Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 238 Ghosts at the Funeral

After lunch, Shard left the house after reading for an hour.

He found a carriage at the street corner and traversed the entire urban district to reach the cemetery outside the city. During the ride, the extremely bored Shard discussed the recent weather with the coachman and together they complained about the soaring prices before touching on their respective jobs.

Perhaps it was Shard's relatively young face and his approachable tone that made the coachman willing to chat with him a bit more. Of course, the carriage was not his own; the coachman rented it from the Tobesk Carriage Rental Association in the city, operated it within a designated area, and handed over a portion of the daily earnings to the association, using the rest to support his family.

Though this job paid better than that of the porters who lug bags around near the station, it hadn't alleviated the coachman's family from poverty. The main reason was that he had five children at home.

Four of them were his own, and another was from the family of his late elder brother. In this age, it was completely normal for anyone to suddenly pass away, just like Detective Sparrow.

"Lately, my earnings have been alright. I've even ordered milk from the Silver Parrot Milk Delivery Company, a bottle every day, so all the kids get a share. Oh, sir, I've heard that drinking milk can make you grow taller."

"There is such a saying...I remember Silver Parrot Milk Delivery Company's milk isn't cheap, is it?"

Shard hesitantly asked, to which the coachman responded with a smile:

"Recently, the subscription price for milk there decreased a bit, apparently because there was a problem with the warehouse. Until it's fixed, they need to get rid of the daily accumulated stock as soon as possible. Last time, I carried a middle-aged gentleman who works there; he told me this news. My neighbors also plan to order some before the price goes back up; it's truly a great deal."

The Tobesk Public Cemetery is an important part of the basic municipal works of Tobesk. Although it is called a "public cemetery," apart from members of the Royal Family, even nobles are buried here.

The cemetery spans a vast area, and choosing to be buried above ground or in the underground cemetery, in the shade or sun, and even the nearby environment and density of tombs are all matters of significance.

The emergence of public cemeteries in the Steam Age was not because City Hall had a surplus of funds with nowhere to use; it arose during the expansion of Tobesk Urban Area when they encountered the issue of land occupied by cemeteries around the city.

In a world where mysticism truly exists, funeral matters are not simple. Thus, it was ultimately decided to establish the city's public cemetery in the east, near the mountains, since the terrain is flat on the other three sides and Tobesk's expansion would not opt for the east.

Compared to the run-down rural cemetery managed by Mr. Copus that Shard had visited once, the Tobesk City Public Cemetery was much more impressive. A dedicated road was built from the city that extended to this place, and besides the carriages for the cemetery, any other carriages from outside were not permitted to enter the interior of the cemetery.

Stone pathways were laid throughout the cemetery, connecting various sections. The public cemetery wasn't just one place; it was usually divided into the northeast, east, and southeast, and the Eastern Cemetery where Shard was visiting this time was further divided into five sections. In number three section of the Eastern Cemetery, where the now skeletal Mr. Worsent was buried, was what was known as the rich people's section.

Burial in the underground cemetery was even more expensive, not to mention now in the year 1853, even twenty or more years ago when Mrs. Worsent purchased the gravesite, the price was definitely over 30 pounds.

All of the above information was what Shard had inquired from the coachman; during the uninteresting ride, they talked about many things, and the coachman was very happy to speak with someone like Shard. Therefore, when getting off the carriage, Shard even gave an extra 5 pence as thanks for the conversation along the way, and the coachman also took off his hat to express his gratitude to Shard.

Since the city public cemetery was managed by City Hall and the Church of Nature, there were of course churches within the cemetery.

A white chapel stood next to the Tomb Guardian's cottage, with notices of death posted at the entrance, informing people of the identity of those being interred today.

Shard, straightening his clothes, stood on the stone path in front of the chapel, and gradually some guests who were attending the funeral began to arrive. To attend such a funeral, one didn't need to bring anything extra; wearing black formal attire was sufficient.

Inside, Shard found the old woman standing beside the coffin in the chapel. The wooden, varnished coffin bore the silver wrench emblem, the Holy Emblem of the God of Creation and Destruction, also the True God - the Lady of Creation, representing the faith of the long-deceased Mr. Worsent.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Hamilton."

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Worsent. Please don't be so sad,"

Shard quietly offered his condolences, after which Old Mrs. Worsent introduced him to a middle-aged man, also standing by the coffin, wearing a black top hat.

To say he was middle-aged, he was actually close to fifty.

