Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic
Chapter 957 - 957: Astonishing Profits

Keeping that small piece of vine fragment, Shard officially stepped into the second riverside stone wall cave he discovered.

This cave was obviously different from the first one. Upon entering, he saw a standard square space, with stone walls polished to be quite smooth. Displayed in the darkness were a painted mahogany desk, a four-poster bed with soft cushions, a wardrobe with metal handles, and special kerosene lamp brackets on the walls, with even hand-painted patterns on the glass shades of the lamps.

The shelves seemed to be wooden antiques, filled with various labeled containers. On the bedside table, there was even a brass-colored kerosene lamp with a lotus leaf design, which was quite upscale even as of 1853:

"Found it, looks like this is the place."

The dim yellow sun outside the river was about to completely sink beneath the city, with fog obscuring everything on the river. Shard didn't deal with that conspicuous cave entrance but extended his finger:

"Silvermoon."

After the soft call, the moonlight at his fingertips illuminated the "safe house." Shard still remembered agreeing to have dinner with Luviya tonight, so he feared he needed to move quickly.

Halder Undiba left here for the last time over a decade ago, not expecting never to return, therefore the value of the safe house by the riverside gave quite a surprise to an outlander who had searched for decades.

Just in terms of currency, he found no less than 300 Gold Pounds and 50 Krone in cash rummaging through the desk drawers, as for the coins in the cookie tin and the bottom of the cabinet, he didn't bother to count.

Apart from the currency, all the spellcasting materials had rotted due to lack of maintenance. After using the "Key of the Door" to open the cabinet lock, the stench almost made Shard think the other side had set a poison gas trap again.

There were no diaries or letters in the drawers of the desk. The surface of the desk was tidied up very neatly, with a fountain pen, an oil lamp, and a folded map of Huntington City placed on it. But in the locked bedside cabinet, there were three books wrapped in velvet, meticulously preserved.

Shard sat on the bed with a soft mattress, imagining Halder Undiba here decades ago, reading under the kerosene lamp.

Upon unwrapping the cloths, the first book had no cover but the first page was handwritten in Casenric Language, titled "Dark Crawler". After flipping a few pages, Shard confirmed it was written in the Fifth Era's Dicamon letters, a mysticism book related to "Snake".

There were some papers tucked between the pages, with scribbly handwriting detailing the formulas for a magic potion "Viper's Speech" which could allow communication with snakes upon consumption, a "Cold Blood Potion" that could decrease the blood temperature, and a special snake venom "Undiba Snake Venom". The last one seemed to be an invention by Halder Undiba himself. Unfortunately, Shard wasn't adept at preparing magic potions, but Priest Augustus might be interested:

"This book is quite valuable, but it's a pity that the Spirit Rune for 'Snake' doesn't align with my system, but it should fetch a good price."

The cover of the second book was inscribed in Casenric Language with "Mystery of Pantanal", but it wasn't a book documenting mystical knowledge. It was a popular science book, as mentioned by Mr. Benhart, written and published by the Pantanal Voodoo Society to introduce the Great Swamp and the modern changes of the original beliefs in the Great Swamp area, intended to expand the influence of their society and the original beliefs of Pantanal.

This book showed signs of frequent browsing, with many annotations and explanations made in handwriting similar to the magic potion formulas. The Circle Sorcerer was a firm believer in "Pantanal Regionalism".

"The folklore book is quite interesting, could be taken home as a bedtime read. I wonder if Mr. Edmund from Coldwater Port would find this of interest, although his folkloric research focuses on ocean folklore."

The third book was again written in the Sixth Era's Casenric Language, titled "Huntington Folklore Studies". Upon opening it, it was confirmed as a print from 1840.

"Hmm? I think I've heard of this book."

Shard flipped directly to the last page, finding indeed Professor Drake listed second among the compilers. Then, as he flipped through the book again, an old photograph slipped out:

"This is..."

The black and white photo showed two people standing together. The photo seemed to be taken at a village entrance inside the Pantanal Swamp, as evidenced by the muddy ground and low adobe houses in the background.

The man on the left in the photo was tall, with rough skin, sunken eyes, and strange tattoos on his exposed neck. Although the black and white photo couldn't discern the colors of the tattoos, both his appearance and the tattoos matched Father Nobel's description of "Halder Undiba".

The man on the right in the photo wore exploration gear with dozens of pockets, with a hat with strings on his head, and holding an iron pick in his right hand.

Both were smiling at the camera, and the latter was an elderly man. Although he could stand on both legs, Shard still recognized who it was:

"Professor Kansas Drake?"

