Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 509: Weeper Helmons

The stranger spoke in a voice that was not loud, but it was clear and carried an obvious non-local accent:

"Madam, is this person staying at your inn?"

He first produced a banknote, and then a photo which he showed to Mrs. Sangmi. Due to the angle, Shard couldn't see what was on the photo.

Shard rested his arm on the counter and sat on the round stool in front of it, gazing at Luviya. As she raised her eyebrows, he gestured for her not to speak and then continued their earlier conversation, complaining to Luviya about how Miss Mary, the technical worker, had not been telling the truth.

"Where did this High Ring Sorcerer come from? Has the Church already found this place? Should I leave then?"

These thoughts were voiced internally.

[The other party is at least Twelve Rings, likely a Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer.]

"Thirteen Rings?"

Shard was even more surprised, but his facial expression remained unchanged:

"Currently, in Tobesk, the Thirteen Rings of the True God Church are the 'Sunlight Greatsword' of the Sun Church and the 'Iron Right Hand' of the Church of Creation, but this one obviously isn't. The Church doesn't casually dispatch Thirteen-Ring Sorcerers across districts, and even if there were clues about Daknis, according to the Church Ring Sorcerers' code of conduct I learned from Iluna, they wouldn't send out a Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer directly... So this stranger is not a Thirteen-Ring from the True God Church."

As he considered this, the female innkeeper frowned at the photo and then resolutely shook her head:

"I know our guests quite well, and there hasn't been anyone looking like this staying here in the last three months."

Shard continued to chat with Luviya, who seemed to realize that the man conversing with the innkeeper was somewhat unusual and thus responded to Shard's words with enthusiasm.

"Then, may I ask which guests have stayed here in the last three days?"

The man in the dark red coat asked amicably. Shard noticed his accent, which sounded somewhat like the accents from the southern mountain regions of Draleon; he had heard something similar when he and Captain Lades had visited the veterans' club.

"Sir, I can't just tell you that."

Mrs. Sangmi shook her head:

"No amount of money would make it alright. If I were to disclose such things, no one would dare to stay here anymore."

"Right, that makes sense."

The man nodded and then suddenly coughed violently.

He hastily pulled out a white handkerchief from the pocket over his chest, covered his mouth as he coughed a few times, and then put the handkerchief away. From the corner of his eye, Shard thought he saw a trace of blood on the white handkerchief:

"A Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer can get sick? I remember Inner Ring Sorcerers are immune to most common diseases, High Ring Sorcerers definitely shouldn't fall ill."

"How about this instead? Take a look at this."

The stranger in the dark red coat took out an identification book from his pocket. Mrs. Sangmi took one glance at it and her eyes widened in shock:

"Alright, I understand."

She bent down to retrieve the guest book from the counter, flipped through a few pages, and pushed it towards the man outside the counter:

"Everyone who has stayed here in the last three days is listed here."

"Thank you for your help."

The man said with a smile; perhaps because he had just coughed up blood, he looked even weaker.

He bent his head to carefully inspect the guest book. The Three Cats Inn was quite busy, so it took a good while for him to finish:

"Thank you again for your help."

He closed the guest book, pushing it back to Mrs. Sangmi, picked up his hat to place it on his head, then gave a polite nod towards Shard. Only then did the man turn and walk towards the staircase leading to the second floor.

Once the man had disappeared around the corner of the staircase, Shard stopped his discussion with Luviya about the commission and shifted in his seat, then sat back down in front of Mrs. Sangmi:

"Who was that just now? You even handed him the guest book?"

He asked with a flippant tone, trying to appear merely curious.

"I can't tell you that."

The female innkeeper shook her head, her expression a bit dazed.

"Wait, Shard, something's not right with her."

Seeing this, Luviya suddenly reached out and touched the other woman's forehead. Mrs. Sangmi's movements gradually halted and then she slowly leaned forward onto the counter as if she had fallen asleep.

"She's been influenced by someone else's consciousness. What she thought she saw in those credentials might not actually exist."

Luviya spoke gravely:

"We were right next to her, but we didn't feel any traces of elemental energy. That man is definitely very strong."

"Thirteen Rings."

Shard said, pulling the guest book that Mrs. Sangmi was holding onto, quickly flipping to the last page, and then looking through the contents.

"What? Ten..."

"Keep your voice down."

Shard immediately reminded him, pulling out the notebook he carried with him and transcribing the contents of the ledger:

"Did you see the man just now coughing up blood? That's really strange, could he have been seriously injured? To be working in such a condition, it seems being a Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer is no easy task."

"Thirteen Rings, thirst for blood?"

