Chapter 234 – The Curse of the Family
Chapter 234 – The Curse of the Family
Bishop Valentine put away the piece of paper depicting the odd emblem.
“None of us recognize this pattern, it most likely comes from a rather ancient era or from a secret society organization that has never been revealed to the public,” the old bishop said while putting away the paper, “Corresponding records may be found in the archives, in addition, I will also contact some friends in the academic world. see if they recognize this thing.”
Vanna’s gaze returned to Tirion, and she looked curiously at the “pirate captain”, “Was there anything else unusual about your father before he talked to those strange ‘ascetics’? For example, did he suddenly acquire a mysterious tome, or explore some secret realm?”
“It’s hard to say,” Tirian shook his head, “You should know that a century ago he was one of the most prominent explorers in the world, and dealing with strange relics or secret realms was his daily routine- -he spent almost all his days touching those things you just mentioned, and Lucrecia and I were only just starting to help our father out with some of the things he was doing at the time, and didn’t have much of a chance to get to know his ‘collection’ in detail, and …… “
Tirian paused at that, then sighed softly.
“And at the time, Lucrecia and I didn’t even think about what would happen later on, those odd ‘visitors’ were a bit strange, but father himself often received all sorts of strange ‘guests’, and by the time we When we realized that father’s state was getting more and more out of place, nearly a year had passed since that ‘secret talk’, and there was no way to go back and investigate anything.”
Vanna nodded softly, and just then a loud chime of bells and sirens suddenly came through the window, interrupting the conversation in the parlor.
“The twilight bell has struck,” Bishop Valentine looked up at the window and saw that the sun bound by the double rune had gradually sunk into the sea level, while the vague shadow of the World Creation could be vaguely seen in the sky, “Let’s call it a day.”
He then withdrew his gaze and nodded to Tirian, “If you don’t mind, you may rest in the cathedral this evening, we have prepared dinner for our guests as well as undisturbed guest rooms.”
“Thank you then,” Tirian agreed readily, and followed up with, “I intend to stay in this city-state for a few more days – I lived here briefly a hundred years ago, and I am still interested in how it has changed today. ”
“Of course,” Valentine smiled up, “The Sea Mist is already a friend of Prand, and we are always ready for friends – you can stay here as long as you wish.”
For her part, Vanna rose from the couch and nodded to Tirion, “I’ll show you to the staterooms.”
Concluding this special meeting, Tirian left the parlor with Vanna and rejoined several of the accompanying sailors who were resting in a nearby room, and the group headed deeper into the cathedral.
“I didn’t expect His Honor the Inquisitor to personally lead the way,” Tirian said casually on the way to the guest rooms, “For a ‘pirate’, this is no small honor.”
“Just a ‘pirate’?” Vanna turned back slightly with a smile on her face, “Your Excellency’s identity is not that ordinary – the son of Duncan, the Frost Queen’s general, the commander of the Sea Mist Fleet, if all the pirates on the Infinite Sea were like this …… then we wouldn’t don’t need any city-state authorities.”
“…… ‘Pirate’ is just a convenient identity, it’s very convenient for me to find trouble with certain people on the Cold Boundless Sea, and they like me for this identity, it allows them to issue more wanted notices to pretend that they’re still somewhat useful ,” Tirian said lightly, “but those you just mentioned are also things of the past, Your Honor the Inquisitor.”
After a short silence, Tirian continued, “I have never revealed so much as a single thing related to ‘him’ to an outsider, I hope you understand that.”
“Of course,” Vanna nodded slightly, “If I were in your position, I wouldn’t be willing to confide in outsiders about my family’s …… ‘curse,’ either. I’m sorry, I can’t think of another word.”
“It’s okay, it is indeed a curse,” Tirian sighed, “If it wasn’t for such a weird and bizarre situation in Prand, and you guys just mentioned ‘his’ abnormality, there are some things that I don’t really want to recall.”
As he spoke, his gaze inadvertently swept over Vanna’s eyes, and in the next instant, he involuntarily lowered his gaze.
That pressure if any had appeared once again, and it was even more pronounced than what he had felt on the pier before.
When he thought about the young judge’s recent experience of communicating with “that person” several times, Tirian’s heart even had some terrible conjectures about this indescribable pressure.
Vanna noticed the other’s oddity.
“You seem a little formal, Captain Tirian,” she asked bluntly, “Do I make you nervous?”
“No, Your Honor the Inquisitor,” Tirian shook his head, then sounded a little hesitant, “I just suddenly thought of what you just mentioned, you said that you communicated …… with my father on several occasions then besides communicating, did he also gave you some …… other things, for example, power?”
