Unlike the Dawn Chapel in Tobesk that occupied the entire Dawn Square, the Dawn Chapel in Midshire Fort was situated on a street called "Saint Kara Avenue" in the southwestern part of the city. Though it was a street-side building, the chapel still occupied a considerable area. It spanned the entire block, containing not just the hall and office spaces but also its own garden and courtyard.
The area of this chapel was much larger than the one at Dawn Square in Tobesk... This was also related to the high land prices in Tobesk.
Shard did not dare enter the chapel to avoid being spotted. Moreover, there was no need for him to enter as, after nearing Saint Kara Avenue, he carefully extracted blood in an alley and dripped it into his eyes. Looking towards the entrance of Dawn Chapel now, he could clearly see the trail of movents of Priest Augustus outlined by a blood-colored halo.
"At least at this ti yesterday, nothing had happened to Priest Augustus!"
Shard arrived at this conclusion.
More than one silhouette of Priest Augustus leaving the Dawn Chapel indicated that over the last 24 hours, the old cleric had passed through the entrance multiple tis. Shard chose to follow the darkest of these silhouettes, which represented the most recent ti.
Perhaps due to the city's original design purposes, the streets of Midshire Fort City were generally wide. On both sides of the road, sidewalk trees and gas lamp posts alternated.
After leaving Dawn Chapel, Priest Augustus first paced a bit under the streetlamp at the entrance, as if observing the advertisent for "Cassandra Auction House" on the lamp post, and then he walked eastward along the street.
The priest was likely up to sothing not entirely legitimate, hence he stuck close to the walls, making sure not to draw attention to himself. Eventually, he took a carriage at the intersection of Saint Kara Avenue and Oak Street.
"Hmm..."
Looking at the floating silhouette of Priest Augustus, had it not been for the carriage, one might think the priest had learned a sorcery to float in his seated position.
"Where is the priest headed?"
Priest Augustus could ride in a carriage 24 hours or even recently, but Shard couldn't, because inside a carriage, he wouldn't be able to keep an eye on what else the priest's silhouette was doing.
Thus, he could only walk, following the floating, seated silhouette of the priest.
From the intersection of Oak Street and Saint Kara Avenue, he proceeded southward, towards the mountainous area of the city. After passing two intersections, the carriage turned into a small lane called Squirrel Alley.
This was a comrcial street specializing in mountain goods, pinecones, and leather products, bustling with activity today.
After passing through Squirrel Alley, the carriage continued eastward and stopped after turning south on the street where Midshire Fort Police Departnt was located.
It was now two-forty in the afternoon, and Shard was glad he had not run behind the carriage all day long.
The carriage stopped at a lane called "Ruff Lane", which resembled Feather Quill Street where Dorothy lived—narrow, but with clean streets and made up of rental apartnts.
After getting off the carriage, Priest Augustus looked around, as if making sure he hadn't gone to the wrong place. Then, he started walking into the alley.
"Could the priest have disappeared here... Are there traces of 'elents'?"
[No traces for now.]
"Alright."
Shard nodded, surveying the street scene around him as he walked forward. Midshire Fort City's City Hall seed to adore planting trees; from the mont he left that old tower, his view had never been devoid of trees.
The priest's destination was here. He stopped in front of a house in Ruff Lane bearing the number "15".
Shard saw the priest reach out to knock on the door, and then he walked inside. However, subsequent silhouettes of Priest Augustus did not show him leaving the entrance, aning Shard could not bypass this place.
The continuous silhouettes seen by [Shard's Blood Echo] appeared roughly every five seconds, but with concentrated attention and extra spirit, the visual silhouette's movents could be seen more coherently. Thus, Shard could confirm that Priest Augustus had entered the house within five seconds of knocking on the door.
This indicated a pre-scheduled visit. And since Shard had not seen the priest disguise himself along the way, it ant that Priest Augustus had visited here under his real identity.
"My arcane technique is truly terrifying indeed, being the only one evolved... Who in Midshire Fort could Priest Augustus be secretly visiting? I rember, he had no plans to contact the local Saint Byrons Correspondence Circle Sorcerer, so could it be an acquaintance from his youth?"
But no matter what, having co this far, Shard couldn't just give up. He took out the wooden button given to him by the doctor, caressed the embossed pattern on its surface, infused spirit to activate it, and then stepped up to gently knock on the door.
After silently waiting for a few seconds, footsteps could be heard from inside. He slightly widened his eyes, but the door did not imdiately open; the light footsteps paused right behind it.
Shard knew there was soone behind the door, and the person behind also knew there was soone outside. Neither inside nor outside spoke, maintaining an unspoken silence.
