Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1012: News of The Chosen One

After returning to the second floor, Shard walked straight toward the woman wrapped in a brown headscarf, which almost seemed to merge with her scarf. On her table was a stack of divination cards, half a glass of beer, a pencil, a black-covered notebook, and a string of smooth small stones.

She appeared to be the typical diviner making a living through divination. In the tavern, few people would voluntarily approach such women, as one might inadvertently end up sitting across from her, listening to nonsensical sentences while handing over their money. Particularly, this woman seemed to be quite old. Although her face was unseen, her style of dress indicated she was no younger than 40.

Shard sat across from her, and the woman, busy calculating her cards, lifted her head, saw Shard’s face, and shook her head before returning to her cards.

"Luviya, what are you doing here?"

Shard asked softly, handing her a shilling from his pocket. Luviya, with black hair, green eyes, and strange makeup, shook her head:

"Sir, a divination costs two shillings; one shilling isn’t even enough for my afternoon’s drink money today."

"Ma’am, drinking too much is not only harmful to health but also makes the divination results seem even more nonsensical."

Upon hearing Shard’s words, the maid passing by with a tray couldn’t help but smile.

Shard took out another coin and pushed it over:

"Are you also here for Victor’s Box?"

"What box?"

Luviya, wrapped in her headscarf, pocketed Shard’s money by tucking the coin into the folds of her clothing, gathered the divination cards into her hand, and began to shuffle:

"Detective, instead of being at home reading books in the snow or visiting other cities, you actually came here. Is it because of a commission?"

She knew Shard’s daily routine well and said this while placing the deck of divination cards at the bottom right of the table and then dividing them into five piles in the center of the table.

"Yes, a commission, but it involves supernatural power, so I’m not sure what will happen. Luviya, what brings you here? Do you need my help?"

Shard asked as he watched her shuffle the cards.

"Not right now. I’m trying to determine the identity of the chosen one. I gained something from a dream a few days ago, so I’m here to try my luck. If you hadn’t shown up, I would have left in about half an hour."

Skilled diviners’ dreams often predict the future, so acting on the guidance of dreams is a common practice for diviners.

"The chosen one?"

Shard raised his eyebrows but didn’t turn around to scan the surroundings. Unknown to him, in various corners of the city, Luviya had never stopped her search for the chosen one:

"Let me stay and help you. The chosen ones must be circle sorcerers, and at the very least, I can identify those who might be suspects."

"Fine, it won’t hamper your tasks. If nothing comes of it within half an hour, I’ll give up. After all, dreams are too illusory, and I’ve been having some strange dreams lately..."

Luviya hesitated, her card-shuffling hands pausing but soon resumed:

"Many things have changed, yet they haven’t. I claim to follow the poem Chapters of fate, perhaps it will only happen in the end, all that I’ve done is nothing but walking around the same ring."

"What are you saying, are diviners always so sentimental?"

Shard asked with a smile, and the girl wrapped in a headscarf also smiled slightly, gesturing for Shard to pick a card and flip it:

"Speaking of which, your recent divination has indeed been accurate. The ’game’ drawn at the Prophet’s Society on Wednesday night was a direct indication of that night’s events."

He randomly flipped a card, and its face read "Rage."

"A card symbolizing emotion."

Shard sighed and put the card back, and Luviya didn’t comment further, instead gathering the divination cards together again.

"I’ll go down and tell my companions. If they wait too long, they might get worried."

"Did Dorothy come with someone? That maid with a nice figure?"

Luviya asked as she sorted the cards.

"Not Tifa, it’s... Princess Margaret."

"Detective, your methods are truly impressive."

Luviya teased, then said in a raspy voice:

"Sir, I can’t divine your fate; it seems shrouded in a thin mist."

Shard watched her performance with a smile, not expecting Luviya to reach out, retrieve a one-pound coin from her clothing, and hand it to him.

"I only paid two shillings, there’s no need for such a refund."

Shard reminded her.

"Sir, I think you might be possessed by a demon."

Luviya stifled her laughter:

"So, on a day not far from now, I will come to your home to help you exorcise the demon, which will likely last until late at night. This is your deposit."

Shard didn’t ask why the Diviner was paying him for "exorcising the demon." He smiled and reached out his hand, and Luviya placed the coins in his palm, even using the pad of her index finger to rub Shard’s palm.

After receiving Luviya’s "deposit," Shard got up and went downstairs to inform Dorothy and Princess Margaret that he might stay upstairs for about half an hour before coming back. The two ladies had no objection; they had many common topics, especially Dorothy deliberately or inadvertently trying to get Princess Margaret to talk, which made Shard unsure if it was Dorothy or Lecia here now.

