Chapter 111

Chapter 111: The big boss’s Lecture.

During the morning rush, the bus was packed. Even near the back there was hardly any space. The short Shirley was squeezed into the crowd, her neck hunched as she held herself still, looking like a pitiful little animal.

If Duncan had not seen with his own eyes how she had swung a dog around and smashed a whole room full of cultists, he might really have believed this young lady was harmless.

He slowly squeezed to Shirley’s side. His tall adult frame won a slightly looser corner for the girl and opened a small space where the two of them could talk. Duncan noticed keenly that Shirley was trembling a little. She was very nervous, nervous enough that it had turned into fear.

“What are you afraid of?” He glanced at Shirley. “I’m not going to swallow you whole.”

Shirley pulled a long face: “S…sir, are you going to cook me first?”

Duncan: “…”

He could more or less guess why the girl was so afraid. Earlier, that “Dog” had seen some of the “truth” hidden beneath this human body of his. After escaping, the hound had surely added all kinds of details when describing its feelings to its mistress. That must have left a deep impression on her.

He did not know exactly what image he now had in Shirley’s mind, but it was probably about the same way the captains on the Boundless Sea saw the Vanished. Once you met one, the best thing to do was start writing your will at once—and write fast, because you were likely to die before you even finished…

Duncan felt helpless about this. He did try to act as friendly as he could, but he could not change the fact that a demon from the Abyssal Deep of the Deep Sea had a very different kind of “sight” than humans. That “Black Sun” had even begged him for help in a vision, sounding quite sincere. Yet when he thought about the appearance hidden beneath that corona shell, did he not still feel wary himself?

He could only hope that, in the eyes of that Abyssal Hound, he looked a little better than the eerie Eldritch God inside the Sun that he himself had seen—at least enough to have proper facial features…

Thinking of that Abyssal Hound, Duncan frowned slightly and looked at the girl in front of him: “Is Dog with you right now?”

“A…Dog usually hides in places other people can’t see…” Shirley swallowed hard and answered, not daring to refuse. Then she lowered her voice. “But it can ‘know’ what’s happening around me…”

“Oh, then give it my regards,” Duncan said with a nod. “We parted in a rush last time. I still have many questions I didn’t get to ask.”

As soon as he said that, he felt Shirley shiver again…

“Relax,” Duncan said with a helpless sigh. He could already faintly sense some strange looks turning their way. “Why are you so tense just talking to me? I have no ill will toward you or Dog.”

“Th…that’s really good…” Shirley nodded stiffly. Then, as if she wanted to prove she was relaxed, she struggled to find a topic for a long moment before her eyes landed on Duncan’s shoulder. “Y…you didn’t bring your pigeon this time?”

“Pets aren’t allowed on the bus,” Duncan said casually. “I let it out to go hunting.”

“You let a pigeon… go hunting?” Shirley stared at Duncan with wide eyes, feeling as if her words were falling apart. But she quickly nodded. “Right, you’re right. Pigeons are good for hunting. Sharp eyes, fast flight…”

Her thoughts were a bit of a mess, and she was close to losing track of what she was saying. Just then the bus suddenly jolted, and the conductor’s voice came from the middle of the carriage, cutting off her broken train of thought: “Sixth District! Anyone getting off?”

When she heard the shout, Shirley clearly let out a breath of relief. As if she had been rescued, she began hopping as she called out that she was getting off. At the same time she squeezed forward and, with oddly fluent speech, said goodbye to Duncan: “I’m getting off. It was very nice to see you today. Next time we’ll…”

Before she could finish, she saw Duncan squeezing forward as well. The bright look on her face turned dull in an instant.

“I’m getting off at this stop too,” Duncan said with a blank face.

Shirley’s face went stiff. She knew it would be strange to say she was not getting off now. Besides, this big boss might be following her on purpose. If she kept trying tricks at this point, she might anger him, and then he really would cook her and eat her…

The girl’s imagination ran wild, and she ended up scaring herself quite badly. Just then she heard the conductor urging her from the side, so she shrank her neck again and started walking toward the door with stiff steps.

