Chapter 125 – The Reflection of the Shards
Chapter 125 – The Reflection of the Shards
In the prayer room burning with incense and watched over by the goddess’s icon, the two longtime friends fell silent at the same time, the only thing that could be heard was the blessings from the gods gently soothing the two stunned hearts, while the subtle and gentle sound of the waves gently echoed in Vanna’s ears, the whisper of the storm goddess Gemona.
The goddess was still watching this place, as never before.
It took an unknown amount of time for Heidi to calm down, and she carefully broke the silence, “What the hell was that I saw?”
Vanna hesitated for a moment before speaking softly, “Perhaps …… that is exactly what those solar heretics have been looking for.”
“What that gang of solar heretics have been looking for?” Heidi froze, “You mean ……”
“The Sun Shard,” Vanna nodded softly without waiting for Heidi to finish, “Perhaps only the Sun Shard is worthy of the scene of prowess you saw in your vision.”
While saying so, Vanna slowly raised her head and gazed at the icon of the Storm Goddess, murmuring softly in a thoughtful voice, “After all, …… the heretics claimed that the Sun Shard was the so-called ‘real sun’ that had come off the debris ……”
Heidi was stunned, her expression suddenly changing slightly, “If something like that had actually ever appeared in the real world, it’s unlikely that the city-state of Prender would still be as safe and sound as it is now ……”
“So that thing must be in some kind of sealed state,” Vanna nodded, “The intelligence shows that the sun shard appeared in the city-state of Prand eleven years ago, but now it seems that the so-called appearance at that time should only be a slight leakage of power, in the past eleven years, it has always been in a state of slumber ……”
“And now those solar heretics are trying to wake that thing up?!” Heidi looked horrified, “Are they trying to destroy all of Prand?!”
“It’s not your first day dealing with cultists,” Vanna gave Heidi a look, “Are you not aware of their mental state? For that group of fanatical heretics, as long as they can make the ‘Black Sun’ awaken, what’s the point of sacrificing one or two city-states? They don’t even mind letting the entire world burn, turning it into firewood for the Sun God’s revival!”
Heidi’s mouth was open for half a day without saying anything, while Vanna calmed down for a while, before slowly speaking, “The most crucial question now is what exactly happened when you saw that vision – what happened to you, what happened around you, what happened in the museum itself, and only when you understand this can you figure out what that fragment really was. Only then can you figure out in what state the shard was sleeping, and where exactly it was sleeping.”
“…… No, the details don’t come to mind,” Heidi tapped her forehead lightly, “but right now I’m roughly certain that I did see a projection of it while I was unconscious, and that it was only to preserve important clues that I put myself under Emergency Hypnosis …… Let’s see, I was rescued and temporarily housed in a room somewhere on the first floor of the museum …… According to what they told me after I came out, that room was near the main exhibit… …”
Heidi asked in her thoughts as she struggled to recall, “Can’t we conclude from that that the clue is in the museum?”
“It’s hard, judging from the occult, what you saw wasn’t the body of the shard, but a little ‘shadow’ of a massive transcendent being leaking out into the real world, the museum isn’t necessarily where the shard sleeps, there’s probably only a ‘rift’ there The museum is not necessarily the sleeping place of the shard, there is probably only a ‘rift’ there, and as humans are in a coma with weak mental barriers, your consciousness accidentally crossed the rift, and saw the scene on the other side of the rift.
“This kind of fissure that wanders on the edge of reality is often not fixed, before it was in a museum, now it is likely to have moved to another place.”
Vanna explained patiently, then shook her head abruptly, “Of course, we will still conduct a search of the museum at the highest level and maintain surveillance afterward, after all, there will always be times when anomalies and anomalies are out of the norm, and perhaps the fragment will indeed remain in the museum in the form of some sort of sealing medium, and even if it doesn’t, we may be able to find some clues, in the fire, to to explain why the ‘rift’ happened to be in the museum ……
“But this subsequent search is none of your business. From a safety standpoint, it would be best if you stayed away from that museum for the next month.”
“Of course, I can’t wait to distance myself from this,” Heidi immediately nodded, “I’ve met with enough bad luck!”
Vanna silently looked at her friend, who had been unlucky since she was a child, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she said nothing, she just fell silent under the goddess’s icon, and was silent for half a minute before she suddenly spoke up, “What kind of people did you get saved by?”
