Chapter 502: A Crouch Before You Go?
Chapter 502 – Before you go, why don’t you go into a …… bed?
For the “fake Agatha” born in the mirror image, her life was split into two distinct parts – one warm, bright, and full of her love for the world, the other full of her love for the world.
One part was warm, bright, and full of all her loves, hates, and attachments to the world, but it was essentially just a piece of fabrication that she had entered into her own mind as a lie;
The other part was only three days long, filled with stress, exhaustion, pain, and the eventual relief of dying, but it was the only memory that truly belonged to her.
Now that the dead have returned to the earthly realm and the fake has a chance to move on, the question in front of her is – the former is a fond memory but doomed to be unattainable, and after a long time, all the regrets will eventually turn into resentment, while the latter is real but thin, and the pale and short life is not enough for her to survive as a complete “person”. The latter is real but thin, and her pale and short life is not enough for her to survive as a complete “human being”.
Captain Duncan gave her a reminder before the difficult disagreement, and after long reflection she came to the conclusion: leave the Frost.
The dark, cold depths of the ocean were daunting, but the dive itself was the first time she realized that there was another way to live, as the captain had described it to her in the submersible–a way that was not possible. -“We’re in an endless sea.
“We groped our way through an endless darkness, civilization itself a delicate and fragile sampan, around which the lights shone, and we tried, with the crude intelligence of mortals, to understand the glimpses that emerged in the darkness, to guess what the world was like. ……
“Most people spend their lives huddled in the safe corners of a sampan, but someone has to be responsible for going to the bow to hold the light, for looking out into the distance, a path destined to go forward forever, because ‘the unknown’ is by nature a one-way concept, so… . maybe I can try.”
Agatha in the mirror said with a calm expression, the black clothes on her body that represented the identity of the Gatekeeper had quietly changed at some point, transforming into a set of clothes that seemed to be like a sea adventurer-somewhat like that of Martha’s, but with some traces of representing the Church of the Dead remaining, and she lifted her hand to take off the hat that symbolized a clergyman again She lifted her hand and took off the hat that symbolized a cleric, letting her long hair fall down, and the bandages that wrapped her whole body also slowly faded away.
She raised her head and looked at Duncan with a small smile.
“A fake does not have a true past, but I can have a true future, let those precious memories lie in the past, so that at least when I recall them in the future, they will still be bright and warm, and not tainted by human weakness.
“What do you think of this dress, which Ms. Martha designed for me?”
Duncan looked at Agatha in the mirror and nodded thoughtfully after a long time, “It fits.”
“Do you think I need another name?” Agatha added, “If one intends to go down a whole new path from here on out, shouldn’t one start with a name and make some changes as well?”
Duncan was silent for a long time this time, yet after a long moment of thought he shook his head, “No need, I think it would be fine for you to remain as Agatha.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m so used to being called that it’s inconvenient to change my name,” Duncan replied casually, “Anyway, I can tell ‘you’ apart, and ‘you’ yourselves can tell each other apart.”
Agatha in the mirror gave Duncan a deep look, “…… That doesn’t seem to be your real answer, but it’s enough to convince me, and it just so happens that I kind of like the name – consider it a way to leave your own ‘past’ a last little memento.”
Duncan nodded, “Well, it’s good that you think so.”
“Have you already made arrangements for the city-state side of things?” Agatha asked again, “Do you really plan to be a ‘cemetery caretaker’ in Frost from now on?”
Duncan raised his eyebrows, “Is there anything wrong with that position?”
“Not that there is anything bad about it …… It is just strange to think that ‘Captain Duncan’, who is as a shadow of subspace to many, would be guarding a cemetery in a city-state,” Agatha in the Mirror spoke frankly of her thoughts, “But it is certainly a good thing, as long as you are happy with it – I’m afraid there will be few places safer than that cemetery in the future.”
“I think it’s fine, I still run an antique store in Prand, and maintaining an activity in civilized society regulates the mind well,” Duncan flashed a smile, “Not to mention that maintaining an avatar in a city-state costs money, and being a caretaker in a cemetery at least has a collection of ……”
Duncan stopped abruptly.
He slowly raised his head, looked at the “gatekeeper” in the mirror, and asked with extra solemnity, “Will the cathedral pay me as the ‘new caretaker’?”
Agatha didn’t respond until then, “You still need a salary?!”
“You don’t pay wages?!”
“Ah, of course they are paid under normal circumstances, the cemetery caretaker’s salary is paid directly by the Cathedral ……” Agatha said with a strange expression, “but it is not a normal situation for a Subspace Shadow to run into the cemetery and become a caretaker, I strongly suggest that you go to the Cathedral and have a serious talk with the other Agatha about this matter, because from what I know about ‘myself’, she would never have thought of it – or rather, dared not think of it – if you hadn’t taken the initiative to mention it.”
Duncan: “…… That outrageous?”
