Chapter 118: Chapter 122: The Figure at the Edge of the Square
After finding out the location of the nearby rescue point, Heidi covered her head and left on her own, but Duncan had no intention of dealing with the “official personnel” there—not least because he now had Sherry by his side, a girl capable of summoning Profound Demons who clearly didn’t want to deal with the Deep Sea Church.
As Duncan watched Heidi’s figure gradually fade into the distance, he sighed gently, then turned to look at Nina, “Are you hurt?”
“No,” Nina was still somewhat frightened, having been subconsciously gripping Duncan’s sleeve all this time. Only now did she suddenly let go, and then, somewhat surprised, she looked at Duncan, “You haven’t said yet, why were you at the museum?”
“I happened to be nearby on business,” Duncan said with a smile, “and then suddenly I heard the museum was on fire, so I came to rescue you.”
Before she could say anything else, he reached out and ruffled the girl’s hair, comforting the frightened Nina, “It’s okay, it’s all over now, and you’re not hurt.”
“…I’m not a child anymore!” Nina shook her head, then her gaze landed on Sherry standing beside her. Just as she was about to speak, a strange expression suddenly appeared on her face as if she had suddenly recalled something dissonant; she sized up the girl in front of her, “Sherry… why do I suddenly feel… you seem a bit…”
A second ago, Sherry’s attention had been entirely on Duncan. Seeing Nina’s reaction, her face instantly showed visible panic. Her eyes slightly widened as she glanced again at Duncan, her expression now filled with even more fear.
Seeing the change in her expression, Duncan was struck by a thought, for the girl’s expression was exactly like the time she’d been caught fare-evading on a bus. He thoughtfully glanced at Nina and then briefly recalled his dealings with Sherry and the identity she was now assuming—
It was known that both times he had interacted with Sherry, Nina had been at school. It was also known that Sherry’s true character was extremely nasty and brash, certainly not that of a “quiet good girl.” Additionally, it was known that one of the Profound Demon’s abilities was to disrupt normal human judgment to maintain a disguise…
And her current “identity” was a new friend Nina had met at school, a persona full of holes.
Duncan stroked his chin, placed his hand on Nina’s shoulder, and, nodding towards Sherry, asked, “Do you really know her?”
“Yes, her name is Sherry, and she’s a new friend of mine, but…” Nina furrowed her brow, “but for some reason, I suddenly can’t remember when she started showing up at school…”
Duncan turned and quietly stared at Sherry, who was now trying her best to be unnoticed, and after a long time softly spoke, “You still have a chance to explain yourself, or I might…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Sherry burst forth in a rapid flurry, “I’m sorry I was wrong I just wanted to investigate things so I sneaked into the school but I really haven’t hurt Nina and just now at the museum I even helped block the wood from hitting her you really have to believe me I really didn’t know she was related to you I don’t grasp the interests of such great figures please just let me…”
Duncan hadn’t even managed to speak the rest when he was stunned by the tearful outburst of this girl, his first thought being that this girl had an exceptional talent, perhaps usable as a sparring partner for the Goat-Head…
Then he cleared his throat, interrupting Sherry’s rapid speech, “Not a relative; she’s my niece.”
As he said this, his gaze also fell on the hands of Sherry.
There were traces of being scorched by flames, though under her astonishing healing power, only faint scars remained. It seemed she had indeed been injured in the museum.
If she wasn’t lying (and she probably didn’t dare), then she must have truly been trying to protect Nina.
Of course, Sherry didn’t know what Duncan was thinking, and at this moment, she was nearly in a state of mental blankness, “If you say she’s your niece then she must be…”
At this moment, Nina finally began to vaguely understand. She looked at her uncle in surprise, then at her “friend”, “Wait, you two… do you know each other? And Sherry, why did you…”
“Met by chance,” Duncan said lightly, not letting Sherry speak since it was uncertain what she might reveal in front of Nina, “It looks like we have a lot to talk about, don’t we, Sherry?”
Sherry was nearly crying, her face mournful as she looked at Duncan, “If you say so…”
“You say so.”