“Two girls who were still in school, and a man who looked to be in his forties,” Heidi thought for a moment, “Coincidentally, one of the two girls happened to be a student that my father had gone on a home visit to the other day, and the man was her uncle… …I told you about him, didn’t I? His name is Duncan Strain, and he’s an antique shopkeeper.”
“…… I’m a little allergic to the name ‘Duncan’ right now,” the corners of Vanna’s mouth quivered meatily, “although I know for sure it’s not a person ……”
“I had the same reaction as you the first time I heard the name from my father,” Heidi spread her hands, “Speaking of which, I also promised the gentleman I’d go to his house tomorrow afternoon and do a psychological evaluation of his niece, just in time to drop by and do a formal thank you then as well …… Everything’s been a mess today, and it’s a little unseemly for me to rush to say goodbye.”
“Technically, it’s not just the ‘niece’ that needs a psychological evaluation,” Vanna’s expression was suddenly serious, however, her gaze fixed straight on Heidi, “all three of those people do. ”
“Why ……,” Heidi subconsciously spoke up, but reacted immediately afterward, “Ah!”
“That’s right, they were all beside you at the time, and you saw what the sun shard looked like while you were unconscious,” Vanna gazed into Heidi’s eyes, “If that was truly the remains of some ancient god, its contamination may have spread down your consciousness to them. Perhaps this spreading out contamination is on a small scale, but it could be fatal to an ordinary person.” Heidi was dumbfounded.
……
Inside the antique store in the lower city, Duncan had closed the doors early and was sitting in a relaxed position in a chair behind the counter, with Nina and Shelly sitting across from him, left and right.
The two of them had taken a shower in the simple upstairs bathroom, and while Nina had changed into fresh clothes, Sherry was still wearing her black dress – not that Nina was reluctant to lend her own clothes to the other woman, but the difference in their figures was just a little too great, and Sherry had actively refused the garments that were too baggy on her.
Of course, it was unknown if the fellow had other concerns when she refused …… Perhaps it was because she thought that taking over Nina’s clothes was the same as taking over the gifts of the Evil God’s favorites? This was something only she herself knew.
And on the other side of the counter, there was Dove Aey who was pacing leisurely.
Behind the creature was a large pile of fries on the tabletop – that was what Duncan had promised it.
Aye got the fries it had been longing for, Nina returned home safe and sound, Duncan rescued his niece, and further familiarized himself with the power of the flames.
Everyone was happy.
Except for Shirley.
She was on the verge of tears – she’d wanted to cry several times today.
“So …… Shirley you’re not actually a classmate of mine …… you’re just using some kind of …… ‘detective skills’ ‘ to blend into the school to investigate something,” Nina looked at her hard-to-make friend with a somewhat complicated expression, “and you don’t like steam or mechanics ……”
“I can’t even read those textbooks at all ……” Shirley spoke carefully as she answered Nina’s words, her eyes looking at Duncan every now and then, “I’m sorry, I . . sorry.”
Nina, however, didn’t seem to notice Sherry’s apology, she just frowned in great confusion, “But how the hell did you do that? As I …… recall now, you always appeared in my classroom out of nowhere, and then frequented around me, but then again you never attended class normally, and even the teachers and students in the neighborhood didn’t seem to notice you, you …… “
Shirley hurriedly glanced at Duncan again, confirming that the other party’s expression was still calm before muttering in a small voice and generally reciting, “It’s actually a little bit of Transcendental skill ……”
“Transcendental?” Nina’s eyes widened in surprise, “Could it be that you’re an investigator for the Church?”
“No, no, I’m not from the Church, I ……” Shirley looked at Duncan again, she recalled that Nina had just gone upstairs to take a shower when the big man left himself alone to give instructions, although she was still completely confused as to why he wanted to play “play human” in this antique store. Playing the game of “play human”, but still honestly comply with the big brother’s instructions, “I’m kind of a wild …… wild transcendent …… “
Nina was surprised, “There are wild …… Transcendents?!”
“It’s not registered, so isn’t that wild,” Shirley said with a certain air of self-loathing as if she had completely given up on something, “Isn’t that what those dogs …… troublesome enough in the church usually call us people like that?”
Nina listened to Sherry’s explanation with a blank stare, and then immediately looked the other party up and down several times, this up and down scrutinizing gaze made the latter feel uncomfortable, and Sherry subconsciously dodged, “What are you doing looking at me like that ……”
“Then you’re awesome!” Nina suddenly ventured out with extra seriousness.
Shirley was instantly made a little bit unable to do so, “…… That’s what you’re lamenting about?”
“Yeah!”
(End of chapter)