Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

"A whip? Is Shard very fierce?"

Hearing Luviya’s words, the still-dazed Emilia felt a small flicker of doubt in her heart. She began to imagine the gentle young man who had helped her dispel the "ghostly afterimage" last Sunday night and took her home to rest. Returning to the bedroom together with the blonde writer and the violet-eyed diviner, he took out a whip and had them all together...

"Ah!"

Excessive shyness finally shattered the thin mist shrouding her memory, turning the false memory into a phantom, as the real memory floated to the surface. Emilia remembered!

The two outside, of course, were not going to leave like that. As Luviya again refused to step out, Mr. and Mrs. Goodman somberly stepped forward towards the steps. Luviya, however, didn’t retreat; she instead struck the ground fiercely with the black long staff in her hand.

The ritual base formation that had just been painted by the two on the corridor walls and floor flashed over the surface and walls of No. 6, Saint Delan Square. The complex chain of rituals even made the scenery at Saint Delan Square flicker for a moment, causing Mr. and Mrs. Goodman to stop, their expressions fluctuating.

Luviya showed a smile, and it was only then that Emilia, waking from a dream, finally realized that everything she saw before her was false. The transformation between illusion and reality made her suddenly understand; the elf girl felt she had learned more that night than from staying up three nights in a row learning for her finals.

Luviya did not stop, and Yggdrasil’s Staff continued to strike the ground, causing the ritual marks, seemingly emerging from the void, to become even clearer. The "Goodman Family," already stepping onto the first stair, attempted one last try, braving the glimmer emanating from the ritual to approach the door again, but halted as soon as they lifted their feet.

"Actually, the whip matter is best not mentioned outside the house... I have my pride too."

A hand rested on Luviya’s shoulder from behind, and the slightly tired Shard, holding that Dragon Scale Sword, stepped out from the darkness of the hallway.

Though looking a bit disheveled, Shard felt his current state was not bad. Of course, mostly because he had sipped a bit of the Pink Essence to recover the consumed spirit.

At this moment, being at the core of the relic’s influence, as the relic still hadn’t fully descended, the dizziness it brought only made him slightly uncomfortable, and the memory modification had no effect on him at all.

Delighted, Emilia watched as Shard stood shoulder to shoulder with Luviya, and the violet-eyed girl smiled with pursed lips, gazing at him:

"Not admitting to things you’ve done yourself?"

Seeing Shard surprisingly freed from that huge head and appearing here, Mr. and Mrs. Goodman, realizing there was a major problem, immediately turned and fled into the darkness behind them.

This originally signified the relic leaving the illusion of Saint Delan Square, but unexpectedly, as the darkness dispersed around them, they were clearly still running within the scene of Saint Delan Square. When the darkness dissipated, the view still wasn’t very clear. Because dense mist was permeating outside No. 6’s door, countless elusive Red Butterflies were fluttering in the white fog.

As for the deeper mist, Emilia, whose eyesight was very good, clearly saw two girls suddenly standing hand in hand under the lamp post in the central square.

One wore a white dress and the other a black dress, both slightly bowing their heads. When she saw their faces clearly, two pale visages nearly suffocated the elf once again.

Mr. and Mrs. Goodman, acting as if they hadn’t seen them, ran towards them. When they became aware of the twins’ presence when very close, it was already too late:

"Red Butterfly!"

Mr. Goodman exclaimed, which was also their last words left there. With myriad crimson hues surrounding them like bees, the couple completely vanished.

The twins hand-in-hand nodded lightly toward "No. 6, Saint Delan Square" before darkness descended again. When the view returned, the three were back on the third floor of the regular Three Cats Inn, still standing before Emilia’s room door, where they could even see the suitcase Emilia hadn’t managed to close properly.

It seemed as if they had never left, but the door that shouldn’t have appeared next door had already disappeared.

Beside Shard, "She" softly spoke:

[Outlander, you have gained insight into "Prejudice."]

Luviya didn’t relax her vigilance, continuing to divine to prevent other accidents from occurring. Emilia slightly sighed in relief and was about to ask Shard whether everything was over when she looked up and saw the black-haired twin girls hand in hand, walking towards them along the hallway.

One black dress and one white dress, the familiar appearance nearly made Emilia scream.

Luckily, she quickly discovered that the twins, around fifteen or sixteen years old, no longer had the powder-like paleness they had on their faces before. Now they even looked quite adorable, which finally prevented her from actually screaming.

"Grace, Helen, you’re here."

