Chapter 56: Soup for dinner
Chapter 56 – Soup for Dinner
The unsurprised look on Vanna’s face certainly didn’t escape Heidi, and the “psychiatrist”, who worked with the Church from time to time, immediately guessed what was going on in the Inquisitor’s reaction.
After a slight hesitation, she cautiously asked, “It looks like …… there’s a big problem behind this incident?”
Vanna nodded: “There is a big problem.”
Heidi thought for a moment and said quickly while packing her own medical kit, “I’m on vacation tomorrow, and I might be …… for a while”
“Ms. Heidi, you may have already made a connection with this,” Vanna glanced at Heidi, “I’m sorry, but everyone who was present at the time, including me, was exposed to some sort of cognitive contamination at one time or another, and the mental problems you found in these cultists actually happened to us at one time or another Every single one of them, it’s just that …… thanks to the Goddess’s blessings, we weren’t so deeply tainted that we ‘woke up’ at this time.”
“…… Damn, I knew I would encounter this kind of thing sooner or later in this line of work,” Heidi finally stopped packing the medical kit, she covered her forehead, “I should have listened to my father’s advice and inherited his career as an antique appraiser, or even listen to my mother’s advice to go to the public school in the Crossroads neighborhood to become a history teacher will be fine …… That is much safer than dealing with cultists.”
“Think on it, at least your current job is enough to maintain a decent living for you uptown,” Vanna shook her head, appearing much more approachable in the presence of Heidi, who was of similar age and had known her for years, than she did in front of her minions, “or talk about what you’ve found out, which might help the church and City Hall grasp the state of affairs.”
“…… It’s really quite simple, an obvious violation,” Heidi sighed, speaking of the clues she had dug out of the subconscious minds of the cultists, “On the night of the sacrifice ceremony, one of the sacrifices in front of the totem of the sun went out of control and reverse-sacrificed the cleric who performed the ceremony, and according to the clues we found at the scene, the ‘sacrifice’ that caused it to go out of control was in fact an already-sacrificed ‘corpse’ who came back from the dead to walk on the raised platform, right? ”
Vanna nodded, “Of course, I remember it well.”
“Then the question arises …… If this sacrifice had already been made once, then why didn’t any of the cultists on the scene at the time recognize him? Ordinary cultists were just as well, why did even that cleric himself not recognize that the sacrifice in front of him had been sacrificed by his own hands not too long ago?”
Vanna slowly frowned, “…… The cultists at the scene watched as the sacrifice that had been sacrificed once not long ago reappeared in front of their eyes without anyone noticing anything unusual …… Their memories had been tampered with, and their perceptions had been twisted up.”
“Even we didn’t notice this glaring violation at the time, did we?” Heidi smiled bitterly and spread her hands, “In fact even up until an hour ago I didn’t realize that I had overlooked this as a matter of course, and it is only now that I have learned from you that my own spirit has been affected.”
Vanna didn’t say anything for a moment and turned to the cultist who was still in a state of confusion.
The cultist, hypnotized by both a large dose of a nerve-like drug and a powerful incense, just shook his head slightly, staring blankly at the tall lady in front of him.
Vanna suddenly turned around and asked, “Are these cultists hacking each other to death after the ritual got out of hand also due to cognitive dissonance?”
“Yes, I ‘saw’ some flickering images in their memories,” Heidi replied, “These images seemed to imprint them very strongly and convinced them that everyone else at the ceremony site was being possessed and controlled by evil spirits or something similar had taken possession and control of them, and that they did not think they were cutting down their fellow men, but that they were expelling the evil spirits from the bodies of other fellow men ……”
“This is mostly their soul instincts signaling a warning – cultists are also cultists, there is a dark sun behind them ‘blessing’ these people after all, and when great and bizarre dangers appear, these cultists who receive the blessing “Vanna analyzed from experience, “their crazy hallucinations actually more or less signaled the truth, but unfortunately, these untrained commoners simply didn’t know how to distinguish the significance of these warnings, and instead fell into a state of collective frenzy.”
