Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 686 - Charity Dinner for the Fire Worship

Just as Shard was feeling somewhat disappointed, the trotting of hooves came from behind the procession. A seventeen-year-old girl on horseback, dressed in hunting attire, looked dashing and spirited. In the afternoon sunlight of autumn, she smiled brilliantly, as if all the light in the world converged on her.

Smiling, she nodded at Shard and mouthed “Good afternoon,” then Iluna rode on to catch up with the procession ahead.

“Good afternoon, Iluna,” Shard said in his heart, folding the newspaper with a smile and then walking along the low wall at the street corner towards the distance.

Seeing Iluna at Midshire Fort meant that he now had a completely trustworthy companion, which would likely make the upcoming adventure even more interesting.

Having met Iluna, the important task for the day was to attend the charity banquet in the evening. Since the banquet would provide food, Shard had not eaten in advance. He simply rented a room at the Sicarl Inn, changed into formal attire fitting for the occasion, and stayed there until he departed at half-past six in the evening.

Before he left, Shard also inquired about the Vampire kind, Uncle Benhart and his nephew, who used to stay on the fourth floor of the inn. Indeed, they had already moved out on the day last week when Shard got his suitcase.

The Fire Worship Festival is a traditional local festival in Midshire Fort, the origins of which can no longer be traced. However, the local and surrounding regions still celebrate this festival under various names each year during the autumn.

Therefore, since it was the first day of the week-long Fire Worship Festival that the charity banquet was held, the venue’s decoration was naturally fire-themed.

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When the sun had completely set and the three moons were fully visible in the night sky, Shard walked into the Milestone Mechanical Academy. He immediately saw the bonfires lit in the courtyard between the zigzagging castle, one after another.

The weather was good that day and the temperature was fairly comfortable. Hence, this grand banquet involving local nobles and wealthy merchants would be held both indoors and outdoors. This was also a tradition of the Fire Worship Festival, surrounding those bonfires were tables laden with food. In a few more hours, men and women would dance around the bonfires under the moonlit night, and at the end of the banquet, they would gather together for a group dance.

As an autumn festival, the Fire Worship Festival also celebrated the harvest. In recent centuries, before the tide of the Steam Industry began to surge, the festival also integrated the “Moon Dance Festival” traditions of Carsonrick from beyond the mountains. These moonlit bonfire dances were also meant for courtship and prayers for safety.

All of the above was knowledge that Shard had acquired during his “Midshire Fort Folklore Survey”. This diversified city, while preserving some traditions, had integrated exotic customs brought by foreign merchants and adapted to this transformative era, thus forming the localized traditional festivals seen today.

Of course, the customs of Milestone had little to do with Shard. He attended the banquet purely to meet Miss Hevy Aurora, who had just arrived in Midshire Fort.

As a high-profile guest, Miss Aurora probably would not arrive too early, so although Shard arrived at the Milestone Mechanical Academy at seven, when the bonfire was already lit and guests dressed elegantly gathered around long tables for conversation and greeting, the banquet had not yet officially commenced.

Having not eaten, Shard first presented his invitation card at the outer perimeter of the venue. Upon learning that the invitation given by Granny Cassandra was a special invitation, he curiously inquired about what that meant.

“When making payment at the auction, you can receive a ten percent discount, and you have access to any area of the banquet,”

the waiter, dressed in a white shirt and black vest, replied politely, leaving Shard, who had thought there might be special treatment, somewhat disappointed.

He had come alone and had no intention of seeking companions, so he headed to the long tables by the bonfire to fill his stomach a bit.

Unlike the “elegant” and “delicate” cuisine of Draleon’s western region, the mountainous Milestone’s cuisine featured a higher proportion of meat. Since his face was adorned with Miss Galina’s eyeshadow, people here did not recognize him. While Shard stood by the bonfire in the southeast corner holding his plate and observing the increasingly gathering crowd, no one knew who the young man standing alone by the fire really was.

Not knowing who Shard was did not prevent the local girls from enthusiastically approaching him. After having devoured the flesh of “Desire”, Shard had become even more handsome. Furthermore, after using Divinity to purify his Spirit Rune and advance to the Three Rings, his appearance could be described as rare in handsomeness—at least that’s what Luviya on the bed and Tifa, when teaching Shard how to ride, had said.

But Shard thought he had already attracted enough attention from women, so after the girl with flaxen hair shyly presented a scarf to him, he left the bonfire area, thinking of finding a place where people played Roder Card.

Even if he wasn’t going to play himself, he could observe how the locals played. Among the nobles and rich merchants, there were more who owned Special Cards.

However, before Shard could find the Roder Card area, he unexpectedly spotted an acquaintance in the courtyard.

It was Captain Lades. In contrast to the finely dressed men and women around, his military uniform was very conspicuous. Captain Lades had not come alone; he stood alongside another man also clad in the Royal Army’s uniform. Judging by the medals on his shoulder, this turned out to be a Brigadier General, the highest military officer mentioned before by Captain Lades from the Red Water Camp.

The two were conversing with a somewhat heavyset man wearing a wig and attired in a deep red suit. Shard took a good while to realize that this was the Mayor of Midshire Fort City, whom he had seen in the newspaper.

As Shard noticed Captain Lades, the captain too noticed him. The effect of the eyeshadow only made it impossible for strangers to recognize him, but those familiar could still discern Shard’s features.

So Captain Lades, after blinking, whispered a few words to Brigadier General Carter next to him, then came over and said,

“Mr. Watson, I thought you’d left the city already.”

Remembering Shard’s disguised identity, Captain Lades greeted him quite warmly.

“There’s still a little matter to take care of, but I think I’m not far from finishing this business,”

Shard said, smiling. The two stood by the bonfire in the courtyard, where a ginkgo tree stood beside the blazing fire, casting especially strange shadows under the jumping flames.