Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic
Chapter 1065 - 165: The 13 on the Snow Mountain

Chapter 1065: Chapter 165: The 13 on the Snow Mountain

The blizzard howled outside the tent. Defeating the shadow of death would not stop the blizzard in the Silver Mountains.

The howling wind was so terrifying that when Shard looked up at the other three people in the tent, it seemed as if there was an eerie shadow on each person’s face.

He turned Mia, who might have been frightened by the wind, back into a toy and calculated that it would be two or three more minutes before he could return. Hesitantly, he asked Miss Chloe:

"What should I prepare for you next time I come?"

The witch thought for a moment and did not refuse Shard this time:

"Prepare whatever you wish; the journey is almost over, and the next time you see us, we’ll probably be preparing to climb the highest peak."

"Alright, I’ll do my best to prepare."

Shard nodded. He was still holding Miss Chloe’s hand, and she didn’t seem to notice or try to pull away.

Both "she" and Shard’s own perception confirmed that Miss Chloe was indeed alive.

He confirmed once again that he received the third segment of the "Witch’s Echo" and found that the knowledge contained in this segment was particularly scarce.

If Shard wanted to investigate Miss Chloe’s physical condition in more detail, he would need to make deeper contact, but he wasn’t planning to do that for now. However, the three preparing to climb the snow-covered peaks undoubtedly had issues.

He planned to wait until he returned to the Sixth Era to attempt to gather information and solve this problem. Miss Chloe noticed Shard staring at her and awkwardly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear:

"Once we reach the summit, will you never appear again?"

Shard nodded. The witch pursed her lips:

"What about later? Will you come to see me again?"

"I’m not sure either."

Shard responded, and Miss Chloe also looked up at him:

"I don’t know who you are or where you come from, but... you really are quite a man."

She showed a faint smile:

"You say you are a lover of a certain witch. Then, if there’s time next time, tell me about your story with her."

Her tone carried a hint of unnatural sadness:

"What a lucky witch she is."

Shard was still pondering the matter of the third segment of the Witch’s Echo and didn’t know how to respond to Miss Chloe’s words, so he asked:

"By the way, how many members were there when you entered the Silver Mountains?"

"Twelve, and aside from Mrs. Marques, only one was an ordinary person."

This was indeed quite a large team, considering that even four thousand years later, Miss Violet only brought her distant niece and six personal maids.

"So, with the gentleman in the corner whom you met later, you were actually thirteen?"

Shard confirmed that Miss Chloe was unwilling to recall her deceased companions, so she just nodded silently, and Mrs. Marques answered for her:

"Yes. But now with you, there are fourteen."

Shard smiled and nodded at the lady cooking vegetable soup, forming his own thoughts. Then he asked:

"Miss Chloe, when you were facing that shadow of death earlier... were your emotions a bit abnormal?"

He had been fighting closely with that shadow but did not feel his positive emotions being absorbed. He only sensed that the shadow seemed to be a mixture of death and fear, and Shard’s knowledge was insufficient to understand what it was.

"It seemed to be targeting me deliberately. Once in close contact with it, I... felt like I was facing death directly."

The short witch bit her lip and said:

"This environment is trying to drive me insane. If not for your timely appearance, we’d have no hope of reaching the summit."

"No, even without me, you’d still have a chance. Not just because that deity is watching over you, but because I can tell you’re not someone who gives up easily."

Shard looked down at her slightly:

"Miss Chloe, please continue to climb forward. The mountain is there, waiting for us to conquer it. Please believe this, and believe that even if you’re lost here, you’ll reach the end."

The witch pursed her lips, looked at him, nodded slightly, and extended her hand. The flame of golden Sunfire appeared above her palm:

"I swear by the Sun, I will reach the summit of the mountains, ascend to the highest point in the material world."

By now, the white mist was already winding around Shard, and the forty-minute adventure was coming to an end, and it was time for him to return.

"In any case, please be sure to stay safe. I will return again."

"I know."

Miss Chloe hesitated for a moment, then voluntarily hugged Shard briefly before gently pushing him away:

"Honestly, if I can’t make you stay, why let me meet a man like you?"

She murmured, watching as he vanished before her eyes.

(Mia running...)

Sixth Era 1853, No. 6, Saint Delan Square, Second Floor, Room No. 1 Living Room.

[Outlander, you have returned to the current time.]

The stumbling Shard emerged from the side bedroom door:

"Why would there still be the Witch Echo?"

He still couldn’t figure it out but remembered running to the fireplace, trying hard to draw warmth from it.

"Could that black shadow we encountered be the soul of her who has already died in the future?"

[Impossible, what you defeated wasn’t a spirit.]

"So, I knew that Tree Father’s task couldn’t possibly be simple."

He restored Mia back to a cat in front of the fireplace. The orange cat didn’t seem to feel cold, and after returning, it still meowed at Shard in dissatisfaction. At this time, Dorothy, who was preparing to get up in the bedroom, also came out. Last week, when Lecia saw Shard looking as if he was about to freeze to death, she personally used her body temperature to warm him up. However, the real Miss Writer wouldn’t do that and she quickly headed to the kitchen to prepare hot tea for Shard.

After having breakfast together, Dorothy and Shard left. Taking advantage of the free morning, Shard took a carriage to visit Miss Galina’s estate outside the city. But since he hadn’t scheduled a visit, both the Witch and Tifa were not there, so Shard left a letter and returned to the city.

It was around eleven o’clock that morning when suddenly a loud explosion occurred in the west of the city, so loud it could even be heard at Saint Delan Square.

Shard had already returned home by then and speculated that it was related to the Circle Sorcerers again. Tomorrow’s newspaper would likely feature a news article about a gas pipeline explosion.

