Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

"What are you thinking about?"

Miss Galina, dressed in a glamorous red gown sitting across the table, noticed that Shard was lost in thought and asked with a smile. The restaurant's waiters were pushing the cart over, but the maids did not allow them to approach the table; they were served by the maids instead, after all, witches really disliked men.

"I'm thinking about some strange things."

Shard said, with a cat beside his hand and also a box of eyeshadow placed in an enamel flat round box. The abnormal effects on the eyes caused by the blood brew of the Star Ocean Whale had long since faded, and this time the eyeshadow was not used to change the color of the eyes but to make his face look slightly different. People who knew him well could recognize him at a glance, but those not familiar would find it difficult to connect the two.

Knowing that Shard was going to adventure in Midshire Fort, she had taken out this sort of "cosmetic" that only witches could use.

"Miss Galina, do you know about the Primeval Angel?"

The Primeval Angel was referred to as "Jackal" by "her," but it is in some ancient unknown language that Shard could not even transliterate, the name itself containing power. This angel was related to the secret of Priest Augustus, and although Shard would not reveal the priest's secrets to others, he was very interested in this angel.

"The Primeval Angel? That's the first angel created by the Ancient Gods at the beginning of the world, also known as the Angel of Death, Death's Herald. I remember reading some documents, in the early years of the Sixth Era, there was an organization in Midshire Fort that worshipped this angel, but I'm not sure about now."

The witch asked curiously:

"Shard, did you come across a power related to this Primeval Angel in that city? The Council's records state that the power of this angel is extremely strong."

"No, no, I just saw this title when I was looking up information on Midshire Fort recently."

Shard shook his head, knowing that the Witch Council also did not have much information, so he changed the topic:

"Would you like to see my new sorcery?"

He smiled and said to the black-haired Miss Maid:

"Please help me, have the restaurant bring over an empty wine bottle, one that definitely once contained wine."

"Pour this out."

Miss Galina pointed to the bottle of wine that was being decanted at the foot of the table, and before Shard could protest, Tifa actually poured the wine into the ice bucket.

"Hmm..."

Shard always opposed such wasteful behavior, but since Miss Galina had money, he couldn't say much about it.

Receiving the dark wine bottle passed to him by Tifa, Shard held the bottom of the bottle with his right hand and the neck with his left, aligning it towards the center of the table, where there was likely a plate of fruits for decoration.

It contained apples, grapes, pears, and two cherries... there actually had been three, but Shard had fed one to Mia.

With a slight twist of the bottle neck with his left hand, and amidst the intensely curious gaze of Miss Galina and the surprised looks of the surrounding maids, those fruits turned into a bright red liquid and flew into the bottle.

The process was very fast, and as soon as all the fruits had disappeared, Shard immediately took the cork and sealed the bottle. He stood the bottle upright and gently shook it, a blood-colored halo flashing over the body of the bottle.

"There we go."

Shard handed the bottle to his Tifa, who uncorked it and poured some for both Shard and Miss Galina. The red liquid looked crystal clear without any impurities, and in a still state, it was even more beautiful than any ruby.

"It smells quite nice."

The Red-Haired Duchess swirled her wine glass, then gently sniffed it, and looked at Shard with a smile:

"Your wine-making ability is really good. However, can you really use so many mixed fruits to make fruit wine?"

"You can taste it."

Shard ignored the cat scratching at him, wanting a taste, and sipped lightly from his glass of blood-red fruit wine—the wine created by this ability could only be blood red.

The taste of the mixed fruit wine was surprisingly good, but since Shard was not a professional sommelier, he couldn't really comment on how excellent it was.

"Oh, this flavor... it reminds me of the first-class wine from the 1752 batch of Russell Winery, as well as the bottle of Fleming Century Reserve I received for my sixteenth birthday."

Miss Galina was not stingy with her praise, something Shard could have anticipated, since that Vampire God simply had "I have taste" written all over her face.

