Chapter 235

Chapter 235: Across Time and Space

Across the illusory mirror surface and the flames, Duncan could still clearly observe Tyrian and Lucretia’s reactions from beginning to end: tension, vigilance, and a faint trace of fear.

From the angle of a “family reunion”, the atmosphere really did not qualify as good.

But he did not mind. He had expected this long ago. Being able to meet Tyrian in advance while the situation was still under his own control already fulfilled his goal for today. Meeting now to lay some groundwork might keep them from falling into a panicked mess the next time they suddenly ran into each other. All the more so when today even came with a “buy one, get one free”.

He had not expected Lucretia to be there as well.

And just now, while he hid in the mirror, he had also listened to the exchange between Lucretia and Tyrian. He learned that his last attempt to contact Lucretia through Nilu had not been without effect. Even though he had not received a reply on his side, there had been a reaction on Lucretia’s. That bit of information counted as an unexpected gain.

Steadying himself, Duncan kept his usual calm expression as his gaze slowly swept over Tyrian and the scrying crystal on the table beside him: “I thought a father did not need any special reason to look for his own children.”

Tyrian’s eyes widened slightly for a moment, but he quickly forced that flicker of emotion down. He lowered his voice and still watched the man in the mirror warily: “You should know this is the Great Cathedral. Even you should at least show some regard for the deity behind this holy place.”

“Yes, this is the Great Cathedral. Of course I know.” Duncan’s tone stayed calm. “I watched it burn to ashes with my own eyes, then reshaped this place from shattered history. If the deity behind this Cathedral is watching, then that one actually owes me thanks.”

Tyrian instantly had no idea how to respond to that.

But this feeling of suddenly not knowing what to say in a conversation with Father was not unfamiliar to him.

Even a hundred years ago, when the Abnomar surname had not yet been entangled by the curse, he often fell silent in front of Father. Father had always been too imposing and obsessed with those mysterious and terrifying matters, while back then Tyrian had not been someone good with words.

And back then, whenever father and son fell into an awkward silence, it was always the livelier Lucretia who broke the deadlock.

“Your… your sanity has broken free from Subspace’s influence?” The voice of the sea witch came from the scrying crystal. Just like a hundred years ago, she broke the awkwardness between Father and her elder brother. “Did you come back this time to continue… your expedition plan?”

Duncan looked toward Lucretia. Under his calm exterior, his mind was racing.

This was a crucial meeting. In this meeting he had to lay a foundation for the future, to prepare cover and explanations in advance for the many doubts that might be exposed later. If possible, he wanted to make everything that would change about the Vanished and himself from now on seem natural to these siblings.

Fortunately, he already had a draft prepared before he came.

“Subspace left an extremely deep mark on me. Perhaps for the rest of my life I will never be able to completely shake it off,” he began slowly, controlling his tone and expression. “There are many things I no longer remember clearly, including even my understanding of the Mortal Realm and… the way I perceive it. I am trying to get to know this world again, and after learning that you still exist, I believe you may be a key step in rebuilding that understanding.”

He paused here before going on: “But as you said, Lucy – at least, my sanity has returned.”

This was the most effective explanation he could think of to deal with hidden dangers and prepare for the future.

To keep the Vanished stable, he had to play the role of Captain Duncan well. Even after reaching a tacit understanding with Goathead, he could not abandon this identity. So he had to continue this performance in front of Lucretia and Tyrian. But no matter how skilled the performance, there would still be flaws, especially when he knew almost nothing about these two siblings. The most effective way, of course, was to prepare a scapegoat in advance.

And then put all the blame on Subspace.

After all, every weird thing in this world had something to do with Subspace. That place was practically the ultimate scapegoat, and it would not mind taking one more.

On top of that, he had deliberately stressed that what had gone wrong was not just his memory, but also his understanding and way of perceiving the Mortal Realm. That was enough to explain almost everything odd about him.

The rest could be left to Tyrian and Lucretia’s own imagination.

In the scrying crystal, Lucretia clearly froze for a moment after hearing Duncan’s words. She seemed to be carefully studying Father’s expression, trying to confirm whether what he said was true. Beside her, after a brief silence, Tyrian suddenly asked: “So your actions in Pland before were only to save this city-state?”

A smile appeared on Duncan’s face: “Purely out of goodwill.”

“…But the bishop and inquisitor in the city do not seem so ready to believe that,” Tyrian said in a low voice. “Especially that inquisitor… she is extremely wary of you.”

“Oh, that much I could feel,” Duncan nodded. “She tried to jump down and cut me twice in a row, and failed both times.”

