Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

"Is that so?"

The young girl with brown hair seemed to be observing herself through Shard's eyes as she fiddled with the golden ring on her finger.

Shard had mastered the art of conversing with Miss Beath:

"Yes, and we both need each other. You seem to be a novice Circle Sorcerer of the True God Church, and you want to prove yourself, so you need a source of information outside the church, reliable allies and connections in this city."

Shard pointed to himself, realizing for the first time that he was quite eloquent:

"As a detective active in Tobesk City, I will inevitably face danger like today again, and I too will need someone to help me in those moments."

Instead, he took a step towards Miss Beath, who stepped back subconsciously, then felt slightly annoyed at being frightened by an ordinary person.

Shard extended his hand:

"Although we are meeting for the first time today, I am a bumbling detective from Saint Delan Square, and you are a Low Ring Sorcerer from the Sun Church. We both need each other's strength, and it would be a fine collaboration. The beginning of our cooperation, then, is to keep today's incident a secret from others."

Iluna Beath gazed at Shard, and just when Shard almost thought she would refuse, she extended her hand and grasped the hand of the outlander:

"You will certainly become a great detective, not because of your network, but because of your wisdom."

"Thank you, but I am actually quite new to the detective business... Miss Beath, if possible, please find the person who killed Mrs. Lawrence."

As he spoke, he looked towards the carriage and the body lying in the alley:

"What now?"

"Leave the body here, we need to leave immediately, and let's not associate the club's investigation with this murder. Later, I will report this incident to the church through my own channels. They want to take us away, so they will not let others notice, and we will board this carriage."

Miss Beath skillfully arranged the situation, making Shard wonder if she had done this before.

"As for you, detective, I think I will be visiting you soon, and I hope you keep your promise. Of course, you also need to be careful lately, there are many dangerous people in the city. Not long ago, a man under the moon effortlessly triggered an earthquake in the southern part of the city."

Miss Beath seemed to hold infinite emotion about this:

"When will I possess that kind of power."

"I... will not reveal your secret."

Shard could only answer in that way, and by doing so, he would not disrupt Miss Annette's plans.

"But when I do tell her that I am a Circle Sorcerer, should I apologize for today's concealment?"

He asked himself.

Though the detective and the female sorcerer are righteous, acquiring spoils of war after a murder bears no relation to righteousness or not.

Miss Beath took the "Spear," and Shard was allowed to take the banknotes from the two bodies. Unfortunately, neither the man killed by the Spear of Kindness nor the fellow slain by the "Sunlight Gun" had the habit of carrying all their belongings when they went out.

Shard, having searched both their pockets, had only found a total of 3 gold pounds, 5 shillings, and 10 pence.

"I thought people like you, who resemble wizards, would be wealthy," he remarked.

He also complained to Miss Beath, who exclaimed,

"We are Circle Sorcerers, not wizards, and gold pounds are never enough for anyone."

By the time Shard and Miss Beath parted and he walked back home, it was time for dinner.

But unusually, he didn't play with Mia right after getting home; instead, he drew the living room curtains. In the dimly lit environment, he carefully pulled out the envelope hidden in his breast pocket.
Experience tales at empire

Mia immediately darted over, thinking it was food, but Shard quickly grabbed her by the scruff of her neck with one hand, holding the envelope in the other as he made his way to his bedroom. Once there, he drew the curtains again and sat at his desk without turning on the gas lights in the room.

Gently twisting on the desk's gas lamp, some light finally filled the dark room. Placing Mia on his lap, he then carefully took out the banknotes from the envelope, licking his lips as he counted them and arranged them in stacks of ten under the lamp's light on the desk.

The elegant brass gas lamp, not turned up to its brightest, only illuminated the desk area, leaving Shard's face in shadow. The Outlander looked at his own hands under the lamp, counting the gold pounds quickly and adeptly.

The small orange cat on Shard's lap couldn't reach the desk; it could only stand on its hind legs against Shard's legs, clinging to the edge of the desk to barely poke its little head out from under the table.

It watched the man's hands deftly handling the banknotes. The cat couldn't understand what those papers meant but found the scene intriguing.

After counting the money and packing it back up, Shard leaned back holding the cat, sitting in the dim room for ten minutes before standing up. He carefully locked the envelope in a drawer, weighed it down with several books, and solemnly placed the drawer key into his pocket before leaving the room.

Upon entering the living room, a smile finally blossomed on his calm face. He picked up Mia, lifting her high, and then set her down again, baffling the cat,

"Let's go out to eat."

He stroked the obedient orange cat, feeling that life was truly getting better.

Concerning his encounter with Miss Beath, he should have informed the Female Diviner immediately to ensure it wouldn't affect her "clever plan." However, Shard didn't know the Diviner's address. Fortunately, he was going to the Prophet's Society on Friday to have the "Genesis: Silver Moon" finally appraised, and he might run into Miss Annette there.

(Mia running…)

When Shard woke up early on Friday, it looked like it was going to rain, so he took an umbrella with him. Just as he reached the entrance to Silver Cross Avenue, a drizzle began to fall.

Below the rainy skies, the city remained enveloped in a thin mist, another reason why Tobesk was known as the "Northern Mist City" beyond its title as the "Northern Pearl."

Walking down Silver Cross Avenue, his spirits were much better than the dreary weather.

The entrance to the Prophet's Society was still bustling with people; even without a weather forecast, the gloomy skies made it hard not to think of carrying an umbrella. Due to limitations in dye technology, practical umbrellas from this era were mostly black, though foldable ones had begun to appear.

A carriage rolled past Shard and stopped smoothly in front of the society's entrance, catching the eyes of passing policemen.

Utilizing the still mild rain, Shard merged with the crowd at the entrance of the Prophet's Society, gripping his cane and holding up his umbrella, and circled around from behind a carriage decorated with a family crest and two bundles of wheat to the front door.

Once inside, he wanted to check the bulletin board by the entrance. While he didn't need to sell the Roder Cards he got from Professor Manning due to his large income, knowing the current market conditions wouldn't hurt.