Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1922: A Dog’s Plea for Help (Bonus - )

At half past one in the afternoon, on the advice of Miss Aphrola, the Grand Witch of "Light", Shard was on the first floor trying to cooperate with the Witch’s Secret Arts to cast "Thorns of the Moon". The Witch had a new idea, wanting to use those Moonlight Thorns as the outermost defense of the hotel. Shard’s current Spellcasting Ability alone wasn’t enough, so she planned to use her own power to assist his spellcasting.

The two of them were discussing which spot to use as the spellcasting node when, through the sound of the pouring rain outside the hotel door, there came a faint barking.

The sound stopped right outside the door. Miss Aphrola looked at her niece in surprise, so Miss Haley Aflora opened the door and quickly discovered the situation outside:

"There’s a little dog outside... It looks like someone kicked it, it’s about to die."

"A little dog? Since it stopped here, check it and if there’s no problem, bring it in and feed it some Magic Potion."

Miss Aphrola said this, not taking the matter very seriously. The young lady then called the other Female Sorcerers over to the door to examine the little dog, in case it was some trick like a Transformation Spell.

Shard hadn’t cared much either, and was about to continue discussing spellcasting with Miss Aphrola, but then he glanced toward the door again:

"It shouldn’t be, right."

He walked to the doorway and, under the curious gazes of the girls, stuck his head out for a look, then frowned.

The little dog outside was the one belonging to the boy Little John from Trash Alley.

Ever since the heavy rain arrived, Little John had been living in the hotel as a helper. Seeing that although he was young he worked hard and didn’t have any bad habits, the Green Siblings had already decided to let him live here in the future, and Shard had also arranged for "Paradise Island Pharmaceuticals" to sponsor and cover his future tuition.

But he definitely couldn’t stay in the hotel today; it would be very dangerous here after dusk. If Shard remembered correctly, Mr. Soren Green had arranged for a hotel servant who had a spare room at home to temporarily take him away. The little dog should have gone with him too, and Shard couldn’t think of why it would appear here.

He reached out and used "False Immortality" to sustain the life of the weakened little dog, then dripped a few drops of Magic Potion into its mouth. Its severe injuries were almost completely healed... This was top-tier Healing Magic Potion that the Council had prepared for tonight. After regaining its health, the little dog barked twice at Shard, then jumped down from the table, trying to get him to follow it.

So Shard grabbed it and put the Fish Training Ring on its paw.

"Fish Training Ring: only species that love to eat fish, like cats and seabirds, can’t use it. Fortunately, dogs aren’t among them."

The Relic’s effect manifested almost immediately. The little dog, which had still been struggling to jump off the table, went Bewildered for a moment, then lifted its head to look at Shard and said, in a young voice that could hardly be distinguished as male or female:

"Help him, help him."

The very fact that it could find its way here on its own already showed its Wisdom wasn’t low. With the Fish Training Ring, it could clearly explain what had happened.

The matter wasn’t very complicated. After the little dog finished its account, Shard decided to handle it himself.

"You don’t have to go personally. It’s still raining outside, I’ll send someone."

Miss Aphrola, who had also listened to the little dog’s story, said from the side. Shard shook his head:

"Since this is related to me, it’s better if I deal with it myself. I’ll be back in at most an hour, then we can continue discussing the Thorns of the Moon."

The Witch knew she couldn’t talk Shard out of it, so she found a parasol for him, then watched him step into the rain with the little dog under the umbrella.

Shard did not take off the Fish Training Ring, but let the little dog wear it and guide him. The incident had happened on the Duin Riverbank, not too far from the Green Lake Hotel. So even without a carriage, Shard quickly arrived at the destination.

The heavy rain had washed away the bloodstains. There were no longer the many people the little dog had described on the small urban pier, only the boy’s shoes left in the grass at the edge of the pier.

The surface of the river was beaten by the fierce rain into circles of ripples. The little dog couldn’t track scents in such weather, and Shard’s Echo of Blood had the same single weakness in its normal state when it came to tracking bloodstains—rainwater and rivers.

"Tell me again, what happened here."

Holding the umbrella, Shard straightened up and spoke to the little dog at his feet, which was still desperately trying to sniff out its master’s scent.

"Master, John, went with the fat woman to the house at noon. After eating, he ran out. He heard that a lot of people by the river had found treasure, and that someone had found very rare cards, so he wanted to find a card for you."

Shard already knew all this information.

"There were many people by the river searching for treasure. Those men found something, then somehow started fighting. Master wanted to leave, but one man said he saw Master find something good and told Master to hand it over. But Master didn’t find anything, he had nothing, so that man slapped him several times and he passed out. I wanted to save Master, but I was kicked, so I could only come find you."

This little dog didn’t have the "philosopher’s" air of the goat from not long ago, but its description of events was quite clear.

Shard frowned slightly and was about to jump into the river to search for more clues when the little dog suddenly started barking "woof woof woof" at another patch of grass.

