novelraw Chapter 1893 - 1892: Lavender Fields
Chapter 1893 - 1892: Lavender Fields
The specific hiding location of Maria Edwards is on the South Shore of Green Lake, just as the witches once mentioned to Shard. The soul that fled from the island entered an area of long-existing spatial anomaly, thus avoiding detection for many years.
The characteristic of that spatial anomaly area is a "Hidden Space," which overlaps another unobservable space over a normal space, only accessible through special means.
This sounds quite similar to Green Lake’s Central Island and "another island," though the latter involves the entire material world’s spatial balance, and is fundamentally different.
Miss Sylvia’s followers discovered that region, and after repeated confirmation, found that even Miss Sylvia herself could not enter the hidden space. Therefore, she contacted Shard through Miss Galina, asking Shard to bring Laster Edwards along.
After all, Laster Edwards is also a spirit, possibly able to find a way to enter.
Mia was left for Tifa to care for at Rose Manor, preventing her from disrupting Dorothy’s creative passion. Durut Giles finally had a day of "holiday" today, and did not accompany Shard and Laster across the lake.
The unhappy girl complained constantly during the carriage ride about Shard separating her from Durut Giles. Shard, however, was not angry at her nagging; he sympathized with Durut Giles instead.
If the matter at Green Lake resolves peacefully and everyone survives, the former tomb robber turned history lecturer will likely live with the girl’s soul for a lifetime, unable to escape from her even in death. This is the most stable soul relationship.
Coincidentally, the location confirmed by Miss Sylvia as "Hidden Space" is not far from where Shard, the priest, and the doctor dug graves in Daeflin Village cemetery last night, the carriage even passing the large oak tree from last night.
The girl from Inner Ring serving as the coachman finally stopped the carriage beside a flower field. This was not a wild meadow but a locally cultivated lavender field. It was now May, the best season for these light purple flowers to bloom.
A few followers of Miss Sylvia were still surveying the surroundings with compass-like instruments. Only the black-haired Grand Witch stood in the lavender field, facing the direction of the sun. Her back was to the newly arrived group, hands clasped behind her, white sleeves rolled up under the red coat, her right hand holding her slender left wrist.
Upon realizing Shard’s arrival, Emma Sylvia looked back and smiled at Shard from within the blooming lavender field, once again confirming the Grand Witches’ charm.
"This is the place. Among the local villagers, there have been stories of a ’Flower Field Ghost.’ It is said that someone once saw the soul of a transparent lady in a luxurious gown, floating among the flowers under the moonlight. After repeated investigations, I’ve identified this as our target. It seems the Hidden Space is nearby, but we haven’t found a way to open the entrance yet."
As Shard approached, she explained the situation:
"Besides the Flower Field Ghost, coincidentally, someone saw suspicious figures in that village cemetery last night. We’ve investigated, thinking the real entrance might be in that graveyard."
"Hmm... it shouldn’t be related to that side. Miss Laster Edwards, can you discern anything?"
The weather was exceptionally good today, with the spirit Laster Edwards happily floating above the lavender clusters under the spring sunshine. Suddenly noticing both Shard and Miss Sylvia were watching him, the little girl’s spirit puffed out her chest slightly:
"You still need to rely on me!"
She floated to the center of the flower field, trying to use her senses to locate the entrance to the unusual space. Shard also summoned [Yggdrasil’s Staff], using the Arcane Technique [Enhanced Spatial Awareness] to ascertain the situation nearby.
But just as the spatial Grand Witch said, he could sense another hidden space nearby but couldn’t find a way to enter it.
"The Hidden Space isn’t large. If I were to use brute force, I could indeed find the hidden soul. But since we wish to ask Maria Edwards questions, we’d better follow the rules and not be rude guests."
The black-haired witch said, concealing her own intentions and suggesting:
"Let’s walk deeper into the flower field. Perhaps we’ll discover something. Since the soul has been spotted before, it might have left traces."
However, before Shard could respond, Laster, already floating away under the watch of two Inner Ring girls, turned around and waved to Shard:
"Come here! Come here! I’ve found it."
"So fast? This bloodline is indeed impressive."
