Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

"Big City Player? Oh, yes, there's betting outside... Hmm... speaking of which, do we already know the contender's situation now?"

Shard asked distractedly, always feeling like there were eyes on him from behind. Of course, that was just an illusion; the two professors had chosen a corner spot to sit and were speaking in whispers, paying no attention to the "stranger" with his back to them.

Shard carefully took a sip of the strange drink in his cup.

"Not yet, but I've heard that this time there's even a holder of the Genesis Roder Card appearing."

"Cough cough~"

Shard coughed and waved his hand to indicate he was alright:

"That's quite impressive. The newspapers should cover those key matches."

He whispered softly, trying to lower his presence, planning to stand up and leave a bit later. Otherwise, it would seem very strange if he left just as the professors came in.

"I won't have the chance to go to Tobesk City. Even if I did, I couldn't get tickets to watch the Big City Players play cards live. Twenty-one years ago, when the 'Big City Player Roder Card Competition' was held at Coldwater Port, the ticket price was equivalent to several months of my salary, and now it would only be more expensive."

The bartender shook his head in regret and then nodded towards the direction of Aphrola Manor, cleaning glasses as he spoke:

"Sometimes I really envy the wealthy, do you know how much that manor was sold for twenty years ago?"

"How much? You know that?"

Shard asked in surprise.

"This number... I was working at this bar twenty years ago, heard it from the boss back then."

The bartender dipped his finger in some water and wrote a few numbers on the wooden counter. Shard raised an eyebrow, recalculated the price index and purchasing power compared to twenty years ago, and if he could prove that there were no ghosts in the house at Saint Delan Square, then the selling price of Aphrola Manor was only a bit more expensive than one of the houses there.

"That means, by selling No. 6, Saint Delan Square, and adding some money, I could buy an estate with a beach, a courtyard, and a garden in a place like Coldwater Port."

His mood suddenly uplifted, even if he didn't sell, just knowing what he owned could thrill the homeowner.

"Speaking of this manor, it's been here since my father was a child. The history of the manor is not shorter than those old streets in the South District."

The bartender continued.

"Isn't that several hundred years then?"

Shard asked, then turned sideways to look back, taking the risk to glance, but the professors indeed hadn't noticed him.

"I can't say the specifics, but I know the original owner of the manor was a local magnate thirty years ago. He had special connections to acquire jewels from sunken ships or pearls from the seabed. Then one day, the magnate disappeared, and the estate was sold off as a mortgage."

The bartender shook his head, scrubbing the glass in his hand, as if lamenting the impermanence of life:

"But it used to be very spooky there, don't be fooled by its current gloss. When I was young, the entire house was like a water-soaked underground cave; at night, you could even hear the wind passing through the windowless windows, making strange noises."

The more Shard listened, the stronger his feeling of unease grew.

He continued to chat casually with the bartender, and before Shard planned to leave, the two professors from Saint Byrons unexpectedly stood up first and left the bar, stepping out into the night rain.

Shard certainly didn't dare to follow them.

The time was now half-past four on Wednesday morning, with about two hours left until the sunrise over Coldwater Port.

Shard sat on the high stool at the counter for a few more minutes, making sure the professors wouldn't return, then carried that bizarrely flavored drink over to the corner where the professors had been sitting.

The bartender was quite regretful that he couldn't sell those strange herbal liquors to Shard.

The professors hadn't left anything behind. After setting down his cup, Shard tried using the Arcane Technique "Echo of the Past" to see if he might get lucky.

But this was a bar, and nearly every moment within the last 48 hours was filled with people talking, so he didn't hold much hope.

The first attempt.

"Star 8, look at my 20 points!"

Apparently, they were playing Roder Card.

The second attempt.

"Oh, my Maya, my Maya..."

A man was crying, likely over the death of his wife or daughter.

"Why did you leave this home and me."

Perhaps it wasn't death, but his wife had suddenly disappeared.

"I provided for you for three full years, and I've even saved your cat food money until after 1856."

Shard made no comment, instead trying for a third time.

"So, Maphal, it's really a pity that we didn't invite the professors from the History Academy this time."

Shard started; it was Professor Sanchez's voice. And from what he could hear, it indeed involved Saint Byrons's professors having a quiet discussion.

"When did I ever get so lucky?"

He mused dubiously but kept eavesdropping.

"Oh, Professor Sanchez, who could have anticipated this happening here?"

Sighed the middle-aged professor known as "Maphal":

"Who could have guessed that the manor was actually one of the ceremonial nodes of the Sea Return ritual? The Crimson Cult has invested heavily, deploying a Relic "Do Not Enter Sign", and now no one from outside can get in, and no one from inside can get out. If there was a professor from the History Academy here, we might conceivably find a way to let at least one of us inside from a spatial perspective."

The surprised expression on Shard's face was now uncontrollable.

"There's something amiss with the manor itself; we've been examining the cult's fund flows over the past few days, and early investigations have already shown that, thirty years ago, the manor's owner had cooperated with the Crimson Cult, moving funds for cultists and Mermen. I think the manor had already started preparations for the 'Sea Return' back then."

Professor Sanchez said, then the sound of a cup being put down followed:

"We just checked the place, and with the current means, no one can get in for several hours, unless we bring over the High Ring Sorcerer responsible for the other nodes, which are just as crucial, and other places likely face similar issues. But we shouldn't worry too much; the Church of Nature says that they received early notice of some suspicious people during that party, so there's a full team of Circle Sorcerers inside the manor. That squad has sent a message; both sides are in a standoff and neither intends to start fighting again."

"That's quite good..."

Professor Maphal pondered for a moment but immediately realized a problem:

"However, in a situation where the whole city is in need of people, how would the Church of Nature think to secretly gather a full team of Circle Sorcerers and lie in wait at the party? They shouldn't have known about the ceremonial node underneath the Aphrola Manor, or they would have resolved it beforehand. Could it be that the Church of Nature has already found... the second one..."