Chapter 80

Chapter 80: Home Visit?

Before the last streak of sunset faded at the horizon, Duncan saw the familiar front of the antique shop.

The gas lamps along the street were already lit. Their faint yellow light shone on the sign above the door and the dusty gray walls. Warm light also glowed in the display windows on either side of the entrance. Clearly, Nina had already come home—she had turned on the lights on the first floor and was waiting for Duncan to return.

Strictly speaking, from Duncan’s point of view he and Nina had only just met. Yet for some reason, when he saw the lights on downstairs, he felt a strange… guilt.

[Was this guilt because I had gone out and stayed away too long?]

Duncan stepped forward and pushed open the front door of the antique shop. The bell hanging above the entrance rang with a clear chime. A second later he heard hurried footsteps coming from the stairs.

A girl in a plain long dress ran down from upstairs like a gust of wind.

“Uncle Duncan!” Nina stopped on the stairs and looked at Duncan at the door with surprise and joy, and also a bit of disbelief in her eyes. “I thought today you were going to…”

“I took a walk in the city and didn’t notice it was almost dark,” Duncan shook his head. “Sorry. I actually meant to go to Crossroad District to pick you up after school, but something unexpected came up.”

“You went to Crossroad District?” Nina looked at Duncan in surprise and confusion. Her eyes ran up and down him, as if checking whether Uncle had been drinking again outside, or was dull from medicine. “To… pick me up after school?”

Uncle Duncan was showing another side that was both strange and familiar, and Nina once again had no idea how she should react.

“I was just a bit curious about how you’re doing at school now,” Duncan said casually. “Anyway, let’s not talk about that. From now on you don’t need to worry about me going out to drink or hanging around with my ‘friends’. If I come back late, it will be because I had proper business to take care of. All right?”

Nina stared blankly as Uncle Duncan came in and closed the door. Seeing how steady his steps were and how full of energy he looked, she nodded without thinking.

“It’s getting late,” Duncan said as he walked toward the stairs to the second floor, speaking to Nina who stood by the stairway. “Have you eaten?”

“Not… yet,” Nina answered, still not used to how Uncle had changed, so her voice sounded a little hesitant. “When I came back and saw you weren’t home, I didn’t know if you were coming back tonight, so… I didn’t cook. But I bought some bread. I was planning to…”

“Just eating bread isn’t nutritious enough. Come on, there’s something good in the kitchen,” Duncan was about to step onto the stairs. He turned back and smiled at Nina. “I’m cooking today.”

Uncle was going to cook?!

Nina felt as if she had just heard some sort of wild tale, but before she could ask anything, she saw Uncle Duncan already striding upstairs. She had no choice but to hurry after him. At the same time, her gaze fell on AI, who was perched steadily on Duncan’s shoulder, and she was startled: “Uncle, has this pigeon been with you the whole time?”

“Yeah. It’s quite clingy,” Duncan said offhandedly. “Oh, right, I gave it a name. It’s called AI.”

“AI? For a pigeon… that’s such a strange name…” Nina scratched her hair. She had already followed him up to the second floor and watched Uncle Duncan actually head for the kitchen. At last she couldn’t hold back and asked: “Did you buy anything?”

“It’s just a piece of dried salted fish,” Duncan said. He found the salted fish he had stored away in a kitchen cabinet, lifted the hard thing, and waved it at Nina with a rather proud look. “It doesn’t look like much, but it makes a very good soup.”

“Fish?!” Nina’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “What day is it today? Fish is so expensive, normally we would never… huh?”

She finally saw the dried fish clearly. The plain-looking thing left the girl very confused. She blinked at it for a long time. “What kind of fish is that? I’ve never seen it before.”

Duncan had known Nina would react like this.

Of course, the residents of the city-state had seen fish before. The Boundless Sea was dangerous, and in the Deep Sea there were things called “Spawn” that threatened human safety. But not every sea area was as strange and extreme as the Deep Sea. Under the protection of the Gods and the city-state’s own defenses, the waters close to the city, the Shallow Sea, and a few blessed routes were relatively safer. These regions provided precious resources for the city-state’s civilization.

