Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

The front hall of the church, compared to the section Shard emerged from earlier, is relatively well-preserved, with more than half of the long stone benches still intact. The area is spacious, capable of seating hundreds to listen to the priest's sermons during its prime.

Unfortunately, now the windows are blocked by debris, with winter grass still growing in the brick fissures on the floor. The wall behind the pulpit shows no signs of the Holy Emblem, making it impossible to identify which Old God this church belonged to.

The wildness of nature and the solemnity of the church have fused together perfectly—everything in the Mortal World ultimately cannot withstand the power of time.

The only thing worth noting is the stone statue of a middle-aged man in a robe, sitting on the right side of the central aisle, in the first row of benches. The statue is incredibly lifelike, matching the details of hair, robe folds, and the wrinkles at the corners of the eyes to those of a real person. The statue's eyes gaze at the empty wall where the Holy Emblem should hang, and Shard can even discern a sense of relief and melancholy from its expression.

The statue's facial features are typical of the Casenli Southerners, and if the light weren't sufficient here, Shard might even think it's a living person.

"Stone statue?"

He walked over and placed his hand on the shoulder of the seated statue, feeling a thick layer of dust.

[Ordinary stone statue.]

"Just a stone statue?"

[Yes. If you don't believe, you could try breaking it.]

Shard hesitated and didn't do so. Although the Breath of Ages could easily restore such ordinary stone, since this statue is the only relatively complete thing in the church, he decided to leave it be.

After briefly inspecting the area and marveling at the scene, Shard reached the main door of the front hall. This was also the main entrance of the entire church, not blocked by debris, but the double metal doors were tightly locked.

"The lock is on the inside… did the last person to leave lock themselves in and leave through the Spatial Labyrinth?"

He pondered as the lock was meaningless to Shard, who had already advanced to the Inner Ring. With a simple tap on the metal door, the lock clicked open, and even the hinges crumbled automatically onto the snow-covered ground.

Creaaak~

He bent slightly and pushed the double metal doors open, letting a slit of sunlight pour in. Squeezing through, he stood on the platform atop the church steps, shading his eyes with his hand, squinting as he looked around in surprise.

Shard had imagined that since this abandoned church was relatively intact, devoid of human activity, it must be in the mountainous region or within dense forests outside the Randall Valley.

But upon stepping outside, he saw the church was surrounded by a snow-covered abandoned courtyard, with a statue fountain base remaining in its center. Outside the courtyard was a city street.

Bustling people passed by the aged, abandoned church, with Casenric-winter-attired citizens continuing their lives amidst the swirling snowflakes.

The street wasn't very wide, but enough for two carriages to pass in opposite directions. The courtyard gate featured the wrought iron fence typical of church architecture, opposite which was a three-story old bookstore. The snow turned the slanted roof silver, icicles hanging from the bookstore's first-floor eaves, as youthful apprentices raised brooms trying to knock them off.

Glancing farther into the sky, Shard saw the city's bell tower, the side spire-top of the True God Chapel, and chimneys belching black smoke clearly visible amid the snow.

A newspaper boy passed by the church gate without glancing over. A gentleman, cane in hand, hurried by, casually checking his pocket watch. A carriage rolled past the abandoned church entrance, drawing Shard's attention to the courtyard gate's black arched wrought iron fence. Then he realized no one seemed to notice this sprawling church.

Not only was there no attention coming his way, but no one even glanced at the abandoned courtyard. Even those who knew this part of the neighborhood couldn't have missed glancing over even once.

"Having such architecture within the city is unreasonable; the Church wouldn't allow an Old God Church to appear here. Even if the True God Church sanctioned it, not having homeless occupy it for winter shelter is illogical… Are the outside people unable to see this place? This exit is indeed intriguing."

But having the exit within the city was beneficial to Shard, saving him the time of traveling.

He tried stepping down from the church stairs into the courtyard, confirming no one noticed. Shard grabbed a handful of snow, forming a snowball, and tossed it over the fence. The snowball burst on the street, catching a man's attention. Clutching a black briefcase, he glanced around confusedly, searching for the mischievous child who threw it.

