Chapter 175

Chapter 175: Storm Clouds Over the City.

At some point the sky had turned gloomy. Thick, heavy clouds like solid masses piled over the city?state. The slightly salty sea wind swept through the streets again and again, as if trying to drive the cold straight into people’s bones.

Old Captain Lawrence stepped out of the cathedral’s front gate and hunched his neck against the cold wind blowing in his face. He looked up at the sky and started to grumble about the terrible weather: “Damn, what rotten luck. I finally finished the observation period, and now I have to walk half an hour home in this wind…”

On the streets around the cathedral square, people walked quickly, as if a downpour could start at any moment. They were thinking about laundry not yet taken in at home or windows left open. The first thing the old captain thought of, however, was his bad?tempered wife. He had been in “quarantine observation” in the cathedral for many days and had not even sent a message. Wouldn’t he get a storm of loving blows, maybe even a bruised nose and swollen face, when he finally went home?

Lawrence rubbed his arms and hands, sighed, and was ready to step into the cold wind. But after only two steps, he saw from the corner of his eye a cathedral guard hurrying toward him. A little further away stood the young therapist in charge of counseling… Heidi, or Hailey, or something like that.

“You’ve got to be kidding…” Lawrence muttered without thinking. The cathedral guard reached him, gave a polite bow, then solemnly held out an arm to block his way. “Sorry, Captain Lawrence. We just received an urgent notice. For now… you still cannot leave.”

“Wasn’t the observation period already over?” Lawrence had already guessed as soon as he saw them, but he still could not help letting his face fall. “You’d better have a good reason.”

“The details are not convenient to tell you, but…” The young church guard also looked a bit troubled, yet he still spoke in an official tone. “It is a direct order from the Inquisitor. The situation has changed. All ordinary people who have had contact with the Vanished must continue to stay in the cathedral.”

Lawrence’s mouth twitched. The moment he heard the words “the Vanished”, he knew he had to obey the order, but his bad mood was something he could not control. The old captain frowned. “Fine, an extension, I get it—but who is going to explain it to my wife? I’ve been gone for…”

“Sorry to interrupt,” before he could finish, Heidi’s voice came from the side. “Do you have some worries?”

Lawrence turned to look at Heidi. During his days of quarantine observation in the cathedral, he had dealt with this young therapist a few times. He knew that although she looked young, she really was a reliable expert, and she had indeed helped him and his crew calm a lot of their tension and anger. So his expression eased a little. “I’ve been away from home too long. My wife is not exactly gentle. I was supposed to be on vacation after my last shipping run. I can’t spend the first half of my time off in quarantine at the cathedral and the second half lying in bed nursing my wounds…”

“…True, no one wants to run into something like this,” Heidi sighed, clearly understanding. She took a glass tube of potion from the medical case she carried and handed it to the old captain. “But things are complicated right now. It’s best to follow the orders from the Grand Cathedral first. Don’t worry, someone will go and contact your family.”

“What is this?” Lawrence took the vial, looked doubtfully at the liquid inside, then looked at Heidi with the same doubt. The therapist’s medical case always seemed to have strange things in it, which made people nervous.

“It calms you down, eases your nerves, and also strengthens your mental defenses a bit,” Heidi said casually. “It’s to get you ready for the next stage of quarantine observation.”

“…Damn it, so there really is no room to bend the rules…” Lawrence felt a stab of pain in his teeth as soon as he heard “next stage of quarantine”. He pulled out the stopper and downed the salty, bitter potion in one gulp, then handed the glass tube back to the therapist.

The potion took effect quickly. The old captain shivered once in the cold wind. His eyes flickered a few times, then calmed down, and he let out a long, complicated sigh.

“Do you need me to walk you back?” Heidi asked in a gentle voice as she watched his expression.

“…No, I know the way,” Lawrence said. His mood was a bit low, but he quickly shook his head with a trace of acceptance. “Sigh, going back to stay there isn’t so bad. At least there’s someone to talk to. Some of those novice monks are actually pretty interesting to chat with…”

He turned in the cold wind and walked alone toward the cathedral’s great doors. Two guardians were already waiting there to escort the old captain back to the quarantine area.