“The string of numbers you wrote at the end of your original whistleblower letter nearly drove a room full of cryptographers and mathematicians crazy, and when you later transferred money to your bank account the Cathedral even set up a special classified action team to keep an eye on the changes in the spirit world – when you spoke to ordinary people as a ‘subspace Shadows’ identity when dealing with ordinary people, please consider the triviality of most normal humans.”
The corners of Duncan’s mouth quivered and he rubbed his forehead, “…… Okay, I get it.”
Agatha looked as if she was relieved, then asked curiously, “Now that the Frost situation is settled, what are your next plans?”
“I’m going to return to the central sea, follow some of the archaeological information provided by Maurice, and go along the shipping route to check out the ancient ruins and bizarre seas that intrigue me, and if I can, get close to or even enter certain areas that are classified as ‘anomalies’ to explore and learn as much as I can about this world, “Duncan obviously had plans ahead of time, and immediately spoke of his exploration plans with great interest, “In the process, continue to maintain contact with the civilized world, and in the meantime, see how the major churches reacted to my ‘warning’, and if they are interested, I wouldn’t wouldn’t mind dealing with those mysterious church arks again ……”
“Sounds like a desirable adventure,” Agatha said with a tone of pleasantness and anticipation, “full of risk, but worth the trip, and it looks like I made the right decision …… So are we leaving now? Or do we need to make some more preparations?” “Not so fast, have to make arrangements for the White Oak first, and it’s important to speak to Tirion anyhow,” Duncan smiled, “he should have returned to his office in the dome by this time, just as well I’m going to go and ‘say hello’ to him. ”
“Understood, I will leave you to it then.” Agatha bowed her head, her figure fading from the mirror.
At the same time, in the domed office of the Frost Council Chamber, Tirian had seen off the last departmental representative – he had changed out of the ornate but uncomfortable jacket he had used for ceremonial occasions, and put on his daily attire again, sitting behind his desk with a slight sigh of relief.
Next, he would have a short break – to get ready for the rest of the day.
Running a city was far more difficult than running a fleet, especially a city full of messes, and even on the day of his swearing-in, he had no chance to interrupt his work; this morning’s schedule had been ‘shoehorned’ in between his normal work schedule, and he would have to take care of all the delays in the afternoon and evening.
What’s more, he had to deal with more than just the affairs of the Frost City State.
The huge “industry” that the Sea Mist Fleet had been operating for the past fifty years, the complex and subtle connections between himself and the other city-states, the balance of power in the Frosty Sea, and the relationship with his “family”… …All of these added up to a job no easier than that of a consul.
With a long sigh, Tirian opened a locked drawer beside his desk and took out many documents and information from it – files related to the Sea Mist Fleet, shared information from the Bright Star, and personal letters from other city-states.
The break meant that he could put aside his consul’s work for a while to do a bunch of other jobs that were just as difficult as consuling.
Tirian swept his gaze over the pile and couldn’t help but raise a hand to scratch his hair.
For some reason, First Mate Aiden’s bare head popped into his mind.
The horrible association that suddenly surfaced in his mind caused the newly promoted consul to stifle a chill and jerked to a halt as he continued to scratch his hair.
“Aiden that was shaved by himself back then, Aiden that was shaved by himself back then …… He has regretted this for a century ……”
Tirion muttered in a low voice, as if to distract himself from the stress he felt when confronted with the pile in front of him, and it was at that moment that a slight crackling sound suddenly came from nearby, violently interrupting his self-talk.
After a subconscious shiver in his heart, he quickly calmed down again and looked up at the mirror on the nearby wall with a bemused expression.
He was used to ……
Duncan’s figure appeared in the mirror.
“Son, I came to say hello – all good?”
“All is well, Father,” Tirion stood up, careful to meet his father’s gaze, but already with a much lighter heart than usual, “What is your order?”
“Nothing, only that I am ready to leave ……”
Duncan jerked to a halt.
Tirion looked at his father in the mirror suspiciously, but saw that the other party was staring at the tabletop next to …… himself with a deadpan expression that looked peculiar.
That expression actually carried shock.
This shock made Tirian’s heart tighten, and he panicked and followed his father’s gaze, but what he saw was just a piece of paper that had fallen out of the pile of papers just now, which Lucrecia had sent to herself from the Radiant Star.
It was a piece of paper that Lucrecia had sent to herself from the Radiant Star. It was an “Academic Shared Information”.
Duncan’s extraordinarily serious voice came from the mirror, “Tirion, what is that? Bring it closer for me to see!”
“Ah …… okay,” Tirian agreed in a panic, hurriedly picking up the piece of paper and walking over to the mirror to show the image on the paper to his father, “What’s wrong with it?”
“…… Where did this pattern come from?”
“It was sent to me by Lucrecia,” Tirian replied immediately, some nervous heartiness in his tone, “I didn’t tell you before, but she’s actually been working on something that fell from the sky this whole time …… “
Duncan, however, did not speak, but only stared at the piece of paper, and only after a long time did he break the silence with a soft voice as if he were talking to himself in a dream, “…… The moon?”
(End of chapter)