Chapter 486

Chapter 486: Ray Nora’s “Friend”

The brass key that Ray Nora had left behind was actually a gift from a friend. This completely took Duncan by surprise.

It also stirred his curiosity even more.

Who exactly had made that key, and for what purpose? What was the true nature of that key? And what was the vision he had seen after touching it—the vessel crashing to the ground and breaking apart in an explosion?

He was desperate to know the answers. Luckily, the Frostholm Queen did not hide what she knew and spoke frankly:

“I met that friend not long after I left the great Cathedral. At the time I was planning how to take power, often meeting all kinds of people and taking part in public affairs. That old man showed up at a fundraising gathering…

“He was not on the guest list, yet he slipped past all the guards and all the eyes watching the place with ease. I thought he was a professor from the university, because he wore a scholar’s robe and had a refined, proper manner. I did not know he had snuck in, so I chatted with him. His vast knowledge was astonishing… until the bodyguards at the gathering finally realized what was going on and threw him out.

“But after that, the old man began to appear in my sight again and again. Sometimes it was at upper-class parties, sometimes at private dinners hosted by friends. He would appear whenever everyone’s eyes were elsewhere, then calmly come up to talk with me. He discussed history, mathematics, and occult studies with me, and always slipped away before anyone else could notice. Aside from that first time, when the bodyguards found him, he always managed to hide himself from everyone’s eyes.

“Isn’t it unbelievable? A friend only I knew about, a learned adviser… an ‘air friend’.

“I never told anyone about him. At first, I was afraid of worrying the Church. The bishops would suspect my Psionic gift had entered a runaway state and would lock me back in the cellar. I knew my power had not gone out of control and I did not fear being chained up again, but I felt my time was precious. I could not waste it in a cage. Later, when I began to gain control of the city-state’s power, I had even more reason to hide the existence of this ‘secret adviser’.

“This went on for about three years. I became close friends with this mysterious old man despite our age difference. Just when I thought he would continue to serve as my ‘special staff member’ until my coronation, he suddenly appeared before dawn one day and said goodbye.

“This was what he said: ‘The Window Interval is over. This is the last time we will meet.’

“Then he handed me a brass key and told me that the key was a twisted aggregate, a key that could create links in time and space. It could also carry knowledge and memories. One day in the future, it would surely play its part…

“After he told me many things about the key, my ‘air friend’ simply turned around and walked toward the first beam of light from the rising dawn. The moment the Sun rose over the horizon, he vanished. That was the last time I saw him.”

Duncan listened to Ray Nora’s story in astonishment. Countless thoughts rose in his mind, and they all quickly pointed to one word. As soon as the Frostholm Queen finished speaking, he spoke at once: “Wait. From your description, that person sounds exactly like a…”

“Yes, a Ender, Captain Duncan,” Ray Nora said with a smile. “I guessed it after our first few meetings. In all those years of training in the Cathedral I read more books than I can count. Of course I knew what a Ender was.”

“You became friends with a Ender, and he even…” Duncan spoke with a frown, but halfway through he sensed something wrong. “Wait, no. He doesn’t sound like a normal Ender…”

“That’s right, just as you said,” Ray Nora answered. “In ‘nature’ he was very similar, but his state was nothing like those mad cultists. His mind was keen, his reason was clear, and his manner was gentle and friendly. The only thing he had in common with the other Enders was his ‘nonlinear way of appearing and disappearing’.”

“Normal Enders cannot think or speak calmly. The tearing of the timelines has already shattered their perception, and their worship of Subspace has destroyed their reason,” Duncan said quickly. “But the one you knew was the opposite…”

He suddenly stopped.

Because in that instant, he remembered something else. It was something related to “himself”.

Tyrian had once mentioned, while talking with Vanna and Valentine, that a century ago, just before “Duncan Abnomar” set sail on his final voyage, several mysterious Visitors had come aboard the Vanished. They wore robes like those of ascetic monks, appeared on the ship without warning, and talked all night with the Duncan of that time. Then, when the Sun rose the next day, they vanished as mysteriously as they had come…

Tyrian had always believed that the visit of those mysterious Visitors was the direct reason the Vanished sailed toward the “border” on that last voyage.

