Chapter 460 – The Man in the Mirror
Chapter 460 – The Mirror Man
Shirley left with Dog, who was still a bit jittery, and Vanna and Maurice left as well, leaving the captain’s room quiet, leaving only Duncan and Alice, and the dozing pigeon.
Alice was scrubbing the room’s furnishings and windows, while Duncan sat behind his desk, deep in long contemplation.
Creaking sounds came from the table, and the goat-headed head slowly turned to Duncan, “Are you still thinking about Rahm, the God of Wisdom?”
“It’s not the God of Wisdom – it’s the Gods,” Duncan leaned back in his chair, a thoughtfulness in his expression, “Between the Gods …… Him and this world , just what kind of connection is it?”
“Who knows? The sects’ own canonical texts portray Him as the shaper and protector of the earthly order, while many cultists believe the opposite, that it is the Gods who have distorted the world, and even stolen credit for the creation of the world, and there is another novel interpretation of what Maurice reads in that ‘Book of Blasphemy’, which speaks of the ‘The Forsaken Kings’ seem to be the present-day gods …… Perhaps all of these statements are wrong, but there may be parts of all of them that are correct ……”
Goathead rambled on, finally shaking his head again.
“But if you’re asking my opinion, then my opinion is that …… He doesn’t seem to have much use for them, neither does he make the world a little better, nor does he bring anything bad about it.”
“But for most of the common people of this world, the refuge of the Gods does exist,” Duncan said casually, “a refuge that keeps most mortals alive.”
“Yes, alive – a sort of maintenance of the status quo,” Goathead said slowly, “like the state of the Frost for the last fifty years, before the balance was broken, and who knows how many shadows of Calamity have piled up beneath the equilibrium , but at least everyone is still alive.”
Duncan was noncommittal about Goathead’s comment, he simply pondered for another moment before speaking thoughtfully, “As soon as Dog pondered, he came into Rahm’s sights, and there are many other famous examples of ‘receiving divine favor’ throughout history, where the person in question was suddenly watched over in their daily lives and established a connection with the Four Gods …… So isn’t it possible to think of it this way: the Four Gods, have established a system of ‘monitoring’ or ‘scanning’ of earthly beings? They confirm the operating state of the real world by sensing certain specific nodes …… Does this instead indicate that their interference and perception of the present world is actually indirect and limited?”
“…… That group of orthodox god sects won’t like your way of describing it, it sounds like they’re studying some kind of machine that doesn’t hold the gods in the slightest reverence.”
“Awe is the furthest thing from ‘knowing’, I don’t want to fear Him, I just want to know Him,” Duncan said lightly, “After all, we’ve already helped them deal with their mess twice. ”
……
Footsteps resounded through the long corridors of the cathedral, their rhythmic reverberations seeming to knock against the time deposited in the ancient building.
Agatha, dressed in a black dress, walked towards the depths of the sanctuary, she did not have an entourage with her, only her own shadow accompanied this body that had already lost its vitality but was still moving, in the niches on both sides of the corridor, the light of the gas lamps and candlesticks interspersed with each other, making the shadows cast on the ground seem dim and shaky.
After returning to his room and closing the door behind him, the Archbishop and Gatekeeper, who had appeared calm and collected all the way, seemed to suddenly relax, leaning back against the door panel and letting out a long sigh.
She no longer needed to breathe, but “sighing” was a reflection of human nature, and she was still in the habit of using it as a “symbol” of her relaxation.
After all, she did not want to make herself …… too much like a corpse.
The order of the cathedral has been restored, and the small churches in all parts of the city state are also gradually getting into the right track, the tense mood of the whole city is still continuing, but after the intervention of the Sea Mist fleet, the chaos in various places – especially the law and order cases – has been quickly suppressed.
On the other hand, although the distribution of supplies and the aftermath of the victims were still a mess, and a serious shortage of manpower still plagued every department, after the Sea Mist Fleet entered the city, they “magically” found a large number of professionals with administrative skills or knowledge of the city’s grassroots operations from every nook and cranny of the city, and placed them in the city hall. According to the feedback from the city hall, those “recommended” by the Sea Mist Fleet are familiarizing themselves with and taking over the work of the various departments at an astonishing speed, and with only a few more days of familiarity, the problem of insufficient manpower in the various departments will be greatly alleviated.
At the same time, the preparation of public opinion for the entry of the Sea Mist Fleet and the propaganda work for General Tirion Abnormale’s personal work are also advancing, and the integration and reorganization of the remaining naval forces of the city-state and the Sea Mist Fleet has also begun.
The new Consul has yet to be formally inaugurated – but the city is already falling under his control at an alarming rate.
