Chapter 317 “Going Home”

Chapter 317 “Going Home”

The atmosphere on the deck was momentarily a bit awkward, an unspeakable silence enveloped between Vanna and Tirian, the latter’s face at the moment hadn’t yet dissipated from the shocked look on his face, while the former had already covered his head with his hand.

And that silence was eventually broken by a voice coming from a short distance away, a few meters away, Sherry poked Nina with her elbow, “See, I told you that the first line would definitely be this – you owe me two ice cream balls.”

“Okay, okay, you guessed it,” Nina muttered, “Two is two …… will make it up to you when you get to Frost.”

Shirley glared at once, “I’m not a fool! Nibbling on ice cream at dozens of degrees below zero? Go back to Prand and then say!”

Tirion blinked, only then did he notice the other people on the deck and the subtly different atmosphere from what he had imagined, he first saw the girl named Shirley, whom he had met once before, and then the Phantom Hound that he had met once before, who was lazily sunbathing at the other person’s feet, and then next to him was another girl that looked to be sixteen or seventeen years old, as well as an elderly gentleman with white hair and an elegant demeanor.

All were smiling.

And behind these people was the deck of the Lost Country, the ship’s side, the masts and sails.

The already yellowed and broken images of his childhood, the memories of his brother and sister fooling around and playing, all the pleasant and unpleasant impressions, all seemed to emerge little by little from some dim and lost cave, and gradually regained their color in the sunlight that poured through the mist.

There were a few new faces here and there, but it was still the ship he remembered-not the eerie, dilapidated, chaotic, twisted ghost ship he had imagined at first.

At least, the deck still looked so familiar.

Tirian knew he was dazed, and he knew he should say something at this point, but he couldn’t stop the thoughts from spreading through his mind, knowing that he’d had this daze since he was a child, and that every time he’d dazed on the deck, his father would always come out of nowhere and count behind him-

“Tirion, what are you gawking at here?”

The pirate captain shivered meatily, and the momentary dislocation of memory and reality even made his mind go down for so many two or three seconds before he turned around hesitantly to see a tall and majestic figure standing right behind him.

Not a shadowy figure floating in a mirror, not a vague silhouette seen across distant seas and cannon fire, but standing face to face ……

“I’m sorry, Father,” Tirian spoke subconsciously, “I got a little carried away.”

Duncan frowned.

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but he always felt that in this moment Tirian showed a subtle state of being, very different from the impression left by the previous encounters, yet with a vague sense of familiarity, but soon his mind was relieved.

After all, this is the first time to talk face to face after a hundred years of separation, and it is also the first time to return to this ship, the other party has this kind of reaction is also very normal.

At the same time, Vanna, who had been silent for half a day due to embarrassment beside him, finally spoke up at this time, “Captain Tirian, regarding my identity here, it is necessary to explain – first of all, the situation is not what you think, I came to the Lost Country ship due to the Church’s assignment… …”

“Church assignment?” Tirion was instantly more confused than he had been a moment ago, and then immediately turned his head sharply to his father, “You ……”

“I didn’t bring down the Church – watch your train of thought, Tirian,” Duncan knew what the other man was thinking without waiting for him to speak, and immediately interrupted, “Need I emphasize again? I am not an enemy of the civilized world these days, and you should face me more openly than as if you were on guard against a natural disaster that could wreak havoc at any moment.”

Tirian: “I …… apologize.”

“I accept your apology – side by side,” Duncan waved his hand and stepped towards the end of the deck, “About the reason for Lady Vanna’s presence here, and about the Obsidian, and that Dagger Island — we have much to communicate.”

Then he turned back to a couple of guys watching from a short distance away and waved his hand, “Irrelevant personnel go about your business and stay out of the way.”

Tirian followed Duncan somewhat sparingly in the direction of the memorized captain’s quarters, while Vanna walked in silence on the other side.

The images from his memories and the sight he saw before him were divided, sometimes overlapping, sometimes giving birth to a clear-cut sense of dissonance.

Returning to the Lost Country ship again, everything seemed to have deviated from its original trajectory and expectations.

Tirion subconsciously looked around, observing the situation on the ship, looking for things that corroborated with his memories, and also looking for a certain figure that theoretically should be here.

Duncan, of course, noticed this small movement on the other man’s part, “You’re looking for Alice?”

Tirian was stunned for a moment before remembering that was the name of the doll lady – he always thought the other was still called “Rae Nora”, “Ah yes, is she on board?”

