Chapter 122: Chapter 126: What Did You See?
Watching Nina’s expression shift from shock and tension to pure excitement and curiosity within moments, Sherry couldn’t help but mutter softly, “This is beyond bravery already…”
However, Nina didn’t hear a word Sherry was muttering. Her attention was wholly captured by the dark mass of the Skeleton Hunting Dog in front of her. After jumping off her chair, she circled the beast twice, meticulously examining it from top to bottom—she was finally startled when she saw its hollow eye sockets filled with blood, but that was the extent of her scare.
“How awesome…” She repeated, even looking as though she wanted to reach out and touch the Skeleton Hunting Dog’s bony head, but at the last second, she withdrew her hand and looked up at Sherry, “This is the first time I’ve seen such a Transcendent being… What is the Skeleton Hunting Dog? A creature summoned by a spell? Or…”
“It’s a demon,” Sherry answered bluntly, as if trying to instill a sense of the dog’s danger in Nina, “The most dangerous kind of demon.”
Nina seemed a bit intimidated indeed. She probably hadn’t expected this seemingly polite, albeit ugly, creature to actually be a “demon,” her face full of disbelief. “It’s… a demon?”
“To be precise, a Profound Demon,” the Skeleton Hunting Dog said as it slightly lifted its head, its hollow eye sockets staring at Nina. “Miss, this might be your first time seeing a Profound Demon. Don’t let my presence give you the wrong impression of Profound Demons. My kin are diverse, yet they all share one common trait—they are particularly brutal and heartless…”
“Profound…” Nina paused, finally snapping out of the novelty and tension of encountering a Transcendent being for the first time, recalling what she had read in books, “Sherry, you…”
“Just as you see, I’m bound to a Profound Demon,” said Sherry, lifting her arm to show Nina the chain fused with her body, “which is why I don’t want people to know my secret. If the members of the Deep Sea Church knew, they wouldn’t hesitate to throw me into a fire, or perhaps into the Endless Sea.”
Sherry’s expression was solemn. Nina, perceiving something from her serious demeanor, gave Sherry a complex look and then glanced back at the Skeleton Hunting Dog: “… I’ve read in books that the Mysterious Deep Sea teems with frenzied evil creatures, remnants expelled from the body of The Saint, governed by chaos and madness from birth to extinction, but Mr. Skeleton Hunting Dog seems…”
“The Skeleton Hunting Dog is special,” Sherry said tersely. “Normal Profound Demons lack a heart and don’t comprehend human emotions, but the Skeleton Hunting Dog does—even though it doesn’t know why it has gone through such a change, this change makes it impossible for it to survive in the Mysterious Deep Sea.”
Nina looked confused, nodding her head slightly, “Oh.”
As she spoke, she fell into a brief silence, then suddenly scratched her head, looking distressedly at Duncan, “Uncle, my mind feels all messy.”
Recalling the chaotic events of her day and her interactions with Sherry, and looking at the Skeleton Hunting Dog before her, a surreal sense of absurdity belatedly surged within her.
“You’ve experienced too much today,” Duncan’s calm and soothing voice came, like a candle flickering in the dim light, stabilizing Nina’s suddenly bewildered mind once again, “A bit of confusion is normal.”
Nina blinked, finally realizing something she had been overlooking since earlier, and fixed her gaze on Duncan, “Uncle, if you knew Sherry all along… did you also know her secret? Do you know the Skeleton Hunting Dog?”
“Earlier than you,” Duncan said with a faint smile, “but I didn’t know she was the ‘friend’ you mentioned.”
“So…” Nina hesitated for a moment, “Are you also investigating the incident from eleven years ago? Are you two investigating it together?”
“Sort of, we’ve collaborated occasionally,” Duncan nodded.
“…Why do I feel like you’re only keeping me in the dark?” Nina muttered somewhat belatedly, “And about the investigation of the incident eleven years ago… What secret does that incident hold?”
