Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 621: Chapter 621 Itching Curse

Chapter 621: Chapter 621 Itching Curse

“The outbreak of death will simultaneously impact three channels.”

Speaking of this topic, the Priest appeared to be somewhat anxious:

“I’m not a Church Ring Sorcerer, so I cannot know the more specific circumstances. According to the current known situation, the local Church of Nature believes that all three channels could have potential problems.”

The Church of Nature and Malice was the first among the Church of the Five Gods to proselytize locally. Furthermore, all the seals on the door at the foot of the mountain were mainly performed by the Church of Nature. In fact, the physical location of the Church of Nature also corresponds to the position of the door in the Interstice.

“All of them could have problems…”

Shard had no solution to this issue, but fortunately, it wasn’t his responsibility. The only thing he needed to do in this city was to gather enough intelligence. Once Luviya had divined information about the third Chosen One using her Divination, he would use the preliminary preparations to find the target in one fell swoop.

“The door at the mountain peak in the Interstice is suppressed by an Ancient One, while the whereabouts of the door at the mountain’s waist are unknown due to the concealment of the Witch Empresses. The Church is also aware of these pieces of information, but it’s clear they don’t know as much as I do.”

This was not a matter of the Church being incapable or Priest Augustus being too powerful; Shard simply thought it was because of the suspected Primeval Angel-related Level 0 Relic that the Priest possessed which was very powerful.

Taking advantage of the time before the dishes were served, Shard expressed his own thoughts:

“Priest, during my time in Midshire Fort, I’ve also made some friends. After we finish eating, let’s go to the House of the Blind. It’s actually the local stronghold of the Spiritual Practice Order.”

“Spiritual Practice Order? You mean those who use eye patches… Oh, so the House of the Blind is their stronghold!”

The Priest said in surprise, knowing of the organization, but clearly not having connected the two.

“You can give your current information, as well as any future information you acquire, to the Spiritual Practice Order. The Order will definitely find a way to notify the Church.”

“That’s not bad… but it’s better for me not to show myself.”

Priest Augustus shook his head, taking out a pipe from his pocket, but then thought better of it and put it back:

“I will hand over what I know to you, and you can pass it to the Spiritual Practice Order. After all, I am a Priest of the True God Church, and it’s better not to contact them directly… However, are you sure you know the higher-ups in the Order?”

“Yes, I met with the leader of the Order this morning. They provided substantial help when rescuing you, especially the Eleven Rings Nun.”

Shard nodded, and the Priest looked at him in surprise:

“Aren’t you new to the area for just a week? Detective, you really are… quite sociable.”

“Let’s not talk about that.”

Shard shook his head, skirting around the topic as he didn’t want to get the Witch involved with the Spiritual Practice Order:

“Unclassified Level Relics are indeed dangerous.”

He murmured quietly, and the Priest was about to speak when the waiter, pushing the cart, came in again. After he left, the Priest continued:

“Actually, even the lowest-danger-level Poet-Level (Level 5) Relics can cause us a lot of trouble. Do you know about the Poet-Level Relic, ‘Itching Curse’?”

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“I haven’t heard of it.”

Shard shook his head, looking very interested, and so the Priest said:

“This is a relic that exists in the form of information, similar to a curse. Specifically, the cursed individual’s back becomes incredibly itchy. Once someone sees them scratching, they too feel itchy, spreading the curse continuously. In the later stages, even mentioning feeling an itch on the back or documenting the occurrence can propagate the curse.”

“Oh, that does sound dreadful.”

Shard subtly rubbed his back against the chair, and as the Priest mentioned this, he instinctively wondered if his own back was itching, and indeed, it started to feel itchy.

“Such a malicious curse, and it’s only Poet-Level?”

“Yes, because the trait is just itching. And it’s the kind that can be relieved very comfortably just by scratching… Detective, what are you doing?”

Shard, who had been quietly rubbing against the chair, shook his head:

“Nothing, so how is this curse cured? One can’t possibly endure an itchy back for life, right?”

“No, there’s no need. You just have to find the first person affected by the relic. Then strip the skin off their back, and use it to make leather with salting methods, so that the information will be retained on that piece of human skin. Regrettably, the known sources of the ‘Itching Curse’ have climbed to as high as 193, and these are just the ones known to the Church.”

The Priest shrugged:

“Even if the source can’t be found, if two-thirds of the population infected with the curse apply a special ointment on a regular basis, the infectious trait of the relic will disappear, so the harm isn’t significant after all. Oh, and Ring Sorcerers generally have varying degrees of resistance to Poet-Level Relics, so this curse doesn’t affect High Ring Sorcerers. And then, there’s the Sorcery ‘Itching Curse’ developed based on such relics. While this prank Sorcery doesn’t affect any Ring Sorcerer, those who learn it truly have too much time on their hands.”

