Chapter 263

Chapter 263: The Knock.

Morris left, still wearing a strange look, carrying a cannonball that had a hundred years of history.

Duncan stood behind the counter and watched the old gentleman’s back as he left, a pleased smile on his face.

“You really gave the cannonball to Mr. Morris,” Alice muttered beside him.

“You really gave the cannonball to Teacher Morris…” Nina muttered after her.

“I do not like cannonballs,” Alice whispered. “I especially do not like them.”

Nina asked curiously: “Why?”

Alice said with a very serious face: “Because the captain once gave me eight cannonballs…”

“Stop bringing that up,” Duncan’s voice suddenly came from the side. He looked helplessly at the resentful Alice and at Nina, whose curiosity was clearly stirred. “Where did Shirley go?”

“She said reciting the alphabet was making her dizzy and she needed to go out and get some fresh air,” Nina said, sticking out her tongue. “But I guess by now she has already run off to the next street.”

“As expected,” Duncan sighed. “With Shirley’s level of education and personal manners, it is already amazing that she manages not to swear in front of me every day…”

As he spoke, he turned his head to look out the window. Through the clear shopfront glass, the everyday, peaceful street scene of Pland came into view.

People bustled along the road. The citizens busied themselves with their own lives. The Lower City was still quiet today. The brief malfunction of Visions 001, the tiny chip in the Sun’s rune ring that was almost invisible to the naked eye, the Deep Dive operation in the far north that people had already forgotten, the mysterious symbol left by the ancient kingdom of Critt… all of it seemed very far away from this sunlit street.

He narrowed his eyes slightly. After a long time, he murmured to himself: “So Tyrian really is going back early…”

…

At the harbor southeast of the city-state, the huge ironclad warship the Sea Mist was already ready to set sail.

After only a few days of “self-recovery”, the warship that had once been badly damaged by the Vanished had now mostly healed. The many wounds and cracks on her armored belt and deck had completely closed, leaving not even a trace of damage. The Undying sailors hurried back and forth between the pier and the ship, carrying aboard the supplies and farewell gifts that Pland had generously provided.

The tall Vanna arrived at the pier to personally see off the captain of the Sea Mist.

“We did not expect you to leave so soon,” Vanna said. “The Archbishop was ready for the Sea Mist to stay as our guest for at least two weeks.”

Tyrian rubbed his forehead lightly: “I also thought I would stay here for a long time… but some accidents happened. There are some matters in the north that I have to go back and deal with.”

This sounded like only an excuse, but Vanna had no interest in digging into the parts others did not want to say. She just looked at Tyrian with some concern, her brows knitting slightly: “Forgive my rudeness… Captain, is your face swollen?”

“A small accident, just a small accident.” Tyrian quickly waved his hand. Inwardly he thought that it was lucky he had had another day to recover. If this Inquisitor had seen him yesterday, he really would not have known how to explain a head that had grown a whole size larger.

Then, as if to keep the awkwardness from dragging on, he hurriedly changed the subject: “My days as a guest in Pland were very pleasant, and I am grateful for your gifts.”

“As long as you like them,” Vanna said with a smile, nodding. Then she looked up with some curiosity at the towering side of the Sea Mist and at the main gun turrets visible from the side. “I had heard about it, but seeing it with my own eyes still feels unbelievable… This ship really ‘healed’ just like that, and even those main guns that had been completely erased have… ‘grown back’?”

Tyrian looked back at his warship. His gaze fell on the three new main guns that had clearly just regrown and still looked a little smaller than the others. A proud smile appeared on his face: “The Sea Mist knows what it is supposed to look like. It always tends to keep itself in the best condition. But those main guns still cannot really be used yet. They are still small. They need to grow for a few more days before they can fire full-charge, standard-caliber shells like the other guns.”

Vanna stared for a moment. She kept feeling that there was something wrong with the way he smiled at his ship’s main guns and the tone he used when he spoke about them, but she could not tell what exactly was wrong…

Luckily, she was not the kind of person who would get stuck on such details.

At three twenty in the afternoon, accompanied by a long, deep whistle of steam, the ironclad warship with its towering bow slowly picked up speed and left the city-state.

