Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1543: Green Lake and the Edwards Family
The blinding firelight shot up from the furnace, and Shard quickly closed the lid over it.
After waiting for a moment, the drawer on the side of the furnace automatically popped open, revealing a badge still cooling inside.
Compared to before, the diameter of the round badge was only three-quarters of its original size, and the white border symbolizing "angel" power had disappeared, completely fused into the badge.
The badge itself, bearing the emblem of the "Duchess of Saradiel" with its thorns, lion head, and cuckoo flower pattern, had not changed, but the badge had transformed from its former dark silver to bright silver.
When Shard picked it up, besides feeling it was hot, he also noticed that while the badge had become smaller and new materials had been added, its weight remained almost unchanged:
"The ability to detect witches hasn’t changed, and with the addition of mithril, this detection effect is even better than before... It can even detect objects and traces of rituals containing witch power. That’s quite impressive, and thanks to the effect of mithril, this badge can now serve as a spellcasting medium. While wearing it, performing spells that release energy will have enhanced effects."
Shard was in quite a good mood, as for the badge’s effects, it was "she" who whispered them into Shard’s ear:
"Luviya, you all could try a few times as well. For example, your crystal ball, I’m curious if including the metal stand, the crystal ball could be enhanced."
He suggested, and Luviya nodded thoughtfully, while Iluna couldn’t wait to try it out.
However, they didn’t have these items with them now, so they each had to go and retrieve something worth trying. The three were preparing to leave to return home, and after Shard stepped out of the old stone house, he turned back to look at the furnace once more.
[No, the Impermanence Card won’t be affected by it.]
"She" actually guessed what Shard was thinking and gave an answer beforehand.
Shard was not very surprised by this:
"Then, each remnant space left by the Ancient God has a more special hidden function. So, the one here is..."
[Sacrifice a drop of divinity, or a "Heart of Stone" that is pure, and you can manipulate and unleash any level of natural disaster within the material world. The range of influence is unlimited.]
This meant that if Shard was willing to do so, he could ensure a world-wide harvest this year, but starting tomorrow, he could also bring about a prolonged rainy season across the world.
"Unfortunately, I don’t have a pure Heart of Stone; that heart was shattered... However, I do have a Heart of the Undead."
The Heart of the Undead was the last from the Osenfort Estate, taken from the chest of Ston Osenfort by the vengeful spirits of the Worsent family, originally belonging to "Haila Osenfort." That heart could, in the [Soul Graveyard], unconditionally open a two-way passage connecting to true death, but unfortunately, it was temporarily useless to Shard.
Luviya was not very interested in the new trapdoor in the Shard family’s basement. After attempting to enhance her crystal ball, she went to work at the Prophet’s Society.
On the other hand, Iluna stayed at Shard’s house until noon, finally leaving with her "Synthesis List" that she devised. She had only taken the morning off and, as the price for her leave, had to be on duty at the security company during everyone’s lunchtime, so she didn’t have lunch with Shard.
Of course, before Iluna left, Shard didn’t forget to give her the share of the treasure from the Randall Valley that belonged to her. As for the portion intended for donation to the Church, Shard planned to wait a while before making the donation during another visit to Randall Valley.
Overall, Shard had a leisurely Monday.
After lunch, he finally gathered the determination to "bathe the cat," and while the cat was in a drowsy "nap preparation" state after eating, he went to the washroom to prepare hot water.
The alert cat soon realized Shard’s intentions, and although it tried to resist, Shard eventually triumphed in his "battle" with Mia. He forcibly took the cat to the washroom. Little Mia’s amber eyes looked pitifully at Shard, but it didn’t invoke any sympathy from him. He still placed the cat into the bathtub filled with hot water.
The Outlander had never enjoyed a bathtub in his homeland, and he didn’t expect that coming to this world, he would eventually have his own.
After bathing the cat, Shard stayed home, organizing his detective notes and recent reading notes in the study, and then took out the ledger to check the recent financial situation.
After the bath, Mia had a fragrant smell, and it served as a sort of "aromatic therapy" while it sulkily lay on the desk next to Shard’s hand for an afternoon nap.
Shard greatly enjoyed such peaceful days. Once he finished with his tasks, it was time for dinner. Luviya had to work overtime at the association that night and wouldn’t finish until very late. As for Dorothy, her gravely ill aunt had just passed away, and because she needed to attend the funeral, all of Lu Yisha’s family’s siblings had returned to Tobesk, so she also needed to go back to Lu Yisha’s house frequently to stay.
