Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 437: Hanged Ghost Alley

"However, even just to curry favor, giving this..."

Dorothy's gaze lingered on the pearl on the table, her expression quite similar to that of a cat caught by Shard:

"It's such a pity to give away such a beautiful pearl... cough cough, I mean, if it's to please the Empress, for a possible baronetcy in the future, giving this is most appropriate."

"Baronetcy? Dorothy, I don't care about that."

Shard shook his head and said:

"If you like this pearl, then keep it."

Although Shard always felt short of money, he actually had many valuable items on hand that could be liquidated.

"No no, better to give it away. Even if you don't care about the title, but..."

Dorothy looked up at Shard, and Shard looked back at her. The golden-haired, blue-eyed girl didn't continue immediately but waited several seconds while they made eye contact, before she looked at Shard and softly finished her sentence.

What exactly was hidden in her beautiful eyes, Shard really couldn't guess:

"...Lecia cares."

"Meow?"

The cat held by Shard, with eyes even prettier than those of beautiful girls, curiously looked at Dorothy, while Shard slightly opened his mouth in surprise.

Because of that remark, Shard's thoughts were in disarray all day. He even postponed Dr. Schneider's "Sealed Space" coursework report, which was supposed to be finished during the day, until late at night.

Although the report was long, when he placed the final period on the parchment, there was still a sense of satisfaction and achievement:

"Mia, go to the side!"

The cat was attempting to smear the still-wet ink with her paws.

He had agreed to meet Priest Augustus at midnight, but since the meeting place was on the outskirts north of the city, Shard set off around 10 p.m. After much consideration, he decided to bring Mia, who was reluctant to leave the house. In Shard's view, Priest Augustus was a very reliable person, so if he said it was nothing serious, then it should really be nothing serious.

In mid-August, the nights in Tobesk were still not cool. At the intersection of Saint Delan Square, Shard found a carriage, but upon hearing that they were to go near the rural graveyard outside the city, the coachman outright refused to take Shard there.

Even after Shard offered to double the fare, the cautious coachman still wouldn't take the job. In the end, Shard could only have the coachman drop him at Hymn Square in the north of the city, then find another carriage near the bustling Lower District's Hymn Square to take him to the city's edge, before proceeding on foot towards Hanged Ghost Alley.

The nights at Tobesk City Center Saint Delan Square were peaceful and serene, with only patrolling police and the occasional stray cat making some noise. The strange glimmer of the triple moons and the elegant lamplight of the gas streetlamps bathed the earth together;

Near Hymn Square in the Lower District, it was noisy and dangerous, with willow warblers, gamblers, and drunks prowling the area, the light from gas and kerosene lamps menacing and full of temptation;

As for the small villages outside Tobesk City, they were dead silent - still within the bounds of civilization and only physically separated by the remains of old-era low walls from the urban area, but the firelight of the Steam Age ceased to shine here.

The residents outside the city didn't have the spare change to waste on kerosene lamps at night, and only the civil servants at City Hall would know if this place was connected to the city's basic gas pipeline infrastructure.

Even the coach from the Lower District was unwilling to take Shard out of the city at this time. Thus, just like the last time he and Dorothy visited Mr. Copus's graveyard, Shard walked through the outskirt village on foot.

The buildings were low, but the straw along the walls and the chicken coops piled up next to the yards filled the place with signs of life.

What Shard disliked the most was not the awful smell that neither he nor the cat wanted to breathe in, but the uneven ground underfoot. Fortunately, it had not rained yesterday in Tobesk, otherwise, this place would utterly be a quagmire.

The small village he was passing through was called Upper Glen Village, like Lower Glen Village located in the low-lying area several miles away, it was a rural village adjacent to Tobesk Lower Town. After passing through the small village to the north of the city, one completely leaves the boundaries of the Royal Capital, and that truly is Tobesk countryside.

The path known as "Hanged Ghost Alley" was not far from Upper Glen Village. Except for the signpost, Shard could only confirm the existence of this path at the border of the detailed city map left by the former detective.

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Hanged Ghost Alley led to the Nameless Graveyard, a burial ground shared by nearby villages. Although it was a rural graveyard, it was fully equipped with crematoriums, the Tomb Guardian's cottage, a chapel, and an underground cemetery.

And the withered tree on Hanged Ghost Alley where Priest Augustus had arranged to meet Shard was situated at the end of the alley, just before the gravel path laid by villagers for the graveyard.

That withered tree was beyond Shard's expectations; he had thought it was just a dry sapling, but it turned out to be a towering tree that didn't grow any leaves even in summer.

It stood there barren, its branches spreading in all directions along the main trunk, like spreading tentacles in the night or the hands of a witch from a fairy tale.

"However, it seems that most of the old witches in existing fairy tales are based on witches from the Fifth Era."

