Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1434: Demon’s Bargain
If not for the upcoming duel, Shard would have loved to bring Luviya here to enjoy the scenery, and even at night, surrounded by these lights, discuss plans for future life and personal ideals.
[Do you really just want to discuss life ideals with her here?]
"Oh, don’t disturb my thoughts with this kind of thing when I’m expressing my emotions."
Shard quietly complained in his heart, then prepared to leave. He needed to prepare for Friday night’s visit to the Osenfort Estate, and perhaps once he dealt with the demons, the Chosen One Ceremony would also begin.
[Someone’s coming.]
"She" suddenly said in Shard’s ear, and Shard focused on listening but heard nothing.
[It’s not a human, but the elemental traces are obvious, not a stranger.]
"Where is the other party?"
[You don’t need to move; she’s coming.]
As they spoke, a black smoke composed of a swarm of mosquitoes flew up from a hole with a ladder beside it. That black smoke formed into a maid dressed in an old-fashioned yellowing maid outfit, expressionless, at the highest level of the Watchtower, resembling Mrs. Haila Osenfort’s maid.
Shard had discussed with Dr. Schneider about the old butler and maid of the Osenfort Estate, and the doctor believed they were lower demons, used by the Stone Mirror Demon to monitor the estate’s trends. Here "lower demons" referred to the Exotic Species themselves, not ancient Third Era Evil Spirits.
"Well... hello there."
Shard raised an eyebrow in surprise:
"Did Osenfort send you to find me, or did the demon behind you send you... It can’t be that Mrs. Haila Osenfort sent you, right?"
He couldn’t understand the reason for encountering the other party here.
"The master of Osenfort sent me to inform you that the visiting time to the estate on Friday night should not be later than 7:30 PM.
Shard frowned slightly:
"Is he so worried that I will go back on my word? Rest assured, I will arrive on time."
"Also, I have something else to discuss with you."
The maid placed her hands together in front of her, a gesture commonly seen in Tifa. When Tifa did it, it appeared natural and elegant, but when this maid did it, it looked exceedingly strange:
"To be precise, the butler and I decided to find you before Friday."
"You? About what?"
Shard casually asked, placing a hand on the railing.
"We hope you can liberate us."
She remained expressionless.
"What do you mean?"
"We are not subordinates of anyone. An unnamable demon induced Ston Osenfort to summon us using a ritual and bound us to watch over his estate and his wife. We have grown weary of this task, so we hope you can set us free."
Although people often say that demons cannot be trusted, this matter somehow seemed genuine:
"A demon actually being bound by a human, how amusing."
"You should understand, sometimes humans are more terrifying than demons."
The last part Shard agreed with:
"So, you utilized this opportunity to meet me and tell me this? I find it hard to trust you, but I’m curious, what do you want me to do? Kill Osenfort?"
"No, the binding won’t be released so easily, you must have him admit with his own mouth that we are free."
This didn’t sound too difficult, and Shard could think of many methods at once:
"Honestly, I have no personal grudges against you, and if what you said is true, I do feel some sympathy for you. But why should I do this? You are demons, maybe not as ancient or evil as that guy, but still demons."
Shard placed both hands on the railing, watching the sunset with his back facing toward the maid. He wasn’t worried about being attacked from behind; "she" was always watching his back.
"I understand, redeeming freedom comes with a price, that’s only fair.
Because of contractual constraints, we can’t give you important information about that evil being and Ston Osenfort, but there are some things we can say—Ston Osenfort took back the ring, the badge, and the sapphire ear pendants from you. This is part of his contract with the ancient evil being. By possessing these three items which he couldn’t find on his own, he can break free to some extent from the binding of the evil being and gain greater power."
Ston Osenfort indeed wanted to rebel against Goethe.
Shard nodded, and the maid continued speaking in the wind atop the tower as "she" reminded him that the maid didn’t actually open her mouth:
"The real content of the contract between Ston Osenfort and the evil being lies in a heart. To completely eliminate Osenfort, you must pay attention to the heart."
Shard frowned slightly; this was indeed quite useful information. At least, it could provide a direction for the next step if he encountered difficulties:
"Is this all?"
The Maid nodded slightly:
"Once we gain freedom, we will have the ability to give you more information."
