Deep Sea Embers

Slightly hasty footsteps broke the tranquility in the cathedral. Bishop Valentine, who was distributing matters to the assistants on the side, heard the sound and raised his head to see the figure of Vana walking towards him.

The bishop waved the deacons and attendants beside him to step aside temporarily, and his eyes fell on Vanna: "I thought you would rest at home for two more days."

"Unfortunately, it seems that I don't have this luxury," Fanjiao shook his head, his expression a little serious, "What happened? I saw many priests in a hurry, and I also heard that a group of ascetic monks were sent in Does the Star Observation Well... have anything to do with today’s sunrise?”

"Yes," Valentine nodded with a solemn expression, "Today's sunrise is fifteen minutes later than usual - and it is not a delay in dawn caused by local abnormal celestial phenomena. I have received transmissions from other city-states and maritime contact nodes. If you come, you can send a message, and this abnormal situation has been observed in all parts of the world.”

"...This world was illuminated by the 'World Creation' for an extra fifteen minutes..." Fanna frowned a little, "Is there any damage report now?" "

"No, just a delay of dawn will not cause any problems. The fifteen minutes of night is still within the scope of the city-state's protection." The old bishop shook his head. "What is really disturbing is that the same phenomenon has been observed all over the world. , which shows that the problem does not lie on the surface of the earth or the sea.

"...It's because the operation of Vision 001 itself has changed." Vanna certainly knew what the old bishop was worried about. "There was no announcement at the Tomb of the Unknown King?"

Valentine shook his head lightly.

"There is no movement, so this may be just a small..."accident", which does not involve the essential change of Vision 001, but...I am afraid that most people will not let go of this. We must at least see today's The sun sets normally, and I feel a little relieved when I see the sun rises normally the next day.”

Fanna was silent, and after a moment she asked: "Aren't ordinary people in the city affected?"

"There hasn't been much fluctuation yet - some people didn't notice the fifteen-minute delay, and other citizens who noticed it probably didn't realize the seriousness of this matter. I have sent a letter to the Government Affairs Department to let them know. They will evaluate whether subsequent announcements of a comforting and guiding nature are needed.

come out. This incident has not yet had such a big impact, but the official's overly positive explanation may cause people to feel uneasy - especially since we have just experienced such a huge disaster. "

Fanna listened silently to the old bishop's analysis without saying anything. As a judge who focused most of her energy on combat tasks, she knew that she was not professional in this area of ​​affairs, but she only showed her concern from time to time. The thoughtful look on her face showed that her mood was not as calm as it seemed.

Valentin looked at Vanna who looked worried: "What are you thinking about?"

"Just some emotion," Fan Na sighed softly and shook his head, "Every time an extraordinary disaster occurs, we will become more and more aware of how fragile the world we live in today is... city-states, the Holy See, ocean-going ships, we lead Everything we are proud of seems to be built on a thin and fragile ice surface. If any crack is not discovered in time, we will disappear from this world...

"This is exactly what it means for us to always be vigilant and strong," Valentin said solemnly, looking into the eyes of the young judge, "Fanna, you rarely express emotions like this...what happened? "

Vanna fell silent. After a few seconds, she seemed to have made up her mind and said to Bishop Valentine: "There are two things. The first one... I met the "Captain Duncan" again yesterday. . "

Valentin's eyes became serious at first, but after a moment, he sighed softly: "Actually, it's expected." He paused, and then said: "We still have a lot of regrets about the ghost captain leaving a mark on you. There is no way to brand him, and even the entire city-state of Pland may have established contact with that captain. It will be a matter of time before he comes to you... What did he tell you? "

"...mostly just small talk." Fanna said in a strange tone.

"...chatting?" Valentine finally raised his eyebrows in surprise this time, "You mean, Homeless?"

'Duncan, the captain of the ship, the shadow returned from the subspace, the one who reversed the historical pollution and took away the sun fragments, came to you specifically to chat with you? "

"I knew you would react this way - I can't believe it either. To be honest, if he told me he had a plan to conquer the world, I would believe it, but..." Fanna sighed, and then continued Within ten minutes of coming down, she told the old man in front of her everything about her conversation with Duncan last night.