“We don’t know yet, but we both acknowledge that there was a big fire that year, one that was erased,” Duncan said gravely, his gaze on Nina, “I’m sorry, I did keep it from you because it’s too dangerous for you now.”
“What about you, Uncle?” Nina suddenly felt a bit angry, “Aren’t you in danger?!”
Before Duncan could respond, both the Skeleton Hunting Dog and Sherry covered their faces, with Sherry even muttering softly, “Of course your uncle is in danger. He’s the most dangerous…”
Duncan simply gave Sherry a look and then gently shook his head at Nina, “Uncle is an adult, and believe me, I’m far more capable than you might think.”
Nina’s gaze swept back and forth between Duncan and Sherry, her expression changing several times as countless thoughts spun through her mind. Just when Duncan thought she might become stubborn or act like a typical rebellious teenager, Nina suddenly sighed.
“It’s getting dark,” she said, looking up at the sky outside as if the whole conversation had never happened, “I’ll go cook—Sherry, you should stay too. It’s not safe to travel at night.”
“Ah… ah?” Sherry was momentarily taken aback, unable to keep up with Nina’s train of thought. Then she hurriedly waved her hands, “Oh, no need, no need! Mr. Dog and I can hurry back and still make it…”
But before she could finish, Duncan’s voice came from nearby, “Stay over, the sun will set in a few minutes—then the streets will be filled with guardians. Do you really want to cross the martially controlled district under those circumstances?”
Sherry stiffened all over. She turned to look at the sky outside the shop and then at Duncan’s calm expression, finally realizing that there was no way she could leave the antique shop today.
“Well… alright then,” the girl sat down despondently, trying to force a smile as she looked towards Nina, “Is there anything I can help with?”
“No need, I always do the cooking at home,” Nina smiled, walking towards the staircase leading to the second floor. But just as she was about to step on the stairs, she suddenly stopped. Standing there, she stared intently at Sherry for several seconds before speaking, “Sherry, are we friends?”
Sherry was startled, her first instinct was to glance at Duncan, who, however, looked away, leaving her no choice but to turn back to Nina. After a brief yet uncomfortable silence, she shook her head, “…no.”
But then, she nodded her head, “But I can try.”
Nina chuckled, seemingly satisfied with the less-than-definite answer, as if she had received the perfect response. She quickly ran upstairs, her footsteps hurried and light.
A bit dazed, Sherry watched her ascend to the second floor when suddenly a calm voice drifted from beside her, “Thank you.”
It was Duncan speaking.
Sherry jumped, quickly straightened up, and turned towards Duncan, “Thank you for what?”
“Nina doesn’t have friends at school,” Duncan, accustomed to her overly anxious reactions, spoke evenly, “So, a couple of days ago, when she mentioned she had made a new friend at school, she seemed very happy.”
Sherry blinked in confusion, not quite understanding.
“So first, thank you for not perfunctorily telling Nina that you are her friend, and second, thank you because you said you could try.”
“I… don’t quite understand,” Sherry was even more puzzled now than before, “Are you just playing a normal person here? Nina… she seems completely oblivious to how special you are. Even at school, she’s almost invisible. If not for Mr. Dog guiding me, I would have missed her entirely on my first visit. Logically, being someone under your care, a ‘Follower’ like her…”
“Not a follower, a niece,” Duncan stressed once more, then gazed at her seriously, “Now that Nina has left, I have a question for you.”
“Go ahead, go ahead…”
“Did Mr. Dog guide you to get close to Nina?”
“…Yes.”
“Because Mr. Dog ‘smelled’ a specific scent on Nina? It concluded that she’s related to the big fire eleven years ago?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of scent was it? Was it the same as that from the factory, or something else?”
This time Sherry didn’t answer. Her gaze shifted to Mr. Dog.
Under Duncan’s gaze, Mr. Dog hesitated for a few seconds before finally bowing its head:
“There are countless ashes floating around her, Mr. Duncan.”