Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

"Can you still transform into a dragon now?"

Luviya asked again, sitting by the bed, and Shard stood up to give her a hug. Dorothy also came over to stand beside them.

"Turning into a cat is no problem. I can even carry a relic while transforming now."

As he spoke, he transformed into a cluster of silver light, and then a silver cat leapt out from the light cluster onto the bed. After bouncing twice, Shard returned to human form and sat by the bed:

"As for transforming into a dragon... The transformation spell is indeed usable; I could use it now if I weren’t worried about damaging the house. But the same issue remains—I’m concerned that once I turn into a dragon, I might not be able to change back. Until I understand the situation better, I don’t plan on trying this; I can’t afford to consume an Ever-Youth Leaf every time, can I?"

He assured the girls in front of him, who were wearing nightgowns:

"I’ll have time this week, and I’ll go to Milestone to test my lineage and consult Grace and Helen while I’m at it. They should be able to offer me advice. Until this issue is resolved, I won’t recklessly use this arcane technique. I value my body. I know there are many people in the world who care about me, and even for your sake, I won’t harm myself lightly."

Seeing their purple and emerald eyes still showing concern, he brought up another topic:

"I noticed that both your attention and the attention of the True God Church in Moon Bay Parish are focused on ’the dragon.’ The Church of the Five Gods in Moon Bay Parish is likely to investigate along the lines of that silver dragon as well. Hopefully, they won’t assign any other bizarre background to the ’God Summoner.’ But compared to power that’s beyond my control, the true gain tonight is that I’ve finally learned that temporal magic."

"The one that requires you to experience the return power of the Sun, Moon, and Stars?"

Luviya asked, and Shard nodded with a smile.

He really didn’t care much about the new transformation spell compared to "Adel’s Principle of Return." Speaking of that brand new arcane technique, the Outlander couldn’t help but grin:

"I haven’t fully mastered it, at least not to the level of using it like its creator. But as long as I hold the longsword, I can deflect or counter energy-based attacks while airborne. Using the Night Watchman is the safest, as that sword is the most durable."

He then spun in place and, quite rarely, spoke with a bit of pride:

"You all missed the spectacle tonight. I stood on the prow facing the blizzard and enemies, at the peak of my state, I leapt skyward to counter the attacks, then soared into the clouds to summon thunder, and hurled that thunderstorm toward the sea."

"So, you’re itching to showcase this to Adel Isabella, aren’t you?"

"She" asked with a smile, and Shard nearly nodded in agreement. Thankfully, he restrained himself and pretended not to hear the question in his heart.

Seeing him looking like a child who just got a new toy, the girls in nightgowns relaxed a little:

"One last time, are you sure you’re really okay, Shard?"

"Yes, absolutely sure."

So, Luviya casually placed the dragon’s photo on the table, raised her hand, and the gas lamp on the wall went out immediately, while the bedside wall lamp, initially off, lit up instead.

Dorothy pouted slightly and said to Shard:

"Since you’re fine, then we can talk about other issues—"

The emerald eyes were filled with amusement:

"You rakish cat, why did you let Bella Belindel ride you?"

"Because... Sorry, what?"

Shard widened his eyes, quite shocked by the swift topic shift and Dorothy’s way of expressing it:

"Wait a minute, Dorothy, that’s a bizarre way to put it. You’re a professional writer; you can’t use such vague expressions. I didn’t let Miss Belindel, uh... I just let her sit on my back and then carried her in flight... That doesn’t count... Shouldn’t count."

He couldn’t continue halfway through.

The girl with purple eyes, also with a hint of "discontent," said:

"It’s quite romantic, isn’t it? Even when facing danger, the Countess didn’t leave you, insisting on waiting for you in such a perilous place, so when you got out of danger, you gave up your dignity to let her become a Dragon Knight, soaring with her over the sea under the moonlit night."

"Luviya, it’s not like that."

He wanted to explain further, but the two ladies mercilessly pushed him onto the bed. They stood on one leg each, with Luviya kneeling on the left side of the bed and Dorothy kneeling on the right. They leaned forward and whispered into Shard’s ear:

"Tonight’s Lady Knight is not just her."

In any case, after this night, when the Monday morning sun rose, Shard was at least certain that both Luviya and Dorothy believed there was nothing wrong with his body.

