Chapter 1311: Chapter 1311: Moon Ritual Site
“So, madam, do you love him? I heard that you, like Mr. and Mrs. Enriques, were childhood sweethearts. Back then, Mr. Osenfort hadn’t made his fortune and was just a sailor, while your father was a well-known local merchant.”
Upon hearing Shard’s inquiry, the eyes behind the veil closed, and after a long moment, she continued:
“Yes, I love him very much. Sometimes, I’m not even sure how I should love him.”
These are strange words, but Haila Osenfort is quite strange herself.
“By the way, I don’t know your maiden name before marriage. Oh, no offense, just a bit curious.”
“Worsent.”
Shard thought for a moment and couldn’t recall hearing that surname in Randall Valley. Haila Osenfort seemed to see his confusion and softly explained:
“Three years ago, my parents passed away in an accident, and the family has since declined.”
The wedding between the woman in front of him and Ston Osenfort took place two years ago.
“I’m really sorry.”
Shard apologized immediately, but the woman didn’t mind:
“The Worsent family is distantly related to the Granger family. After my parents passed, Earl Granger helped me a lot, but Ston didn’t like him.”
“Earl Granger? What a coincidence; I know this gentleman as well.”
“It’s not a coincidence. The Granger family is the oldest family in Randall Valley. Most of the local ancient surnames can be traced back to a connection with the Granger family. My father once told me that throughout the United Kingdom of Carsonrick, any family crest featuring a butterfly insignia can trace its origins back to an ancestor of the Granger family in Randall Valley.”
“Oh?”
Shard looked at her with some surprise, not expecting to have such a revelation today. The ancient surnames of Randall Valley mostly have a butterfly in their family crests, which made the search for Mr. Lyman’s descendants, whom he met at the Fifth Era Butterfly God’s Banquet, quite difficult.
Originally, he thought the Granger family’s uniqueness only lay in the mysterious disappearance of Mr. Thomas Granger seventy years ago. Unexpectedly, the family also had ties with the Lyman gentleman who courted the butterfly maiden.
After finishing his afternoon tea, Shard stood up to take his leave. But since it was already four-thirty in the afternoon, he didn’t rush back to the city, still hoping for some chance at the nearby Moon Goddess Ruins once the sun completely set.
Of course, Shard didn’t waste the two hours before night fully fell. He rode his horse through the nearby Creekland in the river valley, centering on Osenfort Estate, searching for anything unusual nearby.
Throughout the week, temperatures had risen rapidly, but there was no sign of the snow melting in the wild. About half an hour from Osenfort Estate, Shard discovered a small woodland area. There was a small yard within, with a lumberyard and a row of wooden houses for loggers to rest. But since it was winter, only an elderly keeper remained there.
Shard, walking along the woodland path, nearly got mistaken for a robber by the old keeper as he dismounted at the woodland yard. Fortunately, a small bottle of rum earned him the privilege of warming up inside the old man’s house. The keeper, who ventured into town only once every two weeks to purchase supplies, was glad to have someone to talk with.
The wooden house had a coal fire, with hot water boiling on the stove. Upon hearing Shard’s interest in the nearby Osenfort Estate, the old keeper shared his thoughts:
“It’s best not to go near that estate; legend has it that the estate is cursed, and those who get close will meet misfortune.”
This was a rumor that existed even before Ston Osenfort bought the estate.
“But isn’t the family living in there now quite normal?”
Shard asked, and the old keeper shook his head while holding a cup of rum:
“Normal? The bride’s entire family is dead, and the house they used to live in has become a haunted house no one dares approach; does that seem normal?”
“But the deaths of the bride’s family happened a year before their marriage.”
“At that time, the bride’s father was strongly opposed to his daughter marrying Osenfort. Osenfort didn’t have a good name locally, and no one wanted their daughter to marry him. It wasn’t until that merchant died that the wedding could take place.”
This was news to Shard, and he found it quite intriguing:
“The bride had an unfortunate fate, but wasn’t Osenfort rather fortunate? Sir, don’t be fooled by my Northerner appearance, but I know this city well. I’m aware of Osenfort’s rise to fortune; he always seems to win.”
The old caretaker asked with a smile:
“Have you ever met other members of the Ausenfurt family? His brother, his father, or anyone else? Outsiders might not know, and even city folks probably aren’t aware since people only focus on Ausenfurt’s success. But in reality, before Ausenfurt made his fortune, although their family was poor, there were many family members. After Ausenfurt made his fortune and bought the estate, family members gradually died. Oh, I haven’t seen it with my own eyes, but this is not nonsense; the nearby village people know it too.”
