Chapter 2145: Storm
"No, we absolutely can’t let the church come!"
The Marchioness said abruptly, her voice quite loud. Seeing Shard and Miss Belindel both looked at her, she stammered to explain:
"My husband doesn’t have any secrets that can’t be known to the church, but there are some Kingdom secrets in this house. Unless absolutely necessary, we can’t let the church search it. After all, what if the church does find something during their investigation?"
Although even if the church finds something, as long as it’s not related to the transcendent world, they won’t leak it easily. But no one wants the church to search their home. After all, once the church decides to do a search, they can truly find out anything.
"Then let’s seal this place off first. If there are more issues later, come to me, and I’ll have him come by again."
Miss Belindel said, and the Marchioness of Ankara nodded lightly in thanks, then arranged for servants to lead Shard away to change his clothes. His shirt and trousers were covered in dust, and his once shiny leather shoes were stained with mud from entering the sewer.
And after Shard left, the Marchioness awkwardly asked Miss Belindel;
"Bella, how much did your family spend to hire him?"
"What, do you want to steal him away?"
The witch asked in surprise, and the latter immediately shook her head:
"Of course not, how could I do such a thing? But it must be very difficult to have someone so capable to help, right? Even though I don’t know much about that world, someone so young doing things so steadily and having techniques, even ordinary people are hard to recruit, right? Satisfy my curiosity, how much did you spend?"
The Great Witch of Destiny certainly couldn’t reveal the Council’s intricate webs of "love and hate", so she didn’t answer, just smiled mysteriously.
And the Marchioness probably misunderstood, covering her mouth in surprise, she whispered:
"Do you mean..."
After whispering a few words in her ear, Miss Belindel’s face immediately turned red:
"What are you saying? Am I that indiscreet of a girl? It’s just that our family is connected to his organization, you know, all the local Seven Great Families have their secrets. As for him... although he looks quite nice, I’m a Countess of this generation, my husband can’t be someone whose true identity cannot be revealed."
"I thought you were interested in him. You never liked to be close to any men before, preferring to attend gatherings only for girls; some people even privately say you prefer girls."
"That’s slander... Alright, his appearance indeed matches my aesthetic. Please don’t laugh; it’s nothing funny."
"I’m not laughing, just curious about how people like them differ from ordinary men."
The Marchioness looked in the direction Shard left:
"So young, tall, strong-armed; you heard earlier too, he broke this wall open. I’m really curious if he’s as strong when breaking other things."
Married noblewomen do not shy away from such topics in private; it is both an open and conservative era. Bella Belindel, though skilled in other areas, couldn’t handle such a topic.
In any case, the literary salon that afternoon, despite making one lady cry, didn’t cause much trouble overall. Shard later found time to inform the witch of his discoveries underground, and Miss Belindel also said she would arrange for an investigation, though Shard didn’t think they’d be able to find any clues here.
On the contrary, Miss Belindel’s attempt at "marketing" achieved great success; once the steam train carrying Velindale’s goods arrived, the fashion trend from the Royal Capital would surely sweep across the entirety of Moon Bay.
After the salon ended, Miss Belindel took the Marchioness to visit her cousin, and as for the female werewolf’s subsequent whereabouts, it would be determined after this visit.
Shard arranged a meeting time with Miss Belindel for the evening, then tossed the Crystal Shoes back home to prepare the relics for potential situations tonight.
When he appeared at home, it was already past four in the afternoon, Mia, hearing the noise, wagged her tail and followed Shard into the basement, standing obediently on top of the shelf where Shard placed "souvenirs", watching him check out the relics and muttering:
"Should I take the [Night Watchman]? The Higgs Dragonhead Stone is the most important; Miss Belindel said the church is guarding the dock against cultists, no idea if the [Dragon Soar Cult] can truly summon a dragon."
Considering he didn’t know what time he’d be back tonight, Shard fed Mia half an hour earlier than usual, then prepared to head out:
"Even if something happens, I’ll be back before the whole night is over. Let’s hope this thunderstorm can bring me some gains... if I can grasp [Adel’s Principle of Return], tonight’s events would be much simpler."
"Meow~"
The well-fed cat meowed gently, and as Shard was about to set off, it wagged its tail and followed him into the basement. Shard, lost in thought, didn’t notice the cat’s follow until he entered the hidden passage behind the wall, but this time he didn’t allow Mia to come along:
"Tonight is very dangerous, I’ll take you to Moon Bay to play another time."
He carried the cat back upstairs, and the orange and white cat obediently stood on the back of the sofa, watching Shard leave. That look made Shard feel a bit reluctant, so he turned back to stroke the cat’s head again, and it raised its head, squinting for Shard to pet it.
