Chapter 262

Chapter 262: Captain Duncan’s Gift.

In the hefty volume that Morris had brought, only a tiny section had anything to do with that mysterious symbol. Even there, the symbol was just a very inconspicuous detail. The author of the document did not spend a single word explaining the symbol or the relief patterns around it.

Duncan and Morris could only analyze the details shown in the manuscript’s illustrations. They tentatively decided that the Shattered Cross enclosed in a hexagonal outline was a religious symbol, or an academic emblem, from the Ancient Kingdom Era.

Duncan slowly closed the big book.

From a rational point of view, Morris judged that the ascetics who had visited the Vanished a century ago could not be descendants of the Ancient Kingdom. The chance that a group of hermits had kept a ten-thousand-year lineage alive through the chaotic, dangerous era of the Deep Sea was almost zero. From a strict academic standpoint, he could not make that kind of assumption without more evidence.

Yet Duncan still felt, on instinct, that those ascetics had to be closely connected to the ancient kingdom of Critt. They held that mysterious badge and treasured it, which meant they knew what it signified.

Of course, a guess was only a guess. Without evidence, it was all empty talk. For now, unless that group of ascetics appeared before Duncan again, no one would ever figure out where they came from.

Duncan suddenly looked up and asked: “How many Critt ruins that have been found and are still preserved reasonably well are left in the world now?”

“There are very, very few ruins that have been found. You can count them on one hand. As for those that are preserved ‘well’… that depends on what you mean by ‘well’,” Morris said. “For people who study the Ancient Kingdom, finding a big pit that can be confirmed to be related to Critt, or finding wall bricks more than ten meters long still joined together, or even just a few stone doors fallen on the ground, all of that already counts as being preserved very well.”

At this point, the old scholar could not help letting out a soft sigh: “Under normal circumstances, ruins left within a city-state’s territory almost never survive. We do our best to keep written and visual records of them, to describe and record every tiny detail. Then we store any objects that can be studied inside research facilities. In the end… the ruins themselves are leveled, filled in, and turned into part of the city.”

Duncan thought for a moment and murmured to himself: “Land you can stand on is as precious as gold.”

Morris nodded: “We study history. We preserve history. We try to remember what came before as the years pass. But we cannot let the things of the past squeeze out the space we need to live.

“The New City-State Calendar has almost reached two thousand years. In the days when explorers were most active, new islands were still being discovered, and unknown wilderness and ancient ruins kept entering our sight. But in the last one or two centuries, such ‘discoveries’ have almost vanished.

“The ‘new islands’ from back then slowly turned into one city-state after another. There is only so much land to stand on in the Boundless Sea. The few ruins that are left are either on lonely islands where people cannot survive because the environment is too harsh, or they are covered by supernatural forces, or they sit on the edge of dangerous Visions. Even the Four Gods Church can only survey such places a little and then seal them away on the enchanted sea chart.”

Duncan stayed silent for a long time, but his attention still fell back on that symbol and the primary document behind it. He asked: “You just said a friend of yours in academia might be able to find more material related to this symbol?”

Morris nodded: “I have a friend in Lunsa who specializes in the history of the Ancient Kingdom. He was my classmate when I studied further at the Truth Institute.” Morris pointed at the big book on the table. “He gave me this book many years ago. I remember he also mentioned some related documents back then. I have already written to him, but I do not know when his reply will come.”

Duncan let out a breath: “Then we will wait patiently. Let things follow their own course.”

After that, he and Morris talked about many more things related to the ancient kingdom of Critt: about those scattered discoveries, those vague and strange legends, those half-true, half-false ancient scrolls that made it impossible to tell whether they belonged to the Mortal Realm or to pure myth.

After this long and pleasant talk between host and guest, it was time for Morris to say goodbye and leave.

“When I left, I promised my wife I would go home for lunch,” the old scholar said with a smile on his face. “If I go back too late, I am afraid my wife and my daughter will scold me together for half the day.”

Duncan could not help laughing: “It sounds to me like you enjoy it.”

Morris nodded cheerfully, put on his hat, tucked the big book under his arm, and went downstairs with Duncan.

