Chapter 1387: Chapter 1387: Farewell Lunch

Captain Woody also stood with his hands behind his back, blowing the cold wind of late winter, watching the children on the river. He held onto his cane, standing quite steadily:

“No, I think you are the one who can kill Osenfort. Although I dare not seek out the Church, I’ve tried looking for other people over the years to seek revenge on Osenfort. The moment they hear of the Ancient Demon, they all get so scared they never contact me again, but you are different. You may look young, but that arrogance about you is unmatched by anyone else.”

“Arrogance?”

Shard chuckled:

“Give me the photographs and letters, and I’ll deal with Osenfort. If possible, I can also try to handle your issue.”

At that time, I can have the doctor come over for a look, Dr. Schneider definitely won’t mind taking on one more target.

“Photographs and letters… Rescue that child, and I’ll give them to you.”

The old man said.

“What?”

Shard raised an eyebrow, then saw that Captain Woody’s eyes were watching the children on the ice, counting down from his mouth:

“Three, two, one.”

As his voice fell, with a very slight crack sound, one of the boys fell straight into a hole in the ice. This wasn’t a trick by the captain; it should also be a power he obtained from the demon, knowing who would fall into the water:

“Oh, I just told them earlier not to play casually on the ice!”

Worried that the hole in the ice might expand further, the other children wanted to save their friend but dared not approach the hole. And Shard, at this time, had already run over, instructing the children not to gather around, then stamping down to crumble a larger area of the ice, making the hole big enough for himself to pass through, and then deftly jumped in.

A few bubbles rose to the surface, then there was no more movement, while the slightly older child quickly ran to the village to find adults. When the people from the village across the river came with floating objects and ropes, Shard had already transferred the boy to the shore with the man leading a donkey, whom he had met earlier at the mill door, and the experienced Captain Woody was administering first aid.

Fortunately, Shard acted quickly at the time, and the boy hadn’t stayed underwater for too long. Thus, after coughing a few times, spitting out several mouthfuls of water, he regained consciousness.

The villagers happily gathered around. The boy’s mother, a petite woman still holding a spatula in her right hand, hugged him and cried loudly.

Soggy Shard and Captain Woody squeezed out of the crowd together and then walked back towards the manor:

“I didn’t expect you to agree to give me those letters and photos, with only such a request… Is this considered kindness? To make up for the wrongs you’ve done in your life?”

Shard asked, but the old captain shook his head:

“I possess knowledge of whether someone will drown in the near future, and seeing it means it’s inevitable. Only in very rare cases, and with people of extremely high abilities, can that death I foresaw be reversed. So far, I’ve only encountered this situation twice: once with a priest accompanying the New World Frontier Legion, who performed Water Walking to save a drowning soldier; the second time a mermaid with glowing scales, dragged a drowning girl onto a reef. And you’re the third one.”

“Do you trust my abilities now?”

“Yes, you can take the letters and photos. If you kill Osenfort, please burn those parchments. There’s no need for them to exist any longer.”

The crowd by the river was still noisily clamoring, the boy’s mother hugging him and preparing to return with the group, the boy needing to dry himself quickly to prevent catching a cold and getting sick; in this era, colds and fevers were quite dangerous. Of course, people didn’t forget to loudly thank the old captain, who was already far away, as well as the unknown young man. The old captain didn’t turn around, just raised his hand and waved it towards his back.

The ice breaking earlier wasn’t due to the children’s jumping, but because the temperature was no longer sufficient to support the ice layer’s thickness at its fragile spots. The temperature was slowly rising, and the snow covering Randall Valley all winter showed signs of melting.

Spring is probably really coming.

Completely soaked, Shard, after acquiring the letters and photos, hurriedly took a carriage back to the Church of the Forgotten and then returned home. The driver who took him was curious about what Shard was doing, to which Shard replied that he went to catch fish in the river.

At home, he took a good hot bath, then dressed in pajamas, sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace holding Mia, and under the light of the fire, started examining the photographs and letters.

Although the old captain had withheld them, they were still preserved quite well. In the black-and-white photos, Ston and Haila, taking pictures together, looked rather young. Ston Osenfort appeared tense, while Haila Watson was smiling brightly, and their expressions were entirely different from how Shard knew them.

There were three photos in total: one was a group photo taken in a studio, one taken on a ship, and a solo photo of Haila Osenfort. There were five letters in total, all from the Common Era Calendar of 1847. That year, Ston Osenfort was still on the ship but had already obtained the information on demon summoning, and the old captain had already suspected the thief was Osenfort.

