Chapter 2055: Chapter 2055: Looking for Someone
[Outlander, you have returned to the present time.]
"Oh, what just happened?"
Completely drenched, Shard stumbled out from the bedroom door, with a look of astonishment still on his face.
The last scene just now, with so many corpses floating together in the sea and reaching out, was shocking, but it still wasn’t as overwhelming as the moment during the Night of the Eclipse when he fell into the water and witnessed the first Drowned One.
He simply did not understand what that Sea of Darkness truly was. Although the tourists and sailors on the Radiant Messenger were many, the number of corpses he just saw far exceeded the scale of several thousand people.
"Two things need to be done next, first to find a way to fulfill their wishes, and second to investigate the Radiant Messenger cruise."
That was something that happened in the late Fifth Era, and the stories passed down from that point in time were relatively easy to investigate in the present of the Sixth Era. If the Radiant Messenger really was that famous back then, there would surely be some records in the materials that have survived to this day.
After all, a thousand people dying in the same accident is never a trivial matter in any era.
Although Mia liked Shard, she didn’t quite like the completely soaked Shard, so she didn’t greet him the moment he returned. But later, when Shard went to the flower shop on Silver Cross Avenue, run by Angelina’s maids, to send a letter to Miss Galina inviting her to meet in the evening, this cat rarely went out with the now-bathed Shard.
However, when Shard was about to set off again to visit the Moon Bay Region, this cat lost interest in going out once more. It was as if the outing quota had been used up. The cat lazily greeted Shard at the stairs leading to the basement and then, with a flick of its tail, went upstairs.
This cat’s life could be more comfortable than that of a Duchess or a Princess.
The story of the new Time Key came to a close, and Shard had to meet the Witch in the evening to commission her to help with some investigations. So according to plan, he continued on his adventure in the Moon Bay Region.
As he walked out of the Dragon Nest, he noticed that the weather in Moon Bay City was gloomy again. At eight thirty in the morning, the city under the dark clouds was as pitch black as nighttime.
But this wasn’t just because of bad weather; it was also due to the polluted air. The steam factories near the industrial city of Moon Bay City produced a large amount of harmful gases, and the peculiar coastal climate didn’t allow these fumes to form smog in the city like in Tobesk, but instead formed a thick black cloud layer above the Moon Bay Region.
According to statistics, at least one-third of the days in a year feature such dark scenes here.
He passed through the woods and onto the road connecting the city and the countryside, then crossed the ancient Saint George Stone Bridge and reentered Moon Bay City.
The unfamiliar cityscape was endlessly fascinating to look at. As Shard rode in the carriage, he gazed out the carriage window and chatted with the driver about various rumors and interesting stories in the city.
After getting off the carriage on Herring Street on the east bank of the Taton River, Shard officially began today’s journey. He planned to spend half the day trying to find the rumored Diviner in the nearby Lower District. If he couldn’t find them, he’d meet with Lecia’s subordinates in the afternoon.
On one hand, he would find people who could help him, and on the other hand, he could learn how to solve Lecia’s small problem.
Finding people has never been an easy task, and the Lower District of Moon Bay City, centered around Herring Street, is quite large. Unable to visit every household, Shard could only start by inquiring for information.
He didn’t go to a tavern, as weekday mornings around nine o’clock weren’t busy times for taverns. Seeing three kids crouched together playing with glass marbles by the street, Shard walked over and spoke to them under their wary gazes:
"Can I ask you something? I can give you..."
Intending to say coins, yet feeling it wasn’t quite appropriate:
"Candy."
"Mom says not to eat candy from strangers."
The black-haired boy with a watermelon haircut said, then wiped his nose and extended his hand to Shard:
"Sir, are you a detective? If you want to find out about Uncle George’s affair, just giving us candy isn’t enough."
"Then what do you want? I don’t have any glass marbles on me."
Though Shard carried many toys, he wasn’t equipped with everything.
"The grocery store over there sells glass marbles."
Another blond boy then pointed to a shop not far away:
"We each want two."
"No, three!"
The last boy corrected.
Shard laughed, not feeling like he was being "extorted":
"Alright, alright, I’ll go buy them. But nine isn’t a whole number, if the shopkeeper insists on ten, how will you three divide them? Have you learned math? Three people each get three, who gets the extra one?"
The three boys looked at their friends, their eyes immediately a bit uneasy. Shard then smiled and went to the store, not long after returning with nine glass marbles and some cheap block candy he just bought.