Valentin rubbed his forehead and listened to Vanna's narration. This old master, who had never wavered in the face of doomsday crises, now felt troubled and tired that could not be concealed.

But after a brief look of trouble, he still raised his head and said in a complicated tone: "Fanna, actually I have been thinking about a problem since last night."

"what is the problem?"

"...You have had two direct communications with Captain Duncan. In your opinion, does that 'Ghost Captain'... look like an invader from subspace?" "

"You...what do you mean?" Fanna's face changed slightly and she asked cautiously, "The Lost Homeland's fall into subspace and its return is a clear matter.

"I'm not doubting this. Of course I know the record of the Lost Home's return from subspace. It's just that if you carefully recall the memories, what should be the state of a person who is completely affected by subspace, and... the real subspace invader, Is it possible to talk to people sensibly without causing uncontrolled contamination in the process?"

This time, Fanna hesitated. She could not respond as easily as before. She hesitated for several seconds before speaking: "Judging from all the cases and the basic understanding of subspace...this is impossible.

"When conducting mental examinations on people who have suffered from deep pollution, there is the simplest and most effective judgment standard - those who can speak rationally can be saved, at least they have not been completely transformed," Bishop Valentine pointed out He nodded, "The pollution in subspace is very deadly, and for this reason, history has

There have never been subspace polluters or invaders who could maintain their sanity in history. Madness is their indelible characteristic, and we...maybe we can also apply this simple criterion to the Lost Home and its captain.

"...You mean that "Captain Duncan" is most likely to retain his humanity?"

"Or regained humanity," Bishop Valentine corrected the subtle difference. "In the early records, there are clear witness reports of the indiscriminate attack by the Lost Duo and Captain Duncan falling into madness. At that time, he was obviously Meets the standards of a subspace invader."

Fanna thought about it, and the more she thought about it, the more unbelievable the expression on her face became; "Is this possible? After being completely transformed by subspace pollution... I can still regain my humanity, this..."

"If this is impossible, how do you explain Captain Duncan who was "chatting" with you?" Bishop Valentine interrupted Vanna softly, then he paused and reminded, "Don't forget that 'Law Zero' "

Fan Ning was startled, and then he reacted: "There will always be anomalies and visions that do not meet the cognition or exceed the definition..."

The cathedral fell silent for a while, and this silence lasted for an unknown amount of time before Valentine suddenly said: "But we still can't treat the Lost Home and its captain as harmless based on this, do you understand?

"It is returning from subspace after all. Even if the captain regains his humanity, it's hard to say from what perspective he is looking at us at this moment...'Mortals,

"And we can't make hasty judgments ourselves. We need to report all the information we currently have to His Majesty the Pope to see how she views this matter.

Fanna's expression was calm, and she nodded seriously immediately: "Of course, I still know this very well.

Then she paused, with a strange expression on her face: "Talking about this kind of thing in this sacred church is really... stressful. If it had been in the past, I would have labeled myself a heretic ” is defined. "

Valentine just sighed noncommittally, and then asked: "You just said there are two things. Besides seeing the ghost captain, what is the second thing?"

This time, Fanna was silent for a longer time. She seemed to be very confused.

After a while, under the gaze of the icon of the storm goddess Gemona, I finally mustered up the courage to say solemnly to the old bishop: "I...should confess."

"Repent?" Valentine looked at her in surprise, "Why do you want to repent?"

"I was shaken - although I am still devout, I can't avoid my wavering," Vanna took a deep breath and confessed simply, "After the fire, I had questions about my faith. .

She told her doubts about the goddess and the wavering of her faith. Except for concealing the secret that her uncle told her, she did not hide anything.

The old bishop did not speak for a long time;

Vanna looked at the old man's face with some anxiety, but she found that she could not judge Valentine's attitude this time.

The old bishop seemed to be deep in thought, hesitant to speak, but without any instructions.

After an unknown amount of time, Fanna heard the other party's voice reaching her ears.

"Fanna, you came to me to confess...then who should I confess to?"

A hint of surprise finally appeared in Fanna's eyes.

"Now, there are two people who are wavering in their faith in the Great Cathedral." The old bishop turned around and stared at the icon of the Storm Goddess quietly, with a strange calmness in his voice, "Fanna, you can feel it. ?"

"What?"

"...the goddess is still blessing us."

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