285. Day of embarkation

Chapter 285 The Day of Embarkation
Near the cathedral in the Upper City was a high platform that had once been part of the city park, but with the renovation work on the Steam Core, the original park facilities had been moved elsewhere, and all that was left here was a lone high platform – as if it were a forgotten knight standing tall and watching over the factories and plazas below.

From the high platform, one can overlook the entire church area and the central factory area.

In her occasional moments of leisure, Vanna would come here to take a walk, and when her mind was hard to calm, she would also come here to meditate in order to organize herself.

The afternoon sun was nice, and even with a slight breeze, it wasn’t very cold on the high platform, and the gentle sea breeze would curl the hair around her ears as it blew across the platform, tickling them slightly.

Vanna tossed her long white hair behind her head and gazed quietly at the winding and foggy steam pipes in her field of vision for a long time before breaking the silence, “I’m going out for a while.”

“Going out?” Heidi turned her head in some surprise, “Where are you going?”

“Not sure, could be far away, could be gone for a long time,” Vanna looked Heidi in the eye, “Can’t reveal the exact trip, but I should talk to you before I leave.”

Heidi blinked, looking a little confused, “But you’re a City State Inquisitor – can an Inquisitor just go away?”

“I …… “Vanna opened her mouth and tried to make her expression look like a smile, “It was an arrangement from the church, a transfer directly from the Storm Cathedral.”

“Ah …… that’s right,” Heidi nodded in understanding, she didn’t really know much about the internal operation of the Church of the Deep, but when the name “Storm Cathedral” was raised, many things didn’t matter. When the name “Storm Cathedral” was raised, many things did not need to be explained, “Then it seems that this is a sacred mission? Are you being sent outside the diocese to fight the heretics?”

Vanna’s expression seemed to stiffen for a moment, “…… In a sense, it does have something to do with heresy, but it’s not a combat mission.”

Heidi, however, did not notice the subtle change in her best friend’s tone, but only suddenly sighed, “Hey, recently my father has also gone out on a long trip, with little warning ahead of time, he just suddenly told me that he was going out on an errand, and my mother wouldn’t let me inquire more about it – and now that you’re going to be leaving, it feels as though you’re all being secretive .”

“Is Mr. Morris also going out,” Vanna muttered casually, but quickly shook her head with a slightly self-deprecating expression on her face, “He’s supposed to be meeting his friends in academia, or attending some kind of event, and scholars like him are invited to various city-state universities from time to time …… Anyway, it’s not the same as where I’m going.”

Heidi turned her head and looked at her best friend with some confusion, “Why do I think you’re weird, you look preoccupied, is it because you’re a little uneasy about going away? You really don’t seem to have left the city-state much.”

“That’s not true, I’m probably just a little nervous because I’ve suddenly been assigned tasks I’ve never touched before,” Vanna shook her head, “Don’t worry about me.”

“Alright then,” Heidi exhaled, then as if suddenly remembering something, suggested with slight excitement, “Right, why don’t we go to the theater together then? There’s a new show that came out recently, just for a change of pace – you should get more in touch with what’s popular nowadays, it might even expand your social circle a bit ……”

Vanna didn’t care at all what her friend was saying in the last two sentences, just raised an eyebrow in curiosity, “New show? What’s it about?”

“A work by the great director Sandoko, it’s called ‘Borderland Fright’, it’s about a small border village that falls into a cult of heresy, sacrificing the women of the village to the ‘evil spirits of the cave’, and in the end, the brave defenders eliminate the evil, and it’s rumored that the play also uses a kind of soundtrack called ‘sound track’ technology, where synchronized sound is played from machines on either side of the screen while the picture is being shown ……”

Heidi was excitedly telling her friend about the “new and trendy elements”, but noticed Vanna’s face getting weird and stopped hesitantly in the middle of her sentence, then she thought for a moment and waved her hand, “Well, you may not like this one, but there’s another show called ‘The Night’s Watch’, about the courageous Guardian steps into a secret realm but accidentally gets trapped in a heretic’s lair and has to rely on his wits and experience to survive in the lair and figure out how to hold on to his heart …… You don’t like that either, do you?”

Heidi scratched her hair and tried to search her mind, “Let me recommend a book to you then, a popular novel these days called Walking with the Shadows, it says ……”

Vanna finally couldn’t listen anymore and interrupted her best friend’s ramblings with a near grimace, “I thank you, but really, no.”

She then seemed to realize that her attitude was a bit raw, and couldn’t help but sigh slightly, rubbing her forehead with her fingers while explaining in a small voice, “Thank you for your concern, but the mission I’m going to carry out next requires a firm will and pure thinking, and it’s best if I don’t come into contact with too many things that tend to disturb my mind before I set off.”

