Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

The soul's wraith had only its upper body; the lower half appeared to be cut off. The phantasmal figure was incredibly transparent, swaying in the gloomy wind within the room. Shard found this scene very unsettling:

"How many statues do you still have in your hands? Where are those mermaid statues now?"

Shard asked quietly.

His intention was to confirm what exactly that statue was; he did not plan to keep it, nor would he touch it, so it wasn't dangerous. As for asking after the murder, that was to prevent the other party from using those dangerous statues to play any tricks on him, as the soul phantasm summoned by "Soul Echo" could not lie.

"Discarding those statues is futile. To find a way to lift the curse, I retained three. They are in the basement."

The voice spoke in an utterly monotonous tone, sounding as though it came from a faraway place, hollow and feeble.

"How do you enter the basement? Is it dangerous? What else is in the basement?"

He continued to ask.

"The basement can be accessed by a door beside the broom cupboard of the staircase. Do not step on the first floorboard after entering, or the door will lock shut. The basement contains those statues, amulets that I bought to dispel the curse, materials for exorcism that I learned I would need, and some other things I believe useful for my protection."

The wraith responded again.

"So where is your money kept?"

Last time, he didn't take the Ponton family's wealth, as he had promised Miss Beyas not to take anything extra. Besides, plundering money from such a tragic family massacre wasn't a very noble act in itself.

But this time was different. The other party had simply sealed their own fate, and Shard had no qualms about taking such a person's money. Of course, if the amount was considerable, he would donate a portion of the ill-gotten gains to the Dawn Church.

"There's only some change at home. Most of it is in the private bank in Coldwater Port, a small part with my wife who went back to visit our hometown."

It seemed that the Dawn Church would not be getting this money. The private bank recognized people, not documents, and Shard didn't have the time or inclination to trouble a woman whose whereabouts he didn't know.

"Alright then, you may go."

After asking some details about the story just now and ensuring that the other party was not lying, he waved his hand, and the soul wraith automatically dissipated. He then searched the body, realizing that looking for a wallet on someone at home was quite foolish.

He thus first headed to the basement. Jason Delar's basement was a bit smaller than the Shards'. Standing on the downward stone steps, he found the gas lamp knob on one side of the wall. Under the dim light, Shard immediately saw the three statues covered with red cloth, placed directly across from the stairs on a chest; the outlines beneath the red cloth indeed resembled mermaids.

He was very careful not to get closer, quickly shifting his gaze away:

"Did you sense anything?"

"Whisper Element, those are relics. The curse is very strong, but not as much as the activated Blood Coin."

"It really is a relic."

Out of caution, Shard only stood on the steps and did not intend to venture deeper into the basement. Glancing around, the basement was cluttered with a variety of things. Behind the statue covered with red cloth, there were also simultaneously hung five holy emblems of the True Gods.

The corner of the room was piled with stacks of religious texts, and various metal, wooden, and even crystal amulets that resembled tourist souvenirs hung on the wall to the left. The basement floor was sprinkled with snow-white refined salt, while the shelf in front of the right wall held stones, metals, herbal medicines, and other incomprehensible things.

Beneath the box that contained three mermaid statues, there were five or six oil paintings, facing those statues covered in red cloth. Due to the angle, Shard took some effort to discern the paintings' content, which surprisingly, were all of cats.

"Using cat oil paintings to face mermaids... He's come to think of such an idea yet still refuses to seek help from the True God Church, truly... Wait a minute."

Shard's gaze returned to the shelf in front of the right wall, focusing on a bundle of bluish grass on the second level to the left. He frowned slightly:

"Why does this look so familiar..."

After a moment of recollection, his eyes widened in realization:

"Wind Vane Bluegrass!"

The rewards from the Lakeside Manor incident, stacked with the Angel-Level "Time Key" reward, had granted Shard access to two Arcane Techniques from Space-Time. However, "Lalleg's Leap," which enabled him to perform Spatial Movement up to 10 feet (about 3.04 meters), could not be mastered until next month due to the lack of a primary material.

After that event, Shard had come across a description and sketches of this plant in the textbook for first-year Circle Sorcerers, which was why he could recognize the item on the shelf at a glance.

