Ashes Of Deep Sea-Chapter 259 - 263 Knocking on the Door

Chapter 259: Chapter 263 Knocking on the Door

Maurice had left, with a strange expression, carrying a century-old cannonball as he did.

Duncan stood at the counter, watching the old man’s retreating figure, his smile tinged with pleasure.

“…You really did give the cannonball to Mr. Maurice.” Alice muttered from the side.

“Really gave the cannonball to Teacher Maurice…” Nina chimed in, muttering as well.

“I don’t like cannonballs,” Alice said softly, “especially not.”

“Why is that?” Nina asked curiously.

...

Alice looked serious, “Because the captain once gave me eight cannonballs…”

“Stop harping on about it,” Duncan’s voice suddenly came from the side; he looked helplessly at Alice, who bore a grudge, and Nina, whose curiosity had clearly been piqued, “Where did Sherry go?”

“She said she was dizzy and had a headache from memorizing the alphabet and needed to go out for some fresh air,” Nina stuck out her tongue, “but I guess she might already be in the next block by now.”

“As expected,” Duncan sighed, “Considering Sherry’s level of culture and personal cultivation, it’s already quite impressive that she can refrain from swearing in front of me every day…”

In his reflection, he turned to look out the window. Through the clear shop window, the everyday and tranquil street scenes of Prand came into view.

The street was bustling with pedestrians, the citizens busily going about their day, nothing out of the ordinary in the Lower City District today—the brief malfunction of anomaly 001, the nearly invisible defect on the Sun Rune Ring, the long-forgotten deep-sea operation in the far north, a mysterious symbol left behind by the Ancient Crete Kingdom… all these seemed still very distant from this sunlit street.

He squinted his eyes slightly, and after a long while, he murmured to himself as if talking to himself, “Tirian is indeed heading back earlier than expected…”

…

At the southeastern port of the City-State, the enormous steel warship Sea Mist was ready to set sail.

This warship, which had been severely damaged by Homeloss, had undergone a few days of “self-healing” and had now mostly recovered its form; its armor belts and numerous cracks on the deck had completely healed, showing no traces of damage, while Undead sailors were busy transferring supplies and farewell gifts provided generously by Prand between the pier and the warship.

Fenna, tall in stature, had come to the dock to personally bid farewell to the captain of the Sea Mist.

“We didn’t expect you to leave so soon,” Fenna said, “The Archbishop was prepared for Sea Mist to be our guest for at least two weeks.”

“I actually thought I would stay here for a long time as well— but then something unexpected happened,” Tirian gently rubbed his forehead, “There are some matters up north I need to take care of.”

This seemed like just an excuse, but Fenna was not interested in probing into parts others wished not to disclose. She was rather concerned as she examined Tirian, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, “Forgive my boldness… Captain, is your face swollen?”

“Small accidents, small accidents.” Tirian immediately waved his hand, thinking to himself how fortunate it was that he had recovered another day. If this Judge had seen him yesterday, he wouldn’t know how to explain his head swollen to twice its size.

Then, seemingly to prevent the awkwardness from continuing, he quickly changed the topic, “My days as a guest in Prand have been very pleasant, and I thank you for your gifts.”

“I’m glad you liked them,” Fenna smiled and nodded, then she looked up curiously at the towering hull of the Sea Mist and the main gun turret visible from the side, “Although I had heard of it, seeing it with my own eyes still seems incredible… This ship really ‘healed’ itself, even those main guns that were completely obliterated… ‘grew back’?”

Tirian looked back at his warship, his eyes fell on the three newly restored main guns that seemed a bit smaller than the others, his face wearing a proud smile, “Sea Mist knows what it should look like; it always tends to keep itself in the best condition—however, those few main guns can’t quite be of use yet. They’re still small and need a few more days to grow before they can fire full-charged standard caliber cannonballs like the others.

Fenna was stunned, feeling that something about the way he smiled and spoke while looking at his ship’s main guns seemed off, but she couldn’t quite place it…

But luckily, she wasn’t one to dwell on such details.

At 3:20 in the afternoon, accompanied by a melodious sound of a steam whistle, the towering steel warship slowly accelerated and left the City-State.

