Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Just as Shard had guessed, although the Moon Bay City Police Department is not very far from the Parsifal Club, the journey after the end of the second round still consumed an entire hour, not a second more or less.

Therefore, by the time Shard stepped off the carriage, it was already past three-thirty in the afternoon. Simultaneously, the also spent an hour entering the Dawn Chapel, seemingly about to start a to get the Church’s assistance. However, with that police officer’s social credibility, it’s probably just a minor issue consuming a few rounds of actions.

Meanwhile, the who had arrived at the police station early was now nowhere to be found. According to the conversation Shard heard from the three people in the Clock Tower, the who had already entered the police station had started the third round, and from then on, no matter what determination occurred, he would be one step ahead, and if confrontation started, the priority would confer additional bonuses to him.

"The weather is really terrible."

Determined to end the game in this round, Shard complained. After giving the coachman an exceedingly expensive fare—due to the long carriage ride—he turned and prepared to enter the police department building.

Though located in the city center of Moon Bay City, it was still two blocks away from the Belindel Big Bell. The Witch atop the Clock Tower wanted to follow the mature pattern seen earlier, urging the to or for information, and then use to finish it. But at the police station entrance, Shard looked up to see a familiar face walking out:

"Mr. Ptolemy Albert."

With a small bat symbol floating above his head, it was indeed the Vampire Species Coroner working in the Lower District.

Though during the "Dice Story Collection" period, others should absolutely not notice the "protagonists," people like Mrs. Frei, who had roles in advancing the story, could still see him. At this moment, hearing Shard’s voice, the coroner dressed in a brown robe, seemingly pondering something, saw him and waved to Shard.

Shard thus understood that this gentleman was also related to this story.

"Well, well, I originally thought of using to control someone to perform the upcoming actions."

The sound of dice rolling echoed by his ears, as the witch by the table made another determination, this time whether information could be gleaned from the coroner in front of him.

While observing the witch’s actions, Shard approached to converse with Mr. Albert. Compared to the surely won , Shard was more concerned about whether this newly acquainted friend had encountered trouble:

"Mr. Albert, why are you here? Have you run into any issues?"

"Yes."

The vampire kind, dressed in a robe, wearily covered his forehead:

"Do you remember the corpse drained of blood we inspected with Armand? The Church took the body yesterday, and due to me being the examiner, today the police asked me for a testimony; I knew this would happen."

He slightly lowered his voice:

"Such misfortune, it’s clear to me that the person I spoke with earlier was a Circle Sorcerer of the church. It looks like they are planning to investigate our kind more deeply. My initial suspicion was correct, as even if the Church could discern the problematic tooth marks on the corpse’s neck, they still suspect us."

He finished speaking and questioned Shard:

"Mr. Watson, what brings you here?"

The witch’s determination had already begun, likely due to the solid initial affinity between Shard and Mr. Ptolemy Albert, only requiring a combined score and points exceeding 60 to inquire for the desired information.

"Wait, why can’t a charm determination be used here?"

The table-side witch was puzzled, but the Black-robed Person did not explain.

"Symbol bonuses of 5+5, basic points are 138, it seems even without supernatural abilities, she’s quite a persuasive girl. This way, even without rolling dice, she can pass, but I want to try out other special abilities."

As the sands in the hourglass continued to trickle downwards, the witch drew the divination cards again. This action lengthened the duration of the story on her own, though the others by the table could not stop her; this was a legitimate means.

This time, however, she failed, unable to use divination to interpret Miss Charlotte’s additional special abilities. After all, attempting to infer just from "scythe" was a bit challenging.

"Mr. Albert, I’m entangled in a troublesome matter."

At the bottom of the steps at the police station entrance, with people coming and going, Shard helplessly shook his head:

"Are you aware of Freeman Hawthorne’s issue? That member from the Parsifal Club who suddenly lost his memory."

"Yes, I have friends in the police force; I heard about it while waiting for my interview earlier."

The Vampire Kind spoke, and at that moment, just relying on her own luck, the Witch actually rolled a dice score of 99 points. As a result, Mr. Albert in front of Shard was ready to speak.

"Please wait a moment, Mr. Albert, could you do me a favor? Consider it a personal favor I owe you."

