Deep Sea Embers

Fortunately, Heidi’s box of “things” wasn’t prepared for Nina. The psychiatrist could see the horror on this uncle and niece’s faces, which brought a smile to her own since this was one of the perks she had when doing her job.

“Fill this out first,” she hands a printed form over to Nina.

Breaking a sigh of relief, Nina visibly eases up: “I thought these… tools were for me.”

“This is what I use for my job while working for the authorities and the church,” Heidi grinned, “I often have to deal with extremely bigoted and dangerous people whose brains are filled with heretical ideas. These tools are one of my means to pry open their minds.”

The more Duncan listened, the more he felt that there was something wrong with this.

Likewise, Shirley, who was trying to reduce her sense of existence while unable to stop eavesdropping, subconsciously shrunk her neck back. She quickly hid further away while pretending to be dusting the shelves.

“So scary, it’s so scary… this place is so scary… Mr. Duncan is scary as it is, why did an inquisitor decide to pop up here…. And that Heidi…” Shirley mutters to Dog using their mental connection.

Dog’s voice sounded equally as weak and frantic: “How am I supposed to know why she’s here?! How could I have expected to be caught by a ghost captain on land? How do I know why an inquisitor is coming down here to be a guest? Who would believe any of this if told? I’m just a dark hound, a dark hound dammit!”

While secretly paying attention to the movement next to the counter, Shirley muttered some more with a sad face: “Who can believe this? If you tell a fish they will die in a car accident one day, I bet they won’t believe it either…”

“…… Don’t mention ‘fish’, I’m afraid of fish…”

Shirley was stunned, but asked anyways: “When did you start being afraid of fishes?”

“Stop talking to me for now. I don’t want the inquisitor to notice anything. Although in theory I’m hidden from her sight, I keep getting the feeling my abilities are out of touch when Mr. Duncan is around…”

Nodding in agreement, Shirley quickly put away her thoughts and hid herself behind the other end of the shelf cabinet. There’s nobody around this area so it’s the perfect spot to be inconspicuous.

At the same time, Nina had taken a look at the form placed into her hand. It’s the typical routine of a psychological evaluation, which was no different from the forms that she usually filled out before taking occult classes at school or visiting museums. The difference here was that there were a few extra questions that were not often asked.

While filling it out, she curiously asked: “I heard you say your treatments are more professional, so I thought you wouldn’t use this kind of form that ordinary doctors use…”

“Filling out forms is just the basic part of psychometrics. What differentiates me from those half-buckets is that their diagnosis often ends after filling out the form,” Heidi smiled as she removed the amethyst pendant from her neck and fiddled with it, “mine on the other hand has only just begun when you fill out the form.”

Vanna’s gaze unconsciously fell on Heidi’s crystal pendant there, eyes growing curious as well: “I always see you wearing this new trinket recently… do you like it a lot?”

Apparently, Heidi got taken by surprise over the comment. Looking down at the pendant in her hand, she shook her head as if seemingly remembering something: “Not really, it’s just that it’s rare for my father to bring me a gift. Guess what Vanna, this pendant was ‘bought’ by my father from this very store.”

She specifically emphasized the word “buy”, as if to forcibly deny that this was just a free giveaway.

“It is indeed a store product here. I hope this pendant brings you good luck.” Duncan nods from the side to confirm the story.

This got Vanna even more intrigued. From her view, this item was clearly an imitation so it baffled her.

How can someone as well learned in history as Morris fall for this?

Thankfully the inquisitor had more brains than to blurt that out before Duncan. Exactly then, Nina had finished checking the form and handed it back to Heidi: “I finished filling it out. Can you see what the problem is?”

“I’ve done reading it while you were filling the page out, including the small, subtle changes in your expression during the act.” Heidi stored the paper and said bluntly, “You have a psychological trauma for many years? Has a lot of recent stress in your life caused it to resurface? Your strange dream eased up in the past two days because of the stress letting up… or did it get shifted somewhere else?”

