Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1529: May the Earth Be With You and Me (End of Volume)
Dr. Schneider naturally knew what Shard was inquiring about. He straightened up and took out the newspaper he had earlier put in his pocket. Leaning back, he unfolded the newspaper and used it to cover his face:
"Mr. Fernandez, the curator of the Randall Valley City Statue Museum, I’ve already met him. After you defeated that mirror, the curse on him also disappeared. Although the lost years cannot be regained, at least he has some freedom in the short remainder of his life. I had a brief chat with him, and he asked me to thank you. Originally, he wanted to give you some money as a reward, but I refused on your behalf."
"Good thing you refused, Mr. Fernandez should use that money to enjoy the rest of his life."
Shard breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t look at the doctor behind the newspaper but instead fished out a handful of cat food from his pocket. Leaning forward, he scattered the crushed cat food on the ground in front of him. One leaned back, the other forward, as if they weren’t even conversing.
The pigeons in front of the church were indeed attracted by the cat food and gathered around:
"That curator reminded me that the cross could be used against that mirror. He was a great help. That’s good. So, what about the captain?"
A sigh came from behind the newspaper:
"I found all the demon summoning materials from the safe in the Osenfort Estate. I intended to go back yesterday to see if I missed anything else, but the church had already sealed it off. So, I went outside the city yesterday to visit Captain Woody, but alas, he has passed away."
"Hmm?"
Though he uttered a questioning sound, Shard, who was feeding the pigeons, remained expressionless, still watching the pigeons eat:
"When? How did he pass away?"
"In the early hours of Saturday morning, there was an earthquake that caused the farmhouse at Captain Woody’s estate to collapse. By the time people dug him out, he was already dead."
"But he..."
Shard, who was scattering the cat food to the pigeons, wanted to say that the captain had some unknown magical powers from a sea demon, but then quickly remembered that most of those abilities were only effective in a river or ocean environment.
"Since he just passed, and hasn’t been buried yet, I went to see the body."
The doctor’s voice continued from behind the newspaper, the busy street before them and the bustling pedestrians not interrupting their conversation:
"Captain’s soul was nowhere to be found, with clear signs of demon power. The demon took the captain’s soul... There’s no way to track it for now; its power isn’t weaker than that of the stone mirror." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
Shard pressed his lips together. He had thought that even if he couldn’t break Captain Woody’s contract with the demon, he could at least help him a little, but he hadn’t expected this outcome.
"When signing a contract with a demon, one should know what the outcome might be. You don’t have to be sad for him. I got a letter from the captain’s old servant, left by Captain Woody for you or your friend."
The doctor said, with the early spring sunlight bathing them, bringing forth an especially comforting warmth. Although the temperature was low in the winter that just passed, with the first Randall flower already in bloom, the temperature was quickly rising.
"For me or my friend... Seems Captain Woody didn’t have much hope in me. Doctor, what did the letter say?"
"Some matters regarding demons and details of summoning a demon. Last time, he didn’t quite explain this part to you. At the end of the letter, the old captain said he willingly accepted his fate, that gaining something requires giving something. If you did indeed solve the matter with Ston Osenfort and that demon, then please live well with their stories. He wasn’t afraid of death, but feared being forgotten."
The doctor’s tone was very monotonous; this was probably not a novel story to him. Before meeting Shard in the summer of 1853 and inviting him to enroll, Bill Schneider himself had solved many problems related to demons, so stories like this were all too familiar to him.
"I will remember that old captain."
Shard nodded in response, casting another handful of cat food, watching the pigeons lower their heads and scramble over the crumbs before him.
Though his sigh was barely audible, the doctor still noticed. He turned the newspaper to the next page, looking at the statement and announcement from City Hall about the temporary closure of the valley outside the city:
"I know what you’re sighing about, but detective, this is life. Some people will always come into our lives, and some will always leave."
"Two leaves falling from a tree touching in midair means they will soon part, and friends met in life mean there will be a day of farewell."
Shard said, with the doctor tilting his head a bit to look at the bent back:
"Who said that? It sounds good; maybe I could jot it down."