Shard said, quickly writing a few lines on one page in his notebook, then tearing that page along with one he had prepared in the carriage, folding them into paper balls, and casually tossing them aside rather rudely:

"This is trash; I don’t want it."

The puzzled Coroner understood and picked them up, read them separately, and then frowned slightly. The content on one was very brief, while on the other page Shard had just written, the ink still wet, it read:

[Please pretend to be an ordinary person, continue telling me about Freeman Hawthorne, and finally mention that you have a more confidential message, which is another piece of paper. And I need to pass your test—a test of intelligence—to obtain the most important clue. Of course, the condition to give me the final clue also includes: it must be viewed on a rooftop at a very high place.]

The Coroner blinked in confusion, confirmed the content of the two paper balls again, then said:

"Okay, although I don’t know what it means... There’s no need to owe a favor, this matter is simple."

He was completely unaware that they were standing at the police department entrance discussing these matters, but everyone around seemed unable to see them.

"I heard from a friend in the police department that Freeman Hawthorne’s incident is certainly related to the rumored Transcendents. His brain suffered some damage, identified as an ability attacking the spirit... The police officers actually believe this explanation. It is said that it is a supernatural ability used by a substance known as ’Mind Crystal.’ A more realistic investigation result shows that the attacker is right-handed, is very likely to be locally homeless, and mingles near Herring Street in the Lower District."

This result couldn’t possibly be deduced with the current clues, so it was forcibly reconnoitered due to the characteristics of the [Dice Story Collection].

Shard nodded and asked again:

"So, are there any other messages?"

The Vampire Species Coroner thought for a moment:

"The attacker may be a Draleon. Currently, these are all the clues. If you want to continue the investigation, you can try your luck by entering the police department, ask Freeman Hawthorne, or go to the Lower District to inquire if there are any strange people around."

This pointed out the things that could still be done this round, as well as the direction for action next round.

Seeing that Mr. Albert was completely unaware that there was a problem with what he was saying, Shard continued to ask:

"Really no other news?"

The Vampire Kind raised an eyebrow and glanced at the paper ball in his hand:

"There is news, but this information cannot be given to you for free. Do you want to know? You need to pass my test."

Clang clang ~

"From the kind Coroner he encountered unexpectedly, the [Outlander Traveler] learned more about the attack case and made a judgment... Judgment passed, obtaining the basic information ’the attacker carried a Mind Crystal and is right-handed’; because the persuasion total points exceeded 150, additional information ’5, the attacker is likely mingling in Herring Street, Lower District’ was obtained, and because the total points exceeded 200, additional information ’6, the attacker is a Draleon’ was obtained."

The Witch by the table smiled, the other two were just about to continue rolling to decide the event of the second round of the third turn, but the hoarse voice continued:

"The [Outlander Traveler] has met the basic affinity level with the Coroner, gaining an opportunity for further clues. If choosing to continue to inquire, the second round of action opportunity must be spent; if giving up to continue to inquire, the Coroner cannot be contacted again."

The Witch thought about it, understanding that this required consuming one action opportunity to gamble on whether extremely useful information could be obtained. Facing such a decision that required luck, she tossed a coin this time:

"Spend the second round action opportunity to continue the inquiry."

"With the intelligence of the [Outlander Traveler], he unexpectedly discovered that the Coroner had more information. But due to unspeakable reasons, persuasion and charm judgment could not obtain this information. The Coroner posed a challenge to the [Outlander Traveler], requiring solving a puzzle of wisdom to learn the information."

"Is this an intelligence judgment this time?"

Just like the other two "players," Miss Belindel didn’t feel there was anything wrong with this narrative, feeling that it was right to test various values of the character in various aspects.

She picked up the dice, waiting for that hoarse voice to finish telling the special judgment rules this time, but what she waited for was unexpected content again.

"Roll the dice for judgment, the sum of the points and [Intelligence] points must exceed 110 to pass... When the Coroner posed the puzzle of wisdom, the [Outlander Traveler] laughed. He had once overcome the difficult thirteen-layer challenges, and faced difficulties in the past and present. The Sage never feared challenges, the Sage saw them as a seasoning in life. The [Outlander Traveler] passed the judgment."