Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

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Hearing the name "Impermanence," Shard inexplicably felt a certain special connection. He looked down at the woman sitting on the high stool, supporting the moon on the card's surface.

"Sulun... Silver Moon."

He whispered, then felt the Miracle Element actually increasing.

Miss Annette, sitting opposite him, looked at him with surprise:

"What did you say? Sulun? Isn't that your middle name?"

"It's nothing, just lamenting my wonderful fate with the Silver Moon."

Shard said, and then asked Miss Annette:

"So, even the Prophet's Society doesn't know what these cards are really for?"

"Yes, but at least the Society has created the Roder Card based on these cards. In the past few hundred years, the Society has made more Gold Pounds than the rest of the Sixth Era combined."

Miss Annette said before she became interested in Mia, the cat that was lying next to Shard, but the lazy feline showed no interest in her.

"Thirteen Ancient Gods, thirteen Witch Empresses, thirteen The Chosen Ones, is there any connection between them?"

Miss Annette smiled:

"Good question, detective, you're very perceptive. To be precise, it certainly shouldn't be a coincidence. Clear evidence indicates that the Witch Empresses of the Fifth Era have commonalities with The Chosen Ones of the Sixth Era, yet there are differences. The biggest similarity is that they all have the power of the Ancient Gods.

You might understand it as, they are all humans favored by the fallen Ancient Gods. But why this is, I can't explain.

The Ancient Gods are the oldest and most mysterious deities. Their affairs are probably only known by those organizations with ancient legacies."

"Then, would the Witch Council know these secrets?"

Shard asked while stroking Mia's back, the cat glanced at him, and Miss Annette looked stunned:

"You know about the Witch Council? The Ancient Gods might be from what you heard from the History Academy professor, but who told you about the Witch Council? They are very mysterious, and all their members are female sorcerers.

As you can tell from the name, they inherited the power of the last thirteen Witch Empresses of the Fifth Era, and the Council's strongest thirteen Archwitches correspond to this."

"Really related to those witches of the Fifth Era? But the Witch Empress, it was more than 1800 years ago."

Shard was quite surprised; he originally thought they just wanted to use a nice-sounding name or were just lucky to have obtained relics related to the Witch Empresses.

"Those Archwitches of the Witch Council, can advance to High Ring at a very young age. One or two might be coincidental, but when all thirteen Archwitches across generations are like this, it's hard not to suspect that they really inherited powers from the previous Era. Maybe it's a special inauguration that allows them to level up quickly.

But it's only the thirteen Archwitches that have such power; the rest of the sorceresses in the Council are quite normal."

There was something off about Miss Annette's tone when she spoke of this organization.

"Are you a member of the Witch Council?"

Shard asked.

"Detective, what nonsense are you talking about? I've only dealt with them, and that experience was unpleasant."

The female diviner asked, leaning on the couch and swinging her fingers.

"Is the Witch Council also a wanted illegal organization?"

Shard suspected that Duchess Galina Cavendish was an Archwitch of the Witch Council, and in doing so, all the news he heard while wandering around Lakeside Manor suddenly made sense.

He was almost certain of his guess.

"This organization... it's complex, and it's difficult to define as good or bad. The Church opposes only a few of them, not the entire organization. Unlike madmen of the Blood Spirit School, they are just keen on dealing with relics and books related to the last thirteen Archwitches of the Fifth Era, and otherwise, they are rather well-behaved.

The strongest thirteen among them are all Ten Ring or higher female sorcerers, and even one of the most powerful witches has the power of Thirteen Rings. Compared to the Witch Council, there's no need to even mention organizations like the Blood of Mercury.

But the Witch Council itself is not unified; each of the thirteen Archwitches has their own forces, and those women, hmph, though they won't fatally harm each other, they're first-rate when it comes to infighting."

"So, they must also know of the 'Whispering Verses.'"

This was an affirmative statement.

"Of course, apart from the Church and the Academy, they are certainly the most knowledgeable."

Shard nodded, Miss Galina had promised that if he could win at the card game over the weekend, she would reveal her identity to him. Then, perhaps he might learn some secrets from the Duchess herself.

"But she didn't seem to react when she saw Genesis: Silver Moon. Doesn't the Witch Council know the secret of the Roder Card? Or was it an act?"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

He pondered to himself, while Miss Annette tried to pick up the cat that had moved to lie on the coffee table, but Mia pushed her hand away with a little paw. The coffee table was cooler than the couch, and the petite cat did not want to leave it.

Entering July, also known as the Thunder Moon, the weather seemed to suddenly become hotter. Thinking of a world without air conditioning or fans, the Outlander felt apprehensive about the coming hotter days.

"Detective, since Genesis: Silver Moon has chosen you, there must be a reason. Even if you are outside of Fate, it is clear you cannot remain uninvolved in the upcoming chaotic era."

Miss Annette seemed to summarize the conversation as if she were planning to end the visit, but Shard's next words made her sit down again: Experience exclusive tales on empire

"Speaking of which, I met Miss Beyas yesterday."

"Oh? That's interesting, tell me more about it."