Shard pushed the grass aside and actually saw a golden bracelet. After picking it up, he confirmed that this was definitely a piece of jewelry made of Pure Gold, and from the look of it, an antique. On the bracelet there were still bloodstains that hadn’t yet been washed off.

"Whisper Element..."

The traces of the Element were very faint, but this object itself was just an ordinary item. Some Relic had bestowed on this piece of jewelry a Power that could stir up greed, but for Shard, who had the Spirit Rune of "greed", this kind of weak mental influence could be completely ignored:

"So the treasure rumors in the river really are related to a Relic."

Thinking this, he took out an empty wine bottle, drew the bloodstains into the bottle as raw material for Blood Brew, then dropped the fermented liquor into his eyes. After blinking, a blood-red Shadow of a burly man stretched from the edge of the pier all the way toward a Tavern by the roadside.

Dripping blood into the eyes to observe the crimson trajectory uses the Power of the Echo of Blood between blood and Space-Time, so there’s no need to fear the rain.

Without taking off the puppy’s Fish Training Ring, Shard directly led it across the street toward the Tavern. As he pushed the door open and entered, the more than thirty people inside the Tavern, soaked from head to toe and seated on the left and right sides, all turned to look at Shard at once.

The Tavern was warm and dry inside, but most of these people still had water dripping from them, and some even had towels draped over their heads. As for the Tavern itself, it was the kind of Lower District Tavern commonly seen in Green Lake City’s urban area. The only thing worth mentioning was the huge knitted tapestry hanging on the back wall, its pattern roughly a map of the Old Continent.

The men currently facing off on the left and right were standing at the northern and southern sides of this huge Old Continent map.

"Sir. We’re not open today, please leave."

Shard ignored the gazes of those thirty-odd people and, as he turned his back, the Tavern owner seated on the right side of the crowd stood up and spoke. Shard then turned around and closed the door. Of course, he closed it from inside the Tavern.

He looked at the two groups of people:

"Are all of you the ones who pick up treasure by the river? So many of you?"

It was obvious that someone in the crowd was about to stand up and try to throw Shard out. Fortunately, the Tavern owner, who wore an apron and held a gun, didn’t want trouble on his turf:

"We’re Draleon People, and those over there are Carsonrickians."

He first pointed to his own side, then pointed to the twelve people facing off against them:

"These Southerners suddenly showed up here today. They said they were walking in the City of Glass and somehow ended up here. Hah, ’illegal entry’ put so nicely."

The Tavern owner snorted. As for the men beside him, who obviously weren’t decent folk, they were probably local gang members or regular drunks who spent all day in the Tavern. To run a Tavern in this kind of neighborhood, he had to know plenty of people.

"So, you were fighting just now?"

Shard asked again, and this time someone finally couldn’t hold back. Sitting behind the Tavern owner, a man a full head taller than Shard, with a Hound tattooed on his right arm, slapped the table and stood up:

"If you don’t want us to throw you out, then get lost right now!"

Shard’s hand smoothly moved to his waist. As he drew his revolver, both groups also drew their own Weapons. With the click-clack of pistols being raised, under the dim glow of the gas lamps in the Tavern, not only was Shard being aimed at, the two groups were also aiming at each other.

Among more than thirty people, there were fifteen or sixteen guns; the three sides’ muzzles formed something like a triangle, each pointing at different targets.

Shard held his gun and looked at the others, the others looked at him, and the dog at his feet looked at everyone.

After a silent second in the Tavern, Shard was the one who spoke first:

"I’m not here to make trouble. Answer two questions for me and I’ll leave right away."

No one lowered their gun. The Tavern owner frowned and asked:

"What do you want to know? If you’re also after the treasure, follow the river upstream and look for it. But I warn you, those who went looking for the treasure haven’t come back."

Shard ignored him:

"First question: for the sake of some valuables, you’re openly shooting and even killing in the middle of the city—are those things really enough for all of you to share?"

In the puppy’s description earlier, it was mentioned that the men had already started shooting when the boy tried to leave the crowd.

The fat Tavern owner forced down the urge to curse and spoke in accented Delarion:

"Of course it’s not just for the treasure. It’s also because they’re Carsonrickians."

The dozen or so people behind him immediately chimed in:

"Yeah, it’s not just for the treasure. They’re Southerners!"

"They want to steal our stuff!"

"Since these things appeared in the upper reaches of the Duin River, they belong to the Draleon People!"

"That’s right, we have to stand in Unity and bring down these Carsonrickians!"

"Are you Draleon or not? You think we’re in the wrong?"

"Damn it! Are you a traitor?"

"You’re not loyal to Draleon!"

Their chaotic chorus of agreement turned together into accusations, completely sidestepping the matter of the treasure and instead hammering on their respective identities. They spoke with righteous indignation, parroting phrases clearly picked up from newspapers and recent demonstrations. These energetic illegal organizations of the Lower District obviously had nothing to do with the disputes of the Two Southern and Northern Countries, yet they could still say such things.

Of course, the guns in their hands did not shift even a fraction because of it.