Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

At 8:20 in the evening, Shard's joke about the cat and rabbit made Princess Angelina laugh, covering her mouth lightly. The salon atmosphere was lively, Shard excused himself to go to the washroom, temporarily bidding farewell to those around him and stepping out of the room into the hallway.

The door shut the noisy sounds inside, and Shard pretended to be calm as he walked past the Royal Guards. Avoiding other people's gaze, he waited for a while at the corner of the hallway, and Luviya quietly walked down from the third floor. The girl with purple eyes avoided the areas lit by gas lamps and, standing in the shadow at the stairway entrance, waved to Shard. Shard followed her from afar, and after Luviya opened the door to the second divination room on the left side of the second floor, he slipped inside.

The room hadn't been lit, and the moonlight outside only illuminated a small area near the window.

Suddenly transitioning from a noisy environment to a dark room, Shard even felt somewhat uncomfortable. But he quickly stepped to the window, looking towards Yordle Palace, where everything outside appeared normal:

"How's the situation now?"

"Nothing's gone wrong yet. Shard, things have changed a bit, it's best not to get involved in anything tonight."

Luviya leaned against the wall by the door, looking at Shard bathed in moonlight by the window in the darkness. Whenever Shard was bathed in moonlight, she always felt that it was Shard himself who was shining.

"What has happened?"

Shard turned to ask.

"The president is upstairs, although the Church of the Five Gods hasn't sent any high ring sorcerer here, I received a letter from Iluna this afternoon. She said that tonight all eyes are on this place. There are too many entities paying attention here tonight, not just the high ring professors of the Truth Society, the forces watching here tonight won't be few. The church intends to use [Thief Jack] as bait, at least to find out who dares to reach out."

Luviya whispered:

"And this time it's different from the Midshire Fort event, during the Midshire Fort incident, the Truth Society only sent a few members to probe, this time besides Vice President Miss Pawo, there are at least five high ring professors, and the cultists they've hired. There's reason to believe that the autumn operation of the Truth Society in the Mountain City was a test, and now they are formally getting involved in the Chosen One affair.

Iluna told me that the Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer Iron Right Hand from the Church of Creation and the Sunlight Greatsword from the Sun Church are ready to move. This isn't Lakeside Manor, this is the center of Tobesk, they can appear within three minutes upon notification."

"Although the Truth Society is crazy, they aren't pure madmen, sometimes their rationality is terrifying. Even if the church is prepared, I think they have corresponding methods."

Shard continued to turn his head, looking out the window:

"I thought Miss Pawo would still come as 'Miss Witte' to attend Lecia's reading salon, but I didn't see her at all."

"Do you think she will show up tonight?"

Luviya asked.

"Of course she will. Miss Pawo possesses far more fragments of the Poem Chapter than we think, and as a Circle Sorcerer who believes in numbers, her personal appearance indicates she has her own confidence."

Shard frowned and looked down at Silver Cross Avenue, where a few people were getting off a carriage and entering Yordle Palace, which didn't appear suspicious:

"Luviya, let's do a divination now. Just an ordinary divination, the content is what kind of relic will appear tonight."

"It can be done, but you know that divination concerning relics is usually not very accurate, especially with such a wide description range as yours. If tonight it involves a second Sage-Level Relic besides [Thief Jack], then there's basically no chance of accuracy."

She took out the divination cards, shuffled them lightly, and recited an incantation to make the cards float before her. When Shard turned towards Luviya, he saw her deftly maneuvering the cards, rapidly changing positions in the air. When she lifted her head to look at Shard, her eyes displayed an extremely beautiful glowing transparent purple, making Shard's heart suddenly tremble.

"Choose one."

Luviya indicated, and Shard chose the card from the row in the middle closest to Luviya's side. His finger trembled slightly, causing the divination card to flip in the air, revealing the face.

"Divination Card · Game?"

Shard looked at the card face suspiciously, this card doesn't often appear:

"What does this mean? I thought I would pick a card representing numbers."

"It either means my divination went wrong, or it means an extremely powerful relic related to games will appear tonight."

Luviya retrieved the other divination cards, and Shard returned the 'Game' card to her:

"I hope it's not the worst-case scenario. But since it involves the materials for the Chosen One Ceremony, the possibility of an unexpected outcome... Luviya, will you stay at the association tonight?"

"Yes, if Thief Jack doesn't show up after the salon concludes, I'll stop by your house. I have a bad feeling."