When she had just reached the door, the conductor’s voice suddenly came: “Wait a second, child. Did you not buy a ticket?”

Shirley froze and stared in surprise at the conductor in the dark blue uniform, as if it had never occurred to her that someone would call her out, or that her fare-dodging would be noticed. In that brief daze, the conductor had already confirmed it. “You didn’t buy a ticket. I remember now. First you…”

“I know this child. She probably just lost her ticket,” Duncan’s voice suddenly came from the side. “I’ll buy another one for her.”

The conductor turned his head and gave Duncan a doubtful look, then glanced at Shirley’s tense face. After thinking for a moment, he said nothing more and only nodded. “All right then.”

Duncan took out a few coins to buy a ticket for Shirley, then followed her out of the carriage. They got off beside an old, empty platform.

The bus was packed with passengers, but only the two of them got off in the Sixth District.

Duncan first looked around at the surroundings. All he saw was the most ordinary kind of Lower City neighborhood. The buildings around them were old, and there were not many people walking near the station, but it was far from the total ruin he had imagined. The worn shopfronts along the street were open for business as usual. The scattered pedestrians were fewer than in livelier districts, but there were still always a few people walking along the road. In the distance, factory chimneys spewed smoke, and he could see a newsboy on a bicycle passing through a junction at the end of the street.

Overall, this was just a quieter, less developed district, but the residents seemed to be living their lives as normal.

The factory leak here eleven years ago had clearly left some traces, but the impact was not as serious as he had imagined…

After roughly taking in the situation around them, Duncan withdrew his gaze and turned it back to Shirley.

After getting off, the girl had stood obediently in place, like a small animal caught in a trap, not moving at all. Even though Duncan’s attention had not been on her at first, she had made no attempt to run.

She looked completely ready to let fate decide what happened.

Seeing how meek and harmless she looked, Duncan could not help but feel amused. If he had not seen this hot-tempered girl’s fierce fighting with his own eyes, he might really have been fooled by her act.

He shook his head and walked up to Shirley. “What are you doing in the Sixth District?”

Shirley straightened up at once. “I…I heard the scenery here is nice!”

Duncan looked her up and down. “I’ve wanted to ask since just now. Are you… pretending to be obedient?”

“I…I’m not pretending!” Shirley stood even straighter than before. “I’m always very obedient!”

Duncan shook his head. He had seen plenty of children suddenly pretend to be sweet and cute like this, and this young lady’s act was not even very good. But he did not say more. He only lifted his head to glance at the distant street and spoke in a casual tone: “The Sixth District… Eleven years ago, there was a factory leak here, and they say cultists were behind the accident.”

Shirley blinked, looking confused. “Why are you bringing that up all of a sudden?”

“Enough, don’t play dumb. You were asking about what happened eleven years ago at the Suntists’ hideout,” Duncan said, giving Shirley a look as he started walking forward. “This place is the focus of all the official records. The factory where the ‘leak’ happened is just up ahead.”

Shirley froze for a moment, then hurried to follow, her short legs moving quickly as she looked at Duncan in surprise. “Are you… also investigating the accident from eleven years ago?!”

After she confirmed that the big boss really did not eat people—at least not for now—and that they had the same goal, her courage grew a little. She even dared to ask questions on her own now.

“Yes, I’m a bit interested,” Duncan said, neither fully admitting nor denying it. But after only a few steps he suddenly stopped again and looked at Shirley curiously. “Do you often ride without paying?”

Shirley opened her mouth. “I…”

One look at the girl’s face told Duncan the answer. He shook his head. “Fare-dodging is bad.”

Shirley almost burst into tears when she heard that. Dog had lectured her. The uncles and aunties in the neighborhood had lectured her. Even the city-state’s constable had lectured her. But she had truly never thought that one day she would be suddenly lectured by a big boss on the level of an Eldritch God—and that this kind of big boss would lecture her about not riding the bus without paying… Had the moral standards of the big bosses in Subspace really grown this high these days?!

Ever since Dog had described the terrifying being inside this “Mr. Duncan” to her last time, she had faintly started to link this big shot with the Shadows in Subspace.