The master bedroom’s male and female owners had a pleasant night, while Emilia, who was spending the night in the side bedroom where Shard had slept for several months, did not sleep well, at least not initially. After the lights were out, she saw the cat quickly curled up into a ball in the cat bed next to the pillow and fell asleep, while she hid her arms under the blanket, recalling the fright she received tonight with her hands clutching the blanket.

She then perked up her ears to catch any unusual sounds, but unfortunately, Dorothy’s Silence Charm worked very well, and she couldn’t hear anything. Due to various complex thoughts swirling in her mind, when Emilia unknowingly drifted into sleep, terrifying black shadows and some indescribable rosiness alternated in her dreams.

But probably because the bed was too comfortable, the terrifying dreams quickly vanished, and the young elf’s imagination led her to dream...of things that even the young elf girls in the Academy’s dormitory wouldn’t dare to speak aloud.

Thus, when she awoke on Monday morning on the soft, cozy bed, looking at the glimmer of light filtering through the curtains into the room and the warm, homely atmosphere of the not-so-large bedroom, she was initially reluctant to leave. Her second reaction was to recall the details of her dream, and then she blushed, hiding half of her face in the blanket.

By then, Mia was long gone, but there were voices outside the bedroom. When Emilia, wearing slippers, came to the living room, she found that everyone else was already up.

Shard was selecting clothes with Luviya’s help for their outing, seemingly having already had breakfast and about to go out. Dorothy, meanwhile, was in the kitchen wearing an apron, making breakfast — a scene that very much fit Emilia’s idea of a "cozy home."

Shard noticed Emilia walking out of the room, still with sleepy eyes, and greeted her with a smile:

"Good morning, how did you sleep last night?"

"Not bad."

Due to last night’s dream, the blonde elf didn’t know how to face Shard, so she simply nodded lightly. Luviya, however, noticed something strange about her, but considering that Dorothy had used a double portion of the Silence Charm the night before, she didn’t overthink it.

"Meow~"

Mia was standing on the dining table waiting for breakfast. After breakfast, she would go out with Shard. She hadn’t forgotten the grand adventure with the Shard Cat last night and was eagerly anticipating when Shard would turn back into a cat.

Dorothy’s skill in making breakfast was quite good, and the family sat down at the table to enjoy a peaceful morning. Emilia’s eyes drifted towards the newspaper by her hand, but she heard Shard say to her:

"I need to go out for a bit; the friend who helped me last night doesn’t yet know I’m safe. Emilia, today you should follow Luviya and Dorothy. They’ll take you to check the room you rented. I should be back around noon, and we’ll meet up then. Don’t worry; we usually can handle the usual troubles. Don’t underestimate our team, we’ve encountered far more in this city than just seeking relics or chasing bad guys."

Emilia nodded obediently. The spirited Dorothy also noticed something was off with her mood, so she asked with a smile:

"Emilia, I remember you haven’t reached adulthood yet?"

"Yes, it’s still three more years to reach the standard age of maturity for elves... Though, these are old rules, and the elves these days are much more mature than before."

She was poking at the fried egg on her plate with her fork while speaking and glanced at Shard. Luviya also understood why Dorothy asked:

"Shard has a rather magical relic that allows children to obtain a gift every week. Do you want to try?"

For elves, at what age they can be considered "children" is something that Shard, Luviya, and Dorothy are unsure of, but that doesn’t stop them from trying.

Emilia had, of course, never seen the [God’s Gift Box], so even after breakfast, when Shard brought the relic to her, she only thought it was a Scribe Level or Poet-Level relic.

People seem to have a universal curiosity for "lottery" activities, and even elves are no exception. She carefully placed her hand into the box, randomly grabbing around the bottom, and exclaimed in surprise:

"I touched something!"

When they opened the box earlier, they had all seen it was empty inside.

Of course, although the [God’s Gift Box] also recognized Emilia as "child," it didn’t make her incredibly lucky. What she finally took out from the box was just an ordinary scarf, a yellow scarf adorned with a string of cat patterns, which the elf girl liked very much:

"I got a task to try to mix and match different outfits myself this week, and for at least three days, I need to wear different clothes when going out."

The task was still simple, as the Toy God never makes things difficult for children.

So after breakfast, Shard followed the plan and took Mia to Moon Bay, while the three girls stayed in the city to try to find out what was bothering Emilia. After fixing a time to meet back at the house at noon, Shard, holding the cat, walked into the basement. When he came out of the Dragon Nest Cave outside Moon Bay City, he saw that it was still snowing lightly outside.