Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

"Good evening, Miss Danester."

At 9:21 PM, Shard appeared on a chair in the central circular clearing of Saint Byrons Grand Library. A librarian sat on the sofa opposite him. The students who helped with the ceremony bid farewell to Miss Danester and then left. The two students this time were a boy and a girl. The older male was human, while the female had scales on her face, indicating an unknown race.

"Her grandmother is a mixed mermaid."

Miss Danester noticed Shard's curiosity and explained after they had walked away.

Miss Danester still looked the same, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and holding a book. Even this late at night, she was still energetic. Although Shard was academically interested in understanding the process of mermaid and human hybridization, he refrained out of politeness:

"Are there still many people in the library this late?"

He noticed young students sitting on the ground between the bookshelves, engrossed in their books:

"I thought a boarding school like Saint Byrons would have a curfew and lights-out time at night, just like regular schools."

"Lower grades do, but higher grades can stay in the castle until 11 PM, provided they don't violate school rules. Students can stay overnight in the library. The Astronomy College's autumn activities just ended, but the commotion about the Star Whale and the Path of Shattered Light is still raging. Students want answers from the library."

Miss Danester explained, and Shard pretended to be curious:

"I heard about Midshire Fort's news in Tobesk as well. My fellow Circle Sorcerer, Miss Luviya Annette, observed the Star Ocean Whale on Wednesday night. I heard that similar events to those in Tobesk occurred in Midshire Fort on a midsummer night... Is that true?"

"Yes."

The librarian looked rather troubled:

"Our principal intended to try his luck to see if Miss Feliana would appear in this Chosen One Ceremony. But then this happened. The information you have is likely incomplete. What happened in the Sicarl Mountain region on Wednesday night through to Thursday morning is far more complex than you can imagine."

Seeing Shard still wanting to ask—although Shard had no such intention—Miss Danester changed the topic herself:

"This matter doesn't concern you, so you needn't inquire further. The reason I called you here tonight is regarding the 'Guiding Moon' matter at Xerxes Higher Medical Academy. Originally, it was expected that he would arrive in Tobesk City either at the end of this month or early next month. A small issue has arisen, and he won't reach Tobesk until mid-November."

"Delayed by a week? That's fine, I'll act when he arrives. In Tobesk... I have plenty of connections."

Miss Danester smiled and nodded:

"Good. If not for his complicated identity, there wouldn't be such trouble. We wouldn't need to wait for him to reach Tobesk to act."

"Complicated identity? I recall you mentioning that he is a correspondence student. Is it his real-world identity that's complicated?"

Shard asked, and Miss Danester confirmed:

"You might have heard that the Cavendish Royalty of Draleon has ties with Zaras Academy of Sorcery. Gifted members of the Royal Family are sent there to study."

Like Lecia Cavendish of this generation.

"The Anjou Royal Family of the United Kingdom of Carsonrick has ties with Xerxes Higher Medical Academy, and similarly, their gifted members are sent to Xerxes to study."

This reminded Shard of handing over the suitcase containing the "difference engine" blueprints to the Princess of the Anjou Royal Family in Midshire Fort, who obviously had faint witch powers.

"The real name of the 'Guiding Moon' is Lakin Prisia. He is a distant relative of the Anjou Royal Family. His grandmother and the mother of the current King of Carsonrick are twin sisters. After showing his talent, he became a correspondence Circle Sorcerer at Xerxes."

Of course, such an identity wasn't enough to make a Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer wary, but Miss Danester wanted to keep the matter of the "Silvermoon Library" as confidential as possible, hence the caution:

"Speaking of politics, did you know that this summer, Princess Lecia Cavendish of Draleon visited Carsonrick on behalf of the Royal Family?"

Shard naturally knew about it. Although he didn't understand why it was mentioned, he cautiously nodded:

"Yes, there were many news reports on it. You are aware of it too?"

"Of course, we also subscribe to newspapers from the civilized world, keeping an eye on the politics of the two major Human Kingdoms. I've been following the 'Hamilton Detective Stories' serialized in 'Steam Bird Daily.' Interestingly, the protagonist of the novel resembles you... I've digressed."

Miss Danester shook her head and pointed to the coffee table. A newspaper flew to Shard, showing a photo of Lecia returning to Coldwater Port:

"To maintain diplomatic balance, the Anjou Royal Family plans to send the second Princess, Margaret Anjou, to visit Tobesk this autumn or winter."

Shard knew about this too (Chapter 653). There had always been rumors, but as winter approached, no definite timing had been set.

"Lakin Prisia will join the visiting delegation heading to Tobesk. Originally, he wasn't part of it, but I arranged for him to join voluntarily."

Miss Danester stopped speaking because a young woman with orange hair, wearing a black robe with a school emblem embroidered on her chest, approached:

"Miss Danester, excuse the interruption. Professor Winchester just sent a message asking if the batch of relic books can be stored in the library basement?"

"We'll discuss it at next week's lunch meeting. Send a reply to Professor Winchester, telling the Academy of Library Management not to keep dumping dangerous items into the library."

