Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 544 - Divination of Five People

Chapter 544: Chapter 544: Divination of Five People Chapter 544: Chapter 544: Divination of Five People Sitting in the northern chair was a young lady dressed in a black clerical uniform, holding a clipboard and fountain pen. She appeared slightly younger than Shard, and nodded to the five people somewhat naively:

“Hello, I am Ashley Simpson, from the secretarial office of the Academy. According to the regulations, professors must have a secretarial recording and archive the content of the conversation when communicating with Correspondence Circle Mages in non-teaching situations.”

She introduced herself.

“Miss Simpson is also a third-year student at the Academy and is doing an internship in the secretariat for credit,”

Professor Sanchez introduced, then quickly moved on to the main topic:

“Dr. Schneider, have you heard about Miss Mana Feliana’s matter?”

“Yes, Professor, the news has already spread in the local black market, but it is chaotic and hard to discern the truth,”

Dr. Schneider, the group leader, responded.

“What are the news?”

the Professor asked, as Priest Augustus passed a notebook to the doctor, who coughed:

“What is certain is, yesterday afternoon in the southern part of the city, in the Forgotten Area, a High Ring Female Sorceress claiming to be ‘Mana Feliana’ used a massive Arcane Technique to dispel a Relic. Uncertain news claims that the woman, who shares her name with the founder of the Academy, is none other than Witch Feliana from the Fifth Era. Moreover, rumors assert that Miss Feliana’s appearance was connected to the meteor shower that lasted more than an hour last night; she attacked the True God Church, resulting in the sacrifice of at least twelve Circle Sorcerers; the Arcane Technique she used turned all the Circle Sorcerers in the area into females; her arrival was due to someone finding a golden cup, summoning spirits from the past for a battle…”

“Alright, enough,”

Professor Sanchez interrupted before Dr. Schneider could continue with more preposterous news:

“You sorcerers in this region do have vivid imaginations. Regarding yesterday afternoon’s event, the Academy will soon send you a document to be read and then burned immediately. You can examine it yourselves. This time, the Academy intends to review all Correspondence Circle Mage groups in the Tobesk Region to ensure that this incident doesn’t involve any of you.”

“Absolutely not involved!”

Priest Augustus immediately said.

“In that case, please state your whereabouts from noon yesterday until eight in the evening. The Academy will verify this later, so please do not lie,”

Professor Sanchez stated, then gestured to Miss Simpson to take diligent notes:

“As compensation, after the inquiry, each Correspondence Circle Mage involved will receive five practice credits as a reward for assisting the Academy’s investigation.”

The substantial reward of five points also indicated Saint Byrons’s determination to investigate the incident involving Miss Feliana.

“Yesterday afternoon, I was at the Dawn Chapel all the time, and at least a couple of hundred people saw me there. In the evening, I went out with Bishop Owen, Father Hoover, and Sister Matilda from our parish to visit two children’s welfare homes in the north of the city and see the children there. About seven I returned to the chapel and didn’t go out again,”

Priest Augustus stated.

“Yesterday afternoon was supposed to be a study meeting for the group, but sensitive materials I had ordered from abroad arrived, so I had to go to the local black market to pick them up and didn’t return until six in the afternoon, and I didn’t go out again after that,”

the doctor said, presumably prepared to cover his tracks.

“I went to a lecture at the Tobesk Third Mechanical College in the University District yesterday afternoon, given by a professor from the Kingdom of Carsonrick about popular literature. After the lecture ended, I went home to have dinner with my parents and returned to my rented apartment at seven,”

“Dorothy” stated, seeming well aware of “her” schedule.

“I was in the Dark Realm yesterday afternoon.”

Luviya said, pausing to look at Professor Sanchez, who gestured for her to continue.

“Early yesterday morning, I undertook a task for the society, delivering a document to President Stan in a small town, and did not leave the town afterward. This morning, when the Relic’s influence expanded, I moved with my companion but unfortunately passed out. Later, when the Relic was controlled by the Church, I woke up. At that time, the President was fighting with a Circle Sorcerer from the Truth Society, and I left alone to find help from the True God Church squad, but accidentally entered a spatial rift. When I woke up, it was already eight in the evening; Duke Galina Cavendish’s servants found me, thinking I was a traveler lost near their estate.”

“Remember to write up a report and hand it in,”

Professor Sanchez said, without commenting on Luviya’s experience, presumably to verify later with the Prophet’s Society.

“So Mr. Hamilton, what were you doing yesterday afternoon?”

