Chapter 110

Chapter 110: What a Coincidence.

In the city-state of Pland, inside an antique shop in the Lower City, Duncan sat behind the counter with a copy of the city-state’s daily paper in his hands, looking as if he was casually reading it.

Suddenly, he blinked twice. His once-distant gaze came back into focus. He glanced at the newspaper in his hands and calmly turned it right side up.

The front-page headline carried the latest big news in the city-state: His Excellency Bishop Valentine of the Deep Sea Cathedral would soon preside over a large-scale benediction. When that happened, more than ten cathedrals across the entire city would ring their Great Bells and pull their steam whistles, calling on the power of the Storm Goddess to bring a divine blessing down upon the city.

As a prelude to this benediction, Governor Dante Wayne had offered his congratulations to the Deep Sea Cathedral last night and sent a gift…

The front page also printed a portrait of the city-state’s Governor. He was a middle-aged man with a stern expression, gray hair, and a tall, thin build. The most striking thing was the scary scar across his face, and a prosthetic eye that had replaced one of his real eyes.

It was clearly the mark of some near-fatal accident.

Duncan let his gaze drift over the paper, but in his mind he saw the face of the young Inquisitor named Vanna. That Inquisitor had a scar near her eye as well. It did not affect her sight, but it was very noticeable.

He recalled the information he had gathered recently:

The Governor of this city-state, Dante Wayne, was Vanna Wayne’s uncle. The scars on their faces were said to come from the same incident. Eleven years ago, there had been a factory leak and a cultist riot in the “Sixth District” near the Crossroad District. Dante Wayne and Vanna Wayne had been wounded by rioters there, leaving them both with permanent scars. That accident also pushed them to become staunch supporters of the Deep Sea Church and to take an active role in fighting cult activity in the city-state…

None of this was secret in the city-state. It could be found in official records and in street gossip. Ask around a little in the Lower City, and this was exactly what people would tell you.

Eleven years ago again. The “factory leak” in the Sixth District again…

Duncan turned the page in silence while he pieced together and sorted all the clues he had been collecting lately in his mind.

The Sun fragment. The great fire in Nina’s memories. Nina’s recent nightmares. The accident that had struck Inquisitor Vanna and Governor Dante back then. And that mysterious maiden Shirley, who seemed to be investigating the truth herself… All of these things circled around the “factory leak” in the Sixth District eleven years ago. Now the Suntists were stirring again in the city. Behind them, their “Sun god” was something burning, something like an Eldritch God.

That thing was still crying for help.

Duncan did not plan to deal with that Sun god yet, but he worried that this nameless fire smoldering in the dark might spread to Nina.

He had sent the pigeon out early in the morning to search the city-state for traces of cultists, and it was still wandering outside. Nina was upstairs packing her books and would soon leave for school. The street outside the shop was growing livelier. The sounds of carts and passersby drifted in through the door, bringing a sense of life and energy.

Light footsteps suddenly came from the stairs. The old wooden boards creaked softly. Nina ran into Duncan’s field of view, holding her schoolbag in one hand and a piece of bread for lunch in the other: “Uncle! I’m going to school!”

“Slow down. Don’t trip. It’s still early,” Duncan said with a helpless look at the young lady. Then he remembered something. “Right, today is the day you go to the City Museum?”

“Yes! I made plans with a classmate!” Nina turned back, her face bright with a wide smile. “I won’t come home for lunch. I’ll go straight to the City Museum with my classmate. You can fix something for yourself.”

“Got it, got it,” Duncan said with a smile, waving his hand. Then he reminded her again: “Slow down, and watch out for the traffic on the road…”

“Okay, okay, goodbye, Uncle!”

With the girl’s clear shout, her light footsteps, and the jingle of the bell over the door, Nina’s figure vanished from Duncan’s sight.

She crossed the road in front of the antique shop and ran quickly into Pland’s morning light.

Duncan watched Nina leave and remembered that earlier home visit, and what the old gentleman Morris had told him:

Nina had few friends at school. Most of her classmates did not like to talk to her much.