This was Johns Worsent, the late Earl Worsent's youngest son. Although he, too, had not inherited the title, this gentleman had his own local enterprises by leveraging his family's influence; today, he represented the family at the funeral.

Although Mrs. Worsent had mentioned some conflict between the two men, at least such conflict was not evident in front of Shard. The middle-aged gentleman was very courteous in thanking Shard for coming all the way, and Shard inquired about the funeral proceedings and confirmed that the priest would be present.

This was Shard's first funeral in this world, and during moments of idleness, looking at the coffin, he couldn't help but wonder what the Mr. Worsent, sealed in the wall posthumously, would think of his wife and family's relationship.

"A funeral thirty years overdue,"

Even though this funeral did not concern him much, he couldn't help but sigh.

The funeral customs of this age were similar to the Western funerals in Shard's homeland, with grieving friends and family arriving, a priest from the church of the deceased's faith presiding, family elders or high-status friends reading eulogies, followed by relatives recalling the life of the deceased one by one.

All these rituals took place in that small chapel in the cemetery, among which the most protracted process was led by a licensed priest who guided everyone in prayer for the soul of the departed, praying for his eternal rest.

The Worsent family and Old Mrs. Worsent's friends and relatives took their seats on the long benches in the church hall. Due to the family's clout and financial power, the visitors today nearly filled the entire hall.

Shard's turn to speak came early on; after the funeral began at two in the afternoon, he was the second person to speak following the priest. The eulogy was already prepared, and he first clarified his identity, then proceeded to read from the sheet of paper he was holding—the sentences that praised Mr. Worsent and lamented his untimely death.

The whole process lasted 10 minutes, after which people politely clapped in a low voice, and a few old women sitting in the front row even started crying behind their handkerchiefs. It was unclear whether it was real or fake, but Shard at least believed that Old Mrs. Worsent's crying was genuine.

He couldn't leave yet, as he had to wait until the coffin was taken into the cemetery. After all, the agreed time to settle the payment was after the proceedings. At that time, he could walk to visit Mr. Sparrow Hamilton, who was resting not far away.

Since he didn't know anyone, Shard found a seat at the back near the church's main door and the corridor. As he quietly walked towards the back, surprisingly a young girl wearing a black hat with a white flower suddenly slipped him a note.

He thought it was something important, but upon opening it, it merely contained an address with a lipstick mark below the letters.

Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire

"Hmm..."

[What did you think it would be?]

The voice in his head echoed in his ears.

"Some sort of trouble asking for help," he replied, crumpling the paper and stuffing it into his pocket, planning to throw it away after the funeral.

Shard was not in the mood to get to know unfamiliar girls:

"Attending a funeral and still someone hits on me, how amusing," he muttered softly, albeit so quietly that probably no one sitting next to him could hear what he was saying.

"How amusing," came a voice next to his ear. Shard was startled, thinking someone had heard him. However, he realized the voice came from his left, where the walkway carpeted between the long rows of seats clearly had no one.

"What's going on?" he murmured.

So, he glanced to the left and saw a transparent figure of a middle-aged man standing beside him.

With hands clasped behind his back, the figure wore a face full of regret as he watched Mrs. Worsent at the small pulpit of the church, recalling her husband. The transparent figure of the middle-aged man, like a late guest to the funeral, had to stand at the back upon finding no seats left, watching the scene unfold before him. However, both the transparency of the body and the continual sensation of coldness confirmed that this was no human.

Without showing any panic, Shard just glanced at the figure before turning his gaze away, quietly complaining to himself:

"So, what exactly is going on? I just came to attend a funeral..."

The reason he wasn't panicking was that the man beside him did not seem formidable.

[Put simply, you've encountered a ghost,] she said, laughing while giving the answer.

Shard continued to sit upright, occasionally glancing left. The ghostly being beside him was completely focused on Mrs. Worsent at the front, hence it didn't notice someone beside it could see him.

Although the figure was transparent, its facial features were still discernible. Shard hadn't seen this face before, but he suspected it might be Mr. Worsent—although the unfortunate man from over thirty years ago had not left any photographs, so Shard was only guessing.

"When did it appear?" he asked.

[About a second before you made your comment, exactly when the old lady started her speech on stage,] she replied.

"In that case..."

Shard tried to recall knowledge about "ghosts" from his memory because someone had recently died in the house he lived in. Thus, after coming into contact with the textbooks from Saint Byrons, he made it a point to look up related content.