Chapter 538: A Long Time Gone

Chapter 538: A Long Time Gone
The moment Lucrecia received the small hairpin, Duncan felt a part of his “heart” relax.

It was an imperceptible corner, a feeling that could not be described in words, as if a mission that had been delayed for a long time was finally accomplished, even if this body had already forgotten what that mission was, the thoughts engraved in the soul still let out a soft sigh.

“I hope you like it,” Duncan said softly after a moment of silence, “there’s a lot I don’t remember, but I do remember that this hair card was for you.”

“I heard Tirion say that,” Lucrecia nodded, somehow feeling that the hesitation and anxiety that had nagged her for so many days had dissipated – despite having contacted her father through a crystal ball before, it had proven to be only possible to see him in the meeting in person in the real world could dispel those worries, “In any case, it’s good that you’re returning to ‘this side’.”

Duncan nodded, and then immediately turned his attention to the elven scholar who was standing not far away and had been trying to minimize his presence since just now.

“Master Taran El,” a faint smile appeared on his face, trying to make his tone seem a little more approachable, “now that we meet again in reality – I’m glad to see you’re safe and sound, and I have a lot of things to talk to you about.”

“Don’t …… say anything about Master, you’re too polite,” Taran-El hurriedly waved his hand, “Just call me by my first name. I’m a longtime admirer of yours, the great explorer Captain Duncan, er, I mean you’re still alive …… when you were alive …… when you were a human being …… I’ve been ……”

Duncan looked at the elven scholar in silence, while Lucrecia silently drew a “short staff” like a magic wand and pointed it at Taran El’s nose.

“Frog, or snake?” She spoke dangerously in a calm tone.

Taran-El instantly raised his hands and looked at Duncan with a sad face, “I meant to say that a century ago, I admired your reputation, but unfortunately I never had the chance to meet you ……”

Duncan didn’t expect this elf scholar’s character to be so funny and couldn’t help but laugh, “Is this sincere?”

“Of course,” Taran Elle had a serious face, “As a scholar who is very interested in the frontier, I have always wished to make more acquaintances with those true explorers, to learn from them about things beyond the boundaries of civilization, and even aspired to be able to sail far away in person to explore that magnificent barrier of thick mist –Unfortunately I was not destined to accomplish such a great journey ……”

“That’s fine, now you’ll have a chance to ‘befriend’ me properly,” Duncan nodded, and immediately afterward, as if he suddenly remembered something, he turned his face to Lucrecia and said, “Ah yes, there’s one more thing for you .”

Lucrecia did not react for a moment, and immediately after, she saw Duncan raise his hand and beckon – the flaming doorway that appeared out of thin air on the deck before had not disappeared, and at this moment it expanded steeply along with Duncan’s action, and it seemed as if a cavity was formed in the swirling flames, and after an instantaneous burst of flame and subsiding, a huge wooden box appeared on the deck.

On the box stood a fat pigeon with white feathers and a fluffy body.

Ai tilted her head, one eye looking at Lucrecia, one eye glancing somewhere else: “Kiss, express delivery receipt, give a five-star favorable comment oh.”

Lucrecia stared blankly at the scene, wondering what was wrong with the pigeon, and then noticed a metal nameplate on the side of the crate.

“Tirian’s Spirit Lens for you – highest quality,” Duncan gestured to the crate, “you didn’t forget, did you?”

“Ah, I …… haven’t forgotten,” Lucrecia said with a bit of a wince as her eyes drifted to the side, followed by a raw change of subject as she lifted her hand to point at the dove that was strutting on the case, “That’s the ‘Aye’ my brother Is this the ‘Aye’ my brother mentioned? What was that ‘five-star review’ it was talking about?”

“Don’t worry about it, this pigeon’s way of speaking is generally unintelligible,” Duncan waved his hand, greeting Aey as he landed on his shoulder, he then gestured for Lucrecia to lead the way, “Let’s leave the lenses on the deck for now, you can see to it later, let’s find a place where we can talk things over first. ”

“Good.”

Under Lucrecia’s guidance, Duncan and Taran El arrived at a certain “meeting room” located in the middle deck.

It was an upper deck cabin with spacious windows near the side of the ship, through which the visitor could see the power structure on the side of the Bright Star, as well as the aft structure of the ship, which was like a spirit that was always shrouded in mist.

Duncan came to the window and looked at the “scenery” outside the window with some curiosity, observing this “cursed ship” which is different from the Lost Country ship, but also carries the same weird atmosphere, especially focusing on its ghostly kingdom-like aft part, and sighed after a long time. After a long time, he sighed: “This ship is completely different from the Sea Mist.”

