Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

"It is an ordinary winter night. As night falls on Silver Cross Avenue, the people remain unaware of the story that will unfold tonight. And the protagonists of the story—[Night Stalker] Jogori Deus, [Charming Lady] Lydia Pangleau, and [Mortal Luck] Shard Hamilton—become vaguely aware that the gears of fate are turning at this moment."

A hoarse voice sounded in the darkness, and the people around the table instinctively leaned closer to the light source. Under the light, the three saw small wooden puppets, representing the three story characters, appear on the wooden block scenery on the table, situated exactly where Shard and the two others should be now.

Someone unknown sighed in the darkness:

"The thief in Tobesk is the target for the three tonight. No one knows why they are so obsessed with the thief, but they are all determined to prove their glory with the thief. Vaguely hearing the falling of dice, as if people waking from a long dream decided to take some action.

So, what do the three want to do now?"

Unnoticed in the darkness, Angelina felt Lecia shift her weight towards her, but soon everything returned to normal.

The Red Butterfly Pendant strengthened the connection between the two ladies; Lecia on the [Fishbone Pirate Ship] couldn't switch with Dorothy, but being both from the Five Rings now, they could.

At No. 6 Saint Delan Square, in the second-floor living room, Dorothy, petting Mia while reading, suddenly closed her eyes. As Mia curiously raised her head, Lecia's soul had already manipulated the body to open its eyes.

"Mia, it seems we must go to Shard now, at least to let him know what happened."

She sighed and stood up, reaching for the [Night Watchman] by the fireplace. The wide-eyed cat blinked and surprisingly also stood up from its lying position.

On the second floor of the Prophet's Society, in a divination room that should be unused, Shard, having just claimed "going to the restroom," was conversing with Luviya.

Moonlight lit up his profile, and Shard suddenly halted:

"How strange, just half a minute ago, some mysterious force tried to make me forget noticing that Iluna was outside fighting someone, as if Iluna had fallen into a space similar to 'Dark Realm,' which causes people to forget."

He frowned and said to the purple-eyed girl:

"And now, it feels as if invisible threads are manipulating my thoughts and body. I have a strong urge to go downstairs, stroll on the street, and investigate the situation. This isn't my own idea and totally doesn't fit my plan."

"Manipulation of thoughts? This is serious."

Luviya alertedly said, reaching towards Shard:

"Now's not the time for thrift."

Shard fumbled in his pocket and, after choosing between the [Coin of Wisdom], [Cat and Dog Coin], and [Dandelion Coin], he handed the latter to Luviya.

The coin was thrown directly into the sky, decaying at the highest point. As the decayed ashes scattered in the air, the girl with purple eyes opened her eyes, looking at Shard with an unusual surprise:

"You are chosen by Iluna."

"What?"

"Very interesting, you've joined a game. Don't worry, they can only know your vague actions, not exactly what you did. Until Iluna gives the next instruction, let me briefly introduce an angel-level relic."

She quickly introduced the general characteristics of the angel-level relic [Dice Story Collection] and emphasized:

"They won't know your specific actions, only broadly what you did. For example, now, your conversation with me they won't be aware of, unless you stay here too long without going downstairs. But perhaps it's better this way. You now have plenty of reason to disguise as a regular person in front of everyone to capture [Thief Jack]. The only thing to be careful of is not to expose your identity as the Circle Sorcerer. If this incident is successfully passed, the church may never suspect you of being a Circle Sorcerer again."

She pointed outside the door:

"Follow Iluna's instructions now, go outside, she will bring you victory."

"Disguise as a regular detective? I understand."

Shard nodded, Luviya's "divination" almost fully analyzed the relic's properties, while the people weaving and listening to the story were completely oblivious that he, a "character in the story," had already learned everything..

"Wait a moment."

Before Shard left, Luviya handed Shard a divination card:

"Take this."

What Luviya handed Shard was the divination card "Divination: The Game."

Shard didn't ask why, slipped the divination card into his pocket with the Roder Card Deck:

"I'll now go 'investigate' Silver Cross Avenue, wait for my good news."

He pushed open the door and returned to the corridor, which wasn't empty, but neither the Royal Guards nor the Prophet's Society's staff seemed to recall the mechanical church's Circle Sorcerer squad bursting into the room earlier. They didn't even notice Shard, according to relic properties, unless the "Keeper of Secrets" mentioned it, nobody could notice Shard.

Like earlier, Luviya should have suddenly wondered what she was doing standing in an empty room, but Luviya was clearly an exception. Considering she could evade level 0 relics, evading a level 1 relic's mental suggestions, Shard could understand.

"I'll be watching you from the window, if there's any unexpected situation, I'll appear. There are actually many loopholes that can be exploited here."

Luviya softly said behind Shard.

