Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1794 - 1793: Loyalty and Reporting

Looking at the expression of his superior sitting across the table, Shard took a deep breath. To be honest, he truly admired Director Anlos for being able to say those things. Thinking of it this way, Detective Sparrow probably also knew about these matters, yet he still quietly carried on with his work, until he really died because of it. Besides them, there were probably many more such nameless people walking a tightrope for their respective countries; no matter the era, such people deserved respect.

He had never explained to Director Anlos whether he was a Circle Sorcerer, and Director Anlos had never asked Shard about it either. But since things had already been said to this point, Shard felt he should do something as well:

"Since someone wants to assassinate that lady, I can’t pretend I don’t know. What can I do?"

Director Anlos refused him on the spot without even thinking:

"If that lady found out I dragged you into this, my end would be more than being exiled to guard the Royal Mausoleum. You may know about this, but you cannot enter this matter."

"So if you don’t talk and I don’t talk, who would know?"

Shard really did want to do this. Although he didn’t believe that any so‑called assassination could affect that Witch who could catch bullets with her eyes closed and Detonate a Steam Bomb in her hand without danger, that didn’t mean he could ignore people who might be plotting against her.

"Since I’m taking the state’s salary, I should do something."

Director Anlos fell silent for a moment, but he still looked unwilling to agree.

"You should be clear about my relationship with that lady. Since I’m a man, I have an obligation to protect her."

Only then did Director Anlos relent:

"Very well, since we can even run into each other under these circumstances, I suppose this counts as some kind of sign. I do have a few tasks on hand that require elite Agents, and since your completion rate for your current assignments is one hundred percent, I think it’s quite suitable to have you take over one of them. I need you to find one of our people, codename ’Wuming’. Three weeks ago, he successfully infiltrated the manor being prepared for Duke Simir under a forged identity as a cook’s apprentice, but contact with him was suddenly cut off a week ago."

"Missing?"

"Not sure. Right now we’ve only just established contact with the Grey Glove, and I can’t take the initiative to bring this up. So, I need you to confirm the whereabouts of our ’Wuming’ here in this City of Glass. He may have been exposed and captured by the Grey Glove, may be unable to contact the outside world for some reason, or may even have shamefully defected."

He gave Shard a slight shake of the head:

"You don’t need to deal with him, only confirm what the situation is. Afterwards, I’ll give you this man’s file and the details of his undercover mission. But be careful—try not to attract attention during the Investigation."

"No problem."

"Your loyalty often moves me. If we had a few more people like you, our work would definitely be much easier."

Director Anlos sighed and finally picked up his teacup, but Shard noticed that he only wet his lips on the rim. This experienced old Agent would never casually eat or drink outside.

"Me? Loyal?"

The double Agent who had inherited the title of "grey-headed eagle" pointed at himself and shook his head slightly:

"I don’t think I’m loyal."

"I’m not talking about the Kingdom or our department. I mean loyal to that lady."

Director Anlos corrected him, and, meeting Shard’s gaze, explained:

"I can tell that everything you’ve done up to now has been for that noble lady, which is why I say you’re loyal—loyal to her. I’ve seen a lot. Maybe others think you’ve... latched on to a Noblewoman, but I know that isn’t how it really is. Look at that lady’s attitude toward you—maybe you’re actually the... dominant one in your relationship. And don’t you dare say it was me who said this."

Director Anlos counted as one of the earliest people to know about the relationship between Shard and Miss Galina; he was one of the few men at Miss Galina’s side who could actually speak on equal terms with her.

Shard was momentarily at a loss for words:

"Loyal..."

He hadn’t planned on discussing his emotional issues with his superior, but at this moment he couldn’t help saying:

"You must know that there are actually other girls around me... does that still count as loyalty?"

Director Anlos showed a faint smile. To chat a bit about life with his subordinates in the gaps between tense work was his favorite part of the job:

"I’ve seen all kinds of betrayal, lies, conspiracies, and deception, so I’m the most qualified to say what loyalty really is. Believe me, you’re absolutely loyal to that lady. Whether you’re loyal or not doesn’t depend on how many pieces your heart is divided into. Frankly, among us, there are quite a few people drawing pay from multiple sides, yet I still trust the majority of them."

Shard was one of those people who drew pay from multiple sides... in every possible sense of "multiple sides."

Shard nodded. Director Anlos put down the teacup he hadn’t actually drunk from, and suddenly asked a question that had absolutely nothing to do with their current conversation:

"Since we’re just chatting anyway, tell me—who do you think the next King will be?"

"That question, I..."

Shard froze for a moment, looking at his superior in surprise. The latter was also looking at him, his eyes full of deeper meaning. This wasn’t a casual question; it was a way of probing Shard’s stance.

He thought for a moment and didn’t give a direct answer:

"I don’t know either, but there is one thing I’m sure of."

