Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Hearing the fat chef's demand, Shard furrowed his brow and looked at the money collector, who was known as "Mr. Nett," and the latter shook his head:

"This is a matter between you two, the club won't stop him from leaving, but you have to convince Fat Jack."

"I've got no money left."

Shard pulled out the pockets on either side of his coat, which indeed held nothing but a keychain and a notebook because his money was in the inside pocket:

"I didn't expect he could owe so much money."

Little Franklin had already stood up, his head lowered, silent beside Shard. Although he had caused some trouble, he knew that now he had to rely on this man, who didn't seem much older than himself, to leave.

"No money?"

With a huff, the fat chef bent down to pick up the four scattered Roder cards from the floor and showed them to Shard, which were the Sun 1, Sun 8, Stars 13, and the Emperor.

The Emperor and the Empress are independent cards outside the four suits, somewhat similar to the jokers in Shard's world, but they play a very interesting role in the Roder card game similar to "Blackjack."

"Draw one from these four. If you draw the Emperor, you take him. If not, he leaves all his clothes, and you leave your coat."

Saying this in a muffled tone, the fat chef began to shuffle the cards behind his back. Then with hands bearing the imprint of bloodied teeth, he held the four cards, fanned out with their backs facing forward:

"Don't say I'm a bad person; it was he who bit me."

He said grumpily, indicating for Shard to hurry up and draw.

Shard blinked and stopped Little Franklin who was trying to reach out:

"If you're lucky enough, you won't need me to redeem you here."

As he spoke, the Ring of Fate in his spirit slowly turned, the spirit activating elements, elements influencing reality. A subtle hint of red traced his right eye, the Echo of Blood allowing the bloodstains to reflect in Shard's eyes.

The world in his eyes changed, with everything taking on a wonderful glimmer. Even though Little Franklin had only sprayed a little blood onto the cards, and only on the front, the sorcery of the "Echo of Blood" still allowed Shard to see the faint red traces in the air, to see the different red mist glows around the four cards in the chef's hand.

He had already seen that the "Emperor" card had the highest amount of blood on it, so he knew almost immediately which card he needed to draw—the second one from the left.

"Is this considered bullying? Becoming a Circle Sorcerer and doing this, it's not right."

He thought absent-mindedly, examining his own morals and values.

Then he reached out with his finger, touching the card farthest to the right. His eyes, however, didn't look at the backs of the cards, but stared intently at the fat chef's face, who tensed up and tried hard not to show any expression.

Mr. Nett and Little Franklin at the side were both drawn to the scene.

"Not this one."

Shard whispered, moving his finger to the second card from the right, staring at the chef's face for a few more seconds:

"Nor this one."

Shaking his head, this time he switched to the correct card, and after several seconds, slowly drew it out amidst the chef's inadequately suppressed look of surprise:

"This time it is."

The card was slowly turned over, revealing the "Emperor."

"This should count as taking advantage of ordinary people."

He also thought to himself.

"Damn, I didn't realize you were an experienced gambler."

After a moment of surprise, the fat chef angrily slammed the other three cards to the ground:

"Take this damned kid away. Next time if he owes money and doesn't pay, be careful not to fall into my hands."

The pale-faced son of the accountant showed a relieved smile, while Shard nodded. He didn't judge others' actions, but knew that the sorcery "Echo of Blood" was indeed very helpful for his detective career.

After handing Shard the receipt, to prevent Shard and the downcast Little Franklin from wandering around the club, the man intended to escort the two out of the club. However, just as the trio was about to descend the stairs from the second floor, they were stopped.

It was a woman dressed as a maid, in her early thirties, with very ordinary looks, but a rather fine demeanor.

She came down the stairs from the third floor:

"The lady wishes to see you."

She looked at Shard and nodded to him slightly.

"Do I have someone behind me?"

Shard thought and immediately looked behind him, but no one was there:

"Me?"

"Yes, sir, please follow me, your friend can wait for you on the first floor for now."

The woman spoke, and Shard, not understanding why, looked to the man leading the way, who shrugged:

"There's only one distinguished guest on the third floor tonight. If it's that lady, you'd better follow her upstairs; she's a very prestigious woman. As for him, I'll keep an eye on him for you and make sure he doesn't get near the gambling tables."

As he spoke, he patted Little Franklin's shoulder forcibly twice, almost knocking him over, but Little Franklin didn't dare to protest Shard's departure.

"May I know who the lady is?"

Shard hesitated to ask, suspecting someone like the club owner or even Mr. Lawrence's "mistress" Lady Lassoya had discovered him.

But he didn't understand the reason she sought him. The only interaction the former detective had with this place was the last time he came to pick someone up; beyond that, Shard had no other social relationships that could possibly link him to the club.

He was also concerned about a cat at home and wanted to return as soon as possible to prevent the newly arrived cat from relieving itself on his bed or desk.

"The lady is a titled noble, the most distinguished guest we have tonight. For the sake of her reputation, you cannot know her identity for now."

The maid-dressed woman said in the standard Draleon common tongue, and Shard finally nodded slightly:

"Then what does she want with me? Sorry, I don't seem to know anyone of such distinguished status."

"Please come with me."

The lead woman turned and headed upstairs, Shard hesitated for a moment, and then followed her.

Compared to the relatively quiet second floor, the third floor was absolutely serene. From the decorations, if Shard hadn't come from downstairs, he might even have believed he was on a floor of an art museum.

He followed behind the maid, looking at the oil paintings on both sides of the wall as he walked along the carpeted corridor. He stopped in front of a pair of golden double doors, where the maid opened enough of a gap in the left door for Shard to enter:

"The lady is waiting for you inside."

Shard nodded again, waited for a second, without the voice inside his head prompting him with a "clue", and then entered the room.

The maid closed the door from the outside, Shard standing with his back to the door, looking at the empty reception room.

The layout here resembled the doctor's reception and consultation room.

One entire wall was taken up by bookshelves, and the entire floor was carpeted. The combination of desk, coffee table, and sofa, and the wooden brown cabinets, looked extremely businesslike.

However, the brass-colored metal box on the coffee table was rather eye-catching. It looked like the so-called gear mechanism box, which required rotating the gears on all six sides to a specific arrangement to be opened.

The steam and gas pipes on the walls blended well with the painted wall's color, and there were two angel-shaped gas lamps blowing horns on each side of the room, emitting a warm yellow light, but not as bright as the crystal chandelier hanging above.

The three windows on the wall opposite the door were covered by thick, red-brown embroidered drapes, but Shard didn't consider the possibility of someone hiding behind the curtains.

It was eerily quiet, causing Shard to feel a chill down his spine. Someone was peeping at him, but definitely not within this room.