Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 758 - : Lemer Stable

Chapter 758 -758: Lemer Stable

After parting ways with Luviya, Shard took advantage of the morning hours to visit Coldwater Port again with his cat to check if there were any results on the commissions for buying coins and items related to the power of the sun.

In the black market of the Dock Area, the Seven Brooms still yielded nothing. However, the bartender recommended a specialty from the New World’s autumn season, a disgusting plant called “Lamb’s Ear”. The plant was white and sausage-shaped, swaying side to side upon touch. It could be used as a component in basic healing potions, but unfortunately, there were substitutes such as Mouse Ear Grass in the Old Continent, so it wasn’t very popular.

When Shard went to the lighthouse outside the city, he unexpectedly encountered an attack by merman at the seaside.

It was quite an interesting turn of events. He had originally left the city by carriage, but wanted to see what the autumn beach looked like. Therefore, he disembarked one mile from the cliff where the lighthouse was located, and walked along the beach with his cat.

The port of Coldwater was bustling, and the scenery of the shallow beaches outside the city was beautiful. Shard even found a beautiful conch, intending to take it home as a souvenir for his living room.

Just as he was picking up the conch, a distant horn sound came from the sea. Then, amidst Mia’s panicked cries, three wrinkled, bald heads emerged from the water.

Not understanding the situation, Shard’s first reaction was to retreat, and then he realized that what emerged from the sea was ugly mermen. These were not the divine followers of the mermen who possessed mental contamination abilities; even leaving their images in a painting could affect the viewer. These were simply half-breeds.

One of them was short and stout, leaning on a rotten wooden staff decorated with seaweed and topped with a pearl. The other two were larger, holding rust-covered large iron forks due to corrosion from seawater. After the short, stout merman quietly incanted a spell, blue water patterns appeared on the otherwise ineffective-looking weapons, enhancing them with sorcery.

“A spellcaster and two melee fighters? The mermen of Coldwater Port really know how to cooperate,”

The three mermen, apparently after Shard and Mia, charged at Shard while making gurgling sounds from their mouths once the stout merman completed his spell.

These were the weakest yet most numerous monsters lurking near Coldwater Port. Even three together were roughly equivalent to a human Circle Sorcerer of the Three or Four Rings.

Thus, the ensuing fight was no suspense. Shard unsheathed the “Moonlight Greatsword” and stepped forward, his horizontal slash decapitating the fastest approaching merman. Then the moonlight drawn from his fingertips forced another merman to dodge sideways, allowing him another close approach. His left fist, equipped with the “Mind Crystal Ring,” landed a blow, causing it to fall down bleeding from all orifices.

Looking back at the stout merman spellcaster, he had retreated to a position on the beach, swearing in merman language that was too foul to translate, and then waved his pearl-embedded rotten staff. As the Ring of Fate appeared, a dense school of fish suddenly burst from the sea. These fish fell onto the sand, piling up together to form a fear-inducing, humanoid shape that could trigger trypophobia.

“Summoned entity?”

Shard took a step back to avoid the fishy smell, and his hand pressed down on Mia, who was peeking out from his arms — the cat sniffing around, and then lightly kissed the moonstone ring:

“Muddle!”

Under the hazy yellow moonlight, the school of fish monsters turned and charged towards their summoner, leaving a strange trail of footprints on the beach. The stout merman cried out and immediately plunged into the sea, with the fish monsters following him.

Shard did not pursue, as he did not want to wet his clothes. He stood on the beach looking at the two corpses:

“After the Coldwater Port incident, these mermen became the only trouble. If the Milestone situation can be resolved, perhaps ‘ghosts’ will become their specialty too. Each city truly has its own unique features.”

Restoring the canvas toy into real canvas, he used it to wrap the two merman corpses into toy forms, intending to sell them to Mr. Edmund, the old tower keeper. Of course, Mr. Edmund had no interest in studying the bodies but rather the local church would collect these bodies. Shard did not want to go back into the city to the black market, so selling them to the old tower keeper to make a profit was fine too.

Unfortunately, the tower keeper also had no new coins. As for items containing sun power, Mr. Edmund sold Shard a dusty parchment roll and a round metal badge engraved with a sun pattern for 5 pounds, 3 shillings, and 21 pounds, 14 shillings.

There are many ways to draw a sun pattern, and the badge’s sun pattern was not the holy emblem of the True God “Lantern Bearer”.

“This parchment roll, it is said to have been found in the ruins of a temple from the Bygone Days in the New World. Although it only has runes representing the sun etched on it and nothing else, it was found beneath a divine statue that only had its base remaining. As for this badge, it’s an antique I recently acquired, and it has a low level of the Miracle Element in it, capable of slightly enhancing most sun-related arcane techniques and sorcery,”

the old man explained. Shard tried his “Sunlight Ray” and found the enhancement was almost negligible.

“Are these items truly related to sun power?”

Shard was quite skeptical.

“What do you need them for?”

Mr. Edmund asked while packing up his fishing gear.

“To open an ancient seal, I need five different items related to the power of the sun. I have already found three, just two more to go.”

“Then keep looking for more and try them all; eventually, you’ll find the right things,”

Mr. Edmund suggested.

