Chapter 137 – A Plain Morning in an Antique Store

Chapter 137 – Ordinary Morning in an Antique Shop
A flash of morning light illuminated the city-state of Prand that had been sleeping all night, the sun locked by the double runic circle seemed to be slowly rising in the sky like a burning giant wheel, and under the powerful might of Vision 001, those things in the night that didn’t belong to the earthly world finally began to subside.

The shadows in the streets and alleys, the whispers in no man’s land, the murmurs in the waves along the coast, the sight of nothingness in the depths of the alleys, and the dreams that haunt the hearts of men.

Shirley opened her eyes.

She saw the still unfamiliar ceiling, saw the sunlight shining through the window next to her on the low cupboard at the foot of the bed and on the desk nearby; the clean and tidy cottage was plain, but still much, much nicer than where she had lived.

She smelled the aroma of food and heard a little noise in the direction of the kitchen, she saw Nina asleep on her back on the bed, it was a day off and the girl could sleep in as much as she wanted as she had an “uncle” to rely on and a ready-made breakfast when she woke up.

Shirley sat up in a daze, reacting for a few seconds before fully remembering why she was here and what she had experienced in her sleep.

She then nudged Nina next to her, “Nina, get up …… get up and wash up for breakfast.”

Nina responded in a daze, “I’m so sleepy …… I’ll sleep a little longer ……”

Shirley was a little frozen for a moment, she was surprised that she didn’t know what to do next.

For she had been away from a life like this for far, far too long, so long that there was a whole eleven year gulf – but she still vaguely remembered that she had been like this, and could be like this.

She slowly climbed out of bed and changed into her own clothes, listening to the various movements coming from outside as she reminded herself in her mind that this was not some peaceful and calm nest of peace and quiet – it was essentially just a lair, which a Subspace Shadow and his dependents’ interest had caused to be dressed up in this way ……

But it felt more like home than where she and Dog lived.

Shelly was a bit lost in thought, but just then Nina’s voice suddenly interrupted her, “Whoa! It’s that time already?!”

Sherry looked back to see a messy haired Nina sitting on the bed with her eyes wide open, the latter glanced up at the window and then immediately noticed Sherry standing next to her, her head shaking, “Sherry? How did you …… Ah yes, you were sleeping at my house yesterday ……”

Then right after that she jumped off the bed while staggering, “Ah no say no say no, I have to make breakfast ……”

Just staggered to half she heard the movement of the kitchen, smelled the aroma of food, froze for a moment before seeming to wake up in the future: “Oh, today uncle is cooking breakfast …… right, uncle recently good health …… ah not right! Going to school! Go to school to be late!”

Before the words fell, Nina rushed to her desk to prepare to pack up her things, but again just rushed out two steps before suddenly reacting, looking up at the calendar on the bedside table, “Hey no, today seems to be a day off ……”

Then she spun around in place and stuck her head on the pillow once again, “Then I’ll sleep for two more minutes ……”

Shirley was watching from the side with a baffled look on her face, watching a series of dazzling operations after Nina jumped up from the bed, and finally returned to the original point as if nothing had happened, and in the middle of the froze and didn’t find a place where she could intervene, until Nina flung herself on the bed again, she hesitantly leaned over, but before she could open her mouth, she saw Nina “Teng! “But before she could say anything, she saw Nina pop up again, the latter stretching vigorously, “Ah, I’m awake.”

Sherry: “……?”

“Shirley what’s wrong with you?” Nina looked back at Sherry in high spirits, “Why this expression?”

Sherry: “You …… wake up like this every morning?”

Nina was baffled, “Huh? How?”

“It’s ……” Shirley gestured as if she didn’t know how to explain it to the other, “You jump up, then this, then this, then this and this… …”

“Oh, I’m prone to confusion when I wake up in the morning,” Nina surprisingly saw the right message in Yukari’s amazing and abstract body language, nodding her head as she went to change her clothes, “But I’m fully awake now! Ah yes, did you sleep well last night, Yukari? I didn’t sleep too well, it didn’t affect you, did it?”

“I ……” Shirley was just about to open her mouth when a series of memories suddenly came flooding back, memories of the closed cottage, of that early morning, memories of the departing footsteps and the locked door, and the spectral hound that had broken into the room …… But after that, it was an incredibly big adventure, a daring quest.

A little spooky, a little scary, but …… pretty awesome.

“I slept well,” she laughed a little, “I’m actually quite a restless sleeper, Dog always says I’m going to fall asleep and tear my own bed apart one day sooner or later.”

“Uncle used to say the same thing about me,” Nina said as she got changed, finally yawning and stepping forward to take Sherry’s hand and walk towards the door, “Come on, let’s eat first, I’m a little hungry.”