"Is this the reason I came to Coldwater Port City?"

Subconsciously wanting to grab it, he immediately stopped in his tracks, carefully avoiding the floor traps, and then moved to the shelf to take the bundle of plants tied with cloth into his hands.

Upon a brief examination, he confirmed that it was indeed the main learning material needed for the Arcane Technique "Lalleg's Leap."

Even in the New World, Wind Vane Bluegrass is extremely rare. The ones here were probably confiscated by Jason Drell during an investigation into the smuggling of prohibited items.

Aside from that, there were many other minerals and herbal medicines on the shelf, but Shard didn't recognize many of them. However, since he was here, he saw no need to leave empty-handed. He casually pocketed some minerals and, finding it too troublesome to pick up the herbal medicines, took several bottles of labeled liquid instead.

Because of the statues covered in red cloth, Shard didn't dare to continue looking for good items here. After scouring the area and having the voice in his head confirm there were no relics beyond the statues, he prepared to leave the basement.

Leaving, of course, meant climbing out the window, but when he approached the window, he noticed there were people in the muddy alley.

"What's happening?"

On alert, he peered out beside the window wall and saw five people within just the visible range in the alley. Clearly, these people were not passing by but waiting there for something.
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"This is bad."

He moved to the window on the entrance side and looked out. People were passing Mermaid Lane with umbrellas, and the covert glances cast towards the house revealed that the front entrance was unsafe as well.

"Who has Mr. Drell angered? Wait a minute... Could it be the True God Church?"

Thinking it over, the middle-aged man Shard had killed not long ago had bought prohibited books, killed homeless people to collect their blood, and even hoarded many strange things in the basement. It wouldn't be impossible for the church to have noticed him.

"Regardless of whom he has offended, I can't explain my presence here."

After some thought, he quickly made his way to the second floor of the house, found the trapdoor leading to the attic, and climbed up the ladder.

The attic was cluttered with miscellaneous items, which Shard paid no attention to, as he pushed open the only window a crack.

Looking out, he saw the rain was still pouring heavily, but the building across the alley didn't seem too far from his current standpoint.

"I should be able to make the jump," he said to himself.

He reached into his pocket for the frog legs, then reluctantly discarded some of the heavier stones that were also inside. He recited the spell words and after twisting the frog legs, tossed them into his pocket, found the right timing, and flung himself out of the open window with a fierce leap.

Shard didn't know if the people surveilling the house below had seen him; thus, as he soared through the air, he made sure he could land on the opposite rooftop and prepared to jump again.

The rooftop was solid enough; Shard didn't crash through it from the impact of the landing. He crouched low, took a couple of quick steps forward on the roof, aimed for the next direction, and leaped again into the air.

Under the rain-filled sky, he was just an inconspicuous speck, and this time, after he landed, he didn't run further but instead lay cloaked on the rooftop to observe his surroundings. He didn't see anyone chasing him from the alley below.

So he jumped again, this time aiming for a shorter building diagonally ahead. This building was at the intersection of the main street and the alley. After Shard crouched down, ensuring no one was around, he immediately jumped from the roof to the ground below and took off his mask and robe.

Instead of abandoning them, he rolled them up and tucked them inside his coat.

He quickly straightened his drenched clothes, covered his head with his hands as if sheltering from the rain, and dashed out from the alley.

Unconcerned with the events behind him, Shard resolved to disassociate himself from the matter. He ran forward, bent over and sticking close to a low wall, and by the misty afternoon of the port city, he vanished in the distance of the streets.

The departing Shard didn't notice that, across the street from where he had emerged from the alley, there was a carriage parked.

And just a few seconds after he sped past, the slightly open carriage window was pushed further open, revealing a fine face and a head of fiery red hair.

The girl with the silver crown looked out perplexedly, but by then, Shard, intent on getting home, had already run far.

A squad of police followed a middle-aged man with a stern face and wearing a black coat, running from afar towards the carriage. The coachman hopped down from the carriage, checked the man's credentials before allowing him to approach:

"Your Highness," the man said as he folded his umbrella and approached the carriage window through the rain with a respectful bow, not daring to look at the face of the person inside.