Nina couldn’t help but widen her eyes due to how much the doctor picked up. Then subconsciously, the girl glanced in her uncle’s direction, her face a little hesitant due to the subject.

“We need a quiet and private environment for further spiritual relief and release,” Heidi said, looking up at Duncan. “Of course, this will first require the consent of your guardian and Miss Nina’s own cooperation.”

“Go upstairs,” Duncan nodded and looked at Nina, “is that okay with you?”

“I’m fine with that.” Nina nodded very obediently and without objection. However, the tension in her eyes remained, which didn’t go unnoticed by the doctor’s keen observation.

“Don’t worry Nina, it’s just a simple mental relaxation technique. You have nothing to worry about because there’s nothing wrong with you. Only a little stress and anxiety that everyone has.” Heidi gave off an aura of reassurance and confidence that easily elevated the tension, “I don’t think we will need any of my tools today. I’ll start by asking you a few questions.”

Nina was completely relieved now. She nodded to Duncan before being led up to the second floor by Heidi.

Finally, only Duncan and the Miss Inquisitor remain sitting across from each other at the counter while Shirley remained hidden behind the shelves.

Today was the first time the ghost captain had met this lady in person after he left a mark on her by chance. He could perceive his mark growing stronger and stronger due to the close proximity, a sign that the flame inside Vanna’s soul was being replenished.

After realizing this, Duncan consciously controlled the growth of that imprint – he did not want this mark to be detected by the mysterious goddess behind her, which would cause him to lose this special “node”.

While the ghost captain was curious about the status of a nun in this city, Vanna was actually also curious about this “Mr. Duncan” sitting across from herself.

Without question, she was indeed here to accompany Heidi today. However, there’s also another reason: there are too many suspicious points about the museum fire.

Theoretically, it would be impossible to extinguish a fire that quickly. Heidi also saw a projection of a suspected sun fragment. Then there’s Duncan, an ordinary person who rushed into a fire to save others without getting hurt in the slightest. Vanna didn’t have tangible evidence to connect the clues together, but her intuition pointed toward this antique store.

“Mr. Duncan,” Vanna broke the silence first with a calm expression, “I have something I want to know about the fire in the museum, can I?”

“Of course,” Duncan nodded calmly, “I was on the scene at the time and should be able to provide some information.”

“Thank you for your cooperation,” Vanna nodded slightly. “When you rushed in to save everyone, the fire in the museum was still burning, right?”

“That’s right,” Duncan nodded without hesitation because he didn’t know how much information the inquisitor in front of him had. A little bit of truth linked to some omitted details. “There was a lot of fire, especially in the direction of the corridor leading to the main exhibition hall. Almost all of it was burning.”

“But you ended up coming out unscathed,” Vanna asked, “can you tell me what happened after you entered the museum?”

Duncan showed a contemplating face, and after two or three seconds of silence, he said unsurely: “I also think it’s incredible that I can come out alive… But the fire in the museum suddenly died down, can you imagine that? It was not extinguished by the water gun outside, nor was it extinguished after the combustible material was burned, rather the fire itself just disappeared all of a sudden. Even the smoke was gone…”

He appeared amazed as he recited the lie in his voice, stretching out his hand to gesture here and there: “This must be the blessing of the goddess, right?”

As soon as he finished that sentence, he heard a commotion from Shirley’s side – it was the girl accidentally knocking down a wooden carving in the corner.

“Be careful!” Duncan immediately turned his head and shouted like a real store owner reminding his employees, “The base of that thing has been dropped by me more than once so it’s just glue holding it together. Don’t let it shatter!”

“…… The goddess watches over everyone in the city-state,” Vanna’s expression subtly changed for the worse, her eyes meeting Duncan’s, “I can see that you really are… an honest person.”

Duncan’s expression was serious and calm: “That is of course, we can’t be in this business unless we are honest.”