Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Feeling regretful, he was about to give up on searching for Miss Annette today, but the receptionist was still enthusiastically recommending other diviners within the association to Shard.

Clutching the cat, the detective pondered for a moment. If he turned around and left now, it would make his actions seem odd, and it might cause rumors about Miss Annette to spread within the association. Thus, he pretended to be indifferent and nodded:

"Of course, that's fine. I'm just looking for a reliable diviner to do a reading for me. As for who it is...that doesn't matter... I have membership with the association. Is there a discount on the price of divination?"

Perhaps because she was too comfortable in Shard's arms, Mia Cat had fallen asleep at this moment. This was the cat's naptime, and its life was far more leisurely than Shard's.

The association's receptionist recommended to Shard a female diviner who was said to be very effective, but as Shard was preparing to head to the second floor, he happened to bump into Vice-President Mark coming down from upstairs.

The two were already acquainted. After a brief exchange of pleasantries and learning that Shard was at the association for a divination session, this enthusiastic gentleman directly recommended another diviner to him, with no extra charge:

"Mr. Hamilton, although the business of Roder Cards has grown substantially in recent years, divination remains the fundamental service of the association. You are very lucky today, as the association's most effective diviner is available. Come with me, I'll introduce you."

With that, he gestured for Shard to follow him upstairs. Shard followed the man, who seemed to always be dressed in formal attire, and curiously asked:

"Who is this diviner?"

"Our President, Mr. Yadis Stan. He just returned this morning. Hah, Mr. Hamilton, I must say you're very lucky indeed."

Shard instinctively paused but then quickly followed. Miss Annette had mentioned that the trait "beyond destiny" could not be detected by mere divination; she had realized this point after performing divination at a price. Even the head of the Saint Byrons Astronomy Academy had not been able to discover Shard's uniqueness through divination, so there was nothing for him to worry about this time.

Besides, getting to know more people wasn't a bad thing, and he had no reason to refuse.

The two eventually reached the third floor, but they just walked past the door with the golden sign "President's Office" and stopped at the door labeled "Accounting Office."

Being a sensitive place, Shard did not enter, allowing Mr. Mark to go in and find someone.

The discussion inside was heated, implying that if the accounts were not correct, everyone might as well beg on the streets. Then there was a passing of the buck, suggesting that the accounts didn't match because the receipts for the "Big City Player" event's preliminary preparations weren't all collected yet. By autumn, they should have the accounts for the first half of the year in order.

The voice of Mr. Yadis Stan, the President of the Tobesk Branch of the Prophet's Society, was the most robust among the crowd. He was clearly threatening some of the people who obviously had problems and was very familiar with these numerical figures on the accounts.

Soon after, Vice-President Mark informed him of a visitor, and Shard finally met the gentleman who had just returned to the city.

Mr. Yadis Stan was about the same height as Shard but appeared slightly thinner, with a high nose bridge and deep-set eyes. His demeanor was similar to that of a university professor, and he wore a pair of delicate gold-rimmed glasses, making him the first person Shard knew in this world to wear glasses.

"Is this Mr. Hamilton? Hello, it's an honor to invite you to this autumn's..."

Mr. Stan smiled and reached out to shake hands with Shard, and the moment they made contact, Shard heard a voice in his ear:

[Circle Sorcerer, of considerable level.]

"As expected."

"The Big City Player Roder Card tournament, do you wish to have a reading? Of course, that's no problem, this way please. Before I became President, I was indeed the best diviner at the Tobesk Branch."

He boasted about himself with some pride, and Shard smiled along, genuinely looking forward to whether this inexpensive divination could give him any new insights.

To show his professionalism, of course, divination required a special room. Many of the unoccupied rooms on the second floor that could be rented out as parlor rooms were actually used for divination.

Mr. Mark took his leave first, and the local President accompanied Shard into a room on the second floor. The interior of the room resembled that of a typical parlor, except for shelves against the wall holding odd items like a crystal ball and an obsidian basin.

Servants were preparing tea, and Mr. Stan, noticing Shard looking toward the shelves, casually mentioned:

"The items there are just for decoration. Each diviner has their preferred tools. Decades ago, the association's divination services began to decline while the business of Roder Cards improved. But it has been much better in recent years. Those foolish youngsters and idle rich ladies are very interested in such harmless mystical practices."

"What would be considered dangerous mystical practices?"

Shard asked, and Mia, likely awakened by the conversation, merely let out a mumble-like "meow" before comfortably falling asleep again. The maids tidying the room and preparing the tea were all stealthily glancing at the young man's cat, which indeed looked adorable... especially when asleep.

