Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

The atmosphere in the city felt very unusual today. As Shard crossed the Saint George Stone Bridge into the city, he noticed two extra teams of police at the city gate, and inside the city, the citizens wore anxious expressions.

It wasn’t until Shard got into the carriage that the coachman answered his questions:

"Last night at midnight, many people heard strange noises coming from the docks. That snowstorm was truly fierce, even for winter, Moon Bay has never had such weather... Someone said they heard a dragon’s roar last night. The legend says Moon Bay City’s destruction is about to begin. Although the newspaper explained that there was an unusual thunderstorm last night, no one believes what’s written in the paper is entirely true, do they?"

The reappearance of the dragon and the legend of Moon Bay City’s inevitable destruction have been circulating in the Moon Bay Region for countless years. Everyone living here has grown up hearing similar stories, so when the possibility of a "dragon" appearing locally arises, people don’t first question whether the dragon really exists. Instead, they ponder whether they should leave here as soon as possible.

It may be difficult for outlanders to understand moving for such a reason, but the fear of this prophecy among those who have lived here for generations is beyond the understanding of outsiders.

The coachman himself stayed up late last night and also heard that strange dragon roar. But when Shard asked if he would leave with his family, he laughed and said to the young outlander:

"Move? Where could we move to? You need money to move, and if you don’t have money, even if you die, you’ll die here. Outsiders always say Moon Bay City is wealthy, but not everyone here is wealthy."

He rang the bell to alert the pedestrians:

"Outsiders often say being a beggar in Moon Bay makes more money than elsewhere. But a beggar is a beggar no matter where, and the poor remain poor everywhere. There’s really no difference."

Although Shard notified Miss Belindel in advance last night in the form of a cat that he’d visit this morning, when he arrived at the Belindel Estate and saw Miss Belindel waiting with a group of curious maids, the young witch apprentice was still incredulous seeing him step down from the carriage, even forgetting to instruct the maids behind her to pay the fare.

"Do I look strange now?"

Shard asked curiously, and the Head Maid immediately shook her head, then checked Shard’s ears and even looked behind him, showing a mixed expression of surprise and disappointment.

So Shard roughly knew what she was thinking.

When he met the Countess in the study, upon hearing the door open and seeing Shard enter, she nearly stood up instantly:

"You actually came back safely! Sorry, I was a bit taken aback just now... I didn’t expect you to really be okay."

She then quickly walked towards him, prompting Shard to extend his hand with a smile:

"Last night, when I left here, I said I was seeking help. You know I didn’t lie. Would you like to check?"

"Of course."

The witch nodded and really began pulling at Shard’s clothes, pinching his arm. Shard didn’t mind at all and continued:

"An elf friend of mine gave me an Elf Potion used by ancient elves, designed specifically for reversing irreversible transformation spells."

"I noticed you used the feminine pronoun. You really do have a lot of girls around you."

Bella Belindel remarked, prompting Shard to inquire with concern:

"I’m fine now, so how did you sleep last night? Was staying with me so long at sea alright when you returned?"

The witch looked up and met his gaze, and both paused for a moment before the Blonde Countess softly spoke:

"I’m fine, I slept soundly."

Although their conversation seemed normal, Miss Matilda could clearly see their relationship was starting to become unusual.

Miss Belindel had the usual rest last night, but her followers continued gathering information. The dockside battle last night ended with the "silver dragon" defeating the evil projection, but the subsequent church search throughout the city did not stop until dawn.

The loss of docks and ships caused by last night’s battle has yet to be tallied, and the list of missing individuals near the docks is still being compiled. However, compared to last night’s overwhelming battle, losses on land were minimal. The real issue now is that the church still hasn’t figured out what the cultists and the "silver dragon" were trying to do last night.

"The church has named the dragon ’Moonlight Dragon,’ a newly named dragon species. If things stay on course, it should be recognized by the Three Major Academies in a matter of days."

After greetings, she tugged Shard’s sleeve to sit on the sofa. Once seated, Shard leaned forward, examining the newspapers on the coffee table:

"Moonlight Dragon... actually, as you know, it’s a transformation spell; there’s no such dragon."

"But the church isn’t aware of that. Also, I’ve heard of Masters of Transformation turning into unicorns or phoenixes, but didn’t the dragon you turned into last night seem quite powerful?"

She looked at Shard, who realized she wanted to start questioning her doubts:

"I feel that even if His Excellency the Speaker had been in Moon Bay last night, he might not have been able to defeat that Moonlight Dragon. That dragon was beautiful, flying on it under the moonlight was more romantic than imagined."