Even though Shard and Sir Plisha had an appointment to meet at three in Saint Delan Square, Miss Danester arrived at the Saint Delan Square District at one-thirty that afternoon.

The bell sounds from downstairs made Shard mistake it for a client. Opening the door, he saw the Thirteen Rings Female Sorcerer standing outside.

She wore a black long dress, with a lady’s soft hat that had lace trim and a pretty little yellow flower pinned on it. Her red hair was styled in a complex braid hanging behind her, with a pair of small gold-rimmed glasses on her face, holding a very pretty checkered lady’s handbag.

She looked more like an intellectual and graceful university female professor than the most powerful female sorcerer of the human race in the material world:

"Good afternoon, Mr. Hamilton."

She greeted Shard with a smile, then looked up at the house with some emotion:

"Is this the famous haunted house of Tobesk? It’s really interesting."

"Every Circle Sorcerer who hears about the reputation of this place would say that."

Shard replied and stepped aside to let Miss Danester in. This lady was the strongest Circle Sorcerer Shard had hosted at home thus far, and he even thought of showing Miss Danester around the house if there was time, to ascertain if there were any other problems with the house.

Due to the True God Church and her responsibilities, Miss Danester hadn’t set foot in Tobesk for many years. But she told Shard that back when she was a student of Saint Byrons, she once visited here for a summer field practice. At that time, the three correspondence groups of Tobesk had nothing to do with the current three.

She placed her handbag to the side, holding the teacup Shard handed her, curiously observing the second-floor living room:

"Your place is quite nice; I always thought bachelors lived in a mess."

Shard sat on a long sofa holding Mia, hesitated before speaking:

"I have someone regularly help me clean the house... Miss Danester, you surely know Mr. Sherf Tim and Miss Shana Aya, right?"

Those were the two Circle Sorcerers when the doctor joined the group.

The female sorcerer withdrew her gaze, holding the teacup, with her body’s center of gravity on her left arm, resting the left arm on the soft armrest at the side of the sofa. She raised her eyebrows unexpectedly:

"You actually know those two names. No, please don’t inquire about this, it involves something quite terrifying. Your group leader Bill Schneider was suspected because of that matter."

Shard nodded, refraining from further questions, and instead pointed in the direction of the kitchen behind him:

"You can see Yordle Palace from this window. If this weren’t a haunted house, I doubt my uncle, Mr. Sparrow Hamilton, would have been able to purchase it so easily."

"Yes, the location here is quite good. You can live here for a few years; when your group plans to head to the Academy, this house can definitely sell for a lot. Oh, actually you could sell it to the Academy, too. The Academy needs such high-demand properties. I just need to manage it a bit, let it become an asset of the Academy of Library Management, and when you inherit my position, the house can naturally come under your name."

She said, speaking about the Academy, and set down the teacup, taking out a box at least four times the size of the small handbag from it:

"Almost forgot, the thing you wanted."

The female sorcerer smiled a bit.

Shard opened the box, and inside was indeed the final stone tablet, with yellow sapphires encasing the four corners. He worked to control his smile; with this, he just needed to unseal the Red Moon Spirit Rune, and the Secrets of Time would unfold before him.

Before Miss Danester, he didn’t use the [Yellow Moon] Spirit Talisman to illuminate the stone tablet but instead put it away. After thanking Miss Danester again, he talked about the recent news in Tobesk.

Although the librarian had come locally mainly for the [Silvermoon Library], her true responsibility was the matter of The Chosen One, and she was happy to gain some insights from Shard. Besides telling Miss Danester about local events, this lady also spoke with Shard about Saint Byrons, the amazing Academy City in the Far North, stories between various departments, and the history of the library and librarians.

Only then did Shard learn that most librarians at Saint Byrons reached at least Twelve Rings, some even Thirteen Rings. This position, having spanned two eras, inherently held power. Obtaining this identity and engaging in study and academic exchange within the scope of Saint Byrons, one would gain extra inspiration and wisdom.

This was the convenience left by Miss Feliana and the first librarians when the library was established.

With time quickly approaching three, finishing the conversation about the current northern weather with Miss Danester, Shard suddenly said:

"Speaking of which, I recently used another Time Key, but I haven’t had time to write the investigation report. I traveled to the 903rd year of the Fifth Era and met a witch named Chloe in a snow mountain adventure story. I’ve never heard of this witch’s name, nor did I find anything in the records. Miss Danester, is she a famous person?"

The female sorcerer touched her slender fingers to her chin, slightly tilting her head as she pondered:

"The name Chloe is common in the early northern civilizations of the Fifth Era. Do you know the full name? It’s not a particularly rare name."

Shard slightly shook his head, realizing he hadn’t asked Miss Chloe for her full name:

"I don’t know the full name, but I can describe her appearance. Not very tall, she looked seventeen or eighteen years old in the 903rd year of the Fifth Era. She had very rare silver-white long hair, and her eyes were crimson."

"During the Time Investigation process, most truths are shrouded by mist; yet, you managed to see so clearly."

Miss Danester teased but didn’t further scrutinize:

"It’s difficult to determine who exactly it is based on that. If you knew some great deeds she accomplished, it would have been easier to search among the scarce early Fifth Era records. But you also understand, the further back into history you go, the more incomplete the records. I doubt you’d find any information on Miss Chloe."

She gently sighed:

"Time Investigation is inherently about filling gaps, supplementing incomplete history. Perhaps in the distant past, they were individuals capable of influencing an entire era. But for us in the Sixth Era, they have long passed away, and their names represent just a fragment of history, a few lines of text, and a story that ended long ago."