Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 843 Pantanal Swamp

Chapter 843 -843 Pantanal Swamp

Because the low-frequency use of the Coin of Wisdom is not very harmful, some Circle Sorcerers use these coins as aids when seeking inspiration and breakthroughs. Some ordinary people who discover their use have the chance to leap and become famous figures such as pianists, writers, or detectives.

This has caused the coin to be priced slightly higher despite being Poet-Level. Shard spent 28 Gold Pounds to buy it.

“By the way, the matter of Time Perception you asked me about a few days ago has also seen some progress.”

The old man finished boiling the hot water and poured Shard a cup of tea. Although the lighthouse was very dilapidated, the black tea leaves were of quite high quality:

“I don’t know where you heard that our Hermit Society has the knowledge of the Old God, the Gray Robed Sage, but you were indeed right, we do. I wrote to the Keeper of Secrets responsible for guarding the library, asking him to help look it up, and it took two weeks to find what you needed.”

Shard looked at him with great anticipation. Mr. Edmund shook his head:

“It’s a stone tablet bearing the Holy Emblem of the Old God, the Gray Robed Sage, brought by the Order when they joined the Hermit Society, but no one knows how to use it.”

Shard thought he probably knew. From his experience in Gadis Library, the Old God likely set the stone tablet so that speaking its name would reveal the knowledge within.

“Additionally, this stone tablet only contains one-third of the content—this is recorded in our library’s archives, so you will have to find the other parts yourself. But the tablet cannot be given to you directly; you know, it’s a very valuable object. In the past, more than one Circle Sorcerer has obtained Spirit Runes related to libraries and books by touching that stone tablet.”

“So what do I need to do in return?”

Shard sat upright:

“Do you need Gold Pounds?”

“Of course not. We need you to do some things for the Hermit Society.”

The old man said.

Shard immediately smiled:

“I am very familiar with this kind of work. It’s fair to complete a special task to get a particular item. What does the Hermit Society need me to do? I can handle most legal work… and some illegal ones as well.”

The old man shook his head with a smile:

“We don’t engage in illegal activities, at least not currently. The thing is, aren’t you often active in Tobesk? Recently, Princess Margaret Anjou of Carsonrick will be visiting that city…”

It seemed everyone was paying attention to this political event.

“We have found out that the princess is a student at the Xerxes Higher Medical Academy, having switched from being a formal student to a correspondence student due to some issues. She has great talent and has earned the appreciation of Mr. Tardis, the vice principal of Xerxes, allowing her to borrow some books typically not available to correspondence students. Now, the princess has an ancient book in her possession, The Immortality Magic.”

Mr. Edmund took out an old, yellowed photograph. Since it was black and white, the large book on the table corner wasn’t very clear:

“This is the one.”

“How old is it? From the Fourth Era? Or earlier?”

“No, no, no. It comes from the previous era; it’s an old book left by the last Witch Empress. What you need to do is to transcribe the content from pages five to eight in the same layout used in that book.”

Mr. Edmund said. Shard frowned slightly:

“That doesn’t sound like an easy task, but it’s not difficult for me either. The Witch Empress left it… that wouldn’t be…”

He suddenly looked up, and the old man had an expression as if to say, “you guessed it”:

“I didn’t say it has anything to do with Whispering Verses.”

Mr. Edmund even knew that Shard was suspecting he might be related to the God Summoner who had cut off the Giant Mermaid Corpse by the sea, so he naturally knew he was also aware of the Whispering Verses.

The old man took a sip of tea from his cup, as if they were discussing something as casual as fishing hauls:

“Xerxes hasn’t yet realized the book’s value, and we had to put in a lot of effort to find out that the princess is also a Circle Sorcerer. You need to act quickly. Once you get the transcript, the stone tablet will be yours, you don’t need to worry about that.”

Shard nodded:

“No problem, I’ll take on this task.”

If that book indeed contained fragments of Poem Chapter, then trading the stone tablet related to an Old God from the Guiding Light Hermitage was naturally a fair exchange. However, that stone tablet might not be exactly what Shard was looking for, and even if it was, the tablet was incomplete.

But it was still a very good deal. By transcribing the text from The Immortality Magic, Shard could also learn what the new fragment of Poem Chapter was about. Even if the stone tablet from the Hermit Society had no value to him, just the fragment of Poem Chapter was worth approaching the princess.

Not to mention, he had two tasks related to Princess Margaret Anjou: “Following the Princess to find the grey-headed eagle” and “Approaching the Princess to learn about the Guiding Moon.”

“Mr. Edmund, I really don’t know how to thank you for your help.”

Shard said earnestly. The old man shook his head:

“Young man, I appreciate you. You’re different from almost everyone else I know. It’s hard to explain, but you might become one of our companions. Speaking of which, there’s another matter I need to tell you about. Haven’t you been asking me about legends and myths from all over the Old Continent, as if searching for something?”

“Yes, is there a clue about this matter?”

“Based on the three clues you provided, I did some research and recently heard about something interesting from an old friend, which might be helpful to you.”

He sat up straight, moistened his fingers with tea, and gently flicked. A thin mist of water emerged, projecting into a huge map of the Old Continent between the two of them.

