Chapter 2322: The Scales of the Space-Time Dragon

Chapter 2322: Chapter 2322: The Scales of the Space-Time Dragon

It seems the intelligence from Baron Chandler stops here, and next, Mr. Benhart and Mr. Coroner Albert will start investigating the local Vampire Kind from scratch.

However, this time, unlike last time when Mr. Benhart investigated only those with high bloodline, they will screen and investigate all Vampires throughout the region.

This is an extremely large workload, but also one of the few tasks they can do at the moment. Previously, Mr. Benhart had been avoiding contact with the real "leader" or regional chief among the local Vampires, but now it seems he must communicate with them.

But even more dangerous for both of them is that the reputation of the Vampire Kind has been completely tarnished in Moon Bay City after tonight. They need to try their best to hide their identity during the investigation, as once discovered, they may not be able to walk freely in Moon Bay.

Before leaving the morgue that night, Shard asked Mr. Albert about the "heart attack" corpses. Previously, he heard from him about such abnormal bodies, and then encountered the person who fell to death with Miss Eles at Margaret’s banquet, making Shard suspect there might be a connection.

And indeed, Mr. Albert gave him an answer:

"It can be basically determined that this type of heart attack death definitely has a problem.

Recently, among the corpses I encountered, three more cases with similar deaths have appeared, and without exception, they were sudden heart attack deaths among people without a history of heart disease. I even investigated the familial medical history of the two corpses whose families could be found, and they didn’t have hereditary heart disease either."

"That’s very interesting."

Shard was deep in thought as Mr. Benhart and Mr. Albert escorted him and Emilia to the morgue corridor exit.

Emilia mounted the Little Unicorn while Shard held its reins, ready to walk a few steps and then take flight in the alley:

"Both of you, please be careful recently."

"Yes, and you be careful during the investigation too."

The three bid each other farewell, and Emilia politely said goodbye to the two. She had a pretty good impression of Mr. Benhart but still felt somewhat afraid of the coroner.

As Shard turned to leave with the Little Unicorn, screams erupted from the Spider Inn on his left after taking just a few steps.

The turbulent night had mostly ended, but the neighbors of Spider Alley had decided to gather in the inn for the rest of the night, and it was crowded there now, with Mr. Albert planning to stay there overnight as well.

Hearing the sound, it was this Vampire Species Coroner who rushed over first, and after a while, walked out looking somewhat defeated:

"Someone ’self-combusted’ into light, leaving only two right-hand fingers and a pair of legs."

Emilia pursed her lips, watching everything, watching Shard whispering with Mr. Benhart, watching people walking out of the shabby little inn into the yard with fear in their eyes.

Raising her head again, in the moonlit night, ashes continued to float through the wind above the city, and though the smell of burning was faint, she could still smell it.

It seemed that at this very moment, Emilia Xenode felt herself grow a little. She didn’t understand where this feeling came from, only knew that everything she experienced and learned during this short summer was something she couldn’t obtain in her fifty-plus years at the Academy.

Shard, on the other hand, felt no sense of growth; as he leaned on the back of the Little Unicorn, held by Emilia around his waist flying again, he gazed down at the city’s nightscape, watching lights move along the streets, watching wisps of smoke drift beneath the night sky, his thoughts focusing purely on the Moon Bay incident, realizing it had finally come to this.

"Perhaps many years later, people will call this night the ’Night of the Long Fang.’

He thought silently in his heart, then closed his eyes to fake sleep for rest. He was truly exhausted that night but couldn’t sleep immediately.

Returning from Spider Alley was more difficult than coming, as the Church had basically grasped the entire city’s situation, thereby conducting reconnaissance rituals for "escaped fish" in the sky, which forced the Little Unicorn to maintain constant vigilance to avoid detection.

Returning without mishap to Belindel Estate, Tifa, Miss Matilda, and Ciris had already returned from Margaret’s, while Miss Sylvia had already gone back to be with Margaret.

"Not much happened on that side, though gunshots were heard near the estate; those wanting to fish in troubled waters got turned into sieves by the Royal Guards. I let Sylvia go back first, letting her stay with Margaret for greater safety."

Miss Aphrola welcomed Shard in the first-floor hall, this woman with beautiful brown wavy hair looked at Shard, and then gently gave him a hug:

"Long time no see, Shard."

This was her formal greeting to Shard after returning from the New World, and Hevy Aurora was the second Grand Witch besides Miss Galina that Shard knew. In the blink of an eye, they had known each other for a year, and during this year, she was almost the most active participant in actions within the Witch Council.

"Long time no see, Miss Aphrola."

Shard warmly responded to the embrace but suddenly felt the tangible gaze upon him.

Looking up, the owner of the estate stood at the top of the stairs with arms folded across her chest, slightly pouting while watching the two, and the blonde maid behind her smiled and shook her head gently at Shard.

