Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

"Only the two of you were there at the time? The third woman left with them? Do you know her?"

Shard asked, and Miss Lisa nodded:

"I know her, that’s Phoebe from the Bee Tavern, another unfortunate soul. An orphan by birth, deceived by a man and burdened with a huge debt as she grew up, with no friends or family around her."

She looked at Shard:

"You came this time because of her, didn’t you?"

"How did you know?"

"I haven’t seen her since that day. Her workplace, the tavern, sent someone to look for her, but only asked around superficially. I know, she’s probably dead."

Shard did not deny this speculation:

"I’m not a policeman; I’m just trying to investigate her cause of death for certain reasons. Yes, she’s dead, and it’s related to the strange things you saw tonight. Please think carefully, do you have any more clues about that night?"

Miss Lisa thought again, then shook her head apologetically:

"I shouldn’t have any. I haven’t heard any news about her since that day."

The Seven-Ring Sorcerer just mentioned that there were no clues here, so Shard was prepared and wasn’t disappointed:

"If anyone asks you about this later, if they’re from the church, tell the truth; if they’re anyone else, insist that you don’t remember anything. You’re living alone too, you should understand what I mean."

Miss Lisa nodded silently, then saw Shard take out his wallet and casually place a wad of cash on the table. She pursed her lips and didn’t refuse. Shard didn’t count the money carefully either; there were about a dozen or twenty krones, equivalent to two or three hundred pounds. Even for Shard, that’s not a small expense:

"Don’t hide this money at home, it’s not safe. Deposit it in the bank, and let your daughter go to school. Enroll her in a proper school, you might need to grease some palms, but that’s okay. When the church finds you, tell them everything you know about this and about me, they’ll help you."

He stood up:

"If you don’t want your daughter to become like you in the future, let her learn to read, let her understand what this world is like. Since you’ve decided to raise her, you must take on that responsibility."

Miss Lisa nodded, wanting to open her mouth to express thanks but was stopped:

"No need to thank me. If you truly want to thank me, help me with one thing—can you read?"

He then took the woman to the living room, where a girl holding a storybook was sitting. She immediately stood up from the chair, happily running towards them, holding onto Miss Lisa’s hand and clutching the storybook tightly.

"I can handle simple newspapers."

Shard nodded:

"Then, when you have time, read more stories to Maria."

After a brief pause, he looked at the bewildered girl:

"Childhood is precious. Leaving good memories can heal the inevitable wounds of adulthood. Some people spend their entire lives healing from childhood, while others use their childhood to heal a lifetime... This book is a gift for you, Little Maria."

The girl shyly pulled on her mother’s hand to hide behind her, until Miss Lisa prompted her to say thank you, and she softly whispered "Thank you" to Shard.

Shard showed a slight smile, feeling the slight warmth from the anchor-shaped silver ornament in his pocket. Miss Eles’s first task was thus easily completed.

Seeing Miss Lisa agree to read stories for her daughter in her free time, Shard didn’t linger. The mother and daughter escorted Shard downstairs and watched him walk down Herring Street.

"So, was Miss Eles’s task really this simple?"

Walking along the riverside street, Shard took out the silver ornament. Under the gas streetlamp, the ornament seemed unremarkable, but the ancient anchor design fit Shard’s aesthetic.

Shard was definitely going to investigate the origins of such curious items. Because the next day, Tuesday at ten in the morning, he had to go to Tobesk Train Station to meet someone, he planned to visit Old John in the morning to help him appraise it. But unexpectedly, early in the morning, without even having breakfast, Luviya suddenly left in a hurry, and two red butterflies flew into his home.

"Meow~"

The cat, sitting on the dining table watching Shard prepare breakfast in the kitchen, let out a displeased meow, then Grace and Helen "descended from the sky," landing on the chairs next to the table:

"Good morning, sir!"

"Good morning, sir!"

"Good morning, join me for breakfast, but don’t mind my cooking skills."

Shard turned to greet the girls in black and white dresses and then focused on the fried eggs in the pan.

The cat on the table was quite displeased and let out a "meow~" at Helen, who was closest to it. Shard didn’t turn to look at it, probably guessing that the cat was worried there wouldn’t be enough food because there were too many people at the table.

Because Shard wasn’t paying attention to this matter, he didn’t see the scared expression on Helen’s face. Fortunately, Grace comforted her sister and then quietly moved her chair back a little, slightly away from the cat.

