Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

The alley Shard turned into was merely a passage between two buildings, very narrow, so aside from trash and filth, there was no accumulation of other things.

His heart pounding wildly, Shard knew this decision was risky, but the voice in his head was right. Longing for transcendence meant embracing risk. Perhaps the channels through the psychiatrist and the church were safe, but he knew nothing; every path was, in truth, a gamble for him.

To gain something, one must give something up—risk was a price he was willing to pay, albeit a small one.

"If there's any problem, I'll leave immediately."

Shard gripped his cane, tiptoeing forward as quietly as possible. At the end of the alley were some wooden crates with wanted posters, almost illegible, seemingly for a serial killer who had fled to Tobesk City.

The entrance of the alley could turn left or right, directly into the slums of the Lower District of Tobesk City. Shard hid behind the crates, peering through the gaps at the man who had turned into the alley.

There was another alley, where only a young man with a pebble ring was present. He now stood in the middle of the alley, cautiously surveying his surroundings. He even squinted at the sky for a long while before setting down a black briefcase on the ground and then carefully removing the pebble ring from his right index finger, kissing it under Shard's astonished gaze.

The young man seemed to murmur something with his head still bowed, but Shard couldn't make it out; the wind and space muffled his hearing.

After kissing the ring, the young man appeared somewhat relaxed.

He put the ring back on his right index finger, and immediately thick smoke burst out from his body as if it were on fire. The smoke emanated from gaps in his clothing and quickly enveloped him completely.

Shard heard a whispering by his ear, but it wasn't the elegant female voice in his mind. This whisper was indistinct, like chewing, or as if something was cursing.

His head felt uncomfortable as if he had spun around several times and then attempted to walk in a straight line. The insane whispering grew louder, and at one point, Shard even thought he saw an evil spirit lunging at him.

Fortunately, the illusion ended quickly, but as Shard gradually recovered, he still doubted his eyes because he saw, as the smoke dissipated, a person with a white pebble ring emerging, gently patting her skirt before bending down to pick up the briefcase.

Lady Lassoya turned her head again, cautiously checking her surroundings, her lips seemingly curved in a slight smile. Only when she was sure nobody had seen did she finally lift the briefcase and walk to the other end of the alley.

Shard covered his mouth and leaned against the wall, hiding in the crevice between the crates and the wall, daring not to move for a long time.

Shard had been puzzled about his part-time job distributing flyers for the Church, but now it was clear; perhaps the other party, like the bumbling detective Shard, was also attempting to monitor Lady Lassoya outside the club.

And by the time Shard stepped out of the alley again, the silver, yellow, and red triple moons were already hanging in the sky together, the yellow moon being lighter in color and the brightest of the three. The night here was as serene as it had been in his former world.

This street was somewhat secluded, thus devoid of streetlights. In the dim light, Shard didn't even know what his expression was. It took a long time before he took out his pocket watch; it was nearly eight in the evening, and he had stood in the crevice against the wall for two whole hours before he dared leave, unaware his physical condition was this good.

"Forget the relief food."

He shook his head somberly, the feeling in his heart indescribable. He walked down the street toward home. Even if he had to endure hunger, at least he had a house to stay in, so the situation wasn't too bad.

The key issue now was that the lucrative investigation into the mistress seemed untenable.

Clearly, Lady Lassoya possessed the ability to turn into a man with the ring, or rather, the young man had the ability to turn into Lady Lassoya with the ring. Shard certainly couldn't report this information to his employer, nor did he wish to submit the dead detective's report, acting as if nothing had happened.

Once the report was submitted, Lady Lawrence would inevitably cause conflict with Mr. Lawrence, making Lady Lassoya aware that a detective had tracked her without her knowledge. Even if the report contained no secrets, Shard wouldn't dare guarantee what Lady Lassoya might do.

"This world is really a bit more troublesome than I imagined... Did Mr. Lawrence actually fall in love with a man or a woman?"

Perhaps Lady Lassoya was a good person, and turning into a man wasn't meant to harm anyone. But having contacted such matters less than twenty-four hours after arriving in this world, Shard felt a significant sense of crisis.

"Perhaps the transcendent in this world also follows the rule that transcendence attracts transcendence."

He thought wearily, walking on down the street. Worried about being robbed in the dark, harassed by a drunk, or stumbling upon some illegal dealings, Shard, armed only with a cane and a fruit knife, didn't dare take shortcuts through alleys on his way home.

"Today really isn't my lucky day..."

Turning left at Old John's Pawnshop on the street corner, the thought of having to sleep in a house where someone had just died only worsened his mood.

"If there are transcendent beings, there might also be ghosts... Don't scare yourself... Wait, where did I turn earlier?"

He stopped, tilting his head and stepping back a bit, then looked again at the sign for "Old John's Pawnshop" and the store interior still lit by gas lamps.

"Well, I didn't expect that move; I guess it isn't really bad luck. Things will get better."

With a slight sigh, he clutched his pocket watch and pushed open the large door of the pawnshop.