Yet the actual "mischievous child" was just inside the courtyard on the other side of the fence.

"Seems they indeed can't see."

Though baffled by the phenomenon, Shard decided to venture outside. To ensure he could return, he tied a thin string to the courtyard fence, holding an end as he opened the gate and slipped out.

Once entirely on the street, someone finally glanced his way, yet not surprisingly, as if he had always been there.

"Upon passing through the gate, it felt like crossing a water membrane… The power of space."

Pondering this, he looked down to find the string snapped. Turning around, there was only a wall behind him.

A bit further away, he saw to each side the "Randall City Public Printing House" courtyard and the three-story building with a sign reading "Berkeley Botanical Exhibition Hall."

The left building was numbered "11 Cherry Leaf Avenue," and the right "12 Cherry Leaf Avenue." The abandoned church he had exited seemed to have vanished.

"Well, this is truly..."

He took a slight breath and placed his hand on the wall, which was the exterior wall of the "Berkeley Botanical Exhibition Hall." When his hand touched the wall, he didn't sense a slightest trace of anomaly:

"Can you feel anything?"

[No elemental traces. Perhaps a specific method is needed to make the courtyard reappear.]

Shard sighed, turned around, and leaned against the wall, lowering his hat and looking at the street before him:

"I was really careless this time... So, how should I go back?"

After checking dozens of times, until even the apprentice at the old bookstore across the wall started to notice him, Shard reluctantly left, temporarily accepting the disappearance of the abandoned church.

He didn't go far. Instead, he crossed the street to the opposite "25 Cherry Leaf Lane" at Terrence's Old Bookstore. Wandering through the bookshelves, he picked a coverless old book "Carsonrick Forest Story," intending to take it back as a gift for Dorothy, then he moved towards the counter.

The counter was attended by an elderly gentleman wearing a vest, with gray hair and reading glasses. He was carefully repairing the torn pages of an old book with missing pages.

The old man quickly settled the account for Shard, who, after receiving his change, asked in his now quite fluent Casenlic Language:

"Sir, in fact, I'm a writer from out of town."

Saying this, he raised the book in his hand:

"I've heard there are many intriguing rumors on this street. I wonder if you could tell me about them?"

"Intriguing rumors?"

The old man's Casenlic pronunciation wasn't very standard, likely the accent from Randall Valley. He raised his head and adjusted his reading glasses, eyeing Shard somewhat indifferently:

"If you're not interested in the rumor about the blacksmith at the end of this street having an affair with the young waitress at the tavern, then I think you're probably interested in the story of the 'Church that Doesn't Exist.'"

"There really is such a story."

Shard thought, flipping a small 1 Finny coin onto the table:

"Could you tell me more about it?"

"It's not a coherent story."

The old man didn't bother with the coin, continuing to work on the old book in his hands:

"Every few years, someone claims to have seen an abandoned church on this street, yes, just across from this shop. But no matter how people check, they can't find any trace of such a church. Even the priest from the nearby Peace Chapel came to check, but evidently, there's no result."

"An indeed interesting rumor... Have you ever seen the so-called church?"

"Of course not. To be honest, I don't really believe in these kinds of rumors, but if it were to be written into a story, I think it would be quite interesting."

Shard nodded with a smile. As long as the church doesn't "randomly appear in any corner of the city," but indeed exists on this street, it's fine that he just can't see it.

"Oh, I'd also like to inquire about something else."

He left another coin:

"Is there any grand noble with the surname 'Granger' locally?"

"You're indeed from out of town, but your standard language is likely from Velindale... The reputation of the Earl - Earl Granger of the Valley, is known locally by everyone."

The old man said, still ignoring the coins.

"The Earl?"

Shard was taken aback, realizing he would need to disguise himself to return the two medals.

"May I ask, where is Earl Granger's manor located?"

"Would you like to buy a city map?"

The old man looked up with a smile and then pointed to the two coins:

"These cannot be considered as a fee for the information."