Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1762 - 1761: Dragon, Glasses, and the Crystal Ball
"[The Conch of Longing] has many prohibitions when used, I can’t use it again. The other two ordinary people aren’t suitable to come into contact with the relics in their current state, why don’t you try it? Don’t you have a coin? Or, I can lend it to you, didn’t you encounter witches before? You could ask them about what the remaining Broken Sword and the pink-white conch are."
The witch further explained her thoughts.
"Use this relic? But..."
Shard hesitated, thinking that anyone he longed for probably doesn’t exist in this era. Even Chloe, whom he recently thought of, lived 600 years ago. He didn’t want to verify whether Chloe is still alive now. Once he confirmed, it would become a fixed fact, but if he didn’t observe, there might be different outcomes.
"Here you go, try it, trying won’t cost you anything."
Seeing that Grandma Miles’s condition couldn’t wait any longer, Miss Higgins voluntarily paid another coin, and then handed the conch to Shard. As Shard hesitated and put it to his ear, intending to imagine the spiritual image of Long-haired Luvia—thinking it might connect to this witch strongly linked with time—the conch unexpectedly sounded on its own:
"Hm? Who is it?"
A familiar voice emerged, and the image of the Red Dragon Girl with a big tail instantly jumped into Shard’s mind. Shard was momentarily surprised, considering that Fiona wasn’t even born in this era, but upon realizing that this object could indeed communicate across time, he immediately said:
"Fiona, it’s me, Shard! I’m currently..."
"Hold on, I’m going to find the teacher now. Who opened the door? Oh, Miss Feliana, what are you doing here? Come quickly! Oh no, the connection is breaking, the voice is about to disappear, Shard, Shard!"
The voice vanished, the communication much shorter than Miss Higgins’s earlier attempt. Before Shard could move the conch from his ear to shake it and check if it was broken, a new voice appeared:
"Excuse me, who is this?"
The image of Miss Teresa Schultz, who became the Principal of Xerxes Higher Medical Academy at the end of the Fifth Era, wearing glasses, suddenly appeared in Shard’s mind. When they first met at Lost Lake, the girl was beside her distant aunt, the demigod witch Miss Violet, initially worried about her graduation thesis but later appeared in Pantanal as a demigod witch to aid Shard.
"It’s me, Shard, I’m in 1578!"
This time Shard didn’t waste words and directly explained the situation, but the witch interrupted him, and Miss Teresa’s voice was filled with surprise:
"The experiment succeeded? I truly used the Time Key as the Ritual Core to open the time channel communicating with the past?! Shard, hold on, Her Majesty Violet! Aunt! Come quickly! I really succeeded, Shard he..."
The voice disappeared once again, leaving Shard no time to react, as a third woman’s voice emerged:
"Who is it?"
This voice was intensely cautious, but Shard recognized it as Luvia—and it was Short-haired Luvia. This time, he learned from the previous two experiences and took a deep breath:
"I’m Shard Time Key 1578 need help with Broken Sword Pink-White Conch which can summon spirits?"
He was initially worried, unsure if this point in time’s Luvia recognized him, but fortunately, the girl with purple eyes understood immediately:
"Shard? Wait a second, your description is too broad, what exactly is the relic?"
"There’s no time, divine it! But don’t use the coin, there’s only one left. Just use your inspiration to give an answer."
"The conch! I’m going to Saint Delan Square right now, how did you manage this?"
The voice disappeared. Although Shard wanted to hear more, there was no fourth conversation.
He finally had time to think about what had happened. After placing the conch back, he carefully remembered all the features of this relic. If he could also find the [Conch of Longing] in the Sixth Era, maybe he could communicate with early Fifth Era’s Chloe, mid-era Miss Feliana, Miss Orland, Fiona, and late-era Miss Violet, Miss Teresa.
"Impossible, this time it’s because of the chaotic space-time conditions. Otherwise, they would have contacted you first."
"She" softly spoke words that were anything but gentle, and Shard sighed, telling his companions the result of the "inquiry":
"Still not sure whether it’s the conch or the Broken Sword."
If this adventure wasn’t at Black Mist Camp, Shard might have waited to return to his time and investigate what the two items truly were, avoiding wasting the coins everyone had. But now there’s less than ten minutes until he leaves, and Old Lady Miles and the boy can barely hold on. Even if he were willing to wait a dozen more minutes, the others must return.
