Chapter 44

Chapter 44: An ordinary person’s Breakfast

A copy of the Pland City Bulletin cost twelve pesos, about the same as a shabby breakfast or the cheapest dessert in the Crossroad District. You could buy a paper from a newsboy passing by, or walk a little farther to the newsstand at the end of the next street and get one there.

Duncan had a few coins in his pocket. He bought a local paper at the newsstand. The boss of the stand was a middle-aged man buried in his own reading. When he heard Duncan drop the coins into the tin box, he just waved a hand to tell him to take a paper, never even lifting his head.

Duncan leaned over a little to see what the man was reading. It was an analysis of past lottery results, bright lines in all colors outlining every kind of unrealistic fantasy.

He lowered his head and looked at the paper he had just bought. The front-page headline was the piece of news that interested him most:

“The honorable Church Guardian forces, led by Inquisitor Vanna Wayne, successfully destroyed a gathering site of the Sun god’s cult, capturing a large number of cultists on the spot and rescuing several citizens…”

The photo of “Her Excellency the Inquisitor” was printed beside the article. To Duncan’s surprise, she was a rather young woman. There was a clear scar at her left eye, yet she was still a beautiful lady. Standing with her subordinates, she was half a head taller than every man around her.

Inquisitor Vanna wore close-fitting light armor and a battle skirt, and carried a two-handed greatsword that looked as if it had walked out of an age of cold steel. She was like a dashing female knight from a medieval painting. Yet behind her and the group of Church Guardians, one could see a huge steam engine, and on its metal body there were even obvious gun turrets…

It was a strange and eerie image, everything at odds and yet somehow in harmony.

Duncan’s gaze stayed on the photo for a long time.

News of a cultist gathering being wiped out counted as good news for him. Here, he did not have to worry about his identity being exposed, so he could watch those villains who held live sacrifices get dragged away without any guilt at all. But more than that, he cared about the information hidden in this picture.

A female Inquisitor who specialized in hunting cultists. Fully armed steam-powered armored automatons. Church troops that carried both cold steel and firearms…

Information like this was almost impossible to get aboard the Vanished, but inside a civilized society, you could see it all clearly for twelve pesos in a newspaper.

Just as Duncan had thought before—during the century when the Vanished drifted blindly, the times had already changed.

Even if you did not look at it in the simple way of “who could fight harder,” the mortal civilization represented by the city-state of Pland had already grown into something that could only be called… impressive.

The street corner was not a good place to read. Duncan rolled the paper up and tucked it under his arm. He still remembered that there was a “niece” named Nina waiting for him back at the antique shop, so he turned and started walking back.

Compared to wandering aimlessly through the city on his own, a local who trusted him from the start was obviously a better source of information.

As for the Vanished, Duncan was not worried. Even while he walked in the Spirit Realm, he could still clearly sense what was happening aboard the Vanished, and the state of his other body. Goathead was steering the ship in his place, and Alice looked quite well-behaved. He should be able to stay active on this side for a while longer.

Anyway, the crew regulations of the Vanished already said that “the captain will occasionally leave the ship.” The captain going off to walk the Spirit Realm for a day or two did not seem like such a big deal, right?

And as he kept walking the Spirit Realm, Duncan felt his control over this special “mental projection” growing more and more skilled. Maybe soon he would be able to control both bodies at the same time. Then there would be even less reason to worry about the ship while he was walking the Spirit Realm.

At that moment, a sweet smell suddenly drifted over from the side. Duncan stopped without thinking and turned his head. He saw a cake shop by the street, with fresh pastries being set out at the front.

This was the Lower City of Pland, so of course there were no high-class dessert shops. But even the cheapest, rough cakes here were enough to make Duncan stop in his tracks.

He still had a few coins in his pocket, less than twenty pesos in all, but more than enough to buy a slice of cake.

After a brief hesitation, he walked up to the cake shop and paid for the most ordinary honey cake they had. The shopkeeper wrapped it in some thick, coarse paper. It felt rough and scratchy under his fingers.