“Ah, well, that was poorly thought out on my part,” Heidi smiled a bit awkwardly, “Forgot you were a ‘professional’.”

Vanna waved a hand.

After another moment, she heard Heidi’s voice again, “My break is almost over, and I have two more appointments for this afternoon.”

Vanna exhaled softly, “Go ahead and get busy, I should make preparations to leave as well.”

Heidi hmmm’d, but then stopped abruptly before leaving the raised platform, she turned her head, a slight hesitant expression on her face in the afternoon sun and breeze, “Can I come see you off when you leave?”

“…… Can’t, this is a special mission.”

“Then will you write back?”

Vanna hesitated.

She looked over at Heidi, the breeze blowing her long white hair, and in the fluttering tumult of the strands, it seemed as if a fluttering curtain had come between herself and her best friend.

“…… I don’t know,” Vanna said very quietly, “but I’ll …… try, and maybe, it’s not so strict there. ”

“Good, then I’ll wait for your letter,” said Heidi, with a sudden broad smile on her face, and then she suddenly stepped forward, and pulling the crystal pendant from her collar shook it in the air, and pointed to Vanna’s chest, “The same amulet- -you’ll have good luck.”

The good friend departed.

Vanna was left alone on the windy raised platform. The young Inquisitor lowered her head and looked at the tiny pendant on her chest.

“…… Good luck,” she cooed softly, her expression becoming a little odd, “I hope that antique shopkeeper’s stuff really does bring any luck.”

A loud chime suddenly came from the direction of the church, interrupting Vanna’s thoughts.

She lifted her head and looked in the direction of the ringing of the bells to see that the large dial on the large bell tower was indicating the time, and that the light of the sun had gradually crossed the highest point in the sky, moving slowly towards the west side of the cathedral.

She touched the parchment and looked at the writing on the back of it – it was her “entry note”.

According to the instructions, a messenger would pick her up in an hour, and she should go to the atrium of the cathedral before then, so that no one would be disturbed during the entire process.

What kind of messenger would it be? And how would she be transported to the Lost Country, far away in the Boundless Sea?

Vanna had huge questions in her mind, but she took a step in the direction of the cathedral.

She had many plans, before she left the city-state where she was born and raised, she wanted to visit the stores she knew best, take a trip to the theater, another trip to the port, and see a few friends again, and go to the sanctuary for a prayer ……

But there wasn’t enough time, she didn’t have that much to spare.

In the atrium of the cathedral, Pope Helene and Archbishop Valentine had been waiting for themselves for a long time.

“The messenger hasn’t arrived yet,” Valentine nodded to Vanna, who had walked into the atrium, “Are you ready?”

Vanna looked at what she had in hand.

Aside from the greatsword, which was never far from her side, there was only a packed suitcase – she didn’t have a lot of personal belongings, and the most significant part of the suitcase, aside from the necessary change of clothes, was her prayer book, and some blessed church readings.

It was something that could be read safely on the endless seas, and perhaps relieve the boredom of shipboard life.

“It’s all here,” Vanna nodded, then looked up at the unspoken Pope beside her, “I can still pray on the ship, right?”

“Of course you can,” Helena smiled, “Captain Duncan even promised that you could set up an extra cabin as a small sanctuary.”

“…… Well then, I’ll just give you the benefit of the doubt and look forward to the rest of ‘crew life’,” Vanna sighed, “Can’t imagine at all what that would be like life.”

Helena opened her mouth as if to say something, but just then a crackle of bursting flames and the sound of flapping wings suddenly came from the sky, interrupting the exchange within the atrium.

The messenger had come.

Vanna looked up in surprise, but only had time to see a piece of green flame falling from the sky like a meteor, and in the flame there was a huge bone wing opening violently, and in the next second, the flame had already “fallen” on the atrium’s pathway, transforming into a rotating and ascending doorway.

“It’s time to go.” Pope Helena’s voice came from the side, with a reminder and urging.

“Uh-huh.” Vanna gently nodded her head, and at this moment screened out the last bit of hesitation in her heart and took a step forward.

She took a deep breath and stepped through the revolving door of flames, her mind boiling with thoughts in this moment.

What kind of scene would be behind the door? What kind of life awaited one on that ship? Would one see the dreaded spectral captain first? Or some …… sailor on the Lost Country?
What kind of eerie picture would the crew of that ship look like?

The flames roared up and faded away, and it took only a moment to cross the gate.

Vanna only felt herself drifting off for a moment before a wet, cold sea breeze was already blowing in her face, while the sound of crashing waves came to her ears.

She blinked and slapped her forehead hard.

She thought something might have gone wrong with the transmission.

Or something was wrong with her own eyes.

Because she saw …… Maurice standing in front of her and was smiling this way.

(End of chapter)