Chapter 274 – Talisman?

Chapter 274 – Talisman?

A very tall figure suddenly blocked the sunlight.

Shirley, who had just finished sprinkling water in the open space in front of the store and was carrying an empty basin ready to go back, froze for a moment, raised her head, and saw the Inquisitor, who was standing silently in front of her in the backlight.

“…… Crap!!!” She subconsciously exclaimed out in shock, but immediately after, she snapped out of it and hurriedly coughed twice, organizing her words with a nervous face, “Uh, that, you …… you ……”

Vanna frowned slightly, for some reason, she always felt that this short and skinny girl looked overly nervous when she saw herself, it was the case the last time she and Heidi came to this antique store, and it was still the case now.

But she didn’t think too much of it, after all, for various reasons, she was actually quite used to this kind of “nervous reaction” when others saw her.

“I remember you as Sherry,” Vanna smiled, trying to relax the short girl with her smile, “Don’t be so nervous, I’m just here to browse.”

Shirley hurriedly stood up straight and nodded her head stiffly, “Uh …… hey! Okay, welcome then ……”

Vanna shook her head helplessly, crossed over to the still tense Shirley, and gave a slight nod of greeting to Nina who was looking this way curiously, and walked straight towards the antique store in front of her.

Pushing open the front door, the sound of a crisp bell clanging broke the silence of the first floor of the antique store, and Vanna took a step into the store while her gaze went to the figure behind the counter.

In the next second, she frowned in some surprise.

In the early morning sunlight, a blonde woman that she had never seen before was sitting behind the counter, it was a very …… beautiful lady with an elegant and mysterious temperament that seemed to not belong to this place, or even this era, and the side of her face seemed to glow with a layer of warmth in the sunlight.

After hearing the movement coming from the entrance of the store, the blonde woman behind the counter then raised her head, curiously glancing at Vanna who was walking in, she revealed a faint smile, her voice soft and slightly magnetic: “Welcome, feel free to take a look?”

Vanna was a little stunned, for some reason, she always felt that this new face that appeared in the antique store seemed like it shouldn’t be here, but in the next second, she felt that the other party’s mysterious and elegant temperament seemed to fit right in with the …… atmosphere that the antique store presented.

Here is full of all kinds of things that look quite ancient and mysterious, there should be a lady with a mysterious and elegant temperament sitting behind the counter.

But this antique store are all fakes.

Vanna stared fixedly at the blonde woman behind the counter.

Ah, yes, fakes.

“Excuse me ……” Alice looked at Vanna, who had walked in and then suddenly stood there staring in disbelief, the situation seemed to go beyond the usual “standard procedure for entertaining guests” that the Captain had given her, and it left her at a loss for words. “This made her a bit lost for words, “Is there something you want to buy?”

Vanna snapped out of it.

A chaotic numbness and dizziness filled her mind, making her thoughts disconnected, she vaguely remembered as if she had just seen something, or thought of something, but the sudden confusion completely overrode everything she had seen and known in that moment.

In the next second, there was the soft sound of the ocean waves ringing in her head again, and in the sound of the waves, even the chaotic numbness and dizziness she had just experienced was completely forgotten.

She felt like she had just walked into the store and the young woman behind the counter was talking to her.

“Ah, isn’t Mr. Duncan here?” Vanna looked curiously around the first floor, not finding the antique store manager, “I know him.”

“Mr. Duncan? He’s gone upstairs to put something away, he’ll be down soon,” Alice didn’t care what the other woman’s freeze was all about just now, as long as the conversation could continue she felt fine with it anyway, “Want to buy something? Have a pre-ordered item? I can look for them for you – though not always ……”

What a blunt statement.

Vanna felt odd, she instinctively felt as if there was some sense of dissonance with the pretty young woman in front of her, but whenever she tried to focus her attention on the issue, she immediately forgot her thoughts, which made her speak with a slower-than-usual pace, “I …… was just looking. I’ll just be a minute. May I ask …… if you’re new here? I haven’t seen you the last time I was here.”

“Ah, I’m new, my name is Alice,” Alice said with an immediate smile, she loved introducing her name to people, “Mr. Duncan asked me to help with the store.”

