Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1021: The 3 Tests of the Keeper of Secrets

Chapter 1021: Chapter 1021: The 3 Tests of the Keeper of Secrets

At some point, from beneath the originally frozen lake, came a bubbling sound. Accompanied by this sound, the Whisper Element quickly spread along the ice surface across the entire lake.

The two witches, forgetting the "little joke" from earlier, immediately stood in front of Shard. Clouds drifted in from who knows where, covering the three moons. As darkness fell all around, the ice surface shattered, and the water beneath the lake was black. And in that ink-like lake water, a short silhouette, completely indistinguishable in form and merging with the shadows, appeared on the lake’s surface:

"How very interesting."

Although the voice was hoarse, it also sounded like an eleven or twelve-year-old boy’s voice. However, even though it was a child’s, his entire being exuded sheer malice, and even the voice instinctively made one uncomfortable:

"I didn’t expect to see two Grand Witches at once in this modern era where the Fifth Era has long passed."

He let out a snort:

"I know what you want to get from me. You women are always like this, taking whatever you want without ever considering others’ views."

He seemed to harbor deep resentment against the witches:

"However, I’m quite interested in the witches’ malicious jokes. Since you’ve found and entertained me, I will naturally give you a challenge: now, hidden within this city is a malevolent entity. Yes, an Evil Spirit Demon from the Third Era, don’t tell me you don’t even know about this." freewebnøvel.coɱ

The three remained silent.

"Find it, defeat it, any method of defeat is allowed, even playing cards. Complete the challenge, and any one of you can tell a joke to a cup of water, and I will appear."

With that, he dived directly into the lake, apparently not wanting to converse with the witches any longer.

Hence, the clouds that covered the moons dispersed, the Whisper Element and the inky color gradually receded back towards the center of the lake until they disappeared. The floating ice on the lake surface indicated that the boy from earlier wasn’t an illusion.

"A demon indeed."

Miss Galina looked at Shard, who immediately nodded:

"No problem, leave this matter to me. There will be results before the end of the week... I promise."

Perhaps because two witches were accompanying him, this matter proceeded unusually smoothly. The three then left Regent’s Park and returned to the carriage. Miss Galina needed to return to the manor outside the city, while Miss Sylvia had to go back to look after Princess Margaret, so the carriage first took Shard back to Saint Delan Square.

After the carriage stopped in front of number six, Miss Galina, sitting beside Shard, kissed him lightly on the side of his face and whispered goodbye to him. She also glanced at Miss Sylvia, seemingly not having forgotten the earlier "joke" in Regent’s Park.

Thus, a somewhat leisurely Tuesday passed by, and early the next morning, Shard, holding Mia, went to the Prophet’s Society, once again using the excuse of divining the "cat" to meet Luviya alone.

He was already a regular at the Prophet’s Society, and people here all recognized him. So much so that whenever they saw Shard coming in holding a cat, the receptionists at the front desk would prepare the divination registration form in advance and fill out everything except the signature for him.

It had been most of the week since Shard signed the contract for the Genesis: Knowledge card, during which time the Prophet’s Society had, through various means, "leaked" the news that Shard would be receiving that card. As for the reason, it certainly wasn’t because Shard swapped a gemstone given by the Duchess for a Roder Card, but rather to thank Shard for his contributions to the Prophet’s Society.

No one knew the specifics of these "contributions," but this gave rise to many various rumors. In short, that morning at the Prophet’s Society, Shard had already received congratulations from people.

The guests appearing at the Prophet’s Society this early were mostly veteran Roder Card players who could spend an entire day playing cards at the society, so news spread quickly. Shard even encountered Mr. Vats Belson, whom he had met at the Lakeside Manor banquet while playing cards. Mr. Belson was the thirty-something gentleman who married the forty-five-year-old Baroness Leanna Pompeii.

The two chatted briefly, with Mr. Belson unabashedly expressing his admiration for Shard. He eagerly invited Shard, after obtaining the Genesis: Knowledge card, to the Prophet’s Society or the Roder Card Club to play a couple of card games with others. No local card players would turn down such an opportunity.

The weather today was still quite good, and the morning mist was unexpectedly thin, allowing sunshine to fall on the floor of the Divination Room.

When Shard and Luviya pushed the door open and entered the room, Shard, holding the cat, yawned, while Luviya closed the door with her Crystal Ball in her arms, smiling as she asked:

"Didn’t sleep well last night?"

"Yes, I didn’t sleep until three."

The violet-eyed girl counted the time;

"You weren’t reading until three, were you? Even if you’re taking the advancement exam, with your progress, you shouldn’t need to work so hard."

