Chapter 106

Chapter 106: Duncan’s Gift

The phantom seawater faded as fast as a dream at dawn. Vanna’s mind returned to her body. After one deep breath, she snapped her eyes open and saw that she still stood in the rocky chamber that felt like an underwater cave. A blaze burned fiercely before her.

She looked to the side and saw Bishop Valentine also opening his eyes.

The memories of the psychic conclave were still clear in her mind. Vanna looked down at her palm without thinking. Of course, her hand was empty. The parchment sheet that had only existed in the hall of the gathering had not come back with her to the Mortal Realm.

“We only just sent out a notice, telling the Deep-Sea Captains about the Doll spirit coffin’s runaway state,” Bishop Valentine sighed. “Now it seems we have to issue a new notice again.”

Vanna flexed her wrist and looked at the bishop, deep in thought: “The problem is… how do we write that notice? Other than the fact that Anomaly 099’s name changed, we don’t know anything.”

The old bishop did not speak for a moment. Clearly, he also felt this was a tricky problem.

Vanna had brought back news from Vision 004. Yet that message was only the new name of Anomaly 099. She had probably heard more detailed information from the Master of that tomb, maybe even heard about the new traits Anomaly 099 gained after it was renamed “Doll”. But that part of the content had clearly been left forever in the main burial chamber along with the shredded parchment sheet.

“At this stage, we can only first announce that Anomaly 099 has been renamed from ‘Doll spirit coffin’ to ‘Doll’, and at the same time correct every description of Anomaly 099’s traits to ‘possible mutation’,” Valentine finally said after a long silence. “It is an Anomaly within the first hundred numbers. A change in its name will definitely come with a chain of effects. Its power, trigger conditions, sealing conditions, and even its outward signs are all very likely to have changed as well. If we keep dealing with it according to the old data, something big will probably happen…”

Vanna nodded in silence.

Anomaly 099’s number had not changed. Its absolute danger and strangeness probably had not changed much either. But for humans, it had already turned from a known Anomaly into an unknown Anomaly. The experience piled up with countless lives had turned to nothing, and “the unknown” had become its greatest danger now.

After the last notice went out, the captains on the Boundless Sea might still have tried, when they met Anomaly 099, to re-contain and seal the Doll spirit coffin using the experience in the old files. But starting today… when anyone ran into “Doll”, their only choice would be to get away at once and hope the Guardians of the four Orthodox Churches could seal it again.

The chamber fell silent for a while. Vanna and Valentine both thought about their own concerns. The mood lasted for who knew how long before Vanna suddenly broke the silence: “…All the numbers for the Anomalies and Visions in the world come from Vision 004, right?”

“Of course,” Valentine nodded. “Why did you suddenly ask that?”

“I’m thinking… who exactly are the nameless corpses in that tomb, and that Gravekeeper who is always so silent,” Vanna said thoughtfully. “They obviously are not humans, and they’re not beings of the Mortal Realm either. They’re not a God, and they’re not the Shadows of the Elder Gods in Subspace… Why would a Vision that can interact with the outside world choose this way to ‘help’ people? And how does the Master of the tomb decide the list of Anomalies and Visions?”

Valentine looked into Vanna’s eyes and waited until she finished asking all her questions. Then he sighed: “This was your first time entering the tomb as a Listener. Most people come out of there with just as many questions as you. But sadly, after so many years, even though we know more and more about Anomalies and Visions, we still cannot touch the true nature of Vision 004. That tomb… never explains anything about itself.”

“I remember you also entered that tomb once,” Vanna turned her head and looked at the old bishop with curiosity. “What information did you bring out back then? Was it also about Anomalies or Visions?”

“Not exactly,” Valentine shook his head. “Most of the time, the tomb does announce things related to Anomalies or Visions. But the Master of the tomb also sometimes passes out other things. Sometimes they’re even very… strange or useless pieces of information. When the Gravekeeper summons you, no one can be sure what the Master of the tomb wants to send out. The only thing we can be sure of is that any message from the tomb is true…”

Vanna still looked at the old bishop, curious: “Then what message did you bring out that time?”