And those mysterious Visitors, from the description, had been a group of clear-minded, gentle, and friendly “Enders”!

The body Duncan was using now could not show complex expressions, but his brief silence and the change in his eyes did not escape the sharp gaze of the Frostholm Queen. Ray Nora reacted at once: “Did something come to mind?”

Duncan lifted his head. He did not speak for a moment. He simply gazed quietly into her eyes with his gaze.

The “friend” Ray Nora knew was not the only one. Among the Enders, a group most people saw as cruel and insane cultists, there really were some individuals who still had reason. Their goals were unknown. They moved along the timelines, using a kind of contact period called the “Window Interval” to keep meddling in the affairs of the mortal world.

Countless thoughts rose and flashed through his mind. At last Duncan broke the silence: “They once visited the Vanished as well.”

For the first time, Ray Nora’s eyes opened wide at once.

It seemed she had not completely lost the ability to feel surprise, as she had claimed at the start.

“You have met clear-minded Enders too?” Ray Nora said quickly. “What did they tell you? They were…”

“Sadly, I no longer remember,” Duncan cut off her hurried questions. “That part of my memory vanished with Subspace’s corruption. I only learned from other sources that I once had dealings with them.”

An undisguised look of regret appeared on Ray Nora’s face.

Duncan quickly gathered his thoughts and pulled the topic back on track: “After you realized he was a special kind of Ender, did you ever talk with him about his real identity? Did you ask about his purpose?”

“Of course I asked. But do you think he would give me an answer?” Ray Nora sighed helplessly. “We got along very well. He was both a teacher and a friend to me, and he was happy to answer most of my questions. But whenever I tried to steer the topic toward his ‘identity’, he always brushed it aside with one line:

“‘It is not time yet. Do not reach for what lies beyond the boundary too early.’”

“‘Do not reach for what lies beyond the boundary too early…’” Duncan repeated the words in a low voice. He frowned slightly. “You still managed to become friends with such a suspicious person under those conditions. One could say you have a… very generous heart.”

“I needed help. Most things in this world that can be called ‘power’ are dangerous,” Ray Nora said calmly. “Compared to the ‘dreams’ I have dealt with since childhood, a Ender was actually far too gentle and harmless.”

Duncan said nothing more. He stood up again and slowly walked to the darkness at the far end of the room.

“One last thing. What plans do you have… for your own future?”

Ray Nora frowned slightly: “My future?”

“Do you have to stay in this room called the ‘Drifting Place’ forever?” Duncan asked. He lifted his chin and pointed at the huge “tentacle” in the darkness of the Deep Sea. “Do you have to stay here forever, using dreams to hold down this ‘flawed replicant’?”

“Do you have another way?”

“Maybe, but I am not sure,” Duncan said. “If I completely destroy this flawed replicant, what will happen?”

“Freedom…” Ray Nora fell silent for a few seconds, then nodded slowly and solemnly. “Both I and It will be freed.”

“And after that?”

“I do not know,” Ray Nora said, shaking her head. “That is already beyond my understanding. I have never even imagined what it would be like if this long nightmare finally ended. Maybe this ‘Drifting Place’ will lose this connection point and link to some other place. Maybe I will lose my connection with the Mortal Realm, no longer be troubled by nightmares, and become an idle wandering spirit, waiting for the day someone opens this room again.”

“That does not sound like a very good ending,” Duncan said, his tone growing heavier. “Eternal exile is not much better than sinking into a nightmare.”

“In fact, it is even worse, because I do not control this room,” Ray Nora replied. “Compared with reconnecting to some ‘connection point’ in the Mortal Realm, it is more likely that, while drifting in a runaway state, it will sink to the Subspace side.”

Duncan fell silent again and did not speak for a long time.

After a moment, Ray Nora broke the silence on her own: “Even so, I still advise you to do it. If you really can, then end all this while I still have time.”

Duncan gazed into the Frostholm Queen’s eyes with his gaze: “Are you sure? Even if it means you will suffer eternal exile?”

“Being trapped in a nightmare forever is also a kind of eternal exile,” Ray Nora said with a smile. “If I can be freed like this, it will at least solve the long-term threat Frostholm faces. At least for quite a long time, my city-state and my people will be safe.”