Mr. Stan invited Shard to sit down and answered his question while counting on his fingers:

"Dangerous haunted house explorations, mysterious necromancy obtained from who knows where, graveyard stays at night, reading strange books on mysticism... These are practices that give the True God Church quite the headache, but people who are full from bread and idle are in love with such activities."

He shook his head with a sigh. Shard had his thoughts on this:

"Mr. Stan, you see, the major development of the steam industry has brought about a new class of wealthy individuals, but the available entertaining activities have not kept pace, leading to these rich but idle people engaging in these strange and bizarre activities. This is probably due to a mismatch between the level of productive force and our cultural and spiritual development."

The President was somewhat surprised and looked at him with approval:

"Precisely. That's why, compared to those dangerous activities, isn't it safer for people to participate more in Roder Card tournaments? Or to come to an official association like ours for divination, where noble ladies can chat about astrology and discuss the link between palmistry and one's future fortune. These kinds of activities are not dangerous at all."

After the servants had left, the two of them officially began the divination.

Shard wasn't worried that rash divination would expose his identity as a Circle Sorcerer, but safety came first, so he suggested a divination that was completely unrelated to himself:

"It's like this, I recently received a somewhat troublesome commission related to inheritance succession and legal consultation. To protect the client, I can't disclose specifics. My coming here for divination isn't to get an immediate answer, but to seek some vague guidance..."

He smiled awkwardly;

"Actually, I've always held doubts about the correctness of such divinatory practices, please don't mind."

"It's no issue, that view is quite common."

Mr. Stan waved his hand and then asked seriously,

"So, what exactly is it that you wish to divine?"

"Whether Mrs. Lemer, my client, will be able to safely receive a large sum of money in the near future?"

"Divining the fortune of wealth, no problem. Then, could you provide some information about the lady in question? Otherwise, it's not possible to divine."

Mr. Stan asked further.
Your journey continues with empire

Since Shard wasn't really there to find out the answers, he didn't hesitate much and described Mrs. Lemer's identity and age, and also her financial situation.

Mr. Stan nodded in understanding, looked around, and, finally, brought the teacup before him:

"There are actually many methods of divination, including spirit pendulum, crystal ball, water divination, Burned Bone, etc. This time, let's try the less common tea leaf divination."

He took some tea leaves from the tray and then closed his eyes as he scattered them into the teacup. After all the tea leaves had fallen, he opened his eyes to observe their floating state, then poured out the tea and took note of the tea leaves stuck to the bottom of the cup.

"It's done."

Mr. Stan put down the teacup.

Throughout the process, Shard felt no trace of elemental essence, indicating that the other party's "divination" was merely what so-called ordinary people practised.

"So, what's the result?"

He asked as though curious.

"That lucky lady, she is indeed worthy of a substantial amount of money."

"That's good."

Shard smiled; the fact was, he was somewhat pained about having spent his two shillings on the divination.

"By the way, I also divined for you."

Mr. Stan said again.

"For me?"

While observing the other party's expression, Shard asked, but it seemed like Mr. Stan hadn't noticed anything unusual.

Currently in his pocket rested "The Twenty-Sided Die of Destiny," something he never touched at home, but always carried with him when he was out. Even if the other party used the abilities of a Circle Sorcerer to divine, they would most likely see incorrect results, let alone divinations by the means of ordinary people.

"What did you see?"

"The phrase 'seeing' is inaccurate, 'feeling' would be more appropriate. Describing divination is difficult, and for you, Mr. Hamilton, what's really strange is that I actually saw you becoming a knight bearing a sword from the fog of the future."

"A knight?"

Shard felt it made no sense; in the Steam Age, the status of "knight" had almost completely disappeared. In the earlier times of the Sixth Era, knights belonged to the lowest rung of the nobility and usually owned just a small piece of land, like a manor. They were career soldiers, fighting for the lord or king they swore allegiance to.

However, with the introduction of firearms into the military, the tactics of knights gradually fell into decline, leading to the vanishing of the entire class. With the changing times, even the hereditary title of "knight" had become scarce.

According to Shard's understanding, the existing nobles in Draleon with the title of "knight" did not exceed twenty individuals, a negligible number compared to the country's sizable population and noble structure.

What did gain more prominence were titles derived from the knightly rank, such as "Draleon Iris Knight Medal," "Draleon Gold Ribbon Knight Medal," and the "Draleon Honor Knight Badge," which were considered extremely high honors in the kingdom. These medals were typically bestowed upon nobles who had made a significant contribution to the kingdom or Royal Family, and seldom awarded to commoners.

Therefore, in this era, Shard could not possibly become a so-called "knight" by any means.