"We have surrounded the target's house, and once the operation begins, we will be bringing out some of the sensitive items. The mermaid statue you wanted will definitely not be a problem," he assured.

"Don't be negligent. The church is also aware of the situation here, and I do not want the True God Church to know what I am taking away. You know how I operate," the red-haired maiden spoke from within the carriage, her tone not harsh, but still making the man in the rain shudder. The middle-aged man took a firm stance, his right foot stomping as he squared his shoulders:

"Rest assured, Your Highness, there will be no issues," he proclaimed.

After that, he bowed slightly towards the window and then turned to lead his men back to the scene of the operation.

However, the young lady sitting in the carriage was no longer concerned about whether the Relic she had happened to hear about could end up in her hands.

The rainy scenery outside the window was reflected in her eyes as she closed the carriage window again. Although the interior space of the carriage was not large, it was furnished with a sofa, a coffee table, an incense burner, and porcelain tea cups.

The red-haired girl wore a silver crown on her head and was dressed in a white gown, adorned with a row of pure silver decorative buttons at the waist, and black leather shoes on her feet.

She elegantly picked up the teacup in front of her, brown eyes deep in thought. After a brief pause, she whispered softly to herself,

"Did my eyes deceive me just now?"

Speaking, she raised her right hand and touched the ruby earrings that sparkled on her ear,

"How can Shard be here?"

(Mia runs...)

On the other hand, Shard returned to the small inn in the rain, packed up his belongings, looked out the window to check for any followers, and then quickly checked out and left.

He walked around the nearby alleys with an umbrella, making several turns before finally making a big detour to the pier. Carrying his suitcase, he walked on the Pier and, ensuring no one was watching, bent down as if to retrieve something from the water, then plunged into the sea with a fierce dive.

He had not used an umbrella all this time and was completely soaked; thus, entering the water felt even warmer to him.

With the effect of the Sorcery "Underwater Breathing," he held the suitcase wrapped in canvas in one arm and swam with the other, moving underwater. Guided by his fairly decent sense of direction, he quickly reached the cliffs outside the pier through underwater movement.

First he peered out from underwater to make sure that the black rock in front of him was indeed the reef used for landing, then he went back underwater to find the rope extending from a crevice and followed it through the crack beneath the cliff.

By now it was nearly evening, and the receding tide exposed part of the rift above water. Shard was actually swimming and walking at the same time. He had traveled this path before, so there were no surprises on the return journey.

When he landed in the dark cave, holding a fish that had sought its own death, the soaked Shard nearly stumbled over a turtle on the ground as he walked toward the hidden wall at the end.

Summoning the Ring of Fate made the wall vanish, and then he approached the Ancient God Statue to touch it and recited the Spell Words to enter the Spatial Labyrinth. After touching the marker representing home, he re-entered the circular space.

Stepping out of the basement in swift strides, water still dripping from his body, Shard wiped the water off his face and immediately saw that it was still raining outside in Saint Delan Square through the window.

He watched the rainy scenery outside the window in a daze for quite some time before finally letting out a long sigh, dropping his suitcase, and slowly sliding down against the wall to sit, unconcerned that the seawater dripped from him was soaking the wall and floor.

"Oh, although there was no danger on this trip, it was indeed very exhausting," he said as his serious facial expression finally relaxed. He sat watching the rain outside the window, listening to the sound of raindrops tapping on the glass for a long while before he finally recovered.

Standing up and looking at the dead fish in his hand, which had been alive, it had died after getting close to the Ancient God Statue. It wasn't because the statue of the "Primordial Rift" of the Ancient God forbade the transport of living beings through Spatial Movement, but because living beings couldn't withstand the psychic shock of being near the statue.

It seems that unless one could ensure the psychic resistance of the subject was strong enough, it would be impossible to conduct Spatial Movement with living beings for the time being.

He took a thorough bath at home, washing away all traces of seawater. After soaking his clothes in the washroom basin, he then headed out with an umbrella and took a carriage to Feather Quill Avenue.