Chapter 1271: Chapter 1271: Letters, Elves, and Keys
"Roast goose, vegetable salad, steak... it looks really good. Your new sorcery, apart from the spellcasting materials being too expensive, has almost no drawbacks."
Luviya commented, as she placed little Mia, who had caught the scent of dinner, back into Shard’s arms.
So, the two of them and the cat sat around the campfire and started eating dinner. After finishing the meal, and with the plates and pots simply cleaned and put away as toys, Shard hesitantly brought up another matter:
"Actually... this morning, I received a letter from Miss Gawder."
"Miss Gawder? Who is that?"
Luviya thought for a moment before recalling:
"Oh, Mia’s owner. I remember you said in the letter you sent last month that you mentioned formally adopting Mia."
"It was just a joke."
Shard said slowly, sitting on a rock with the cat lounging on his lap, as he took out the folded letter from his pocket:
"In fact, I haven’t even opened it to see what’s inside."
The envelope was glowing red in the campfire’s light.
"Aren’t you usually very decisive?"
Luviya took the letter, glanced at the return address, and then opened it for Shard. She first took out the monthly customary "Mia’s maintenance fee," then skimmed through the contents of the two pages, before handing them back to Shard after finishing reading:
"Miss Gawder’s handwriting is really beautiful. Rest assured, there’s no mention of your ’joke’ from last time in the letter. But, is Miss Gawder’s health not good? She says she’s sick again."
"Sick again?"
Shard went on to read the letter, where Miss Gawder mentioned being busy with family affairs, handling estates, docks, old houses, farmland, and other matters, and had collapsed again this winter from exhaustion. But fortunately, the many strange occurrences around that remote town had already been suppressed by the True God Church, so Miss Gawder could hire people to handle the ancestral properties and trash left behind.
Her current illness wasn’t as serious as last autumn. In the letter, she reassured Shard not to worry about her. She even shared some amusing incidents encountered while dealing with family properties, like discovering some sky-blue starry gemstones in an almost abandoned farm, which church people said might be meteorites; like finding some vessels that once contained human blood in a manor used for feasting and pleasure near the family mansion, which the church was also investigating; like mentioning suspicious traces of creatures found in the sewer below the mansion; even finding some strange scales at the town dock behind the mansion, leading to a bay cave full of glowing coral...
"Do you think Miss Gawder could be the Chosen One?"
Shard couldn’t help but ask Luviya, who looked at him skeptically:
"You’re starting to get a bit paranoid, the Chosen Ones don’t appear that easily."
"But everything Miss Gawder mentioned in the letter is quite suspicious."
He waved the letter, handing it to Mia again, and the cat stretched its neck to sniff once, then opened its mouth wide, "Meow~." The cat wriggled in Shard’s arms, showing its snow-white soft belly with all four legs up, and Shard reached out to stroke it:
"I’ve already decided, when spring comes, I’ll definitely go to visit that town. From Midshire Fort, heading east to the eastern Old Continent coast, it’s just a day or two by train. Of course, this would be after finishing things in Randall Valley City."
"Let’s hope the deity blesses that town."
Luviya said softly, holding her teacup. Shard didn’t catch her drift and continued reading the end of the letter:
"Look, Miss Gawder says she also plans to send me some interesting things she found in the mansion next month."
"What could it be?"
"Whatever it is, it’s fine. Speaking of which, I even wondered if Miss Gawder actually exists."
He laughed as he folded the letter back, planning to write a reply when he got home:
"But since I can receive the mailed items, Miss Gawder surely must exist."
"Why do you think Mia Gawder doesn’t exist?"
Luviya asked again.
"After all, I’ve never met that lady, and out of the four commissions left by Detective Sparrow, the other three led to extremely dangerous consequences—
Investigating a lover led me to Blood of Mercury, witnessing Tobesk’s Blood Feast; looking for a doctor to cure eye disease gave me clues to the Night Watchman, encountering demon seals and a witch’s seal of interstice at the Sicarl Mountain; helping Miss White find her missing sister was even more incredible, and Grace and Helen appeared directly in front of me.
In this context, isn’t suspecting Miss Gawder of having issues a pretty normal thing?"
Shard said seriously, while Luviya pointed out the flaw in his logic:
"Then why do you think the problem lies with the commissioner and not the commission—meaning your cat might have issues?"
"Meow?"
Mia meowed softly, tilting her head to look at her.
"Mia has issues? Mia, of course, has issues, as a cat, it’s too adorable..."
"Cough cough."
"It’s overly smart and sensible, but over the weekend, I was appraising the blood in Midshire Fort and discovered it has an extremely thin bloodline of [Son of the Sun], which explains everything perfectly. So, Miss Gawder might have a big secret, and her so-called ’declining family’, might have ancestors who were obsessed with mysticism and accidentally discovered or summoned some ancient evil entity, which is hidden beneath her family’s ancestral home."
Shard seriously analyzes.
"I thank you for your ’deduction’ on behalf of Miss Gawder. Even if you want to claim the cat as your own, there’s no need to curse her like this?"
Luviya says half-jokingly, half-amusedly, prompting Shard to change his tone:
"Bless Miss Gawder with peace, and bless her family with successful revival, much like the Osenfort family... This spring, I will personally visit that town and whatever troubles arise, I can certainly solve them for her... If unsolvable, I can report the truth to the church after investigating."