Seeing Belindel after noticing the gaze, Miss Aphrola chuckled and said:

"Bella, didn’t I tell you about Shard and me during the day? Why are you still so surprised?"

But the Countess’s emotion at that moment was definitely not surprise, just a little displeased:

"Hevy, this is my house. If Shard comes back, he should greet me first."

"Yes, yes."

Miss Aphrola nodded as if comforting a little sister, gently pushing Shard:

"Go on, greet our esteemed Countess, or she’ll be unhappy."

She then laughed and, as Shard brushed past her, lightly kissed him on the cheek:

"It’s so good to see you again, Shard."

Sister Delphine had now returned to the Spiritual Practice Order’s headquarters in her own way, and she was expected to officially return to Moon Bay in about a week. They had successfully found a new spark of the Primal Fire in the New World, and she had to return to the Ritual Site to handle some matters.

Shard didn’t linger long at the Belindel Estate that night either. Once he confirmed the situation in the city had stabilized and the returning girls from the estate were not too hurt, he bid farewell to everyone, tossed the Crystal Shoes, and returned home.

As expected, there were quite a few people at home at this time.

Not only had Luviya and Dorothy, finished with their exams, stayed, but even Miss Galina had returned with the maids.

Given the significant incident in Moon Bay, the witches had already informed the Council. Consequently, Miss Galina, who had received news from the Council, roughly explained the situation there to Luviya and Dorothy.

Hearing the sound of Shard coming up from the first floor, the ladies anxiously went to the staircase to greet him. Seeing Shard unharmed, holding the cat Mia who had gone downstairs early, they breathed a sigh of relief.

"I originally wanted to go help in Moon Bay, but Luviya told me not to."

Dorothy said softly, then gently hugged Shard:

"It’s good you’re all right. We all thought you were just going to Moon Bay to check out the situation, we didn’t expect something like this to happen."

After speaking, she patted her chest:

"Oh, Lecia also asked me to say hi to you, she was very worried as well."

"It’s okay."

He then gestured for the three ladies to follow him to the study, not showing any fatigue in front of them:

"Come over here, let’s talk. I don’t know how much you already know, but I’ll start with the important part: tonight’s situation is very complicated, and it began when the Dragon Feast Cult stole something from the Church."

"Go prepare some tea and snacks, I think we’re going to be up late tonight."

The red-haired Duchess said to the maids, then went into the study with Shard.

Dorothy, Luviya, and Miss Galina did not leave that night. But considering Shard was probably exhausted, none of them rested in the master bedroom, leaving Shard and Mia to spend the night alone.

When he awoke, it was already Monday, which was also the 1854 Holy Prayer Day of the Dawn Church.

Shard, who claimed to believe in the True God Mr. Dawn, only remembered today was a holiday when he saw the newspaper in the morning. And when Shard sat down at the table at seven-thirty, Miss Galina, who had returned from the Witch Council, brought new news: ℯℯ𝑙.

"Iluna sent a message to Belindel Estate early in the morning, clarifying what was stolen from the local Dawn Chapel. Last night’s information had an error; it wasn’t one relic that was stolen, but two."

The maid took the coat handed to her, and Miss Galina lazily sat beside Shard, clearly displeased with the Council’s emergency meeting early this morning:

"Want to guess what the relics are?"

"Just tell me, but I guess it’s related to dragons."

The purple-eyed girl across from her said, prompting the witch to speak up:

"You got half right.

One of the relics is indeed related to dragons, the Sage-Level Relic, Temporal Dragon’s Scale. It’s said to have been left by an Ancient Dragon from Ancient Times, capable of freely traversing time and space. Although it’s a Sage-Level Relic, it’s actually a one-time-use item. Its only trait: deploy a completely enveloping spherical shield around oneself, which cannot be broken by any known attack within three minutes and fifty-eight seconds."

Dorothy raised an eyebrow while stirring the soup with a spoon:

"This ’any known attack,’ from when does ’known’ start to count?"

"That’s a good question. The most credible containment record of this dragon scale dates back to the early Fifth Era. Meaning even a Demigod Witch cannot break the shield formed by the scale within three minutes and fifty-eight seconds. Of course, deities have not participated in the relic’s experiments; a deity would certainly be able to break the dragon scale."

The Duchess noticed Shard also had doubts and added:

"Seventeen of these relics have been discovered, three of which provided their trait information when used. The remaining 14 were contained by the Dawn Chapel of the Moon Bay Parish, with only one left. The first relic stolen last night was this one."

"Does this relic have any other traits?"

Shard asked while stroking Mia.

"The positive trait is that it forms a one-time shield, and the negative trait is that the scale itself will continuously grow flesh and blood tissue. If not monitored and pruned regularly, the dragon scale will quickly turn into some bizarre Dragonborn creature."