Chapter 137: Chapter 141 Mr. Duncan, Honest and Reliable
It turned out that in this world, filled with bizarre elements, “Mental Treatment” was a skill far harder than Duncan had imagined—it had surpassed what the word “skill” could describe and headed directly toward what one might call “craft”…
Fortunately, the box of things Heidi brought wasn’t for Nina. Seeing the terrified expressions on the faces of the uncle and niece, the mental therapist Ms. flashed a smile that said, “I’ve seen this reaction from my clients far too often.” She then pulled out a printed form from the bottom of the box and handed it to Nina, “You can start by filling this out roughly.”
Nina breathed a sigh of relief, “I thought these… tools were prepared for me.”
“This is what I use for my job—when working for the authorities and the church,” Heidi chuckled, “I often deal with extremely paranoid and stubborn threats, and ordinary methods can’t pry open their heretically fortified skulls.”
The more Duncan listened, the more he felt something was off. Sherry, who was beside him and tried to make herself inconspicuous yet couldn’t help but eavesdrop, instinctively shrank her neck. She quickly moved to a farther spot, pretending to dust the shelves while mentally communicating through her link with the hidden Ah-Dog, “So scary, so scary… This place is terrifying… Mr. Duncan is already scary enough, why did a Judge appear… And that Heidi…”
Ah-Dog’s voice resonated within her, sounding even more ethereal, “How the hell would I know why! Who knows why we’d get caught by a Ghost Ship captain on land, and while being with a Ghost Ship captain, a Judge from the church would pay a visit—has either the world gone mad or have we? Would you believe it if you said it out loud?”
While Sherry covertly paid attention to the noises near the counter, she frowned and murmured in her mind, “Who would believe that, it’s like telling a fish it would die in a car accident…”
“…Don’t mention ‘fish’, I’m scared…”
Sherry was startled, “Ah-Dog, since when did you start fearing fish?”
“Also, don’t talk to me, don’t let the Judge notice anything—although theoretically I’m in a hidden state, by Mr. Duncan’s side, I always feel like my abilities are hit or miss…”
Sherry quickly gathered her thoughts and walked towards another end of the shelf, while the people by the counter clearly didn’t pay much attention to the inconspicuous Sherry.
Nina, looking at the form before her, noticed that it was filled with fairly standard psychological assessment items, no different from the psychological measurement forms she’d fill out in school before a Mysticism lesson or visiting a museum, only with slightly more questions and a few uncommon ones.
As she began filling it out, she said curiously, “I heard you mention earlier that your treatment methods were more professional, so I thought you wouldn’t use these ordinary forms…”
“Filling out forms is the basic step in psychological measurement, but unlike those amateurs, their diagnosing often ends after the form is filled,” Heidi smiled while she took off a purple crystal pendant around her neck and fiddled with it, saying casually, “My treatment only truly begins as you fill out the form.”
Fenna’s gaze inadvertently fell on Heidi’s crystal pendant, curious, “I’ve seen you wearing that new pendant these past few days… You seem to really like it?”
Heidi paused, looked down at the pendant in her hand, as if remembering something, but then shook her head, “It’s just a rare gift from my father—that said, Fenna, did you know? This pendant was ‘bought’ from this shop.”
She emphasized “bought” as if trying to forcefully deny the fact that it was merely a complimentary item. Duncan, standing nearby, smiled and nodded lightly, “Indeed, it’s a product of this store—may this pendant bring you good luck.”
Fenna couldn’t help but take another glance at the clearly counterfeit “crystal” pendant, almost blurting out: Such a renowned scholar as Morris fell for this too?!
But she restrained herself considering Duncan present at the scene; the words hovered near her bronchus and then returned to her lung lobes. Meanwhile, Nina swiftly completed the form, pushed it to Heidi, and said, “I’ve finished, do you see any problems?”
“I’ve observed everything as you filled it out—including all your subtle expressions and movements,” Heidi straightforwardly collected the paper, and said bluntly, “You have a psychological shadow lurking for many years? Have you had additional stress recently causing you to recall this shadow occasionally? Your bizarre dreams have eased these past days… Has the stress disappeared, or has it transitioned?”
