radiated across the eastern part of the Old Continent, even the covert Blood of Mercury was larger than them.

Of course, pretending not to know the true nature of this club, he still maintained the alias "John Watson," claiming to be a writer gathering material, having heard about this interesting local rumor in a tavern, and thus wanting to meet the boy who could see others' death dates.

But he was stopped by the Inner Ring man he communicated with:

"Yes, but you'll need to make an appointment."

The man looked as though it was all matter of course, harboring no doubts about the reasons the "writer" had provided.

"Hmm? An appointment is needed?"

Shard, standing on the doorstep with his umbrella, was somewhat surprised:

"Is something the matter with that boy?"

"No, but he only meets with people twice a day, these are the rules. Moreover, we charge a fee, 10 pounds for a single visit, and you can bring up to two friends. For each additional person, the price doubles, so three people would be forty pounds. We don't provide receipts, and you shouldn't think about bargaining."

This made them seem less like a Circle Sorcerer Organization and more like local scammers. Shard had been curious as to how the witches and the church hadn't caught on to these people, but now he understood.

So he took a moment to collect himself:

"All right, I'd like to make an appointment... How long would I have to wait? Can I pay extra to get ahead in line?"

"Of course not, we have to follow the rules, and there aren't many people ahead of you anyway. You can come next Sunday, any time after nine in the morning, but if you don't show up before one in the afternoon, you'll need to make another appointment."

Today was only Friday, which meant that there were probably over ten people waiting to see the boy. There must be some sorcerers among them, but Shard thought there were definitely more ordinary people.

"Alright, I'll come next Saturday or Sunday, and I might bring friends. Please remember John Watson's appointment," he said as he was about to leave but was then stopped.

"Wait, you need to pay a deposit, 5 pounds."

The man gestured to Shard as he held his umbrella.

"Ah?"

Shard looked at him in surprise.

"Otherwise, if we turn away other clients for your sake, wouldn't we be at a loss?"

If it had not been for finding the boy's predictions to be incredibly accurate in Henry Val's case, Shard would really be suspecting that he'd walked into a scam by now.

Taking a deep breath:

"Fine, I'll pay."

Thus, he received a metal badge with a raven imprint on it as a token of the appointment. But as he turned to leave with his umbrella, Shard still felt that he would keep suspecting it was a fraud until he actually met the boy next Sunday.

Friday was only about confirming the appointment with the boy who could see death at Midshire Fort and then he went home. While it was still raining in Midshire Fort, the weather in Tobesk had cleared up.

In the afternoon, a new client came to the house, a family from Drax in the Tobesk Western District, asking Shard to help find their lost pet cat. The family's twelve-year-old boy was continually distressed, blaming himself for accidentally letting the cat escape when he opened the door.

The Drax family was referred to Shard by Old Lady Midra, who had previously tasked Shard with finding a cat. They owned their own shop and a small factory in the South District, specializing in the manufacture and sales of metal bolts and nuts for steam engines. Although the product was singular, they even managed to export to Carsonrick, making them a relatively affluent family.

When Shard signed the commission contract, he charged a substantial fee of 13 pounds. This was partly because the lost cat was a very expensive breed, far more so than a common city orange cat like Mia, and partly because Shard promised to find the cat within three days or return the deposit without taking a penny.

To him, it was merely a waste of some time, hence his bold promise.

But Shard didn't need three days; he found the cat the very next morning, a Saturday, on the roof of a house three streets away from the Drax family's home.

More precisely, as Shard was passing below the roof, the deep blue cat, which resembled the so-called "Persian cats" from Outlanders' hometowns, immediately jumped from the apartment building's rooftop to a second-floor windowsill, then onto the soft fabric awning of a street-facing shop, and finally landed on the ground, affectionately meowing around Shard.

"If Sparrow Hamilton is a detective specialized in investigating mistresses, then I am a detective specialized in finding pet cats," Shard thought to himself as he received the commission fee. After completing this task, Shard maintained his perfect closure rate for investigations.