Tyrian once again had no idea how to follow that.

Duncan paid no attention to Tyrian’s silence. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the daughter in the scrying crystal and asked, as if casually: “Is Lunie with you?”

“She is.” Lucretia nodded, then beckoned to the side. Soon, a clockwork doll dressed in a maid outfit appeared in the scrying crystal.

Duncan looked in some surprise at the clockwork automaton in front of him, which no matter how he looked at it did not match Nilu at all: “…Why does she look like this?!”

“I made a few small… modifications to Lunie,” Lucretia said, her expression a bit odd as she tried to guess why Father had suddenly changed the subject. “Why did you suddenly ask about her?”

“…I found Nilu,” Duncan said calmly. “In a doll shop. You did not take her with you back then, and she was never sold.”

Lucretia could not help letting out a soft exclamation: “Ah…”

Some distant memories seemed to rise up in the sea witch’s mind. Her expression suddenly grew complicated.

The slight change in her face did not escape Duncan’s eyes.

This was about enough. The groundwork had been laid, and saying more might even weaken the effect.

Duncan’s voice came out of the mirror: “I am leaving.”

Lucretia and Tyrian did not react for a moment. Tyrian spoke without thinking: “Leaving?”

“I still have many things to do,” Duncan said lightly, his eyes finally resting on Lucretia. “I will keep Nilu with me for now. If there is a chance in the future, I will give her to you.”

As his words fell, his figure already began to fade quickly. The ghostly green flames around the edge of the mirror vanished quietly like an illusion, leaving Tyrian and Lucretia no time at all to speak again.

The room fell quiet again. For several minutes after that, neither Lucretia nor Tyrian spoke.

In the end, it was Lucretia who took the initiative to break the silence: “That just now… really happened, right?”

“It wasn’t a hallucination.” Tyrian shook his head with a bitter smile. “Did you ever think all this would happen?”

“…Not even in the strangest dreams,” Lucretia said. Then she suddenly asked, sounding a little tense: “What do you think about all this?”

“You mean…”

“What he just said.” Lucretia spoke with a serious face. “Do you think it is true? Father said he has lost most of his memories, that he even needs to get to know this world again. He also said Subspace’s influence is deep and impossible to get rid of completely… but then he said he has regained his sanity…”

“…To be honest, I don’t dare believe a single word of it, including the part about ‘regaining sanity’,” Tyrian said in a low voice. “Before we have more proof, I would rather believe this is a plot of Subspace.”

“Subspace has no plots,” Lucretia said calmly. “Only humans understand plots.”

“…And what about a human who has gone through Subspace’s baptism?” Tyrian drew a slow breath and shook his head. “When the chaos in Subspace gains intelligence, it will be more terrifying than pure chaos… Of course, things might not be that bad. I also hope sacred miracles have truly appeared. But for now… we should stay observant and wary. You have been working on the border for years. You should know better than I do how necessary that caution is.”

“I understand.” Lucretia was silent for a few seconds, then nodded lightly. Right after, she lifted her gaze again and looked at the oval scrying mirror with a bit of nervousness. “…He really left, right?”

Tyrian thought for a moment, then stepped forward, took the mirror down, and set it face-down on the table.

“I can’t help feeling Father makes me even more nervous than before.” The pirate lord, famous across the seas, muttered under his breath.

Lucretia’s voice immediately came from the scrying crystal: “That’s because he just beat you up. Of course it leaves a deep impression…”

Tyrian turned and glanced back with a blank face: “You’d better watch out. Who knows when Lunie might suddenly start speaking with Father’s voice.”

The scrying crystal went dark at once.

…

In the captain’s cabin of the Vanished, Duncan let out a long breath and went over his exchange with that pair of children.

There should not have been any major omissions.

After he finished reviewing it, he casually picked up paper and pen from beside him and began sketching from memory.

After a few strokes, a hexagonal emblem appeared on the paper.

It was the same strange symbol Tyrian had shown earlier in front of Vanna and Bishop Valentine, the mark carried by those odd ascetics whom Captain Duncan had hosted a hundred years ago.

Through Vanna’s eyes, Duncan had obtained this unexpected piece of information!

Putting down his pen, Duncan looked thoughtfully at the strange hexagon and the broken cross structure inside it, thinking about where he should start to unravel the secret of this symbol.

But suddenly, his gaze froze.

He saw a damp mark suddenly appear on the edge of the paper, as if an invisible stream of water had soaked one corner of it. Then, in the middle of that wet stain, a faint pattern slowly emerged.

It was a single word.

Thank you.