The professor in the photo, though younger than now, seemed to be from a few decades ago based on the wrinkles on his face, not a photo from an even earlier era.

"Professor Drake actually knows a Circle Sorcerer from the Pantanal Voodoo Society?"

Shard raised an eyebrow.

He was quite certain that Professor Drake himself was unaware of this encounter rather than intentionally hiding it. The professor had never mentioned having such a friend, and the correspondence checked by Shard also did not include any letters with "Halder Undiba".

Turning the photo over, a line of text was written on the yellowed background:

[May we walk together on the path of exploring knowledge and history.]

The letters were elegant and carefree, Shard recognized it as resembling Professor Drake's handwriting.

"The Lake Goddess erased all connections between the professor and Circle Sorcerer Halder Undiba. The professor doesn't remember, the church couldn't trace it, and the Pantanal Voodoo Society is unaware. Father Nobel mentioned that the date of Halder Undiba's capture and killing by the church was the day after Professor Drake wrote to Professor Manning, two days before Professor Drake set off to seek the Lake Goddess. Hmm... I've got a few things figured out."

He set the photo aside and checked "Huntington Folklore Studies" again. This time he found a sentence on the front page, which was also in Professor Drake's handwriting—

[To my dear friend, may you find more knowledge in the realm of folklore studies.]

The blue-black ink had faded a bit, but the handwriting was so vivid that Shard didn't know what to say:

"Interesting, more intriguing than I thought."

After searching the desk, cabinet, and bedside table, Shard knocked on the walls and indeed found a hidden compartment.

"What could it be this time?"

By violently breaking the wall, he discovered a small box filled with jewels inside the compartment.

Opening the box, it was as if light emanated directly from within. Sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and diamonds covered the bottom of the box, gold and silver bracelets, earrings, rings piled together, antique coins, and scattered diamonds wedged between the jewelry.

With a clatter, Shard dumped everything from the box onto the bed. The precious metals and gemstones spilled, scattered over the yellowed sheets. Shard shuffled through them with his fingers, disappointed that they were all ordinary items:

"This person actually hid money in the hidden compartment instead of a relic?"

Fortunately, one of the coins had a reaction to the Whisper Element, confirming it as a relic, but Shard didn't know its Trait. Undiba likely didn't recognize what it was; otherwise, he wouldn't have left it here.

Apart from these items, underneath the bed, Shard found a small iron box containing a handgun and a few bullets engraved with runes; in a false bottom of the bedside table, there was a parchment roll inscribed with the ritual for learning Arcane Technique -[Swamp Chameleon]; on the wall hung an empty picture frame with a piece of paper attached to the back, written with a prayer praising the "God of Pantanal," which unfortunately burned upon Shard's touch.

No relics were contained in this safehouse by Undiba; it seemed to be merely a temporary residence and a place to store wealth. Shard believed the Circle Sorcerer, who died over a decade ago, certainly had other safehouses in the city hiding books and letters, but this time Shard really couldn't find them.

"So, on today's trip to Huntington, I threatened a rat, learned that Professor Drake knew the former holder of the Arrow of Knowledge of Aikenora, and made a fortune, but still didn't touch the absolute truth."

Shard sat at the edge of the bed, looking at the box of jewels:

"I thought I would be able to find that Sage-Level Relic directly."

[Isn't that a bit greedy? At least you're only one step away from discovering the truth and completing the 'Cherub's Second Trial.']

"She" asked with a light chuckle.

Shard's fingers shuffled through the box of gemstones, listening to their pleasant clinking and clattering. Shard had heard from Lecia that noble ladies all had special boxes for their jewels and jewelry, and he hadn't expected a middle-aged man from the Great Swamp area to have one too.

Shard picked out an oval purple gemstone and tossed it a few times, the moonlight on his fingertips making it shine brilliantly:

"Tomorrow morning, I need to meet someone from the Apna Library, attend a book club on Wednesday, and prepare to catch that dastardly thief. I don't have time to waste more time in Huntington, this winter, I intend to focus mainly on Tobesk."

He stood up to pack away the coins, books, and parchment rolls he found, preparing to leave. He didn't plan to touch other things in this safehouse, like those expired magic potions.

Outside the cave, the stone wall by the riverbank restored itself with the use of Arcane Technique.

Shard looked up at the night sky, the heavy box of jewels in his hand not bringing as much joy as he imagined:

"Tomorrow, I'll show the photo to the professor and hope he remembers something. As for this box of jewels..."

This was probably his most profitable venture in one go, besides venturing deep into ruins and slaying Silver-Eyed Ones. Moreover, this time he didn't even have to lift a finger against anyone.

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