Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 487 Find the Cat

Seeing Shard glance her way, Miss Galina set down her teacup and spoke again:

"However, if you have other questions, I can answer them for you."

"Yes, Miss Galina, I do have some questions regarding my Circle Sorcerer Studies. It’s like this: these past few months, I’ve been studying the ’Light’ Spirit Rune from ’The Mad Light Chaser’, but the progress has been slow, so I wanted to seek your counsel."

To combat the demons in the Dark Realm, one needs the ’Light’ Spirit Rune. Feeling he was on the verge of a breakthrough, Shard thus sought the witch’s advice.

"’Light’? That’s not my forte, but Hevy is quite adept at it."

Behind Miss Aphrola’s seat in the Witch Council was the rune symbolizing ’light’, and the Light Sorcery she wielded in her battle against Daknis at the Merman Temple had also left a deep impression on Shard.

"I’ll arrange for you to meet with Hevy in the Council by Thursday at the latest. I think she’d be more than happy to help you."

Miss Galina said, then, leaning back lazily on the sofa, she looked at Shard:

"But what exactly are you trying to do? This isn’t simply a desire to learn, is it?"

There was a playful look in her eyes:

"Although Tifa wouldn’t talk about her experience with that ophthalmologist, when I later confirmed the doctor’s condition, I took a glance nearby and it seemed there were traces of a demon. The Servants of the Hidden in the Dark Realm, coincidentally, need to be countered with ’Light’ Spirit Runes. Shard, what are you trying to do? Why have you suddenly taken an interest in that place?"

She touched her chin and, seeing Shard about to speak, she stopped him:

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"No, don’t lie to me. I would rather hear nothing than be told lies. I won’t force you to reveal your secrets, but do be very careful with your safety."

She said softly:

"It’s inevitable for Circle Sorcerers to embark on various adventures; I understand that. But Shard, if you were to die, I would be very sad."

Shard was at a loss for words and looked up at the dark-haired Maid standing behind Miss Galina, who shook her head, indicating he should say nothing.

Temporarily setting aside the investigation into finding the blue-grey shorthair cat, Shard took time on Monday afternoon to meet with Luviya and Iluna. The three convened in Saint Delan Square, where Shard informed them that Daknis had been sighted in the area around Tobesk.

Although they had expected him to come to this city by the end of the Month of Blossoms, the reality of his arrival still made them suddenly nervous.

Miss Galina herself wanted to kill Daknis, but Luviya only wanted to ensure that Daknis wouldn’t become the second Chosen One, or that he would die after becoming such. Thus, Iluna, who was certain to be enlisted by the church in the team to counter Daknis, would relay information about him to the others.

If the church failed to prevent Daknis from entering the range of the Dark Realm and gave him the opportunity to conduct the Chosen One Ceremony, the details of which were still unknown, then Shard and his companions would personally enter the range of the out-of-control Angel-Level Relic and attempt to kill Daknis themselves.

Shard still hoped that the church or the witches would succeed; it would save him a great deal of trouble.

"Shard, are you also attending Queen Diana’s birthday banquet on Wednesday?"

After discussing Daknis, Luviya asked, and Shard nodded:

"Are you attending as well?"

"Yes, Marquis Immanus Glassly, Marquis Lacan Jacques, Marquis Henry Oaken, they plan to hold a Roder Card game during the banquet, so they sent a letter to the Prophet’s Society, hoping the Society could send staff to perform Roder Card authentication, dealing, and other tasks."

She smiled more relaxedly:

"This is a great opportunity, even if it’s work-related, such banquets aren’t easy to get into. The Society made quite a fuss over the invitation spots, and luckily, my name was on the list. Shard, we could share a dance at the banquet."

Iluna remained silent on the side, as she had been swamped with work lately and definitely wouldn’t have the time to attend the Royal Family’s banquet, even if invited.

"Dancing? No problem…"

Shard was smiling, but then he suddenly thought of a new problem:

"Dorothy will definitely attend the banquet; Lecia gave her the invitation. Priest Augustus will likely attend as well, being one of the most respected clergy members in this district of the Dawn Church, it wouldn’t make sense for Bishop Owen to attend without bringing him. This makes it so apart from the doctor, all four members of the group will be present at Wednesday night’s banquet. As for whether Dr. Schneider will also go..."

Considering what happened the last time all five members of the group gathered for a banquet at Lakeside Manor, Shard furrowed his brows. Even though a Godfall accident was unlikely to happen again at Tobesk, for safety’s sake, he still decided to inquire about Dr. Schneider’s plans for Wednesday night.

Judging by the doctor’s luck, if he really was attending the banquet, then Shard would have to consider bringing along all the Relics and Spellcasting Materials before heading over to Yordle Palace for the feast.