With that Shirley was pulled sparingly out the door and then saw Duncan who was coming out of the kitchen, the latter wiping his hands on his apron, obviously having just finished cooking.

“Mr. Duncan ……” Shirley subconsciously nervous again, although she had seen it with her own eyes, but the thought of such a being just now in the kitchen cooking, she always felt that this thing is strange and against the norm, but soon, she will be this kind of against the norm of the emotions hard to suppress down, and honestly bowed her head in greeting, “Good morning.”

Just like Biggie had instructed, treat this place like a normal place and then be a guest here like a normal person. Though she herself had no idea what a normal visit to someone’s home was supposed to be like, it was always right to say hello in the morning.

“What’s for breakfast in the morning?” Nina, for her part, was already heading for the kitchen, poking her head behind Duncan as she went, “It smells so good!”

“I fried up some small sausages, I bought them when I got back yesterday,” Duncan said casually, and right after that he pressed Nina’s head down and forcibly turned her in the direction of the washroom, “Go wash your hands first!”

He followed that up with a glance at Sherry, thrusting his hands, “You too, don’t just stand there, go wash your hands piece by piece, and wash your face too!”

Shirley froze and hurriedly followed Nina to wash her hands and face, then was the first to finish and returned to Duncan, opening her hands, “…… washed it.”

After saying that she got embarrassed and suddenly felt as if she was a bit silly: as someone who was already on the verge of adulthood, to show off to an adult like that after washing her hands in the morning was more like a seven year old than a seventeen year old – she didn’t even know why she suddenly had a brain fart.

But Duncan didn’t care about that, he just nodded and asked as if offhandedly as he turned toward the kitchen, “How was your sleep?”

Sherry lowered her head, “Uh, okay …… better than before.”

“Did the injuries sustained in the dream world affect reality?” Duncan asked again.

Shirley was stunned, and then suddenly remembered that she did seem to have been lashed by that weird assailant in the dream world, she hurriedly lifted her left arm, and saw a light scar!

Due to her strong self-healing ability, the scar had already healed almost, and she didn’t even feel anything, but there was no doubt that when she was injured in the dream world last night, her body in reality had also suffered the same damage!
And she was equivalent to being trapped in the dream world at that time, so even though her body in the real world was injured, she didn’t wake up.

Duncan saw the marks on Sherry’s arm, and his gaze froze slightly, followed by a slight nod.

Unusual phenomenon, yet not beyond expectation.

That bizarre dream …… could not have been a mere dream.

“It looks like injuries sustained in that dream realm will also synchronize with reality,” he said to Shirley seriously, “In the future, don’t explore that dream realm on your own without my accompaniment, your combat power is strong, but it’s not very effective against that monster that can split. ”

Shirley nodded hurriedly, “Uh, I know.”

Duncan thought for a moment and added, “Also, if you get stuck in that nightmare again, you can just call out to me.”

Shirley froze for a moment, as if a bit unresponsive, “Call on you?”

“Call my name, the full name I told you in the dream,” Duncan said lightly, “Or, call the Lost Country – preferably next to a medium with mirrored properties such as glass or mirrors, so that I hear you a little better.”

Shirley listened, suddenly reacting to something, and at the same time, through the mental link with Dog, she heard a surge of tension coming from Dog’s side.

“Are you …… going to make me your dependent?” She asked, raising her eyelids, nervous and torn.

“I don’t know what exactly a dependent is, and I’m not asking you to offer anything, except that you’re a friend of Nina’s, and now you’re on the move with me – a little care.”

Sherry sucked in her breath, but was too afraid to answer, and just then Nina’s cheerful voice suddenly sounded from the kitchen doorway, “What are you guys talking about?”

“No need to answer me now,” Duncan whispered to Sherry, then glanced up at Nina, “What’s taking so long to wash your hands?”

“I can’t wash the boogers out of the corners of my eyes,” Nina rubbed her eyes, “It hurts a little to rub them ……”

“Drink more water in the past two days,” Duncan gave the girl a helpless look, then asked as if he didn’t realize, “By the way, did you have that dream again last night? It’s that dream where you’re standing on a high place overlooking a fire.”

“No,” Nina thought about it and shook her head, “I just dreamed last night that I had a horse pressed on my stomach, and then a cow, but it was heavy …… Uncle why are you suddenly asking this? ”

“Nothing, just remembered that that psychiatrist is going to visit again today,” Duncan shook his head and put away a moment of thoughtfulness, “Let’s eat.”

(Time to push the book, this time it’s from A Bucket of Pudding’s The End of Science and Technology, sci-fi categorized, genre if you will …… Everyday Writings from the Perspective of a Super Genius? Anyway, milked the sacrifice …… recommend everyone to check it out.)
(End of chapter)