In this silence, a voice already relayed the hint:
[Outlander, behind the door is a Circle Sorcerer.]
Though close by, the fact they were separated by a door made it hard to conclusively identify that it was indeed a Circle Sorcerer.
Shard wasn't surprised by this finding. He now suspected that the disappearance of Priest Augustus was related to the person behind the door.
"May I ask whom you're looking for?"
The middle-aged woman's voice, heavily accented with the local dialect, broke the silence first from inside.
Shard furrowed his brow and deactivated the effect of the doctor's button. Since the person inside was a Circle Sorcerer, there was no need for such tactics:
"Hello, ma'am, I am writer John Watson."
He had said this while in Coldwater Port, although occasionally he also introduced himself as "Detective" John Watson:
"That's fine, you don't need to open the door. Please tell , is my friend Lat August the Cleric with you here?"
"The old cleric? He visited here yesterday afternoon at three o'clock and then left through the back door."
"Where is the back door?"
"Go left, continue straight into the narrow alley, and then turn right."
the voice said.
"Okay, thank you very much."
Shard whispered his thanks, wanting to leave there and check if Lat August the Cleric could be seen at the house's back door.
But the voice behind the door called out to him:
"Sir, are you one of 'us,' just like Priest Augustus?"
Shard considered for a mont:
"If you an a chanic who manipulates steam tal wheel rings, I suppose I am."
Revealing his identity as a circle sorcerer hastily was solely because Shard needed to at least know the location of the black market in this city. While at Coldwater Port, Lecia, disguised as "Miss Princess," had integrated him into the circle sorcerer circles of the port city, but he truly had no friends here... unless Dorothy had other princesses connected by spirit.
"Has Priest Augustus t with trouble?"
the woman's voice inside asked.
"Yes, he has disappeared. May I ask, how did you know?"
"Because yesterday, I perford a divination for him."
The door was opened from inside, and Shard saw the woman he had been speaking with.
The woman appeared to be in her forties with dim yellow hair. She wore a deep blue-black garnt resembling a nun's robe, with a shawl of the sa color draped over her shoulders.
She did not look towards Shard's face, because her eyes were wrapped with a cloth band that looked sowhat dirty.
"Yesterday's divination seed to foreshadow death, but the old cleric didn't care at all. Just now, I was wondering what that dreadful premonition ant, but now I think I understand."
She moved aside, clearing the doorway:
"Please co in."
Though her eyes were covered with the cloth band, she behaved as if she had normal vision:
"If you need help, the 'House of the Blind' welcos you."
[Inner Ring.]
"Then I will enter."
Shard stepped over the threshold and walked in.
The "House of the Blind" appeared to be a small-scale circle sorcerer organization, likely so nad because most of the people inside were blind.
Upon entering, Shard realized that it wasn't just the woman who had opened the door present in the house. Under her introduction, Shard learned that ostensibly, this place was an organization that provided aid to the blind and disabled of Midshire Fort, supported financially by the local city hall.
The inside of the house was very tidy, arranged to facilitate the movent of blind people with nearly no obstacles in the corridors and on the stairs. The woman led Shard from the first floor to the third and finally stopped in a reception room.
During this ti, Shard saw many blind people being assisted in walking along the corridors or talking with others. Moreover, during his ascent, he encountered at least three circle sorcerers, though all were of a low ring, suggesting that this organization wasn't powerful.
"This place is really bustling, but is the 'House of the Blind' a city-based, small circle sorcerer organization?"
he secretly conjectured.
The blind woman leading the way introduced herself as "Ms. Michelle." Despite her eyes being covered with a cloth band, her walking was completely unaffected.
After they both sat down, she even had a normal staff mber from the House of the Blind bring hot tea to entertain Shard. However, being cautious, Shard did not drink any tea on the unfamiliar circle sorcerer's turf.
"Priest August and our connection goes back over twenty years. A long ti ago, when the old cleric was in his thirties, he ca to this city and t one of our nuns."
Ms. Michelle ntioned, sitting opposite Shard, her hands folded together resting on her dark silk skirt's knees. ntioning the "nun" and recalling "blind", Shard suddenly rembered another organization he had encountered in the Dark Realm.
"The Priest Augustus in his thirties and your nun... um..."
Noting that Shard was at a loss for words, Ms. Michelle smiled:
"Yes, two souls attracted each other. Back then, I was only in my teens and witnessed their love. But Lat August the Cleric had to return to Tobesk, and Sister Matilda had her own duties. She was a circle sorcerer, and the cleric was just a common person, even a clergy mber of the True God Church..."
Shard understood her point; it was a relationship dood never to result. He just hadn't expected that Priest Augustus had such a story in his youth.
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