After returning to the second floor, Luviya was already speaking with a server and ordered two glasses of juice. After Shard sat down, she began shuffling and cutting the cards again, seemingly wanting to continue divination for Shard, to avoid suspicion from sitting idle.

Although Shard’s perception was strong, it was impossible for him to directly determine who among the people on the entire floor was a Circle Sorcerer. Before he arrived on the second floor, Luviya only identified the target by constantly observing a particular person, which certainly overlooked some who came from another staircase or arrived at the Three Cats Inn earlier than her.

But that didn’t matter, Luviya was here to test their luck. The reason she was still sitting here with interest was purely because Shard sat opposite her.

At 3:20 in the afternoon, ten minutes after Shard sat on the second floor again, a lady dressed in black above and red below emerged from the stairway, followed by a middle-aged gentleman with well-groomed golden hair in a dark blue suit. The lady carried a small silver book and scanned the second floor before walking to the left side of the stairs, where there were more empty tables.

"Miss Pawo?"

Although she was disguised, Shard recognized her immediately. To avoid being noticed, he quickly turned his head slightly in another direction, while according to "her" observation, neither Miss Pawo nor her companion’s gaze lingered on him.

Softly informing Luviya about the people he had seen, the girl who was shuffling the cards for the umpteenth time slightly frowned:

"I observed her last time, confirmed she wasn’t The Chosen One, at least not the first candidate."

Saying lightly, she glanced at the lady who was taking a seat and calling the server, shook her head again after half a minute:

"She’s not, definitely not."

"What about her companion?"

"Not them either."

"It’s such a coincidence to encounter someone from the Truth Society here, could they be planning some conspiracy?" ƒrēenovelkiss.com

Shard muttered softly, and Luviya thought for a moment:

"That Miss Pawo is different from other madmen of the Truth Society. She’s very calm and deliberately avoids ordinary people during disturbances in the city. The Three Cats Inn is crowded now; she won’t cause trouble. I think she’s waiting to meet someone important."

"That makes sense. I’m curious who she wants to meet. But someone like her who is faithful to numbers tends to be very punctual. She won’t arrive too early, nor too late. We should soon see who the Truth Society is meeting with."

Shard spoke softly; neither he nor Luviya intended to report Miss Pawo. Since she bravely appeared in such a public place, she must have precautions against being ambushed by the True God Church.

Just as Shard thought, before Miss Pawo and her companion had time to order drinks, another pair of Circle Sorcerers appeared at the staircase. This time it was two men. From afar, Shard couldn’t judge their level, nor did he recognize the newly appeared duo.

One of them was tall and wore a single outfit in the snowy winter. The other, though even taller, was thin; he appeared unremarkable except for a cyan tattoo on his right eye.

Shard didn’t speak, just pointed in that direction. Luviya watched as they seated with Miss Pawo, cautiously observing them for half a minute before shaking her head again:

"Not them either."

"Do you know them?"

Shard asked:

"Maybe they’re cultists hired by the Truth Society."

"I haven’t seen them either; they’re not locals. Their appearance somewhat resembles people from the Pantanal region. Perhaps it’s one of those Voodoo Societies you mentioned."

Luviya replied softly; those adept at observation and summary in this world could distinguish differences in facial features across regions based on life experiences, but an outlander like Shard, who had only been here for half a year, lacked such skills:

"Voodoo Society? What are they doing here? I heard in Huntington City that they’re preparing for something big. A talking rat overheard some news that they’re searching for the arrow I possess, for a once-in-a-century event."

"Indeed strange, Voodoo Society people generally don’t leave the Pantanal region, and I’ve never heard of them being hired to come to Tobesk."

"Perhaps because the Truth Society paid too much."

Shard joked.

Luviya also shifted her gaze from that group, jotting down the results of the card divination from earlier in her notebook while laughingly asking:

"I heard you say the other day that failing to shoot that arrow in Huntington City felt like having your cat crawling over you. Did you spend the night at Dorothy’s place afterwards?"

"Why do you all link these two events together? No, Dorothy’s been feeling unwell lately."

"So, after the incident last Tuesday, for all those nights, No. 6, Saint Delan Square only housed you and your cat."

Luviya raised the glass beside her with her right hand, and Shard nodded after recalling:

"Yes, by the way, Mia is now..."

"Legally still not yours."

Luviya interrupted him, dragging her tone and laughing:

"Such a pity, Detective, having three lovers and rumors with the Grand Duchess, yet having to spend the lengthy nights alone."

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