Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 177 With Beyas

Since there was an opportunity to chat, Shard spoke about what happened last night, on the rainy night. He kept his promise not to take any unrelated Relics, and Miss Beyas reported the two names to the church this morning.

Miss Beyas's Circle Sorcerer squad was not assigned to deal with this matter, but she had also heard from her captain about the Correspondence Circle Mage who broke into Mr. Ponton's house last night, killed the assassin from the Blood of Mercury, and then left with large strides.

"Detective, I guessed it must be you, your friends are quite impressive. From the signs of the struggle at the scene, it seems that the other party had almost no chance to fight back," she exclaimed, her eyes turning to look out the window.

"Three against one, isn't it normal to win easily?"

While flipping through a book, Shard asked, then gave a vivid example:

"The other party was only a Four-Ring Sorcerer; the gap between our strength and his isn't as wide as between that rat and Mia. So, by the time we realized he hadn't left, he had already lost."

Miss Beyas turned to glance at the cat that was lying on Shard's legs, napping in the afternoon:

"Actually, the strength difference between your cat and a mouse shouldn't be too large, it doesn't look like a cat that can catch mice..."

Miss Beyas said, holding a teacup in her hand:

"Since we're on this topic, did you get any extra information from that assassin? Like the location of the Silver-Eyed One?"

"I was just about to tell you, there is one in our group who is very good at interrogating for intelligence, but unfortunately, that assassin doesn't know where the Silver-Eyed One is hiding. However, we can confirm that the Silver-Eyed One, who was injured by the Masked Person under Silvermoon, has injuries that are difficult to heal, causing even his own organization to distrust him."

He almost revealed himself just then, but fortunately Miss Beyas didn't catch it.

"Good news, this increases the likelihood that I can take revenge with my own hands," said the Female Sorcerer in assessment.

"Oh, we also discovered the location of 'God's Gift Box,'" Shard continued, gesturing to the swirling snowflakes, which fell more densely. The snowfall had virtually no cost to him; it wasn't an Arcane Technique but a minor function of the Maze Lock, a natural phenomenon resulting from Shard's elemental interference with reality, which held more mystique than the Arcane Technique.

Miss Beyas turned her back to Shard and waved her hand:

"Don't tell me the exact location. Once the church learns of the Relic's location, they will surely go after it and undoubtedly succeed. But then, the Silver-Eyed One might leave Tobesk, and I wouldn't know where to find him."

Her faith in the True God Church was absolute, and with good reason. Even if the Silver-Eyed One weren't severely injured, he wouldn't pose much of a threat in an Archdiocese where several Ten-Ring Sorcerers were stationed.

Shard nodded and also suggested:

"But once this is over, we can agree on a time to inform the church and the Academy about the Sage-Level Relic almost simultaneously. That way, everyone can get a reward."

Miss Beyas turned back in surprise, her beautiful eyes appraising Shard:

"Detective, you really do have ideas."

Apart from talking about last night, Miss Beyas also shared with Shard miscellaneous matters from the Tobesk Parish. The church's Circle Sorcerers knew more information than those from the Academy, and what Miss Beyas emphasized were the incidents at Lakeside Manor and the events of last Saturday night.

With the church's efforts, further Investigation had been conducted, including on the Relic's Lost of Control and the origins of the Evil God, clearing up most of it. Regrettably, the church was currently searching within the parish for those fish scales, hoping to find a lead on the "High Ring Sorcerer" who cast the Maze Lock.

With this, the fish scales in Miss Luisa's hands would be even harder to sell.

"Detective, what were you just doing out there? A commission?"

Miss Beyas was curious about her encounter with Shard.

"No, I was just coming out from the Prophet's Society, where I ran into Mr. Stan, the head of the Tobesk Branch," said Shard, cradling the book while Mia stretched out on his legs, her chin propped against him, seemingly very fond of the position.

"Mr. Stan? Oh? He's actually back?"

Miss Beyas was quite surprised by this information, so much so that she momentarily relaxed her observation of the outside and turned to chat with Shard:

"Mr. Yadis Stan can be considered the most impressive Diviner permanently residing in the Tobesk Parish. Although he is only a Ten-Ring Sorcerer, his Divination skills are quite high. I've heard he was recently commissioned by the Church of Creation to go to the countryside of Tobesk to assist 'Iron Right Hand' Mr. Pirot with a case of an Angel-Level Relic out of control.

Since he has returned, I expect Mr. Pirot will also be back soon. Moreover, with our church's Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer arriving in Tobesk tomorrow, our parish will then have two Thirteen-Ring Sorcerers."

This was the first time Shard had heard of cooperation between the Prophet's Society and the True God Religion, but what he was interested in was something else:

"Has Mr. Stan's Divination level always been high? Actually, I also had him do a Divination for me today, but it seemed like he didn't use any Sorcerer's methods."

