Chapter 136

Chapter 136: An Ordinary Morning in the antique shop

A streak of morning light lit up the city-state of Pland, which had slept through the night. The Sun, locked in place by the double rune rings, slowly rose into the sky like a burning wheel. Under the great power of Vision 001, the things in the veil of night that did not belong to the mortal world finally began to fade.

The Shadows in the streets and alleys, the whispers in empty places, the murmurs hidden in the waves along the shore, the empty gaze lurking deep in narrow lanes, and the dreams that wrapped around people’s hearts.

Shirley opened her eyes.

She saw a ceiling that still felt unfamiliar. She saw sunlight coming in through the nearby window, falling on the low cabinet by the bed and on the desk beside it. The small room was clean and tidy, very simple, yet still much, much better than the place where she lived.

She smelled food. She heard a bit of noise from the direction of the kitchen. She saw Nina sprawled on the bed in a starfish pose. Today was a rest day. This girl could sleep in as much as she liked, because she had an “uncle” she could rely on, and there would be breakfast waiting when she woke up.

Shirley sat up in a daze. It took her a few seconds to fully remember why she was here, and what she had gone through in her dreams.

Then she reached over and pushed Nina: “Nina, time to get up… get up and wash up for breakfast.”

Nina answered in a sleepy mumble: “I’m so tired… let me sleep a little longer…”

Shirley froze for a moment. She suddenly didn’t know what she was supposed to do next.

She had been away from this kind of life for far, far too long. So long that there was a gap of a full eleven years. But she still vaguely remembered that she used to be like this too, and that she had once been allowed to live like this.

She slowly climbed out of bed and changed into her own clothes. As she listened to the sounds from outside, she reminded herself in her heart that this was not some peaceful, safe little home. In truth it was only a nest, dressed up like this for fun by a Subspace Shadow and his Retainer.

Yet this nest actually felt more like a “home” than the place where she and Dog lived.

Shirley drifted off in her thoughts, but Nina’s sudden shout cut through her wandering mind: “Wow! It’s already this late?!”

Shirley looked back and saw Nina sitting up in bed, her hair a total mess and her eyes wide open. Nina lifted her head to glance out the window, then finally noticed Shirley standing nearby. Her head wobbled a bit: “Shirley? Why are you… oh right, you slept over at my place last night…”

Then Nina jumped off the bed and cried out as she moved: “Ah, no time for this, I have to make breakfast…”

Halfway through her fussing she heard the noise from the kitchen and smelled the scent of food. She stopped, then seemed to wake up a second time: “Oh, Uncle is making breakfast today… right, Uncle’s health has been better lately… no, wait! School! I’m going to be late for school!”

Before she even finished, Nina rushed toward her desk to pack her things. But after only two steps she suddenly stopped, raised her head, and looked at the calendar on the nightstand: “Wait, no, today is a rest day…”

Then she turned in a little circle where she stood and dove headfirst back into her pillow: “Then I’ll sleep two more minutes…”

Shirley just stood nearby, completely confused, watching Nina jump out of bed and go through a dizzying series of actions, only to end up right back where she started as if nothing had happened. She never even found a chance to say a word. Only when Nina flopped onto the bed again did Shirley carefully move closer. But before she could speak, Nina suddenly sprang up again and stretched hard: “Ah, now I’m awake.”

Shirley: “…?”

“Shirley, what’s wrong?” Nina turned her head, now full of energy as she looked at Shirley. “Why that face?”

Shirley asked: “Do you… wake up like this every morning?”

Nina looked blank: “Huh? Like what?”

“I mean…” Shirley waved her hands in the air, as if she didn’t know how to explain. “You jump up first, then do this, then that, and then this and this…”

“Oh, I get really muddled when I first wake up,” Nina somehow pulled the right meaning out of Shirley’s strange, abstract gestures. She nodded while talking and went to change her clothes. “But now I’m totally awake! Oh, right, Shirley, did you sleep well last night? I toss and turn a lot when I sleep. I didn’t bother you, did I?”

“I…” Shirley had just opened her mouth when a rush of memories suddenly flooded in. She remembered that closed little room, that early morning, the sound of footsteps leaving and the door being locked, and then the Abyssal Hound breaking down the door. But after that came an unbelievable grand adventure, a bold exploration.

A bit eerie, a bit scary, but… pretty impressive.

“I slept very well,” she said with a little smile. “Actually, I move around a lot in my sleep too. Dog always says I’ll tear my own bed apart one day while I’m sleeping.”

“Uncle used to say the same thing about me,” Nina said as she finished changing. She gave a big yawn, then stepped forward, grabbed Shirley’s hand, and pulled her toward the door. “Come on, let’s eat first, I’m a little hungry.”

