Ashes Of Deep Sea

Chapter 270: Chapter 274: Pleasant Meeting

In that instant, Duncan ran through all the similar charms he had recently sold in his mind. After a long period of reflection, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The only charms he recalled giving as special gifts were the two he gave to Morris. The rest were merely ordinary goods, and after such a long time, not a single buyer of the charms had reported any unusual phenomena.

After his sigh of relief, Duncan couldn’t help but fall into contemplation.

Although the reason for the charms’ change was still unclear, the news Fenna brought undoubtedly served as a wake-up call. It deepened his understanding and mental preparedness for the “strange phenomena” that might occur around him.

From now on… it seemed he couldn’t casually give things away or readily make promises.

Duncan’s brief silence also caught Fenna’s attention. She looked at him curiously, “Did you remember something?”

“…After thinking carefully about the recent period, nothing seems amiss,” Duncan shook his head, speaking with a calm face and sincere tone. “Could it be that Heidi was mistaken?”

“That’s unlikely. She’s a seasoned psychiatrist with a fair understanding of the Transcendent realm and is very aware of her own mental state,” Fenna shook her head. “However, the issue with the charm could indeed lie elsewhere… Perhaps, it’s just a Transcendent item that got mixed in with ordinary goods, or maybe it happened during the production process…”

Fenna spoke slowly, but it didn’t seem like she was explaining to Duncan; rather, it seemed like she was hypnotizing or convincing herself.

As a Judge, she shouldn’t have been negligent about potential Transcendent incidents, but her focus eventually shifted away from the charm issue.

The gentle sound of ocean waves echoed in her mind, bringing wave after wave of relaxation, which gradually made her forget her initial purpose for being there.

Fenna looked up, silently surveying the antique shop.

Sherry, the girl named Sherry, had returned to the shop and was carefully placing items on the shelves while watching from the corner of her eye.

Nina was also helping in the shop.

Alice, the blonde-haired woman, was bustling around by a small stove.

Mr. Duncan was sitting behind the counter, his face bearing a friendly smile.

The sound of bustling traffic on the street outside the shop seemed distant, and the kettle inside the shop was gradually emitting a sharp sound; the corner of a nearby shelf seemed to have shadows wriggling and jumping, and the staircase leading to the second floor stretched into an infinitely dark height.

The entire building seemed to be filled with faint whispering sounds.

“The tea is ready,” Alice’s voice came from nearby. She brought over a cup of tea and placed it on the counter, pushing it towards Fenna, “Please enjoy.”

Fenna silently picked up the tea cup, brought it to her lips, and took a sip. Then she chewed — swallowing the scalding tea and leaves expressionlessly.

Duncan was utterly astounded when he saw this — it was the first time he had seen someone swallow Alice’s tea so calmly. Miss Fenna indeed lived up to being Plunder’s foremost beauty and warrior; such feats were beyond ordinary people.

After a while, noticing that Fenna was just looking around without intending to speak, Duncan finally broke the silence, “Is there anything else besides the charm?”

“Ah, sorry, I got distracted for a moment,” Fenna seemed to snap back to reality, then suddenly coughed violently a few times as though she had choked on something. She frowned, glanced at the empty tea cup in front of her, and shook her head, “No, I just came here to inquire about this.”

“If you’re interested in the charm, I can give you one,” Duncan smiled as he pushed forward a charm he had just taken down, “You can study it gradually.”

Fenna looked at the “crystal” charm in front of her with some surprise, then asked after a moment, “How much?”

“I’ll give it to you, it’s not something valuable anyway. I usually just give it away as a free gift,” Duncan said with a smirk. “Or do I need to craft an impressive product description for you? Do you want the historical artifact version or the health and wellness version?”

Fenna, stunned, asked, “Is…is this how you sell things here?”

“Honest business,” Duncan spread his hands. “If we’re talking prices, the charm itself costs eight Sola, with a health and wellness theory it’s sixteen, and with a historical story, twenty-two. If you pay twenty-five, I can include a black walnut wood box—guaranteed not to fade for six months, and I can also provide a two hundred Sola receipt.”

Raised in the Upper City District from a young age, and having joined the church as a minor and fought heretics with a sword as an adult, Fenna had never encountered such things in her twenty-something years of life. She felt a bit bewildered: “A… two hundred Sola receipt?”