Miss Maid watched her owner making moves, while the young outlander nodded in response:

"You can understand that the item both I and the cultists were searching for last night caused my transformation into a dragon, but the transformation’s power was one-time. No, it doesn’t mean I can’t transform again, just that even if I transformed into a dragon again, I wouldn’t possess the same power as last night. And now, I’m afraid to transform again, worried about not being able to revert. That form was indeed formidable, but I much prefer retaining my human appearance."

At that time, Shard was in a "Divinity Overflow" state, considered the strongest mortal. Not just the Thirteenth Rank Time Grand Witch, but even the Apocalypse Demigod Time Grand Witch likely wouldn’t have been his match then.

"Here’s something for you."

Shard took out the photograph of Shard Dragon from his pocket again; Dorothy didn’t just take one picture last night:

"This is a photo taken before I reverted. If you’re interested in that dragon, you can study it. To be honest, I don’t know why my transformation ended up being this dragon... I thought it would be a Red Dragon."

After all, he himself possessed the "Power of the Red Dragon" and was most familiar with Fiona, who had the bloodline of the Red Dragon Royalty.

"I don’t know if you’ve read ’The Principles of Transformation Spell.’ The effect of the transformation not only depends on the subject you’re imitating but also on your own power. The cat you transform into is silver, so naturally, the dragon you transform into is also a silver dragon, which makes sense."

Miss Belindel looked at the dragon flying over a strange forest in the photograph, her fingertip lightly brushing over the dragon’s wings, then noticed that there was no snow in the photo’s background, and even the forest itself wasn’t snow-covered:

"It wasn’t taken locally..."

Her eyes turned to observe the constellations in the starry sky in the background but found that they were even stranger.

She looked up at her maid, Miss Matilda, who nodded:

"Miss, shall I prepare breakfast now?"

"Yes, we’ll go to the dining room in five minutes."

Shard had promised to come here for breakfast yesterday, so the Blonde Witch was waiting to have breakfast with him. Shard of course remembered this, and earlier at home, he had breakfast because it was Emilia’s first time spending the night at No. 6, Saint Delan Square, and it would have been very impolite of him not to be around as the owner of the house during breakfast. Hence, this second breakfast was a must, and Mia, who Shard was holding, seemed very happy at the moment.

Miss Matilda quickly left the study with the other maids and closed the door. The witch put the photograph into her pocket, then asked Shard:

"You know what I’m going to ask, and I won’t beat around the bush to inquire about those things... Are you a God Summoner?"

Her bright golden eyes gazed at him. Although he knew she would ask, Shard didn’t expect her to be so direct:

"What did your divination reveal?"

"With you, I’ve grown accustomed to not needing divination."

There was some melancholy in her beautiful golden eyes:

"You seem shrouded in a mist; you’re right in front of me, but no matter how I reach out, I can’t grasp you. You don’t have to answer my question now; I know you can’t fully trust me yet, but I have my own answers. I just want to confirm, up to now, which things that you’ve told me aren’t true?"

This question was asked very skillfully. Had she asked "Which things are true," it would have sounded like she was questioning Shard. But the way she asked made Shard feel a sense of guilt.

[So, are you going to tell her?]

"She" smiled and asked in Shard’s ear, while the witch in front of him had already made a "I don’t care because I’m not stupid" expression.

Shard thought for a moment:

"The sword I held last night was indeed the Angel-Level Relic ’Night Watchman.’

"You just told me like that?"

The red birthmark on her brow seemed to jump slightly with the beautiful countess’s expression, and Shard looked at her:

"You could have ignored the danger and jumped into the sea to save me last night, and you’ve already guessed, so why should I hide it from you?"

The countess wasn’t used to making eye contact with him and felt a little blushing:

"So, do they know..."

"I’m not from the Randall Valley, and my relationship with Miss Benanis and Ciris isn’t just a simple follower relationship."

"I knew it, you definitely have an unusual relationship with them."

She snorted softly, her expression more relaxed now. She didn’t continue to inquire about the ’God Summoner’ identity or what had happened in the past year; she knew that with their current relationship, knowing this much was just right:

"So, are you really only at the Seventh Ring?"

"Of course, haven’t you seen my Ring of Fate?"

Shard raised his hand slightly, the heat carried by the steaming mist caused a temperature difference in the room, creating a breeze that made the witch’s golden hair sway back. She looked up at the huge, abnormal Ring of Fate floating behind Shard:

"Has no one ever told you that yours is particularly large?"

This sentence came off a bit odd, but Shard didn’t mind:

"At least Miss Benanis and Miss Sylvia have mentioned it, but the size of the Ring of Fate itself doesn’t denote combat power. Except for a few who show off by summoning it to block bullets, the Ring of Fate doesn’t participate much in combat. So although compared to others, my Ring of Fate is indeed a bit too large, it might be because my method of advancement each time is different from others."