Chapter 339. What a coincidence.

Chapter 339 – What a Coincidence
Annie didn’t realize what was going on – she just had time to see two strangers standing at the entrance to the cemetery before her view was blocked by the slightly stooped frame of the old caretaker, while the old man’s slightly strained voice reached her ears, “Don’t look over there, child.”

The little girl was a little nervous: “Grandpa caretaker, what’s wrong?”

“Don’t move, don’t speak, it’s fine.” The old man said softly, while his gaze remained fixed on the lanky figure, one of his hands resting at his side, blocking Anne’s somewhat uneasy line of sight, while the other was pressed to his chest – there was a talisman there, which could be used to trigger the alarms of the entire cemetery if necessary.

The lanky figure was coming this way.

The old man’s muscles tensed with it.

“Good morning,” a low voice came from beneath those thick bandages, as if with echoes from the catacombs, “This shall be my first official ‘house call’.”

There was clear verbal communication, and a friendly demeanor – as in previous encounters, the unnamed “visitor” demonstrated a friendly stance.

But the old guard’s muscles did not dare to relax at all, he had thought that this visitor would have another visit sooner or later, and also thought about how he would communicate with the other party, but never thought that the other party would come to the entrance of the cemetery in such a way openly, and stood across the street and greeted himself, he did not know if Anne behind him would be affected by this visitor, so he could only try his best to block the gap between the two, and quickly thought about the next response. Thinking quickly about the next response.

The old man’s nervousness fell perfectly in Duncan’s eyes.

He looked even more nervous than when they first met – was it because of the child he was shielding behind him?
“Relax,” Duncan said, some amusement in his tone, “I have no hostile intent – much less to harm the boy behind you.”

“I know you are friendly, but your very presence has the potential to affect ordinary people,” the old guard said cautiously, trying to keep his statements from offending the visitor in front of him as much as possible, “The boy has no training in the transcendent.”

“Oh, then she’s safe instead,” Duncan said, “She can’t see, as you should understand.”

The old guard was silent for a moment, he knew what the other meant, and knew that as an ordinary human Anne should instead not be affected by certain transcendental powers as she was, but he still did not relax, he simply asked cautiously, “What is it that you wish to do on this visit?”

“Is that Goddess Officer not here?” Duncan glanced curiously in the direction of the cemetery, “I have something rather important to tell her.”

“She has just left,” the old guard said, while growing more cautious at the other man’s mention of Agatha, “What is it that you wish to see her about?”

He then paused and added, “I can always reach her – the cemetery caretaker is also a cleric and has direct access to the Cathedral and the Gatekeeper.”

“Ah, that’s good, I can save myself some trouble,” Duncan said, lifting his hand and digging in his pocket – a gesture that made the cemetery caretaker in front of him visibly tense, at which he smiled and shook his head, “Don’t be nervous, if I really mean any harm, I don’t need to raise my hand.”

As his words fell, he had already pulled out a sealed letter from the pocket of his trench coat and raised his hand to hand it to the old man in front of him.

“Pass this on to the ‘gatekeeper’ named Agatha, or just pass it on to your cathedral,” Duncan said casually, “It’s a message anyway, just as long as the message gets there. ”

A …… letter? Surprisingly, a letter?
The old guard looked at what the other man pulled out in dismay, and subconsciously took it before reacting, blinking in confusion, never realizing that an unnameable visitor had descended upon the cemetery in a physical form, in order to give himself a letter.

He flipped over the envelope to look at it again.

On the back of the envelope, he could see the mark and number of a small local printing house – it wasn’t even a “secret letter of ritual” condensed by some transcendent power, it was bought from a newsstand at the intersection, or maybe even bought it by hand when he passed by this morning.

The old man raised his head, his slightly cloudy and yellowed eyes carrying obvious doubts and inquiries.

“A small contribution to the security of the city-state,” Duncan smiled, unfortunately his friendly expression was completely blocked by the bandages, before his gaze traveled past the old caretaker to the young girl who was hiding behind the old man, “Scare you?”

“No,” Anne shook her head, carefully looking through the old man’s finger slits at the tall, lanky figure across the room, “I’m bold.”