“It can be used as a gift for colleagues,” Duncan said seriously, “Or for young people to give to their lovers…”

Fenna thought it over earnestly and shook her head, “Then I might not need it—but I can’t just take your item for free.”

Saying this, she fished around in her pocket and pulled out two ten Sola bills, placing them on the counter.

“The original price is eight solars—the rest is a token of my appreciation for your cooperation, and for the tea earlier.”

Duncan wanted to say more when he saw Fenna standing up and picking up the crystal pendant.

“It was a pleasant meeting,” she slowly smiled, then suddenly spoke in an unusually solemn tone and expression, while lifting her hand to wear the crystal pendant around her neck, “I look forward to our next meeting.”

Duncan felt the woman had suddenly become somewhat strange, unconsciously furrowing his brow, but in the end he said nothing more, just politely nodding, “Very well, you’re always welcome to return.”

Fenna nodded slightly and turned to leave.

She walked straight through the shop, exited the front door, and stopped on the open ground in front of the antique store.

A series of beeps from a horn suddenly sounded from nearby.

Blinking, Fenna noticed the car parked on the roadside, remembered today’s arrival of the Storm Cathedral in Prand, and hurried over to open the door and get into the car.

“You finally came out,” the young subordinate in the car started the vehicle quickly and spoke, “It’s been almost an hour and a half, and I was about to go in if you hadn’t come out…”

“An hour and a half?” Fenna was surprised. “I thought… only forty minutes had passed.”

While speaking, she gently tapped her forehead, feeling as though she had forgotten something, and couldn’t help but mutter softly, “I left in such a hurry, it seems I didn’t even say goodbye.”

“You can come again next time, the shop is still here,” the young subordinate said offhandedly, then, through the rearview mirror, he noticed the crystal charm on Fenna’s neck and was somewhat surprised, “Is that a new pendant you bought? It’s unexpected, you don’t usually buy these.”

“Pendant?” Fenna looked down at her chest, taking two seconds before speaking hesitantly, “Ah, yes… I bought it.”

She shook her head, seeming to fully awake.

“Enough of that, drive faster, head straight to the port.”

…

Inside the antique shop, Sherry was the first to run to the counter, looking back uneasily at the direction Fenna had left, then turned to Duncan, “What did that Judge come for? Was she here to arrest me?”

“You’re overthinking it,” Duncan looked at the uneasy girl, his expression helpless, “She was investigating something else, it has nothing to do with you.”

“Oh, as long as she wasn’t here for me, that’s fine,” Sherry breathed a sigh of relief, but then couldn’t resist adding, “She seemed strange today, her words were a bit off.”

“Maybe work pressure is too high,” Duncan casually said as he stood up from behind the counter, “after all, her superior is coming.”

Nina also approached upon hearing Duncan’s words, quickly reacting, “Her superior… are you referring to the news that was on the newspaper before? Storm Cathedral?”

Duncan smiled and nodded, his gaze sweeping over Nina, Sherry, and Alice, suddenly asking, “Interested?”

“Interested?” Sherry paused, then realizing what he meant, her expression turned to shock, “Wait, you mean to say we’re going to…”

“Today’s business is unlikely to be much—most will either go to the cathedral for mass or to the port to spectate. Sitting around here is the same as doing nothing,” Duncan spoke as though it were obvious, “Let’s go see. The arrival of the Storm Cathedral isn’t an event that happens every year.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Nina jumped up excitedly, “Yes, let’s!”

On the side, although Alice didn’t know what was happening, seeing Nina’s excitement, she also started clapping, only Sherry had an expression like she had seen a ghost, “But… but… but that’s the Storm Cathedral! Won’t something happen if we go…”

Duncan looked at her with a half-smile, “Like what?”

Sherry looked up at Duncan, thought for a moment, then vigorously shook her head, “Nothing at all!”

Duncan nodded in satisfaction.

Then he lifted his gaze, his eyes moving beyond the streets outside, beyond the city districts, aiming towards Prand’s port.

And in his Transcendent perception that spanned the entire City-State, he could already feel an overwhelming presence… “being,” gradually approaching Prand.

The Storm Cathedral had arrived.