"No, no, the only time I touched a fountain pen last night was at around nine, when I took half an hour to finish the commission report for the work I received on Sunday."

"What did you do after that?"

Luviya continued to ask, and Shard opened his mouth, a vision of the dimly lit bedroom’s soft bed, and the scattered golden hair of a gentle girl flashing in his mind.

"Dorothy was at your place last night?"

Luviya immediately understood Shard’s expression and teased him.

"Yes, for the past half a week to a week, she’s been staying with me because of the demon issue."

Luviya raised an eyebrow:

"Demon? Those Evil Spirits from the Third Era?"

"That was after we parted ways on Sunday at the Three Cats Inn. It was originally a simple commission, but there were some problems, which is why I came to find you. Let’s sit down and talk slowly, it’s even related to the Keeper of Secrets’ test."

The whole matter wasn’t long, but because it involved demons and witches, Shard’s explanation was quite detailed.

During Shard’s account, Luviya kept her eyebrows knitted and only nodded lightly after he was finished:

"Although I don’t know why you are so confident in ’fighting against demons,’ since you’ve given a promise, I won’t ask much more."

She held onto Shard’s hand, which was stroking Mia:

"If you need me or Iluna’s help, you must let us know. Third Era Evil Spirits, even in a weakened and injured state, are no joke."

"Don’t worry, I’m quite confident about this matter."

This confidence came from the doctor’s past experience of easily defeating a Flame Demon in the Sicarl Mountain during autumn.

Luviya was still a bit worried but didn’t say anything further:

"If you can really complete this test within the week, then you and Iluna will be holding a total of 3 pieces of Radiant Stone. Professors from the Three Major Academies have already entered the city, I think the quiet days are about to end. The story of the fourth Chosen One has entered its latter Chapters, and things are going to get chaotic here again."

"Now it all depends on what attitude Sir Plisha holds."

Shard nodded:

"Today is Wednesday, the fourth day of the Slumber Moon. I’ll try to gauge Sir Plisha’s stance within ten days. By next weekend or the one after, we’ll launch our final actions regarding the Chosen One Ceremony. Past experiences tell me that towards the end of the Chosen One Ceremony, major events are bound to happen. I don’t want there to be any Ancient Evil Entity or Level 0 Relic appearing in Tobesk."

"The balance attracted an Evil God, darkness caused the Coldwater Port tsunami and the Darkness Descends in Tobesk, and death made life and death reverse, breeding undead. I don’t know what this time’s Knowledge and Wisdom will lead to."

Luviya seemed a bit languid, after a slight sigh, she mentioned another matter:

"You and Dorothy stay safe, by the way... I’ve had a strange dream recently."

"What kind of dream?"

"The dream was chaotic, I only remember some details. The sky was an ochre and black, like an overturned oil painting’s palette. There’s a raging fire around, Miss Pavo, half of her body already petrified, yes, the Vice President of the Truth Society."

Her purple eyes stared at the Crystal Ball, showing a worried expression:

"She was sitting in the center of the fire, leaning against a large stone, her left arm was gone, and half her face was covered in blood. She handed the Angel-Level Relic, the Smowell Codex, to me. Not just handed over, but completely transferred ownership. She seemed to want to tell me more, but before finishing, she passed away, her last words were to bless me, but the memory in the dream is fuzzy, I can’t recall what she specifically instructed me... "

She looked up at Shard:

"That scene was incredibly vivid. It was a peculiar dream, I originally thought it was a Prophetic Dream about the Chosen One of Knowledge and Wisdom, but the setting in the dream seemed like it was in a very distant future. I wonder if this is some kind of omen?"

Shard didn’t express his opinion but had more conjectures in mind. Luviya’s eyes were staring into the air in front of her, the images from the dream still lingering in her mind.

After saying goodbye to Luviya, Shard delivered the completed commission report to Sir Camelon. Today is Wednesday, Sir Camelon was reviewing accounts in his cigarette factory — it’s that time of year when everyone needs to settle accounts. He was quite surprised that Shard tracked down the culprit so quickly, and in the report, Shard only mentioned the spice merchant and the true owner of the box who had once stayed at the Three Cats Inn but was now unreachable.

This counted as fulfilling the commission, though the completion wasn’t high, but after Dorothy’s help in polishing last night, the report that spanned over ten pages looked quite substantial, at least Sir Camelon couldn’t praise it enough after a glance.

Especially after he heard that the novelist Dorothy Louisa had been following Shard in his investigation, and that the story of the box would most likely be written into a story, Sir Camelon was even happier. He

even wanted to invite Shard to lunch to discuss the box matter in more detail.

But Shard had promised Dorothy to have lunch together at home, so he claimed to have other matters, declining Sir Camelon’s kind offer.

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