Shard thought to himself, but he found it difficult to equate Miss Feliana, a beautiful lady, with the image of a hunchbacked old witch.

This tree, seemingly devoid of life force, still stood tall here. Several crows perched on its branches at night, and together with Mia's miaows, they flapped their wings and flew into the distant night sky.

Shard arrived twenty minutes ahead of time, cradling the cat in his arms while he stood under a tree, looking up at its trunk in the night wind. He had to admit, if someone wanted to hang themselves, this tree would be the perfect spot.

Not only could people of various heights easily find a place to tie a rope, but the proximity to the graveyard was so close that there was no need for a horse-drawn cart to transport the body. The Tomb Guardian could simply drag the body into the gravesite.

Usually a timid cat, it was peculiarly interested in this eerie environment, constantly looking around while being held in Shard's arms. Shard, on the other hand, was wondering about the purpose behind Priest Augustus asking for his help. Although the priest wasn't a Circle Sorcerer of the church, in times of trouble, he could solicit help under the name of the church clergy members.

Unless it was something he did not want the church to know about, or there was significant benefit involved, or the priest believed he could resolve the trouble himself.

As he was thinking, a figure finally appeared from the other end of Hanged Ghost Alley. It was the clergyman, still dressed in his clerical garments, panting and carrying something on his back as he approached. He saw Shard and his extraordinary cat in the moonlight, and even waved his hand in greeting.

It wasn't until the clergyman drew closer that Shard saw he was actually carrying two spades:

"Oh, my Mr. Dawn, this thing, these things are much heavier than I imagined."

The clergyman tossed the spades under the tree, then leaned against the trunk, gasping for air.

Shard handed over a test tube filled with water, which the priest thanked him for and drank in one gulp.

"Spades? Priest, are you planning to dig something up?"

Shard asked curiously, and the priest, steadying himself against the tree and panting heavily, nodded at Shard:

"Of course, why else would I carry such heavy things, do you think I intend to sell them to the Tomb Guardian?"

"So what are we digging up? Is there something under this tree? Treasure? A Relic? Or perhaps a body?"

Both Shard and the cat were very curious about this.

"Who said we were digging up the tree? We're going to dig over there."

Priest Augustus pointed to the dark graveyard not far away.

"This... what is buried in the corner of the graveyard? Or is there a secret in the Underground Cemetery or in the Tomb Guardian's cabin?"

Shard asked further.

"Stop guessing, we're here to dig graves."

The priest finally regained control of his breath and tossed one of the spades to Shard, keeping the other for himself:

"Follow me, we need to be fast. The best time for the ritual ends at two o'clock in the morning. I noticed you brought your cat, and that's great, a smart cat helps increase the success rate of the ritual."

"Wait a second, priest, are we really going to dig up someone's grave?"

Shard hurriedly followed the briskly walking priest, and the two left Hanged Ghost Alley, officially stepping onto the gravel path leading to the cemetery gate.

"Do I need to say it? Yes, we are digging up... Oh, I see."

The Old Cleric twisted his head, glancing at Shard in the moonlight:

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"Do you have a psychological barrier with this?"

"No, of course not."

Shard immediately shook his head:

"I'm just surprised that it's you who is doing this with me. If it were Dr. Schneider, I would not be surprised at all. You have always been in my mind, someone who... strictly adheres to the church's rules."

"Don't just stand there, Detective, hurry up and follow me. And, why does the doctor have such a bad image in your mind? We're not here to desecrate the dead tonight, but to deal with an accident. I've always believed that human nature is evil, but if it's for a good cause, some problems with the method can be accepted—everything is for the sake of dawn and justice."

In an era where most of the poor suffered from night blindness, the Nameless Graveyard naturally had no competent Tomb Guardian. Priest Augustus had originally planned to knock the man out, to facilitate their night's operation. However, when the two used Shard's Illusion Technique to sneak up to the window of the Tomb Guardian's cabin, which was lit with a kerosene lamp, they found that the Old Gravedigger was already drunk as a lord, clenching a bottle of liquor while sprawled on his bed, fast asleep.

Even when Shard and Priest Augustus barged into the cabin, they did not manage to disturb him.

So out of kindness, Shard covered the drunk Old Gravedigger with a blanket and kicked his shoes under the bed. Priest Augustus, also out of kindness, extinguished the room's kerosene lamp and took away a portable lantern to prevent a fire.

Knowing the Tomb Guardian would not initially look outside if he woke up, but rather try to light the kerosene lamp without his shoes available, allowed Shard and Priest Augustus to know immediately if the man awoke.

Apart from the drunken Tomb Guardian and the sneaky duo, the living creatures in the graveyard included Shard's shoulder cat and the wild animals that made their home there. Shard was relieved that Mia didn't have the habit of meowing randomly because if that were to happen in the graveyard with the wind blowing at night, he would have definitely been scared out of his wits.