"Me too."

Shard nodded, preparing to return to the book salon. Lecia planned to have him share a detective story as a special guest in a later session, so he needed to head back in time:

"I hope everything goes smoothly tonight."

He whispered, and Luviya embraced him and kissed him.

The moonlight outside the window shone on Shard's back. The girl with purple eyes stood in the shadows, truly anxious.

(Mia running...)

Iluna Beath was preparing.

The seventeen-year-old girl, wrapped in a black trench coat, stood at the corner of Silver Cross Avenue, leaning against the wall and watching both sides of the street. Because tonight's event involved the Chosen One, she was asked to join the operation even though it coincided with her break and she wasn't originally required to participate.

The team Iluna belonged to wasn't fully mobilized. Besides her at the Five Rings level, only two Low Ring members joined the operation. Iluna was assigned to monitor an important intersection, so she could be informed at the first sign of trouble, while the other two team members temporarily joined the patrolling officers. Iluna could see them every thirty minutes.

"It's getting colder these days."

Despite being on a tense mission, the seventeen-year-old girl still internally complained about the weather. In her spare moments, she secretly admired her outfit, thinking she resembled a "detective" from a novel. Thinking of detectives naturally brought her thoughts to Shard, her gaze turning towards Saint Delan Square, then remembering Luviya mentioned Shard would be at the Prophet's Society tonight:

"What could Shard be doing now? This time, will Shard accidentally run into Thief Jack again?"

She questioned herself internally, then muttered quietly in her mind again:

"Honestly, Luviya always says I'm the real Chosen One, but Shard seems more like... "

The passively activated Arcane Technique - Sun Glow maintained her body temperature at night and enhanced her Dark Vision, so Iluna didn't feel cold. But standing still was always boring. In her spare time, she'd pace back and forth along the wall but still kept an eye on her surroundings.

Looking up occasionally, she suddenly noticed several terrifying green lights flickering on the street, startling and preparing for combat. But as those "lights" reached the lamplight, she realized they were just two stray cats walking closely together. Both cats were black, meowing as they walked away along Silver Cross Avenue. Iluna watched them with a sideways glance:

"Even the cats come in pairs, while I can only be like Shard's Mia... Oh, comparing myself to a cat is truly pathetic."

She reprimanded herself internally, but then remembered Shard once said the Moon and Sun are twins, always appearing in pairs.

"Yes, the Moon and Sun share a destined connection!"

Thinking this, an involuntary smile appeared on her face. Fortunately, Iluna was standing in the shadow of a low wall at this moment. If her colleagues noticed the odd smile suddenly emerging on her face, they'd surely think something was wrong with her mentally.

She slightly leaned back against the wall—having checked beforehand that it was clean—after all, this was Silver Cross Avenue. Her body was completely enveloped in darkness, a phrase not just metaphorical. After defeating Daknis, Iluna gained the "Dark Vortex" talent. But "Dark Vortex" was merely a noteworthy acquisition, while abilities like Dark Vision and being nearly undetectable when staying still in darkness weren't worth a special mention.

She quietly crossed her arms over her chest, leaning against the wall by the street, imagining herself as the detective's assistant helping Shard keep watch. Her eyes monitored the street, recalling the episodes from "Hamilton Detective Stories" she'd pressed beneath her pillow, her lips curling into another smile.

Although the life of a Circle Sorcerer was more thrilling than that of an average detective, Dorothy's writing—which even the Academy praised—captivated the seventeen-year-old girl with its thrilling detective tales.

Since transferring from the Papacy to the Tobesk Parish, every evening in her rented apartment, Iluna would read under the gaslight by her bedside before sleep, sitting up in bed covered with a blanket, holding a teacup, reading books like "Storm Eye Adventure Guide" and "The Silver Knight." It was her best way to end a day. Ever since she began reading detective stories in the Steam Bird Daily, her reading time each night extended.

Due to Dorothy's slow-paced serialization in the newspaper, Iluna nearly "relished" each story multiple times. After the first volume was released, she even received a newly signed copy directly from Shard.

Her liking for those stories wasn't just because of the protagonist—though that's part of it—but because she was genuinely drawn to the tales.

"I hope to finish the task soon and have time to read at home. The last chapter I read was..."

Iluna thought about the novel under her pillow, standing in the dark, her eyes still observing everything illuminated on the street by the roadside lamps.