Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

At ten o'clock on Sunday morning, although the city was still shrouded in mist, the deepening autumn air did not stop the bustling pedestrians in Saint Delan Square.

The torrential rain last night had washed the city clean. Even by morning, the autumn rain was still falling, though more like a drizzle now, not enough to hinder travel.

Under the overcast sky, countless black umbrellas brushed against each other and then parted, but this did not affect the well-dressed gentlemen from conversing with one another, nor did it stop the neatly dressed youths from walking with their documents in hand. A deep-brown carriage, washed by the rain, approached from afar. The horses' hooves splashed in the puddles, and the carriage steadily came to a halt outside No. 6, Saint Delan Square.

Dr. Schneider, wearing a black coat, stepped down from the carriage and quickly jumped up the steps to the shelter of the eaves. After paying the fare, he looked at Saint Delan Square in the rain and tightened his collar:

"It's raining again. It seems the weather is getting colder."

The carriage slowly drove away but was quickly stopped by Mr. Smith, Shard's neighbor, who had just stepped out.

The elderly gentleman was dressed in formal attire, indicating he had something important to attend to. He also noticed Dr. Schneider, and after nodding to each other, Mr. Smith boarded the carriage and left.

"I think I've seen that man in the newspapers; isn't he the former chief secretary of the Kingdom's Ministry of Finance? As expected, those who live in such a neighborhood aren't ordinary citizens."

The doctor thought in surprise, looking up at the raindrops falling from the eaves like a string of pearls. He then turned around and rang the doorbell:

After a moment, footsteps were heard on the stairs. The door opened, and Shard, wearing a black turtleneck sweater, looked out at the doctor with a smile:

"You are punctual as always, exactly ten o'clock, not a minute late. Oh, the rain is still falling. Please come in."

"Of course, I'm punctual. I charge patients by the hour, so I have a strong sense of time."

The blue-eyed middle-aged man boasted but then suddenly sniffed the air as he stood at the door:

"Since when did you start using incense?"

He said as he walked in, then noticed something unusual underfoot:

"When did you put a carpet in the hallway? This carpet isn't cheap, is it? Even my clinic can't afford such luxury."

Following the carpet up, he saw it extended all the way to the stairs:

"When did you... welcome me without going to the trouble of covering the stairs with petals? Are you asking me for a loan?"

The doctor laughed, bending down to pick up a petal:

"It's fresh. Were these flowers from last night?"

He immediately understood, nodding slightly, and teased the young man closing the door:

"This must be for a lady. Did someone stay over last night? You really went all out for the atmosphere."

Shard, holding a cat that had sulked all night, hesitated for a moment and then nodded:

"Yes."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone else."

The doctor patted Shard on the shoulder:

"I understand young men your age very well. I won't ask who it was, but take care of your private life. I can't guarantee what Annette will think if she finds out. Oh, these flowers weren't cheap."

They walked up the stairs together, and the doctor noticed that flowers indeed covered the entire staircase from the first floor to the second, not just the entrance area.

"It wasn't my gold pounds."

Shard rubbed his neck as he walked ahead. The memories of last night were chaotic and intense. Thinking back, he still doubted whether it was all his imagination. However, this imagination seemed a bit too bold.

[It wasn't a dream, and you were holding one person while calling another's name.]

"Did you let a lady spend money?"

The doctor was surprised, unable to guess what Shard was thinking.

"It was indeed a lady who spent the money, but... it was one lady preparing for another."

The middle-aged psychologist frowned. Fortunately, Bill Schneider had rich social experience and a broad perspective. After a few seconds, he understood:

"Wait, there was more than one lady staying over last night? Oh, Detective, I brought you out of blind foolishness, so I have the responsibility to give you some life advice. I always knew you had a good nature, but why in matters like this..."

"Doctor, it's not what you think. We're not discussing this! But let me clarify, I'm not a philanderer."

Shard yawned. He had actually been up for an hour, washing up, feeding the cat, cleaning, and preparing breakfast for the half-asleep girls embracing each other. Although the power of Primal Fire was not as strong as divinity, it made his body more energetic. He wasn't tired at all, and the yawn was just to cover his embarrassment.

He stepped up quickly to change the subject:

"Let's go to the third floor. I found a way to search for spirits, so I want to see if I can find Mr. Sherf Tim and Miss Shana Aya's souls."

Hearing Shard mention those two names, the doctor was momentarily stunned, then indeed stopped discussing Shard's private life.

