Chapter 229: Chapter 233: The Family’s Curse
Bishop Valentin gathered up the paper that depicted a strange emblem.
“We don’t recognize this pattern; it’s likely from an ancient era or from a secret society that never revealed itself,” the elderly bishop said as he put away the paper. “Our archives may hold corresponding records. Moreover, I will contact some friends in the academic community to see if they recognize this item.”
Fenna’s gaze returned to Tirian as she curiously eyed the “pirate captain” in front of her. “Was there anything unusual about your father before he held that secretive meeting with those peculiar ‘Ascetics’? Did he suddenly acquire mysterious texts or explore certain secret realms?”
“It’s difficult to say,” Tirian shook his head. “As you may know, a century ago, he was one of the world’s most outstanding explorers. Dealing with various strange relics and secret realms was essentially his daily work—he was almost constantly in touch with the things you just mentioned, and Lucresia and I were just starting to help my father with some of his tasks at that time and didn’t have many opportunities to learn about his ‘collection’ in detail, and…”
Tirian paused for a moment and then sighed softly.
“Moreover, at that time, Lucresia and I never expected what would happen later. Even though those peculiar ‘visitors’ were a bit odd, my father was used to hosting a variety of strange ‘guests.’ By the time we realized something was seriously wrong with my father, almost a year had passed since that ‘secret meeting,’ and it was too late to investigate anything.”
...
Fenna nodded slightly, and just then, a loud chiming of bells and the sound of steam whistles suddenly came from outside the window, interrupting the conversation in the drawing room.
“The evening bells have sounded,” Bishop Valentin looked out the window, seeing the sun, bound by dual runes, slowly sinking into the sea, while the faint shadow of the Creation of the World could be seen in the sky. “Let us conclude for today.”
He then turned back to Tirian and nodded, “If you don’t mind, you may rest in the cathedral tonight. We have prepared dinner and undisturbed guest rooms for our visitors.”
“Thank you,” Tirian agreed gladly, then added, “I plan to stay in this City-State for a few more days—I briefly lived here a century ago, and I am quite intrigued by how it has changed.”
“Of course,” Valentin smiled. “The Sea Mist is now a friend of Proland, and we are always ready for our friends—you may stay as long as you like.”
Fenna then rose from the sofa and nodded towards Tirian, “I will take you to your guest room.”
After this special meeting ended, Tirian left the drawing room with Fenna, joining a group of sailors who were resting in a nearby room, and they proceeded deeper into the cathedral.
“I never expected a Judge to personally lead the way,” Tirian casually remarked as they headed towards the guest room, “For a ‘pirate,’ this is quite an honor.”
“Just a ‘pirate’?” Fenna looked back slightly, a smile on her face, “Your identity is not that ordinary—son of Duncan, general of the Frost Queen, commander of the Mist Fleet. If all the pirates on the Endless Sea were like you… we wouldn’t need any City-State authorities.”
“…’Pirate’ is just a convenient identity that makes it easier for me to trouble certain people in the Chill Sea; they too like this identity, as it allows them to issue more warrants and pretend to be somewhat useful,” Tirian stated flatly. “But what you just mentioned, Judge, are all matters of the past.”
After a brief silence, Tirian continued, “I have never revealed so much about ‘him’ to anyone, and I hope you can understand that.”
“Of course,” Fenna nodded slightly, “If I were in your position, I wouldn’t want to share my family’s… ‘Curse’ with outsiders either. Sorry, I can’t think of another word.”
“That’s alright, it indeed is a Curse,” Tirian sighed, “If it weren’t for the bizarre and mysterious situation in Proland that you just brought up about ‘his’ peculiar situation, there are things I really wouldn’t want to remember.”
As he spoke, his gaze inadvertently swept across Fenna’s eyes, and the next second, he involuntarily averted his gaze.
That subtle yet discernible pressure appeared again, more palpable than what he had felt at the docks.
Considering the young Judge’s recent numerous interactions with “that person,” Tirian’s mind even harbored some dreadful conjectures about this indescribable pressure.
Fenna noticed his peculiar behavior.
“You seem a bit tense, Captain Tirian,” she asked directly, “Am I making you nervous?”
“No, Judge,” Tirian shook his head, then spoke with some hesitation, “I was just reminded of what you just mentioned. You said you had communicated several times with my father… besides those communications, did he also give you something else… like, say, power?”