But just as he was about to pass through the doors, Heidi’s voice rang out again. “Mr. Lawrence, as a psychiatrist, I still have to give you some serious advice— it’s about time you retired. The Boundless Sea is not good for your mental health.”

Lawrence did not answer. He only lifted a hand in a distant wave to show he had heard, then slowly disappeared through the tall, solemn doors.

Only Heidi, with her medical case, and a guardian warrior in a long black coat remained in the square.

There had been a faint respect in the guardian’s eyes when he looked at the old captain.

Then the guardian turned his head and looked at the psychiatrist beside him. “Miss Heidi, do you know what’s really going on?”

Heidi rolled her eyes. “You’re the one from the Church. If even you don’t know, how would I, an ‘external consultant’ sent by City Hall, know anything?”

“But you and Her Excellency the Inquisitor…”

“She hasn’t told me anything. In fact, I haven’t even seen her since yesterday,” Heidi shook her head, then looked curiously at the guardian warrior in front of her. “But I heard she suddenly issued a whole batch of investigation orders? This morning there was even a group of clerical priests who went to City Hall to borrow records…”

“Yeah, a whole pile of investigation tasks,” the guardian sighed. “Pulling records, visiting neighborhoods, digging through old cases, and even setting up checkpoints at the Harbor to watch twelve different people who sell fries…”

Heidi: “…?”

“So now even we are guessing what actually happened,” the guardian sighed, raising his head to look at the dark clouds in the sky. “Tch, what awful weather.”

…

Morris sat upright at his desk. His fingers brushed lightly along the rough edge of a heavy tome. His thoughts slowly grew quiet, until he could even hear his own heartbeat.

He lowered his head and slowly opened the Rahm Sacred Tome in front of him. He turned, with practiced ease, to the chapters on mental protection and Discernment of Wisdom, and silently recited the teachings in his heart.

Only after finishing the basic self?suggestion and strengthening of his mind did he stand up. He lit the candles and incense on the nearby table in order, then dripped refined essential oil into three of the flames.

As the flames suddenly flared, he gazed at the mirror in front of the ritual table and looked at his own reflection. A slightly self?mocking smile appeared on his face.

“I really am getting old… Luckily I can still perform the details of these rituals correctly.”

The crackling of the candles slowly grew weaker. The smoke from the incense rose and slowly gathered above the mirror into a cloud that did not disperse. The cloud blocked the old man’s sight so he could no longer clearly see his own reflection. At that point, the protection of his mind and the blessing from Rahm, the God of Wisdom, were complete.

“I have turned away from you for eleven years… yet you are still willing to watch over me,” Morris sighed softly when he saw the ritual finish so smoothly. “Do you still have hopes for me…”

The room stayed quiet. Of course the God of Wisdom would not appear just like that. But Morris still tilted his head as if listening. In that silence he seemed to hear the deity’s instructions. His expression slowly calmed, and he opened a nearby drawer.

A beaded bracelet made from colorful stones lay quietly inside. There were twelve stones in total.

Morris hesitated for a moment, then picked up the bracelet and put it on his wrist.

In that instant he felt a rush of clarity in his head, as if a Veil that had covered him for many years had suddenly lifted. He glanced once more at the layer of smoke still hanging in front of the mirror, then finally made up his mind and pushed the door open to leave the room.

Heidi was not at home, and the big, empty house felt especially quiet.

The bedroom he shared with his wife was not far away on the left. The door was half open, the inside dim and silent.

Morris touched the rune bead bracelet on his wrist. He did not dare look toward the half?open door. Instead, he almost fled, walking quickly down the corridor, through the living room, and out the front door. He started the car parked in the yard and drove toward the Lower City.

At the same time, a white dove skimmed quickly over the low, old buildings of the Lower City.

Where no one was watching, the white dove flew through a second?floor window of Duncan’s antique shop. A moment later, a flicker of ghostly green light flashed behind the glass.

Duncan stepped out of the flames. He glanced at the bad weather outside, then at the clock hanging on the wall not far away— there was still a little time before Nina came home from school.

He went down to the first floor, opened the shop door, and carried out a chair. He sat in the doorway, his face calm, and quietly watched the street in front of him, lost in thought.