Deep Sea Embers

All that remained was a clear sky, a normal city-state, and beings who had just experienced a nightmare. Oh, right, there’s also the continuous ringing of the church bells, but instead of fighting against a reality invasion, these chimes now sounded like some farewell to send off the infamous ghost ship.

This startled Vanna, who quickly turned to Bishop Valentine after seeing the elderly man coming over with the scepter in hand.

“I feel like I had a very long, long dream…”

“You should know it wasn’t a dream,” the lady replies.

“I mean, I just dreamed about twenty rabbits in dresses dancing in circles around me…”

After that remark, Vanna indeed looked startled: “Then you are indeed dreaming. Maybe that’s the process of recovering your spirit… Do you have to tell such a bad joke now?”

“But this can make you recover faster and get back to work from the mess in your head,” the old bishop said indifferently, his expression calm as if he had just told a great joke. Then he lowered his head and looked toward the church square, “We have a lot of things to do afterward, and this time, it is not just a White Oak that encountered the Vanished on the ocean.”

Vanna followed the old bishop’s gaze and saw that the soldiers had fallen into dazed confusion as they’d just awakened from a big dream. Sure, the city returned to normal, but the memory of their experience remains stuck in the polluted history and battle. Trying to bring them back to normal would take a lot of work from the doctors.

Valentine’s voice continued to sound next to Vanna: “… Let the guards restore order first, and then start investigating the current situation around the entire city. We need to confirm whether everyone has ‘returned’ and what is missing and what is added…”

Valentine paused and met the young inquisitor’s gaze beside him.

“And prepare to report to the Grand Storm Cathedral. Vanna, the most challenging paperwork of your life is coming.”

Vanna’s breathing choked like she was ready to suffocate at the thought.

A catastrophe had just passed, but not everything was over. When everyone survives… the real investigation has only just begun for the authorities.

……

The sun was just right as the heavy door to the cathedral creaked open, and out came Heidi with a somewhat dazed expression. She glanced around the street under the clear sky as usual, but her mind remained on the previous horror of that hellfire.

How did it end?

All she remembered was that a ghost ship rose from the fire and cruised through the city-state. During this, her consciousness kept drifting between reality and illusion before the ghost ship’s course crushed the false one into dust.

Heidi still didn’t understand any of this, but the slight heat coming her chest wouldn’t stop nagging for her attention. It’s the cheap necklace her father bought from that antique shop in the lower city. Bringing it up for a closer examination, she found it weird and glowing for some reason before it abruptly cracked and shattered.

Heidi was startled, but soon her stunned thoughts were interrupted by the noise from around the square.

The guards were putting order back in place, and the soldiers from the army had started roll calling under their commander’s supervision. Some priests were also running up to Bishop Valentine for orders, while most were busy placing wards wherever they could.

“…… As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw that thing floating over my head as if sailing in some transparent water…”

“It’s scary to watch! Those flames grazed the spire of the cathedral! But it seems to have left just like that…”

“It was the Vanished, no doubt … Don’t doubt me, I definitely saw the vanished!”

A loud voice shouted in the square, swearing that the ghost ship that had just passed through the city-state was the legendary ship of legends. Heidi immediately looked toward that voice and saw a familiar old captain.

“Captain Lawrence,” Heidi walked over and greeted her patient talking to a few civilians, “are you okay?”

“Me? I’m perfectly fine, though I can’t figure out what’s going on,” the old captain smiled back when he saw Heidi, “It’s good to see that you are safe and sound, Miss Doctor. The raining fire from before was too scary!”

Heidi casually nodded before asking, “You said the ship that left is… the Vanished?”

“Yes, it must be,” Lawrence nodded immediately, “I’m all too familiar with it! I’ve seen this scene before!”

Next to him, a citizen who had previously taken refuge in the cathedral couldn’t help but speak: “You’ve seen it before?”

“Yes! Why do you think I’ve been isolated within the church for so long?” Lawrence’s eyes widened, and then he turned to Heidi, “I know you can speak to the upper echelons of the church. I’ll give you a suggestion. Go back and check what is missing in the city-state. The Vanished usually takes something with it when it passes by… I have experience!”

Heidi listened in confusion and nodded equally as lost by the end of it. But after a while, some memories did return to her.

What’s the situation on Father’s side now?

……

Morris didn’t feel very good right now. He was dizzy, and his stomach churched with discomfort as if he had drunk an immense amount of wine. Simply said, he wanted to vomit but didn’t dare to.

Why? Because the mops and buckets in front of him had invisible death glares on their bodies, and Miss Alice next to him was also showing signs of slapping him if he tried.

In any case, Morris was sure he was seasick after being brought over to the Vanished by the dove.

Meanwhile, Ai was roaming about on the deck with a mountain of fries in her possession after hauling a mountain of potatoes aboard.

On another note, Shirley was sitting nearby with a dark hound next to her, the latter trembling profusely after being summoned to this side.

Recalling what he had witnessed and experienced thus far, Morris was sure he’s achieved what scholars could only ever dream of. He not only boarded the legendary ship, he also witnessed the incredible power of the green flames transforming a burning world back to a normal one. No matter which one it was, that’s a feat worthy of being in the history books.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Morris understood he mustn’t get too excited. As an elder, caring for his health was necessary after surviving one catastrophe.

Exactly then, a voice suddenly came from the other side. It was the dark hound known as Dog: “Ol-Ol-Old Sir, yo-yo-you see… am I-I a cultured dog like this…?”

“Oh… frankly, I don’t think a dog needs to show off his upbringing by reading the newspaper. But you are a dark hound, so I can’t judge your standards according to human logic.” Morris was startled by the question and felt weird that he even needed to dabble in this topic, “There are two issues to begin with. First, the newspaper is upside down in your paws, and second… why are you stuttering?”

Now it’s Dog to be startled. He quickly swapped the newspaper around before replying: “I-I… I don’t stutter. I have… right… I’m a little nervous…”

“Dog, I don’t think you need to be nervous like this,” Shirley muttered, “and what’s the point of reading a newspaper? Mr. Duncan already knows that we are both illiterate…”

When she uttered that sentence, Alice promptly raised a hand in support: “Me too!”

Shirley gawked her mouth in surprise, while Morris only facepalmed himself due to the strange conversation.

For the first time in this old scholar’s life, he didn’t have words to describe this outrageous scene.