The boys cheered as they equally divided the "spoils of war", only then did Shard ask the question:
"Is there anyone strange living nearby? Someone who rarely greets neighbors and seldom goes out to talk with people on the street."
He specifically asked children to avoid unnecessary trouble. He didn’t directly ask about the "Diviner", for the same reason. Just arrived in the area, everything must be cautious.
Eating the candy, the three boys thought for a moment and gave different answers:
"Grandma Marsha, who lives in the alley over there in Devonshire, she doesn’t go out much lately. She wasn’t like this before, it’s only recently that she became odd. Yesterday our paper airplane flew into her yard and she wouldn’t let us go in to fetch it."
"I know, I know, there’s a man who lives above the shop at 37 Herring Street who rarely goes out. That shop is owned by my uncle, and he says his tenant is very strange, often making odd noises at night and doesn’t allow him to check the room."
"Are there strange people nearby... I remember, a new neighbor moved in next door, they said he moved because the original apartment was to be demolished. He works in the mortuary, supposedly he’s a... well, coroner, I think that’s the word. My mother has a strong opinion about the new neighbor, always saying he might carry infections that would spread to our house."
Even in the Outlander’s hometown, there are some misconceptions about professions like coroners and forensic scientists. And in a world where Mysticism exists, such professions indeed warrant attention.
Shard thus noted down this information and then began his day of visits.
He first "visited" Grandma Marsha living in the alley of Devonshire, since he wasn’t sure about the situation, Shard didn’t take the risk of sneaking in using the Illusion Technique, instead, he hid his Relics, then transformed into a cat and jumped into the yard.
As the boys said, the old lady is always home even during the day. Although transforming into a cat weakens the Spellcasting Ability, it greatly enhances the sense of smell and jumping ability, so Shard quickly discovered her unusual features.
In the yard, Shard smelled something strange, so after confirming the old lady drying clothes was an ordinary person, he used [Lagre’s Leap] to jump directly over the glass window into the room, finally finding an elderly man’s corpse lying on the bed, already decomposing. This summer has had strange temperatures, so the decomposition wasn’t severe, it appeared the death occurred this week.
Beside the bed was a rocking chair, and on the small table next to it was a basket holding balls of yarn and a partially knitted scarf. The silver cat could almost imagine the old lady in the yard, sitting in this chair, knitting the scarf while murmuring to the corpse:
"I came to find the Diviner and the Unclassified Level Relic [Hope Diamond], seeing such a story so early in the morning, isn’t it a bit too cruel?"
So the silver cat quietly slipped out of the house, pretending he had never been there.
Next, he visited the strange tenant living above the shop at 37 Herring Street.
The shop mainly sells fishing equipment, like rods, lines, buckets, nets, and various baits. On Thursday morning, there were many customers; Shard also pretended to browse around, only after confirming no heartbeat sound upstairs using [Heart of Stone], did he climb up to the second floor from the alley behind the shop.
The strange man renting here wasn’t home, but before attempting to use the [Key of the Door] to unlock the door, Shard found a hair stuck under the door frame. This hair won’t sway with the wind but would change direction if someone opened the door.
Then Shard boldly opened the door and went in, planning to use "Breath of Ages" to restore things before leaving.
The room wasn’t large, a simple search revealed nothing. However, after finding a hidden compartment in the floor, Shard found a dismantled handgun and two identity documents inside.
One set was under the name "John Fanner", a grain merchant from Draleon; the other under "Harry Hamilton", a jeweler from the New World who had just returned. Yet the photos on both identity documents belonged to the same person.
"Hamilton, what a coincidence this surname is."
Shard chuckled as he returned everything to its place, then exited the room. This Mr. Fanner or Mr. Hamilton might be a spy, assassin, or another profession, but they didn’t seem to be who Shard was looking for.
Lastly, he sought out the coroner, who was of course not home on a Thursday morning. Shard initially intended to once more "break into" an empty house, but upon reaching the door of 13 Elm Street, he felt something amiss.
"Echo of Blood."
Blinking his eyes, clear blood marks on that apartment’s metal door formed a symbol similar to an oak acorn pierced by a branch. This symbol was on the upper left corner of the door, not large in size, yet Shard recognized it:
"Vampire Kind?"
Vampires residing in the city, to conveniently identify their kin, typically leave such a special mark on their house door. It means they can shelter the same clan, allowing visits from kin if needed.
This pertains to the modern Vampire Kind’s rules, a clan culture developed in response to the changing times. Besides abilities like Shard’s "Echo of Blood", only the Vampire Kind’s blood sense could reveal such symbols.
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