Chapter 274

Chapter 274: A Pleasant Meeting

At that moment, Duncan went through all the charm amulets he had handed out in recent times. He thought for a long while before finally letting out a small breath of relief.

In his memory, the only charm amulets he had given away as special gifts were the two he gave to Morris. The rest were just ordinary goods, and after all this time, none of the customers who bought charm amulets had come back to report anything strange.

After he relaxed, Duncan could not help falling into thought.

Although the cause of the charm amulet’s change was still unclear, the news Vanna brought had clearly served as a warning. It made him more aware, and mentally prepared, for the “weird phenomena” that might appear around him.

From now on… it seemed he could not casually give things to people, nor casually agree to things anymore.

Duncan’s brief silence drew Vanna’s notice. She looked over at him with curiosity: “Did you remember something?”

“…I went over everything from lately, and nothing seems wrong.” Duncan shook his head. His expression stayed calm, but his tone was sincere. “Could it be that Heidi was mistaken?”

“Not likely. She is a senior psychiatrist, she knows something about the supernatural field, and she is very clear about her own mental state.” Vanna shook her head. “But the problem with the charm amulet really could have happened somewhere else… Maybe an supernatural item got mixed in with ordinary goods, or maybe something happened in the manufacturing process…”

Vanna spoke slowly, but it did not sound like she was explaining it to Duncan. It sounded more like she was hypnotizing herself, trying to convince herself.

As an Inquisitor, she should not have been lax about a potential supernatural incident, yet in the end her attention still drifted away from the matter of the charm amulet.

The sound of gentle waves echoed in her mind, bringing wave after wave of calm. It also made her slowly forget why she had come here in the first place.

Vanna raised her head and quietly looked around the antique shop.

The girl named Shirley had already returned to the shop. She was putting things on the shelves while carefully glancing in this direction.

Nina was also in the shop helping out.

The blonde woman named Alice bustled beside the small stove.

Mr. Duncan sat behind the counter with a friendly smile on his face.

The noise of traffic on the street outside sounded a little distant. Inside the shop, the kettle was starting to whistle louder and louder. In a corner of the nearby shelf, some shadows seemed to wriggle and jump. The stairs leading to the second floor looked as if they stretched up into endlessly high darkness.

The whole building seemed filled with faint, almost inaudible whispers.

“The tea is ready.” Alice’s voice came from the side. She brought over a cup of hot tea, set it on the counter, and pushed it toward Vanna. “Please enjoy.”

Vanna silently picked up the cup, raised it to her lips, took a sip, and then started to chew. The scalding tea and tea leaves went down into her stomach as she swallowed, without the slightest change in her expression.

Duncan was almost struck dumb by the sight. It was the first time he had ever seen someone so calm while swallowing down Alice’s tea. Miss Vanna really lived up to her title as Pland’s number-one beauty and tough hero; no ordinary person could compare.

After a while, when he saw that Vanna was only looking around and showed no sign of speaking, Duncan finally could not help breaking the silence: “Besides the charm amulet, was there anything else?”

“Ah, sorry, I spaced out for a moment.” Vanna seemed to wake up all at once, then suddenly coughed hard a few times, as if something had gone down the wrong way. She frowned at the empty teacup in front of her, then shook her head. “No, that was all. I only came to ask about this matter.”

“If you are interested in the charm amulets, I can give you one.” Duncan smiled as he pushed forward the charm amulet he had taken down earlier. “You can take it back and study it slowly.”

Vanna looked in surprise at the “crystal” charm amulet in front of her. She stared for a moment before asking: “How much is it?”

“I’ll just give it to you. It isn’t worth much anyway. I usually throw them in as freebies with other sales,” Duncan said with a half-smile. “Or I can make up a fancy product story for you on the spot. Do you want the ancient artifact version or the health?and?wellness version?”

Vanna was left blinking, completely taken in: “You… sell things here like that?”

“Honest business,” Duncan said, spreading his hands. “If I really sold it, the original price would be eight sola. Add a set of health?and?wellness theory and it becomes sixteen. Add a historical story and it’s twenty?two. If you pay twenty?five, I can throw in a black walnut box—the box comes with a promise that the finish won’t fade for half a year. And I can even write you a receipt for two hundred.”

Vanna had lived in the Upper City since childhood. Before she came of age she entered the Church for training, and once she became an adult she went straight to fighting heretics with a sword. In more than twenty years of life, she had never seen anything like this, and she was a little dazed: “A… receipt for two hundred?”

