Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

At the street corner of Saint Delan Square, the night was tranquil, and the two gunshots did not break the heavy silence of the night.

Through the thin mist of night, Shard saw his opponent fall to the ground. He blew the barrel of his Ruger Revolver, intending to fire again, when he suddenly felt a very faint force trying to seize control of his gun. Of course, he wouldn't let go, and his opponent obviously didn't have the ability to forcibly take the gun from his hand.

[Do you want to engage in a power struggle?]

"Of course not, I'm just an ordinary person."

Thinking this, Shard lifted his outer coat to reveal another gun holster at his waist.

The power of the sorcery "Move Object" immediately transferred, so the holster containing the [Spear of Kindness] flew to the man opposite, who was in severe pain and a blurry consciousness.

According to his own will and thoughts, he should now attempt again to seize Shard's other gun or deviate the direction of Shard's gun. But due to his hazy consciousness, he could only act according to the instructions received, so he unhesitatingly drew Shard's second revolver, the [Spear of Kindness], and pulled the trigger at Shard, who was smiling in the light of the gas lamp.

The Silence Charm reduced the sound of the gunshot. The bullet whizzed past Shard's cheek and hit the lamppost beside him. After leaving a mark on the black lamppost surface, the bullet reflected back at an incredible angle, directly hitting Jogori Deus in the head.

"Oh, oh..."

He made strange sounds in his throat before finally collapsing completely.

A cat's meow came from behind, and "Dorothy" emerged from behind, holding little Mia. But that wasn't Miss Writer; unbeknownst to Shard, they had swapped again.

Lecia, looking pale, said:

"He used your firearm, failed three luck checks spectacularly, and was killed by the ricochet of his own bullet."

The [Spear of Kindness] makes the killer harm himself and prevents the suicidee from hurting themselves, with the trait of being "undetectable." That's why Captain Lades didn't die after firing eight shots, and neither he nor others noticed anything amiss. The trait of this gun is not to cause accidents stiffly but to make them seem natural.

Therefore, when the trait of the [Spear of Kindness] activated, Shard did not interfere, nor did those playing the game hear "because of the relic's properties." Instead, the accident occurred naturally according to the rules, and no one doubted the reason for Shard's victory in the confrontation; at most, they praised Iluna's remarkable luck.

"The story continues. Thief Jack has found what he wants to steal. Shard, you need to return home as soon as possible."

Lecia informed Shard of this news, holding little Mia tightly, trying to draw warmth from the cat. The frequent switching left them in a rather poor state, but holding Mia seemed to rapidly restore her spiritual power. The blonde girl now felt as if her head was about to split; they had never swapped souls so frequently outside of the "Day of the Red Butterfly."

"Why are you again... Well, I also received instructions to return home quickly, to avoid the murderer."

Shard looked at her with some pity, pointing at his forehead, then rummaged in his pocket and tossed a small bottle over:

"Holy Water No. 4, although it's not very effective for your situation, it might be helpful. Don't save it for me; it's quite cheap. From now on, don't swap with Dorothy anymore. Two people capable of locating [Thief Jack] have died, and Jack will disappear from the story map Miss Beyas observed. She won't allow me to do reconnaissance, as it would expose many things, so I'll have to handle the next part myself."

With only one story character remaining, Iluna could concede to end [Dice Story Collection]. Iluna not conceding fits Shard's intention, as, without the influence of this Angel-Level relic, Shard is uncertain whether he can catch the thief.

Lecia took small sips of the holy water as the cat raised its head to watch her throat. Shard bent down to retrieve his handgun, ignoring the corpse, and they finally stepped into the Saint Delan Square area.

Her Highness the Princess had been worried about encountering something more terrifying, but the night at Saint Delan Square remained calm. The gas lamps on one side of the square emitted a strange halo in the darkness.

Looking up, they saw Dr. Schneider and Priest Augustus standing at the entrance of the Shard family home. Lecia, slightly worried, glanced around the square, but saw nothing unusual, not even the body of the [Charming Lady].

"Look, that's the misfortune of others, and now it has passed. Dorothy, go tell the doctor and priest what happened here. Don't come near me, but please follow me into the house."

Shard spoke rapidly, using "Dorothy" to refer to Lecia, as Dr. Schneider and the priest were nearby.