He put down the book and asked cautiously.

"Mr. Stan's Divination level is, of course, very high. If I were to give an example..."

Miss Beyas thought for a moment:

"If there is one person in Tobesk City capable of divining the Silver-Eyed One's location, it would definitely be him. But Detective, a skilled Diviner doesn't need to use a Sorcerer's abilities to divine, it's a Talent. Of course, it could also be a unique ability of his 'other self.' Mr. Stan is always cautious; his divinations are highly likely to come to pass... What did he divine for you?"

The young lady with brown hair was curiously inquiring:

"Good news or bad news?"

"He said he saw a Knight," replied Shard, still puzzled by the Divination.

"A knight? Is that some kind of metaphor?"

Miss Beyas asked, puzzled. Seeing that Shard could not provide an answer, she took another look at Shard's face and changed the subject:

"There's something I've actually been wanting to ask you. I only remembered recently, our first meeting was at that pet store, right?"

"Yes, what about it?"

Shard asked, puzzled.

"I didn't remember our first encounter before not because I forgot, but because your face looked a bit different from the first time we met."

The brunette furrowed her brows slightly.

"My appearance is different?"

He touched his face, confused, then recalled that Old John had said something similar last night.

"No, it's not a big change, just some subtle differences."

Miss Beyas narrowed her eyes and thought for a moment:

"People who see you often or you observe yourself every day probably can't tell at all. But we hadn't seen each other for a week before we met again at Lakeside Manor. You were pretending to be hypnotized by the captain then, right? I didn't recognize you because our first meeting was brief, and your face was a bit different the second time."

"Is that so?"

He set the languid cat down on the sofa, ignoring its displeasure, and quickly walked to the washroom. He saw his own face in the mirror every day when washing it and had not noticed any difference.

"To put it simply, you seem a bit more handsome than before. I don't mean anything by it, this is just the truth,"

Miss Beyas's voice continued from the kitchen.

"Handsome?"

Shard leaned forward over the sink, examining his face in the mirror. His original vagabond face could barely be considered to meet Shard's standard of attractiveness, and he certainly hadn't noticed anything particularly handsome about it.

But this time, although his face shape was still the same, his features... indeed looked much more handsome than before. What was more important, he seemed to see traces of his original face from certain angles in this typical Caucasian face.

It wasn't very obvious, just as Miss Beyas had said, it was merely some fine changes to an otherwise acceptable face. These subtle changes made the face belonging to an outlander... somehow look quite handsome.

If Miss Beyas said that Shard's face had already been different when she saw him in the garden maze at Lakeside Manor, then it was definitely not because of that drop of Divinity, which had appeared after their second meeting.

"Could it be because the soul is influencing the body?"

He wondered in his mind and then asked the voice inside him. Stay updated with empire

"[Perhaps it is so.]"

She whispered in his ear.

"That shouldn't be a bad thing, right?"

He examined the face in the mirror. Having been in this foreign world for half a month, he had basically come to accept this appearance:

"As long as the change isn't too noticeable, it's not a bad thing."

He finally concluded.

The two of them had a rather pleasant afternoon together, and Shard faintly felt that, on the path to becoming friends, allies, or even intimate collaborators with Miss Beyas, for some reason, he seemed to be progressing faster than the purple-eyed diviner.

Even Miss Beyas took the initiative to mention Miss Annette in front of Shard:

"Detective, if you're still interested in divination, I've recently met a very good diviner. I'm not sure if she's a magician, but she might be able to help you. I could introduce you sometime, but..."

Miss Beyas hesitated.

"What is it?"

Shard reached for his cup, ready to drink.

"But, I always have this strange feeling that the beautiful female diviner has some other purpose in approaching me. It's not malice, but it's strange. I just feel she has another motive... Could it be that she likes me?"

Shard, who was drinking water, almost sprayed it out. Even so, he was still choked to coughing fits, trembling as he did so, waking the napping cat. It sprang up from Shard's lap and gave a "meow" towards Miss Beyas, not showing any temper as it was about the time for its usual walk around the house.

"So, do you think I have some other purpose in approaching you?"

After a few coughs, in order not to let the good impression Miss Annette had strived to create in front of Miss Beyas be ruined, Shard had to divert the conversation.

"Me approaching you? Isn't it always me coming to you?"

Miss Beyas said, surprised, and then recounted the times:

"The pet store was a chance encounter, at Lakeside Manor you couldn't wait to get away from us, at the Lucky Southern Cross Club it was I who came to you, and the night you played Roder Card it was I who came to you for help. Today was a real coincidence. Detective, when have you approached me?"

She chuckled lightly with her back to Shard:

"Come to think of it, sometimes I even feel like you're trying to avoid me a little whenever we talk."