Capítulo 1272: Chapter 1272: Randall Valley Stonemason Association
The Elf Girl, Emilia, did not plan to linger long in the Randall Valley tonight:
“Tonight it’s my turn to organize the Chocobo feed. If I don’t get back soon after sneaking out, I might not make it to the dorms until dawn, and then Aunt Susan of the Six Rings dorm will scold me tomorrow morning…”
A worried expression appeared on her pretty face. After copying the Ancient Elvish Language, Shard and Luviya watched her ride away on the unicorn again. The cold winter night’s wind passed through the branches, and her gentle white silhouette gradually disappeared. Luviya’s Whisper rose:
“I have already contacted the local Correspondence Group and learned from them that this Miss Elf has been appearing for the past three years, on average once a month. I reviewed local records; nothing significant happened here three years ago. She must have discovered a ‘passage’ that has existed for a very long time.”
“One vacation a month for herself?”
Shard muttered, thinking about the impact of having a ‘passage’ that could lead to Saint Byrons at any time. Unconsciously, he began to reminisce about the women who missed him during the Fifth Era.
Starting this Tuesday, the following days were somewhat leisurely. Miss Benanis’s followers went to investigate the whereabouts of those three auction items. Luviya, who obtained clues from the Sublimation Incantation, was busy planning her own Spirit Rune acquisition strategy. Miss Lathis was even more occupied retracing her father’s path, so much so that Shard often couldn’t find her at the Wilder Opera House.
Of course, during this period, Shard was not completely idle. He received an invitation from Queen Diana in Tobesk to attend a Duchess’s daughter’s wedding on Wednesday night. Since Miss Galina and Shard had almost made their relationship clear, the Queen hoped to strengthen the increasingly independent Duchess Galina by wooing Shard.
There was also a small episode at the Wednesday evening banquet. At that time, Shard was holding a wine glass, discussing his detective stories with Queen Diana, three princesses including Lecia, and two noble ladies he did not know.
Queen Diana, after setting down her glass of orange juice, suddenly smiled at them and said:
“Speaking of which, there is a piece of good news I can privately share with you all. I bet you won’t be able to guess… Someone among us is nurturing new life.”
“Huh?”
Shard instinctively wanted to look at Lecia, who was somewhat panicked, trying to recall whether it was hers or Dorothy’s. Of course, no matter whose it was, she would be responsible to Shard.
But then Queen Diana pointed to herself, smilingly saying:
“The Royal Family is about to have another new member.”
“That’s wonderful.”
Angelina and their younger sister Alice Cavendish said together, and others offered their respective blessings. Shard inwardly praised His Majesty the King’s productivity, thinking that the already large Cavendish Royal Family was about to increase by one more. “Fire Jumper” Larus III was indeed the most prolific king in documented history.
[Twins, two boys.]
“Hmm? You can even see that?”
By Thursday, Shard finally had time to visit the local Stonemason Guild in the Randall Valley. Although it was no longer necessary to identify who exactly the statues in the church were, he still wanted to investigate the rumor of the Stonemason Guild’s “moving sculptures.”
Since this matter wasn’t urgent, he lingered at home after breakfast in anticipation of potential clients. It wasn’t until after ten o’clock that he set off alone for the distant city, reaching the Stonemason Guild by eleven in the morning.
The full name of the guild is the “Randall Valley Stonemason Industry Association,” and it’s not located downtown in Randall Valley City but in the more remote northeastern part of the city. Two blocks away from the guild, there are train tracks connecting to the mountain quarries, facilitating stonemasons to reach the quarry at any time or transport suitable stone materials.
The northeastern part of the city is the old district of Randall Valley City, where the buildings are quite ancient and the alleys and streets are quite narrow. If the western urban area of Randall Valley resembles a booming big city of the Steam Era, then the old district’s time still remains in the early sprouting stage of the Steam Era.
And this kind of old district appearance is present whether in Coldwater Port, Midshire Fort, or even in Tobesk City. It’s the city’s memory.
After dismounting the carriage at the narrow street entrance, he looked at the tall, ancient stone buildings on both sides. The old district, being closer to the factories and mines outside the city, which emit waste gases, had particularly heavy fog. Coupled with the narrow streets and the buildings on both sides blocking the sunlight, walking on these streets felt as if entering a dark foggy world during the day.
The street where the Stonemason Guild is located is called “Stonemason Street,” one of the oldest streets in Randall Valley. Most of the businesses along this entire street are engaged in sculpture and stone trade. Stone carvings can be seen everywhere on both sides of the street; in the thick fog where visibility is poor, they appear somewhat eerie.