Holding the newspaper and the cake, Duncan headed toward the antique shop. For some reason, his mood became lighter.

Walking along the street. Talking to people. Buying things. Going back home.

Such simple things gave him a feeling as if he had lived another life. He almost savored the act of breathing on land. He treated these ordinary routines as a precious kind of life experience.

Life aboard the Vanished was not bad either. Goathead was noisy but reliable, and Alice was an interesting one. But being able to experience life on land was not bad at all.

Before long, Duncan reached the antique shop again. Before he pushed the door open, he looked up at the sign above the shop. The line of letters reading “Duncan Antique Shop” still sat there quietly, carrying the worn look of something that had not changed in more than ten years.

He pushed the door open. The bell chimed with a clear sound. Right after that, hurried footsteps came from the stairs.

A young girl with long brown hair rushed down, then stopped short at the foot of the stairs. She held onto the post beside her and stared wide-eyed at Duncan, her expression tense and worried.

“Uncle Duncan, where did you go?” she blurted out. “You said you were just going to look at the door, but you were gone in the blink of an eye… I thought you had run off to the tavern or the casino again…”

Duncan looked at the young lady in surprise. He could tell that she truly was nervous and worried.

She was worried about the only family she had left in the world, the person she depended on to live. Even if that person was a drunken, gambling, bitter wreck of a man, and secretly tainted by the bloody business of cultists.

A faint, hard-to-name feeling rose in him, but his face did not change. He said: “I just went out for a walk and bought a few things.”

As he spoke, he walked over to the counter of the antique shop, planning to set the newspaper and the cake down. Nina seemed to relax all at once, then turned and ran upstairs. As she ran she called: “Uncle, wait a bit, I’ll bring breakfast down—at this hour you definitely haven’t eaten yet, have you? I made corn and beet soup…”

Before Duncan could say anything, Nina had already vanished up the stairs. A short while later, she came back down again, carefully carrying a big tray.

On the tray was a simple breakfast for two.

Duncan watched the girl with a slightly blank expression as she bustled around. She cleared a space on the counter with practiced ease, set out the food, then went to the side and brought over an extra chair for him…

Her hands were very quick, and she moved with a kind of happy energy that seemed to come from nowhere.

Duncan watched her work and wanted to help, but found there was no place for him to step in.

He had dealt with many young people of that age, but he had hardly ever seen a child as diligent and efficient as her.

If this were Earth, she would only be the age of a high school student. Even here, she still looked like a student.

Duncan suddenly thought that living with an “uncle” who had fallen into a cult could not have been easy. Yet this young lady named Nina seemed to have fully adapted to this life that was in no way happy, and had even found her own supports within it.

“Let’s eat,” Nina said now that everything was ready. She glanced at Duncan and went on in a tone that sounded as if she had repeated these words many times. “Doctor Albert said that if you eat breakfast regularly and keep a good mood, in the long run that will work better than strong liquor… better than painkillers.”

Duncan did not answer at once. He only looked quietly at Nina. Before her expression could turn awkward and tense, he picked up the cake he had set aside, unwrapped it, and placed it in front of her.

Nina’s eyes widened in surprise as she stared at the thing in front of her. “This is…”

“Cake. I bought it from the corner shop,” Duncan said casually. “You’re still growing. You should eat something nourishing for breakfast.”

But Nina froze. She just stared blankly at the cheap pastry. After a long moment she seemed to come back to herself, and muttered under her breath, almost to herself: “Are you really all right?”

“Of course I’m fine,” Duncan said, his expression quite natural. “I just suddenly remembered that I haven’t bought you any sweets in a long time.”

“That’s true. It’s been more than a year…” Nina muttered. Then she suddenly smiled and picked up the table knife. “Then we’ll split it half and half. Doctor Albert also said that you need nourishing food.”

Duncan felt very strange, but after a brief silence he still nodded.

“…All right.”