“I’ve got a niece who’s got a lot of guts too,” Duncan said, looking over at the old man, “The kid is ……”

“Just wanted to visit the cemetery, a commoner with little to do with the church,” the old man said immediately, relaxing a little after realizing that Anne really wasn’t affected by anything, “I’m trying to talk the boy into going back, it’s been a terrible day.”

“Easy to slip on a snowy day,” Duncan nodded, looking at the little girl again he asked casually, “What’s your name? How old are you?”

The old guard’s heart tightened, and he was about to warn Anne, who had never been exposed to transcendent powers, not to speak; after all, revealing a name to a superior transcendent of unknown origin was quite a dangerous move-

But he was a step too slow.

“My name is Anne,” the girl said with little caution, “Anne Barbery, and I’m twelve years old!”

Silence suddenly enveloped the cemetery gates.

Duncan looked silently at the little girl who was poking her head out from behind the old guard, gazing into her eyes, and at the contours of the brow that vaguely resembled those of Captain Christo Barberi. He had only asked a casual question, but he had not expected …… things to be so coincidental.

The sound of stepping on snow came from the side, Alice looked at the little girl who called herself “Anne Barberi” with some surprise, and then turned her head to look at Duncan: “Ah, I remember the surname Barberi, this is not …… “

Duncan slowly bent down, bringing his gaze level with the girl’s and making his tone as gentle as possible, “Your last name is Barbery?”

Seemingly because of the sudden change in atmosphere, Anne looked a little nervous as she shrank behind the old guard, “Yeah, yeah.”

“Captain Christo Barberi, what is his relationship to you?”

“He’s …… my dad.” Annie whispered, then subconsciously grabbed the old guard’s shirt and looked up at the old man as if she wanted to ask for help.

However, the old man didn’t have much of a reaction, he just had a stunned look on his face, as if he had thought of something, and looked at Duncan with an incredulous expression, while at the same time looking at the young woman with a veil and blonde hair draped over her shoulders in astonishment.

“You are Captain Christo’s daughter – you live with your mother on Fireplace Street?” Duncan asked again as he looked at the young girl in front of him.

Anne gave a flustered nod, then seemed to respond, “You …… know my father?”

“…… have met, though not too well,” Duncan said softly, “He asked me to visit you and your mother, and I hadn’t gotten around to looking for you guys yet, so I didn’t expect to meet up here.”

Anne’s eyes widened in surprise.

The old caretaker aside did likewise.

“My father he ……” Anne opened her mouth, but half thought of what to say, after desperately organizing her language for half a day she asked carefully, “He really is dead . . right?”

Duncan nodded gently.

“So …… then he’s still going to be sent here?” Anne asked again in a panic, “The adults say that those who believe in the God of Death have their souls return to Bartok’s cemetery when they die, and are then guided to that great gate, which Grandfather Keeper told me is ……”

Anne’s voice suddenly trailed off as she spoke.

In fact, since a long time ago, she had stopped believing the words the old man had once told her.

She was twelve years old this year.

Duncan suddenly reached out and rubbed Anne’s head – a bit of still-melting snowflake had fallen off the thick woolen hat and mixed with the snow.

“Captain Christo is a marvelous man, very marvelous – he’s in the land of Bartok now, resting well there.”

Anne looked up and blinked.

She wasn’t quite able to comprehend what Duncan’s words meant yet – she didn’t even understand what kind of presence the tall, lanky figure in front of her was.

But the cemetery caretaker beside her snapped to attention.

The old man suddenly squeezed Anne’s shoulder to keep the child from continuing to talk, and then he raised his head and looked directly into Duncan’s eyes, “What you said …… is the real situation?”

“…… I think it is,” Duncan thought for a moment, he didn’t know exactly what was going on with that gate in the so-called Bartok of Death, or what humans actually went through after they died, but in front of a child, he knew what he had to say –which was something he wished with all his heart, “I sent him away myself.”

The old guard’s pupils contracted slightly, but he quickly hid the change in expression.

“It’s almost time for me to leave,” Duncan said, glancing at Anne, who was still a little confused, and then back to the graveyard keeper, “There’s still quite a bit I’d like to say, but I have a lot of work to do, so I’ll see you again sometime.

“Also, don’t forget the letter.”

The old caretaker blinked, and before he had a chance to speak, he only saw a flash of ghostly green flames in front of him.

(End of chapter)