Heidi looked at the serious-faced Vanna, and after hesitating a few times, she finally spoke cautiously, “So …… what the hell is the contraption behind this thing? Is it even more evil than that ancient sun?”
Vanna thought about it and gently shook her head, “It’s better not to pry, Heidi, your connection with this matter isn’t deep yet, but if you learn more about it, I’m afraid that certain unbreakable connections will be established.”
“Well, since even you, the Inquisitor, said so, I’d better protect my own little life,” Heidi said while picking up the already packed medical kit, “I really need to give myself a vacation …… Don’t worry, it’s not a run, there’s an exhibit at the Maritime Museum in a couple days that I’m kinda interested in.”
Vanna nodded, “Visiting the Marine Museum is a great way to relax, and the blessings of the Goddess fill those exhibits.”
Heidi smiled and picked up her medical kit and headed for the door, but just as she was about to push the door out, she suddenly stopped and turned back to give Vanna another uneasy look, “I mean …… has the pollution really subsided?”
“Don’t worry, of course it’s subsided,” Vanna spread her hands helplessly, “We’re just catching up with some ‘residue’, you’ve been in this quiet underground sanctuary for so long, the Goddess’ blessings have long since cleaned the effects you’ve been subjected to cleaned it up.”
“I’m relieved then,” Heidi breathed a sigh of relief and pushed the door open, “I’ll see you next time then, Inquisitor Vanna.”
Vanna watched Ms. Heidi leave the room. And beside her, the Solarist, who had been muddled by the powerful incense and nerve potion, gazed at Vanna with half-open eyes, bewildered.
Potion made by modern civilization, incense inherited from the ancient times, the quiet environment of the sanctuary, the sun’s “blessing” deeply rooted in the soul, all these chaotic forces were entangled, converging, and producing a subtle influence in the cultist’s body.
In the eyes of the cultist, the hazy figure of Vanna was reflected.
He saw this Inquisitor standing in front of him, his stance erect and firm.
He saw a blurry shadow standing behind Vanna, a nearly transparent illusion, with ghostly green flames burning around it.
This tall phantom stood still behind Vanna, expressionless.
……
Duncan sat expressionless in the chart room, watching the mannequin Alice go about her business in front of him.
She brought in large trays with clear, tiled cutlery and a large bowl of steaming soup.
It smelled like it might be fish soup.
Apparently, after becoming more familiar with her surroundings on the Lost Country, the doll lady had come up with a new idea to “do something for the captain in her own way.”
“Dinner?” Duncan looked at the mannequin curiously, watching as the other woman set the cutlery and fish soup in front of her, “What made you think of making this all of a sudden?”
“I finished cleaning up the kitchen’s ingredient stash and then saw the …… fish in the bucket,” Alice beamed with pride, “I can’t help with much of the work on the ship, but I should always be able to cook, and from now on I’ll be cook for you well.”
“It’s a good thing to have this heart,” Duncan didn’t know what to say about this strange mannequin, just facing Alice’s sincere smile, anyone would be too embarrassed to refuse, he was just a little bit curious, “But as a mannequin, do you know how to cook?”
“I can learn ah, it feels quite simple,” Alice had a face that took it for granted, “the most basic things with Mr. Goathead to inquire about it on the line, he previously told me a lot of things about cooking …… “
Duncan glanced expressionlessly at Goathead next to him and then at Alice.
A wooden sculpture, a mannequin of unknown material, the two together can’t come up with a set of digestive system, but also come together to study cooking, one dares to teach, one is really dare to listen ah?
He didn’t know what mood he should be in, but he just picked up the spoon and stirred the bowl of fish soup, thinking that at the very least, this thing smelled and tasted right, however, in the next second, his movements froze.
After a few moments of silence, he reached down and fished a long, silvery-white hair out of the spoon.
“Your hair fell in.” Duncan said with an expressionless face.
“Ah, I didn’t drop my hair in,” Alice immediately waved her hands, “I dropped my head in …… But don’t worry, I fished it out immediately, without even using any help!”
Duncan: “……?”
(end of chapter)