Chapter 146: Heidi and her family.

Chapter 146: Heidi and her family
Heidi wisely didn’t press the issue.

She knew that, unlike Vanna, she was nominally a “cleric”, and even registered with the Academy of Truth, but she was better at pure research and thinking than actually going head-to-head with those dangerous hidden forces – she was indeed able to pry secrets from the minds of cultists, from the low-levels of group hallucinations. -She could indeed pry secrets from the minds of cultists, and pull out the shadows left by heretics from the whispers of group hallucinations, but that was very different from the work of an Inquisitor.

She herself lacked sensitivity to certain threats.

But Vanna was someone who had spent years confronting heretics and hidden forces head-on, and she might have been acutely aware of the presence of a shadow of some sort – something that she feared had been accidentally touched on today’s trip to the Lower City.

As she was about to arrive home, Heidi asked a question, “Is there a problem with …… that antique store?”

“Everything is normal in the …… antique store,” Vanna controlled the car to slow down slowly, her expression thoughtful, “but there may be something not …… normal in our city-state. normal place.”

It was already completely dark, the bells of day and night chimed simultaneously with the whistles from the central steam core, piercing the clouds over the city-state in the setting sun, and in the uptown area, where the gas lamps lining the streets had long since been lit half an hour ahead of time, Heidi arrived at her front door to hear the sound of the car behind her fading away.

The city would have a curfew at night, but the ban was only for ordinary people who lacked the power to defend themselves, and the Inquisitors of the Church were apparently unaffected – Vanna had to check over to the museum side before returning to the cathedral to meet up with the guardsmen who were tasked with cordoning off the site, as her days off tended to do, and she never really rested.

Heidi sighed in disbelief as she accidentally recalled her own spoiled day off again, and opened the door to head back home.

Lights were on in the spacious living room, but no one was visible, and the house was quiet everywhere; the day maid hired to do the cleaning and pulping had gone back before the sun went down, and it seemed a bit chilly in the huge house.

But Heidi had long since grown accustomed to it; her father was a man who, once in his study, did not want to be easily called out, and her mother, who was not well, rested from time to time in her bedroom, and the mansion, which was a little too spacious for a family of three, was for the most part so quiet every day.

But that didn’t mean the big house was any less human – Heidi’s relationship with her own parents was good, and always had been.

She changed out of her coat gingerly, put away her hat and handheld medical kit, glanced at the study, which was lit, and instead of bothering her father, who was probably diving into his literature, she came to hit her parents’ bedroom as usual and knocked on the door, “I’m home – are you in there? ”

My mother’s voice came through the door with helplessness and a bit of feigned exasperation, “How late it is!”

Heidi poked her tongue out at the door and quickly straightened her expression before pushing the door open with a smile on her face, muttering as she chimed, “I went out with Vanna, do you guys need to worry, she can hit the whole city with one hand ……”

The lighting in the room was dimmer, as too much light would irritate her mother’s eyes – she had been injured by chemical fumes in a factory leak eleven years ago, and her eyes had never been in good condition.

Heidi adjusted to the dim light in the room, and then saw her mother sitting at the head of the bed, a very kind old lady, wearing soft pajamas, was weaving a kind of knotted crafts unique to the city-state of Plainland by hand, she looked up at Heidi in the shadow of the dim light, and there was a little bit of helplessness in her tone: ”You’re hanging out with Vanna all day long, and sooner or later you won’t be able to get married, I’m not sure I can get married, but I know you’re a good person, and I know you’re a good person. The same as she can’t get married, I do know, she actually secretly runs to the marriage help center every weekend, and then picks a person to beat up, the church receives complaints every day ……”

Heidi’s face was a little subtle, “That’s …… Don’t say that …… Vanna is now a judge …… “

“How about Inquisitor, that also ate lunch in our family for several years – that uncle of hers is full of nothing but city and state after he became consul,” the old lady chattered, her hands still moving fast, “If you ask me, that child was educated because of her uncle. That child is because of her uncle’s education problems, brain extraordinarily one-sided, christening also want to make what vows, to make it, but also directly on the three major vows together, people normal nuns are to pick a line on the line, she had to three together to prove their piety, the result of their own stuck to now can not be married …… “

Listening to her mother’s rambling recitation, Heidi could only accompany the smile with a face full of embarrassment, and it was not easy to wait for the old lady to recite to half of the opportunity to catch her breath, she took the time to look at the craft in her mother’s hands to change the subject: “You’re almost finished?”

