Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Even though he rushed down to the first floor immediately, Shard was still a step behind.

When he arrived on the first floor, he just caught sight of Miss Beyas, looking unwilling, being dragged by a person wearing white gloves into a side hallway.

Ladies attending a banquet would usually wear intricate lace gloves of sophisticated design, whereas plain white gloves were more common among men.

"Has Miss Beyas run into trouble?"

With a frown, Shard promptly followed. Of course, before pushing the door open to enter that hallway, he first inquired of the banquet hall's waiter what that area was used for.

"Sir, that leads to the kitchen and also to some spare rooms provided for the chefs to rest in."

Chefs worthy of preparing dishes and refreshments for a banquet of such caliber indeed deserved their own restrooms.

Shard nodded and walked into the hallway. Though general guests were not allowed in this "staff area," Shard did not consider himself a general guest.

The banquet was at its midpoint, the kitchen was still busy, and this was not the corridor where serving carts passed through, so there was no one in the hallway. One could faintly hear men and women discussing today's menu at the corner at the end of the hallway.

Due to the layout, there were rooms only on one side of the hallway, while the other side was adorned with paintings hanging on the walls. Since there was no commotion coming from the corner, it implied that the person who had forcibly brought Miss Beyas here had not taken her away from this hallway.

"Five rooms in total... Can you find Miss Beyas?"

[My perception only works at close range. No, even pressing against the door won't work, unless the other person is doing the same.]

Although there were no sounds of fighting or clear traces of Arcane Technique being released, Shard was still somewhat worried about the somewhat immature young lady.

He hesitated in front of a door, and just as he was about to knock to probe, a woman's voice finally gave him a hint:

[There are traces of the Whisper Element behind the third door, almost right behind it.]

"Didn't you say that you needed to see the Relic before you could sense the Whisper Element?"

While thinking this, Shard tiptoed swiftly towards the third door.

[It's different this time; the Relic is quite special. You can think of it as, it's actively spreading its power.]

"Understood."

He checked his pocket for the disposable Sunlight Gun's Holy Emblem Brooch, then with the gun in his right hand—the normal one—and the color of Silvermoon glowing in his left hand.

All these actions were as quiet as possible, and then he tiptoed to the door, not hearing any sound inside. After counting silently to three in his mind, he took a deep breath, bent his knees slightly, and forcefully slammed his body into the door.

The noise of the door crashing masked by the din coming from the banquet hall, Shard burst in, feeling no resistance as if the door had hit anyone, hence he tumbled nimbly onto the floor, rolling into the room.

But instead of an attack, he heard footsteps scurrying toward the suite's bedroom:

"Trying to run? They must be up to no good—why else would they flee?"

[Probably because you don't look like a good person.]

"Don't interrupt me."

Miss Beyas was probably being held hostage, and the footsteps were not erratic, indicating there was only one person. The fact that this person was fleeing suggested they weren't very powerful, or they were wary of Miss Beyas and an intruder causing them trouble together.
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"Must be just a Low Ring Sorcerer."

Thinking this, he pursued into the room, kicked open the closed bedroom door, and was immediately faced with a blanket that flew at him as if it were a solid wall:

"What kind of move is this?"

Wary of a trap, he merely used the light from the Silvermoon in his hand to rip through the quilt in front of him. The muzzle of his gun pointed forward, ready to let the light from the Silvermoon tear through an enemy, but he stepped forward only to find himself standing on a bedsheet.

Before Shard could react, the sheet was swiftly yanked by an unseen force, and suddenly, he lost his balance and fell to the ground.

The sheet quickly wrapped around him, but with a simple sweep of the light in his hand, the sheet turned to tatters. Smoke began to spread rapidly within the room at that moment, the adversary likely not wanting Shard to see his face.

"Where's the Whisper Element?"

[Directly in front of you.]

As he got up, bed from the bedroom was suddenly flying up, seemingly trying to squash him:

"He mustn't escape."

Confirming there was no wind inside, and seeing through the spreading fog that the thick curtains covered the windows, Shard ignored the bed pressing down on him and instead extended his finger, allowing the silver moonlight to burst forth from his fingertip.

[What do you want to...]

"Silvermoon!"

The next moment was as if a silver sun had exploded in the room, its instantaneous brilliance even caused Shard, the user of the Arcane Technique, to suffer severe discomfort in his eyes.

The flying wooden bed was also split in half by the light of Silvermoon, and Shard kicked away the splintered wood, maintaining the high brightness of the glow in the room, vaguely seeing two figures trying to escape through the window.

"How come there are two women? Huh? Miss Beyas, why are you fleeing?"

He rushed over, guns in both hands, and with the afterglow on his fingertips not yet faded, pressed one against the back of each woman on either side.

"Nobody move, I'll shoot anyone who does!"

The moonlight at his fingertips went out completely, and the room felt as though it had been steamed, exceptionally dry. All the items still held the afterglow of Silvermoon, their sanctified appearance could even make one think this place was an unknown sanctuary.

The figure of Miss Beyas on the left dissipated like foam, and at the same time, a thunderous noise came from behind him.

His wrist ached, his right hand involuntarily dropped the gun, but Shard didn't pick it up, instead he turned in astonishment to look at Miss Annette on his right, dressed in a gown:

"Is it you?"

Hearing a familiar voice, Miss Annette put down the golden dagger in her hand, turned around with surprising purple eyes to look at Shard (note):

"Is it you?"

Behind Shard, Miss Beyas, who had been about to pierce his head with the Sunlight Gun, also stopped, her eyes may have been injured, but her ears were still good, she asked with equal surprise:

"Is it you?"

All three stood still, the atmosphere becoming slightly awkward for a moment.

The sights of Shard, whose eyes were intact, and Miss Annette, turned towards each other, and Shard was surprised that Miss Annette's eyes were uninjured.

This kind of encounter was not part of the plan, but obviously, they couldn't leave at this moment. The young detective and the diviner both sought to ask each other with their eyes what the situation was now.

"Miss Beyas, you actually know Miss Annette?"

Before Miss Beyas could realize something was amiss, Shard took the lead and questioned her as if he had been deceived:

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

Miss Annette looked at him in surprise, not expecting Shard to ask this question.

Miss Beyas began to stammer:

"Yes, I know her... wait a minute..."

She also came to a realization:

"Hold on, why should I be questioned by you? Detective, do you also know Miss Annette? Speaking of which, could it be that..."

Although Miss Beyas' eyes were temporarily injured, her mind was not:

"Wait, how do you two know each other? Something's not right! Detective, you explain, what exactly is going on here?"