Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1993: Guidance and Returning Home

"The reason for the appearance of that symbol in the Ancient Ruins might be rather complex."

Shard shook his head. The ritual circle at the Night Shrine was most likely the handiwork of Long-Haired Luvia, but he had no idea who left the traces at the Moon Tower on Karas Mountain:

"Although Laplace Howard is dead, he left behind some materials. I think the answers might lie within them."

"But where are those materials?"

Miss Danester looked at him and asked. Shard opened his mouth:

"Well... they should be in the hands of the God Summoner. Perhaps the Diviner admired him greatly before his death and left all the materials to him. Once he finds the time to go through them, he might be willing to share with us."

"Then, please let the God Summoner be diligent, not to spend all day mingling in big city banquets or among makeup piles, neglecting such important matters. Female sorcerers are nice, but important work cannot be ignored. I guess the materials and books left by the Diviner are quite abundant. If the God Summoner is willing to study them deeply, he might also learn something."

The Librarian said, and Shard, understanding her meaning, nodded:

"I believe he will study diligently. Oh, you can’t enter the Edwards’ Old House now, but I think you can enter the underground space... you can go tomorrow morning. The core ritual circle of the Edwards’ Ascension Technique, and the remaining roots of the burnt blood-red giant tree, as well as some books, are there. You can go check them out... better if you go alone."

The ownership of the island now is in the hands of Megan and Audrey, a word from Shard to them would suffice.

Miss Danester pursed her lips:

"If I remember correctly, the ownership of this island seems to be in the hands of the Witch Council. Those witches... there’s a saying that the God Summoner is female."

Although most people do not know the secrets of witches, the Thirteen-Ring Sorceress in front of him was quite aware of the Witch’s Curse.

"The gender of the God Summoner doesn’t matter, does it?"

He asked, seeing Miss Danester looking at him more hesitantly, then continued to add:

"I am male, that much is certain."

A somewhat confused Miss Danester took a deep breath, picked up her teacup, and sipped:

"Then there’s one more important matter, can it really be confirmed that Laplace Howard is dead?"

She temporarily set aside the complex gender issue and the question with Shard and the witches:

"This is also the current question of the Church. After all, no one has seen his end, and now his corpse cannot be found. Although the Prophet’s Society’s divination suggests he is probably dead, Laplace Howard was a rather formidable Diviner, and divination alone cannot confirm his life or death."

"He’s probably dead..."

Shard recalled the moment when the other vanished in a scatter of cards, at such a close range, his perception shouldn’t be wrong:

"It can be further confirmed later, but he should be dead."

The Soul Graveyard can confirm a person’s life or death. Although Shard did not have his corpse, all over this island could be found leaves, withered roots, and blood-red branches as remnants from the collapse of the giant tree.

Miss Danester nodded gently, then stopped discussing the matter:

"The other professors from Saint Byrons will likely stay on this island for a while. You know the peculiarity of this island, even if it does not belong to us or the Church, it must be confirmed that the seal will not be reopened before we can rest assured. I won’t stay. I will return to the school tomorrow or the day after. The school still needs me... What ring are you at now?"

Behind him, in the Steam Mist, Shard’s Ring of Fate slowly emerged:

"Seventh Ring, the Ascension Words Rune for the Sixth Ring is Whisper - End."

Miss Danester didn’t inquire how he ascended, but handed another book she had beside her to Shard:

"The Inner Ring Ascension Words you have chosen for yourself, ’Shadow of Silvermoon Guides the Final Direction,’ now you have ’Shadow’ and ’End,’ still missing ’Direction’ and ’Guidance’... although this is clearly the spirit rune related to space. Take this book, it might be of help to you."

The title of the book was "Mind Compass," and if Shard didn’t know better that Miss Danester wasn’t joking, he would have thought it was some kind of self-help magazine.

"The original of this book, excavated from Third Era relics in the Duchy of Mosval, is a stone tablet known as the ’Book of Maze.’ Anyone who reads more than a quarter of its content will find their spirit increasingly drawn into a strange maze in dreams. The book in your hands contains only one-sixth of the original content and has been translated and transcribed many times, almost eliminating any danger. Both ’Direction’ and ’Guidance’ might be obtained through this book."

She instructed, and Shard softly thanked her, feeling very complex. Miss Danester truly treated him as her student, but Shard... Shard indeed considered her as a teacher:

"I will study seriously."

The female sorcerer commanded the teapot beside her to float up and also poured a cup of tea for Shard:

"Then let’s ask the God Summoner to quickly read the materials left by Laplace Howard, hoping there’s something we’re interested in. Otherwise, investigating the teacher’s whereabouts must start from another direction. The collapse of the tower is certainly not normal, but what exactly caused it..."