The “nearby” village refers to a small village about 20 minutes’ walk further into the eastern mountain area.
The old caretaker chatted warmly with Shard, and when the dim sunset was almost fading in the woodland, he even invited Shard to stay for dinner. But Shard politely declined, and only left after giving the old caretaker a bottle of wine.
This information was enough for Shard to confirm that the one who made a pact with a demon was Ston Osenfort himself. He just didn’t know what role Haila Osenfort played in it.
Riding through Creekland, as the stars twinkled overhead and the March moon quietly hung in the deep night sky, Shard arrived at his destination, the Moon Worship Ruins preserved from an unknown time point.
Visiting here at night was indeed different from noon, for instance, the night was very cold. He still tied his horse to a tree and climbed over the surrounding crooked fences, entering the inner part of the ruins.
He walked very slowly. Upon reaching the center of the ruins, he bent down and placed his palm directly on the soil.
With his eyes closed, he earnestly felt, and gradually, Shard heard a thumping heartbeat sound, but then realized it was actually the sound of a drumbeat. Only when he released his hand did the drumbeat disappear.
“I did feel something.”
[What you sense is not only the moon but also the memory of this land.]
“She” said softly.
“What should I do to ‘see’ the land’s memory? Should I seek help from Miss Lathis?”
[I think the power of the earth should be able to help you.]
Now Shard understood, he bent down to grab a handful of soil, and with his other hand, he retrieved a small flower from his pocket.
The land beneath his feet was normal, theoretically making it impossible to use the Power of the Earth: Healing Aura for restoration. But this was Shard’s first attempt to use two different spellcasting materials simultaneously. The sorcery enhanced by the Butterfly God was proactively activated:
“Power of the Earth: Healing Aura!”
The soil molded itself in mid-air into the shape of a Holy Grail, and the small flower drifted into the cup. Since purification was not truly necessary, the Holy Grail did not sink into the land nor did it emit spiritual energy.
Shard held the Holy Grail in both hands, feeling more touched, but there seemed to be a thin ice barrier preventing him from breaking through to comprehend this land’s memory.
This time, he didn’t need to ask “her”; Shard knew himself what to do.
He took out the materials that Miss Danester gave him in the morning for learning the Arcane Technique, Dream of the Moon. Holy silver powder outlined the trajectory of the Ritual Circle on the snow surface, expensive incense was burned in an incense burner, and a potion aiding sleep was consumed directly by Shard.
Previously, the Holy Grail had crumbled since it didn’t purify the land, so Shard used sorcery once more. This time, he lay wholly in the Ritual Circle on the snow surface, holding the Soil Holy Grail in both hands. Activating the ritual, preparing to learn the Arcane Technique, he emptied his mind, closed his eyes facing upward, allowing the moonlight from the woodland to shine directly on his face.
The wind rustling through the pine forest made a shivering sound, and the moonlight nearly melted Shard lying in the woodland. He listened to the sound of the night, felt the pulse of the earth, but the Dream of the Moon was indeed Advanced Sorcery; the moon did not guide Shard into a dream. The first attempt to learn the Arcane Technique failed, marking Shard’s first failure to learn a technique in one go.
Yet the ritual had another effect. As time passed, the thumping drumbeat sound grew clearer, the night wind made the winter pines shiver loudly, and the crackling of the bonfire was almost in his ears.
Lying down, Shard squinted sneakily at his surroundings. Unknowingly, bonfires had been lit throughout the ruins, and the woodland at night was filled with people wearing white robes. They knelt in reverence towards Shard holding the Holy Grail at the ruins’ center, praying towards him. In the originally non-full-moon phases of March, they all suddenly became completely round, suspended in the night sky above the woodland clearing over the ruins, as if about to crash onto the ground.
The March moonlight shone on Shard, painting his face with brilliant colors, almost making him feel as if he were becoming one with the glimmering light.
“It seems I am indeed resonating with this ruin, but something seems off…”
[What’s off?]
“She” softly echoed by Shard’s ear, and Shard only felt his body seemingly rising. As his vision lifted, he could see a larger area around, seeing more people in white robes kneeling in the woodland, stretching to the end of the darkness.
The fire burned in the darkness, and devout people prayed to the moon with their most sincere emotions. This ancient prayer transmitted to the Sixth Era’s Shard, and he seemed to ascend among these prayers to the same height as that Silvermoon.
The silver moon enveloped him, or rather, Shard himself became a part of the moon.