“You can use it as a gift for coworkers,” Duncan said with a straight face. “And young people can give it to their lovers…”

Vanna thought about it seriously, then shook her head: “Then I probably don’t need that—but I can’t just take your things for free.”

As she spoke, she reached into her clothes, took two ten?sola bills from her pocket, and laid them on the counter.

“Eight sola is the original price—the rest is thanks for your cooperation, and for the tea just now.”

Duncan opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but saw that Vanna had already stood up and picked up the crystal pendant.

“This was a pleasant meeting.” She slowly showed a smile and suddenly spoke in a very solemn tone as she lifted her hand and put the crystal pendant around her neck. “I look forward to next time.”

Duncan felt she suddenly seemed a bit strange and frowned without thinking, but in the end he did not say more. He just nodded politely: “All right then. You’re welcome to come again.”

Vanna gave a slight nod and turned to leave.

She walked straight through the shop, out the front door, and stepped onto the open space in front of the antique shop, then stopped there.

A series of sharp beeps from a horn suddenly sounded from the roadside nearby.

Vanna blinked. Only then did she notice the car parked by the road, and remember that the Storm Cathedral was arriving in Pland today. She hurried over, opened the door, and got in.

“You finally came out,” the young subordinate waiting in the car said as he quickly started the engine. “It’s been almost an hour and a half. I was thinking that if you still didn’t come out, I’d go in…”

“An hour and a half?” Vanna was a little surprised. “I thought… only forty minutes had passed.”

As she spoke, she tapped her forehead lightly. She felt as if she had forgotten something and could not help muttering under her breath: “I left too quickly just now. I don’t think I even said goodbye.”

“You can do it next time. The shop isn’t going anywhere,” the young subordinate said casually. Then, through the rearview mirror, he saw the crystal charm amulet now hanging on Vanna’s neck and couldn’t help being surprised. “Is that a new pendant you bought? That’s unexpected. You usually don’t buy these things.”

“Pendant?” Vanna lowered her head in confusion and glanced at her chest. After two seconds she spoke, her voice a little hesitant: “Ah… yes, I bought it…”

She shook her head, as if fully awake now.

“Let’s drop it. Drive faster. Go straight to the Harbor.”

…

Inside the antique shop, Shirley was the first to run up to the counter. Uneasy, she glanced back in the direction Vanna had left, then turned to Duncan: “Why did that Inquisitor come here? Was she here to arrest me?”

“You’re overthinking.” Duncan looked at the nervous girl, a helpless look on his face. “She came to investigate something else. It has nothing to do with you.”

“Oh, as long as she wasn’t here to arrest me.” Shirley let out a breath of relief, but then couldn’t help muttering, “She felt weird today. She kept talking in bits and pieces.”

“Maybe it’s the pressure from work,” Duncan said casually as he stood up from behind the counter. “Her direct superior is about to arrive, after all.”

Nina came over at this moment. Hearing Duncan’s words, she reacted at once: “Direct superior… You mean the news from the paper before? The Storm Cathedral?”

Duncan nodded with a smile, his gaze sweeping over Nina, Shirley, and Alice. Then he suddenly asked: “Interested?”

“Interested?” Shirley froze for a moment. When she reacted, her face showed sudden shock. “Wait, you’re not saying you want to go…”

“We won’t have much business today anyway. Most people either went to the cathedrals for mass or to the Harbor to watch. Sitting in the shop doing nothing is still doing nothing,” Duncan said, as if it were obvious. “Let’s go have a look. You don’t get to see the Storm Cathedral docking every year.”

As he finished speaking, Nina had already jumped up happily: “Great!”

Alice, on the other side, did not know what was going on, but when she saw Nina so excited, she started clapping too. Only Shirley wore a look like she had seen a ghost: “B?but… that’s the Storm Cathedral! If we go over there, won’t we…”

Duncan looked at her, half smiling: “Won’t what?”

Shirley looked up at Duncan, then lowered her head and thought for a moment. She shook her head hard: “Nothing at all!”

Duncan nodded in satisfaction.

Then he lifted his head, his gaze passing over the street outside, over the city blocks, toward Pland’s Harbor.

In his Transcendent Perception that covered the whole city?state, he could already feel a presence, vast and imposing, slowly approaching Pland.

The Storm Cathedral had arrived.