Chapter 222: Chapter 226: The Shaker
Slightly rushed footsteps broke the tranquility of the grand cathedral. Bishop Valentin, who was assigning duties to an assistant at his side, looked up upon hearing the noise and saw the figure of Fenna approaching him.
The bishop waved his hand for the assistant and attendant at his side to step back temporarily, and his gaze fell on Fenna, “I thought you would rest at home for a couple more days.”
“Unfortunately, it looks like I don’t have that luxury,” Fenna shook her head, her expression slightly serious, “What happened? I’ve seen many priests hurrying about, and I heard that a group of monks was sent into the Stargazing Well… does it have something to do with today’s sunrise?”
“Yes,” Valentin nodded, his expression solemn, “Today’s sunrise was fifteen minutes later than usual—and it wasn’t due to local anomalous astronomical phenomena causing the dawn to delay. I received spiritual energy messages from other city-states and maritime communication nodes, the same anomaly was observed all over the world.”
“…The world was illuminated by the ‘Creation of the World’ for an extra fifteen minutes…” Fenna’s brows furrowed slightly, “Are there any reports of damage yet?”
“No, just one delayed dawn is not enough to cause any problems. Fifteen minutes of nightfall are still within the redundant range sheltered by the city-state,” the elder bishop shook his head, “What’s really unsettling is that the same phenomenon was observed worldwide, which indicates that the problem does not lie on the surface or the sea.”
“…It means there was a change in the operation of anomaly 001,” Fenna clearly knew what the old bishop was worried about, “Has there been any notification from the Tomb of the Nameless King?”
Valentin shook his head gently.
“No disturbances, so this might only be a minor… ‘incident’ that does not involve a fundamental change in anomaly 001. But… I’m afraid most people won’t be able to rest easy. We at least need to see today’s sun set normally and tomorrow’s sun rise as usual before we dare breathe a sigh of relief.”
Fenna pondered silently for a while before asking, “Have the ordinary people in the city been affected?”
“For now, there’s no significant turmoil—a portion of the people didn’t notice the fifteen-minute delay, and those citizens who did notice probably didn’t realize the gravity of the situation. I’ve already sent a message to the Civil Affairs Office, asking them to evaluate whether to issue calming, guiding announcements. The matter hasn’t had a big impact yet, and an overly proactive official explanation might actually cause public unrest—especially since we just experienced a major disaster.”
Fenna listened silently to the old bishop’s analysis without interjecting. As a Judge who devoted most of her energy to combat tasks, she knew she wasn’t an expert in administrative matters, but occasionally she revealed a contemplative expression, indicating that her mood was not as calm as it appeared on the surface.
Valentin, noticing the worried look hidden between her expressions, asked, “What are you thinking?”
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“Just feeling a bit sentimental,” Fenna sighed lightly and shook her head, “Whenever a transcendent disaster occurs, it makes us realize just how vulnerable the world we live in is… City-states, cathedrals, ocean-going ships, everything we pride ourselves on seems to be built on a thin, fragile layer of ice. Any crack not promptly discovered, and we might disappear from this world…”
“That’s exactly why we must always remain vigilant and resilient,” Valentin said gravely, gazing into the young Judge’s eyes, “Fenna, you seldom reflect on things like this… What’s happened?”
Fenna fell silent, and after a few seconds, as if resolving herself, she said to Bishop Valentin, “There are two things. First… I met ‘Captain Duncan’ again yesterday.”
Valentin’s expression initially became grave, but after a moment, he sighed lightly, “I suppose that was to be expected.”
He paused, then continued, “Thus far, we have no way to remove the mark that the ghost captain left on you, and now, possibly the entire Plunder City-State has already established contact with that captain. His coming to you… was just a matter of time. What did he say to you?”
“…Mostly small talk,” Fenna said, her tone somewhat odd.
“…Small talk?” This time Valentin was genuinely surprised, raising an eyebrow, “You mean to say, the captain of the Homeloss, the shadow returned from the Subspace, the one who reversed historical contamination and took away the Sun Shard, ‘Duncan’, came to you just to chit-chat?”
“I knew you would react this way—I couldn’t believe it either, honestly. If he had told me he had a plan to conquer the world, I would believe it, but…” Fenna sighed, and then over the next several minutes, she relayed to the old man in front of her the details of her conversation last night with Duncan.