Still feeling somewhat itchy on his back, Shard vowed to quickly elevate himself to the High Ring, so as to prevent encountering these curses which, while not life-threatening, were particularly annoying in this dangerous world.

The two agreed to meet again the next day, and the Priest would consider what Arcane Technique Shard’s Spirit Rune “True Death” might be associated with. Then, taking advantage of the night, he would write down everything he currently knew about the Interstice and the outbreak of death. But the Priest still had work to do for the Church, and the elderly Clergy Members that had been summoned had already begun basic training in Ritual Studies. Thus, he wouldn’t be able to meet Shard often in Midshire Fort for the time being.

However, it was now completely certain that Priest Augustus had been called to Midshire Fort for a major Divine Ritual.

And it wasn’t until the Priest reached for his wallet to pay for the lavish dinner that Shard, who was looking at the view outside the window, remembered something else:

“Oh, Priest, you owe the doctor 3,000 pounds.”

Priest Augustus, who was counting out the tip, nearly dropped the coins clenched in his hand onto the floor:

“Ah?”

He looked at the young detective across from him in surprise, as if he hoped that the detective would say it was a joke.

Shard reminded:

“This is the cost of opening the door. You know, my friend can help for free, but it wouldn’t be fair to make them fork out for the tools, right?”

“This… yes.”

The priest said shakily:

“Looks like I’ll need to save up some money soon.”

Other than his studies in sorcery, Priest Augustus didn’t have much in the way of expenses; he just habitually donated his money away. But this time, the £3,000 was no small sum, and it seemed the priest was already considering dealing Magic Potions on the local black market once he returned to Tobesk.

“However, where did the doctor get such a large amount of liquid assets from? Why did he take it out himself? Normally, shouldn’t four people be doing it?”

The priest thought of this, remembering how others had warned Shard not to tell the old man in front of him about their collective betting on gambling:

“The doctor made a big profit from an investment recently.”

He said vaguely.

“What kind of investment could make the doctor earn so much?”

The priest was very curious, tucking the bill under the cup. They stood up from their chairs, and a waiter led the way out.

“It’s related to a minor noble.”

Shard’s gaze wandered:

“And it involves foreigners as well, you know about the Duchy of Seth, don’t you?”

“I do, it’s not far from here.”

The priest nodded:

“So it is international business.”

“You could say that, and there are quite a few foreigners involved. Specifically, it’s about some special wooden materials and inks. I’ve heard this business has a significant impact.”

“The doctor dares to meddle in such affairs? As far as I know, these kinds of businesses carry quite significant risks.”

Descending the stairs, the priest pulled out his pipe from his pocket.

“He received an inside tip and believed that the possibility of making a profit from this investment was over sixty percent.”

“That sounds pretty good. Looks like the doctor did indeed make quite a bit; Bill really lucked out this time.”

Upon leaving the restaurant, both almost simultaneously looked up at the Star Ocean above Sicarl Mountain.

On the outskirts of Midshire Fort City, at the edge of the mountain, the Star Ocean was incredibly dazzling, radiantly brilliant.

(Mia is running…)

Shard didn’t return to the Midshire Fort City Area with the priest, but instead made his way straight into the mountains, returning to the Ruined Tower. By the time he arrived back in his basement from the tower’s cellar, it was eight o’clock at night.

Seeing the lights on in the entrance hall upon reaching the first floor, he knew that Luviya, who was tinkering with the Astrology equipment, hadn’t left yet. It wasn’t until Shard reached the second floor and caught the excited cat that pounced at him that he saw the seventeen-year-old girl as well:

“Good evening, Luviya. Good evening, Iluna.”

Shard greeted, noticing the two ladies seated on the couch playing chess. In this world, along with Roder Card games like cards, there are also chess games, although not as popular.

“Good evening, Shard. Did you meet Priest Augustus?”

Luviya asked, her eyes fixed on the chessboard. Not understanding the game at all, Shard walked into the bedroom with the excited cat that was trying to jump up and nuzzle his chin to change into more comfortable home clothes.

“I did. Priest Augustus seemed to be in good spirits, but there’s a serious problem in Midshire Fort. If things go wrong, it could be an incident as grave as the ‘Sea Return’. I took some time today to get to know the local customs and legends. Those stories are quite interesting.”

“I thought you were playing Roder Cards in Midshire Fort all day. Those card players love traveling to play, right?”

The girl with brown long hair asked. She was at a disadvantage on the chessboard, where Luviya’s skills were significantly superior:

“But why do you always end up in such dangerous situations?”

“That’s a question I’ve always had too.”

Luviya said as she picked up her white chess piece and kicked the largest soldier piece on Iluna’s side off the board, making her immediately cover her face:

“I lost again. Luviya, you didn’t use Divination to see my moves beforehand, did you?”

“I would never do something so tedious.”

Luviya stood up to prepare tea in the kitchen. With Priest Augustus safe and Shard free from any duties in Midshire Fort, they were going to discuss the matter of The Chosen One that evening.