“Meow?”

The cat was very interested in this, and Shard also widened his eyes slightly. This was a highly advanced technique for controlling “water.” Even though Shard possessed “Flame Shaping,” he couldn’t achieve a similar level of meticulous control over fire.

“Do you know the Pantanal Region?”

“Of course, I do.”

Shard pointed to the sunken area in the central western part of the Old Continent:

“The Pantanal Region refers to the Great Swamp on the western borders of Draleon and the Kingdom of Carsonrick (note), its area being two-thirds the size of the Rommel Mountains. In the old times before the Steam Age, due to its extreme unsuitability for human habitation, development in that area lagged behind. Even in our current era, the climate has caused significant shrinkage of the swamps, but the Pantanal Region still experiences heavy rains year-round, making it muddy everywhere. However, this area holds great political importance, with both countries deploying a significant military presence in the swamp.”

He paused and added:

“An officer friend of mine said that serving in the Pantanal is the second worst choice, right after serving in the Far North.”

The officer naturally referred to Captain Lades. Shard recently heard that due to his meritorious service in the Battle of Milestone, he was preparing to go to Tobesk for debriefing. Every year-end, the kingdom promotes its officers; if Captain Lades can ‘network’ a bit during his stay in Tobesk, he might really be promoted from captain to the same major rank as Shard currently holds.

That would be a qualitative leap.

Mr. Edmund nodded:

“Yes, most of the Pantanal Region’s sovereignty is held by Carsonrick in the south. There are no large cities within the region, only isolated villages and towns. I haven’t been there, but I’ve heard it’s muddy everywhere, full of mosquitoes, snakes, and ants. It’s always rainy, and strange creatures emerge from the depths of the swamps.”

The old man pointed to the water mist map:

“And on the northern and southern sides of the Great Swamp are the capitals of Tobesk and Velindale City.”

“I’ve heard many legends about that place.”

Shard leaned back slightly against the old sofa’s backrest:

“Due to its sparse human activity in ancient times, many rare animals live there. It’s said that many Circle Sorcerers wanted by the authorities also hide in the depths of the swamps. But after the New World was discovered, they all fled there.”

He hesitated:

“It’s said that many unicorns and chocobos lived there long ago, but I don’t know if it’s true.”

“It’s true, but that was in the previous era.”

Mr. Edmund said:

“And the local beliefs are also quite peculiar. They worship the Pantanal itself, believing it to be the heart of the entire Old Continent. They’ve even organized an obscure Circle Sorcerer Organization. But this isn’t related to our topic today. There aren’t many large cities within the Pantanal Region, but in the southern swamp areas governed by Carsonrick, aside from Velindale City as the capital, there’s another very important city.”

Shard squinted at the map, the position of Velindale already lit up by Mr. Edmund. He pointed to the north of Velindale City, in the southeastern Pantanal:

“City of Red Wine, Royal Capital Guard – Huntington City?”

A red butterfly flew out from Shard’s hand and landed on the water mist map. Mr. Edmund smiled and nodded:

“Yes, that’s the place.”

Huntington City is called the ‘Royal Capital Guard’ because it is almost impossible to cross the Pantanal Great Swamp and directly attack Velindale from Draleon. The terrible swamp environment and the huge lake in the center obstruct large-scale maneuvers—unless it’s a lightly equipped infantry squad.

Therefore, to attack Velindale from the north, one must advance along the western or eastern edge of the Great Swamp.

Thus, Huntington City essentially bears the responsibility of defending the capital from the eastern Pantanal. In the relatively peaceful Steam Age, the city has also seen tremendous growth. Leveraging its position as Carsonrick’s northern transportation hub, it has become the most important logistics center in Carsonrick, with most bulk cargo traveling north-south, east-west through the Old Continent passing through Huntington City.

As for the title ‘City of Red Wine,’ it’s because there are numerous vineyards around Huntington, especially to the south and east. The soil and climate there are incredibly suitable for grape cultivation and red wine production. Besides the famous Russell Winery in the Southern Duchy of Carsonrick, almost all renowned northern wineries are concentrated near Huntington City.

Even the vineyard and winery of the vampire kind Mr. Armand Bernhardt’s family are near Huntington. The letter left by the captured vampire when leaving Cassandra Auction House even invited Shard to visit his manor in Huntington City.

“The legend of the ‘Lake Goddess’ seems to be in Huntington City.”

Shard understood what the old man was getting at.

“Specifically, it’s not in the city itself but in the western area of Huntington, near the Great Swamp. The legend of the Lake Goddess has been passed down locally for generations. The story goes that kind-hearted and pure individuals can encounter the Lake Goddess and, upon passing her test, obtain the strength they desire.”

“Kind-hearted and pure?”

Shard repeated suspiciously, then began to ponder if he met the criteria. But immediately, the contents of the Great Sin list in the Sin Mansion resurfaced in his mind. The outlander currently tangled up with the young ladies seemed not to comply with such stringent requirements. And it appeared his ‘Licentiousness’ sin score had increased again.

Regardless, Shard decided to take a look near Huntington City. Acquiring Divinity was the most urgent matter currently. The glimmer of Divinity was gradually fading; he must act quickly.