“I’ve been braiding and unraveling and braiding, and now I’m finally a little satisfied,” her mother smiled, showing Heidi in the dimness the tapestry that looked like a gorgeous ribbon – fine silk cord woven with a special technique, left intricately openworked and decorated with beautiful stones and colored beads. With beautiful stones and colored beads, this is a kind of craft unique to the city-state of Prand, the technique is complicated and time-consuming, and is considered to have the effect of blessing and removing evil spirits, “I wonder if you can find a good young man when it’s finished. ……”

Heidi glanced at the already nearly finished rope knot ribbon and cautiously suggested, “Then why don’t …… you take it apart again, maybe it’s not too late ……”

“Just gaslight me!”

Heidi hurriedly laughed with her, turned and left the room.

The sound of her mother’s chanting came from behind her, and Heidi casually closed the door to her room, then tiptoed and stepped ready to head to the kitchen, but just as she was about to go, she saw her father standing in the hallway. Morris, with his elegant temperament and thinning gray hair, looked at his sneaky daughter a little helplessly, “I heard you coming home a long time ago …… Did you make your mother angry again?”

Heidi hurriedly waved her hand, “No no, we were chatting.”

“Delivered the gift to Mr. Duncan?” Morris asked again.

“Delivered – Mr. Duncan is very happy,” Heidi nodded, and immediately after that, she couldn’t help but look at her father twice more, “But I really didn’t think that you would be willing to give away your beloved book collection ……”

“It was only a collection – it was your life he saved,” Maurice said lightly, “In fact I don’t even think it’s enough yet, I’ll have to come back to the door in a couple of days to thank you.”

Heidi suddenly remembered her own “little mistake” when she gave Nina hypnotherapy today, her expression was a little embarrassed: “There’s no need to …… be so solemn, right?”

“It’s not a matter of solemnity, Mr. Duncan saved your life, and I’m not only your father, but also Nina’s teacher, on the other hand, Mr. Duncan is also an inquisitive antique merchant who is eager to learn, from a social point of view, this relationship is worth cultivating,” Maurice casually explained. “I like the word that Mr. Duncan used to say, it’s a ‘destiny’ ……”

“Well, well, well, your idea makes sense, it makes sense,” Heidi had a bit of a headache once she heard her father, a man who wasn’t even very good at socializing himself, was trying to teach her the etiquette of socializing again, “so just pay a visit the next time you’re there, and don’t do any more random shopping, okay? ……”

“That depends on whether or not a collection emerges that appeals to me,” Morris said casually, then he thought for a moment and asked as if offhandedly, “Did you go with Vanna today?”

“Ah yes, she happened to be off today, and I took her car.”

Morris thought again, his expression was a little hesitant, “It feels …… like you are very close to Vanna.”

“I’ve been close to her all these years, huh?” Heidi felt a bit puzzled, “We’ve known each other since we were kids ……”

“No, I just thought ……” The old gentleman suddenly stammered a little, and he somehow suddenly thought at that moment of something that that Mr. Duncan had said to himself when he had visited the antique store before:

“A girls’ school, too ……”

“Father?” Heidi looked at her father, who was behaving erratically, and couldn’t help but speak up.

“Ah, it’s all right.” Morris instantly woke up, feeling as if his earlier thoughts were a bit too outrageous, and hurriedly tried to change the topic while collecting himself to prevent his daughter from seeing the clues, and just in between this flick of his eyes, his gaze suddenly landed on Heidi’s wrist.

A red onyx was missing from the string that represented the shelter of Rahm, the God of Wisdom.

The old man’s expression changed violently, but he immediately noticed Heidi’s completely business-as-usual expression, so he hurriedly forced himself to control his mind and spoke seemingly casually while trying to calm down, “Did you lose a bead on the string on your hand? Did you accidentally touch it off?”

“Strings?” Heidi froze and lifted her wrist to look at it, she saw the missing section of the knot, but her expression was rather matter-of-fact, “Wasn’t there already one missing here?”

There was one missing?
Maurice slowly controlled his breathing and heartbeat, as well as his emotions and the flow of his thoughts, as if he was afraid that his overly intense “thoughts” would attract some dangerous stares, and at the same time, he began to remember what the string looked like when he last saw it on his daughter’s hand.

After a couple of seconds, he finished controlling and guarding his mind, and then he slowed down his emotions, and asked casually in the same tone as usual: “By the way, you only went to that antique store today, right?”

(End of chapter)