Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 184 Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

In the bustling crowd attending and watching the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Shard and Madam Cook stood out like sore thumbs. They planted themselves firmly and parted the stream of people, with Shard holding his breath to distinguish the voices around him. This required not only differentiating from the background noise of ten minutes ago but also from the current ambient sounds.

After all, listening to the past voices did not completely block out the present sounds.

"This way."

The timid voice of a boy asking if he could leave was barely audible, followed by the gentle comforting words from a woman. Shard, with a stern expression, gestured to Madam Cook, who instinctively followed over through the numbing shock of middle age.

The two of them squeezed through the crowd, heading east along the tree-lined path to the east side of Tobesk Station.

After crossing the tree-lined path and heading north, they reached the slum area near the station, which provided cheap labor like porters to the station.

With fewer pedestrians around, Shard was glad he hadn't lost track. But as he continued forward, he was surprised to hear someone calling his name. It took him a moment to realize it wasn't a voice from ten minutes ago; it was happening right now.

As he turned his head to look across the street, he saw Captain Lades waving as he approached. After a week without seeing him, the captain seemed much more spirited, dressed appropriately and no longer bearing the untidiness typical of a drunkard.

"That's my friend, explain the situation to him," Shard rapidly instructed Madam Cook before continuing to listen for sounds and moving forward.

In explaining how he could discover clues, Shard had asked passersby multiple questions along the way while keeping Madam Cook at a distance so that she only saw his silhouette, in truth, Shard had talked to nobody.

If he lost the direction of the sound, it would be almost impossible to find it again, so he had no time for pleasantries with an acquaintance.

The military bearing of Captain Lades was especially noticeable now that he had emerged from his dejected state. Madam Cook, already clueless in following Shard, was now seeing Captain Lades approach and followed the detective's lead, briefly explaining how the kind detective was helping her find her lost child.

"The child is lost? This is a serious matter!"

Alarmed, the captain, seeing the detective looking around for clues, decided to follow them:

"Detective, I will help too, I have nothing pressing today. Do you have any clues now?"

"Walk this way!"

Shard pointed ahead, his serious demeanor made the captain, who was unaware of the prior events, believe he had important clues in hand.

Stopping and starting, they wound up making a large circle around Tobesk Station, and the crowd coming to see the spectacle grew. With Queen Diana—a representative of the Royal Family—set to arrive soon, the police were already blocking off parts of the streets, which also heightened Shard's sense of urgency:

"Why haven't they stopped yet? Could they know they're being followed?"

Their current location on West Street of Tobesk Station was a main stop for rented carriages. Similarly, the area's alleyways interconnected with the many streets nearby.

Every time they passed an alley entrance, Madam Cook and Captain Lades following behind would glance inside.

The plump woman immediately turned and ran towards the left side of the station entrance, not giving Shard any chance to ask the police for help unless he was willing to take a detour and waste time.

"I must catch you!"

Shard followed and turned left at the street corner, no longer wasting his energy shouting. He continued running forward, slipping through the gaps created by the stream of people along the wall.

After running just a few dozen steps, he accidentally bumped into a nervous middle-aged man pressed against the wall. Shard quickly apologized and darted forward, while the serious middle-aged man, with his hands stuffed in his pockets, watched Shard's retreating figure and then turned his attention back to pushing through the crowd towards the front.

From a distance down the road, even more chaotic sounds emerged as police cleared the way and the Royal Guard escorted a carriage adorned with the Cavendish Royalty crest, slowly approaching.

People along the street showed their respect to the dignified lady inside the carriage. The car window opened, and the face of Queen Diana, often seen in newspapers, appeared. Her makeup was not overdone, and the woman in her thirties wore a silver crown and greeted the citizens with a genial smile as she waved her hand.

It seemed there were others sitting beside her.

The cheering and shouting around further congested and complicated the street. The festive atmosphere peaked, as the crowd pressed from the sidewalk towards the center of the street, forcing the police from Riddlevitch Field and the Royal Guard to assign even more manpower to prevent anyone from getting close to the carriage.

The plump woman running ahead was the first to spot the approaching procession. She glanced back at the relentlessly pursuing detective, whose face was contorted with focus, then clenched her teeth and dashed towards the procession. However, she didn't approach it; instead, she crossed directly in front of it from one side of the street to the other.

By the time Shard also wanted to cross the street in the same way, the policemen clearing the path in their uniforms had already blocked off the street to allow the procession to proceed, forming a human wall that prevented anyone from crossing from the curbside.

At that time, Shard was only twenty steps away from the street corner behind him, visible from the entrance of Tobesk Station.

"I dare to bet even on luck, do you think I would lack such courage?"

He thought to himself, stopping in his tracks, preparing to squeeze through the human wall and dash across the street before the procession arrived and without the police noticing.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged man whom Shard had bumped into a few seconds ago had already pushed his way to the front of the crowd. He frowned as he watched the approaching procession, touched his black gentleman's soft hat with his left hand, while his right hand, stuck inside the pocket of his coat, did not move.

From the Tobesk Station behind him, a group of passengers who had just arrived at the station poured out. The ones freely entering and leaving the ribbon-cutting ceremony site were naturally from the True God Church, with Miss Beyas and her companions escorting a middle-aged man carrying a briefcase.

Dr. Schneider, curious onlooker in the crowd, started chatting with friends he knew, appearing at the street corner behind Shard.

Miss Galina sat beside Queen Diana, looking out the window at the procession with bored interest.

Captain Lades, from the other side of the street behind the crowd, made a lunging gesture forwards.

Mr. Dark Anlos, Detective's nominal superior and head of MI6, blended in among the crowd observing the nearby situation.

The carriage came closer and closer to the street corner in front of Tobesk Station, the noise of wheels and hooves drowned out by the seemingly explosive cheers. The prepared flocks of pigeons were released at the intersection, flying in sheets over the heads of the people, creating moving shadows.

The fog lingered still, but the dim and gloomy sky could not prevent the citizens of Tobesk from all walks of life from shouting and rejoicing.