Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 834 The Detective’s Life

Chapter 834 -834 The Detective’s Life

Miss Galina briefly introduced, then saw Shard still looking at her.

“Is there something wrong?”

The Duchess asked curiously.

“Only a family teacher and private doctor? I thought the Grand Witches would have very prominent worldly identities.”

Shard enumerated:

“You are a Duke with a fief in Draleon, the Aphrola Family’s ocean business is world-famous, the Cassandra Auction House is almost known by everyone in the Old Continent, that Miss Sylvia is just a royal family teacher? How does she afford her daily expenses? Does the Council reimburse witches for their research and study expenses?”

Miss Galina laughed at Shard:

“Sylvia is a girl of common origins. Her teacher, who died three years ago due to an experiment accident, left her a very generous fortune, enough to support her for nearly ten years. As for the future, adults must be responsible for themselves; the Council does not distribute living expenses.”

Shard was highly curious about the Grand Witch at the Council’s last seat, but foreign delegations wouldn’t arrive for at least half a month. As for the Princess he encountered in Milestone having Witch Power, Miss Galina had investigated that, but found nothing:

“We don’t have the authority to question others’ followers, oh, His Excellency the Speaker has that authority. But that Princess can’t be Sylvia’s apprentice, Sylvia is still too young, and the Speaker has forbidden her from having her own apprentice until she masters her powers. Besides, do you think it’s that easy to find a Circle Sorcerer with Spatial Talent who also adapts to Witch Power?”

The Red-Haired Duchess spoke before Shard could:

“Of course, you don’t count. Besides, you mentioned that the Princess from the Anjou Family has very little Witch Power. I think Sylvia has just made her a follower. As for whether there’s another deeper meaning, I don’t know for now.”

Saying this, she beckoned Shard to follow her to the stables to pick some horses. Miss Galina had said she would teach Shard horseback riding, with autumn nearing its end, it would be his last chance this year.

Of course, Shard not only planned to learn horseback riding from the Duchess but also to learn some basic knitting skills from Tifa. To complete this week’s task of crafting a gift box, he planned to make a scarf himself. If he failed or couldn’t finish in a week, he would sew the finished product into a cat nest, which might please the cat.

Time went forward to Friday, entering the penultimate month of the year, the first day of the Frostfall Moon.

A new month naturally brought many matters to handle, such as steam fees, gas fees, taxes, and newspaper advertisement fees.

When Shard went to the “City Waste Management Center” in Tobesk Western District to collect his MI6 salary and reimburse reasonable expenses, Mr. Johnson, who received him, also revealed the impending visit of Margaret Anjou.

Of course, he didn’t know nearly as much as Miss Galina, he just heard that Shard would be commissioned an important task.

Shard spent all of Friday morning running around the city, and in the afternoon he went to Coldwater Port, combining tales he heard from Sister Delphine, he asked Mr. Edmund about stories related to God and Saints. Naturally, Shard didn’t forget the knowledge about Time Perception left by the Old God, Gray Robed Sage, that might be in Saint Byrons, Apna Library, and Guiding Light Hermitage, thus he entrusted Mr. Edmund to search for information about Gray Robed Sage’s believers and Time Perception in the Hermitage.

After dealing with these matters, before the next Time Key opens, Shard had no other pressing matters at hand.

He returned home with this thought, then met a long-unseen client who visited.

Though Shard was just a regular detective, the elderly Mr. Hank, who lived in Tobesk Southern District and saw the detective advertisement in the newspaper, sought Shard’s help to investigate the haunting in his house.

Mr. Hank was a retired accountant who used to handle small financial tasks for the City Hall. He had been hearing faint breathing and raspy, indistinguishable murmurs every night for a week whenever he closed his eyes. Unable to bear it anymore, he decided to hire a detective:

“I always thought insomnia was a mental illness for idlers, but now I understand, it’s truly torturous.”

Elder Hank seemed very exhausted.

Having strange sounds in the ear didn’t necessarily mean he was becoming a Circle Sorcerer, Shard could assure that. If the haunting were real, Shard considered recommending him to Priest Augustus because he only handled cases involving living people; if the haunting were fake, then it would be necessary to use Dr. Schneider’s card, as a psychologist could treat such issues.