The blonde girl nodded, holding Shard's cat, and quickly walked past the glowing gas lamps toward the doctor and priest who had already noticed the two of them.

When Shard arrived at his doorstep at a normal walking pace, the doctor and the priest had already roughly understood the crucial content. Because the "Dice Story Collection" prohibits the transmission of all game information to people outside the game to prevent those trapped inside the relic from being noticed by outsiders, the doctor and the priest only knew the relic properties and that Shard was engaged in something related to "catching Thief Jack"; they didn't know what the storytellers had actually narrated.

Of course, Lecia was even less likely to inquire with the doctor and the priest about what had just happened here. This world itself is full of various unknown mysteries, and if something is unrelated to oneself, it is better not to know, as excessive probing can instead provoke trouble.

"The detective's luck really isn't that good."

Dr. Schneider said to Priest Augustus, and the three hurriedly retreated to a position away from the door of No. 6, Saint Delan Square, and then watched Shard walk up normally, take out the key, and open the door.

After he entered, Lecia took out a key and opened the door again, without any comment from Dr. Schneider and Priest Augustus about her having a key to the Shard family's door.

Shard, the first to enter, had already changed his shoes in the foyer, turned on the gas lamp in the hall and on the stairs, and then started up the stairs with his hand on the banister.

[Are you so sure the thief is on the second floor?]

"The first floor only has furniture, nothing 'the king has touched', and I don't believe the Sage Level [Thief Jack] has the ability to enter the Hidden Space in the basement. The third floor only has Luviya's items, and I've already asked her to put away sensitive items. As for the attic, that's where Dorothy keeps readers' letters. Plus, Room 2 on the second floor is empty, so the thief is definitely stealing from Room 1; we just opened the door downstairs, so it couldn't have had time to run anywhere else from the second floor."

The sound of shoes on the wooden stairs was Shard's favorite sound when he returned home every day. But at this moment, the reverberating sound felt like a clumsy noise in a horror story that disturbed an evil spirit.

As he walked, he looked upwards at the stairs:

"Since the story hasn't ended, it means the thief is most likely still in the house. The 'Dice Story Collection' believes I might catch it. Can you feel the thief's position?"

[I can't, it's currently an ordinary human thief. Although the Whisper Element won't be completely erased, it's hard to detect. You need to get close or force it to use more power.]

"Strong when met with strong, this is really..."

Earlier, when using the key to open the door, Shard had already noticed that although the lock was intact, there were scratch marks on the keyhole. And now, as he climbed the stairs to the second floor, although there were no obvious clues, inspiration told Shard that someone had definitely broken into his home.

The second floor was not lit, just as it was when Dorothy last left. Shard first turned on the corridor light, then turned on the gas light in the living room, and immediately saw that something was missing from the living room:

"My antique knight sword, which I was awarded during my investiture, is gone; it turns out to be this."

The sword was originally hung by Shard on the living room wall, used to assert his identity and professionalism during client visits. Since every time he entered, he would look up and see it, it was easy to notice its absence now.

"Oh, I've been robbed, that damn thief stole my knight sword!"

Even though he knew the people enacting the story couldn't hear his every word, Shard still stood exaggeratedly at the staircase and said it. There were no footsteps on the stairs behind him, but Shard knew his companions were all there; the Silence Charm and their respective arcane techniques concealed their sound and positions.

"All the windows are closed, and there were no suspicious figures on Saint Delan Square just now, so could it be that the despicable thief is still in my house?"

He said loudly again, walking into the room, standing in the center of the living room, and surveying his home. Having lived here for half a year, Shard regarded every inch of this place as completely his own. Now, being invaded by a thief, he was honestly annoyed. Moreover, since Thief Jack had previously stolen from Dorothy, there was no way Shard would let him go this time.

"Still can't find it?"

[Yes, the opponent is almost equivalent to an ordinary person now.]

Blinking his eyes, the "Echo of Blood" found no fresh bloodstains, after all, it was just a thief and not a murderer. Then using the "Echo of the Past", unfortunately, Thief Jack did not have the habit of talking to himself when stealing, let alone saying something like "Yes, I'll hide in the closet" while hiding.

"There aren't many places in the house that can hide a living person, and given my understanding of this place, finding it shouldn't be hard."

While thinking, Shard sat down on the sofa at home and took out a notebook to begin writing. This was a note to hand over to Lecia and the three others later on; this time, he was not alone.