"Dorothy. It’s the closing statement from the case of The Missing Case of Miss Norma in the Hamilton Detective Stories, but it hasn’t been published yet, probably next week’s paper."
The doctor nodded and noted down the story’s name. He lifted his face, letting the gentle sunlight bask it, then continued reading the newspaper, smiling as he asked:
"Though it isn’t your writing, you seem deeply touched by your adventures in Randall Valley."
"Indeed."
There was a stream of pedestrians in front of them, but no one stopped to notice the young man feeding pigeons and the middle-aged man reading a newspaper. Behind them, the golden sunlight rippled on the surface of the Elon River. In the upper reaches of the river, the shadows of boats had begun to appear, and along the riverbanks, women gathered in small groups to do laundry, chattering in coarse dialects about tidbits they’d heard while pounding clothes.
Spring really was approaching.
In the bustling street before them, Shard continued to crush cat food with his fingers, even finding the sunlight a bit glaring:
"I’ve witnessed many stories here — the decade-long hatred between the Anjou Royal Family and the Stonemason Guild, the tragic marriage of Ston Osenfort and Haila Watson, the comedic and tragic love story of Mr. and Mrs. Enriques, the legend of the Granger Family spanning two eras. Of course, there are also the noble souls who willingly sacrifice themselves, the unlucky curators cursed by demons, and the girl following in her father’s footsteps..."
Another handful of cat food crumbs was scattered, and the white pigeons immediately followed the food, coming to the feet of Shard and the doctor. Shard watched their white feathers crowd together as the doctor’s voice again came from behind the newspaper:
"By remembering these stories, the people in them will continue to exist in your memory. You are a witness, like the earth beneath us and the sky above. While you may not be able to tell these stories to many, you are their witness, and they reside within you. Those people, those events, are thus not without meaning."
"Those words are quite interesting."
Shard lightly shook his head, feeling the wind sweep through his hair.
The wind blew the cat food crumbs on the ground to one side, causing the flock of pigeons to crowd in pursuit; the wind breezed over the fresh green sprouts in the flower beds behind the benches, tended by the nuns of the church; the wind brushed through the throngs of people in front of the Dawn Chapel, prompting gentlemen to hold down their hats and ladies to gently grasp their skirts, while the flower-selling girl held down the cloth on her basket, and the newspaper boy covered the papers in his satchel.
Shard lifted his head to look at the crowd and the church ahead of him. He had many stories he wanted to share and many things he looked forward to telling his friends. The story of the Chosen of the Earth was not the most poignant he had encountered in Randall Valley. Those people and events in the corners of his memory, as Dr. Schneider might say, would remain in his heart forever.
He sighed softly, then followed the crowd up the church steps. But by chance, when Old Hack looked back, he locked eyes with him. This old stonemason, who had once attempted to assassinate Prince William Anjou at a banquet but was released under a different identity due to Margaret’s manipulation, suddenly felt that the handsome young man sitting on the bench resembled an agent who had once interrogated him. But shaking his head, he realized the two faces didn’t quite match.
Shard politely nodded at him, then his gaze rose to the slightly busy church entrance. He looked further up, at the church’s stained glass, spire, and the white clouds, until his eyes reached the sun.
"The weather is so nice."
He murmured softly, then lowered his head to look at the pigeons eating at his feet. The sound of a newspaper rustling reached his ears, but this time Dr. Schneider didn’t speak.
The sunshine was warm on his body. If he could, Shard wanted to sit here a while longer, letting time take a rest too. In the wind, "she" smiled gently, whispering softly into Shard’s ear:
[Present World: Sixth Era, Common Era Calendar, 1854, Spring, Month of Rising Wind. The early spring breeze brushes the earth, and your eyes have witnessed the ancient river valley’s story. The love sculpted from stone has quietly shattered, the girl destined to sacrifice has survived for you, the Guardian of the Earth holding the noble Gold Cup, the banquet of gods and men is your myth. Kiss the soil, kiss the tender flowers, kiss the world, the earth and I, we will witness your story. When the beautiful witch, entwined, stands upon the earth, in this ancient city of spring’s arrival, traversing the Earth as an outlander, do you truly see the ending you anticipated?]