To first determine what was really happening, Shard visited Mr. Hank’s home on Friday night and indeed found a lingering spirit there.

The spirit wasn’t even an Evil Spirit; left alone, it would disappear in a few weeks. Using the Soul Echo ability, Shard learned part of the spirit’s memory through touch, discovering it was Mr. Hank’s friend from his living days. The spirit worried that Mr. Hank, who lived alone, might die alone like him with no one to claim his body, thus why it appeared. ƒrēenovelkiss.com

“So, this era also has the problem of elderly living alone.”

In the bedroom, Shard looked at Elder Hank preparing tea in the kitchen and couldn’t help but sigh internally.

The next steps were simple, Shard inquired more details about the “haunting” events and pretended to inspect the house, specifically asking if Mr. Hank had recently visited the cemetery, and obtained information on Mr. Hank’s acquaintances before leaving.

“Detective, do you truly believe this is… a haunting?”

The old man appeared to want to ask but was too afraid.

“I’m still not certain, but I sincerely think you should go to the church for prayers, it will at least improve your mood.”

On Saturday morning, Shard visited Mr. Hank’s acquaintances as planned and was “surprised” to find that Mr. Kond, living in Tobesk City University District, was found dead at home.

With the weather turning colder recently and Mr. Kond living alone, neighbors hadn’t noticed the old man had already died. It was Hamilton Detective’s sharp-sensed cat who cried out just as he was about to give up, leading the clever, brave, and affordably priced Hamilton Detective to realize there might be a problem inside the house.

Riddlevitch Field’s police quickly arrived, and Mr. Hank also rushed over. He couldn’t enter the apartment nor see the body. The police, recognizing “Rejed’s Hamilton,” let Mr. Hank understand some of the case details.

Shard’s client, pale-faced, roughly guessed the haunting truth at home. His slightly peeling lips trembled as he left with Shard:

“Crushed by a collapsed bookshelf, buried under piles of books, how unfortunate.”

He murmured, and Shard offered another suggestion:

“Mr. Hank, I think this commission can be considered complete. If needed, you can seek help at Dawn Chapel, their clergy members are very professional.”

Shard remembered he was nominally a Dawn Believer, pretending to draw the Holy Emblem on his chest.

Mr. Hank sighed and nodded:

“Detective, I will transfer the remaining payment tomorrow. I never expected such a thing… Do you believe there are ghosts in the world?”

Mr. Hank spoke softly, deeply affected by his friend’s death. Elder Hank now doubted the existence of ghosts, otherwise, he wouldn’t have hired Shard first. Seeing the corpse and recalling his nightly experiences, his long-held belief began to waver.

“I don’t know either.”

Shard shook his head slightly, immediately hearing soft laughter, but he ignored it.

Though the commission didn’t earn Shard many Gold Pounds, the story was at least interesting. That afternoon during a meeting with Dr. Schneider, Shard recounted the case to Dorothy.

Since Priest Augustus wouldn’t be back until tomorrow, only four people attended today’s meeting.

Dorothy and Luviya sat on the long sofa, while Shard and Dr. Schneider sat on the two side short sofas. Shard didn’t know if Dorothy had privately talked to Luviya, but at least today they seemed to get along well.

Even when the meeting ended with Dr. Schneider repeatedly emphasizing next month’s upgrade exam’s importance, the blonde writer surprisingly went out with the violet-eyed female diviner to buy clothes. Winter was coming, and proper ladies needed to consider their winter attire in advance. Dorothy and Luviya had often shopped together before, but since events last Saturday, Shard felt guilt and concern whenever they appeared together.

Luviya had long accepted Shard’s greed and acknowledged it. However, how Dorothy and Lecia felt, and their attitude towards Luviya, Shard wanted to understand sooner.

At least on this Saturday, Shard did not manage to be with Dorothy. He originally wanted to ask the next step for Saturday night’s class, as upgrading to Four Rings made the Spirit Rune of Power the key. Fortunately, acquiring that Spirit Rune wasn’t difficult since almost two-thirds of Circle Sorcerers possessed this Spirit Rune, and Power correlated with a vast number of Arcane Techniques, such as the Heaton Seal in Shard’s possession.