Miss Danester waved her hand, clearly irritated by the topic. The orange-haired girl nodded slightly, glanced curiously at Shard, and then turned to leave.

Noticing Shard's curiosity, Miss Danester picked up her teacup and explained:

"The library offers some positions, allowing students below the high ring to do book sorting, guide services, and other library work. These positions not only provide remuneration but also earn limited practice credits and even help in applying for faculty positions after graduation. I also did book sorting work when I was young..."

She shook her head slightly and concluded the topic:

"In short, it is confirmed that Princess Margaret's delegation will depart at the start of November and arrive in Tobesk in mid-November. You'll likely see the news in next week's papers. I wanted to let you know ahead of time to prepare. Your real-world occupation is a detective, right? Do you have connections with the nobility?"

"Yes, I have."

Shard nodded immediately, confident:

"I've even been to Yordle Palace and had a private conversation with the King."

"Then I can rest assured."

Seeing Shard like this, Miss Danester also smiled:

"Asking for your help was indeed the right choice."

Perhaps because there was nothing else to do tonight, after finishing the main topic, Miss Danester began to share with Shard the history of this library. She had once promised that if the "Silvermoon Library" was found, she would list Shard as the next candidate for the librarian, and this was certainly not a casual statement.

Despite the large gaps in the history of the Fifth Era, some information was still preserved in this ancient library. For example, the name of Miss Briony Orlando, the first librarian of the Academy Library.

"She was considered the most important student of Miss Mana Feliana and had elven blood. This family connection also led to a large number of elven descendants studying at the academy later on."

Miss Danester said, drawing a circle in the air with her finger. A faint image of a yellow moon appeared above the coffee table:

"As one of the original founders of Saint Byrons, Miss Orlando's records are greatly connected to Miss Feliana. To investigate Miss Feliana's more detailed life, I found some old books in the library. I discovered that this lady's core Spirit Rune was actually [Yellow Moon]."

"It's a pity that Miss Orlando lived in the Fifth Era; otherwise, we wouldn't need to search for the 'Guiding Moon'."

Shard said regretfully, looking around:

"This feeling is really interesting; the same space in different times. Perhaps long ago in the Fifth Era, this lady also imagined her future heirs discussing her stories."

"A very romantic fantasy."

The Thirteen-Ring Female Sorcerer smiled, and Shard took the opportunity to introduce his topic:

"Speaking of which, I recently came into contact with the shattered holy emblem of the Old God [Gray Robed Sage] and learned a sorcery related to the library. I remember you mentioned that the library's establishment was related to this Old God's believers."

"Yes, so what sorcery did you learn?"

Miss Orlando gestured for Shard to demonstrate.

Shard sat up straight, reached out with his hand, and silently chanted:

"The method to enhance time perception!"

He held this pose, but nothing happened. After three full seconds, just as Shard started to feel embarrassed, a roll of parchment flew from a distance and landed precisely in his hand.

"Does it really work?"

Shard was astonished that this matter was resolved so easily.

But upon closer inspection, he realized that this was a paper he had borrowed before, written by a senior student of Saint Byrons on enhancing time perception. While he had tried most of the methods with no significant results, it did offer some interesting ideas.

"But it's fine. After all, in projection mode, the power of supernatural abilities is weakened. If the Old Sage really left a method to enhance time perception to his believers, and they stored it in this library, maybe I'll need to come in person..."

"Oh? Did you use sorcery to directly find the information you wanted in the library?"

Miss Danester asked, and Shard explained the basic principle of the [Library Retrieval] sorcery. The librarian Miss Orlando nodded with great interest:

"I've heard of this sorcery. More precisely, in the era when the Old Gods had not yet departed, it should be considered divine arts. After all, this library itself prohibits most supernatural powers from searching for books to prevent the library's secrets from leaking. Only this kind of homologous divine arts can work in Saint Byrons' library."

"So, apart from some believers integrating into our place, are there other places where these sorceries are practiced? I am very interested in this kind of sorcery."

Shard took the opportunity to ask, Miss Orlando nodded:

"Do you know the Apna Library?"

"Yes."

He had encountered high-ring sorcerers from the library during the guardian battle at the Nature Chapel in the Interstice.

"Some records indicate that before the collapse of the Old God's cult, a small number of believers brought some important information and joined the Apna Library."

Shard immediately decided he would take the opportunity to contact the library, as they might have the information on time perception.

"Apart from this, there is also a very old organization, very ancient but also very... laughable. They always believe the apocalypse is coming, so they go to great lengths to prepare in advance."

Miss Danester continued, mentioning a familiar name:

"The Guiding Light Hermitage.

These people hide very well. I only heard about some of them exchanging several relics with Saint Byrons during my student days. After the Old God's cult disintegrated, two of the cult's high-ranking members brought some information and joined the Hermit Society. This is not just a rumor; it's recorded in Saint Byrons' documents. Of course, most of the Old God's cult members stayed at Saint Byrons and became our faculty, but that was thousands of years ago."

"Saint Byrons, Apna Library, Guiding Light Hermitage... All three places might have clues."

Shard thought to himself, feeling as if he could never truly relax.