Shirley let herself be dragged out the door in a muddle. Then she saw Duncan coming out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on his apron. It was clear he had just finished cooking.

“Mr. Duncan…” Shirley tensed up again without even thinking. Even though she had seen it with her own eyes, the thought that a being like him had just been working in the kitchen made the whole thing feel strange and wrong to her. But she quickly forced that feeling down and lowered her head to greet him honestly: “Good morning.”

Just like the big boss had told her, she treated this place as a normal, ordinary place and tried to act like a normal person visiting someone else’s home.

Even though Shirley herself had no idea what “normal” guests were supposed to do when visiting someone, at least it was never wrong to say good morning.

“What are we having for breakfast?” Nina was already heading toward the kitchen, stretching her neck to peek around Duncan’s back as she walked. “It smells so good!”

“I fried some little sausages, bought them on my way back yesterday,” Duncan said offhand. Then he pressed down on Nina’s head and firmly turned her toward the washroom. “Go wash your hands first!”

Then he looked over at Shirley, hands on his hips: “You too. Don’t just stand there. Go wash your hands, and wash your face while you’re at it.”

Shirley jumped a little, then hurried after Nina to wash her hands and face. She was the first to finish and came back to Duncan, holding out her hands: “…They’re clean.”

As soon as she said it, she felt embarrassed. She suddenly thought she looked really silly. She was almost an adult, yet after washing her hands she actually held them out like this to show the Lord. She felt more like a seven-year-old child than a seventeen-year-old. She didn’t even know why her brain had suddenly shorted out like that.

But Duncan did not mind at all. He only nodded, then turned back toward the kitchen as he asked in a casual tone: “How did you sleep?”

Shirley lowered her head: “Mm, fine… better than before.”

“Did the wounds you took in the dream affect the Mortal Realm?” Duncan asked again.

Shirley was startled. She suddenly remembered that she really had been struck once by that strange attacker in the dream, like being hit with a “whip”. She quickly lifted her left arm and saw a faint scar there.

Because of her powerful self-healing, the scar had almost finished closing by now and she barely felt anything. But there was no doubt that when she was hurt in the dream last night, her body in the Mortal Realm had taken the same injury.

And at that time she had been trapped in the dream, so even though her body in the Mortal Realm was hurt, she had not been able to wake up.

Duncan saw the mark on Shirley’s arm. His gaze paused for a moment, then he gave a small nod.

It went against common sense, but it was not beyond what he had expected.

That strange dream had never been just a simple dream.

“It seems that getting hurt in that dream will also affect the Mortal Realm at the same time,” he said to Shirley very seriously. “In the future, if I’m not with you, don’t explore that dream on your own. Your combat power is strong, but it doesn’t work well against that splitting monster.”

Shirley nodded quickly: “Mm, I understand.”

Duncan thought for a moment, then added: “Also, if you get trapped in that nightmare again, you can call me directly.”

Shirley blinked, as if she hadn’t reacted yet: “Call you?”

“Call my name, the full name I told you in the dream,” Duncan said calmly. “Or call the Vanished. It’s best if you call near glass, mirrors, or other things with a reflective surface. Then I can hear you more clearly.”

Shirley listened, and suddenly something clicked in her mind. At the same time, through the mental link between her and Dog, she felt a wave of nervous emotion coming from Dog’s side.

“You want… to make me your Retainer?” she asked, lifting her eyes, tense and troubled.

“I don’t know what a Retainer really is,” Duncan said. “I’m not asking you to offer me anything. You’re Nina’s friend, and now you’re working with me too. I’m just giving you a bit of extra protection.”

Shirley drew in a breath, but still didn’t dare answer too quickly. Just then, Nina’s cheerful voice sounded from the kitchen doorway: “What are you talking about?”

“You don’t have to answer me now,” Duncan said quietly to Shirley, then looked up at Nina. “Why did washing your hands take so long?”

“I couldn’t clean the gunk at the corner of my eyes,” Nina rubbed her eyes. “I rubbed till they almost hurt…”

“Drink more water in the next few days,” Duncan said helplessly, giving this young lady a quick look. Then, as if in passing, he asked, “By the way, did you have that dream again last night? The one where you stand somewhere high and look down at a fire?”

“No,” Nina thought for a moment and shook her head. “Last night I dreamed my belly was being pressed down by a horse, and then by a cow. It was so heavy… Uncle, why did you suddenly ask?”

“It’s nothing. I just remembered that psychiatrist is coming to visit again today,” Duncan shook his head and put away the thoughts on his face. “Let’s eat.”