Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1989: The Witches’ Nighttime Conversation

Even in the current "Trinity" special state, the girl with red-gold hair unexpectedly discovered that her power was still no match for Shard in his normal state.

"Why do you have such a large tattoo of butterfly wings on your back?"

The gorgeous butterfly tattoo was certainly eye-catching, but it didn’t match the temperament of Lecia and Dorothy. Neither the intellectual and graceful female author nor the princess from the royalty had such tattoos on their backs.

He thought of a terrifying possibility and incredulously raised his hand to press on the tattoo. The girls, who were engaged in a heated discussion in their hearts, only felt themselves shiver:

"Hmm... this is a normal phenomenon in our fused state. Yes, that’s exactly it... there’s not enough time, oh, let me dress myself!"

With that, she snatched the clothes from Shard’s hands and slapped them onto herself, the clothes seeming to come to life and automatically dressing her.

She almost jumped out of bed, then staggered and almost fell, but quickly put on her shoes, not forgetting to say goodbye to Shard:

"Knight, tonight was really nice, you should rest soon too, goodnight, sweet dreams."

With that, she raised her hand to cut a piece of the bedsheet, then grabbing the fabric, transformed into a flurry of red butterflies and flew out. As she passed Luviya, who was holding a teacup in the corridor, Luviya looked back in surprise:

"Shard... not Shard, it’s them. Why are they running so fast, could it be that Shard wouldn’t let them leave?"

Saying this, she also looked at the half-opened door.

Shard in the bedroom certainly didn’t chase after them; he stared dumbfounded at the open bedroom door:

"Wait, who was I just with... it wasn’t just them?"

He didn’t dare to think further, and in his panic, he asked in his heart:

"Why didn’t you remind me just now... I mean, you should be able to sense who it was just now."

"Her" laughter was still so gentle:

[Regarding your first question, you told me long ago that I shouldn’t suddenly speak up at times like this.]

One part was to prevent being startled, another part was to make oneself a bit more complete.

[As for your second question, do you really want to know the answer now? Besides, weren’t you happy before you got the answer?]

Shard opened his mouth:

"Aren’t you telling me the answer by answering like this?"

"She" continued laughing beside Shard’s ear, as gentle as the moonlight illuminating Shard’s side profile at this moment.

Suddenly, Shard felt a gaze full of strong emotions watching him. He quickly turned his head, his eyes skimming past the unimportant wardrobe, and saw the glowing eyes of the cat in the darkness:

"Meow~"

"It’s not even midnight yet... would you like a midnight snack?"

"Meow~"

Cats are indeed much easier to understand than the girls.

[Is the cat girl in between them?]

"What a strange thought that is."

Shard, after calming his inner panic, got dressed, then got off the bed, opened the window, and picked up Mia:

"Also, what is a cat girl?"

"Meow~"

"She" just laughed, and although the laughter was pleasant, Shard really couldn’t figure out what it meant.

Upon leaving the room and entering the corridor, he happened to see Luviya leaning against the wall with a teacup, smirking as if waiting for Shard:

"Let’s go have a midnight snack, you must be hungry too..."

Her purple eyes definitely had a teasing smile:

"Tell me, Shard, how does it feel? You did something that hasn’t been done for thousands of years... do you need me to praise you?"

"Actually, your current normal reaction should be crying and pounding me, or taking Mia away and saying that after we part, everything including the house and cat would be yours, and all the debts would be mine."

"What strange things are you talking about? Also, have you once again assumed the client’s cat is your own?"

Her face was still full of an uncontrollable smile.

Even though it was close to midnight, most of the girls in the inn on Green Island hadn’t gone to rest yet.

The kitchen was now taken over by the maids led by Tifa, so there was no need to go to the city’s inn for a midnight snack. When Shard and Luviya went to the first floor, Miss Galina, Miss Benanis, Miss Sylvia, and Miss Aphrola were sitting together talking.

The bonfire burned brightly in the center of the first floor, but didn’t lick the ceiling or produce black smoke. The atmosphere seemed very nice, and the Grand Witches invited Shard and the two to sit down.

"Granny Cassandra has already gone to bed. Megan and Audrey just went out with Delphine to the top of that giant tree to check the situation at the sky’s boundary."

Miss Benanis said they were sitting at a long table, just enough for six people to sit around. Shard and Luviya sat together, with Miss Galina on Shard’s other side and Miss Sylvia on Luviya’s other side.