"Alright, I can’t promise anything definite, but I can promise you that if I have the chance, I might try to make Ston Osenfort speak and grant you freedom. I won’t sign any contract with you, but that’s my promise, and I am a very honest person."
Shard said, turning around and reaching out his hand. The Maid hesitated for a moment, then extended her hand to shake with him. Shard had actually promised nothing; he decided to wait until Friday evening to see the situation before deciding what to do.
"I have one more question."
Shard looked at her and asked:
"Aren’t you afraid that it will discover you talking to me here?"
"It’s busy with other matters now, and besides, though I’m not as strong as it, I am still a demon."
The Maid said, then pointed to the big lake:
"I know you came here looking for something. This place indeed once sealed it. But when it broke free, it destroyed most things. If you want clues, go to the lake; maybe some things are still at the bottom, unnoticed by it."
After speaking, she bowed slightly to Shard, then transformed into a black smoke composed of mosquitoes and flew towards the distant, radiant sunset sky.
"Going into the water again? It’s winter now."
Shard held his forehead, complaining softly, as red butterflies fluttered out of his body until his entire form dispersed into a swarm of butterflies, flying toward the red lake below.
Of course, later when he came ashore, he didn’t forget to come back and shut the door.
(Mia running...)
"Is this what you found?"
Thursday morning, United Kingdom of Carsonrick, Randall Valley, Benanis Estate.
Shard stroked Mia while sitting at the breakfast table, the long table was bustling except for Luviya, who was called away by the Prophet’s Society for help, and Margaret, busy preparing for tonight’s banquet, everyone was present, even Iluna. The one speaking was Iluna, who thanked the Maid for bringing her scrambled eggs and continued conversing with Shard.
"Yes, last night I swam at the bottom of the lake for a full four hours! By the time I came ashore, it was almost ten at night!"
Shard said while drinking hot soup. Opposite him, Miss Aphrola, cutting bacon with a dining knife, smiled and said:
"If Miss Annette were here, she would definitely say something to you."
"That’s why I have to speak while she’s not around."
Shard said, pushing the nosy cat to the side, continuing to talk as he pointed at the stone fragments he brought out.
There were three stone fragments in total, the smaller one roughly palm-sized, with a very rough back suggesting it was peeled off a large object, while the front was a smooth plane with a ring embedded in the center, rays and runes radiating from the ring.
Of course, because only a palm-sized piece remained now, it’s only a rough guess that this is one of the cores of the seal:
"If I hadn’t perceived the Whisper Element, I wouldn’t have found these stone fragments."
He said, asking the Maid for a clean dining knife, then prying the ring directly from the stone.
The ring band was black iron-colored, with a darker, ancient black iron material for the ring face. The ring face was rectangular, slightly convex on the sides, indented in the center, with the pattern inside the rectangle raised.
That pattern was an ancient rune from the Third Era.
"Keeper of Secrets Level Relic, Demon Hunting Seal."
Shard said the name of the relic:
"The emblem of the demon hunters from the Third Era, the seal itself and the imprinted pattern both cause immense damage to demons. However, correspondingly, possessing the seal increases the probability of encountering demons. Additionally, a ’Demon Hunting Seal’ long unowned by a Circle Sorcerer, once possessed again, is very likely to immediately encounter a demon."
Shard played with the ring in his hand:
"Of course, since I’ve been encountering demons frequently recently, the negative traits of the ring haven’t manifested yet."
"I recall you already have one of those."
Sitting beside Miss Benanis was Miss Galina, the Red-Haired Duchess who woke up the latest today. According to her, her birth and her ancestors’ struggles had ensured she didn’t need to rise too early.
"Yes, got it from an eye doctor in Tobesk. At that time, Tifa was by my side as my detective’s assistant. Upon receiving my ring, we immediately encountered the Lower Demon ’Servant of the Hidden’ from the Dark Realm."
Shard nodded, it was also one of Detective Sparrow’s remaining commissions, and with the ring was the clue of the Night Watchman on Sicarl Mountain.
The black-haired Maid, hearing Shard mention her name, smiled a little. Miss Sylvia, who also had beautiful black hair, then gestured for the stone missing the ring to fly towards her:
"Let me examine this. You said it’s a seal ceremony arranged by Circle Sorcerers from the ancient Stonville Kingdom during its fall? I didn’t expect this era to have such amazing Seal Masters."
