Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

All through the daylight hours of Thursday, Shard, Miss Beyas, and Miss Annette stayed inside No. 6 Saint Delan Square, continuously analyzing their plan and practicing the Arcane Technique together in the spacious basement.

Shard learned a lot during this process, as it was essentially the two ladies teaching him how to fight.

It was only then that he realized, in the nearly a month he had been in this world, he had never had the chance to engage in one-on-one combat with any unfamiliar Circle Sorcerer. The few battles that had occurred were either with trusty friends by his side or involved using the Relic properties for targeted contacts.

During tonight's raid into the Ruins, apart from the dangers posed by the Silver-Eyed One and the Ruins themselves, they would undoubtedly encounter the Circle Sorcerers of the Blood of Mercury. It was very likely, then, that Shard would experience his first real Circle Sorcerer combat.

During the day, no one visited Saint Delan Square, but Miss Beyas had to return to Blackstone Security Company for a two-hour duty at noon. She brought back some bad news:

"Tonight's True God Church operation to round up the 'Lord of the Blood Feast' cultists includes our squad as well," she said.

"What?"

Shard and Miss Annette both stood up from their chairs, the main actor in tonight's operation was Miss Beyas; without her, the operation would lose its meaning.

"No worries, no worries, our squad isn't scheduled to enter the feast."

Miss Beyas said, sitting on the couch closest to the "snowy" area:

"We are asked to guard the periphery to ensure that no one breaks in during the Church's purge of cultists at the party. I've already asked for leave. The captain thinks the operation is quite dangerous, so he agrees it's better if I don't participate."

Miss Annette immediately checked her notebook:

"That should be fine then; we can manage without any of us, but definitely not without you."

Shard exhaled in relief, continuing to furrow his brow as he pondered the entire plan's context.

Mia, sitting on a nearby couch, fiddled with the Holy Emblem of the single-use 'Sunlight Gun' with her little paws. No one paid her any heed as the orange cat gently tugged at the Holy Emblem, subtly sniffing something.

At five in the afternoon, the two ladies left Saint Delan Square first and agreed to meet Shard at seven o'clock at an inn near the printing plant above the entrance to the Ruins.

Half an hour later, while it was still quite light out, a carriage just happened to stop below the Shard Family's building. Having prepared enough cat food for Mia, Shard met Miss Maid Tifa Servet in the carriage,

"Everything goes as planned, you don't have to do anything extra at the banquet, just follow the plan and then leave."

She handed the invitation to Shard; the banquet was being held at the city's Maupassant Earl's grand estate. Earl Maupassant was aging and residing at his family's manor in the south, while his son, who had become a cultist of the 'Lord of the Blood Feast' a few years ago, was one of the hosts of tonight's banquet.

The banquet invited many notable people from the city, ostensibly as a "charity dinner" held by young Maupassant to fundraise for the rebuilding of Tobesk University District. However, in reality, all the invited guests were sacrifices to the Evil God. Shard's invitation was obtained by Miss Galina through special means.

Since both the cultists and the True God Church had numerous people attending the banquet to prevent exposure, Shard entrusted all his Relics to Maid Tifa for safekeeping, just like he did when heading to Yordle Palace, and Miss Tifa Servet gave Shard a stack of money to use at the charity auction later.

"Is there anything I should be careful about?"

Shard asked while flipping through the invitation, as the carriage slowly started moving. The rain from the previous night had not yet stopped, but it had lessened considerably, not affecting normal travel.

"Do not stray from the plan, especially avoid going to the third floor, where the cultists are concentrated, including Mr. Lawrence, who acts as the flesh for the Evil God. Anyone entering or leaving the third floor will draw attention from both the Church and the cultists,"

Miss Maid said, Shard nodded gravely as he continued perusing the invitation.

"No other precautions needed; just stick to the plan. Miss's carriage is parked in the alley outside Maupassant Manor; she will come to our rescue if necessary. Remember, after the event, I will escort you out of the manor. Don't wander about during the banquet."

"No problem,"

Shard nodded, but couldn't help but ask:

"Will Mr. Hog Lendel, the Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer 'Sunlight Greatsword' from the Sun Church, also be at the banquet?"

"Yes, he has altered his appearance using special means and will be attending the charity dinner as a representative of the Church. But rest assured, you won't encounter him,"

Shard nodded again, and the maid softly added:

"Don't be too nervous; I've been with Miss since I was fifteen, and we've been through more dangerous situations than this. This one isn't very dangerous by comparison."

"What could be more dangerous than attending a banquet prepared to sacrifice to an Evil God?"

Shard couldn't help but ask.

"Two Unclassified Level (Level 0) Relics got out of control at the same time. That incident required six Grand Witches to suppress the accident forcefully. Even after that event..."