The old bishop looked a bit torn. “It wasn’t very useful. Just… one sentence.”

His intent to dodge was obvious, but Vanna was stubborn and did not notice at all. “So what was it exactly?”

Valentine gave the hard-headed Inquisitor a helpless look and spread his hands: “On July twenty-fourth, the weather in Pland will be clear, with a southeast wind of force four to six.”

Vanna: “…?”

“Don’t look at me like that. Sometimes that’s the kind of information it gives,” Valentine said, rubbing his forehead. “Anomalies and Visions are unfathomable, and this ‘unfathomable’ nature shows up in all kinds of ways. I just happened to get a very special case… If you want to laugh, could you at least turn around? I’m already this old…”

“Sorry,” Vanna tried hard to keep a straight face, then turned away as she spoke. “But to be honest, I’m a little jealous. Hearing a weather report is better than going through something this bizarre and eerie today. Nothing happening is the best outcome, isn’t it?”

“…Fine, I’ll believe you,” he muttered.

…

At the edge of the Upper City, in an older stand-alone house, Heidi stared without expression at her slightly uneasy father: “So… the other day you went to visit a student’s home. You spent several hours chatting idly with the student’s parents, and only took twenty minutes to talk about the student’s situation. Then, when you left, you spent more than three thousand Sola to buy an old dagger and a fake crystal pendant made of glass?!”

Morris sat behind the table. A purple crystal pendant lay on the table, its tag already removed. The shelves behind him were full of all kinds of collectibles. He wiped sweat that wasn’t actually on his forehead, looking a bit embarrassed. “The pendant didn’t cost money. It was a free gift…”

“That makes it even worse that you treated it as my birthday present, doesn’t it?!” Heidi groaned and covered her forehead. “You could at least have pretended you picked it with care…”

Morris thought about it seriously, then spread his hands in helplessness. “There really wasn’t a second real item in that shop. There was nothing else I could choose.”

Heidi: “…”

After they glared at each other in anger for a few more seconds, she finally couldn’t hold it in and gave up first. “Forget it, forget it. It’s not the first time anyway… Why are you always the one getting taken advantage of?”

“I didn’t lose this time! The one who lost out was that Mr. Duncan,” Morris said at once. “I bought that dagger for twenty percent less than market price.”

Heidi had been shaking her head and sighing, but froze when she heard her father mention that name. “The shopkeeper of that antique shop is named Duncan?”

“Ah, yes, his name is Duncan Strenn,” Morris said casually. “There has always been a rumor that he’s a drunkard and a gambling addict, but after actually meeting him I found out that rumor really does people harm. He’s clearly a witty, humorous man with very broad knowledge… Hm? Why do you have that look? Is there something wrong with that name?”

Heidi opened her mouth and hesitated before she answered: “Sigh, I’m working on a very tricky ‘case’ right now, and it happens to be linked to that name. Hearing it just makes my nerves twitch a little.”

“It’s a very common name. There are plenty of people with it,” Morris nodded, then got a bit curious. “What kind of case is it?”

“It’s not your field, so don’t ask. It definitely can’t be the same person anyway,” Heidi waved a hand. “How could a terrifying ghost-ship captain and a shopkeeper who runs an antique shop in the Lower City be the same man?”

“Of course not,” Morris let out a breath of relief when he heard that. He knew his daughter often worked as a consultant for City Hall and even the Church on dangerous cases, sometimes even involving the supernatural, so he was naturally a bit nervous about that. Now he relaxed and let his gaze fall back on the crystal pendant on the table. “So, do you still want this pendant or not?”

“Yes! Of course I want it!” Heidi grabbed the pendant off the table. “It’s rare enough that you remember to bring me a gift at all, even if it’s a freebie.”

Morris thought for a moment and then offered a very serious suggestion: “Actually, you could pretend that I spent more than three thousand Sola on the pendant, and the dagger was the free gift.”

Heidi hung the pendant around her neck and gave Morris a look. “If you really spent over three thousand Sola to fall for that scam, I would tie you up and drag you into my treatment room myself!”