But it’s not quiet here at all, as merchants from all over the Old Continent flock to purchase works carved by local stonemasons. The name “City of Stonemasons” comes from this street. Before the Steam Age during the old days of the Sixth Era, this street was the center of Randall Valley.
And now, everything is in decline.
Due to the “Prince attack” that occurred last week, when Shard arrived at the Stonemason Guild, he saw several local police officers led by a detective with a star on his shoulder, recording something at the guild’s front desk.
Of course, this didn’t affect the regular operation of the Stonemason Guild, and the interior still bustled with people coming and going.
To be more precise, the Randall Valley Stonemason Guild is essentially an industry association formed by local stonemasons, who collectively endow it with authority. The guild’s main objectives include but are not limited to coordinating industry conflicts, acting as brokers to introduce business to visiting merchants, standardizing stone prices across the city, and representing all stonemasons of Randall Valley on certain important occasions. Naturally, when large transactions require a number of artisans, the Stonemason Guild also needs to coordinate, just like that deal with the Anjou Royal Family decades ago.
Shard came today still using the alias John Watson, ostensibly to select a batch of stone statues as gifts for friends in Velindale City. The number Shard proposed wasn’t large, so the guild didn’t assign a special receptionist or manager to him. Shard could roam inside the guild, inspecting various artisans’ works housed there, then directly commission the craftsman of his choice.
The weather today is truly poor. When Shard entered the guild, the outside was only foggy, but after confirming the viewing area, though it was clearly still morning, it turned completely dark outside. The gloom-laden sky began to drift snowflakes. Considering that it’s already Sparse Star Month, this could very likely be the last heavy snow of this winter.
The Stonemason Guild is divided into four levels, with the entire hall on the left half of the first floor displaying stone carvings, somewhat resembling a stone statue museum. Shard realized the windows between the red velvet curtains were already pitch black outside as he entered, witnessing thick feather-like snowflakes falling. Many people were there viewing as well, some like Shard, browsing casually, while others, dressed quite distinctively, were merchants or noble’s butlers selecting goods with a receptionist.
Shard had no specific goal initially, thus commenced wandering the hall casually and even contemplating purchasing a desired sculpture, to give Princess Angelina for her birthday come the weekend.
The hall was densely packed with various stone statues, some were busts with pedestals, while others were full-body replicas at a one-to-one scale. He even noticed young people setting up easels in front of statues for sketches, later learning it was a paid activity.
Merchants jostled shoulders, and Shard walked a circle without finding evident element traces before meticulously examining the stone carvings. Soon, his attention was lured away by the row of oil paintings mounted on the wall. Besides those few portraits of the Stonemason Guild’s founders at the entrance, the oil paintings, vividly colored, mostly depict sculptures, predominantly figures.
These oil paintings were quite large, roughly the height of an adult, and what startled Shard most was that the majority of depicted sculptures in the paintings lacked clothing. In other terms, most oil paintings fell under the category of nude/art.
“Long time no see, Mr. Watson. I heard about that card game between you and Mr. Osenfort. From my time in the Prophet’s Society, I knew that someone who could beat me is surely extraordinary.”
Shard was admiring the painting when he suddenly heard a voice from behind. Turning, he found that the playwright, Mr. Antonio, had approached him. Shard had met him during a card game at the local Prophet’s Society, where Antonio lost a Sun 1 card of the [Woodland Tale: Silver Snow Wolf] to him.
“Oh, it’s Mr. Antonio. Are you here to purchase stone statues too?”
“No, no, just seeking inspiration for a new opera script.”
The stylishly dressed writer clad in a brown leather jacket said, and Shard explained his intentions. Subsequently, they both raised their heads to examine the painting on the wall of a woman with arms extended as if to embrace the viewer outside the painting.
“Aren’t you curious why these sculptures only exist in oil paintings, while those displayed are properly dressed?”
Mr. Antonio chuckled and explained to “John Watson,” the outsider:
“One reason is that City Hall deems such displays indecent… this rule emerged during conflicts between the Stonemason Guild and the Royal Family. Oh, there’s more to the local stonemasons’ conflict with the Royal Family…”
“I know, I’ve heard about it.”
“Then that’s easier to explain. Another reason is that the guild found undressed stone statues were more likely to be stolen, and more prone to damage during display. Although the items displayed here are inexpensive goods, frequent replacements can be quite vexing. Eventually, they opted to exhibit the more revealing sculptures in oil painting form.”
Then, lowering his voice, he added:
“Mr. Watson, being an outsider, it’s hard to find connections. If you’re interested in this vulgar—I mean unique style of sculpture, I know artisans who specialize in making these.”