The Red Butterfly Sisters’ visits to Shard were not on a fixed schedule, but they generally only appeared in the morning or evening. And what’s very mysterious is that they never encountered other girls at Shard’s place, whether in the morning or evening. Nobody knows what kind of talent this is.

Helen sat by the table, studying the Mermaid Oil Painting in the nearby living room, while Shard had already brought breakfast over. Since they happened to arrive, Shard talked about Miss Eles at the table and took out the silver anchor to let the sisters examine it.

"Genuine Divine Item, that Miss Eles must be a devout believer."

The sisters took a sniff and came to a conclusion:

"We can’t discern which Deity this item points to, but rest assured, the power of this Divine Art is very gentle, and it must be directed at a Benevolent God."

"Since it’s a boat anchor style item, is it possible that it corresponds to a Deity related to the Ocean?"

Shard speculated, and Grace thought seriously for a while:

"It’s possible, but the targets are too many. Since the Old God has departed, Miss Eles looking for you should be her own decision. Maybe you can engage with her more to understand her intentions."

Helen jokingly added:

"Sir, if you think she’s not human, try to obtain her hair or blood; perhaps she’s someone we’ve known before."

The visit of Grace and Helen didn’t delay Shard’s ten o’clock appointment at Tobesk Train Station. The Red Butterfly Maidens didn’t just come for a specific reason. After breakfast, they actually stayed to read with Shard in the study, and only when Shard was about to leave did they bid him farewell with smiles.

When Shard, holding his reluctant-to-leave cat, met Dr. Schneider and Dorothy at the train station entrance, it was already nine fifty. Perhaps wanting to make a good impression on the official students from the Academy, both of them were dressed quite formally.

"Good morning, Detective, no need to rush, the train is delayed."

Dr. Schneider checked his pocket watch and greeted Shard:

"We estimate we’ll have to wait another half an hour."

But actually, it was only twenty minutes later that the train from the north already stopped at Tobesk Station. When the train came in, Shard covered the cat’s ears, but Mia didn’t seem afraid of it.

The Academy had bought first-class tickets for the students, so they didn’t have to mingle with second and third-class passengers when they disembarked. Thus, Shard, Dr. Schneider, and Dorothy waited at the less crowded independent exit. As scattered passengers walked out of the passage, it wasn’t long before Shard saw a blonde girl, dressed in a dress and wearing a wide-brimmed hat at a slant, waving at him with a smile from afar:

"Shard!"

This was Miss Elf Emilia, though her outfit suited a noble girl on a trip, it only suited girls of the ages of Dorothy, Lecia, and Luviya. Miss Elf’s actual age was older than them, but her appearance seemed as young as Angelina’s, creating an interesting contrast.

"Oh, Mia is here too!"

She recognized the cat she was quite familiar with due to the unicorn, and Mia on Shard’s shoulder evidently remembered the elf in front and lazily meowed a greeting.

The enthusiastic girl arrived before Shard, and instead of a strange smell from the train journey, there was a floral scent from the forest. The hat covered the elf’s distinctive pointed ears, and the golden hair braided into dozens of small braids was eye-catching in the crowd but didn’t seem out of place. Although Dorothy had standard blonde hair too, when both appeared in Shard’s view simultaneously, he felt Emilia’s hair had a slight auto-illumination trait.

"Good morning, Emilia, was the trip smooth?"

Shard responded with a smile.

Along with Emilia for this summer practice were two other Circle Sorcerers, already appearing before the three. Both were in slightly disheveled attire, with the elder gentleman being around thirty years old and the lady seemed a little older than Dorothy. Compared to Emilia, who was familiar with Shard, the other two were slightly more reserved, prompting the warm Elf Girl to proactively introduce:

"This is Shard Hamilton, a well-known Detective in Tobesk City. He and I took the same elective course. Shard, long time no see. These two are my classmates from the Chemistry Academy, Mr. Rio Enhill and Miss Matilda Delas."

Shard then also introduced Dr. Schneider and Dorothy beside him, and with familiar faces around, the meeting was quite pleasant. When the group left the train station, prepared to take the rented carriage to Three Cats Inn, Miss Elf, carrying her luggage, looked around left and right, appearing as someone with little experience in going out.

"Hmm... hasn’t she visited ordinary people in Randall Valley’s cities?"

Shard felt puzzled about this.