"Meow~"
After a soft meow, sparks sprayed from Mia’s mouth. Shard laughed and flicked them with his finger, and they flew back towards the cat. Its amber eyes filled with surprise, the cat swiftly turned and wagged its tail, sending the sparks back towards Shard, who caught the warm sparks, while the cat rubbed its furry face against Shard’s hand, wagging its tail.
"As expected, Mia is quite adept with her powers. I guess she’s not afraid of other flames either, as long as the flames aren’t too strong and exceed her endurance limits, she can flick them back with her tail. Is the ’Son of the Sun’ bloodline really that impressive?"
He thought to himself, bidding the cat farewell before heading downstairs. As Shard descended the staircase, he suddenly paused:
"Endurance limit, is it?"
The scene of the cat elegantly flicking the sparks back with its tail replayed in Shard’s mind. He was slightly dazed and looked back up the stairs:
"Did my spellcasting fail because my power wasn’t enough to withstand the attack’s strength? If I could find some kind of medium as an intermediary object in spellcasting, to absorb and reflect... Mia’s spin and tail flick was truly impressive."
His eyes narrowed, and he turned in place on the staircase several times like a fool. He looked up, dazed, contemplating for a while, as the cat’s tail flicking movement became more vivid in his mind:
"That movement just now, it was as natural and perfect as the Golden Ratio. A spin and tail flick, huh..."
[You don’t have a tail as an intermediary for spellcasting, unless you attempt that Arcane Technique in cat form.]
"She" laughed softly.
"Don’t encourage me to turn into a cat to practice this Arcane Technique. Even if I succeed, what will the ladies think of me later? What will Miss Adel Isabella think of me? I’m a Circle Sorcerer, not a Cat Sorcerer."
"She" continued to laugh gently, but Shard already had an idea. It might not succeed, but it was entirely worth a try. So, after returning to the Hidden Space in the basement, he sheathed the [Night Watchman] in its sword scabbard, wrapped it with cloth, and strapped it to his back. Then he picked up the "Dragon Scale Sword" he had used with the witch for that night venture outside the city, a straight sword strengthened by [Dragon Scale Coin], and strapped it to his back as well.
"Now I’m ready."
He then reached out to touch the Ancient God Statue.
[With such complete preparations, do you believe you’ll definitely obtain Divinity tonight?]
"It’s a kind of Sixth Sense. Even if I don’t obtain Divinity, this thunderstorming Sunday night, something big is bound to happen in the Moon Bay Region. The ancient prophecy, the city of wealth. The surging undercurrents are about to surface; the story formed by all these conflicts and disputes is finally about to begin."
Just over an hour ago, when he left Moon Bay, the weather was only unusually gloomy. But by the time Shard emerged from the Dragon Nest, the gale rushing into the cave from the small woods almost blew his eyes shut. In the morning, the temperature was nearly thirty degrees, but now outside, it was close to zero, a mix of sleet and even hailstones.
In such weather, it was difficult to find a hired carriage, and the streets were almost deserted, except for the police in raincoats running down the streets. Upon seeing Shard, a patrolman loudly warned him:
"The city is under curfew after seven tonight, sir, please return to your residence and stay there. Oh, this damn weather, may God protect those still at sea."
Moon Bay City has experienced such severe weather before, and if they were imposing a curfew just because of this, that would be a bit exaggerated.
Shard wanted to ask for the reason for the curfew, but the policeman had already run off. So he had to continue looking for a carriage while heading towards the center of the city, the Belindel Big Bell. However, he couldn’t find an empty carriage by the time he arrived at his destination. Fortunately, he wasn’t late, meeting the witch atop the clock tower three minutes earlier than the agreed time of six-fifty.
The viewing platform’s canopy on the back side of the clock tower was already extended, so standing there sightseeing didn’t risk losing his hat to the wind or getting his shoulders wet by the rain.
The Countess with carmine birthmark was also watching the rain, and seeing Shard reveal the two swords on his back after dispelling the Illusion Technique, she once again confirmed with concern:
"Is it necessary to do this tonight?"
Shard glanced at the rain clouds covering the city:
"Yes, it must be tonight. This matter is very important to me. Is something about to happen in the city? The police on the street said there would be a curfew tonight; I hadn’t heard any news before leaving."
"The entire city was notified of the curfew forty minutes ago. It’s unrelated to the weather; the Church of Nature in charge of monitoring the ocean recently discovered three enormous creatures rapidly approaching Moon Bay Dock from the Outer Sea. Yes, three dragons are flying towards Moon Bay from the deep sea."