Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 151 Miss Luisa's Request

"Meow~"

As the cat pawed at Shard's clothes next to the pillow, asking him to share some food, it suddenly lifted its head, curiously watching the snowfall on the ceiling. Its amber eyes reflected the bizarre scene. It stretched out a little paw to toy with the falling snowflakes, startled by the cold touch, but soon it reached out again, driven by curiosity.

According to the letter from Miss Mia Gold, Mia was less than half a year old; she had probably never seen snow.

Miss Luisa looked around; it was still Shard's bedroom. Though snowflakes were drifting down from the ceiling, compared to last night's events, the current situation was quite ordinary.

"For now, this is the only way. I can feel how powerful the Arcane Technique I possess is, but I cannot use it. Right now, I can only make it snow in a certain area which, fortunately, does not consume much of my spirit and elements."

Shard said and then canceled the effect of the Arcane Technique, otherwise he wouldn't be able to eat his breakfast.

Mia seemed disappointed, continuously scratching at Shard's quilt making noises, she liked these cold, white things.

Miss Luisa pondered for a moment:

"Indeed, as I expected. Your level as a Circle Sorcerer is too low, and you have too little spirit, so even though this Arcane Technique is entirely yours, you can only realize part of its effect, which is understandable."

She said regretfully, glancing at the frustrated cat, and then added:

"But the future is promising. It's equivalent to having an immensely powerful Arcane Technique at your fingertips once you ascend to the High Ring."

Shard nodded, took a bite of the scrambled eggs, and found them quite tasty. It seemed that Miss Luisa, who lived alone, had long mastered cooking skills.

"By the way, why did you inscribe the 'Little Match Girl' Spirit Rune? I was right beside you last night when you were inscribing it, and it seemed a bit different than usual…"

She hesitated to voice her thought, which was probably what she truly wanted to ask.

Before Shard could reply, Miss Luisa voluntarily shared her situation:

"I've told you before, my Low Fourth Ring was achieved by connecting phrases through 'The Little Match Girl' story.

The Enlightenment Rune 'Matchstick' from the story, the Enlightenment Rune 'Dream' from the story, the Whisper Rune 'Frozen Dead' obtained through touching a relic, the Desecration Rune 'Compassion' provided by a doctor, combined with my own 'Writer,' form the Sublimation Incantation—Outside the Matchstick Dream, the Writer Mourns the Frozen Dead."

The Ring of Fate slowly appeared behind the blonde girl as she mentioned the five Spirit Runes displayed before Shard. Additionally, Miss Luisa had the four Spirit Runes necessary for the Fourth Ring, qualifying her for promotion to the Fifth Ring.

"Look, Detective, I also understand the power of 'The Little Match Girl,' but I've never heard of anyone able to directly use the story's name to inscribe an Enlightenment Rune. Even the related Arcane Technique is a complete reenactment of that story."

She looked at Shard, her green eyes filled with inquiry. Shard also looked at the blonde girl, and after a moment of eye contact, Miss Luisa leaned slightly forward, allowing Shard to catch a whiff of her light perfume.

She asked tentatively, with a hint of embarrassment:

"Though it's incredible, combining the question you asked me on Thursday morning (note), and judging from common sense—Shard Suren Hamilton, you couldn't be..."

Shard saw his own reflection in Miss Luisa's eyes, and addressing him by his full name usually occurred in serious conversations.

Expectantly, Miss Luisa looked at him, but Shard decided to let her finish:

"The original author of 'The Little Match Girl'?"

Shard blinked, as if the air in the room had solidified at that moment. Miss Luisa held her breath, Shard broke their eye contact, and nodded:

"If you mean in this world, yes, that's me."

"Oh~"

Miss Luisa pursed her lips and shrank back into her chair, leaning against it without delving into Shard's odd statement but instead watching him eat on the bed. After a while, she finally spoke:

"Although I guessed it, hearing you admit it still feels unbelievable... You just told me like that?"

"Why can't I tell you? Miss Luisa, would you share my secret with others?"

Shard posed a counterquestion, retreating to advance.

"Of course not, since you trust me, I certainly shouldn't speak carelessly."

The blonde girl shook her head, then smiled in relief. The strange atmosphere that had lingered between them since her inquiry began to dissolve with Shard's response:

"I'm just curious, after all, everyone has harnessed the power of the Matchstick Girl, you took it to the extreme, while I am still stepping forward... You used the Time Key, didn't you? No, no need to reply."

Shard stared at the scrambled eggs on his plate, which were very flavorful.

The next words concerned his secret, but after pondering, since Miss Luisa had already guessed, why not be a bit more frank? After all, the true secret he wanted to keep was his identity as an Outlander.

Thus, he temporarily put down his cutlery:

"Actually, it's fine, it was the Time Key. I told you that my first time venture through time was with an Angel-Level key, but that's not true, it was an Unclassified Level key. I met a god, and the god helped me, which is why there are traces of my past..."

He nodded at Miss Luisa, meaning that was precisely it. Miss Luisa lifted her head and covered her forehead with her hand, looking past Shard to the morning light peeking through the curtain gaps:

"I didn't expect to hear such things so early in the morning."

"Can't accept it?"

Shard bit into a piece of bread, tearing off a bit to give to Mia, and the cat immediately bit off a small piece.

"This explanation makes sense... My reason tells me what you said is true, but emotionally, I can't accept such miraculous things... Okay, I accept it, it sounds reasonable... So when you were at Lakeside Manor, facing the Evil God didn't bother you, because it wasn't your first encounter with a god..."

She muttered to herself, while Shard continued eating his meal. He could certainly cook, but he wasn't accustomed to the culinary habits of this world and his cooking skills were poor, thus breakfast was usually bread.

"Shard, I won't tell anyone else about this. If you hadn't said anything, I would have never guessed that Enlightenment Spirit Runes could be obtained this way. Truly remarkable; if this could be made public, it might be the most significant discovery in the study of Enlightenment Elements in recent centuries." Stay connected with empire

She adjusted her mood, taking a deep breath:

"Shard, can you fulfill a request of mine?"

"What is it?"

Shard looked up at her, the blonde girl's eyes seemingly twinkling as though she had made up her mind before she finally spoke:

"Let me become your teacher."

"Huh?"