Free Web NovelChapter 2034: Chapter 2034: A New Adventure
"Moon Bay Region? This is indeed uncertain news, but it’s worth going to Moon Bay to have a look. The plague in Miss Gawder’s hometown hasn’t ended, and I don’t have anything else to do recently."
The letter contained information that Miss Benanis’s friend had gathered, and Shard could follow those leads to conduct an investigation.
Miss Galina looked worried, and after Shard finished reading, she added:
"Actually, the friend Vanessa mentioned who provided her with the information is another Grand Witch from the Council."
"Oh?"
Shard looked up at her:
"Which one?"
"The Great Witch of Destiny."
The Duchess replied, but she didn’t mention the other person’s name:
"Eleventh Rank, the tenth seat of the Council. She has some peculiar abilities, and if we introduce her identity and name in detail, she might perceive it. So, without involving her name, we can only briefly tell you her background now."
"No problem, please introduce her."
Shard then sat up straight.
"As mentioned earlier, the actual ruler of the Moon Bay Region is the City Council of Moon Bay City. Most of the council members come from ancient families that existed when Moon Bay City was established. ’The Seven Families of Glory Moon Bay’ is what they call themselves.
In modern times, the impact of the Steam Revolution allowed new nobility to rise, but three families still firmly hold onto the ancestral power—Hawthorn, Edington, and Belindel. The Great Witch of Destiny belongs to one of these families and is quite reputable in the Moon Bay Region."
Miss Galina also reminded Shard:
"The Great Witch of Destiny is, of course, also a diviner, but don’t judge a Witch Diviner by your impression of Luviya. Sometimes she behaves... extraordinarily. If Megan and Audrey’s past madness was due to the chaos of their soul, she might genuinely have a mental illness."
"Sorry, what does this mean?"
"The Great Witch of Destiny is excessively believing in and revering fate, overly persistent and cautious, which ironically, makes her fall into the trap of fate. His Excellency the Speaker has mentioned her many times, but she never changes. She makes any decision only after divining to check the direction of fate. While this sounds exaggerated, Shard, can you imagine someone tossing a coin every day before leaving home just to decide which foot to step out with first?"
Shard laughed, as this is a classic joke among diviners. It mocks those who need to divine for everything and "consult" fate before doing anything. Although Luviya is an exceptionally talented diviner, she almost never acts this way in daily life.
"However, the diviner who once held the ’Hope Diamond’... Could it be this witch?"
Miss Galina shook her head:
"Of course not, I can assure you of that."
"I understand roughly. But the Moon Bay Region is so big, Miss Benanis’s clue is in the Lower District, the probability of encountering that lady from a prestigious family should be small, right?"
"Oh, knight, it would be strange if you didn’t encounter her. Besides, didn’t you tell us that it was Miss Mana Feliana who gave you the task to gain control over the witch?"
"It’s to gain control over the Council, not the witch."
Shard corrected promptly, the red-haired Duchess teasingly said:
"That doesn’t matter. Sometimes I even suspect whether fate is guiding you to find the witches."
"Why would fate bother with such a boring thing?"
Then Galina Cavendish, looking at him, softly said:
"Because we, at least those you know, really need you."
On a brand new Tuesday, both Shard and Miss Galina had things to do. Having had a party all day Sunday and Monday, today they couldn’t continue staying in the manor.
Miss Galina, along with Shard, took a carriage into the city; the Duchess had to go to Yordle Palace. On the way, the witch naturally got a little intimate with Shard, though just slightly:
"You are definitely not human."
The Balanced Great Witch was neither mocking nor sighing:
"Although I anticipated the possible situation of the birthday ’party’, I didn’t expect you to... I don’t believe this is something an ordinary Seven-Ring Sorcerer could achieve, I am a Twelfth Rank after all. Shard, perhaps you should explore your own past. Was there really nothing found in the background investigation that Saint Byrons conducted on you?"
The golden eyes carried some concern and deep attachment, and when her hand pressed against Shard’s chest, touching the cross embedded with the Philosopher’s Stone, she speculated again:
"For instance, is your body also a product of Human Alchemy? Or perhaps you possess a high bloodline that even a relic from Granny Cassandra can’t identify. Or... maybe a Deity, that Ancient Moon Goddess you don’t want to tell us about, has made a heavy wager on you."
"Could it be possible that my body was made by the Philosopher’s Stone?"
Shard wanted to reassure her, so he joked:
"As everyone knows, the Philosopher’s Stone would merge when in contact with another Philosopher’s Stone, but I have touched the Philosopher’s Stone many times and haven’t seen this material enter my body. Rest assured, I know my own matters very well. Moreover, Miss Mana Feliana and others have promised to help check if my blood has any issues."
Shard now fully understood why he came to this world. The only remaining question was what connection he had with the ancient tower on Karas Mountain, which collapsed in the spring of 1853.
"She" gently laughed in Shard’s ear.