It had been a development that the officials of the Frost authorities had only envisioned in their nightmares, but for Frost now …… it was all good.
Agatha could finally relax a little.
The body wouldn’t tire, but her spirit still needed to be relieved.
Leaning against the door for a few minutes before shaking her head, Agatha slowly made her way to her dresser and sat down to rest.
Her figure was reflected in the mirror of the dresser.
The feeling of being watched made Agatha jerk her head up.
There was no one else in the room, and she didn’t sense any unfamiliar scent.
Yet that feeling of being watched was by no means an illusion.
The blindfolded, blind official raised her head, carefully sensing any movement of the wind and grass around her, feeling the flow of the breath, her “eyes” slowly swept over the surroundings, and then swept over the mirror on the dresser.
The inanimate furnishings in the room appeared in her field of vision in various blurred and dim outlines, emitting a cold aura like a tomb.
In the next moment, however, the feeling of being watched disappeared.
The figure in the mirror shifted its sight.
Agatha in front of the dresser suddenly stopped, she instead seemed to have sensed something, and after a brief hesitation, she slowly raised her arm and extended her hand towards the mirror in front of her. A cold and hard touch came, it was a layer of lifeless glass.
The figure in the mirror hesitated, hesitating for an unknown amount of time before she followed suit and raised her arm, probing her fingers over.
The sensation of fingertip touch came suddenly, accompanied by a slight warmth in the center.
In the next instant, a new light emerged from Agatha’s chaotic, dark vision – a shimmering, hazy silhouette suddenly emerged from the lifeless mirror.
They faced each other silently across the mirror, and a brief silence fell over the room.
After a long time, Agatha in front of the mirror suddenly broke the silence, “You are?”
There was a hint of hesitation in her voice.
“Well,” a voice seemed to burrow right into her mind, “I am.”
“When did you …… show up?”
“The key,” the voice in Agatha’s head said calmly, “I was there from the moment you got that key.”
Agatha didn’t speak for a moment.
It felt …… weird, because she could distinctly realize that the voice in her head was her own voice, she could even feel the slightest bit of emotion coming through the voice as it opened its mouth, and yet she could distinctly realize that it was a different individual that was talking to her – -It was not an illusion of her own mind, not a schizophrenic personality, not some kind of “appendage” of herself.
Unbelievable.
“Unbelievable,” she said in the mirror, “a bit schizophrenic, if you must say so? But obviously not ……”
“The most brilliant psychiatrists are afraid they won’t be able to solve this puzzle.”
“Don’t give the psychiatrists in the city-state any more trouble – they’re all trouble these days.”
Agatha suddenly raised her hand and rubbed her brow.
This feeling of talking to her “other self” was unprecedented, and in the middle of the conversation …… she always had the illusion that she was gradually losing the ability to distinguish which one of them was her “self”, even though no cognitive confusion was actually occurring. Although there was actually no cognitive confusion, she couldn’t help but stop and organize her thoughts.
After a few moments, she raised her head and “looked” at herself in the mirror.
“That key …… retained your soul? And then used it as a medium to send you to my ……”
She got a little stuck saying this, as if she didn’t know how to describe the state she was in at the moment.
Was the shadow …… in front of herself in her mind, or in her perception, or was …… just a projection on a psychological level?
“I don’t know,” came the voice from the mind, “I don’t know if I have a soul or not, or the details of the process, or how that key made it all happen – my consciousness was in a prolonged period of chaotic state, and it’s only been the last two days that I’ve come to my senses.”
The voice then hesitated for a few seconds before continuing, “Now it seems that that key should have the power to store and transfer memories, but probably only the Frost Queen herself knows all of its secrets.”
“The Frost Queen ……,” Agatha grunted, as if to herself, “looks like this situation needs to be told to the Captain …… “
“…… But theoretically it would be more appropriate for us to report it to Death Sanctuary HQ first.” Agatha in the mirror reminded.
Agatha in front of the mirror was slightly stunned at the words, her face changed expression for a moment, and she hesitantly spoke, “It seems …… like that is indeed the case. But the Death Sanctuary is now cruising at the farthest end of the civilization frontier, so I’m afraid that it doesn’t necessarily have the time to pay attention to this kind of ‘private event’.”
At this she paused and looked up at the mirror.
“What do you think?”
Agatha in the mirror thought for a moment.
Thoughts and memories flowed slowly between them, cognition and emotion mirrored on both sides of the mirror.
A bit of ethereal green fire surfaced in Agatha’s eyes in the mirror.
“I also think the Captain should be told – he’s obviously experienced regarding mirrors.”
(End of chapter)