Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

The small knife Shard found in Miss Norma's house was used to draw blood to create those potted plants, given to the men who favored her, so that after her death, she could continue to use the soul to draw power for that land. Having the three men who loved her bury her was the final call of that land to her, an ancient ritual of 'love,' a voluntary sacrifice, a mad yet pure love affair, and the blinded ritualists.

All of these jointly gave birth to the terrifying undead Shard just encountered. Although for him the undead wasn't strong, he wasn't an ordinary Five-Ring Sorcerer, and not to mention, most of his skills were precisely targeted towards this type of monster.

As Shard released his left hand that touched the soul, the Arcane Technique "Guide to Death" effect ceased, and the resentment entwined around Miss Norma's soul lightened somewhat. But she still appeared as crazed as ever, trying to bite Shard even with the Moonlight Greatsword pinning her to the ground.

"Answer me, lady, what exactly is on this land?"

Shard asked solemnly. He indeed didn't feel anything wrong with the ground underfoot. But Miss Norma's bizarre state after death couldn't simply be explained by mental illness and auditory hallucinations.

"You cannot hear the pulse of the earth; you can't hear the last call of the earth. I've already become one with this land. I'll seek more blood meals for it until the very final end."

She struggled relentlessly, but the soul came in more frequent contact with the Moonlight Greatsword, instead making the dark stuff on her soul decrease continuously.

"Don't pretend to be mad with me; you made those three pass out and erased their memories of seeing me just to protect them, didn't you? Moreover, none of the men affected by your potted plants died because of you."

Shard said calmly, ending the spellcasting and causing the three great swords summoned by "Blade of Chaotic Time" to vanish, leaving only the last sword present:

"Tell me what happened here, and then I'll send you away and try to resolve the problem here."

Sure enough, the struggling soul stopped writhing. The terrifying head covered in long hair lifted, revealing the face that belonged to Miss Norma. In the photos Shard had seen, this lady had quite good looks. Even after death, one could still see a trace of past glory in the horrifying face:

"I just... don't want... this earth to go mad."

"Crazy Earth? What do you mean?"

Shard asked, puzzled. To show his sincerity, he released the grip on his sword, allowing the Moonlight Greatsword to disappear. Of course, he was not unguarded against the other escaping, with the [Great Sin Chain] in his sleeve unlikely to miss from such a close distance.

"I don't understand either... but the earth is indeed going mad. Someone must stop all this. I willingly sacrifice and collect blood meals just to pacify this land. I know what I did was wrong, but this land shouldn't go mad... May the earth be with me."

She spoke very vaguely, not because she was hiding something, but because she didn't seem to understand what was happening either. And Shard also understood why he didn't feel any anomalies on the ground beneath, because the anomaly was halted by this "Self-Sacrifice."

"I understand. Then please leave. I will do my best to solve the problem here. Even if I can't solve it, at least I will warn people not to come near."

He said, Miss Norma's soul looked at him; she didn't open her mouth, but the voice directly appeared in Shard's ear:

"You promise?"

"Yes, I promise to resolve the problem here soon or prevent people from coming near here."

His idea was to visit once a week, waiting for the land to have problems again, then perceive what the problem is and determine if it's some kind of Relic or any other bizarre thing causing this. And even if he couldn't stop the danger here, he could tell Iluna so that Iluna could notify the Sun Church.

The True God [Lantern Bearer] is a Sun God, but the full title of this True God is "Sun and Earth God," and the Church specializes in solving land problems. And even if the Earth Deity's believers can't solve the situation here, the believers in Nature surely wouldn't hesitate to help.

Of course, these matters can only be resolved when the land has problems again. With no issues now, even if the church is called, there's nothing they can do.

Seeing Shard's sincere attitude, Miss Norma slightly bowed to him. Shard then waved his hand to slash a black crack by his side, revealing a shallow beach illuminated by the Nether Moon.

The soul turning pure white finally looked at the three young men fainted in the snow, tears flowed from the soul body, turning into ice crystals and falling into the snow. The soul pulled a white phantom across the crack, entering the true afterlife. With the crack closing, Miss Norma truly stepped into death.

"Soul Tears?"