He looked again at Shard, who then spoke the details already agreed upon with Miss Galina:

“Yesterday… um…”

He sheepishly touched his nose:

“Lady Galina Cavendish visited my home alone at ten in the morning. Yes, alone, without any servants.”

The secretary took note of Shard’s statement while “Dorothy” also looked at him.

“Later… um…”

Shard hesitated, believing his acting was passable:

“She stayed at my place, and we were… um… reading in the study.”

Professor Vya Mirral from the Astronomy Academy coughed, causing the blushing and astonished Miss Simpson to keep making notes, despite her surprise.

“Around nine-thirty in the evening, we took a carriage out of the city towards her estate and were stopped by the Church south of the city,”

At that time, after Shard had met up with Tifa and Miss Galina, the three of them indeed entered the city and then left again. He wasn’t lying about that.

“I hadn’t left the house all day, and I didn’t know what had happened yesterday afternoon. It was after ten in the evening at the duke’s estate when I met Luviya, and only then did I learn about all the events that had occurred yesterday…and after that, I stayed at the estate outside the city.”

Shard noticed that Miss Simpson, a third-year student at the Academy, although ostensibly taking notes, seemed to be stealthily observing him.

“Oh, the events of yesterday, they were truly terrible,”

He couldn’t help but express his feelings at the end.

“Do you always carry the Keeper of Secrets Level Relic ‘The Twenty-Sided Die of Destiny’ given to you by the History Academy?”

Professor Sanchez waited until Shard had finished speaking to ask, his gaze sharp.

“Yes,”

Shard nodded, unafraid of being caught out even if he didn’t have the dice. Although divination was miraculous, divination wasn’t as clear as seeing an actual photograph; the results often tended to be chaotic and obscure. As long as he wasn’t entirely lying and had prepared some tricks in advance, he didn’t need to fear divination.

Only past events discovered by time-related abilities were nearly a hundred percent accurate.

“Alright,”

Professor Sanchez nodded and then turned to Professor Miral at Astronomy College:

“Next, Professor Miral will conduct a divination for you. The focus of the divination is whether you have been tainted by demonic power. Last night’s events are largely related to demons, and the Academy is worried that you might have been contaminated by evil unbeknownst to you. This might lead to loss of control.”

The astral form of Professor Miral pulled a deck of cards out of her pocket. In total, one hundred and eight cards, nine in a row, floated evenly with their backs facing up before her:

“Please select one each, as long as it’s not the Divination Card – Demon, it’s fine,”

she said seriously, and then gestured for Dr. Schneider to choose first.

For years, the doctor had managed to keep things hidden from the Academy, so he was not flustered this time:

“The first one on the left.”

The card was flipped, showing a designation representing “Lucky One.” No matter what the divination was about, pulling this card certainly meant something good.

The blue-eyed doctor smiled:

“I knew my luck has always been good.”

Shard made a strange expression, “Dorothy” looked toward the ground, Luviya had a tense face, and Priest Augustus suddenly coughed loudly. Seeing everyone turned towards him, he sheepishly said,

“Then I’ll choose the ninth on the right, as today is the first day of September,”

The card flipped over to reveal a tombstone, symbolizing “Death”—not a good sign at all.

The priest laughed at himself but made no further comment.

“I’ll pick the one in the very middle… next to Professor Miral.”

The blonde girl spoke, looking forward to seeing the divination card. Her schedule was normal yesterday, so she wasn’t worried about this divination. And having a professor from the Academy perform it wasn’t an everyday occurrence.

After the card’s astral form was flipped, it revealed a red butterfly. The symbolism of the “Red Butterfly” in mysticism is quite complex, but even Shard, with his basic knowledge, knew it definitely had nothing to do with demons.

“Then I’ll choose the one in the middle but on the outer side, I often perform divinations for others, but it’s rare that someone does one for me,”

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Luviya said.

“Because performing a divination on someone who already possesses divining powers is much more difficult than on others,”

Professor Miral explained. After flipping the card, it showed a broken circle. This wasn’t the missing top-notch circle Holy Emblem of ‘Mr. Dawn,’ representing “broken fate.”

Shard almost immediately observed Luviya’s expression, but she remained composed:

“I didn’t expect to flip this card,”

she muttered softly.

“Now it’s my turn. I’ll pick the one in front of the professor,”

Said Shard, and then he mused to himself:

“Guess if the card I draw is ‘The Moon’?”

“I guess not.”]