Chapter 551: Afternoon
Chapter 551: Afternoon
In front of the power of the words “Witness of the Four Gods”, Sara Meier finally reluctantly approved of Lucrecia’s judgment.
No matter what the nature of the starlight mentioned by the sea witch was, no matter what the real way of existence of the present Duncan Abnormale was, at least, the leaders of the Ark of the Patrol, who were able to communicate directly with the Four Gods, had made the decision to “cooperate” with the Lost Country, so that decision in itself was a very strong “proof”. “evidence”.
Or to put it in a more extreme way – if even the judgment and instructions given by the four gods are wrong, then it doesn’t matter whether it’s a disaster or not, “the four gods are all wrong” itself is the biggest disaster.
“We know very little about subspace, and all the laws of the real world may be subverted in that realm,” Lucrecia turned her head, her gaze passing through the floor-to-ceiling windows of her office as if she was looking out over the distant sea, while speaking unhurriedly, “The Lost Country ship ‘returned’ from subspace to us. ‘Returning’ to our real world will inevitably lead to a series of changes, you know, when it only suffered a little bit of impact, the Radiant Star and the Sea Mist became what they are today, then what about the Lost Country ship that was submerged in subspace for a century? What about my father?
“There are many things that should have been expected.”
She withdrew her gaze from looking out the window and turned her head to gaze silently into Sara Meir’s eyes.
“Frankly, I don’t even care now how much of his ‘essence’ is still the original Duncan Abnormale – even if only one shimmer in that starlight belongs to him, I’d be willing to go for that one shimmer to meet him, and as long as he remains on the side of ‘mortal’ in the whole, that is enough.”
Listening to the sorceress’ calm narration, Sara Meir’s eyes changed a few times before finally coming down to a sigh, “Yeah, well, at least that’s a friendly presence, which is better than an actual subspace ghost.”
Lucrecia didn’t say another word, just nodded softly.
“What’s the status of the Talan scholars?” Sara Meir then asked again after a moment’s silence, “It was rumored that he was caught in a ‘dream crisis’ and that it was resolved by you and your father?”
“Yes, that’s what I was about to say next,” Lucrecia immediately straightened her expression and said rather seriously, “Regarding the so-called ‘dream world’ that Master Talan-El was caught in, it’s likely that it was more complicated than you may have thought. complicated, and my father has confirmed some information that is related to those heretics ……”
For the next ten minutes or so, she informed the consul in front of her as much as she knew, including the purpose of those Annihilationists and the situation of the Sun’s children she had seen in the dream world.
After that, she mentioned in passing the information that had come to her from the city-state of Prand – about the fourth long night mentioned by the “preacher of the end”, and about the “sermons” of the gods.
Sara Meier listened attentively with a serious expression, and did not interrupt from the beginning to the end.
Until Lucrecia’s words fell, the office was quiet for more than ten seconds, and this consul with rich life experience slowly nodded his head.
“Dream of the Nameless One …… It is true that this term does not exist in the cultural system of the elves, but it really sounds reminiscent of the ‘Dream of Creation’ of the Demon God Sasloca,” Sara Meier said thoughtfully, “Yet if there really is a ‘dream’ of such magnitude, why has no one ever discovered its existence in all these millennia? Those pagans say that the elves are the ‘gateway’ to this dream realm, but as far as I know, nothing like what happened to Taran-El happened once upon a time.”
“We’ve discussed this as well, and the most likely explanation is – the appearance of the Dream of the Nameless One is also one of the signs and evidence of the approaching ‘Fourth Long Night’.”
Sara Meier responded immediately, “Meaning ……”
“The Dream of the Nameless One may have appeared, or ‘manifested’, only recently,” Lucrecia said gravely, “It may have been dormant or in a ‘suppressed’ ‘ state, so that no one has ever been aware of its presence, but as the Fourth Long Night approached, it gradually turned active ……”
Sara Meir didn’t say anything, his brow furrowed, and then slowly raised his head, looking out the window at the bright sunlight – the “sun” under the lock of the double runic circle was crossing the highest point in the sky, and it was soon going to be late afternoon.
After an unknown amount of time, he finally broke the silence with a soft voice, repeating to himself the “sermon” of the final preachers–
“…… As dusk approaches, the sun begins to grow ‘milder,’ and those who have been banished and erased begin to return to the world. …… “
……
At the gate, Nina carefully checked again what she was wearing and what she was going to bring.
It was much warmer in this southern city-state than it was in Prand, and even now, in the cooler late fall, it was necessary to wear light clothing when going out – she put on one of her favorite dresses and paired it with her newly purchased light sandals, and was in a cheerful mood.