Nina unwittingly widened her eyes as if something deep had been touched upon, then she instinctively glanced towards Duncan with a hesitant expression on her face.
“We need a quiet and private environment for further psychological easing and release,” Heidi looked up at Duncan and said, “Of course, this firstly requires the permission of you, her guardian, and Ms. Nina’s cooperation.”
“Let’s go upstairs,” Duncan nodded, looking at Nina, “Is that okay?”
“Okay,” Nina nodded obediently with not a sign of protest, though a hint of nervousness still lingered in her eyes, which did not escape Heidi’s notice.
“Don’t worry, Nina, it’s just simple mental relaxation techniques—you really have no problem at all, it’s just a bit of stress and anxiety,” Heidi said with a reassuring smile, her calming aura seemingly emanated from her smile, which effortlessly smoothed away the tension in Nina’s heart. She casually closed her medical kit and set it aside, “I think we don’t even need any tools, incense, or medication; I’ll just ask you a few questions.”
Only then did Nina fully relax. She nodded at Duncan and then walked upstairs with Heidi.
The sound of their footsteps gradually faded away up the staircase.
Sherry was still hiding far away, busily tidying the junk in the corner.
Eventually, only Duncan and the Judge sitting opposite him remained by the counter.
Today was the first time Duncan had met face-to-face with the Judge who, by a strange twist of fate, had left the imprint of the Spiritual Body fire on her. At this very moment, he could more clearly perceive the imprint in Fenna’s body, feeling how this originally faint imprint was slowly growing stronger due to his proximity.
Even without physical contact, the spark was still replenished from the “source,” and began to smolder and spread within Fenna’s soul.
After realizing this, Duncan consciously controlled the growth of the imprint—he didn’t want the mysterious Storm Goddess to notice this imprint, as it would cost him the loss of Fenna, a unique “node.”
He was curious about Fenna, strictly speaking, about her priestly status and the faith behind her.
From another perspective, Fenna was also curiously observing the place and “Mr. Duncan” sitting opposite her.
She had indeed come here today to join Heidi in expressing their thanks, but there was another reason: there were far too many suspicious aspects in that museum fire.
Theoretically, it was impossible for the fierce fire to extinguish abruptly—Heidi had seen a projection resembling a Sun Shard in the fire, and Duncan, a mere commoner, had rushed into the fire to save people, emerging unscathed with the trapped individuals—although no concrete evidence could be found to interlink these facts, her intuition told her that she should check out this antique shop.
“Mr. Duncan,” Fenna was the first to break the silence, her expression calm as she looked at Duncan, “About the fire at the museum, I have some things I want to understand, may I?”
“Of course,” Duncan nodded reassuringly, “I was at the scene; I should be able to provide some information.”
“Thank you for your cooperation,” Fenna nodded lightly, “You rushed in to save people, and the fire in the museum was still burning at the time, right?”
“Yes,” Duncan nodded without hesitation—since he didn’t know how much information the Judge had, he decided to tell the truth about some potentially incriminating details, “The fire was huge, especially in the direction of the corridor leading to the main exhibition hall; it was almost completely ablaze.”
“But you all came out unscathed in the end,” Fenna continued to inquire, “Can you tell me what happened after you entered the museum?”
Duncan appeared thoughtful, pondering for two or three seconds before responding uncertainly, “I, too, find it unbelievable that I got out alive… but at that moment, the fire in the museum just went out, can you imagine? It wasn’t extinguished by the external fire hoses, nor did it burn itself out after the flammable material was consumed— it just went out suddenly, even the smoke disappeared…”
As he recalled his astonishment, he gestured with his hand, “It must have been a blessing from the goddess, right?”
Just as he finished speaking, there was a crashing sound from where Sherry was—she had accidentally knocked over a wooden sculpture in the corner.
“Be careful!” he immediately turned and shouted, just like a true store manager reminding his staff, “The base of that thing has already been broken once by me and is now glued back together; don’t knock it off again!”
“… May the goddess protect everyone in the City-State,” Fenna’s expression subtly changed as she looked into Duncan’s eyes, “It’s clear, you are a truly… honest man.”
Duncan looked serious and straightforward: “That’s right, we who run a business should never deceive people.”