The two continued drinking tea and conversing in the town’s small tavern. During this time, Shard also brought out some snacks to pair with Miss Danester’s red tea, spending a warm Friday afternoon amid rising steam and fragrance with the red-haired female sorcerer and the cat lazily waiting for Shard to feed it.

As the evening approached, the sunset slanted in through the tavern window, dividing the cover of a book on the counter into two parts of light and darkness, illuminating Miss Danester’s already fair-skinned face with light, making it look as if she was glowing herself, ending their meeting.

Aside from discussing Shard’s academic progress, the main focus of the afternoon was the events in the Green Lake region. Many things unclear from Miss Danester’s perspective were well understood by Shard through his two-month investigation.

This afternoon also served as a recap for Miss Danester on Laplace Howard’s experiences over two hundred years and the impact he had on the entire region. Of course, Miss Danester was most interested in which ladies among the Edwards family had a relationship with Shard that went beyond friendship. In order not to reveal his involvement with the witches, Shard only detailed the first four generations, with the fifth and sixth generations receiving a cursory introduction.

"Then let’s chat here for now."

Seeing that it was getting late, Miss Danester stood up to voluntarily bid farewell to Shard. After packing up the tea set, books, and the cat, now full and unwilling to move, they returned together to the empty town streets.

The sunset cast from one end of the street to the other, and although it should have been the busiest time of evening, the town remained empty. Somehow, in the face of such a scene, Shard was left with a faint melancholy along with his amazement at the beautiful view:

"A two-hundred-year-old wish finally turned into this scene."

"It’s all in the past now, the Edwards have long gone, let’s look forward, there are still many things waiting for us in the future."

She reminded Shard once more to read more books and wander less recently, and only then, with her back toward the large clusters of red sunset clouds in the sky, waved goodbye to Shard:

"See you at the Academy, Shard. Don’t forget you once said, after Randall’s matter concludes, you’ll attend my elective course. I’ll send you the course schedule soon."

The crimson sunset couldn’t compare to her wind-blown red hair at that moment in its vividness. Miss Danester’s mood seemed rather good, just like Shard’s at the time.

Having visited Miss Danester, when Shard returned to the Green Lake Hotel to have dinner, and informed Megan to open up the underground area to Miss Danester, he suddenly realized that there were significantly fewer people at the table, then understood that the Green Lake battle had truly ended.

With nothing to do in the evening, not having been home for several days, after saying hello to the Grand Witches at the hotel, he took Mia and returned home, which disappointed Megan, who had resolved to do something since Miss Galina finally left. But upon thinking that Shard would have to come and handle other matters in the coming days, she set to preparing herself.

Shad returned home from the basement and walked into the familiar living room on the first floor and, after turning on the lights, ascended the narrow but comforting staircase, finally holding the cat and arriving at the second-floor living area.

He thought the table or floor might be dusty, but fortunately, No. 6, Saint Delan Square was just as tidy as when he had left.

Thinking in his heart whether he should go to the train station to greet Miss Galina’s group, who would soon arrive, but considering that newspaper reporters and local nobles would all go to greet them, he decided not to join the excitement.

Once he tidied the bedroom and sat at the bedside holding Mia, sorting through those relics, looking at the neat bed, the three pillows perfectly filling the headboard, the neatly stacked blankets and quilts, he relaxed his expression and then leaned against the headboard, feeling satisfied with the familiar bed, looking at his bedroom:

"Home is always the best place."

Obviously still full of energy just moments ago, but after sighing, he felt his eyelids grow heavy. Following that, somehow, unknowingly, he leaned against the headboard and closed his eyes.

Thursday, the battle at Green Lake ended. After sleeping the whole day, he attended Iluna’s birthday party in the evening, then spent the first half of the night with a girl with butterfly wings. At midnight, during a night talk with the witches, he spent an enjoyable latter half of the night with Miss Sylvia, Miss Benanis, and Ciris.

He hadn’t rested the entire day today, and now, he finally fell asleep.

"Meow~"

The moon decorated his window, and the cat decorated the bedroom inside the window.

Noticing Shard had been still for quite a while leaning against the headboard, Mia patted Shard’s arm with her paw. Lifting her head, her amber eyes saw Shard’s eyes closed, knowing he had fallen asleep. So the cat also yawned, showing her teeth, then snugged up next to Shard, curling into a cat ball, and closed her eyes.

However, suddenly, the cat’s eyes opened again, seeing Shard’s right arm shimmer, silver waves appearing on the clothes’ surface. Then, the silver transparent arm pulled over the neatly stacked quilt beside it, carefully covering Shard.

In the late spring season, thick bedding was unnecessary.

The cat stared blankly at that arm, seemingly unable to comprehend what it was. But noticing the arm only covered Shard with a quilt before disappearing, the cat didn’t mind.

"Meow~"

It comfortably curled up again and lay down once more. The cat loved this home, and loved Shard even more. And now, after chaotic adventures, they had finally returned home again.