Chapter 2376: The Whereabouts of the Star Swordstone

Chapter 2376: Chapter 2376: The Whereabouts of the Star Swordstone

"Guiding Light Hermitage?"

Shard looked up from the thick soup in front of him in surprise:

"I know that group, I’ve got acquaintances there. I’ll go handle the investigation."

"Which means, once again, everything ends up on your shoulders."

Miss Sylvia said softly. Shard didn’t mind at all; he just shook his head, then brought up a new topic:

"Miss Sylvia, did you see Emilia’s Time Flute? The power of that sword is really interesting."

"Interesting it may be, but I don’t have a Time Talent, and I’m not an elf of the Moon Creek Clan. That Relic doesn’t suit me."

She turned to look at Emilia again:

"The power of this sword is far too dangerous for you as well. You’re not Shard; unless it’s absolutely necessary, try not to pull it out of that tree."

Emilia nodded quickly, so Miss Sylvia then looked over at Margaret:

"Besides what Shard asked you to investigate, once you’ve finished handling your daily affairs, don’t forget the task Vanessa entrusted to you. Vanessa has high expectations of you. Now that you’ve become a Witch Apprentice, you must understand that your identity has changed—don’t treat yourself as an ordinary girl. Look at Tifa, Matilda, Rita, and Haley; they’re all the ones you should be chasing after."

"Yes, Teacher Sylvia."

She nodded very seriously, then while Miss Sylvia turned away to talk to Shard, she quickly gave Shard a playful wink.

At lunch, Angelina seemed a little down, but Shard had to focus on dealing with the bowl of strangely flavored thick soup in front of him, so he never found a chance to talk to her.

Fortunately, Margaret still noticed how very uninterested Shard was in that bowl of soup, so she very deftly arranged for the servants to replace Shard’s soup bowl when they continued bringing out dishes.

After lunch, Shard finally did talk with Angelina. The Little Princess and Shard were both sitting on the sofa in the study, and she was clutching the hem of her dress:

"When I first came to Moon Bay I felt really excited, and then eating and playing together with Emilia made life feel very fun. But now it seems like everyone has something they need to do, and only I’m completely useless... Even Little Liana is more useful than I am."

"But Lecia didn’t bring you to Moon Bay so you could go straight to the battlefield like the other girls. She knows you only have the First Ring; she just wants you to experience how dangerous this era is.

In fact, you’re always willing to help everyone with all sorts of chores, and you never put on the airs of a Princess. You don’t complain that the living conditions here aren’t as good as Yordle Palace either. To me that’s already pretty impressive—after all, this is basically your first time traveling far from your parents and sister."

Shard said, but Angelina still didn’t cheer up:

"You’re always so good at comforting people... My sister and Princess Margaret are who I want to become. They’re just incredible."

"But you’re not their age yet."

Shard gently patted Angelina’s shoulder:

"Don’t always envy what others have; why not think more about what you have yourself?"

"I..."

The red-haired Little Princess lowered her head to look herself over, then lightly bit her cherry lips:

"I’m younger than they are."

"Yes, but that’s the sort of thing you can say to me—just make sure you never say it in front of Lecia."

"I know, but I’d rather grow up faster, become able to shoulder responsibility like my sister sooner. Being younger than them isn’t exactly a good thing; I don’t think becoming more mature is bad."

This was probably just a young person’s surplus of confidence. After all, at breakfast Lecia had been at the table discussing "returning to eighteen" with Miss Galina.

"Who said being young has no advantages?"

Shard asked again, and Angelina met his gaze:

"What advantages? Everything my sister can do, I can’t do any of it."

Shard chuckled, watching his own reflection in her eyes:

"When Lecia was your age, she hadn’t met me. But at seventeen, you’re already holding my hand and talking with me."

Angelina’s face flushed in an instant. She pressed her lips together, embarrassed, and turned her eyes away so she wouldn’t look into Shard’s:

"Honestly, that’s something we absolutely can’t let my sister find out. Otherwise she’ll... forget it. Shard, I’m really glad I met you. You’re wonderful."

She suddenly wrapped her arms around Shard’s neck, then kissed him very ardently.

So not long after, Emilia found it very strange how Angelina suddenly became so cheerful.

The two of them were together at the second-floor window, trimming the rapidly growing branches of that potted little tree. Shard greeted them, then went to say goodbye to Margaret and Miss Sylvia, planning to return to Tobesk first.

"Why are you so happy?"

The Elf Girl couldn’t hold back her curiosity, but Angelina just shook her head while laughing, refusing to say a word:

"This is my secret... Can this sword really stop time?"

She looked at the sword stuck in the tree, and Emilia nodded lightly:

"It can, more or less, but I don’t really know how to use it. Oh, and did you know? Shard can pause time on his own. I’m only telling you this, so don’t go spreading it around."