The maids had prepared fruits, cheese, freshly baked cookies, and black tea for the night snack. Shard didn’t see any escapee "Red Butterfly" there, and the witches also seemed to have missed them. Pushing aside his strange feelings, he asked about the travel plans of the Grand Witches.

Miss Galina would be the first to leave:

"I’ll leave as soon as Angelina is confirmed to have awakened."

Saying that, she glanced upstairs with a peculiar expression, which Shard didn’t understand.

"It’s probably a matter of one or two days. During that time, I’ll be on the island handling some tasks. We will meet in Tobesk soon, Shard. Oh, thinking about returning to Tobesk and having to give a report to Kingdom Parliament and deliver a public speech gives me a headache."

"Galina, you’re already quite free. Shard, you saw Margaret at the birthday party earlier, guess where she is now?"

Miss Sylvia asked, watching Shard feed the beautiful cat with cream finger cookies:

"Two hours ago, I directly opened a portal to send her to the return train. Galina has autonomy, but Margaret does not. Counting the time, she should be staying up writing reports in the train compartment now."

With a laugh:

"Margaret wanted to say goodbye to you, but Galina told her not to go, unless she wanted to fight Princess Lecia."

The ladies at the table covered their mouths and giggled.

"Miss Benanis, I’m returning to Velindale City with Sylvia next week."

Miss Benanis said:

"The last performance of the Golden Dawn Opera Group is scheduled for Sunday, and it’s already planned, impossible to change."

With that, she rested her face on her hand, looking at Shard, yet not a trace of sadness was on her face:

"Ciris originally planned to go directly to Tobesk with the troupe after spring this year. But due to Anjou Royal Family’s invitation and Margaret becoming my apprentice, we went to Velindale first. Now that things are settled, we can probably reach Tobesk by summer."

"Really? Oh, the Golden Dawn Opera Group hasn’t been to Tobesk in years. If you’re going, let me know in advance, and I’ll send an invitation letter. It would demonstrate that there’s still friendship between the two countries in these tumultuous times."

Miss Galina said, and Miss Benanis nodded with a smile.

"What about Miss Aphrola?"

Shard asked again, and the witch with long, wavy brown hair thought for a moment:

"I might stay a bit longer. Megan and Audrey are handling Green Island’s affairs and need manpower assistance. I’ve asked Haley to go back and handle my business. I might leave next month. Megan and Audrey might stay even longer, I heard them talking this afternoon about potentially relocating ’Paradise Island Pharmaceuticals’ headquarters there, which would ease the development of the real island."

"It’s a good idea. The waterways here are quite developed, and being at the border between two countries facilitates business from north to south. Except for being some distance from the West Coast, which is a slight disadvantage for expanding New World business, it has almost no drawbacks."

Miss Sylvia commented.

"Then, Green Island truly becomes Paradise Island."

Luviya said:

"Do you think Megan and Audrey named their business ’Paradise Island’ with the thought of one day returning home?"

"It should be a remembrance of the homeland that exists only in her father’s words. Although she herself has little sense of belonging to the family, she originates from this island."

Shard said, looking at the witches sitting in a circle:

"Time flies, from the first time I came to the Green Lake Region to now, it’s only been two months. Who knows when we’ll sit down to talk again."

"At the current progress, it might be when summer arrives."

Luviya said, and the other four Grand Witches nodded and smiled. Miss Galina even said:

"Once everything is over, I mean when everything is truly over and the epic of the ’Whispering Verses’ is fully completed, I want to invite everyone to my palace in the County of Saradiel for a banquet. That place is definitely more lively than here."

"Are you complaining that this place is shabby?"

Miss Aphrola asked on behalf of the absent host Megan and Audrey, laughing herself:

"Yes, that day will come, and we are all waiting for it."

Everyone drank tea and ate pastries, after a while, Shard thought of another matter:

"Speaking of which, there’s another thing I want to ask for your help."

He took out his deck of cards from his pocket and flipped the first card, the Angel-Level Relic [Poetry Cards], face up on the table.

Except for the cat eating the food, everyone else looked at it.

The card surface was blank at that time, indicating the relic was not yet activated.

"That Angel-Level Relic? He gave this to you too? I find it really hard to evaluate Laplace Howard."

Miss Aphrola said cautiously, and Shard nodded:

"I want to use this to call the Ancient Witch and inquire about... the future of the world."