But even if she had few friends, it seemed there were still one or two classmates who were close to her. Someone was willing to invite her to the City Museum, and she herself looked very happy about it. That was, of course, a good sign.

He had already asked about it yesterday. The classmate going to the City Museum with Nina was a quiet girl who also lived in the Lower City. The two had only become friends recently, but they got along well.

Duncan set down the newspaper in his hands.

Nina had gone to school and would not come back in the afternoon. Today was a workday, and the antique shop probably would not have much business.

Staying here to watch the shop felt like a waste of time. Maybe he could go out into the city, and at the same time… investigate a few things.

Duncan sensed AI’s current location in his mind and gave the pigeon the order to “keep patrolling”. Then he put on his coat, hung the “closed for a while” sign on the door, locked up the shop, and walked to the nearby station.

There were many people at the station. This was the rush hour when people took the bus to work and school. Duncan blended into the crowd and walked to the signboard beside the stop, studying the route map on it.

His gaze fell on one of the routes. It clearly marked a place: the Sixth District.

That was where the “factory leak” in the official records had happened.

Duncan looked away and waited patiently in the crowd. Buses came and went. Several steam engine buses took away half the people on the platform. After a long time, he finally saw an old bus sway toward them from the end of the road. The number plate on its front showed it was the one he was waiting for.

Duncan squeezed onto the bus with a large crowd.

The old bus was packed. citizens hurrying to work filled every seat and every bit of standing room in the aisle. Duncan silently squeezed his way to a spot near the back door and waited patiently for the bus to start.

With the hoarse, straining growl of the steam engine, the badly overloaded bus started moving. The conductor began to struggle through the crowd of people packed like sardines, calling for people to buy tickets as he squeezed his way toward Duncan. His dark blue uniform was so crushed it was going out of shape.

“Sixth District,” Duncan said to the conductor with a friendly smile.

But the conductor, dizzy from being squeezed on all sides, froze for a moment when he heard Duncan. It was as if he had not processed it. “Huh? Where are you going?” he asked.

Duncan frowned: “The Sixth District—I saw it on the route map. Doesn’t this bus go there?”

The conductor froze again. Then he looked up at the route map posted on the side of the carriage. It was only then that he seemed to wake up and hurriedly nodded. “Oh, oh, of course it goes there. Hardly anyone goes to that place usually. I almost forgot… Four pesos.”

Hardly anyone went to the Sixth District? The accident had been eleven years ago. Had the area around that factory still not been rebuilt?

A hint of doubt rose in Duncan’s heart, but he bought the ticket without showing anything. Then he watched the conductor push back into the crush of bodies like a warrior charging through thousands of men.

After that, all he could do was quietly wait for the bus to reach his stop.

But just then, he suddenly felt a gaze from nearby.

That look was very brief, as if someone had only brushed their eyes over him by accident before turning away at once. But Duncan’s sense for anomalies was sharp. He could feel that the gaze had truly been fixed on him. When it shifted away, he even faintly sensed… fear and a wish to hide. That made him follow the feeling in his heart and look in that direction.

In the next second, he saw a small figure in the crowd of passengers at the back of the bus, trying hard to shrink away.

He saw the figure, and the figure saw him. The person froze at once and stood rigid on the spot, as if she no longer even dared to try to hide.

It was a girl in a black dress, about the same age as Nina by the look of her. Around her neck was a strange collar, and a small bell hung from it…

It was Shirley.

Duncan raised his eyebrows at once. He had not expected things to turn out such a coincidence. Then he began to squeeze his way toward the girl. By now she was completely stiff, staring at Duncan as he came over, her face full of nerves and even fear. She did not just stop trying to dodge. She did not even dare to turn her head.

Duncan slowly came to a stop in front of her and greeted the girl with a smile: “We meet again—are you on your way to school at this hour?”

Shirley forced herself to squeeze out a smile. She had once bragged in front of Dog that she was going to cling to this big boss’s thigh, but now that she had realized how terrifying Duncan really was, her smile looked worse than crying: “S…sir… hello…”