"Yes, this is the ending I wanted... probably."
As he gave that answer in his heart, he suddenly felt a sense of loss, as if the story no longer held meaning.
[Old stories end, new stories must always begin, just like the earth when spring arrives.]
"Her" voice was even gentler than the early spring breeze.
"Yes."
Shard said with a smile in his heart, as he crushed the last few pieces of cat food and scattered them on the ground.
Sunlight fell on the bench by the Elon River, where the bent-over Shard and the newspaper-reading Dr. Schneider sat. The pedestrians on the street hurried by, and the carriages clattered through the streets as busy as ever.
The rooftop of Dawn Chapel reflected dazzling light, and the stained glass windows on the chapel’s walls reflected colors unseen in rainy or foggy weather.
A young nun pushed open a second-floor church window to secure it with an iron latch. Over the busy street, she saw the young man feeding pigeons in the distance and blushed for no reason. And on the side of that bench, the lower right corner of a "Stonemason Guild Recruitment for Velindale" flyer on a black iron gas streetlamp’s post fluttered in the slight chilly breeze.
On this sunny morning, the scenery at the church entrance was like the best depiction of early spring in an oil painting. And in the center of the painting, Shard, with his head down, suddenly spoke to the doctor beside him:
"Speaking of which, when we return to Tobesk, please come with me to visit Detective Sparrow Hamilton. Last autumn, we buried a flower seed by his grave."
"Of course, I believe that seed should have taken root by now. But, why not invite Luisa or Annette?"
The doctor inquired curiously, and Shard shook his head slowly while looking at the pigeons without expression:
"I don’t want Uncle Sparrow to find out what I’ve done in the house he left behind."
The doctor holding the newspaper laughed:
"You see, the detective is dead, yet he still exists. He exists within the earth, and he exists in your heart."
Shard nodded, as large cotton-like white clouds drifted slowly in the blue sky above them. While the pigeons, instead of soaring in the blue sky, gathered on the earth below, drawn by the cat food.
"Born from the earth, dying in the earth, buried in the earth."
Shard suddenly recalled Mr. Lathis’s epitaph, so he slightly straightened up, then turned his head, moving his gaze from the ground to the doctor beside him:
"Doctor."
"What is it?"
The blue-eyed middle-aged man turned his head similarly, maintaining his posture with the newspaper as he looked at Shard from the side.
"Although I know we will part ways someday, I hope that day comes as late as possible."
"Hmm... thank you?"
"Would you accept my blessing?"
"Certainly."
Shard winked at him:
"I’ve heard this phrase often in Randall Valley lately — may the earth be with you and me."
The doctor nodded with a smile, but then noticed the large Golden Holy Grail flash behind Shard. Because the sunlight was bright, the hazy Grail shadow looked much like an illusion.
Bill Demon Schneider didn’t delve into it, but continued leisurely reading the newspaper in his hands. After all, the newspaper was interesting, and the phantom behind Shard wasn’t appearing for the first time.
Shard lowered his head, kept watching the pigeons at his feet, and gradually felt better, pondering what he should do during the spring of 1854.
Take Lecia for a countryside walk, accompany Dorothy into town for inspiration, carry Mia to the Prophet’s Society to find Luviya for divination, or head to the Galina Manor to spend a wonderful afternoon and evening with the beautiful witch. Of course, he couldn’t forget about the honorary degree, the Circle Torbesk Horsemanship Competition, and visiting Miss Gawder, for the outlander’s life was always so busy.
His lips couldn’t help but reveal a smile, and then he lifted his head to see the elderly bishop walking out from the shadows at the church door, greeting the sunlight and approaching the church steps.
Shard tugged at the doctor’s sleeve, stood up, and waved at the old man. The early spring breeze passed by again, fluttering his clothes. By his ear, "she" whispered softly:
[Outlander, you have gained new power].
(This volume ends)