The Little Princess nodded, and both of them lowered their voices:

"My sister mentioned it to me too. Time Pause, huh~ Did Shard use it on you?"

Emilia’s face flushed red at once:

"What are you imagining? He was just testing the power of this sword."

"If you weren’t thinking the same thing as me, how would you know what I’m imagining?"

"Oh, Angelina!"

Meanwhile, Shard, who had temporarily gone home after losing the crystal shoes, originally wanted to go find Old John for a chat, but when he got home he found that although Galina and Dorothy weren’t there, Miss Maid handed him a very thick file folder:

"This was personally delivered around ten in the morning by Chief Dark Anros of MI6."

Only then did Shard realize that the matter of entrusting MI6 to help investigate the cultists’ bank accounts had probably yielded results.

Of course, he didn’t open it right away, and chose to first pay a visit to Old John.

On Sunday afternoon, the Pawnshop didn’t have many customers. When Shard came in, the old man behind the counter was wearing a special monocle magnifier, examining a green gemstone in his hand.

Hearing movement and looking up to see that it was Shard, Old John said in surprise:

"You don’t usually come to me on a Sunday afternoon. Detective, looking to buy something?"

"The Keeper of Secrets Level Relic, [Star Swordstone]. I heard that relic is in your hands."

Shard didn’t beat around the bush, so Old John was even more surprised:

"How do you know it’s with us? Yes, it is indeed here. That relic can enable stable production of a special metal, it’s an important stockpiled material for the Apocalypse, and it’s listed among the more important relics in the Hermit Society’s catalog. You want to buy that?"

"Yes. Is it not for sale?"

"Detective, there’s nothing in this world that’s truly not for sale. If the price is high enough, of course this can be traded too. But what are you going to do with it?"

The old man carefully studied Shard’s expression, and almost without hesitation asked again:

"I know you must be in Moon Bay, so don’t tell me this has something to do with the Chosen One Ceremony."

Telling the truth meant the price would go up or even that the other party wouldn’t sell, but Shard still nodded:

"It’s only suspected, and I’m not The Chosen, don’t misunderstand."

"You really are honest. But since you’re willing to tell the truth, I won’t lie to you either. That relic isn’t in Tobesk, it’s in Moon Bay.

As for the specific terms, I can’t say for sure; it’ll depend on your negotiation with the other party. I’ll give you the address, but the sale of this sort of critical material requires at least three core members of the Hermit Society to sign off. I can sign for you, but you still need to find two other people.

Don’t you have a Spatial Movement method? I’ll give you two more addresses—go find them. They’re all my friends and won’t make things difficult for you."

Shard instead asked:

"Mr. Edmund of Coldwater Port, and Granny Natalie of Green Lake—do they count?"

Old John raised his brows slightly:

"You know them too? That stubborn old codger Edmund actually agreed to make friends?"

But he didn’t dwell on it:

"Of course they count. I’ll write you a letter; you take it to them and they’ll sign directly. Then you take this letter to Moon Bay to find the person there. Whether the deal ultimately goes through still depends on you. But I’m not worried—after all, persuading people is what you’re best at."

He took out stationery and his personal seal to start writing, while Shard asked again:

"You’re agreeing to help me this easily—does the Hermit Society really not care about The Chosen? Right now practically everyone wants The Chosen on their own side."

Old John didn’t even lift his head:

"Who The Chosen is doesn’t matter; what matters is that The Chosen stands on the side that benefits Civilization. You have to understand, Detective, we don’t get to choose The Chosen, so we simply wait patiently. When the matter in Moon Bay is over, if you’re willing to tell me that Chosen One’s story, that will be the best repayment you can give me."

With Old John’s letter in hand, Shard then went to Coldwater Port and Green Lake. Mr. Edmund and Granny Natalie of the Kingfisher Tailor Shop signed their names as soon as they read the letter. Shard’s only concern was the situation in Moon Bay; after all, even though that party belonged to the Guiding Light Hermitage like Old John, Shard didn’t know Moon Bay’s member at all.

Because everything so far went smoothly, Shard was back in Moon Bay before four in the afternoon that day.

The members of the Guiding Light Hermitage all seemed to like running black markets in their places of residence, and the elder Mr. Chekhov whom Shard was going to visit this time was the same. The man lived on Sybil Street in the Lower District in the southern part of Moon Bay; this street lay right beside Herring Street, where Shard had searched for the "Dawn Gem," and the two streets ran perfectly parallel.

Mr. Chekhov ran a used bookstore. In the Lower District a shop like that certainly couldn’t make big money, but it also wouldn’t lack customers. Back when Mr. Coroner Albert introduced Shard to the local black markets, he had mentioned this place as well, but because it was very small in scale, Shard had never come here before.