Vanna stood on the pier and watched the warship until it slowly turned into an unremarkable black speck on the horizon. Only then did she let out a soft breath, turn around, and get into the black steam car that had been waiting nearby for a long time.

The subordinate in charge of driving lifted his head and glanced at the weary look on the Inquisitor’s face in the rearview mirror: “You seem very tired?”

“Things keep coming one after another. Paperwork takes far more effort than fighting heretics with a greatsword,” Vanna said as she rolled her shoulders and neck, then slumped down in the back seat without any concern for her image. “And I have also been suffering from insomnia lately.”

The steam core gave off a low vibration and hum. Gears and connecting rods began to move briskly. Listening to his commander’s complaints, the subordinate could not help smiling: “But at least the city-state has been peaceful lately. No heretics, no monsters, no unlucky people trapped in the veil of night. The Guardians on night patrol have not run into any twisted phenomena inside the veil of night for several days in a row… There is always sunshine after a storm, right?”

Vanna listened to the subordinate’s sigh and, after a while, said slowly: “Indeed. The nights lately have been calmer than ever. Even in the Lower City, where the darkness usually hangs the heaviest, and in the sewers, no noises have come from there anymore.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“…Of course it is a good thing,” Vanna said softly. Then she shifted her posture on the seat and closed her eyes: “I will take a short nap first. Wake me when we get to the Cathedral.”

“Yes.”

By the time the subordinate answered, Vanna already felt herself slipping into a drowsy, light sleep. The mechanical sounds of the car and the noises outside the windows slowly faded away.

She really was very tired. She had not rested properly for many days.

Order in the city-state had fully returned. All the follow-up work was moving towards its end in an orderly way. The paperwork was finished. The reports to the Cathedral and all the contacts with City Hall had gone smoothly. And behind this “everything going well” lay days and days of exhaustion.

After sending off the Sea Mist, this special “Visitor”, she could finally relax a little.

At least before the Storm Cathedral arrived in Pland and before she had to receive His Eminence the Pope, she should be able to rest for a few days.

A soft night breeze suddenly brushed across her cheek, carrying a faint cool and fresh scent. Along with it came the sound of waves beating against a ship’s hull.

Vanna snapped her eyes open.

She now found herself in a strange room.

Everything she saw was elegant, classical decoration. Gorgeous tapestries hung on the walls, their style like something from the last century. Dark-colored shelves and a wine cabinet stood in the corners. A thick woven carpet covered the center of the room. On the carpet sat a carved sitting table and high-backed chairs, and right now she was sitting in one of those chairs.

Vanna sprang to her feet, then bent her body slightly like a beast about to fight, keeping watch on everything around her.

The next second, she saw the window not far away. The window stood open. When she had fallen asleep it had still been daytime, but now the scene outside showed the veil of night hanging low. The chilly night wind blew in through the window. A cold, clear light spread across the windowsill. In that light she could faintly see the rolling surface of the distant sea and the shimmering reflections on the waves.

The gleam was fine and broken, like quicksilver.

Vanna’s gaze fell on the scene outside without her willing it. Then she seemed to notice something, rushed to the window, and lifted her head to look at the sky.

Something… something she could hardly understand appeared there.

It was a glowing round object. It looked like the main body in the center of the Sun, but it was neither dazzling nor burning. Instead, it hung quietly in the sky like a glowing disk that carried a hint of coolness. Faint patterns could be seen on its surface. The whole glowing orb seemed to give off a strange feeling of peace and stillness.

Vanna stared blankly at the eerie glowing orb. For a moment she felt as if her own thoughts had sunk into stillness along with that clear light. Her mind stayed blank for an unknown length of time before a sluggish question finally rose in her head: “What was that?”

Was that the Sun cooled down?

Where had the World’s Wound gone?

Then she drew back her gaze and looked around this strange room again.

Where was this place?

Outside was a rolling sea. Around her was a room she did not know. Outside the window was a bizarre sky and a bizarre celestial body. Thinking about everything she had gone through in these last days, the answer did not seem hard to guess.

But this time felt different from before. This time… she did not see that terrifying ghost captain.

Vanna thought this, but as if to answer her thought, in the next second she suddenly felt a presence draw near.

“Knock, knock, knock.”

Someone knocked on the door.