Deep Sea Embers.

Chapter 500 A calm day

Frost, in the dome office of the city-state consul, Tirian was standing in front of the mirror, carefully arranging the medals and ribbons on his chest.

That one-eyed face is still stern, even a little frightening, but the brand-new consul uniform and those shining medals have transformed this sternness into a trustworthy majesty to a certain extent—at this moment, the city is A majestic consul is needed.

Tirian exhaled softly, and turned to look across the domed office.

Two undead sailors are hanging the flag of the new city-state on the wall, and beside the flag, a line of powerful words is still as deep as half a century ago beside the gate:
"Let as many people as possible survive"

Tiri looked at the words quietly, and after a long time, he nodded slightly, and walked to the large desk not far away - there is still a short period of time before the formal activities start, and he can still use this time to recall , Sort out the process to go later, or calm down your emotions.

The complex lens group placed on the table started to operate by itself, and the surface of the crystal ball in the center of the lens group glowed slightly. Lucrecia's figure emerged from the dim light, looking up and down at Tirian.

"This dress suits you very well," said the "Sea Witch" in a black dress. "It goes well with the blindfold."

Tirian tugged at the buttons near the neckline, and squinted at his sister in the crystal ball: "Are you here to tease me?"

"I'm complimenting you from the bottom of my heart," Lucrezia said earnestly, "It's been many years since you have maintained your image so seriously—the pirate's rough and intentionally intimidating attire is actually not suitable for you at all. "

"I may have to maintain this image for a long time in the future, until a more suitable consul appears, or my father has other arrangements." Tirian said this and paused. "Sooner or later, I will miss those free and easy people." day."

"At least not today," Lucrezia said with a smile on her lips, "Well, how does it feel to be sworn in as the consul of a city-state? I heard that you will go on a parade in a car to show yourself to citizens?"

"The tour part is to calm people's hearts and make people believe that order has been re-established, and there are still people at the top of the city-state who are taking responsibility-although I don't like this part very much, but it is necessary," Tirian said, "As for becoming the consul a feeling of……"

He stopped, shook his head after a while and continued: "I don't feel much, because the work handover and team building of the government affairs department have already been carried out, and I have been busy as a consul until now. , just a 'process' for the public."

"Really? I wish you a smooth process, brother," Lucrezia laughed, and suddenly called out many, many years ago, when the two were called in their childhood, and then she paused for a while, her expression Seriously, "How are you preparing for what your father ordered?"

"I have drafted several secret letters to other city-states, but the details still need to be worked out-to convey warnings, to make them aware of the seriousness of the situation, and to avoid ambiguity, and to avoid redundant or excessive actions by other city-states. Frankly speaking, this kind of paperwork is much more difficult than leading a fleet to fight the children of the deep sea or other pirates."

"If you want me to say, you should make the matter clear and serious. Anyway, those who can become consuls are smart people. At least they should have enough smart people under them. They know how to deal with it. You just give them Mind you, it's not like teaching them how to build an 'early warning mechanism' like a nanny," Lucrezia said casually, "I'm already preparing to contact the Explorers' Association—ha, I don't know what they will have when the time comes reaction."

"A warning to the entire civilized world from the Lost Fleet," Tirian said with emotion, "The last time something like this happened was a century ago."

"...Yes, when my father first discovered that the border collapse phenomenon appeared in the 'inner territory'," Lucrezia said quietly, "I still remember the bells ringing in the church at that time, and the newspapers in every city-state They are all discussing the warning from the great adventurer Duncan Abu Normar."

"After so many years, he looked at the 'border' of this world again, and history seemed to return to the original point—perhaps in a sense, the Lost Country had never lost its way, and its century in the subspace was just Some kind of voyage in a wider dimension beyond our comprehension, now it returns with the light of a new course, like the sentence left by the mad poet Pullman, 'They could go straight in one direction, Until you go around the back of the world and return to the world from an amazing angle'..."

Tirian softly recited this famous absurd poem in history, and slowly stood up from behind his desk. The sound of the band was faintly heard outside the dome office, and the sound of footsteps came from the direction of the corridor—the time has come, it should be Let the city meet its new consul.

"Come on, bro—and don't forget my spirit lens."

"Don't worry, I will remember this time."