Vaguely, Vanna seemed to detect something strange, hidden in Alice’s reserved yet slightly stiff movements, in that perfect yet too-perfect smile, and even in the breathless flow of words as she spoke. The Inquisitor frowned, not really noticing anything strange.

It was just a new clerk, nothing out of the ordinary.

And just then, a sudden sound of footsteps came from the nearby stairs, just in time to interrupt the conversation between Vanna and Alice.

Duncan’s figure appeared on the stairs.

He had sensed Vanna’s appearance just a moment ago, only to confirm this Inquisitor’s intention, he deliberately waited for a few more minutes on the second floor, and only at this time, after realizing that the other party didn’t seem to have any special purpose, did he walk down.

“It looks like a special guest has come,” Duncan said to the doll lady behind the counter, “I’ll take care of it, it’s someone I know – Alice, you go make the tea.”

“Yes, Mr. Duncan!”

Alice stood up happily, and with a promise made her way to the small fireplace on the other side of the stairs, while Duncan made his way over to Vanna and smiled as he greeted the Inquisitor, whom he had actually met quite a few times, “It’s been a long time, Ms. Inquisitor.”

“Just call me by my first name,” Vanna rubbed her forehead, “Sorry for the surprise visit, I actually had some questions I wanted to come and confirm.”

“Questions?” Duncan raised an eyebrow, “What kind of questions?”

Vanna settled back, weighing how she should speak.

Some vague clues had led her to this ordinary store, some intuitive guidance had led her here, the Inquisitor’s experience and sense of smell seemed to be pulsing, however, the Church had investigated through official channels before and found nothing out of the ordinary, and it seemed that the only thing that could justify her coming here to investigate was her best friend’s Amulet! The only reason that could support her to come to investigate this time was her friend’s “amulet”.

“As far as I know, Heidi had an amulet that came from here,” Vanna said slowly, “and she wore it on her person until that reality contamination disaster.”

“Oh, that rings a bell,” Duncan nodded as usual, and with a bit of a dazed expression, “I gave that amulet to Mr. Morris – and I’ve given out another in the last couple of days. ”

As he said this, he turned and took another amulet down from the shelf behind him, displaying it in front of Vanna’s eyes.

“This is the one.”

Vanna’s eyes were a bit strange as she watched the antique shopkeeper openly take out the store’s “collection” as mass-produced goods, “You have a lot of these amulets here?”

“I got a big box of them, I’ve given away and sold a total of twenty-one so far,” Duncan nodded his head in a serious manner, “Are you interested too?”

As he spoke, he subconsciously glanced at the young Inquisitor twice more.

Today’s Vanna gave him a strange feeling, she looked a bit dazed, and her speech was slightly slow, but more than these superficial differences, what was even more wrong was her unstable “aura” at the moment.

Duncan said he did not understand how this is, but this young judge at the moment gave him the feeling …… as if her mind hides another person, eyes hide another pair of eyes, she is here to talk to himself, but her consciousness seems to be hidden in the depths of something else.

Vanna, for her part, didn’t seem to notice Duncan’s ogling; she was just a little uncomfortable with the other woman being so open about her business – even though she knew from the start that there was nothing real in the store at all: “Uh …… no, I’m just here to to investigate something. I’d like to ask about the exact source of these talismans, and also if they’ve ever shown anything special, or if the people who purchased them have ever given feedback that they’re unusual?”

“You mean ……”

“Heidi believes that the talisman she wore in the first place produced a tangible sheltering effect, and even helped her maintain consciousness during that original ‘disaster’,” Vanna said simply, without going into too much detail, ” I think it is highly likely that the talisman you gave to Mr. Morris in the first place has been under the influence of …… transcendent power, so I came here to investigate before. Of course, you don’t have to be nervous; from the information so far, it’s not a bad influence.”

She said so, but there is still a sentence did not say: investigation to investigation, she came before she did not expect Duncan’s side has a whole box of similar talisman! And so many of them had already been sold!
Duncan, on the other hand, was slightly moved in his heart after hearing Vanna’s words.

That thing …… really produced an effect? The “gift” that he casually gave out really protected the psychiatrist’s self-awareness?
Why did this happen?

What was the key?
Was it the act of “giving a gift” itself, or was it because the psychiatrist’s own “inspiration” was too high?
(End of chapter)