Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 462: Observations in the New World

"Today marks the 10th day since Daknis left Coldwater Port."

This was the exclamation Shard made on a Friday morning while reading the newspaper. He basked in the early morning sun, eating breakfast, petting his cat under the sunlight, and then imagining as best he could the efforts Daknis, who had concealed his identity, made to smoothly arrive in Tobesk.

After finishing breakfast, the construction team arrived on time to continue the renovation. Shard locked the door to the second-floor room, intending to organize his books in the basement but was surprised by a visitor.

It was not a client but Shard's friend, Captain Lades. He stood, amazed, at Saint Delan Square, looking up at the workers on the roof of Number Six and hesitated to enter.

Only after peering through the first-floor window and seeing Shard moving a stack of books did he knock on the window, wondering if it was a good time to visit.

Captain Lades had two purposes for his visit. First, he told Shard that he would be taking the steam train to the front lines on the first weekend of the following month. He had already received the notice and was packing his bags and saying goodbye to his friends in Tobesk.

He would once again head to the southern front, located at the Rising Wind Trail at the northern slope of Sicarl Mountain, to serve as the brave captain of the Royal Army and demonstrate his loyalty and courage by guarding the border.

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The second reason for his visit was about something Shard had not found during his first visit to his rented apartment, which he had now found.

The two talked in the living room on the first floor; since the walls had just been repainted, the furniture was still in the basement. Shard fetched two chairs for them to sit on. When the paint was dry and it was time to arrange the furniture, the stylish selections made by Tifa would make the living room appear more formal:

"This is it, I found it while packing the other day, hidden among some old clothes."

The captain handed Shard a pendant that looked like amber, strung on a metal chain. He had won it, along with the "Spear of Kindness," a Relic, in a game of Roder Card with a stranger at a tavern on the Rising Wind Trail. Shard had initially suspected the pendant might also be a Relic.

Unfortunately, last time he didn't find this item, and Shard had nearly forgotten about it.

Regrettably, the amber pendant was not a Relic. It contained no elements of its own, and touching it did not reveal any engraved patterns on its surface.

This meant it was just an ordinary item.

"If both had been Relics, I would have had to worry about Captain Lades' safety."

Although disappointed, it was not unexpected. Shard wasn't The Chosen One; he didn't have the kind of luck that frequently brought him Relics.

Since Shard had no plans today, Captain Lades invited him to visit the Veterans' Club in the Tobesk Western City District. Although it was a veterans' club, not just any discharged soldiers could visit.

As Captain Lades introduced Shard to his friends, Shard, of course, made sure to distribute plenty of business cards.

The people, who had heard of the fame of "Rejed's Hamilton," warmly invited him to visit the club whenever he had time.

Thus, Shard spent the whole day Friday at the club, listening to the officers relate amusing stories from the front lines and commiserate about the problems of post-discharge treatment.

It was only then that Shard learned that Prince Sax, the man who had entered Yordle Palace with a gun, had been assigned a military post early in his career.

But he was responsible for New World exploration and the Pioneer Legion of the Draleon Kingdom, so he was rarely in Draleon, with his forces primarily stationed in the New World. Now with Prince Sax secretly arrested, other naval and army officials in the New World would likely soon remove any dissenters from the legion to demonstrate their loyalty to the king.

Coincidentally, one of Captain Lades' friends, Colonel Dallas Hopes, had also been to the New World.

Intrigued by that distant land, Shard eagerly inquired about the New World from Colonel Hopes, who sat on a red cushion, smoking a cigar, squinting and recalling his past:

"The New World really isn't much different from the Old Continent, just more forests, more ruins, more minerals, and fewer humans. I saw many marvelous creatures there; can you imagine flying lizards?"

He boasted of his experiences to his friends:

"However, the New World is also very dangerous. Some areas are strictly off-limits. The senior officials would mark the prescribed routes on the maps before we led teams out alone, and every long-distance expedition had to be accompanied by a priest from the True God Church."

"Is it to ease the tense mood?"

Shard asked.

"Probably."

The colonel took a puff of his cigarette, then placed the Norshan long cigar in a special metal cigar ashtray, letting it extinguish naturally. Cigars like the Norshan long one in his hand were no ordinary tobacco; smoking one took at least two hours.

Moreover, smoking a cigar required special tools like long wooden matches and metal cigar cutters, luxury items used by the wealthy elite.

"I'm actually a bit scared of the New World, there are a lot of, well, strange things there. I once led a team to explore newly discovered gold veins in an area I can't disclose. Those young people drafted from Keldinan County were as brave and determined as me. But one night while camping, we saw something through the bushes..."

He tensed up, not sure what to say next, his face suddenly turning a bit pale, so the others quickly glossed over the topic with a small joke.

Shard now understood why Circle Sorcerers couldn't commit suicide, and his curiosity about the second prohibition of Correspondence Circle Mages, which was not to travel to the New World, became stronger.

(Mia running...)

So, it came to Saturday, time for the group meeting again. There wasn't much to talk about this week. Shard mainly focused on fixing up his house. He didn't inform the Academy about obtaining the Spirit Rune, thinking he'd mention it in a few weeks.

Professor Garcia sent a message again; he was very pleased with the thesis Shard submitted for the "Sealed Space" course and invited Shard to continue taking the advanced course on "Sealed Space" in the autumn to delve deeper into the mysteries of space.

It seems, Professor Garcia truly appreciates Shard.

Saturday evening, Shard studied "The Mad Light Chaser" with Dorothy. Although Shard's house was under renovation, using the second floor for teaching temporarily wasn't a problem.

Shard heard from the blonde girl that Lecia would be returning to Tobesk next Tuesday. Since it was a return visit of the Princess representing the Royal Family to Carsonrick, the Kingdom's honor guard and the City Hall's organized teams would greet her, so Shard and Dorothy didn't need to go to the station to meet her.

"However, since last week, I haven't seen Lecia myself. Don't you guys swap bodies frequently?"

Shard asked curiously while holding a book.

"Unless necessary, we rarely interfere in each other's lives. When it is necessary, it's only if one of us is in danger, or if Lecia wishes to wander around the city at will,"

Dorothy said, then asked Shard,

"Why? Do you miss Lecia?"

"Of course... but, I'd rather see her in person, not see her using your body."

Shard said, making the blonde girl laugh,

"You don't have to be so cautious with your words; I don't mind these things. All right, Shard, break's over, let's continue the lesson. 'Kiss of the Tree' ended unexpectedly; I refuse to believe that 'The Mad Light Chaser' can still surprise us, it wouldn't be satisfying. Now, answer my question again, what is light?"

Shard thought for a moment:

"Um... a bond?"

"What a strange interpretation,"

asked Dorothy curiously.

So Shard spent another half hour using a more localized narrative technique to tell the tale of a super-ancient hero who could transform into light, battling evil monsters.

As a result, they ran late for tonight's lesson, and by the time Dorothy was ready to go home, it was nearly eleven o'clock at night. The gentlemanly Outlander personally escorted her back to Feather Quill Street.

As they parted at the apartment on Feather Quill Street, Shard received a kiss on the cheek as a gift. This time, he could be certain that it was indeed Dorothy who kissed him.