Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

[You've come into contact with "Desecration".]

"What?"

He had intended to bypass the grapevines, but suddenly, a voice emerged in his mind. Elements of "Desecration" were often related to the Evil God, and Dr. Schneider had said that the correct response upon encountering such elements was to run away immediately.

Shard also wanted to turn around and run, but there was someone else in front of him, a poet in tears, seemingly oblivious to Shard moving nearby.

"Is the poet a Circle Sorcerer?"

He continued to walk forward while uneasily asking himself.

[No.]

Shard breathed a sigh of relief, praising the usefulness of "the other me" in his mind while his steps lightened. He did not look around but instead walked straight under the grapevine-covered trellis.

Only after he had completely left the area did he relax and stop, leaning against a flower bed, having truly worried that a pair of hands might suddenly drag him into darkness.

"Is something concealed under the grapevine? Oh, it seems I can't keep wandering around, or else real trouble might occur."

The strange luck of the evening was truly unfathomable; Shard thought it best to find a safe place and to stop wandering around.

Once he collected himself, he looked around and realized he was in the garden maze area. A garden maze constructed from hedges and shrubbery, while not confusing enough to get lost in, certainly would take some time to navigate out of without caution.

Shard glanced at his pocket watch; it had been almost an hour since he parted ways with Priest Augustus. He did not know whether he could play a role in the forthcoming significant events, but at the least, he could not afford to sit there all night.

Continuing forward, he turned left at the intersection of fences and tree walls. Soon, he heard voices and was glad, thinking he could follow others out, but upon hearing the conversation, he stopped:

"Nightingale, do you even understand? You're not Greyhawk. How could we who are concealed in Tobesk City not fear MI6? How dare you meet with me here? All for the glory of Carsonrick... Wait, did I just hear someone approaching?"

"A spy from the United Kingdom of Carsonrick? This night, I've already encountered countless acquaintances, disheartened officers, strange Circle Sorcerers, foreign spies; what kind of mad night is this? Maybe the Roder Card game earlier used up all my luck for the day? How is that die with 20 points affecting me?"

He turned and walked away, unwilling to get entangled with such trouble.

At the next intersection, he turned right, and soon he heard footsteps again. These were numerous, clearly not just one or two people, and this reassured Shard. He quickly walked towards the sound and, upon rounding the corner at the end of the hedge, saw the Circle Sorcerer team under the Sun and Earth Church.

Shard had seen them at the start of the banquet; a group of several dozen was now intact, also surprised by the sudden appearance of the young man from around the corner.

The robust man at the front, who seemed to be the captain, scanned Shard for a moment before suddenly asking:

"Sir, what is your purpose for attending the banquet at Lakeside Manor?"

It was a standard sentence in ordinary language, yet Shard felt an urge to blurt out his inner thoughts.

"The power of Circle Sorcerers! Luckily, he hadn't anticipated that I'm no ordinary person."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

As he thought this, he didn't resist the impulse to speak the truth, for it didn't matter:

"Of course, to play Roder Card."

He spoke without hesitation, but once he finished, his face immediately displayed an intentionally surprised expression.

"You, you, what power is this?"

While speaking, he covered his mouth and stepped back, believing he might indeed be quite skilled at acting.

The captain of the Circle Sorcerer team, the man who appeared quite strapping, gave Shard a look, then stepped forward amicably, patting his shoulder and meeting his eyes at close range, revealing the middle-aged man's brown eyes:

"Sir, forget you ever saw us, and then go do what you should be doing."

Shard felt a slight dizziness.

[Act as if you're disoriented.]

The murmuring sound signaled him, and Shard immediately narrowed his eyes, rocking his body clockwise like a roly-poly toy.

He thought his disguise was ridiculous, but the Circle Sorcerers of the Sun and Earth Church obviously believed it. Thus, they paid no more attention to Shard and hurried past him with a team of people.

Shard noticed the youngest girl in the group, with long brown hair, glanced at him as she passed by, but she did not recognize him from their encounter in front of a pet shop a few days earlier and hurried away.

Shard still maintained his absurd facade until he was sure he could no longer hear the footsteps of the Circle Sorcerers' squad and then started to leave.

"It seems my luck has suddenly turned bad, whether it's eavesdropping near the stables, just now running into a foreign spy, or encountering the True God Church's Circle Sorcerers here. Is this the price of good luck? However, running into the captain should be considered a good thing."

Shard thought to himself, but the woman in his heart retorted:

[Why can't these be part of good luck?]

"What's so good about these things?"

He asked, puzzled, keeping his head down and hurrying along the elegant path lit by brass gas lamps. Suddenly someone patted his back, and Shard thought his "bad luck" was going to continue, but when he turned around, to his surprise, he saw the cheery blonde writer, Miss Dorothy Louisa.

She was dressed in a beautiful, long evening gown that was fairly conservative in style, with the skirt's pleats adorned with white lace.

"Oh, this must definitely be good luck!"

If they weren't relatively unacquainted, Shard would have liked to hug her.

"What good luck... What is that smell on you?"

The blonde writer asked with a smile, her green eyes scrutinizing Shard curiously, wondering why he had his shirt on and was holding his coat. Shard, thinking that the residual smell of horse manure might still be on him, felt a bit embarrassed and patted his clothes.

"Detective, what are you doing here? Just now, I happened to run into Luviya. She actually returned from Carsonrick yesterday but didn't attend our study group. Let me introduce you."

Shard puzzled for a moment:

"Luviya? Who is that... Oh, Miss Luviya Annette."

Miss Luviya Annette was the only Circle Sorcerer in Dr. Schneider's group who had not met Shard. Three Rings, her regular job was with the Prophet's Society, and she was a student jointly trained by Saint Byrons Integrated Academy and the Prophet's Society.

"Let's talk about that later; there's something more important now."

The two left the illuminated courtyard path and entered the dimly lit bushes nearby.

Shard briefly mentioned his encounters with all sorts of strange characters that evening, leaving out the Roder Card part, and then spoke of his conversation with Priest Augustus an hour earlier:

"Priest Augustus said that the church is very likely to make their move tonight, to capture 'Blood of Mercury'—Lady Lassoya, who is Jack Deon. The priest asked me to tell you to leave quickly and not to take a risk for the 'Forged Philosopher's Stone'."

At this, Miss Luisa's expression became serious:

"Indeed, tonight is not the right time to take action, but you are indeed lucky. A Circle Sorcerers' squad from the True God Church usually avoids civilians, and you've encountered them three times in one night... Detective, make sure you stay away from the mansion. Since you parted ways with the priest an hour ago, then..."

"Dorothy!"

They both heard someone softly calling Miss Luisa's name. Glancing over at the gas-lit courtyard path, they saw a young lady with brown, short, neat hair, wearing a blue evening gown, carrying two glasses of wine as she walked towards them.

Somehow, Shard realized that the slightly older-looking woman before him was Diviner Luviya Annette. The last member of the Circle Sorcerer group had finally appeared.

Far from being pleased, he thought with surprise:

"Wait, everyone's here now? Oh, what exactly is about to happen?"