Miss Sylvia commented, regretting missing a good chance for a private meeting, but she knew what was most important now.
The peculiar location Laster discovered appeared completely normal to others in the flower field. And her method of discovery wasn’t based on feeling, but knowledge:
"I read about a similar situation in my father’s book."
She put her hands on her hips, explaining rather proudly to everyone:
"Spatial anomalies can be divided into three categories based on their traits, among which ’configuration space’ can be divided into five subcategories. This is an atypical subsidiary space. The way to open it not only depends on luck but is also related to the surrounding environment."
This was the first time Shard heard her speak such a long paragraph all at once, without any repetitions.
"So how do we open it here?"
Seeing her stop halfway and looking at him with piercing eyes, Shard followed her hint and asked.
The girl clapped her hands with a smile:
"The exit is not visible now because the family’s power has sealed the entrance and exit. But I also have the family’s power. As long as I determine the situation around when the space was formed and then simply simulate that situation, I can find the entrance."
Shard then looked at Miss Sylvia, who nodded and instructed the young women around to inquire what else had been planted here before by the flower field owner. Shard didn’t know how they inquired, but they brought back the answer in just ten minutes:
"This has always been a flower field, but besides lavender, many other plants have been grown. It mainly depends on what sold best the previous year. Black-spotted Daisy, Gold-edged Sunflower, Red Lycoris, White Carnation, and the special Pink Rose of Green Lake have been planted the most over the past thirty years."
Shard was quite relieved that no roses were grown here, otherwise his friend, Mr. Sean Asmon the Demonologist, might appear again... Shard couldn’t imagine the scene of Sean Asmon in a sunny flower field.
They couldn’t uproot the purple lavender to replant other flowers, but Laster only required a simple simulation. Therefore, Shard took out these five kinds of flowers from his pocket, with Miss Sylvia personally holding them and waving them in front of the little girl’s spirit.
The scene was a bit laughable,
Although laughable, it was indeed effective. When Miss Sylvia waved the carnation in front of the spirit for the fifth time, Shard immediately sensed something amiss:
"Look over there."
In the direction leading deeper into the flower field, a small path suddenly appeared amidst the tightly packed lavender. The girls nearby, who were detecting among the flower fields, also received corresponding feedback from their alchemical devices:
"Miss, it’s here, the entrance has opened."
For safety reasons, not everyone could enter. In the end, following Laster Edwards into that hidden space were only Shard and the witch, while the other girls, led by the witch’s assistant Miss Dector, stayed outside on alert, ready to seek help if they couldn’t return.
Moving inward along the small path among the purple lavender, the flower field seemed to transform into a truly boundless sea of flowers. Looking into the distance on a clear day, even with an unobstructed view, one could only see flowers stretching to the horizon.
But as they continued forward, other types of flowers gradually appeared among the purple lavender, and the variety of flowers grew more varied. By the time they saw a small wooden cabin standing in the clearing of the flower field at the end of the path, they were already surrounded by a vibrant array of flowers.
This special hidden space looked no different from the normal world. As Shard and the witch followed Laster closer to the cabin, a spirit floated out from it, equally unafraid of the sunlight.
The spirit, translucent and milky white, was dressed in a luxurious ball gown, and that face was undoubtedly the long-sought Maria Edwards. However, the spirit appeared to be only around thirty, despite being the youngest of the fourth generation girls and being elderly when Mr. Nicholas Green gave her a water burial.
She held an invitation letter that Shard found very familiar, watching the group warily. When Laster joyfully dashed towards her, she instinctively wanted to dodge but still caught the little girl spirit.
The two were separated by two generations and had never met before. But when Maria Edwards touched the girl’s spirit, she suddenly realized the identity of the other:
"Are you... Aunt Laster?"
Her kinship with the girl was the same as Lecia and Miss Galina’s relationship.
Since both were spirits, the little girl, who usually never got close to anyone besides Durut Giles, was surprisingly friendly toward Maria Edwards. After leaping into her embrace, she refused to let go.
Maria Edwards, though helpless, soon showed a very motherly and gentle smile. Holding Laster at the door of the wooden cabin in the flower field, she looked at the two living people and, after a brief hesitation, invited them into the house.