With no one to accompany him for dinner that evening, Shard went to the Dawn Chapel to find Priest Augustus. On one hand, to show that his body had recovered, and on the other, to talk with the Old Cleric about his younger days in Randall Valley over a meal.
By the time he returned home, it was already 7 p.m. Shard planned to read a book before sleeping, but suddenly a glow emerged from the right-side drawer of the desk. He took out the manuscript paper to see that Miss Danester had sent a message. That morning, Shard had written her a letter to arrange a meeting, scheduled for that evening at 8 p.m.
The familiar projection ritual was still the same. When Shard’s figure appeared in the large library of Saint Byrons, the place was still the open space under the giant astrolabe at the center of the library.
Watching Shard from across the tea table was Miss Danester, sitting on the couch. The librarian, having returned from a business trip to the Academy, seemed quite at leisure:
"Good evening, Shard. Is there something you need from me? Let me guess... Have you successfully learned the Magic - Dream of the Moon?"
"Yes."
Shard immediately nodded. He had been postponing this learning task for some time, and he was somewhat embarrassed. So as soon as he mastered the Arcane Technique, he wanted to tell Miss Danester, to at least show that his attitude towards learning was still commendable:
"Do I need to prove this matter?"
"No, no, I don’t have time to watch you sleep."
She shook her head:
"I trust you wouldn’t lie about something like this. If I can’t even have that level of trust in you, what kind of teacher would I be?"
A smile appeared at the corner of her mouth:
"That’s exactly what my teacher used to say to me." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
Talking about the missing teacher of Miss Danester naturally brought to mind the Ancient Moon Tower that had fallen in the Karas Mountains. Miss Danester also realized Shard’s thoughts at this moment and shook her head:
"It’s not so easy to investigate. Before that tower ruin collapsed, it stood in this era like most of the ancient era ruins on the Old Continent, valuable yet not particularly so. Now trying to investigate further, the clues are actually very few. Fortunately, the teacher left some investigation reports she wrote at the Academy, and by starting from other moon-related ruins, some clues can be found."
She paused for a moment:
"The Moon Worship Ruins in the Randall Valley and the Night Shrine in the mountains that you mentioned, I’ve been to both. The Moon Worship Ruins were quite ordinary, but in the Night Shrine, I found valuable traces."
A photo flew from the coffee table to Shard. The black and white photo showed traces on the ground:
"Do you see this Sun, Moon, and Stars pattern? Although it looks a lot like the back of a Roder Card, it’s not exactly the same. Interestingly enough, this pattern can also be found among the ruins of the tower that collapsed in the Karas Mountains."
This time, it was Shard’s turn to be surprised. The pattern in the Night Shrine originally didn’t exist, because he had used the power of Darkness and the "Impermanence: Silver Moon" to illegally traverse time, leaving this trace behind.
Of course, this trace exists in the Bygone Era: Sixth Era too, but how it appeared there, Shard did not know.
"So, what is this Ritual Circle?"
"It’s some kind of Divine Technique Matrix belonging to an Ancient God. The specifics are still being investigated."
She hesitated for a moment and then raised another question:
"Shard, do you know about Green Lake City?"
This city had been mentioned by Miss Galina not long ago:
"Of course, it’s a city located at the central border of the Old Continent between Carsonrick and Draleon. There are two cities surrounding Green Lake, Mikaela Ironworks City- the City of Glass over on the Carsonrick side, and Green Lake City on the Draleon side."
"And do you know, there’s an island larger than Heart Lake Island of Pantanal in the center of Green Lake, on which lies the now-abandoned Green Lake Town?"
Miss Danester asked again.
"What’s Heart Lake Island of Pantanal?"
Shard asked in surprise, while "She" whispered with a light laugh at his ear.
"As for there being an island in Green Lake, I indeed did not know that."
"That island belongs to a very old family, the Edwards Family."
Miss Danester seemed to pay no attention to the "Heart Lake Island of Pantanal" remark, so Shard pretended not to have heard it either:
"Edwards? That’s not a very common surname. I remember there are noble families with that surname in both Draleon and Carsonrick."
"Yes, it was the Edwards Family that once owned Green Lake Town that I’m talking about. Over a hundred years ago, due to an accident, Green Lake Town on the island was destroyed and subsequently abandoned, leaving only the ruin enveloped in perpetual mist. Members of the Edwards Family, the local lords, left to live elsewhere at that time as well. Not long ago, I found a letter that once belonged to the Edwards Family."