Galina Cavendish showed Shard a rare, sweet smile:

"Knight, where did you acquire this sorcery?"

"I received it from the entity who hosted the wine party."

Since the key itself had been a gift from Miss Galina, Shard did not hide anything, but he did not elaborate too much; after all, the arcane technique of Blood Brew was indeed too terrifying.

"You really do have a talent for surprises. I think even if the Witch Empresses saw you, they wouldn't easily kill you but would rather imprison you in a room deep within their palace."

She gently swirled her glass, causing the wine within to ripple into a deeper shade of red:

"This wine is truly delightful, Knight. As a token of appreciation for providing such a fine beverage, I grant you permission to make a request of me, provided it is a reasonable one. Yes, anything."

Her golden eyes twinkled as they gazed at Shard, who pondered for a moment:

"If it's not too much to ask, please help me find a special type of blood. Recently, that has been my greatest concern."

"That's a rather humorless request."

She said with mock disapproval, while Tifa, standing to the side, showed a faint smile and the surrounding maids acted as if they heard nothing.

With one hand holding a wine glass and the other petting the cat resting beneath, Shard spoke in a jesting tone:

"I did consider sampling the wine from your lips, but it seems our relationship has not progressed to that stage, and besides, it would be unhygienic."

"Oh, is that so?"

The Red-Haired Witch raised an eyebrow and passed the wine glass to Tifa beside her.

The dark-haired girl in her cumbersome maid's dress bent slightly to receive the glass. The three maids then positioned themselves beside Shard, standing in a row to block any potential onlookers.

Tifa stood up straight at the table's edge, squinting her eyes and tilting her head back slightly, taking a small sip with her red lips, but no swallowing movement appeared in her throat. A flush rose on her cheeks. Holding the glass, she smiled at Shard, then set it down on the table.

Under her mistress's watchful eyes, Tifa, holding the wine in her mouth, approached Shard, coming between him and the maids who were shielding their view.

The Red-Haired Witch watched the two with a smile, while Tifa lowered her head to look at Shard, who was seated. In her dark brown-black eyes shone not only shyness but also a peculiar amusement.

All in all, the dinner was quite interesting.

(Mia is running...)

It wasn't until Tuesday morning when Shard got out of bed, put on slippers, and went downstairs to fetch the newspaper that he realized he hadn't yet taken a gift from the "God's Gift Box" that week.

So, before breakfast, he moved the box from the basement to the second floor. After washing his hands thoroughly, he carefully reached inside the box.

Unsurprisingly, the gift for the week was another mundane object. However, this time it held some value: a brand new, very sharp short dagger, which Shard pulled from its sheath.

The black coarse rope was woven around the hilt for grip, and the blade seemed freshly maintained, even emitting the scent of the ointment.

Although a genuinely dangerous and fine weapon, which was very useful for Shard, it did seem inappropriate as a gift for "children". But then, Shard thought, perhaps the deity who crafted the box considered children who enjoyed physical exercise from a young age and would appreciate such sophisticated weapons.

"The task for this week is... to practice slashing with this dagger 100 times for three consecutive days?"

Shard turned the very sharp blade into a plaything with a handkerchief and tossed it onto the table:

"It seems the era when the gods made these gift boxes was indeed abundant in martial virtues."

Since Priest Augustus had already been rescued, Dorothy and Dr. Schneider did not return to No. 6, Saint Delan Square. But Luviya still needed to install her complex stargazing equipment on the third floor, which nearly turned the purple-eyed girl into a mechanic. Fortunately, due to overtime work during the "Big City Player 1853" period, she could take a few days off recently, so she also had time to come to Shard's place.

She would have to go back to the Association to work after lunch, but the distance was not far.

After breakfast, Luviya arrived. After Shard asked her to take care of Mia, who was reluctant to accompany him to visit the mountains at Midshire Fort, he then handed her a new special currency called the "Standing Coin," which he had purchased from the Circle Sorcerers' black market of Midshire Fort.