He didn't pawn the pocket watch in the end but pawned the cane instead. The pocket watch was a very important daily tool, whereas the cane was not essential.

More importantly, the pocket watch wasn't highly valued; the owner of the store, an old man who called himself John Jones, was only willing to offer 10 shillings, reasoning that the pocket watch had many scratches, probably from being kept together with a set of keys.

But for the cane, he was willing to offer 1 pound and 12 shillings.

"Do you even understand? This is the heartwood of natural spruce from Delado Mountain area. Look at this grain, look at this craftsmanship. If you could provide information about the craftsman who made it, I might even pay you more."

The old man seemed to be complaining that Shard didn't know the trade. After confirming that he wanted to pawn the cane, he advised him that if he didn't redeem it within half a month, the cane would belong to the pawnshop.

Shard certainly understood that the cane was worth much more than 1 pound and 12 shillings. But he really wasn't in the mood to haggle, and eventually just took two 1-pound banknotes, signed the contract, and left.

Based on the cost of living, that money was enough to let Shard live quite comfortably for two weeks, or even stretch to a month and a half if he was frugal and that didn't include potential rent. The money was even enough for him to dig up Sparrow Hamilton, place an obituary in the newspaper's advertising section, and hold a modest funeral for the detective.

Of course, he had no such plans at the moment.

"But having solved the short-term food and shelter issue, what should I do about the transcendental, about the mystical?"

After having dinner at a nearby restaurant, where he savored the taste of thick soup matched with a steak, he walked home.

When he returned to No. 6, Saint Delan Square, it was nearly ten o'clock at night.

He checked that a strand of hair he had placed before leaving was still in its original position, then he entered the room. Cautiously, he twisted the gas lamp on the living room wall, gradually illuminating the area, before wearily flopping down on the sofa. From the open door of the main bedroom, he could see the bed Sparrow Hamilton had once slept in.

Shard decided he would explore the supernatural soon rather than living in ignorance. Although he hadn't encountered any precise danger yet, the world was complex, and Shard didn't plan to wait until he was in danger to start looking for solutions.

The possible methods he possessed to explore the supernatural totaled three.

First was Mr. Bill Schneider, the psychologist who had given Shard his business card; second were the Church of the Five Great Deities in the city, visiting the church might yield some insights; lastly was Lady Lassoya herself, who surely knew about the transcendental, contacting her was also an approach.

All three had their pros and cons, but ultimately, it was that Shard knew too little about this world and had no means to learn more. Before he left today, he had checked the map; this city didn't even have a public library to offer free knowledge.

There were, however, some private libraries in the city, but entry required an introduction from someone familiar, along with a non-trivial membership fee, and currently, Shard didn't have the funds for it.

He could only rely on the materials left behind by Sparrow Hamilton, but this gentleman had not been in the habit of collecting books, clearly a mere mortal.

By following up on the death of Sparrow Hamilton, to investigate his cause of death, he might reach the supernatural, but this was undoubtedly a dangerous method, which Shard's rationality refused to accept.

"Can you provide any advice?"

He tapped his head, but only heard the light laughter of a woman. It was the voice in his head that had helped him complete the investigation into "Mr. Lawrence's mistress" in its entirety, for on his own, he would never have discovered the secret of the ring.

He hoped for a hint from the voice again, but received no response.

"One must rely on oneself."

He muttered to himself, tilting his head to look out the window at the night sky where three moons had risen together, something he had never seen before. It was so magnificent, so mystical, so intoxicating. Especially the Silvermoon, whenever he gazed at it, he felt somewhat relieved of his oppressed mood.

"No matter what, I can't wait anymore. Even though I haven't encountered any danger yet, since I have started to consider living on as a detective, I must be capable of defending myself, I must understand how complex this world is. Otherwise, the fate of Detective Sparrow Hamilton will be mine too."

With some money in his pocket, he put aside the idea of continuing other investigations for the time being and shifted his primary focus to encountering the supernatural.

"The church, the psychologist, Lady Lassoya..."

He wasn't very optimistic about the last option, as her appearance today seemed to coincide with the church and police investigations, so instinctively he felt she might not be a good person. He was somewhat interested in the first option; according to his limited understanding, the Church of the True God in this world was relatively progressive.

But that was just his understanding; he couldn't plan based on such a simple idea. Moreover, he wasn't a believer in any deity, and as a vagrant, he had never visited a church; it was hard to say whether the church's progressiveness applied to people like him.

"Maybe...I can investigate for a few more days. For now, I don't need to worry about starving, and if I pawn some more inherited items, I could sustain myself for a long time. As long as potential landlords don't appear, I'll have plenty of time to investigate. Wrapped around these three options, I'm sure to find the most suitable one."

With this thought in mind, he fell asleep in the bedroom of the original Shard in the apartment, spending his first night in this new world.

In his sleep, he seemed to hear the woman's laughter in his mind again. The laughter unexpectedly comforted him, and that night, he had a very relaxing dream, sitting on a ridge and gazing at the Silvermoon on the horizon.

Surprises always disrupted existing plans, and Shard's plan to choose one of the three options was disrupted the very next morning.