Steam Age: I Fight Against Divine Authority with Otherworldly Tales

Chapter 38 Albert Howard

"Jack the Ripper?" Upon hearing Lawrence's words, Suren couldn't help but repeat the name that sounded so sinister.

Lawrence stretched out his right hand and made a dissecting gesture: "That guy is a notorious killer who targets women. He already has more than a dozen victims."

His methods were extremely cruel; the victims' internal organs were removed, and conventional methods of supernatural tracking failed. It was initially determined that he was a "filthy sorcerer."

"Even so, 'Libraton' is the location of the Holy See. Surely they can capture him if they want to?" Suren was somewhat doubtful. After all, someone who needed to hide and wasn't very efficient at killing was at most an "Awakener." There was no reason why the Church couldn't do anything about him.

Lawrence rolled his eyes: "Because the dead were mostly civilians. Do you expect those high-ranking officials to send out bishops for a few civilians?"

Suren sighed. He had forgotten that this was, after all, an era of strict class divisions.

Listening to their discussion, Karl patted Suren on the shoulder with some impatience: "Alright, this isn't something we should worry about. Let's go."

Suren shook his head. Karl was still the same; he was only interested in the gold pounds in front of him.

It's only natural that Viscount Albert Howard's residence is very close to Professor Derwent's, since this is the only wealthy area in Loren Town.

However, Viscount Howard's residence was far inferior to Professor Devont's; the house was not only smaller overall, but the exterior walls were also much older.

Of course, this is only relative; it's still much better than Suren's dorm room, which was practically a doghouse.

Karl rang the doorbell, and soon footsteps came from behind the door. When the door opened, Suren was stunned.

The person who opened the door wore a gray top hat with the brim pulled low, but it couldn't hide his meticulously groomed mustache. He also carried a gilded cane.

Judging from their attire and appearance, it was not the butler who opened the door, but Viscount Howard himself.

This was precisely what puzzled Suren. According to Mr. Lawrence, Viscount Howard was very concerned about his noble status, and logically, the butler should have opened the door, and the guests should have waited in the entrance hall until they were announced before entering.

Viscount Howard glanced at the two men's attire, snorted, and walked straight into the house without saying a word.

Seeing this, Suren and Karl shrugged and said nothing, simply following the Viscount into the room.

Similar to Professor De Went’s residence, there were also some paintings hanging in the corridor, but Suren could still tell from the rough brushstrokes and unrefined landscapes that these paintings were of a lower quality.

As she passed the corner of the corridor, Suren noticed a slightly darker mark on the ground, a mark that could only be left after years of placement, and it looked like a vase.

"Perhaps this viscount isn't as wealthy as he appears, or perhaps he's recently had significant expenses, so much so that he even needs to sell vases to make ends meet," Suren pondered to himself.

Led by Viscount Howard, Suren and Karl arrived at a room that was clearly a study. The room was relatively tidy and seemed to have just been cleaned, but the messy desk ruined the overall atmosphere.

Suren noticed a map spread out on the desk. The map was slightly yellowed, with frayed edges, and covered with all sorts of writing and drawings.

Several ancient books lay on top of the map, both books and the map worn and tattered. Suren couldn't understand the writing on the books, but he could make out the illustrations—a crescent moon trailing a four-leaf clover, a pattern Suren had never seen before.

More importantly, the frequency of Suren's "Source Knowledge" tremors is extremely high, which means that there is a very important secret hidden behind them.

Seemingly noticing Suren's gaze, Viscount Howard frowned and casually picked up two books to cover the pattern.

"Hmph, didn't the 'Deathbird Monks' teach you not to look at things you shouldn't look at?" Viscount Howard raised his chin and said with some dissatisfaction, his little mustache trembling as he spoke.

Suren smiled, his gaze falling on the spot where the books had been, and said, "Your Excellency Viscount Howard, I just felt that those books were imbued with an ancient aura. I couldn't understand the words on them. The person who could collect these books must be a learned gentleman with extremely high aesthetic taste."

It seemed to be Su Lun's words that made Viscount Howard raise his chin even higher, his eyes revealing a hint of smugness. As if to show off, he deliberately dragged out his words: "These are ancient books unearthed from the border wilderness of 'Libraton,' that terrifying 'Land of Lamentation.' Only those with extensive knowledge can understand them."

"The Land of Lamentation," Suren murmured the new term to himself, memorizing it.

Suren's smile deepened, and he said, almost in a flattering tone, "A learned gentleman like yourself must have cracked the mystery, right?"

"It records some history," Viscount Howard said, with a hint of pride, "and a ruin..."

The viscount stopped halfway through his sentence, his gaze falling on Suren, as if he had realized something.

He didn't say anything more, but turned around, picked up two pieces of paper from the desk and handed them to Suren and Karl, as if the conversation had never happened.

"It's too late to realize this now," Suren chuckled inwardly, taking the two pieces of paper with him.

This is a contract, similar to the one Suren signed with the "Deathbird Brotherhood," only much simpler—the information about the bounty mission that Viscount Howard will disclose later must not be shared with anyone in any way.

"Let me make this clear first, Your Excellency." Suren looked up at Viscount Howard, who had already sat down, her voice low but clear, "The bounty only states that this is a tracking mission. If it involves other matters, we have the right to refuse."

The study fell silent for a moment. Howard lit a cigar, clearly displeased that Suren had tricked him into revealing information.

He snorted and leaned back in his chair: "Lower-class people are lower-class people. That little bit of bounty means nothing to me. This is just a tracking mission, provided you don't get discovered."

Carl glanced at Viscount Howard, then at Suren, feeling completely out of place.

Suren shrugged, said nothing more, walked to the desk, picked up the Viscount's pen without ceremony, and signed his name on the contract: Sherlock Holmes.

Of course, in the Viscount's eyes, that position clearly read: "Surren Chern".

Seeing that Suren had signed his name, Karl did not hesitate any longer, stepped forward, took the pen, and signed his own name as well.

"Ill-mannered."

Viscount Howard stood up, grabbed the pen so forcefully that it flipped a corner of the contract on the table. Without even looking at the pen, he threw it into the trash can.

"Perhaps Viscount Howard will be rummaging through the trash cans in a sorry state later," Suren thought maliciously to herself.