Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

The doctor was still in a dream, and the two people standing in the corridor listened to the rain outside while discussing the final tasks to be done in a short while.

As the night deepened, Miss Luisa still looked vigorous:

"Later, I'll use Mind Writing to record tonight's experiences and leave them here. When the True God Church arrives, they will understand what happened. The words produced by Mind Writing are similar to printed text, so there won't be any handwriting left behind."

"Miss Luisa, do you often 'collaborate' with the Church like this?"

The curious Outlander asked, wishing to learn from their experience.

"Not often, but doing so can effectively avoid trouble from the Church. The Magic Academy is not hostile to the True God Church, it's just that they don't like us, thinking we are always causing trouble..."

Faced with Shard's brief two-week experience, it was hard for him not to agree with the Church's view.

"So, leaving the right clues is also a way of showing our stance to the Church, and they will tacitly not pursue us."

"Our relationship with the Church really is..."

He flipped through the "Draleon Common Language Collection" in his mind:

"Quite delicate."

"That's a good word."

The blonde girl complimented.

Although Dr. Schneider said he needed twenty minutes, by the time he awoke, thirty minutes had already passed.

Entering the dream did not exhaust Dr. Schneider, but instead made him more alert. The rain dripped steadily in the summer night, and the doctor's tone carried a light cheerfulness:

"A Four-Ring Sorcerer, just nicely suppressed by me."

He smiled at his two companions, and seeing the bottle held by Shard with an eye inside, he explained:

"I've pretty much asked everything, this eye is a Keeper of Secrets Level Relic, the Earl's Left Eye. The eye's original owner was known as Earl Gaela, who lived in the late Fifth Era. After being assassinated, his eye was obtained by a witch and turned into an alchemical item, later becoming a relic.

Its specific effect is that when the Demon Eye makes eye contact with any intelligent being, the other party will receive a mental shock based on the difference in soul power and the amount of Spirit between the two.

Simply put, against someone more formidable than the holder, the Demon Eye is completely ineffective, and against an average person, it can reduce them to a vegetative state with just one glance."

"Such a relic... doesn't seem very significant."

Miss Luisa was somewhat disappointed:

"If they are weaker than me, isn't it more convenient to use Arcane Technique directly? Why bother damaging one's own eye to install such a thing... Never mind, it's free anyway. Doctor, Detective, you keep it, I'm not interested. I didn't provide the clues tonight, nor did I help much, so there's no need to split anything with me."

"I've said that I only want the Forged Philosopher's Stone tonight; anything else is yours."

Dr. Schneider shook his head, so the Demon Eye belonged to Shard. Of course, it was only reasonable that he should give Miss Luisa some Gold Pounds as compensation for having exclusive ownership of the relic, since she had also taken part in the fight. But given the blonde girl's attitude, she didn't seem to intend to ask Shard for money; after all, she was interested in other things about Shard.

Dr. Schneider's frontal combat abilities might not be remarkable, but his capability to obtain intelligence through dreaming was beyond any doubt.

"We can go now. The two relics left in Ponton's care by 'Blood of Mercury' were ordinary items meant to make him believe he was still trusted. Silver-Eyed One had long noticed Ponton embezzling organization funds. This man came to silence him."

Like Luisa before him, the doctor kicked the man lying unconscious on the ground. He shook his head at Shard:

"I questioned him about his past as well. This guy has been doing the dirty work for Silver-Eyed One; if you ask me, he should be executed by a Steam Cannon."

"Did you find the clue to the Forged Philosopher's Stone?"

Shard asked again, as it was the main purpose of the night.

"No, but there are some leads. This guy knows more ordinary people who helped 'Blood of Mercury' keep relics. But for what comes next, Detective, you don't need to get involved. Such things are too dangerous, and you're not suited to act together."

Shard did not object, but simply nodded. The doctor was right; he had come tonight just to fulfill his promise to Miss Beyas not to take away relics other than the Forged Philosopher's Stone.

"Then, have you found the hiding place of Silver-Eyed One?"

Shard helped to ask for Miss Beyas, but the doctor shook his head and, just like Shard before him, he picked up the dagger. Miss Luisa stepped back, and it was only then that Shard realized and also stepped back, watching as the doctor plunged the knife into the man's heart.

Dr. Schneider pulled out the dagger and carelessly threw it aside; the metal and beads of blood hitting the ground made a sound amidst the rain:

"After you injured Silver-Eyed One, his wounds couldn't be healed by conventional means. He's now in a predicament of waning power and has grown distrustful of those around him. This dirty worker doesn't know Silver-Eyed One's location either; they exchanged information through secret communication."

