Chapter 2065: Chapter 2065: The Witch of Moon Bay
"Having fun?"
The man who had just successfully used his Arcane Technique didn’t even have time to feel pleased before Shard’s voice sounded from behind him. Before the stunned man could turn around, a huge force slammed him down onto the rooftop.
Using "Lagre’s Leap" to appear in midair, Shard gripped the "Shadow Orb" in his right hand and hurled it down at the man who had no time to dodge. But before the Shadow Orb hit, the Five-Ring Circle Sorcerer had already raised his hands in surrender:
"Ask your questions! Stop hitting me, I already know you’re strong."
The black sphere vanished into thin air, and Shard landed lightly back on the rooftop. He hadn’t used Silvermoon’s power at all just now, yet the victory was still that easy:
"So if you’d talked from the start, we wouldn’t have had to waste each other’s time."
He reached out a hand to the man curled up on the rooftop, and the latter shivered in fear before finally extending his own hand so Shard could pull him up:
"How was I supposed to know you were that strong? I can’t beat you, I give up. Ask away, what do you want to know?"
Facing a Circle Sorcerer, Shard didn’t need to beat around the bush. He asked straight out:
"About two or three months ago, you had the Hawthorn Family’s gang underlings searching the Lower District for a Relic. I want to know what you were looking for, and where that Relic is now."
"Two or three months ago... oh, so you’re asking about that matter."
The man braced himself on the ground as he stood, but his injured right leg made him look unsteady:
"Ever since I set my sights on that Relic, nothing good has happened around me. But that Relic isn’t in my hands; the Belindel Family snatched it away. Right now the three families controlling this city are all dealing with Circle Sorcerers, and their people are stronger."
He bared his teeth and crouched, pressing on his injured right leg, looking like he was treating himself:
"What rotten luck, getting beaten up over this thing again. Today really is unjust."
"What is that Relic exactly? Name, Level."
"I’m not sure about the Level, and I don’t know its name either. But it’s definitely a High Level item, Sage Level or Angel-Level. I didn’t even get to see it with my own eyes; the Circle Sorcerers the Belindel Family works with are very strong."
Shard frowned slightly. Ordinary Circle Sorcerers might not understand "Unclassified Level"; mistaking a Level 0 Relic for Level 1 was entirely possible:
"You at least know what it looks like, right? Don’t tell me you were hunting a Relic you knew nothing about."
After a brief bit of Healing, the Five-Ring Sorcerer stood up and then, wincing, patted his now ragged hat before jamming it back on his head—an utterly ridiculous sight:
"That I do know: a hexagonal Stone Mirror. Supposedly connected to Fate, extremely hard to trigger its Trait, otherwise if it showed up in a densely populated place like Moon Bay City, it would’ve caused big trouble long ago."
"A mirror? Any decorations on it? Gemstones, diamonds, that sort of thing."
Shard asked again, and the other replied uncertainly:
"Nothing on the front, but there should be some decorations on the back."
So Shard still couldn’t be sure what the thing actually was. He asked several more questions, and seeing that the man really couldn’t answer, he shifted the topic:
"You should know that once the Church discovers you’re dealing with nobles like this, you’ll be in serious trouble. Why are you willing to stay by the Earl of Hawthorn’s side? And why are Hawthorn, Edington, and Belindel working with Circle Sorcerers?"
"The Earl of Hawthorn helped me."
He answered without hesitation:
"Circle Sorcerers need to live too, need money to do research. If he’s willing to pay me, I’m willing to help him. As for what he wants me to do, looks like you really are from out of town, you don’t know anything."
"What is it I’m supposed to know?"
"A prophecy, one that’s been passed down since Moon Bay City was founded: when Wealth piles up into sin, the Ancient Dragon will return here and use Light to purify the Earth of Moon Bay. I know every city has its own folklore and Legends, but the Seven Families of Glory Moon Bay believe this prophecy devoutly. All these years, they’ve secretly contacted Circle Sorcerers hoping that before this so-called ’Dragon uses Light to cleanse the Earth’ happens, they can find a way to avoid being cleansed themselves."
"Let me remind you of something."
The young man Under the Moon said:
"What you just quoted was ’Dragon uses Light to purify the Earth,’ not ’cleanse.’"
"But those nobles know their own affairs, and they’re very clear on what they’ve done. This prophecy is easy to hear about in the city; it’s part of the local folklore. I translated some ancient books for the Hawthorn Family—guess what I found? The Seven Families of Glory Moon Bay is hardly a title they gave themselves."
The man in the bowler hat shook his head slightly:
"In the Early Era of the Sixth Era, the ancestors of those seven families may really have encountered an Ancient Dragon in the Moon Bay Region, and thus seized Wealth and then founded this city. These ordinary families pass down a vague history, and each family’s story has a different way to be interpreted. I know it’s ridiculous that they’re trying to pull little tricks behind the Church’s back—the Church will find out sooner or later—but at least before the Church discovers anything, the Hawthorn Family and I are in a cooperative, mutually beneficial relationship... You’re not going to report us, are you?"