Shard arranged the letters in chronological order and read them one by one. The five letters were written between April and July of that year, Mrs. Haila’s handwriting was quite beautiful, and in her letters, she looked forward to meeting again when the ship would dock, to a beautiful love and future life.

She mentioned in her letters that Ston Osenfort seemed to have told her before that he recently found a way to make a fortune and would soon have enough money to buy back his family’s old house and get her merchant father to agree to their wedding. Haila expressed in her letters great concern over this, suspecting Ston Osenfort was heading down a dark path, and thus urged him not to take risks.

[…Over the years, I’ve saved a small amount of money for myself, and when we do get married, you can use this money if needed…]

That’s what she said in her letter, and Shard therefore understood why the Old Stonemason from the Stonemason Guild and Captain Woody both thought she loved him deeply.

Given the current situation, it’s hard to say what exactly the source of the tragedy is. It was only when Shard put away the last letter and looked at the fireplace flames that he vaguely saw a large fire erupting in Randall Valley City, with countless souls wailing within it:

“No one is truly pitiable.”

At eleven thirty in the morning, the knocking on the door downstairs signified that Iluna had arrived.

Shard changed out of his pajamas and was already prepared to go out, so he went downstairs with Mia to welcome Iluna:

“Good afternoon, you’re right on time. I booked a restaurant yesterday, would you like to come in and rest for a bit, or shall we go straight to lunch?”

Shard asked.

Iluna, seemingly wearing light makeup, stood somewhat awkwardly outside the door, observing Shard’s attire with a smile on her face:

“Let’s go straight to lunch, we can chat at the table. Oh, I’m leaving in the evening, so there’s no rush.”

“Alright, I’ll tell you the story I learned today.”

Shard then picked up the cat by his feet to head out, while “she” whispered in his ear as a reminder:

[Compliment her.]

“I forgot to mention earlier, Iluna, you look truly beautiful today.”

Shard said with a smile, causing Iluna to blush slightly as she turned and walked down the steps, waiting for Shard to lock up.

However, before Shard managed to change his shoes, he felt the badge on his chest start to heat up. As expected, when he walked out, Miss Galina’s carriage was parked at the entrance of No. 6, Saint Delan Square, with Tifa poking her head out of the window:

“Good afternoon, Shard, good afternoon, Miss Beyas.”

Iluna suddenly had a bad premonition, while the elegant Miss Maid had already opened the carriage door:

“The lady knew Miss Beyas was leaving today, so she invites you to her place for lunch. The meal is already prepared, and the lady is waiting for you.”

The seventeen-year-old girl’s face showed a hint of displeasure, yet she couldn’t express her anger toward the maid in front of her because Tifa hadn’t done anything wrong.

So Iluna turned to look at Shard, her emotions clearly written on her face without needing to speak.

“Tifa, I’ve already made a restaurant reservation.”

Shard said, showing an apologetic expression to Tifa, yet the maid’s face still bore a smile:

“The lady said she wants to give Miss Beyas some items to assist her in the actions at Randall Valley.”

Hence, Iluna unhappily boarded the carriage, heading to the estate outside the city with Tifa and Shard. Upon arriving at the estate, the sumptuous lunch had indeed been prepared in the dining room.

Miss Galina sat at the main seat at the end of the dining table, with Shard on her left and Iluna on her right.

Actually, Iluna had specifically come to the estate yesterday to inform Miss Galina about going to Randall Valley, so she thought the duchess was deliberately ruining her date.

But in fact, Miss Galina did have something to discuss.

Seeing Shard wrestling with his cat to prevent it from peeking at the newly served steak, with no time to join the conversation, Miss Galina spoke to Iluna:

“Beyas, as for the situation in Randall Valley, Shard should have told you everything clearly. This time is different from before; I expect to go to Randall Valley around next weekend. Before that, there are things you need to do, things for the Witch Council.”

“Miss Galina, how do you plan to go?”

Shard asked while confining the cat with his arms.

“Sylvia will open the way.”

The red-haired witch tersely said:

“Ever since she invented that thing and obtained the Enlightenment – [Weaving] Spirit Rune, her Spatial Power has also strengthened. Sylvia will go to Randall Valley ahead of time and, together with Benanis, will hold a large-scale ritual to open a spatial passage directly for us to travel through.”