Thinking positively, the decline in strength of the Sorcerer of Nine Rings, the Silver-Eyed One, also gave Miss Beyas a chance to take her revenge with her own hands; but thinking negatively, it would likely become even more difficult for Miss Beyas to find this cautious individual.

The three of them dealt with the aftermath, while Miss Luisa used the Arcane Technique "Mind Writing" to recount the story of the evening, and Dr. Schneider searched the body alongside Shard.

After examining the pockets of the deceased, the doctor glanced at Shard with some hesitation.

"Doctor, what's wrong?"

Shard looked at him quizzically, thinking he had touched something strange. Assassins don't carry wallets when they are out on a job, and so far, Shard had only found 3 shillings in loose change. Discover more content at empire

"There's something I shouldn't tell you, because it's dangerous. But since the initial information about this came from you, it doesn't seem right not to inform you."

The doctor hesitated once more.

"Then tell the detective, the Demon Eye was ineffective against him just now, which explains a lot already."

Miss Luisa egged on, her fingers drawing patterns in the air as large swathes of text began to appear on paper.

The doctor thought it over and found it made sense, so he paused his searching:

"Alright then."

Shard looked toward him; the doctor's voice emerged after the sound of thunder:

"I know where the 'God's Gift Box' is."

He looked at Shard, and Shard also looked at him, taking a while to understand the meaning of the words before tentatively asking:

"Are you saying, you've discovered the location of that Sage-Level (Level 2) Relic?"

Though this box seemed unrelated to the events Shard had experienced, one could also say that everything seemed to have started with this box. Had it not been for this relic, the 'Blood of Mercury' would not have come to Tobesk, and a series of events that followed would not have occurred.

After nearly three weeks of life and adventure, having gone around in circles, news of the 'God's Gift Box' had once again come to Shard.

"Yes, detective, I can tell you the exact location, but you must understand the difference between greed and ambition. Tobesk is far from peaceful. After the incident at Lakeside Manor, do you know? Last Saturday night, an Evil God almost dragged a section of our city into..."

Shard turned his head toward Miss Luisa, who pretended to be intrigued by the "story" she had just written.

Seeing their odd behavior, the doctor, despite continuing his conversation, hesitated slightly and looked at them:

"The True God Church has sealed off the news, but I heard some details from Augustus. At the scene, a High Ring Sorcerer utilizing Enlightening Nature's Maze Lock directly confronted the Evil God's gaze, making a sacrifice just to save a street full of people... Unbelievable, but we saw even more incredible things at Lakeside Manor..."

He paused:

"It wasn't you, was it?"

Shard and Miss Luisa refused to look at him.

"Detective? Writer?"

Dr. Schneider called out softly, and seeing they remained non-responsive, he stood beside the body, lowered his voice to just above the sound of raindrops hitting the window, his eyes widening and a look of astonishment spreading across his face:

"Oh! My God, it's you!"

In any case, despite some small mishaps, the rainy Monday night's joint operation between the three of them was rather smooth. Not only did no one get injured, but the doctor even obtained the next clue regarding the relic, the 'Forged Philosopher's Stone'.

Even more valuable was the news about the 'God's Gift Box'.

Just as the information originally provided by Miss Galina suggested, the 'God's Gift Box' could not be moved due to some special reason, which is why the 'Blood of Mercury' was still unwilling to leave the Tobesk Region even when the Silver-Eyed One was severely injured.

About a year ago, during the winter of the Common Era Calendar year 1852, and taking advantage of the preliminary work for the third round of Tobesk City's steam pipeline renovation project, the 'Blood of Mercury' discovered clues to the Ruins in ancient documents titled "The Book of the Deceased." They secretly conducted excavation work beneath Tobesk and actually found the Ruins dating back to the beginning of the Sixth Era, some 1000 years ago.

What exactly was in the Ruins, the man killed by the doctor did not know. He only knew that the 'God's Gift Box' was discovered there. The relic was firmly fixed at a certain location within the Ruins, and it could not be separated from its base even using the means of Circle Sorcerers.

Therefore, the Silver-Eyed One, as the leader, risked having most of the organization's members infiltrate Big City Tobesk, attempting to create the so-called Angel-Level Relic 'Blood of Mercury' within the Ruins.

Although the dead man did not know the specifics of what was inside the Ruins, he had followed his organization's members secretly and learned the exact location of the excavation entrance. He wasn't seeking to monopolize the relic; he was merely curious about the secret.

And the location of the entrance was very familiar to Shard; it was just a street away from the alley where he had accidentally discovered the statue of the Old God "Vampire Duke Lowell".