Chapter 1242: Chapter 1242: Overlooked Problems
Among goods valued at 1,463 pounds, a supposedly rare ancient Carsonrick coin was the most valuable, estimated at 700 pounds, while the others added up to just over 700. Shard was very satisfied with this outcome, considering they were acquired for free, so he didn’t even raise the price.
Seeing Iluna still engrossed in the relic list, Shard pulled out the brass shield-shaped badge he acquired after the afternoon horse racing:
“This isn’t for sale. I want you to take a look at it, roughly estimate its value.”
He handed over the badge, and the old man casually took it:
“In light of the big deal we just did, I won’t charge you for the appraisal. Let me see…”
He examined both sides of the badge, furrowing his brow slightly before looking up at Shard:
“Where did you get this?”
Since he knew Shard well enough, there was no need to shy away from such questions.
“I raced horses with a very peculiar person. This was the prize. The other person seemed ordinary, at least that’s what I think. Why, is there a problem with this item?”
“No problem, just surprised to see it. The Sixth Era, around 421 to 583, in what is now the southwest region of the United Kingdom of Carsonrick, there was a small kingdom. You know, there were many small kingdoms in the south before Carsonrick united. The Stonville Kingdom, yes, this is a medal from that small kingdom’s era. Very rare, extremely rare, and if you encounter a collector who likes such items, selling it for a high price of 100 pounds is not out of the question.”
“Mr. Osenfort is indeed quite generous.” Shard thought to himself. While nearby, Iluna curiously asked:
“Stonville? Are you referring to the kingdom that was cursed and sunk into the Earth? I’ve seen records in the church, very obscure records—the Earth cracked, the abyss swallowed the kingdom.”
“Yes, it was a regional disaster. The event happened quite suddenly, and to this day, no one knows exactly what happened back then.”
Old John nodded:
“But it certainly wasn’t just a natural disaster. Some believe it was an unknown evil god that descended and consumed the kingdom. Others think it was an Angel-Level or Unclassified Level relic that destroyed the kingdom.”
He returned the badge to Shard:
“That incident nearly a thousand years ago led to the entire kingdom disappearing, deeply buried underground, making creations from the Stonville Kingdom era rare and valuable. These kinds of items typically appear in batches, so since your friend could produce one, there are likely more.”
Shard nodded, while Iluna pointed at the inventory list, saying:
“Oh, there’s actually this here! I’ll buy two ‘Empty Bottle Fruits.’
This is a derivative of the Keeper of Secrets Level Relic ‘Bottle Tree,’ a peculiar glass tree that bears fruit in the shape of round glass bottles similar to apples. These bottles, imbued with Whisper Elements, can store most glimmers without loss, and their unique shape makes them quite pretty when hung as lamps. The current owner of the ‘Bottle Tree,’ has sold Shard the ‘Oak’s Luck Potion’ recently, and it is evident Old John also procured them from the Forest Hermit Order this time.
“Aside from storing glimmers, glimmers of the same source can be continuously infused into the bottle. Upon reaching a certain amount, the bottle can be thrown at the expense of its damage, acting as a one-time ‘Light Bomb.’
When putting two glass bottles into a box and handing them to Iluna, Old John reminded them. Shard had seen no such information on record, evidently the Forest Hermit Order developed this feature themselves.
“Yes, I want to try, to test the limits of compressing sunlight; it should be quite interesting.”
Iluna smiled and nodded, intending to develop new Sun Magic techniques.
Upon returning to Saint Delan Square, Iluna handed one bottle to Shard, asking him to shine moonlight into it, while she infused sunlight into the other one.
Soon, she obtained gold and silver bottles. Iluna didn’t want to treat them as disposable items, so she didn’t have Shard use an overly bright light. Yet, even so, the gold and silver glowing bottles were still quite eye-catching.
Mia was intrigued by them, pawing at the ‘Sunlight Bottle.’ It seemed that if it wasn’t inconvenient, she would have bitten into it to try it out.
Staying home until eight o’clock at night, Shard and Iluna got ready to set off. Of course, they brought the ‘Night Watchman,’ because they didn’t know what they would encounter, so both were fully armed.
After entering the hidden space from the basement, they touched the Ancient God Statue to enter the ‘Spatial Labyrinth.’ Last winter, after the Pantanal battle, Iluna had also entered the space below the lighthouse on Heart Lake Island and touched the statue to build a marker, so now she could traverse the space with Shard and return to the lighthouse on Heart Lake Island once more.