The elderly man gave his suggestion, jokingly recommending Shard that if he truly couldn’t locate it, he should sneak into the Sun Cathedral in the countryside and slyly steal the Holy Emblem hanging in the main hall.

Of course, he was jesting. The sole consequence of such an act would be a fervent pursuit by the Sun believers from across the world.

Shard first returned to Coldwater Port City, where he and Mia savored the local delicacies of the coastal city. They then returned to Saint Delan Square and took a carriage out of the city to visit the Witch’s Manor to inquire if the witch had acquired any items related to the sun.

Shard hoped he could advance to Four Rings before the affairs at Midshire Fort concluded to garner more strength amidst the troubles he was embroiled in. Therefore, he must enter the year 3024 of the Fifth Era for the third time soon, to complete the unfinished story. Helping the witches in acquiring the Nameless Ritual Book was also essential.

Unfortunately, when Shard arrived at the manor at two in the afternoon, both Miss Galina and Tifa were absent.

They were not in the city, but accompanying Queen Diana at a racetrack in the suburbs, watching horse racing.

“Horse racing?”

“Yes.”

The old steward at the Witch’s Manor said with a friendly smile in the hall:

“Now is the last season suitable for horse racing before winter approaches. There are several well-known racecourses in the south suburbs of the city, with one or two races each week. Local famous riders can register to compete, and there are even official bets. Miss is not keen on this sport, but Queen Diana is quite fond of it, so she often gathers the city’s ladies and members of the Royal Family to watch the races outside the city.”

“Then I shall wait here for Miss Galina to return since it is not appropriate for me to go there with all the ladies,”

Shard said, but the old steward shook his head:

“It’s not just the ladies. The racecourse they are at today belongs to the Lemer Family, directly adjacent to the Lemer Marquis’s manor. Nobles can freely attend, and many who love horse racing do. Besides, not a few are drawn there by Her Majesty. You can head there now; would you need a carriage prepared or would you prefer to ride a horse? The weather is nice today, and the countryside roads in autumn are quite lovely.”

Shard could not ride horses; Tifa had only taught him the basic mounting for now. Moreover, since he was with Mia, naturally, he wouldn’t engage in such a “high-risk” activity: free𝑤ebnovel.com

“Please prepare a carriage for me. I’ve never seen a horse race before.”

The Lemer Racecourse was located about 2.3 miles (approximately 3.7 km) from the edge of the city. As the carriage carried Shard further south, the road started to seem familiar to him.

After inquiring, he found out that both the Marquis of Lemer’s grand manor and the racecourse adjoined another noble’s manor called Lakeside Manor. In fact, the racecourse and the surrounding meadows were situated between the two manors, and strictly speaking, half the area of Lake Schluch, adjacent to Lakeside Manor, belonged to the Marquis of Lemer.

Thinking of the unique location of Lakeside Manor, Shard inevitably recalled the Roder Card under the vine in the summer night, the divine statue on the third floor of the manor, and the kick he had made under the moonlight.

Although these events had occurred just half a year ago, it truly felt like many years had passed.

To enter the racecourse, one had to first go through the Lemer Manor. Although this manor also spanned an impressive area and featured exquisite sculptures and horticulture, it wasn’t as luxurious compared to Miss Galina’s manor.

A carriage bearing the Duchess of Saradiel’s emblem entered the manor without any obstruction. However, the manor’s courtyard was divided into inner and outer layers, and the carriage did not head towards the three-story mansion in the inner layer but instead traveled along the outer courtyard’s driveway towards the side door of the manor.

Servants were already waiting there. After a brief halt, a servant respectfully asked the carriage’s occupants for their names. Once the coachman reported the name “Rejed’s Hamilton,” they immediately knew the current location of Miss Galina.

A dedicated driveway connected the side door to the racecourse, with wooden fences separating the manor from the adjacent meadows on both sides. It wasn’t long before the noise became audible, followed by the sight through the carriage window of the towering wooden and iron fences that enclosed the racecourse and the layered spectator stands at the edge of the racecourse.

The carriage stopped, and after Shard jumped down, he could see the dust kicked up by running horses through the gaps in the fence and hear the cheering and shouting.

Above the racecourse, streamers fluttered in the air while people excitedly waved their hats at the riders. Riders freely galloped their horses, and the heavy sound of hoofbeats even startled Mia in Shard’s arms.

Guided by a servant, Shard bent and climbed the rear staircase to the spectator stand, where Miss Galina and Queen Diana sat in a shaded area to the south of the racecourse. Elegantly dressed ladies wore hats adorned with colorful feathers; some held porcelain teacups, others held small binoculars, and still others waved feathered fans, enjoying the dull autumn afternoon.

The shadow of the shade stretched on the sunlit ground, and amidst the stifling heat, the air held a touch of coolness without a hint of breeze. Everyone was so at ease, as was typical for the activities of the nobility.

The tense feelings brought by adventures in Midshire Fort City amid ghosts, dense fog, and chilling winds seemed to dissipate entirely at that moment.

The racecourse appeared golden, and the warm sunlight made everyone feel cozy. A smile unconsciously crept onto Shard’s lips; he raised his hand above his eyes to look toward Miss Galina, who seemed to sense his gaze and looked back.

Indeed, this autumn in Tobesk was truly serene.