"Speaking of which, I've almost met all the familiar faces I could possibly meet in Midshire Fort, yet only Miss Black, who is supposedly on vacation, is missing..."

This was the last remaining commission from Detective Sparrow, involving Miss White's missing sister, Miss Black. Of course, she wasn't really missing but had just run off somewhere to stay after a quarrel with her sister.

"I'm probably not going to meet her at Midshire Fort. When Miss Black returns to Tobesk, I'll do whatever it takes to end this commission. I hope Miss White, the client, doesn't go on vacation as well. Speaking of which, I still don't know what these two ladies look like."

Shard thought to himself as he prepared to head home along the street after lunch, planning to attend a meeting at the doctor's later.

Carts passed by him, and most people on the street had switched to autumn attire. The southern district of Tobesk was essentially the industrial area of the city, bustling with a mixed crowd, not only gentlemen from the upper classes with canes in proper attire but also decently dressed middle-class clerks and workers in patched clothes from the lower layers of the city.

"What if she can't come back?"

"She" asked softly by his ear.

The street was shrouded in mist, and with the onset of autumn influenced by the monsoon and temperature differences, the urban haze was even worse than in summer.

"Do you mean, Miss Black might also encounter an accident because of the affairs in Midshire Fort? Oh, that's indeed possible; it's too dangerous there now."

Shard fell into thought, but he didn't forget to pick some fruit from a stall at the street corner, planning to bring a few bottles of fruit wine as gifts for the other members of his group.

The autumn term was somewhat dull compared to the exam-heavy summer term. Surprisingly, on Saturday afternoon's study group, everyone had no needs that required contacting the Academy. After Priest Augustus was safe, the Academy no longer informed Dr. Schneider about the happenings at Midshire Fort. The doctor, unaware of what was happening there, naturally didn't inquire, leading to the afternoon study session ending in less than an hour.

Luviya shared the status of her autumn astrology activities and worried recent rains and overcast skies might delay her progress; Shard reported the recent situation of Priest Augustus in Midshire Fort, and distributed the fruit wine he brought to everyone; the doctor had precisely calculated the full moon phase of the Yellow Moon, planning to officially perform a ritual around the end of the next month to advance from Five Rings to Six Rings. Dorothy, a bit ahead, needed a less strict phase for her Four Rings to Five Rings ritual but required the linking Sublimation Incantation related to "Little Match Girl," thus she hoped to get Shard's assistance.

Dorothy had prepared all the ritual materials and agreed with Shard to conduct the ritual tomorrow night at No. 6, Saint Delan Square.

Before leaving the group meeting, Shard had a private conversation with the doctor, inquiring about the demon:

"Doctor, do you know about the Evil Spirit Demon - Devourer Sakato?"

The blood given to Shard by Granny Cassandra was this demon's blood.

"Of course, I do."

The doctor, knowledgeable about a vast array of demonic knowledge, looked at Shard in surprise from the hallway window:

"What do you ask this for?"

"What would happen if I drank its blood?"

"Hmm?"

The doctor looked even more surprised:

"Detective, have you lost your mind? To drink a demon's blood?"

"I just want to know what would happen if I drank this demon's blood," Shard asked cautiously.

"Hold on, let me think; what a strange question."

The blue-eyed doctor made a gesture of listening attentively:

"Theoretically, drinking a small amount of demon's blood shouldn't pose a significant problem. After all, those Third Era evil spirits, although bizarre, are not entirely poisonous. As for this demon you mentioned, it is not well-known, but the most renowned thing it did was in the distant Fourth Era when it enticed a small kingdom's king to sacrifice his entire populace, devouring an entire country through trade."

Shard was immediately taken aback:

"What an appetite. So where is it active now?"

The doctor said with a smile:

"I know this, it's a well-known story. About 230 years ago or so in the Sixth Era, while it was active in the material world, it encountered another The Great One, and then it disappeared."

"Who did it encounter?"

"The one that appeared in our city last summer."