He blinked:

"As long as we follow that lady, then no matter who ends up wearing the Crown in the future, the job of guarding the Royal Mausoleum is never going to fall on us. A generous pension, a respectable post-retirement advisory job—those will all be guaranteed. After all, that lady has always taken very good care of the people around her."

Director Anlos laughed:

"See? You really are loyal to her. Young man, it’s good to think things over often, but sometimes you shouldn’t think too much either—you’re not trying to become a scholar. Just ask yourself if you’re on the right path, then keep walking forward. When you’re old, you’ll have all the time in the world to reflect on your life, to embellish your experiences, to publish a book so everyone believes you’re a good person."

After handing Shard the dossier on that undercover Agent "Wuming," Director Anlos left. Shard didn’t quite have the nerve to step into that building behind the flowering wall again to use the Colored Mushroom Powder. Instead, he tossed the Crystal Shoes back home, then headed ahead of time to the apartment the Earl had rented at the Green Lake Hotel.

"I’m a man with a household and a cat now; I can’t just go to that kind of place casually."

The Earl was still in "Elysium," so Shard sat on the sofa reading and waiting. It wasn’t until noon that the Earl finally came out of that rift, still looking groggy and dazed; his mental state was clearly far from normal.

Now that he had confirmed the effect of the mushrooms in the Earl’s possession, Shard directly used a bit of Hypnosis to coax out from the Earl how he’d obtained those mushrooms. He then put the Earl to sleep and left. About half an hour later, the police, having received a report from Boss Green of the hotel that someone was using illegal drugs in their room, knocked on the Earl’s door; another twenty-odd minutes after that, Circle Sorcerers from the Peace Church arrived and took away the still delirious Earl.

As for Shard, he had already gone home and gone out for lunch with his cat. Of course, while eating, he took care to keep the mushroom sample he’d brought back a good distance away, so Mia wouldn’t eat it by mistake. But this time, Shard really had wronged that cat—she had absolutely no interest in the strange rainbow-colored mushrooms.

That afternoon, Shard took an umbrella to the docks on the Duin Riverbank and boarded the Witch’s cruise ship. He had come this time because of the mushrooms; Master of Alchemical Studies Megan and Audrey, as experts in Magic Potions and Alchemy, ought to be very interested in them.

"So it only enhances the eyes’ Perception of hidden spatial rifts, is that it?"

In the laboratory in the lowest deck cabin of the ship, Megan asked the seated Shard. She had already thrown an entire mushroom into a beaker and was heating it after pouring in a blue solution. The liquid was bubbling away—it really did look like she was cooking soup.

"Yes. It doesn’t enhance Spatial Perception Ability in any other respect, and it doesn’t strengthen other eye-type Reconnaissance Arcane Techniques either. However, the hallucinogenic effect of the mushroom is quite strong. As for the effect of lowering one’s sense of presence, I can’t really say for sure."

"And what about the source of these strange mushrooms? Since you’ve already reported them to the Church, you didn’t just hand over the production site to the Church, did you? I imagine His Excellency the Speaker wrote up this commission precisely because of the mushrooms’ effect—but just one or two of them is nowhere near enough."

The brown-haired Witch asked with a smile. She was very pleased that Shard had come to her to solve the problem, instead of going to Galina or Miss Sylvia.

"The source is on the North Shore of Green Lake, in a patch of woods not far from Crossroad Village. When Earl Petrack went alone into the wilds to sit in quiet meditation, she accidentally discovered those rainbow-colored mushrooms. Since she already had a habit of using poisonous mushrooms to hallucinate, she picked some, and only in subsequent ’experiments’ did she discover how peculiar these mushrooms were."

Shard explained:

"The area where the mushrooms grow isn’t large—about the size of your cabin bedroom on the upper deck. Thanks to a unique Arcane Technique I possess, I was able to sense that that piece of land had been polluted by chaotic spatial influence, so that what was originally only the size of a palm had expanded to the size of a bedroom, thereby warping the soil. Now guess—what do you think is buried beneath that soil?"

"I’ve guessed it. Is there a reward?"

The Witch braced one hand on the table as she asked. Shard thought for a moment:

"If you guess right, I’ll give you a present."

"Green Spine Ore."

The Witch answered without even thinking.

Megan looked at Shard expectantly. Behind her, Audrey’s Spiritual Body leaned against her back as she extinguished the alcohol lamp and poured the "Mushroom Soup" into a Long-Necked Bottle. Being distracted and doing two things at once like this wasn’t difficult for her at all.

"I knew you’d be able to guess. Yes, beneath that patch of ground there’s a small Green Spine Ore deposit, and it’s also the first natural deposit I’ve discovered locally. However, I didn’t dig out those ores—I’ll leave them for the Church to deal with."