Returning to this stall might not be easy.
"Mrs. Miles, I can’t make a decision."
The hesitant witch thought for a long time before speaking to her employer behind her. The old woman, supported by the boy, shook her head:
"Trust your judgment, you decide. No matter what, I won’t blame you. I’m just hoping for a possibility; if our love is truly loyal, if my longing can move the deity, fate will help me too."
The young witch reluctantly nodded and turned to Shard:
"Do you have any advice?"
"Buy one first, and if there are many coins left, buy the other as well. If not many are left, just take the one you choose, it’s like gambling on luck. However, I have a better feeling about the conch. My diviner friend advised the conch based on inspiration too."
"I always hate gambling on luck."
Though she said so, the witch made a decision immediately. She pointed to the conch:
"I want this one."
The conch was placed on one end of the balance by the shadow, and the witch kept adding coins to the other end. It took a full 7 coins to finally bring the balance back.
She then indicated her intention to buy the other item, and fortunately, the broken sword was relatively cheaper, costing only 4 coins.
Thus, the witch’s 23 coins were reduced by 17. Together with Grandma Miles’s 6 coins, there remained only 11 coins.
The balance was not retracted by the shadow, so the witch reached out to collect all three items and leave. But Shard stopped her, handing her a piece of cloth from his pocket. Only then did she pat her head:
"I was really out of it."
She carefully wrapped the conch and the broken sword in the cloth, then grasped the balance, leaving it suspended in front of her. The group turned and retraced their path quickly, as the light from their torches was already quite dim.
Leaving was smoother than entering the camp. The layout and stalls here did not change, so they simply had to follow the old path back.
Even Shard couldn’t afford to look at the items displayed on surrounding stalls along the way. Eventually, the witch carried her employer, and Shard used "Puppetry" to make the boy grab his coat as they ran forward together.
Finally, when only a few sparks remained on the four torches, they exited the camp and saw some distant firelight. Even the witch was gasping for breath, having no time to be surprised that Shard merely breathed faster.
"We’re running out of time!"
Seeing only a few dozen steps left, Shard sped up, first throwing the boy towards the firelight, and then lifting Mrs. Miles from the witch’s back, also sending her next to the fire.
Turning around to grab the young red-haired witch’s hand, the torches in their hands went completely out at that moment. The black mist surged to engulf them, yet they were already beside the firelight.
"Space, spatial leap?"
The panting girl gestured a thumbs up to Shard, then had to sit down to rest. The boy and Mrs. Miles held their foreheads, sitting by the fire unable to speak a word. While Shard was also a bit fatigued, the warmth of the fire quickly activated the effect of the Month of Breathing.
He looked back at the camp hidden in the black fog and felt something was amiss with this adventure. Besides that, this Time Key adventure revealed significant value. From the current situation, the "transactions" related to this camp were almost all-encompassing. In other words, it was also possible to fulfill some of Shard’s wishes here, such as "what the pattern of the Sun, Moon, and Stars represents" or "where the Sage of Silvermoon is sleeping"....although the latter was less likely.
But at least this Time adventure was an opportunity for him. Provided that he could also acquire more black coins.
This adventure was short, only twenty minutes long, and now there were just four minutes left until he had to leave. This time, compared to previous Time Keys, his action was smooth, even overly so. However, no deity was found, and there were still many unknowns this time.
The witch had plenty of food and water in the small camp by the fire. Once slightly recovered, she distributed food, even giving a portion to the boy. Shard shook his head, indicating he didn’t need any. The boy hesitated to eat right away, seemingly afraid.
"I believe now; you’re definitely not here to harm us. Perhaps a deity sent you to help us. If it weren’t for you, none of us might have survived just now."
After the group safely returned from the camp, Miss Higgins was quite pleased, but in the firelight, she noticed Shard was still frowning:
"What are you worried about? Rest assured, though I don’t know where this fire came from, it’s definitely safe by the campfire. Once I recover, I’ll test the functions of those two items, and we can wait here for Her Majesty to take us back... Would you like to leave with us? Both Mrs. Miles and I can vouch for you to Her Majesty. You needn’t worry about being disliked by the Witch Empress; she might even give you a court office."