“Yes.”
“Uncle, don’t be so harsh on Sherry,” Nina was still confused, but she could see that her new friend, for some reason, was very afraid of her uncle, and that her uncle was not very kind to Sherry, which made her a bit uneasy but also somewhat puzzled, “My head is all muddled right now… Can someone explain to me what exactly is going on?”
“Let’s go home and talk slowly,” Duncan sighed softly, looked up to see the museum emitting plumes of smoke, then turned in the direction he had come from, “It’s too chaotic here, and you two with your dusty and dirty appearance need to hurry back and take a bath and change clothes.”
Sherry stammered, “Do I… do I have to come along too?”
Then she nodded vigorously without waiting for Duncan to speak, “You’re right!”
Duncan sighed, somewhat amused. It seemed that no matter what Sherry intended by approaching Nina, she would definitely be harmless in Nina’s vicinity from then on. Shaking his head, he prepared to take the girls and leave.
Just at that moment, his gaze swept across the edge of the museum square.
An elusive figure near the crowd at the edge of the square suddenly captured his attention.
He was a tall, thin male figure wearing a black coat, his back to this side, gazing in the direction of the fire. The style of his coat resembled a long trench coat, its lengthy hem almost concealing his entire body. The most bizarre aspect was the large black umbrella he was holding in this clear weather.
In calm and not excessively sunny weather, a tall, thin man wearing a trench coat and holding an umbrella while looking at a fire scene was a bit odd anywhere, yet many people were gathered at the edge of the square, and not one glanced toward the umbrella-man.
“Uncle?” Nina noticed Duncan had stopped and curiously looked in the direction he was gazing, “Is there something over there?”
“There’s a person holding an umbrella on a clear day, quite strange,” Duncan said casually.
“A person holding an umbrella?” Nina paused, “Where? I don’t see him…”
“I don’t see him either,” Sherry also rubbed her eyes and curiously followed Duncan’s gaze, “You might have seen it wrong…”
“None of you saw him?” Duncan frowned instantly. He glanced at Sherry and Nina, but when he returned his gaze to the direction of the square, the figure with the umbrella had somehow disappeared.
“Uncle?” Nina looked at Duncan with concern, “Are you feeling unwell from inhaling too much smoke earlier?”
“I’m fine, maybe I just ‘saw it wrong’.” To keep Nina from worrying, Duncan simply shook his head and spoke indifferently.
However, his gaze still lingered there, and before withdrawing his view, he gave one last profound glance in that direction.
If it were merely an eccentric umbrella carrier, it would be no significant matter.
But if it were a figure only he could see, that was a different story entirely.
He remembered that figure.
…
Fenna arrived near the Ocean Museum with a team of elite guards, but by the time she arrived, the unexpected fire had nearly ended.
A bedraggled Deep Sea Priest with several guards, fresh from rushing out of the fire, approached the Judge.
“The fire extinguished suddenly on its own,” said the Deep Sea Priest, after saluting Fenna, “but we didn’t find any trace of Transcendent power at the scene.”
“Extinguished on its own?” Fenna’s expression hardened upon hearing the priest’s report, “Did you lead the team into the fire based on some suspicion?”
“Among the civilians escaping the scene, many exhibited severe panic and hallucinations; I suspected Transcendent contamination in the museum,” the priest nodded, “but we found nothing upon searching… The only anomaly was the flame dying out spontaneously.”
At this, the priest made a gesture of prayer to the goddess and added, “But it is due to the fire dying down that my guards and I were able to get out unscathed.”
After pondering briefly, Fenna nodded slightly, “Alright, after the fire is completely out I will arrange for a thorough search of the museum to see if there are any signs of artifacts transforming…”
After giving these brief instructions, the young Judge lifted her head, her gaze sweeping over the civilians receiving aid and reassurance, as if searching for something in the crowd.
At that moment, a voice suddenly called from not far away, “Fenna! I’m here!”
Fenna looked up and saw a disheveled Heidi waving vigorously at her through the crowd.