Miss Annette gave up on teasing the lazy cat and listened intently to Shard's account of yesterday's events, her eyebrows raised slightly when she heard "Sunlight Gun":

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"Iluna Beath, in doing this, does not seek any merit. According to my preliminary investigation, she had a conflict with 'Blood of Mercury' before she was transferred from the papacy of the Sun Church to Tobesk. Recently, she has divined with me about whether the things she had been doing would go smoothly, referring to this matter."

"Your actions yesterday had no problems. Do not expose your identity as a Circle Sorcerer, and certainly do not become entangled with Iluna Beath in any matter. I will accelerate contact with her on my side, and strive to make her the true Chosen One as soon as possible."

"Sorry, what do you mean? Isn't she a Chosen One already?"

Shard looked at her with a touch of surprise, asking; he was quite fond of the color of Miss Annette's eyes.

"The power of the Chosen One is not merely what she has shown thus far. There are indicators when one truly becomes a Chosen One, the most significant of which is the ability to turn one's Ring of Fate into a weapon. According to my divination, the Chosen One of 'Balance' should ultimately be able to transform their Ring of Fate into a set of Golden Scales."

Shard tilted his head, imagining the scene:

"A Circle Sorcerer manifesting metal rings behind them—therefore, producing metal scales doesn't seem too odd."

"She has only just touched the edge of the Chosen One's power, and she can already suppress a Four-Ring Sorcerer to some extent, even use the 'Sunlight Gun,' a miracle beyond her level, but this is not the true force of the Chosen One."

Miss Annette shook her head:

"Becoming the Chosen One is a complicated process; I believe even the Sun Church might not fully understand it. The chances that they have also located that portion of the 'Whispering Verses' is rather slim."

"What is the method?"

Shard asked, curious, and Miss Annette did not hide it. She raised one finger:

"Three requirements."

"First, one must obtain a relic imbued with the power of its corresponding Ancient God. The range of relics is broad; it can be an 'Artifact,' a statue, or even a broken Holy Emblem or an ancient sanctuary in the wilderness—but it must possess the Ancient God's power. The Ancient God of 'Balance' is called 'The Upside-Down Judge' by mortals."

The card image of 'Genesis: Balance' was the figure of a man hanging upside down from a tree.

"Such relics must be hard to find."

Shard commented, though relics of the Ancient God of Time would be far too easy to find.

"But I already have a lead, and the Sun Church probably has thought of something similar, so it's not really difficult."

She then raised a second finger:

"Secondly, the chosen one must deeply understand the significance of their eligibility as the Chosen One."

"That is something only Miss Beath can comprehend herself; we can't help with that."

Shard said again.

Finally, she raised a third finger:

"Lastly, and most difficult, the Chosen One must perform a ritual. The ritual requires no materials, only that a certain act is accomplished. It should be written in some part of the Poem Chapters. I'm trying my best to divine it, but due to the high cost required, I haven't made much progress yet."

"May I ask what cost you are paying?"

Shard questioned, and Miss Annette shook her head, her brown hair swaying at the back of her head:

"For now, I'd rather not disclose it. Once you're promoted to the Second Ring, I'll tell you. In any case, I'll handle these matters; what you need to do is gain strength as soon as possible. The epic tale of the thirteen Chosen Ones is just beginning, and I think we still have plenty of time."

She sighed, her expression momentarily sad. Shard didn't know what to say, so he refilled Miss Annette's teacup.

Before the Diviner left, she thought of the sealed first floor and took the initiative to offer to divine the matter of the house for Shard. Of course, it was just an ordinary divination.

She already carried a spirit pendulum crystal for divination and borrowed a water basin from Shard. After busying herself for a while, she sat in front of the basin, allowing the purple crystal to float above the water's surface.

Miss Annette might have been able to see some images in the water, combining them with "another self's" different perspective for divination, but Shard saw nothing.

"There's nothing out of the ordinary, or rather, everything here is normal."

Miss Annette finally spoke after a while, explaining her reason for saying so:

"In the mist, I saw your house veiled by a curtain, but the house itself did not reveal any weird colors. This means that even if there is an issue here, it has nothing to do with mystical factors. Of course, my divination could be wrong, after all, I am only a Three-Ring Sorcerer.

However, when you report to the Dawn Chapel for authorization to use other parts of the house, they will inspect it again, and their examination will probably be more reliable than my divination."

With that, she tucked away her purple crystal pendant, and Shard breathed a sigh of relief, now he could finally put Detective Sparrow's deceased bedroom to use with peace of mind.

"Detective, I am leaving you my address, you can contact me anytime if there's a matter. Be cautious these days."

The Diviner said, and Shard walked her downstairs, hesitating before he cautioned:

"Miss Annette, be careful as well. If there are any insurmountable dangers, like an Evil God or an Unclassified Level Relic, come and find me, consider me as the last resort... The power of Lakeside Manor can be used once more."

He truly saw Miss Annette as a friend, and he admired Miss Beath's character too. Reluctant as he was to give up divinity, he would not sting if necessary. After all, there was still a long way to go from the First Ring to the Second Ring.

"Shard, don't underestimate the strength of women. You're not the only one with secrets."

Miss Annette said, her purple eyes shining with mirth, calling Shard by his name for the first time.