Fenna suddenly stopped walking.
“Why would you ask that?”
“I mean no offense,” Tirian quickly realized that his question might be somewhat offensive to a devout and steadfast saint, immediately explaining, “I just wanted to remind you that the power my father brought back from Subspace is very strange and hard to eliminate, just like other chaotic Corrosions from Subspace; that power is highly contaminating. If you’re not careful and get too deeply contaminated…”
“Thank you for the warning,” Fenna took a deep breath and sincerely thanked him.
But in reality, she thought to herself that his warning might be a bit late—the impact of Captain Duncan was more severe than anyone imagined, and now she could only hope that next time he came to see her, he would actually knock…
Unaware of the Judge’s thoughts, Tirian only felt the atmosphere had become a bit awkward, but this awkwardness didn’t last long—Fenna took the initiative to break the silence.
“I have been curious about something,” she suddenly asked, “about the ‘countdown’ your father mentioned before he went mad… Do you know more about it? Did he mention any other details?”
As Fenna asked this question, her mind flashed back to her previous communication with the Storm Goddess Gomona and the difficult-to-understand words the goddess had conveyed to her—
Time is limited, a critical moment is approaching.
That statement, which she could not comprehend at the time, now seemed eerily connected to the “countdown” mentioned by Tirian!
Tirian met Fenna’s gaze.
After a few seconds of silence, he finally spoke solemnly, “In his last days, he suddenly said something to Lucrecia, he said— ‘Our world is just a bunch of dying embers.'”
The corridor came to an end.
“Thank you for leading the way,” Tirian nodded at Fenna, “I would like to spend some time with my subordinates now.”
Fenna was jolted from her thoughts; Tirian’s words still echoed in her mind, and she nodded subconsciously, bidding farewell to the pirate captain.
The door to the guest room closed, and after everything quieted down around him, Tirian finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He recalled his last conversation with the young Judge and the subtle pressure he had felt from him, a belated palpitation only now setting in.
In a daze, he remembered the moment their eyes met for the last time…
In that instant, he felt as though he was standing under the gaze of a “father!”
“Captain, are you alright?” a trusted sailor asked worriedly, observing his chief, “You have been on edge ever since we landed.”
“…I’m fine,” Tirian steadied himself and waved his hand to his subordinates, walking toward a nearby table, “Bring the things here.”
A sailor immediately stepped forward, placing a case brought down from the Sea Mist on the table; Tirian unlocked the case with a key, revealing its contents.
It was a complex lens device, composed of many small lenses and curved connecting rods, with a large crystal ball placed in the center.
“Watch the door, don’t let anyone disturb us,” Tirian instructed his subordinates.
After a few sailors left, he turned his attention to the crystal ball and gently adjusted one of the lenses’ angles, calling out softly, “Lucrecia.”
After a long while, the lens assembly began to vibrate slightly and operate, and the crystal ball in the center began to emit a faint light; accompanied by a burst of static noise, a blurry figure of Lucrecia appeared in the crystal ball: “I’m here.”
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“Why is it so fuzzy?” Tirian frowned, “Where are you now?”
“I… the border…” Lucrecia’s voice came from the crystal ball, accompanied by crackling interference, but still intelligible, “Here… environmental… interference is getting stronger, I… adjusting… Is it better now? Can you hear me clearly?”
Finally, the interference vanished, and Lucrecia’s figure gradually became clearer.
“There has been a slight change here; the Spirit Realm is causing strange disturbances in the physical dimension,” the voice from the crystal ball explained, “Is something the matter, brother? The Brilliant Starship is passing through unstable waters; if there’s nothing important…”
“I am currently in Prand,” Tirian cut to the chase, “The Sea Mist was heavily damaged in the engagement with the Homeloss, and something seems off about this city-state too.”
The figure on the other side of the crystal ball suddenly froze.
After a few seconds, Lucrecia’s slightly tense voice came through, “You really encountered the Homeloss? Are you okay now?”
“…To be honest, I took quite a beating, but I’m alright for now,” Tirian’s voice was low, “The problem is… ‘his’ condition seems a bit off.”
“‘His’ condition is off?” Lucrecia furrowed her brow, “Did you see him up close?”
“Yes.”
“Then…” Lucrecia opened her mouth, seeming hesitant, “The one you saw this time, was it our ‘father’?”
“…Not entirely.”