……

The cold wind blows through the sparse bushes beside the road, through the dark carved fence, through the silent tombstones and the empty mortuary tables on both sides of the path, and finally gradually dissipates in the depths of the cemetery.

Two figures are walking slowly along the path in the cemetery.

An exceptionally tall and burly figure, wearing a pure black overcoat and a wide-brimmed top hat of the same pure black, the skin outside the clothes is covered with layers of bandages, which is daunting to look at.

The other wore a plain nun's black dress, was blindfolded, and had long brown hair hanging down.

"I thought you would attend the inauguration ceremony of the Tirian Consul, even in this avatar," Agatha walked slowly forward with Duncan, and said in a low voice, "I will arrange a suitable seat for you It's not difficult."

"I don't show up, he's in good shape, and if I do show up, he might get nervous," Duncan said. "After the team passes by here, I just say hello to him from a distance."

While speaking, he raised his head and looked at the rather deserted cemetery path and the empty mortuary tables on both sides of the path.

"...I really miss this place. In my memory, it was originally full of coffins."

"In a special period, we had to temporarily change the process of sending the spirits. During this period, the corpses should be sent to the incinerator as soon as possible. The silent monk comforted and sent them off directly next to the stove. Instead, the cemetery seemed quiet."

Duncan hummed, and then stopped suddenly when he was about to reach the end of the path.

The modest caretaker's hut appeared before him—and there was a special guest in front of the hut.

A 12-year-old girl, wearing a thick white winter coat and a furry hat, bustled around in front of the caretaker's hut like a tightly wrapped snowball, holding a big broom almost as tall as herself , trying to clear the snow in front of the house.

"That's Annie?" Duncan turned his head slightly and asked softly.

"It's her—except for the first few days when the martial law started, she would come here every day during school break," Agatha said softly, "the guards here are gone, and new guards have not been arranged yet. The cemetery is temporarily closed. The nearest church is also in charge, and she is here... There is no harm, so the church tacitly allows her to come and go here at will."

"Is there your tacit consent?"

"……Um."

The girl sweeping snow in front of the hut finally noticed the movement in the direction of the path.

She turned her head and looked at the two figures not far away in surprise. She was stunned for a few seconds, then threw the broom in her hand aside, and ran over happily.

"Sister Gatekeeper! And Uncle Duncan!"

Annie happily greeted the two acquaintances in front of her, but she seemed to suddenly remember something after shouting, and quickly stood up again, looking at Agatha: "Mom said, you have to call the gatekeeper, or the archbishop... "

"It doesn't matter, just call it whatever you like." Agatha laughed, and reached out to touch Annie's hat. "Is it cold?"

"It's not cold," Annie shook her head, and then she grabbed Agatha's hand, pointing with the other hand to a hut not far away, "Your hand is too cold, go inside and warm yourself by the fire—I And made herbal tea!"

Agatha wanted to decline subconsciously, but when she saw that Duncan was already walking towards the hut, she was stunned for a moment, and had no choice but to keep up.

In the neat and simple caretaker's hut, the fire is booming, the firewood is crackling in the hearth, and the samovar next to it is steaming with the fragrance and bitterness of herbs.

Annie poured two cups of hot tea, and stuffed the warm cups into the hands of Duncan and Agatha: "This is for the patrolling church guards, they will come over in a while, you... If you don't drink, It's good to warm your hands."

The girl seemed to realize belatedly until now that the "sister gatekeeper" in front of her was already a corpse.

Agatha didn't care. She thanked her and held the cup that was gradually getting hot.

"Is it warmer?" Anne asked again.

It's cold, the whole world is cold, the cup is cold, and so is the fire.

Agatha smiled gently: "It's much warmer."

Immediately afterwards, she noticed Duncan looking around from time to time.

"What are you looking at?" she asked suspiciously.

"I think this is a good place to 'place'," Duncan said to Agatha, looking around the room, "after all, if it's only used to 'place' an avatar, the house on Oak Street looks a bit wasted."

Agatha froze for a moment, and gradually came to her senses, with a look of surprise on her face: "You...could it be..."

"The Lost Country will continue its long voyage, and my incarnation that remains in the city also needs a place to settle down," Duncan said lightly, "You don't have to worry about new guards, this will save you a lot of effort."

(End of this chapter)