Chapter 501 The Man Who Sets Sail
Chapter 501 – The Man Who Sailed
Anne looked at the two “guests” in the hut somewhat blankly, her eyes flicked between Agatha and Duncan, and after a long time, the girl finally reacted a little, “Ah, Uncle Duncan, you’re going to be the caretaker of the cemetery here?”
“Perhaps,” Duncan said and looked at Agatha who was still in amazement, “Wouldn’t that be feasible? The cemetery caretaker has to be a Guardian veteran?”
Agatha finally responded and hurriedly spoke up, “No…… though in general, the cemetery caretaker is a retired Guardian veteran, but if I were to intervene, I could of course put you in a position, that’s not the problem, the point is . . do you really want to stay in this cemetery as a caretaker?”
“I’m still an antiquities dealer in Prendergast,” Duncan said, a smile in his eyes, “The Lost Country won’t be parked in one place, but my incarnation will be staying in the city-state, and there’s always something to do, and I can’t just spend my days drinking tea and reading the newspaper in that big house on Oak Street with nothing to do, can I? ”
“That …… hadn’t really occurred to me,” Agatha opened her mouth, feeling a little embarrassed, “I hadn’t thought at all about what your ‘avatar’ would need to do on a regular basis There’s something else you need to do in ……”
“Normal, most novels and movies don’t mention anything about the protagonists switching jobs after the events are over either, and the reality is that you’re now doing the work of two people on your own, and Tirian is drowning in paperwork all day long,” Duncan laughed, “For me, sailing a ghost ship that won’t dock all day long Wandering the infinite seas is also boring, having a normal life in a city-state is my trick to make sure I still feel like a ‘human’, you can think of it as ……”
Agatha spoke instantly, “I’ll make arrangements for you immediately, and you can come to the cemetery tomorrow to ‘take up your duties’.”
Duncan: “…… I’m not finished yet.”
“I’ve heard the most important part,” Agatha spoke with a solemn face, “Please rest assured that even if the highest holy church oversteps its bounds, I will make sure that you will be able to work as a caretaker in this cemetery without fear.”
“…… I always feel like you’re overinterpreting what I just said, but it’s not a big problem,” Duncan said with a bit of a wiggle, and then really inquired about the “job”. “What does a graveyard keeper have to do on a regular basis?”
“Basically, there isn’t much to do – the caretaker’s job is to make sure that the cemetery isn’t ‘disturbed’, to ensure that the supernatural powers are kept calm, and to register both the living and the dead who enter and leave the cemetery, and the maintenance of the facilities is left to the caretakers. Maintenance and things like that are all arranged by the nearby church to be in charge of,” Agatha explained, “Given that even the night has turned into an extremely safe environment within Frost City at the moment, I think …… not only you, but all the cemetery guards shouldn’t have to do anything. ”
Agatha’s tone was more than a little odd as she spoke, and her gaze swept towards Duncan every now and then, clearly thinking of the connection between the recent calmness of the Frost nights and the being in front of her.
And there was something she hadn’t said – what did it matter if the nights in the city-state were still as dangerous as ever? With the arrival of such a “caretaker” in the cemetery, it was feared that there would no longer be any incidents of transcendent power unrest, and even if something from subspace came out of the coffin, it would be slapped back by the new caretaker, right?……
In any case, this is a good thing.
Duncan, on the other hand, did not know what was on Agatha’s mind, and he himself did not think about too complicated things, because he really just wanted to find something to do for this body of his – and considering the last will remaining in this body, considering his own “fate” with the cemetery, he finally chose to do it. Considering the last will left in this body, and considering the “bond” between himself and the cemetery, he finally chose to stay here and become the new caretaker of the cemetery.
He will continue to watch over Frost, and care for the city, just as he did in Prand.
The hot tea in his hand had gradually cooled.
Duncan placed the cup of tea on a low table, stood up and looked around the small house in silence, the simple and plain furnishings of the house were reflected in his eyes, as if there were still some traces of the old master left.
On the wall next to the doorway, an old shotgun hung silently on a hook, its bolt still shining brightly, reflecting the fire.
Duncan looked at the old shotgun for a moment, nodded softly, and pushed his way out of the cabin.
The sound of loud, cheerful music came from the direction of one of the streets outside the cemetery, interspersed with the sound of pulling a ceremonial flower.
Anne burst through the door of the hut behind him, listening to the movement in the distant street, and tugged happily at Duncan’s coat, “The new consul’s caravan is coming through the cemetery ring!”
“Many are still terrified of that new consul,” Duncan lowered his head, a smile at the corners of his eyes, “You don’t look scared at all?”
