Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 161 Intelligence and Compensation

shard stepped out the door without caring whether baron hurl followed immediately. he walked down the corridor, and at the corner, he found miss beath, the young lady with brown hair, who asked expectantly:

"how did it go?"

"no problems. hide quickly, he's about to come."

shard said, and then complained:

"conversations between nobles and merchants are so troublesome. when they talk, it seems like each word has three meanings hidden in it."

"you've worked hard. detective, what reason did you use to lure baron hurl out?"

miss beath asked curiously, as if she were learning.

"i didn't use a reason, just gave him a meaningful look. for such a man, i don't believe he wouldn't be curious about the meaning behind that look. he definitely couldn't have imagined being attacked in the duke's mansion, so he would naturally be curious and follow. it's human nature."

shard explained simply, then mentally counted to three... in fact, he counted twice, and sure enough, they heard the faint sound of footsteps from the other side of the corridor.

miss beath cast an admiring look at the young detective.

what followed was easy. shard witnessed for the first time the "interrogation techniques" in an era where steam and mystery coexisted.

first, as baron hurl turned the corner out of curiosity, miss beath punched him in the face.

then, they sneakily dragged the unconscious baron to the broom closet on the third floor, which miss beath had reconnoitered in advance.

finally, miss beath tied up the baron with rope found in the closet, gagged him with a cloth, stuffed him into the broom cabinet, and shoved pen and paper into his hands. after confirming there was no light in the closet that could reveal her appearance, she woke him up using rather rough methods.

the pretty girl in a maid's outfit, with her brown hair, held a sharp dinner knife stolen from the salon to the baron's throat:

"i ask, you write the answers. if you don't cooperate, you die."

she pretended to speak menacingly.

the baron's eyes widened, and after struggling and realizing he was tied up, he began kicking his legs. but feeling the cold threat against his neck, he had no choice but to calm down. being gagged, all he could make was muffled noises.

the broom closet was dark, and the baron could barely make out another person in the room besides the woman speaking.

but before he could cry for help, the other person also spoke:

"mi6, you know what happens if you don't cooperate."

shard said in a deliberately rough and deep voice, keeping it very low.

baron hurl's heart sank instantly, knowing full well how vicious these people could be. then he felt the knife at his neck tremble slightly, nearly causing a cut. he nodded immediately without any hesitation.

in reality, the trembling of the knife was simply because miss beath could barely suppress a laugh at shard's "lie," surprised that the young detective was so bold.

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the hands released him, and as they turned around, what he saw was indeed the young female sorcerer from the sun church.

the young lady was still wearing her elaborate maid dress, hands clasped in front of her, a very standard maid stance.

iluna beath stood in the shadows, smiling at shard:

"detective, good evening. i just ran back to return the 'beast tamer's memory erasure rod' to its rightful place. i'm here to reward you, you've helped me again tonight, and i certainly won't shortchange a friend."

"actually, you could have come to see me tomorrow at my place. also, why haven't you changed? that outfit is quite noticeable in public."

shard pointed this out, standing in the alley's shadows alongside miss beyas.

"i don't like to owe friends. as for the dress, i bought it along with the maid shift i took over; the original maid seemed to want to make a bit of money off me... i can only change back into my clothes once i'm home. detective, thank you for your help tonight, how much would you like for your reward?"

as she spoke, she took out her purse. these uniforms had pockets, as maids often needed to carry many items.

"we can discuss the reward later, what i'm curious about is what did you find out?"

shard had been absent for the latter half of the "interrogation," and the information could possibly help dr. schneider in the search for the 'forged philosopher's stone'.

"i can't tell you that, this information involves the circle sorcerer and i can't drag you into this so easily. detective, curiosity killed the cat, and it can kill people too."

miss beyas kindly declined shard's inquiry, then jingled her purse:

"detective, how much money do you want? i may not be very wealthy, but i still have some money... though not a lot, actually."

shard was familiar with the tone used to add that last sentence. in this world, he often spoke like that himself.

as she continued, she held her purse, looking towards shard. shard blinked; he understood that she truly considered him a friend:

"should i tell her that i am..."

suddenly, he became alert in his heart, and almost immediately afterward, miss beyas, who was right behind him, also turned to look towards the mouth of the alley. a man stood there under the street lamp, where the originally warm gas light grew cold and dimmed in his presence, as if a tombstone had been erected right underneath it.

"detective, take a step back."

miss beyas instantly put shard behind her and took several serious steps forward.

the man under the street lamp raised his head, his pale face reminding shard of a corpse.

"circle sorcerer or humanoid relic?"

he asked himself, and immediately whispers rose in his ears:

[circle sorcerer, a whisper element is detected, he is making use of the relic's power.]