In the sealed room, the only light source descended from above, illuminating the table, and though Iluna was angry, she still suppressed her facial expression:

"You are cheating again!"

Professor Anse shook his head:

"This doesn't count as cheating."

He unfurled the parchment roll:

"Before we move the characters we control to Silver Cross Avenue, I must announce—

Because Jogori Deus, the Night Stalker, carries the symbol 'Broken Bugle,' his combat ability is enhanced, gaining a 12-point bonus during dice rolls for attack in battle scenarios;

Because he carries the symbol 'Mother's Necklace,' it reduces injuries during combat, gaining a 20-point bonus during dice rolls for defense in battle scenarios;

Because he carries the symbol 'Expensive Reinster Monocle,' he can see some traces not easily noticed, gaining an additional 15-point bonus in reconnaissance;

Because he carries the symbol 'Snapped Candlestick Match,' he gains a 25-point bonus during dice rolls for reconnaissance in the dark.

Because he carries the symbol 'Desecrated Silver Cross Holy Emblem,' he can exempt certain attacks by rolling additional dice during encounters with evil creatures."

As he finished speaking, five items—a necklace, bugle, monocle, match, and holy emblem—indeed appeared on the wooden doll in the scene on the round table.

The cultist Dion then spoke about the "symbols" carried by his controlled character, Lydia Pangleau, the Charming Lady, listing four items.

These so-called "symbols" aren't items with supernatural powers but ordinary objects deemed special by the Dice Story Collection according to an unknown rule. The two came prepared with these props to confidently use the special rules of the Dice Story Collection to win the game of catching Thief Jack, though Iluna was not aware of these things.

She opened Shard's parchment roll again, reading the densely packed text to find symbols she could use. The basic rule of the game is that it must be read aloud to be effective; effects not read aloud are ineffective:

"Mortal Luck, Shard Hamilton, carries the symbol 'Invincible Roder Card Deck,' increasing luck, gaining an automatic 5-point bonus whenever rolling dice."

Professor Anse was not surprised:

"Indeed, Chosen One, choosing this target should be the best choice, increasing your pitiful winning chance by at least ten percent."

"Luck and misfortune are separated by a thin line."

The cultist murmured softly.

Iluna continued to scrutinize the parchment in her hand, frowning, as relics aren't deemed game symbols, and most of Shard's belongings were toys, which are also not symbols. But she noticed that since her first glance at the parchment a few minutes ago, Shard acquired an extra item:

"Mortal Luck, Shard Hamilton, carries the symbol 'Beloved Person's Divination Card [Game],' increasing luck, gaining an automatic 5-point bonus whenever rolling dice."

Iluna knows this card likely came from Luviya; the word "beloved person" made her uncomfortable. Among the watchers, Dorothy pouted, Princess Margaret frowned deeply, while Angelina's thoughts were unknown.

The figure cloaked in black drew everyone's attention back with a raspy voice:

"The searchers arrived at the lamp-lit Silver Cross Avenue, where the bright gas streetlights suggested safety. But the patrolling ordinary police noticed them, and rolling two dice to form a number, the number must be higher than 105 to continue on the street. Social reputation and charm can provide bonuses to the dice."

The wooden figures representing three characters had all reached Silver Cross Avenue in the scene on the table, but the maximum two-dice roll total can only be 100, theoretically leaving everyone unable to pass the check.

Professor Anse was the first to throw the dice:

"I'll go first."

The rolled dice formed the number "29."

"Jogori Deus, the Night Stalker, has a local reputation bonus of 10 and a personal charm bonus of 19, totaling 58; using the power of the ring in hand, he casts 'Enchantment of Humans,' making himself trustworthy. Since the target is ordinary people, the check is directly passed with an additional charm bonus of 50; character's special skill - wordplay, additional bonus 32. Total 140, check passed."

The cultist who threw the dice next rolled a 51:

"Lydia Pangleau, the Charming Lady, has a local reputation bonus of 15 and a personal charm bonus of 81, totaling 147. Oh, I won't bother with wordplay, the check is already passed."

He smiled, while Iluna hesitatedly looked at the table, Miss Green comforted beside her:

"It's okay, you have to believe in your luck. Even if Mr. Hamilton is an ordinary person, there's still hope for victory."

Iluna nodded, actually worried about something else.

She casually threw the dice, resulting in 39:

"Mortal Luck, Shard Hamilton, local reputation bonus 64."

Shard was quite famous in the city, mainly due to his "scandal" with Miss Galina, but as a subordinate noble, the value of 64 was mainly due to those peculiar rumors.

Iluna skipped over strange bonuses like "Spirit Affinity," "Wordplay enough to deceive a witch," "Luck under moonlight," etc.:

"Personal charm bonus is..."

Iluna looked at the parchment roll in her hand, pursed her lips, arousing everyone's curiosity.