Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 728 - : Red Butterfly in the Forest

Chapter 728 -728: Red Butterfly in the Forest

Having returned to the shore, Shard put on his shoes and socks, while the girl in the black dress sat on a stone at the shore, slipping into her white knee-high socks and black leather shoes.

Shard squatted by the creek to wash his hands before picking up the Night Watchman and strapping on “God’s Gift Box” again.

The girl in the black dress did not introduce herself but, hands behind her back, asked curiously,

“Sir, may I ask what brings you into the mountain?”

Blue eyes twinkling with amusement, she looked at Shard.

“I made plans with a friend to visit Summit Lake to see the scenery,” Shard replied.

“However, the Church of the Five Gods has blocked the road to the summit for the past two weeks, and currently, it’s inaccessible.”

The summit was also prepared as a major site for a Divine Ritual to re-seal the Interstice of Life and Death. The church, for whatever reasons, will not allow ordinary people to enter there anytime soon. However, Granny Cassandra must have considered this, so Shard was not worried about not being able to climb up:

“Then, madam, may I ask what you are doing going into the mountain alone? Although the serial killings in Milestone have been solved a while ago by a captain, it’s still not safe for a young lady of your age to venture into the mountains alone,” he said.

“I am here to investigate the old villages of the Sicarl Mountain Area for my thesis research,” she explained.

The girl in the black dress raised the notebook in her hand, while the old villages of Sicarl referred to secluded hamlets spread over the mountains before the city was established. Yet as the Steam Age arrived and Midshire Fort prospered, most young people from these mountain villages moved to the city below, and in just a few decades, most villages within the Sicarl Mountains had been abandoned:

“Are there any small villages nearby?” Shard asked, curious.

“Yes, sir, just over there,” she replied.

The girl in the black dress pointed to the other side of the stream, but the dense woods made it impossible to see if there was a village settlement in the distance:

“I plan to go take a look, sir, would you be willing to accept my employment to protect me for a while?” she said once more with a smile, her blue eyes appearing somewhat transparent in the sunlight.

“You trust me that much?”

“When you were carrying me earlier, I noticed you were armed with guns, two of them. And if I’m not mistaken, the item wrapped in cloth you have must be a longsword sheathed in its scabbard. More importantly, you do not look like a bad person; bad people don’t typically look as handsome as you,” she said.

“Why is that?” Shard asked curiously, her smile growing brighter:

“With looks like these, one can make money quite easily; there’s no need to resort to bad deeds. Sir, I bet you’re a detective.”

“Yes, Shard Suren Hamilton,” Shard replied.

He did not say “John Watson” but revealed his real name… which actually was Shard:

“Madam, are you truly a student of history and not folklore?” he asked.

“Sometimes, folklore and history are indistinguishable.”

As she turned, the Red Butterfly Pendant at her waist swayed. For a moment, the butterfly seemed alive, but in the blink of an eye, it was just a pendant again.

“Sir, please follow me, there is a wooden bridge across the creek over there.”

Shard did not refuse and thus followed behind the girl in the black dress. After crossing upstream via what was essentially a rotten plank, they reached the opposite bank of the creek, farther away from the main mountain road.

Entering the woods again, the mid-autumn noon sunlight was completely obscured by the tree shade, and it seemed that the temperature had also dropped. The girl in the black dress was talkative, leading the way while asking Shard various questions.

His identity, his family, his life, the differences between Midshire Fort and Tobesk, she even asked about the box Shard was carrying, to which Shard still explained, “It seals an Evil Beast.”

As for her own matters, she did not share much. She just admitted that she had a twin sister who was in a long wait, hoping for her sister’s return.

“Are you close?”

“Yes, quite close… We once swore to always stay together.”

They walked for a good half an hour, but still saw no trace of the village in the woods. The girl in the black dress stopped in a clearing in the forest, and Shard looked around puzzled, still seeing no signs of the village.

“Look.”

Suddenly, the girl in the black dress stretched out her finger, pointing to their right front. Shard looked up to see a bright red butterfly swaying in the woods. Its body appeared translucent, leaving red sparks as it moved around.

As Shard noticed the Red Butterfly, it flew deeper into the forest, as if enticing them to follow.

“That’s it, the small mountain village nearby often has these red butterflies!”

The girl in the black dress said and grabbed Shard’s hand, quickly chasing after it. Shard tried to break free a few times but couldn’t, so he simply followed the girl, running after the Red Butterfly deeper into the forest.

This kind of reckless action is generally the beginning of a horror story.

The dense trees made the woods even darker, almost sinister. Meanwhile, more and more red butterflies gathered from all directions, appearing around them. The butterflies fluttered among the leaves and shrubs, becoming the brightest light source nearby, adding a mysterious hue to the sinister scene.

The concentration of the Whisper Element was becoming more terrifying as they progressed deeper. The light dimmed, whispers murmured, and a cold wind swept through. But surrounded by the Red Butterflies, Shard did not feel any effects from the relic.

“Look, it’s right here.”

When they finally stopped, their surroundings were as dark as night, but groups of Red Butterflies still surrounded them, shielding them from the cold wind and warding off the Whisper Element’s invasion.

In front of them was an old village situated in the mountain forest, seemingly abandoned for a long time. The visible buildings were mostly made of straw and mud. The two houses at the entrance of the village had completely collapsed. The village road was almost covered with wild grass, and looking around the entire village, aside from the central tower, no building was over two stories high.

Moreover, Shard could even see the black mist enveloping the village and the faintly visible figures wandering around in the village—a sight typically only found in horror stories. For a Circle Sorcerer, this was clearly a site-specific relic, attracted by the chaos of the Four Elements in the Midshire Fort Area, just like Sin Mansion.

“Who knew there was such a place in the mountains, it was not easy to find this place.”

Shard looked towards the girl in the black dress, who still had a smiling demeanor:

“Sir, this place is my destination.”

She held Shard’s hand tightly and did not let go. Turning to look at him, her blue eyes seemed to glow in the reflection of the surrounding Red Butterflies.

“Ma’am, are you sure you want to enter this place?”

Shard asked hesitantly:

“Usually, in the stories people tell, the beginnings of tragedies are often the situations we are facing right now. A village in the mountains shrouded in black mist, a man and woman who entered unexpectedly, century-old stories and tragedies, as well as secrets and horrors buried in the village… If my writer friend hears this story, he might immediately be able to publish another fine detective novel.”