Vanna’s steps came to a sudden halt.
“Why do you ask?”
“I didn’t mean anything else,” Tirian suddenly realized that his question just now might be a bit impulsive to a pious and steadfast saint, and immediately explained, “I just wanted to warn that my father …… who brought back the power from subspace The power he brought back from subspace is very strange and difficult to weed out, and like other chaotic erosions from subspace, that power possesses an extremely strong contaminating nature, so if you accidentally dip into it too deeply ……”
“Thanks for the reminder.” Vanna took a deep breath and sincerely thanked her.
But what was actually on her mind was that this reminder from the other side might be a little too late – Captain Duncan’s influence was more serious than anyone could have imagined, and now she could only hope that that captain would actually knock on the door the next time he came to see her ……
Tirian, however, didn’t know what was going through the Inquisitor’s mind, but just felt the atmosphere get a lot more awkward, but this awkwardness didn’t last long – Vanna took the initiative to break the silence.
“I’m curious about one thing,” she asked suddenly, “about that ‘countdown’ your father mentioned before he went mad …… Do you know any more intelligence? Did he mention any other details?” In asking this question, what Vanna recalled in her mind was that communication she had had earlier with the Storm Goddess, Gemona, and the incomprehensible words that the Goddess had conveyed to her – the
Time is limited and is about to be critical.
These words, which she couldn’t understand at that time, now seem to be inextricably linked to the “countdown” mentioned by Tirion!
Tirion met Vanna’s eyes.
After a few seconds of silence, he spoke in a deep voice: “In the last days, he suddenly said something to Lucrecia, he said – ‘Our world is just a pile of fading fires.’ ”
The corridor came to an end.
“Thank you for leading the way,” Tirian nodded to Vanna, “I would like to spend some time with my own men next.”
Vanna snapped out of her thoughts, the words Tirian had just said still echoing in her mind, and subconsciously nodded her head to say goodbye to the great pirate.
The door to the stateroom closed, and it was only after the surrounding area had quieted down that Tirian truly breathed a sigh of relief.
He recalled the last conversation he had with the young inquisitor, and the seeming pressure he felt on the other party, and a belated palpitation of his heart filled him only then.
In a trance, he recalled the last moment of eye contact with that judge ……
At that moment, he actually felt that he was standing under the gaze of his “father”!
“Captain, are you alright?” A trusted sailor looked at his boss with a bit of worry, “You’ve been tense since you came ashore.”
“…… I’m fine,” Tirion settled down, waving his hand at his men and striding towards a table not far away, “Bring the stuff.”
A sailor immediately stepped forward and placed a carrying case brought down from the Sea Mist on the table, Tirion used the key to open the case, revealing its contents.
It was an intricately constructed lens device, consisting of many small lenses and curved connecting rods, with a large crystal ball housed in its center.
“Watch the door and don’t let anyone disturb it.” Tirian instructed his men.
Only after a few sailors had left did he focus on the crystal ball and gently triggered the angle of one of the lenses, calling in a low voice, “Lucrecia.”
After a while, the lens set shuddered slightly into operation, and the crystal ball in the center began to emit a shimmering light, accompanied by an interfering noise, and Lucrecia’s blurred figure emerged from the crystal ball, “I’m here.”
“Why is it so blurry?” Tirian frowned, “Where are you now?”
“I …… border ……” Lucrecia’s voice came out of the crystal ball with crackling interference, but it was barely distinguishable, “Here …… environment …… interference has gotten stronger, I …… adjusted …… now okay? Can you hear it clearly?”
The interference finally faded, and Lucrecia’s figure gradually became clear.
“There’s been a slight change in the environment here, a strange disturbance in the spirit world to the reality dimension,” the voice in the crystal ball explained, “Is something wrong, brother? The Radiant Star is traveling through unstable waters, if nothing important ……”
“I’m in Prand now,” Tirion got right to the point, “The Sea Mist took heavy damage in the firefight with the Lost Country, and things don’t seem to be going right in this city-state.”
The figure across the crystal ball was stunned for a moment.
A few seconds later, Lucrecia’s slightly nervous voice came out, “You really met the Lost Country ship? Are you alright now?”
“…… Frankly, got a good beating, but things are okay now,” Tirian’s voice trailed off, “The problem is …… There seems to be something wrong with ‘him’.”
“‘His’ situation is not right?” Lucrecia frowned, “You saw him up close?”
“Uh-huh.”
“So ……” Lucrecia opened her mouth, seemingly hesitant, “So this time you saw, was it our ‘father’? ”
“…… Not really.”
(end of chapter)