Shard did not get off at Saint Delan Square but got off the carriage early and went to Old John’s pawnshop with Mia. When he pushed the door open, Old Man John was reading the newspaper behind the counter, and only looked up at Shard when he heard the door open:
"Oh, it’s the detective. You came at just the right time. I’ve brought in three more antiques for you to try. I don’t believe there isn’t one that meets the requirements."
Shard didn’t disclose the true function of the "Butterfly Paper Card," but he told Old John that he needed the cards to seal items. Old John only thought it was some peculiar alchemical item and didn’t delve further, but was very curious about what those cards actually were.
"New stock again, that’s really nice, but I still want to acquire items that increase one’s luck, yes, just like before."
"No problem, I have those too, just been waiting for you to ask."
Shard, holding the cat, walked to the counter and saw the newspaper that the old man had put down, which had measures from Tobesk City to stabilize grain prices written on it:
"Is it going to rise again? It’s not even autumn yet."
"Judging by the recent weather, it won’t have to wait till autumn. Even those nobles in the city who can’t tell wheat from rice know this year’s grain will definitely face big issues."
The old man shook his head while rummaging for the storeroom keys under the counter and then told Shard to wait a moment as he headed upstairs.
With nothing to do, Shard told Mia to stay still on the counter, and he flipped through the newspaper, as he hadn’t read the morning paper today. Old John was reading the third-page news, while the second page reported on the outbreak of a pandemic in the country.
At the beginning of the month, when Shard talked to Miss Galina about the epidemic in Miss Gawder’s hometown, the Duchess said it was only an isolated occurrence in certain cities. But as of now, over half a month later, similar pandemics were occurring in more and more places, prompting the Kingdom to finally take it seriously.
No cases have been reported in the Tobesk region so far, so citizens only learned about the distant news through the newspaper and were wary of anyone not speaking Tobesk-accented Delarion as a "country bumpkin". The Church of the Five Gods is actively collaborating with local city halls to conduct epidemic prevention efforts, so while the aftereffects of this peculiar pandemic are severe, the fatality rate is not high.
Although the church doesn’t use supernatural methods to treat patients, the awareness pushed by magic potions and alchemy regarding diseases has significantly improved this era’s medical standards, which is one advantage of the supernatural world.
Continuing to flip to the front page, the newspaper was still reporting on the escalating conflict between Draleon and Carsonrick. A month has passed since the end of the Green Lake talks, yet there is no dawn of reopening them. The voices of hardliners in both countries dominate, wishing to teach the Southerners/Northerners a lesson. It seems that peace has lasted too long on the Old Continent, causing people to forget what war truly means.
However, there are many concerns among the Kingdom’s upper echelons. Miss Galina mentioned to Shard that King Larus III actually wouldn’t mind using a war to vent domestic economic and political pressures. But casually starting a war is never a good thing, and there’s no guarantee of winning, so Tebesk currently maintains a strange calm where they seem to clamor for war, but everything is actually peaceful.
But everyone knows this peace won’t last long. Especially after the autumn grain harvest, if the grain prices surge and drive up other prices, then whether or not to go to war will no longer be something that can be reversed by individual will.
Old Man John soon returned holding a box, and seeing Shard reading the newspaper, casually chatted a bit about how the world has been getting worse over the past two years. The two had previously discussed the matter of the Green Lake War, and the old gentleman from the Guiding Light Hermitage sighed deeply. He talked to Shard about the actions Mr. Edmund of the Hermit Society had conveyed and even told Shard about the location and construction plan of the "shelter" that they were planning to establish in the Tobesk region.
Land prices in Tobesk are extremely high, and to avoid attracting too much attention, the Hermit Society chose undeveloped land on the outskirts north of the city. Everything is just starting now, and the establishment of the Shelter is divided into three phases, which will take at least two years to complete.
"Detective, here’s what you wanted, take a look yourself."
Shard then took out the blank "Butterfly" cards and touched each of the three antiques. Finally, the card reacted to a piece of broken blade. This rusted metal strip originally belonged to a longsword, and now severely corroded, it only exists as an ordinary Cursed Item, not even qualifying as an Alchemical Item.
If not considered an antique, such an item can only be regarded as Alchemical Materials, "Cursed Ancient Metal." Therefore, while its price is quite high, compared to relics and ancient alchemical items, it is very cheap.
Old John provided the origin of this broken blade:
"From an early Fifth Era religious story ’Day of Rebirth.’ A region was cursed by The Great One, where all the deceased would be reborn a week later, retaining the pain of their death after rebirth. They could only fall into eternal sleep by being killed by another Cursed One. But each Cursed One could only permanently kill one person, couldn’t be killed simultaneously, nor commit suicide, so one unlucky soul remained at the end.
The last survivor prayed to the Deity for mercy, enduring a century of punishment in pain and torment. Eventually, he was given the sword he used to end his cursed parents himself, and with this sword, he won the right to die... Ancient religious stories have that style, but how much they diverge from what really happened, no one can say. But at least the broken blade you hold is certainly related to the story’s original form."