The reason Shard was able to get upstairs a step earlier, instead of waiting for Luviya to dispel the [Friendly Neighbor] to stop the fight, was precisely Grace and Helen’s arrival. Although he still didn’t know why the Red Butterfly Maidens had come, he nevertheless greeted them with a smile.

The Red Butterfly Maidens were also very pleased:

"Good evening, sir!"

Though claiming they couldn’t easily leave Milestone, the twin girls manifested this night anyway. Helen even opened her arms warmly to embrace Shard, while Grace smiled at her sister and then said to Shard and Luviya:

"That couple has already been expelled by us, completely leaving the city. Sir, really, when encountering such things, why didn’t you use the Butterfly Summoning Flute to contact us immediately? If that thing hadn’t run to the auction house, we wouldn’t have known."

"Shard, it was I who revealed Helen and Grace’s address."

Luviya explained simply, knowing that the "Goodman Family" definitely wasn’t a match for Helen and Grace, so even though she was unsure if they would actually go looking for them, she chose to give it a try anyway:

"Now I am at ease, I hope we didn’t disturb your rest just now. Oh, the victims this time weren’t Shard and I, but her."

Luviya handed the Long Staff back to Shard, and introduced Emilia to them.

The Red Butterflies, living from the previous Era to now, naturally knew of the Elven Race, but encountering a purebred elf in a city like Tobesk was indeed rare. And although Luviya didn’t elaborate on who Grace and Helen were, only mentioning they were family, Emilia was still very aware of their danger:

"Hello, I’m Emilia Xenode, a fifth-grade student at Saint Byrons."

She said softly, her bloodline instinctively warning her to stay away from them, but out of politeness, she suppressed her fear and dared not hide. Grace and Helen both laughed, and Helen asked Shard:

"Sir, have you recently started taking an interest in elf girls? Look~"

She raised her hand to touch her own ear, and her normal ears transformed into elven-style pointed ears.

"Ah!"

Emilia finally screamed, covering her mouth again when she noticed everyone looking at her.

In any case, the series of events surrounding Emilia seemed to have come to a complete end. Helen and Grace, who came in the middle of the night, didn’t stay long. They simply avoided Emilia, shared a kiss with Shard, and then bid farewell. But Shard would visit Midshire Fort tomorrow or the day after to verify his current lineage.

Afterwards, Shard helped carry Emilia’s luggage—making sure the inn’s attendant saw she was indeed leaving so it didn’t transform into a toy. Luviya called a cab, and the three of them left the Three Cats Inn, heading back home.

Mia, the cat watching over the place alone at night, saw the carriage arrive from the second-floor window and joyfully charged downstairs. As she crouched atop the shoe cabinet, Shard happened to open the door from outside:

"Good evening, Mia, we’re back."

Shard then patted the well-behaved cat on the head, pleased that it had waited there all night, while he internally sighed in relief at the night’s conclusion.

Emilia would stay here for two days, so a fixed room needed to be arranged for her. Shard initially intended to let her stay on the relatively spacious first floor, but Luviya suggested Shard carry the luggage upstairs:

"Let’s have Emilia stay in the room she was in yesterday; no need to tidy another room."

Since she said so, Shard naturally had no objections. The three of them then traversed the staircase, dimly lit despite the lights being on, the sound of shoes treading on it especially reassuring to Shard.

Emilia, walking last, glanced back at the empty entrance hall and, feeling heavy-hearted, finally summoned the courage to tug on Luviya’s sleeve upon reaching the second floor:

"I—I—I can sleep with you all tonight, can’t I?"

"What?"

Even the violet-eyed girl was momentarily shocked but quickly realized what she meant.

Luviya then nudged Shard to set down the luggage, before addressing Emilia:

"Scared?"

The fifty-plus-year-old blonde elf girl nodded, and Luviya smiled gently, turning to Shard again:

"Shard, tonight Emilia and I will stay in the side bedroom. Please help prepare an extra blanket. If you need to use the lavatory during the night, use the upstairs or downstairs facility, don’t cause misunderstandings."

"No problem."

Shard agreed understandingly, acknowledging that Emilia indeed needed some adaptation.

With night deepening and nothing else to do, No. 6, Saint Delan Square quickly reached rest time. Shard returned to the bedroom with Mia, who was very content with this, while Luviya and Emilia went to the side bedroom.

With the gas light turned off in the room, the girls, each under their respective blankets, closed their eyes. But as Emilia closed hers, she couldn’t help but revisit all the day’s events. Unsure if Luviya was asleep, she hesitated for a long while before whispering in the darkness:

"Are such dangerous relics everywhere outside the Academy?"