After discussing their recent actions with Luviya and Iluna, that very night, Shard once again found time to visit Coldwater Port. He retrieved all the materials he had commissioned the Seven Brooms Tavern to collect on behalf of the doctor.

With this reason in mind, he wrote a letter to the doctor on Tuesday morning, explaining that he would visit with the materials in the afternoon, then he casually left the house with Mia, who had become lazy from staying indoors. He was preparing to search for the blue-gray short-haired kitten.

Shard thought it wasn’t good for Mia to always stay at home, and that joining him for a walk in the city and getting some fresh air now and then would be more beneficial to her physical and mental health.

The Tobesk of today was still shrouded in a thin mist, and the weather seemed to be turning for the worse, as if rain was imminent. Therefore, even after mailing the letter at 9 a.m., the daylight remained dull.

The client, Old Lady Midra, lived in the western district of Tobesk, and the place where the cat was lost was near the Golden Fleece Textile Factory.

The day before yesterday, in the evening, the elderly lady had taken the cat with her for some business at the factory. On her way home, just one street away from the textile factory, she stopped to commission a new incense burner at the brassware shop. As she reached to push open the door of the shop, the kitten escaped from her arms and darted into an alley, never to be seen again.

"Mia won’t run away like that one day, will she?"

As he was about to set off in the carriage, Shard suddenly thought. But looking down at the lazy cat due to leaving the house, he felt his worries were completely unnecessary.

Thus, the carriage carried Shard across the Terael River that bisected the city and dropped him off on the east side of the street, which was lined with the "Mincwell Street" sign.

Shard entered "Johnson’s Brassware Shop" with the cat and was first caught by the delicate copperplate engraving hanging inside the shop depicting the street scene of Silver Cross Avenue. Out of curiosity, he inquired about the price and ended up buying it for £4 16 shillings, asking the shop owner to deliver it to Saint Delan Square. Shard wanted to hang it on the stairwell corner as a decoration.

Afterwards, he asked the shop owner about the areas where stray cats congregated. Because Shard was generous, the elderly shopkeeper eagerly pointed him across the street to the "Lucky Bookstore," where the owner was fond of feeding cats in the nearby alleys.

So, Shard visited the bookstore, where the somewhat plump middle-aged female owner, upon hearing Shard was helping to find a cat, immediately mentioned that Old Lady Midra had already searched all the wild cat gathering spots nearby the previous day.

However, Shard felt it was still necessary to take a look, and the kindly store owner informed him of three places: the alley next to the one with the heap of steam pipes at the end, the garbage station a street away from Mincwell Street, and the bushes in the backyard of the shipping company at the end of the street, currently undergoing renovation.

Shard first visited the rusting steam pipes, which were so large in diameter that any sized cat could crawl through them. It seemed they were originally meant to be the city’s main steam pipes, but for some reason, were discarded here.

As Shard approached the pipes, bypassing the trash heap, Mia Cat on his shoulder suddenly twitched her nose and then issued a threatening, sharp cry. Startling Shard in the process, three stray cats that had been hiding in the pipes bolted out, running down the alley.

The blue-gray short-haired kitten was not among them.

"Mia!"

"Meow~"

Shard looked sternly at little Mia on his shoulder, who also gazed back at him with wide eyes.

"Don’t make random noises; I’m working. If you scare away the target, I’ll have to expand the search to the entire city."

He somewhat regretted bringing Mia along, as this cat seemed to dislike Shard approaching other cats.

Next, he went to the ship transport company, which was originally an office for a grain station and sold to the transport company a few weeks prior, hence the renovations. The old man keeping watch was initially reluctant to let Shard enter, but when he carelessly dropped a shilling coin from his purse onto the ground, the man allowed him in.

There was indeed a group of stray cats in the backyard bushes. This time, Mia didn’t make a sound, but she seemed rather displeased as Shard searched through the bushes.

Unfortunately, Old Lady Midra’s lost cat was not among them.

At last, he visited the garbage processing station, which was the furthest from the place where the cat was lost. It covered a large area and was a public department set up by City Hall. Although it was a garbage processing station, it only dealt with the recycling of metal waste from nearby blocks, sorting it so that some of the metal could be reused.

Such a practice wasn’t because the people of this era had developed a sense of "sustainable development," according to what Shard had heard from Priest Augustus. It was a new government department established by city hall officials to expand their departmental influence, which consumed tax money and served little other purpose.

Because it was not a demanding job, the people working here were very keen on feeding the stray cats from the nearby blocks. Additionally, with the large yard of the metal waste processing station, it had become a gathering place for stray cats.