She lowered her voice:

"One of the Grand Witches died because of it."

"If there's time, tell me about this story next time."

"Okay."

The maid spoke softly, and Shard took a deep breath and turned to look at the rain outside the window:

"Tonight, it has finally begun."

The dinner themed around charity donations was actually a sacrifice ceremony for the cultists. And the theme of "donations" seemed to have nothing to do with a poor person like Shard. However, the nobility and the wealthy of Tobesk seemed to be quite fond of such banquets.

When the carriage stopped at the entrance of Earl Maupassant's mansion, many people who had come from other parts of the city had already arrived. At the mansion's entrance, people were also waiting for Shard in advance.

Shard and Miss Tifa, the maid, alighted from the carriage and were immediately greeted by five women, three of whom were dressed as middle-aged high-society ladies, while the other two were young maids.

The five of them bowed respectfully to Tifa Servet who was beside Shard. Miss Tifa Servet approximately belonged to the upper echelons within the hierarchy of the Witch Council. Enjoy exclusive chapters from My Virtual Library Empire

All five were members of the Witch Council under Miss Galina's jurisdiction. They were all Circle Sorcerers, and even without using the voice inside Shard's mind to ascertain, Miss Maid had already informed Shard about them:

"One Six Rings, one Five Rings, one Four Rings, two Three Rings. I'm sorry, detective; the True God Church is watching very closely tonight, so I couldn't bring more people to protect you."

Honestly, having so many people there was beyond Shard's expectation. After all, he had always thought that Miss Galina only had Miss Tifa Servet to help her because anything that needed doing was either done by the maid or by Shard himself.

"I won't accompany you into the manor. The people protecting you won't stay too close. Try to act as naturally as possible. Your excuse for coming today is to help the lady buy a fountain pen at the charity auction."

The fountain pen was one used by Mr. Vincent Roberts, a famous writer from Draleon Kingdom who died in 1850. Mr. Roberts's stature in Draleon's literary world remained unchallenged for nearly thirty years.

"Try not to use the Circle Sorcerer's abilities. The plan is very thorough and should proceed without a hitch."

Miss Maid advised him once more, and Shard nodded before merging with the crowd and entering the mansion courtyard.

Earl Maupassant's mansion was incomparable to Lakeside Manor or the Royal Family's manor outside the town, but the number of guests invited was no less than those two instances.

During the banquet, the mansion's courtyard, the entire first floor, and the second floor were fully open. The courtyard and first floor hosted the lively banquet and some sophisticated party games, while various rooms on the second floor were used for holding small auction events with the earnings going towards fundraising for the University District.

Every guest who came to the banquet received an auction list.

Only then did Shard find out that attending this banquet required paying a 10-pound "entrance fee" to the host. These fees were nominally also donated to Tobesk University District, but in reality, should the cultists succeed, all of tonight's profits would be split among them and the Blood of Mercury.

The auction items were contributed by Earl Maupassant and his friends, among them even two special-rules Roder Cards. But the auction of these two cards would happen much later, and by then, Shard would have already left the place.

"This is my first time attending a charity banquet."

The outlander was quite curious about it.

In the courtyard, the servants had started placing dishes along the long tables and the guests were gradually all arriving. Meanwhile, inside the building, the formally dressed men and gowned women had no idea of the turmoil hidden beneath this event. But Shard, who was 'very sensitive to souls', had just wandered around the first floor's main hall for a few turns and had already detected at least six unfamiliar Circle Sorcerers.

Shard took a glass from a tray in a servant's hands. The glass contained a semi-transparent yellow liquor, which somewhat resembled pear juice.

It wasn't time yet. Holding the glass, he paused on the first floor for a while. Timing it just right, he then carried the glass through the crowd towards the second floor.

This kind of social dinner had guests everywhere engaged in discussions about various matters, and some even stood on the stairs talking. They would only go to the second floor to participate in the auction if they were interested in a specific auction item, and Shard's current behavior indicated that he wanted to join the auction event.

The corridors on the second floor were carpeted in red, and directly opposite the staircase hung a large portrait of Earl Maupassant himself.

Almost everywhere was crowded, and the bustling atmosphere was even more pronounced than downstairs or in the courtyard.

The well-dressed men conversed about the auction items of interest, comparing their respective targets. Shard was on edge, but his expression was relaxed. As he passed by the staircase, he even overheard a stout man using an outdated risqué joke to describe the pattern on a pair of metal vases that had just been auctioned.

The banquet atmosphere was incredibly festive, the gas lamps shone brightly, and the people's spirits were exceedingly high. Those who knew the truth were waiting for the time, while those unaware continued to revel, enjoying this peaceful night.