Steam Age: I Fight Against Divine Authority with Otherworldly Tales

Chapter 39 A Common Adultery Catching Mission

Viscount Howard plopped down, took a deep breath as if to suppress his anger, pulled open a drawer under his desk, took out a photograph, and threw it on the table.

Suren picked up the photo and found that it showed a blonde woman. The wrinkles around her eyes indicated that she was of a certain age, but she was well-maintained and quite attractive.

But Suren was more interested in the information behind the photograph.

It's important to understand that while cameras exist in the world today, they are extremely rare, primarily because they are incredibly expensive, costing almost as much as a worker's salary for several years. Furthermore, they are strictly controlled by the church, typically only usable by the very wealthy and powerful, and strictly prohibited from use in large public spaces.

Therefore, places like photo studios do not exist in this world, which means that Viscount Howard owns a camera, implying that his status and wealth are indeed quite high.

Considering the current somewhat impoverished state of the Viscount's household, one can conclude that the Viscount is in dire need of funds, even at the cost of lowering his dignity.

A glint flashed in Suren's eyes. He realized that the root cause of the Viscount's extravagant spending was likely that book, or more precisely, the mysterious ruins that the book pointed to.

What exactly does that ruin hold that would make a viscount willing to lower his quality of life?

At this moment, the Viscount's voice interrupted Suren's thoughts.

"This is my wife. We've been married for 12 years," Viscount Howard said slowly, his voice low and restrained, as if he were suppressing something. His gaze was fixed on the door, his eyes somewhat unfocused. "She's been going out more often lately. I suspect..."

The words were left hanging in mid-air, and no one continued speaking.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: ①⓪①ⓚⓚⓢ.ⓒⓞⓜ]

In her mind, Suren completed the two words for him—cheating.

After all that buildup, it turned out to be just another ordinary task of catching someone in the act of adultery. Suren was speechless.

Carl wasn't surprised. He scratched his head. He didn't have any other thoughts, he just felt that he wasn't very good at catching adulterers.

"I want you to follow her and find out what she's doing." Viscount Howard regained his arrogant demeanor, as if he hadn't been the one who had just lost his composure. "I need you to bring evidence."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a loud "smack" was heard as something was slammed onto the table.

Suren's gaze fell on the item, a camera with a square wooden body, a brass lens mount, and a leather strap.

Unlike those bulky machines that require tripods and black cloths, it is more compact and portable, and can be used right in your hand, even the kind that can take pictures instantly.

Seeing this camera confirmed Suren's suspicions about the church once again—the church was not without the ability to develop technology.

The camera in front of us is very modern in design, and it is highly similar to the camera in Suren's world, which is proof of that.

However, the church holds a suppressive attitude towards technologies such as electricity. Conventional electrical appliances are not allowed, radio is not allowed, and internal combustion engines are not allowed. It seems that the church is intentionally locking technology into the steam age.

The church's true motives remain shrouded in mystery. Are they truly seeking to maintain their rule, or are they simply overly fearful of electricity? Furthermore, do they even understand the intrinsic value of electricity?

Suren frowned slightly, her thoughts wandering.

Just then, Viscount Howard's actions interrupted Suren's thoughts. He stood up and looked out the window: "I don't want anyone to know about this; it concerns the honor of the Howard family!"

He enunciated the last few words very heavily, as if he wanted to grind something out from between his teeth.

Suren put the camera away and asked, "Viscount, if you need us to follow them, you'll at least need to provide some clues so that our progress will be faster."

Viscount Howard paused, then looked back at Suren: "Loren Town isn't big. She just left without any servants, saying she was going to the 'Star Club'."

He walked back to his desk, leaning on his cane, and while flipping through a book, he gave them the hint to leave: "Alright, you can get started now. I hope to hear good news from you before lunch."

Suren shrugged and walked out of the room without looking back. Karl was stunned for a moment, then jogged to catch up with Suren and closed the door behind him as he left.

The door closed softly, leaving Viscount Howard alone in the study. He flipped through the old book, muttering, "I hope you were just having an affair..."

He paused, his gaze falling on the location marked with a red circle on the map.

"...It was just cheating."

As soon as he finished speaking, the study gradually quieted down, leaving only the sound of Viscount Howard turning the pages of a book.

Stepping out of Viscount Howard's residence, Carl looked around and scratched his head. "Where's this 'Starry Club'? Why didn't you ask?"

Suren glanced at him sideways, ignored him, and walked in one direction.

Karl felt he had seen Suren's gaze somewhere before; it was the look the orphanage director gave the children who were considered mentally challenged when he was a child.

In fact, the "Starry Night Club" is not far from here, and even a poor boy like Suren knows its location.

Firstly, because the town of Loren is not very big, and there is only this one club in the town.

Secondly, this club is one of the few that even the poor can enter.

Of course, the premise is that you are at least dressed decently and have someone vouch for you, and of course, there will be a membership fee.

As for why Karl didn't know, Suren could only conclude that the guy was rather stupid.

The two walked for less than fifteen minutes, and the gray-white three-story building came into view. Above the door were several large bronze characters: Star Club.

Suren stood at the entrance of a narrow alley across from the club. The alley was rather narrow and smelled musty.

Carl stood beside him, peeked out, scratched his head, and asked with some confusion, "Why don't we go in?"

Suren sighed and pointed to her clothes: "Although these clothes allow us to enter the club without a guarantee, isn't this clearly a warning to Mrs. Howard?"

The two "Deathbirds" loitering around the club were indeed attracting too much attention. Karl rubbed his nose, somewhat embarrassed, and asked, "So, are we just going to stay here and keep watching?"

Suren leaned against the cold brick wall, waved her hand dismissively, and said, "You keep watch for now, I'm going to rest for a bit."

Carl opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, he realized that Suren had already closed her eyes. He had no choice but to turn his head and focus intently on the entrance of the club.

Suren wasn't so tired that he needed to catch up on sleep at this time; this was part of his preparation before using [Revelation].

He leaned against the brick wall, forcing himself to ignore the noisy environment around him. His breathing gradually slowed down, and as his consciousness sank in, the environment gradually quieted down.

Gradually, some words surfaced in my mind, still so fragmented, like an encrypted password.

After a while, Suren opened her eyes, the last image still etched in her mind—a notice board.

Suren frowned, because he recognized the signboard—it was the signboard for the "Mist Exchange".