Shard shook his head. Although every time he entered the Moon Bay Region he had to pass through the Dragon Nest, it was actually the first time he’d heard about Dragons and prophecy:
"I’d like to meet the Circle Sorcerer that the Belindel Family contacted. Do you have a way?"
"No. It’s against the rules for nobles to hire Circle Sorcerers. The three major families know about each other’s dealings but all keep a tacit understanding, and none of us will deliberately pry into the others’ Secrets. I only know the other side is very strong; I don’t know the specifics. Maybe you can find them the same way you found me, using the same method."
"Understood... pleasant cooperation. You can go."
"You consider this cooperation?"
The man wearing the ragged hat asked. Seeing Shard frown at him, he quickly shook his head:
"It is cooperation. At least your attitude is very friendly... I Hope we don’t meet again. Goodbye, ahem, I mean, wish you a good night."
With that, he jumped off the edge of the rooftop. Before hitting the ground, he slipped back into his own hat, and that ragged hat spun and flew between the buildings, quickly vanishing into the night.
"That method really is flashy. I wonder if his hat can be treated as a Space item to store a large number of objects."
Shard watched him depart, then stared blankly at the dark night sky where almost no Stars could be seen and only a faint bit of Moonlight:
"So then, the clues on the Hawthorn Family’s side are cut off. If I want to find that Relic that’s at least Sage Level, I still have to contact Belindel... and then I’m not going to have to contact the Edington Family as well, am I? If it goes on like this, with a Witch hiding among the three major families, isn’t it inevitable that I’ll run into her?"
He sighed softly, then turned, preparing to go back down to the mouth of the alley via the iron staircase on the side. Night was already deep, and today’s Investigation could be considered wrapped up. He planned to go home and rest, and talk about anything else tomorrow.
At first, the sound of his boots repeatedly striking the iron staircase was light and quick, but gradually the footsteps slowed until they stopped completely. At that moment, the Moonlight was finally completely blocked by the dark clouds in the sky. In the Darkness where almost no Light could be seen, Shard frowned and pressed his hand to his chest. The badge was heating up, and the heat was rising very quickly:
"You’ve got to be kidding me."
Confirming that the badge’s heat was not his illusion, he intended to directly turn into a Red Butterfly and fly away. But just as he was about to start Spellcasting, he recalled that around this time last year, when he used Echo of Blood downstairs at the Lucky Southern Cross Club, Miss Galina on the third floor had actually sensed it.
"Otherwise, I could just toss the Crystal Shoes and go home?"
His hand had already reached into his pocket, when a sound of something cutting through the air reached him. Shard suddenly raised his hand to his face, and his index and middle fingers pinched a flying card.
Looking at the card, it was not a Roder Card but Divination Cards. The face was the upright Empress, one of the most important cards among the 108 Divination Cards. However, this card was not paper but metal. Shard had heard Luviya say that the material of Divination Cards affects Divination, and in general, no one uses metal to make Divination Cards.
"Direction."
[Below.]
Shard was currently between the second and third floors. Looking down, the staircase was at the point where the mouth of the alley connected with the street. The gas streetlamp on the street could only faintly illuminate the right half of the alley mouth.
And outside the alley mouth, a carriage that hadn’t been there earlier had somehow already stopped there.
Touching the badge on his chest again, the heat was more than enough to show that the Witch he originally thought he wouldn’t run into was now in the carriage below.
Shard immediately thought of Luviya’s Divination:
"So that’s what the trouble referred to."
Since he’d already been noticed, Shard no longer thought about leaving. But although he currently had an Illusion Technique masking his face, he still took out another mask and put it on, then went down the stairs back into the alley.
However, he did not step out of the alley; instead, he pressed himself against the left-hand wall, hiding himself in the Shadows:
"Madam."
He didn’t want to court trouble, and even less did he want to casually make contact with a new Witch. So, with his talisman and Illusion Technique stacked, his voice was hard to distinguish as male or female. As for the street outside the alley mouth, the carriage wasn’t aimed directly at the alley but slightly past it. Thus, Shard could see the rear of the carriage, but both he and whoever was in the carriage couldn’t directly see each other through the window.
"How amusing. You haven’t even seen me yet, and I consider my own Protective Spell not easily seen through. Why did you immediately assume I’m a madam?"
A clear and elegant female voice came from the carriage. This was the first time Shard had heard the voice of this unfamiliar Witch. Her Casenric Language carried a bit of Moon Bay Region accent, but each syllable was very distinct. Judging from tone and timbre alone, her age was probably roughly the same as Luviya, Lecia, and Dorothy.
He’d wanted to say that he’d caught the scent of perfume on the metal Divination Cards, but instantly realized that saying something like that to an unfamiliar lady would be far too frivolous:
"I trust my own intuition. Madam, may I ask what business you have with me?"
His back was pressed tightly to the wall, and just beyond the right angle of the corner, in the carriage window, the Blonde Witch whose brow bore a dark red birthmark—making her entire face even more beautiful and bewitching—had already begun to smile.
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