Valentin rubbed his forehead as he listened to Fenna’s account. The bishop, who had never wavered even in the face of impending apocalypse, showed an unmistakable expression of distress and fatigue on his face.
But after a brief moment of troubled expression, he raised his head with a complicated tone, “Fenna, I’ve actually been pondering a question since last night.”
“What question?”
“…In your perspective, having directly communicated with Captain Duncan twice, does that ‘ghost captain’… seem like an invader from the Subspace?”
“You… What do you mean?” Fenna’s face shifted subtly as she cautiously asked, “The crash of the Homeloss into the Subspace and its return is a matter with clear…”
“I don’t doubt that, I certainly know about the Homeloss returning from the Subspace, but if you think about it, what should someone fully influenced by Subspace be like, and… is it really possible for a true Subspace invader to converse logically with others and not cause uncontrollable contamination?”
This time, Fenna hesitated, unable to respond thoughtlessly as before. She paused for several seconds before speaking, “Based on all the cases and basic knowledge of Subspace… it’s impossible.”
“When conducting mental evaluations on those deeply contaminated, there is a very simple and effective criterion—those who can speak logically are still salvageable, at least not completely transformed,” Bishop Valentin nodded, “Subspace’s contamination is extremely deadly, which is why there has never been a recorded instance of a conscious Contaminator or invader from Subspace maintaining sanity. Madness is an indelible mark of theirs, and perhaps… we could also apply this simple criterion to the Homeloss and its captain.”
“…You mean, that ‘Captain Duncan’ is very likely still human?”
“Or has regained his humanity,” Bishop Valentin corrected the subtle difference, “In the early records, there are clear reports of indiscriminate attacks by the Homeloss and Captain Duncan’s descent into madness, which obviously met the criteria of a Subspace invader then.”
Fenna thought about it, her expression growing increasingly incredulous, “Is that possible? To regain humanity after being completely transformed by Subspace contamination, that’s…”
“If that’s not possible, how would you explain the Captain Duncan you ‘chatted’ with?” Bishop Valentin gently interrupted Fenna, then paused and reminded, “Don’t forget the ‘Zeroth Law.’”
Fenna was startled, then it dawned on her, “There will always be anomalies and phenomena that do not conform to cognition or definitions…”
The cathedral fell silent for some time, which seemed to stretch indefinitely, until Valentin suddenly said, “But we still cannot assume that the Homeloss and its captain are harmless, do you understand?
“After all, it returned from Subspace, and even if that captain has regained his humanity, it’s hard to say from what perspective he might now view us… ‘mortals’.
“Moreover, we cannot make judgments rashly; we need to report all the intelligence we have to Her Holiness the Pope and see how she views this matter.”
Fenna’s expression became serious, and she nodded solemnly, “Of course, I’m very clear on that.”
She paused, her expression a bit peculiar, “Discussing such matters in this sacred hall really puts pressure on one. If this had happened in the past, I’d probably have branded myself a ‘heretic’ by now.”
Valentin merely sighed noncommittally and then asked, “You said there were two things. Besides meeting that ghost captain, what’s the second matter?”
This time, Fenna remained silent even longer, seeming deeply conflicted until finally under the watchful gaze of the Storm Goddess Gomona’s statue, she summoned tremendous courage and said solemnly to the old bishop, “I… should confess.”
“Confess?” Valentin looked at her in surprise, “Why do you need to confess?”
“I wavered—though I’m still devout, I can’t avoid my own act of wavering,” Fenna took a deep breath and blurted out frankly, “After that fire, I began doubting my faith.”
She revealed her doubts about the Goddess and her wavering belief, omitting only the secret her uncle had told her, without any concealment.
The old bishop was silent for a long time.
Fenna watched his face nervously, finding for once she could not discern Valentin’s attitude.
The old bishop appeared to be contemplative, somewhat hesitant, yet offered no rebuke.
After an indefinite silence, Fenna finally heard his voice.
“Fenna, you came to me to confess… then whom should I confess to?”
A trace of surprise finally appeared in Fenna’s eyes.
“Now there are two believers wavering in this great cathedral,” the old bishop turned and quietly gazed at the Storm Goddess’s statue, his voice carrying an unusual calm, “Fenna, can you feel it?”
“What?”
“…The Goddess is still blessing us.”