“I’m not afraid, mom said that the new consul is a hero who protects the city-state,” Anne raised her face and squinted her eyes in the sunlight, “just like dad, a very powerful man.”
Duncan thought for a moment and reached out to gently press the girl’s furry hat.
“Indeed, he’ll make an excellent consul.”
……
On the infinite sea, Duncan crossed the aft deck and returned to the captain’s chamber.
The goat’s head was steering the ship thoughtfully, and on the navigational table, the fog that had drifted across the surface of the large chart was flowing and dissipating a little. Duncan stood in front of the charts for a moment, his eyes sweeping over the course that was already becoming clearer near Frost, then stepped to a corner of the room.
The oval mirror in the captain’s room was still hanging quietly on the wall, reflecting the scene in the room, which somehow looked a bit shadowy in the interplay of sunlight and shadows.
Duncan stepped forward, curled his fingers, and gently tapped the edge of the mirror.
In the next second, the seemingly ordinary surface of the mirror suddenly floated layers and layers of hazy light, as if there were countless fog and smoke from the world in the mirror diffuse rise, and immediately after that, the hazy light emerged in the shadow of a figure.
Agatha – the Gatekeeper of the Mirror – appeared before Duncan.
“Good day, Captain,” came Agatha’s slightly magnetic voice from the mirror, “It is a pleasure to meet you.”
Duncan nodded and casually asked, “How are you feeling? Still getting used to it?”
“It …… feels pretty good,” Agatha said slowly, “When I was first ‘transferred’ to the ship, the huge, empty mirror world here made me a little nervous, but perhaps those empty darknesses have gradually faded as I’ve grown accustomed to the place …… I also tried communicating with that ‘Martha’ lady, and she told me many of the as ‘mirror image ‘ tips and knowledge, all very useful.”
Duncan raised his eyebrows at that, “Oh? You have direct access to Martha here?”
“The Black Oak wanders in the reflections of the nearby waters, and in the world of mirrors I am ‘neighbors’ with her,” Agatha smiled, “It is a wonderful experience- -The world in the mirrors is both discontinuous and yet connected everywhere; I can jump from one mirror to another, or appear in many mirrors at once, or hide within the vast emptiness behind the mirrors …… It may take many, many years before I can fully figure it all out. ”
Duncan listened with interest to the “mirror image” to tell himself that beyond the general knowledge of the unimaginable “laws of the mirror”, and waited until the other party’s words fell, he gently nodded: “Sounds like you enjoy this process, that’s good.”
Agatha was stunned, and softly sighed, “…… Yes, it’s better than I thought.”
There was a moment of silence in the captain’s cabin, and it was an indeterminate amount of time before Duncan suddenly broke the silence, “I was wondering what made you make up your mind to leave Frost and embark on a journey with the Lost Country? This will be the longest journey you will ever take in your life, this ship could go to many places, distant city-states, blockaded secret realms, spirit worlds, the Profound, even subspace ……”
Agatha in the mirror brooded, she considered the question very carefully, and it was several minutes before she spoke slowly, “I think it was when ‘we’ went down into that dark depths together.”
Duncan didn’t say anything, just looked at the person in the mirror and waited for her to continue.
The voice in the mirror came again-
“I have all the memories and emotions of Agatha, in that memory I was born in the Frost, in the company of my family and friends, I studied and trained and was tested by the Church, and the streets, the old bell towers, everything that was in disrepair …… but dear to me, all of these things are in my mind, clear and deep, as if …… I had experienced them myself.
“But what we all know is that as of the day of the Mirror Invasion, the life that truly belonged to ‘me’ myself was actually only three days.
“So once my consciousness was restored again, once I returned to this world again in the form of a mirror image, I kept pondering the question – whether I was Agatha the Gatekeeper, or whether I was a re-born into this world who had merely inherited someone’s memories of the …… ‘person’.”
She paused, her eyes bright as a “mirror image”, and those eyes were now staring intently at the captain outside the mirror.
“You are right, a ‘person’ cannot live forever as the shadow of another.
“Almost all the memories I ever had of my life came from another individual, but even so, three days of that memory were my own.
“But if I stayed in Frost, sooner or later that ‘life’ of only three days would be buried by even larger, deeper memories, and I could not sever my ties to that city, could not avoid my human weaknesses as a mortal man- -I am doomed to be a shadow, a shadow full of regrets, trapped in memories, and sooner or later with the passage of time …… this regret will turn into indignation and resentment.
“I cannot accept that possibility.
“But something you said to me on that ‘deep dive’ trip with you …… led me to new possibilities.”
(End of chapter)