In her small bag, she had brought her keys, change, and a map, and as Ms. Lucrecia had reminded her, she had also brought mosquito repellent tablets and potions, so she should be well-prepared.
And last but not least, a friend to take with you on your way out.
Nina turned her head and looked in Shirley’s direction.
Shirley, still wearing that favorite sundress of hers, was crouching down and buckling the straps of her sandals at this point, and when she noticed the gaze coming from beside her, she looked up, “What’s wrong Nina?”
Nina smiled, “Thinking of where you want to hang out?”
Although the impact of tasting the “local specialties” was so great that the two girls even had the urge to go back to the ship for a while, in the end, Nina and Shirley didn’t turn this impulse into practice. This was a rare trip to the shore during a long sea voyage, and in the end, it was not to be wasted.
“I don’t know where to go,” Shirley stood up and patted the dust on her skirts, “Didn’t that elf uncle recommend that there’s a bazaar two blocks away? Why don’t we just go there – I don’t want to go to some so-called ‘food court’ anyway.”
Nina nodded, then glanced at the small bag on the other party’s waist, “Did you bring mosquito repellent? There are more mosquitoes in this town than in Prand.”
“Well,” Sherry patted the pouch on her waist, “Dog reminded me.”
Nina gave a bright smile, “Okay, let’s go then~”
The two girls walked down the steps in front of the gate, but just then, the sound of a lock opening and a door shaft turning suddenly came from the gate behind them.
With a jolt of excitement, Sherry turned around and tensed up when she saw a tall and imposing figure standing in the doorway.
“I …… we want to go out for a stroll ……” Without waiting for Duncan to speak, Shirley had already taken the initiative to speak up in a panic, “Already told Mr. Morris that already ……”
“We’re not going far,” Nina smiled brightly in her turn, “just to the nearby fair.”
“I know.” Duncan, however, just nodded faintly, then walked over to the two girls, his eyes falling on Shirley.
The latter scrunched her neck almost reflexively and held her tongue for several seconds before carefully speaking, “I …… or I won’t go ……”
“Take it.” Duncan interrupted her, however, and proceeded to hand over a couple of bills.
Shirley stared blankly at the bills that had been delivered to her, not reacting for a moment.
“Aren’t you guys going to the fair?” Duncan’s voice snapped her out of her daze, “Here’s today’s allowance – don’t spend it all at once. Nina’s has already been given.”
Shirley, however, remained frozen until Dog’s reminder voice came into her head, and she snapped out of it, hesitantly accepting the bills, which weren’t really that large in denomination, and then turned her face away from him, cooing as if she were trying to deflect the embarrassment, “I thought you were going to arrest me for going back to my homework …… “
Duncan, on the other hand, didn’t care about the other party’s reaction, he looked at the two girls in front of him and casually reminded, “Don’t come back too late, try not to go to other urban areas, and if you get lost call me, I’ll send Ai to pick you up ……”
“Hehehe, got it,” Nina waved her hand repeatedly, although her tone sounded like she was impatient, the smile on her face was as bright as ever, then she came over and took Sherry’s arm, tugging the other girl in the direction of the intersection, “Let’s get going then! We’ll be back before evening!”
Shirley was yanked along so sparingly, glancing back at Duncan in between, opening her mouth as if to say something, but in the end nothing came out, just a sudden smile and a wave this way between being pulled along by Nina.
Duncan watched as the two girls disappeared into the intersection across the street, and it was another moment before his gaze retracted and settled on the clearing not too far away, “Back from City Hall?”
Along with his words, Lucrecia’s figure suddenly appeared in that empty clearing – like a mirage transformed into a physical object, she stepped out of the phantom with a bit of surprise on her face, “So you’ve already found me?”
Duncan nodded, “I saw it from the start.”
Lucrecia, on the other hand, looked back in the direction that Nina and Sherry had left a moment ago.
At this moment, the expression on her face suddenly changed in a somewhat complicated way, as if there were many thoughts rising and falling in the depths of her eyes – that might be mixed with past memories, or perhaps laced with inexplicable emotions, but in the end, she collected all the changes in her gaze, and when she turned her head to look at Duncan, there was only a faint smile on her face.
For some reason, Duncan suddenly felt that this “witch” mood seems to be suddenly good up – very very good kind.
“Taran-El has left?” Lucrecia suddenly asked.
“He left half an hour ago, he said he was worried about his research lab,” Duncan nodded, then asked, “What did you talk about with that consul in the town hall?”
“The Church sent out notices to every city-state that the warning you sent to this world is now beginning to have an effect ……”
(End of chapter)