People gathered seafood and minerals from the Nearshore Waters, and hunted whales and other fish of great industrial value along the routes under the Gods’ protection. These things kept the city-states alive and supported their industrial growth.

With all that, the job of “fisherman” naturally existed.

But the seas of this world were nothing like those of Earth. Even the “safe” waters were only safe compared to the Deep Sea. So in this world, even nearshore fishing was something extremely specialized and dangerous, and it called for extraordinary knowledge and combat skills.

To people living in the city-states, fish was a familiar yet expensive ingredient.

Even though the sea was right beside them, and there were countless fish in it.

Nina had not eaten fish for many years. Even before her uncle fell ill, a commoner like her had very few chances to see fish served on the table.

Ordinary fish were already that rare, let alone a gift from the Deep Sea.

Duncan even suspected that this Deep Sea fish he had caught on the Vanished was appearing in the city-state of Pland for the first time. Not to mention a commoner young lady like Nina—probably even the city-state’s Governor and the senior priests of the Church had never tasted anything like it.

Nina was in for a treat today.

“Don’t worry about what kind it is. Just wait and eat.” Duncan knew there were some things he could not explain clearly, so he simply did not try. He turned back into the kitchen and began to prepare dinner.

The strange fish was not small. Even after it had been dried, it was still quite large, and there was no way they could finish it in one pot of soup. So he cut the salted fish into two pieces and decided to use the head section first. The rest he could thread with a rope and hang back in the cupboard to dry even more. It might taste better that way.

Uncle really did start cooking.

Watching his familiar figure busy in the kitchen, Nina felt as if she were dreaming.

She did not actually care at all what was going on with that strange fish Uncle had brought out. She was not even truly concerned about tonight’s dinner.

Compared to those small details, the changes in Uncle were far stranger, and far more worth paying attention to.

The sound of knife on chopping board rang out. The gas stove hissed, and the broth in the pot bubbled with a soft gurgle.

Nina felt a little dazed. How many years had it been since she had seen a scene like this?

A trace of hesitation appeared on her face. After a moment, as if suddenly making up her mind, she stood at the kitchen door and spoke to the busy back inside: “Uncle, tomorrow… Mr. Morris is coming for a home visit.”

“A home visit?” Duncan, busy cooking, froze for a moment when he heard this. “Mr. Morris… your history teacher?”

Nina nodded. “Yes.”

“Teachers at that school actually do home visits?” Duncan dropped the prepared pieces of fish into the pot, then put the knife into the sink and turned back to glance at Nina in surprise. “I thought that was a ‘special feature’ only the schools up in the Upper City had.”

“The school… doesn’t really have that rule,” Nina said carefully, watching Duncan’s expression. “But Old Mr. Morris is a bit special. He… cares a lot about his students.”

For a moment, Duncan said nothing.

This was a bit beyond what he had expected.

He had never thought that, while he was moving around the city-state as “Captain Duncan”, he would suddenly have to deal with something like this!

He had thought about having to deal with the Church, thought about dealing with the constables, even the City Navy and the Military Police Corps. Whether he wanted it or not, all his plans were filled with spirit flame, blades, and the Vanished’s more than a hundred broadside cannons.

But he had never planned for an old man who taught history at a public school to appear in them.

[Why is the Mortal Realm always so full of surprises?]

“Uncle?” Nina grew a bit worried when she saw Duncan stay silent for so long. “You don’t want to, right? I can tell Old Mr. Morris… In fact, I already told him today. I told him your health wasn’t good, so you couldn’t really handle a home visit this time. He didn’t say anything then…”

Seeing Nina’s slightly nervous reaction, Duncan’s thoughts started to turn.

It seemed that Old Mr. Morris had not asked for a home visit just this once.

[So how many times has Nina turned him down with the same excuse?]

“…He teaches history, right?” Duncan suddenly asked again.

Nina didn’t know why her uncle was asking this again, but she still nodded. “Yes.”

“Good. I’ve been wanting to talk to a professional in the field of history,” Duncan said with a smile. “When is he coming tomorrow?”