The unicorn’s tail feather gifted last week is already taken to Old John’s, who Shard has commissioned to make it into a ribbon, though it hasn’t been received yet today. Luviya still remembers this matter and even considers flaunting it to Dorothy when she returns to Tobesk. She chats casually with Shard, while Mia, having eaten dinner and full of energy, runs around the snow but never leaves Shard’s sight.
As the sun completely sets, the time reaches 7:03, and a penetrating sound "Oo~" emanates from the snowy Creekland Woods, the cry of that small beast.
Sure enough, a pure white luminous beast appears carrying a beautiful blonde elf rider from the forest. The elf sits sideways on the unicorn’s back, hiding under a hood, though her hair still peeks out, creating a scene akin to a fairy tale unfolding before the eyes.
The elf girl Emilia dismounts the unicorn at the camp’s outskirts, and she alongside the small beast enter the camp. The firelight illuminates them, and Shard, clutching the returning cat, immediately sees the small beast. As it affectionately approaches Shard, brushing against him, Mia suddenly escapes his arms, leaping onto the unicorn’s head.
"Meow?"
The cat and the beast play and romp together—at least that’s how Shard perceives it, as he did not see the larger unicorn bullying little Mia. The elf girl sits by the fire with Shard and Luviya, while Shard reaches into his pocket to retrieve a suitcase that wouldn’t normally fit inside:
"They’re all fresh materials, please verify them."
The blonde elf nods somewhat reservedly and hands Shard the information she acquired from the library about "Randall Valley" and "Crazy Earth."
Besides those materials, she even gifts Shard a time key:
"I heard you’re a time investigator, so this is a gift for you. The corresponding time period is around the mid-Fifth Era, approximately 3000 years ago. I didn’t precisely set the time, but the error won’t exceed 50 years."
She is concerned Shard might refuse to accept it:
"Thank you for looking after it."
They all look towards the cat and unicorn, where they remain in the firelight’s shadow, with Mia still perched atop the unicorn’s head, and the pure white beast appearing bashfully as if slightly intimidated. It seems they are getting along well, with the powerful unicorn not bullying the weaker cat.
"Moreover, for a circle sorcerer without a time rune, a [Time Key] is useless to keep."
"A time key for 3000 years ago in the Fifth Era?"
The first encounter with Miss Feliana and Miss Orland in the Forest of Thousand Trees was in the Fifth Era year 3002, while the second encounter with Miss Orland, Miss Samuel, and Miss Drago at the Valley of Dead Silence-Gadis Library was in 3024.
Even though arriving close to these time points doesn’t guarantee meeting those familiar ladies, using such a key certainly increases the probability of encountering old acquaintances.
The materials Shard prepared for the elf girl satisfied her well. After exchanging goods and money, Emilia Xenode also mentioned she hasn’t found the so-called "hidden space" Shard talked about yet.
Finding it within such a short time would be abnormal, so Shard isn’t concerned. However, they agreed that the elf girl will report her investigation progress to Shard weekly, and Shard will teach her new ancient Elvish script each time.
The transaction location isn’t set here but in the Abundant Land Inn in the city:
"Every time I come to Randall Valley, I dine there."
She says with slight embarrassment, clearly also having sufficient disguising methods.
This time, Shard also prepared a long poem written in ancient Elvish language as a transaction reward. The blonde elf girl carefully reads and transcribes by the firelight with the book in hand, while Shard adds firewood to the campfire, and Luviya smiles while petting the unicorn lounging beside Shard.
The pure white beast seemingly isn’t in a good mood, though this isn’t due to Luviya’s petting but rather because a cat is resting atop its back.
The campfire crackles with sound, momentarily causing everyone to go silent. Suddenly, the small beast voluntarily stands, with the cat also atop the unicorn’s back, as the beast turns to look towards the forest, which is also the city’s direction, and then emits a loud "Oo~" sound.
The golden horn glows gently, as if a gentle breeze caressed the present individuals. Everyone looks towards the pitch-black woods, where evidently nothing is visible.
"It’s alright, it’s alright."
The elf girl hastily reassures the unicorn, and after it hesitantly lies down again, she explains to Shard and Luviya:
"In this city, there’s something very evil hidden. Human and elf perception isn’t sufficient to detect it when it doesn’t actively release power, but the unicorn is very sensitive to its power. Leanna occasionally senses it, and the reaction is always like this..."
"Leanna" is the name the elf girl gave the unicorn.
"You must also be very careful while moving in this city; the opponent is likely some ancient existence."
This reminds Shard of the old nun at "Saint Perry Cemetery" once reminding that this city not only has guardians but also certain evil forces. Now it seems that was the peculiar power the unicorn vaguely perceived. And thinking of "evil power," Shard subconsciously recalls the eccentric Mr. Ston Osenfort, who claimed to hold the clues to [Genesis: Earth].
Shard’s inspiration tends to be accurate; once he makes such a connection, it signals the necessity for investigation. However, he plans to visit the Stonemason Guild tomorrow to explore local legends and stories. As for Mr. Ston Osenfort and the malevolent force entrenched in this Spring City, consulting Dr. Schneider on Saturday is still timely.