He slowly sighed:

"Thank you for still helping to keep this in mind, but I don't think it can be found so easily."

The two of them went up to the second floor together and then continued to climb higher. The doctor saw that the door to Room No. 1 on the second floor was tightly shut, indicating that the two ladies hadn't left yet. Shard holding Mia also looked at the door, raised his eyebrows, and recalled how surprised he felt when he woke up that morning to find someone leaning on each of his shoulders.

Upon waking up, apart from being kissed by the drowsy girls, his biggest concern was what would happen if Luviya found out about this.

When he expressed this worry, Dorothy said nothing, but Lecia, with sleepy eyes, replied:

"How did she manage to stay over on her own before... She's really something."

Shard and the doctor walked into the third-floor corridor. Shard summoned the Ring of Fate and used the Spiritual Light from True Death to illuminate the center of the corridor. Immediately, two mismatched old black iron gate bars appeared.

Dr. Schneider hesitated behind Shard, hearing him say:

"Eternal End, protect me before the end."

With a clattering sound, the chains binding the iron gates automatically unlocked, wrapping around the bars like black iron snakes.

"Shard, why do you always have these strange places in your house? Last time, after I devoured the Flame Demon, you also took me to a door in the basement to mitigate the risk of losing control... I remember this was originally the boundary between life and death?"

"I scrapped the Traveler's Gate and figured out how to install a door here, so we don't need to worry about boundary control issues anymore."

Shard said, then pushed the gate in front of him. As the door silently opened inwards, instead of the back half of the third-floor corridor, there was the Mist Gate writhing with white mist:

"Doctor, hold my hand."

Shard holding little Mia, together with the doctor, stepped into the white mist.

"This place, it's really like the Dark Dungeon you took me to."

Countless tombstones stood in the white mist, with square stone tombstones slanted underfoot being the clearest, though they bore no inscriptions.

Shard informed Dr. Schneider of the general situation of the Soul Graveyard. Hearing that "any soul heading for Ultimate Death can be found here," the doctor immediately understood Shard's intention:

"If their souls have already gained freedom, even at the cost of complete shattering, I could still see them. If the souls are still imprisoned..."

He took the small knife handed to him by Shard and carefully engraved Mr. Sherf Tim's name, birth and death dates, and cause of death on the tombstone underfoot, but nothing happened despite waiting for a long time.

"Try another one."

Shard encouraged.

The two moved to another tombstone and inscribed Miss Shana Aya's name, but despite the dense white mist around, no soul appeared.

This indicated that the two souls were only taken away, not reached the endpoint, just like souls lingering in the material world which can't be summoned here. Although the doctor already lacked hope, he couldn't help feeling a bit dejected when it still failed.

"Doctor, don't worry, I haven't used this place either. Maybe we're doing it wrong. Let me try. Look."

Shard encouraged and then took the small knife, squatted down in front of another cross tombstone, one hand holding the cat, the other hand carefully engraving:

[Sparrow Spy Hamilton (Sixth Era·1812-1853)]

[Grey-headed Eagle]

[Forever Loyal—Carsonrick Gray Glove Ace Agent]

[Died from a Terrible Death Countdown Curse]

The flaking stone chips fell but quickly disappeared. After finishing, Shard stood up and observed with the doctor on both sides, then noticed in the deep white mist behind the tombstone, a black shadow appeared.

The shadow was far away in the white mist, but it was approaching. As it got closer, the figure became clearer.

A middle-aged man wearing a black deerstalker hat and holding a cane, his eyes sharply gazing at Shard, Sparrow Hamilton's soul indeed appeared.

"It seems this place can indeed summon souls, which means Mr. Tim and Miss Aya's souls haven't shattered at least."

The doctor comforted himself, but saw Shard hesitating, looking at the unknown soul.

Dr. Schneider didn't know what story was between Shard and Sparrow Hamilton but still encouraged him:

"Since you've called him out, talk to him. You inherited his legacy and are considered his nephew in name."

He knew Shard was previously a vagrant and had no actual kinship with Sparrow Hamilton, unaware of the Gray Glove matters.

"Ordinary people rarely have the opportunity to talk with the deceased, say something."

The doctor added, then cautiously stepped back.

Shard nodded and looked at the former detective standing behind the tombstone, only to find him also looking at him. The last time they had such a close gaze, it was on a midsummer morning, a day of Silvermoon's radiance, where one person came and another left.