Perhaps it was Shard’s illusion, but the temperature on the heart island of Pantanal Lake seemed even lower than the outskirts of Randall Valley at night. When the two walked out of the old lighthouse, they could only see the night starlight and moonlight scattered on the snow. It was very quiet around; it was clear that the church hadn’t sent anyone to investigate the island again tonight.
“Phew~”
The breath turned into white mist, forming a long dragon in the night wind. Shard gestured in a direction:
“Let’s go. Hopefully, we won’t have to fight tonight. If the church’s attention is drawn to the manor, we won’t have a chance to investigate it later.”
It wasn’t far from the lighthouse to the manor, and along the way, they could clearly see the aftermath and traces of the battle from over a month ago. To this day, the residual power of the Pantanal evil creatures hasn’t dissipated on this island, and the degree of this pollution is at least, in expression, stronger than the “The Mad Land.”
More than a month ago, when landing on the island, Shard and Iluna encountered a Circle Sorcerer from the Unity of All Numbers Society at the manor’s gate; after repelling them, they passed through the manor and entered the dead forest from the courtyard’s rear entrance. But now, the dead forest behind the manor had been destroyed by the battle, and the earthquake’s damage cleverly extended to just the rear wall of the manor and disappeared.
In the night, Shard and Iluna examined it together, discovering that the rear wall of the manor didn’t show too obvious cracks. The church, evidently, like Shard a few days ago, had its attention entirely on the evil objects, overlooking the manor. This kind of secret hidden under the brightest light is the hardest to find.
Entering the desolate manor through the back door, the first sight naturally was the fountain with a winged angel. The angel’s head and left arm were gone, consistent with the appearance the last time they came.
“I didn’t notice last time, but now I’ve discovered that this angel is a typical ‘Angel of Abundance,’ which symbolizes my faith in the Sun God, the Lantern Bearer.”
As they passed the fountain ruins, Iluna whispered an explanation, pointing out the characteristics of the remaining base and statue decorations:
“If the angel’s head were intact, through the ear-shaped ring of wheat on its head, it could be easily identified as the Angel of Abundance. However, many places erect such statues, which only implies that the owner here, the Farmer family you mentioned, are believers of the Sun and Earth God.”
Above the heart island, the starry sky was cloud-free, and the moonlight allowed them to see the manor’s view. Walking through the courtyard, they didn’t find anything unusual, and when looking at the manor’s windows, they saw ghostly figures in formal attire watching them, just like the last time.
Their goal tonight was these ghosts, so they did not waste time. The metal double doors of the abandoned mansion weren’t gone but were sealed with layers of wooden panels. Not intending to damage them, they planned to climb in through the windows.
Just as they approached the side window on the ground floor, Shard pulled Iluna back:
“Hold on a moment.”
The seventeen-year-old girl looked at Shard, noticing he was in a listening posture. After a moment, he nodded, bent down, and brushed away the snow, then he dug out a small piece of hardened soil.
Breaking a large chunk of soil carefully, Shard then, surprising Iluna, put a small pinch of dust into his mouth. In other words, he ate some dirt.
For a moment, Shard’s face showed an odd expression, clearly, soil tasted bad. He quickly turned around and spat out the dirt in an uncivil manner, “phew, phew, phew~”
Iluna knew Shard possessed a unique method of perception:
“What are you doing, examining the residual power of the evil objects here?”
“No, I perceived something not noticed last time.”
Shard took a sip of water, swishing it around his mouth, then looked earnestly at the mansion before them:
“You know, the last time we were here, the Pantanal evil creatures’ influence had reached its peak, so their power covered any other.”
“Yes… Are you implying that the land underneath us has another problem?”
The brown-haired girl frowned slightly, mimicking Shard’s earlier posture and crouching down. However, she didn’t eat dirt; instead, she placed her palm on the soil Shard had unearthed. After a moment, she softly spoke:
“There is indeed a problem, though the Pantanal evil’s power still lingers here, it’s very strong, so I only weakly sense the earth’s oddity. Balance has broken; this land is…”
Suddenly her eyes widened, Iluna understood:
“Drifting towards madness! So, this is what you meant by the Mad Land! The land’s intrinsic deviation leads to abnormal phenomena—a sign of the world’s weakening—the accuracy of that notion is impeccable.”
“Yes, once again, it’s the Mad Land, and the scope seems to be this manor. Due to the land’s anomaly, the earthquake on the night of the battle over a month ago didn’t damage buildings on this land. The Mad Land has self-protective traits. Since the powerful Pantanal evil’s energy masked the curse beneath the land, neither the Pantanal Voodoo Society, True God Church, nor us realized, this manor had gone through something extraordinary.”