Luviya's voice lowered, her disbelief evident as she turned to glance towards the stairwell:

"Oh? Could it be him... but how dare he return to the Old Continent, since thirty years ago..."

"Thirty years ago... thirst for blood... suspected to be searching for Daknis... Weeper?"

Shard stopped writing, abruptly looking up at Luviya:

"A few days ago, I heard a Witch say that the Blood Spirit School seems to have sent a High Ring Sorcerer from the New World to hunt down the betrayer Daknis."

"Yes, I believe so."

The female Diviner with purple eyes spoke gravely:

"The 78-year-old Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer Weeper Helmons of the Blood Spirit School, the actual Controller of the sect. Thirty years ago, he used a network of criminals to obtain infant blood for his Thirteen-Ring promotion ceremony, committing a major crime that affected half the Kingdom. But he was ambushed by the True God Church during his ceremony and was severely injured, hence leading the Blood Spirit School to relocate to the New World, and he hasn't dared to set foot on the Old Continent for thirty years."

"He dares to return for The Chosen One?"

As he spoke, Shard began transcribing the information again, and after finishing, he stuffed the notebook back into his pocket and returned the ledger to Mrs. Sangmi.

He nodded to Luviya, who once more gently tapped on Mrs. Sangmi's head.

The latter let out a loud murmur and then slowly came to:

"How did I fall asleep? It seems I really haven't rested well these past few days."

The groggy innkeeper was unable to immediately regain her usual shrewdness, and Shard didn't bother to say much more to her, after reordering some drinks and food, he returned with Luviya to the table next to the poetess playing the lute.

By noon, Shard and Luviya had their lunch there. With a powerful Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer appearing at the Three Cats Inn, neither of them dared to make any rash moves.

So they simply treated it as a break from their visit, eating while discussing the interesting places in the Lower District.

Luviya even knew of a place like Old John's Pawnshop in an alley nearby for trading Relics, but that place's safety couldn't compare to the Pawnshop's.

At 11:15 in the morning, while Shard shared his experience with Luviya about helping a client find a cat on Tuesday, the short and slender man in a dark red coat came downstairs with another tall man, whom Shard had not seen before.

They first went to the counter, and from their actions of handing over the keys, it seemed they were checking out of the inn, and then they both left the Three Cats Inn.

Shard didn't stand up immediately but waited a full five minutes before signaling to Luviya that it was all clear.

He then disturbed Mrs. Sangmi once more and asked for an empty room on the fifth floor.

He and Luviya climbed the stairs and entered room number 7, and Shard took out his notebook from his pocket:

"Daknis and the Weeper should have left. Luviya, try to divine which of these rooms was Daknis's," Shard pointed out the room numbers he had recorded, the most likely ones. Once the "Echo of Blood" effect ended, their search becomes much more difficult.

The female Diviner frowned as she glanced at them:

"Four to choose from? Since this involves a Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer, I can't guarantee the accuracy of the divination."

"That's okay, two on the fifth floor, two on the fourth, just try your best to divine while I check at the door if the cleaning maid is going to pass by here immediately."

Thus, Luviya borrowed a Roder Card from Shard, and she spread the full deck of 54 cards evenly across the bed, then began flipping three at a time. After some deliberation, she flipped three more cards until all the cards were turned over.

During this, Shard indeed observed through the crack in the door the inn's fat maid pushing a small cart welded from discarded gas pipes, humming the tune the poetess downstairs was singing. The cart was loaded with buckets, rags, brooms, mops, and the metal wheels made loud noises rolling over the wooden floors as she passed by the room.

Ten minutes later, the fat maid passed by the door again, heading towards the broom closet at the stairwell. After the closet door opened then closed, her footsteps disappeared at the stairs:

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"Now she is cleaning the rooms; it seems indeed to be one on the fifth floor, which narrows it down to a choice between two."

The cautious Shard at the door made his judgement, while Luviya was already at the bed's edge gathering up the cards:

"If it is indeed the fifth floor, then I believe it is the furthest room, number 1."

"Alright, let's go check out room number 1."

Shard nodded, looked left and right after opening the door and, seeing no one in the corridor, led Luviya out of the room. They quickly unlocked room number 1, entered, and then locked the door behind them.

"Detective, I'm very glad you didn't become a professional thief, as nobody would be able to stop you with that Arcane Technique the Old God gave you—it's just too useful."

As Luviya teased, she didn't forget to throw a Silence Charm toward the door.

Shard shook his head without commenting and cautiously pulled back the curtains to check the area behind, then opened the wardrobe to look inside, and finally knelt down to check underneath the bed with the white bedsheet.