The crystals in the snow flew towards Shard; this rare special material is produced when the lingering grievances of an undead are satisfied, not only needing their wishes fulfilled but also requiring that the undead be very powerful. It's a material used in many alchemical practices and is expensive. Shard had obtained such material before the battle at Sicarl Mountain, as he gave a starving undead the feeling of fullness, but later he gave that time's Soul Tears to Luviya.

But this thing is useless to Shard since after the Sicarl battle, the "Light Rain" blessing he received at the mountaintop was the purest Soul Tears of countless souls. However, viewed merely as alchemical material, just this drop of crystal far exceeds all the other payments Shard received for this task combined.

"Taking your payment, I'll solve the problem here."

Shard exhaled, watching the white mist drift from his mouth with the wind. Then he looked at the three lying on the snow:

"Although Miss Norma deceived you into thinking she could resurrect, getting you to bury her alive, you still killed someone in the end... This time, how did I end up sending the client's relatives to Riddlevitch Field again."

"She" gently laughed in the empty courtyard, only Shard could hear. Shard raised his hand to shade his eyes, looking up at the sun partially obscured by the edge of the clouds:

"May the Earth... be with everyone."

(Mia running...)

"That's pretty much how it is."

Saturday afternoon at half-past two, Dr. Schneider's Clinic, Shard held Mia while sharing his story with the other four members of the group.

Dr. Schneider clicked his tongue in wonder:

"So, that Miss Norma..."

"Was buried alive by the three of them."

Shard stroked the cat's head and spoke words he knew to be very cruel:

"The cause of death was suffocation, so..."

Priest Augustus had already started praying softly, and Miss Writer listened very intently. She was interested in another question:

"Did the three young people you mentioned eventually know the truth? That is, hmm, that they buried their lover alive?"

Shard recalled the events of the morning:

"Before coming here, I went to Riddlevitch Field once more to confirm the details of the testimony. You all know the church is very sensitive to these matters, so the one coordinating with me at that time was still the Circle Sorcerer arranged by the church at Riddlevitch Field... I digress. It was this morning that I told those three young people there would be no resurrection; dead is dead. The three of them broke down crying, sigh, I've never seen anyone cry so desperately."

"You told them on purpose, didn't you?"

The purple-eyed Diviner teased, understanding Shard well:

"Intentionally letting them know this cruel truth."

"Though they blindly revered Miss Norma's orders out of love, they indeed killed someone with their own hands. Shouldn't killers be punished? Someone would eventually tell them this."

No one commented on Shard's words, although the three were arrested at Riddlevitch Field. Due to the presence of both suicide and homicide perspectives in this case, the actual charge would depend on how their families maneuver.

Lawyers would likely play a significant role, but this was not Shard's concern. Professor Martin, although aware that Shard sent his son to Riddlevitch Field, still paid the commission fee. This Literature professor was a very upright person. As for Mr. Old Franco, he duly paid triple fees and praised Shard with a smile for being Tobesk's most famous detective.

"But I still don't understand, what's special about that piece of land?"

Priest Augustus further asked:

"Is something buried underground? A relic? Or a sealed evil fiend?"

"It couldn't be a demon, could it?"

The doctor casually added.

But this time, Shard didn't provide an answer. He only shook his head gently:

"I will periodically check that piece of land, and if there's a problem, I'll handle it immediately. It's too early to draw conclusions. According to the memory I obtained from Miss Norma's Spirit, that place can at least remain serene for two or three months."

"A soul sacrificed in an ancient love ritual can suppress the land for only two or three months; it seems indeed not a small trouble."

Dr. Schneider sighed gently, but everyone enjoyed hearing various detective stories from Shard.

It's been half a month since exam week ended, and the group's five members have become relatively lazy, although they haven't forgotten to acquire their new Arcane Technique from the library. Other than the unupgraded Priest Augustus, the new grade textbooks for the others were delivered last week, and this week they are considering some elective courses.

Besides his fifth-grade courses at the History Academy and the Academy of Library Management, Shard has also elected Professor Garcia's "Basic Introduction to Maze Locks" course at the History Academy.

This is the advanced course following the autumn elective "Sealed Space." In the autumn, Shard raised the issue of a "Multi-layered Maze Lock" in class, a hypothesis that had been verified by the God Summoner. Therefore, Professor Garcia hopes Shard will continue participating and submit a thesis on Multi-layered Maze Lock at the course's conclusion.

This is a simple task for Shard.