Nina was behind the counter, counting a few banknotes. Alice watched curiously beside her. Shirley had vanished at some point, probably run out to play.

As Duncan came down the stairs, Nina was patiently teaching the clueless Alice about money: “Look, this one with the golden corner mark is a Sola. Here is the face value… These coins are ‘Peso’. The number on the front is the value… And you must not bite them, they are dirty!”

Duncan glanced at the money in Nina’s hand and raised his eyebrows slightly: “Looks like business was decent today. We usually do not have this much.”

“Yes, I don’t know why, but business was really good today,” Nina said happily, waving the banknotes at Duncan. “It seems to have something to do with Alice?”

Duncan froze when he heard that: “Has something to do with Alice?”

“That was what an old madam said when she left just now,” Nina said with a squinting smile. “She said the shop had gained a shop assistant who looked just like the young miss, and it made all the things on the shelves seem real.”

Duncan: “…?”

He silently looked at Alice. Alice stared back at him in confusion.

However, the doll had no idea what was happening. She was still trying hard to remember what the banknotes looked like and to learn how to count money.

“I really did not expect Alice to be able to have this kind of effect here,” Duncan remarked after a while, sounding thoughtful. Then he suddenly turned to Morris: “Do you want to take something with you when you go back?”

“Ah?” Morris was a little surprised. “I… did not have that in mind when I went out…”

“No charge. Think of it as my thanks for your work in searching for the documents,” Duncan said with a smile. He walked over to the counter, reached up to the shelf, and took down a crystal pendant. It was exactly the same as the one he had given Morris earlier as a “free gift”, because he had bought a full crate of this kind of pendant when he stocked the shop. “I remember you mentioned that your daughter’s pendant was damaged. I will give you this one.”

Morris looked at the pendant in Duncan’s hand. The beautiful crystal, a product of modern industry, swung lightly in the air, its surface reflecting shifting lights. Yet the first thing that came to his mind was the incredible story Heidi had told him after she came back:

how she had stayed clear-headed while the city-state crumbled, how she had watched two threads of history split and one of them be wiped out, and how she had been protected by the Amulet.

Only now did he slowly realize that Captain Duncan had already offered his goodwill back then.

That dagger worth three thousand four hundred Sola had been only a trivial gift. The real treasure had almost been overlooked right before his eyes.

Duncan smiled and said: “I hope this charm amulet can keep bringing Miss Heidi good luck. Take it. You have earned it.”

Morris reached out solemnly to take the crystal pendant and thanked him. But Duncan seemed to think of something again and muttered, looking thoughtful: “If you only take this pendant back, your daughter will definitely nag you again, and this time your lady will join in. Wait a moment. I will find you something real so you can explain yourself properly to your wife and child when you get home.”

As soon as Morris heard that, he waved his hands again and again: “No need, no need, you really do not have to do this for me…”

But Duncan had already turned away and started rummaging through the pile of odds and ends beside the counter. He did not even look up as he muttered: “No need to say more, I understand… Ah, found it.”

As he spoke, he came back to the counter carrying the “real thing” he had found and dropped it onto the countertop with a heavy bang.

The sudden noise made Alice jump. She quickly reached up to hold her head.

Morris stared, dumbfounded, at the item Duncan had placed on the counter.

“This is…” The old gentleman did not quite understand.

“An antique,” Duncan said with a straight face, looking at the old gentleman in front of him. “There are not many genuine items in my shop, but this one is absolutely authentic.”

“It looks like a cannonball?”

“Yes. From the Vanished. The condition is excellent. If you found a muzzle-loading smoothbore with the right caliber, you could even fire it,” Duncan said happily, patting the big iron ball on the counter. “More importantly, the shell still has the full foundry stamp and the caster’s personal mark on it. Honestly, it is even rarer than that dagger from last time. It is yours.”

Morris looked at the shell, then at Duncan, his expression growing stranger and stranger. For a moment, he truly did not know whether bringing home a cannonball or a glass pendant would be more likely to raise his wife and daughter’s blood pressure. But faced with Mr. Duncan’s warm, eager smile, he swallowed all his words in the end and calmly accepted this… “gift”.

“Thank you… very much for your kindness.”