“Yes, but she’ll be busy in the galley at this time of day,” Duncan nodded, “Alice is in charge of the ship’s meals, you can try her handiwork today – we have fresh vegetables and freshly caught fish that would be at home on an ordinary ocean-going ship. not often found on a ship on an unusual ocean voyage.”

“Meals ……,” Tirian repeated the word subconsciously, and almost blurted out the words, “That my father should eat human food, too,” when, in the very next instant, a series of exclamations of surprise and panicked In the next moment, a series of exclamations and panicked footsteps suddenly came from a short distance away, interrupting his concentration.

“Help, help, help, help, help-” It was Alice’s alarmed cry.

Tirion was shocked to follow the sound, and saw that gothic doll running across the deck not far away with a kitchen knife raised in her hand, while she was followed by a barrel that was bouncing around, which was filled with carrots and greens.

Duncan watched with an expressionless face as Alice ran across the deck, watched as Nina and Shirley ran to help in an unsuccessful attempt to help, which eventually morphed into a trio of dogs chasing around the deck being chased by a barrel of vegetables, and turned back to pat Tirian on the shoulder.

“Sometimes it’s more lively here.”

Tirian looked back with a bewildered look on his face, the corners of his mouth twitching twice, “Aren’t the ingredients on the …… ship a little too fresh?”

“It’s because of the barrel – it has its own views on storing vegetables, hence the clash of ideas with Alice from time to time.”

“Doesn’t it need any help?”

“No, Alice is broad-minded.”

“But it looks to me like she’s asking for your help ……”

“It’s okay, I’m broad-minded.”

Tirian’s expression seemed to be a bit stiff, even the pirate leader who commanded an entire fleet of undead people seemed to be a bit unable to keep up with the daily rhythm of the Lost Country ship at this moment.

Duncan, however, was not surprised by this, he just patted Tirian’s shoulder, “You have to learn to adapt – if I went to help every time Alice cried out for help, then I wouldn’t have to do anything every day. As it turns out, she’s actually quite resilient in her own adaptability and vitality.”

Tirion was about to say something else, but the captain’s cabin had arrived.

In all of his childhood and later adult memories, this was the place on the entire ship that stuck out to him the most.

As a child, his father’s captain’s cabin was a mysterious and slightly frightening room; he and Lucrecia were allowed to fool around in most places on the ship, but they were sternly forbidden to set foot in this place, and even the best-talking sailors on the ship would mercilessly keep the two siblings away from the door.

As adults, their father’s captain’s cabin was a nerve-wracking and must-remain-serious place, and even after each became captains of the Sea Mist and the Radiant Star, Tirian and Lucrecia still instinctively tensed when they stepped into it – it was here that their father had laid out all of his great plans for exploration, marking on the charts one of the newly-discovered islands and visions by the Lost Country Fleet, where the planning and scheduling of the entire fleet was done, and where, for the most part, themselves and their sister were simply responsible for listening to and carrying out orders.

Father did not like the advice of others, remembering him as a dictatorial and stubborn man.

The doors opened and the interior, slightly dimmer compared to the deck, came into Tirian’s eyes.

In the next instant, his gaze fell to the edge of the nautical table, to the dark and eerie goat’s head.

The dark goat head with its wooden texture creaked and turned, a pair of hollow, deep obsidian orbs staring fixedly at the visitor who had stepped into the place.

“Hello, first time, Mr. Tirian.”

Tirian was taken aback and subconsciously turned his head, “This is ……”

“This is the first mate aboard the Lost Country nowadays, one that can be trusted,” Duncan introduced, “You can just call him Goathead.”

“First mate?” Tirion blinked before turning back to the eerie “wooden statue”, and resisting the oddity that flared up in his mind, he accepted his father’s statement and tentatively greeted the other man, “How do you do, Mr. Goathead ……? ”

Goathead shook his neck and seemed to be ready to say something, but the next second, Duncan had already interrupted in advance, “Shut up and be quiet while we talk.”

Tirian gave Duncan a startled look.

“Be sure to familiarize yourself with the operation of early interruptions when talking to it – don’t let it speak with impunity, that’s my advice.”

Listening to his father’s admonition, the expression on Tirian’s face quickly grew serious.

To make the mighty “Captain Duncan” treat it with such seriousness and caution, this goat’s head seemed to be as strange and dangerous as its appearance.

Of course, Tirian regarded the goat head as some kind of extremely dangerous “abnormality”, and shutting it up was obviously the sealing requirement of this abnormality. ……

(End of chapter)