Hearing Duncan’s unintentional comment, Lucrecia looked a little uneasy: “It has been a long time, whether it is the Sea Mist or the Bright Star ……, it is very different from your original design. In order to survive in the ‘Frontier’, I have made many bold modifications to this ship, you shouldn’t be angry, right?”

“It’s time for some changes, and change is a good thing,” Duncan smiled, “The Lost Country has changed a lot as well, and if you go up there and take a look, you’ll be amazed at the state of its interior as well.”

Step aboard the Lost Country?
Lucrecia drifted off for a moment, perhaps remembering a long time ago, or perhaps thinking of her older brother who had already boarded the Lost Country several times and was still contacting and scaring herself every so often.

She quickly came back to her senses, though, and nodded to Duncan, “I …… will be there.” Then she looked up again and raised her voice slightly to the door, “Lunie, you may come in.”

The door to the room opened, and in Duncan’s slightly curious gaze, a clockwork figure whose appearance was half a dozen times similar to Lucrecia’s, but whose entire body was made of metal, ceramic, and leather, pushed in a cart with drinks and snacks.

Accompanied by the faint sound of gears turning, the clockwork mannequin came to the parlor table and bowed slightly to Duncan: “It is a pleasure to meet you, old master.”

“You are Lunie?” Duncan couldn’t help but take a couple more glances at the marvelous doll, “I found your ‘sister’ Niru at the Doll Shop in Prand – frankly, you’re quite different.”

“I too was only a three-point doll when you first met me,” Luni bowed her head politely, a slight ticking and clicking sound constantly coming from within her body, “Of course, I was unable to think or speak at that time, and it was the Mistress who gave me life.”

“…… Incredible technology,” Duncan looked to Lucrecia, “but I have a talking and thinking ‘doll’ on board right now, too. Perhaps Lunie and she could be friends.”

“I know, my brother told me about Anomaly 099,” Lucrecia said with a nod, “and Luni does wonder about that ‘Alice’ lady, but… . is she really safe?”

“Extraordinarily safe,” Duncan waved his hand, “She’s the safest on the entire ship of the Lost Country, and even a bucket in that place can fight better than she can ……”

Lucrecia: “……?”

The Sorceress finally begins to vaguely realize what her father meant when he said, “The Lost Country has changed a lot too.” ……

Duncan, for his part, finally focused on Taran El at this point.

Under the elven scholar’s uneasy gaze, he adjusted his sitting position and asked with a serious face, “In your elven legends or traditional belief system, is there such a term as ‘Dream of the Nameless’?”

Taran-El was stunned at his words, “Dream of the Nameless One?”

Immediately afterward, he then suddenly reacted, “Are you referring to the dream that I fell into before? Are you saying that …… that dream had a name, called ‘Dream of the Nameless One’?”

“If the intelligence is correct, it was called that.”

Duncan gave an affirmative answer, and then he informed the two people in front of him of all the information he had obtained from a group of cultists by “a little trickery”, including the possible role that the group of final preachers might have played in the shadows, as well as some of his own rough conjectures and the discussion he had had with Agatha earlier, without any reservation.

In the process of Duncan’s narration, Taran Ayer had unconsciously forgotten his initial nervousness and haste, and gradually became fully concentrated, even Lucrecia next to him leaned forward slightly, with a contemplative look on her face from time to time.

For scholars who are obsessed with research, the information obtained from the mouth of these heretics sounds dangerous but also has a temptation, they may have a shallow relationship with those sinful heresies, but behind them …… they seem to point to certain knowledge and mysteries.

Waiting for Duncan finally words fell, the room became very quiet for a while, the two scholars on the scene coincidentally fell into thought, after an unknown period of time, Lucrecia was the first to break the silence: ”Is this information reliable? Ah, I’m not doubting you, but those cultists are usually very cunning, even experts in dealing with heretics such as Church Inquisitors often have to make a lot of effort to pry things out of those guys’ mouths ……”

“Reliable,” Duncan said with confidence in his tone, “I used some very effective investigative techniques – ah, you guys want to know about the exact process?”

Lucrecia and Taran-El froze momentarily, shaking their heads simultaneously without thinking.

“…… Well,” Duncan said, feeling a little sorry for himself, “so what do you have in mind now? Mr. Taran-El, do you have any guesses about this so-called ‘Dream of the Nameless’?”

Talan-El thought carefully, and only after a few seconds did he speak with deliberation, “There is no such term in the various legends and traditional beliefs of the elves, at least I can be sure that the word is not in the elven language family, but if we are simply discussing the concept of ‘dream’ …… our race does have quite a few stories related to it.”

Duncan was immediately interested, “Oh?”

“Have you heard of …… the great demon god Sasloka?”

(End of chapter)