Fenna stood on the dock, watching the warship slowly turn into an inconspicuous shadow on the ocean horizon before she exhaled softly and turned to board the black steam carriage that had been waiting for some time.

The chauffeur looked up, catching a glimpse of Fenna in the rearview mirror, her face showing signs of fatigue, “You seem very tired?”

“One thing after another, paperwork is far more exhausting than wielding a great sword in combat against heretics,” Fenna stretched her shoulders and neck, unceremoniously leaning back in the rear seat, “and lately I’ve been plagued by insomnia too.”

The steam core transmitted a deep vibration and whirring sound, and the gears and connecting rods began to operate swiftly. Listening to the complaints of her superior, a subordinate couldn’t help but smile, “But at least the City-State has been peaceful recently—no heretics, no monsters, and no unfortunate souls trapped by the night; the night watch guards haven’t encountered any distortion phenomena in the night for several days… After a storm comes a calm, right?”

Fenna listened to her subordinate’s sentiments, and after a while, she slowly said, “Indeed, the nights have been calmer recently than ever before, even in the usually dark-covered Lower City District and the sewers, no noise emerges anymore.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“…Of course, it’s a good thing,” Fenna said softly, then adjusted her posture in the seat and closed her eyes, “Let me take a short nap, wake me up when we reach the cathedral.”

“Yes.”

As her subordinate responded, Fenna already felt herself enter a light, drowsy state of sleep, the mechanical sounds of the carriage and the noises from outside the window gradually fading away.

She was indeed very tired; she hadn’t had a proper rest in many days.

This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

The order in the City-State had been completely restored, and all the follow-up work was being concluded systematically, and the paperwork was also finished. There had been no issues with the report to the cathedral and various interactions with City Hall—behind this “smooth sailing” was the fatigue of consecutive days.

After sending off the special “visitor,” the Sea Mist, she could finally breathe a little easier.

At least until the Storm Cathedral arrived in Prandt, and before hosting His Holiness the Pope, she should be able to rest for a few days.

Suddenly, a gentle night breeze brushed her cheek, carrying a slightly cool fresh scent. Along with it, she heard the sound of waves slapping against the hull.

Fenna abruptly opened her eyes.

She found herself in an unfamiliar room.

What came into view were the classical and elaborately arranged decor, walls adorned with tapestries that seemed from the last century, dark-colored shelves and a liquor cabinet placed in the corners, and a thick woven carpet in the center of the room. On the carpet stood a carved table and chairs with backs, and she herself was sitting in one of those chairs.

Fenna suddenly got up, then like a fierce beast bracing for battle, she slightly arched her body, cautious of everything around her.

In the next second, she saw a window nearby—the window was open. Though she had fallen asleep during the day, the scene outside the window was now draped in nightfall. The cold night wind blew through the window, filling the room with a cool, clear light that spread across the windowsill. Within the light, she could faintly make out the undulating surface of the sea and the shimmering lights floating on it.

Those shimmering lights were fine as quicksilver.

Fenna’s gaze involuntarily fell outside, and, following that, she seemed to suddenly discover something and swiftly rushed to the window, tilting her head up to look at the sky.

There was something… something she couldn’t understand.

It was a glowing circular object, seemingly like the core of the sun, but neither blinding nor scorching, rather, it was like a cool glowing disc quietly hanging in the sky. On its surface, one could faintly discern some textures—the whole glowing body seemed to emit a calm and serene mysterious aura.

Fenna stared blankly at this strange light body, and at that moment, she felt as though her thoughts had also fallen into a tranquil state along with the clear light, and this blank state of mind lasted for an unknown length of time before she dully thought—what is that?

Is that a cooled sun?

Where has the Creation of the World gone?

She then withdrew her gaze, looking back at this unfamiliar room.

Where is this place?

Outside was the undulating sea, beside her an unfamiliar room, and outside the window, a strange sky, a bizarre celestial body… Considering her experiences these recent days, the answer seemed not too difficult to guess.

But this time it seemed slightly different from before; this time… she didn’t see that terrifying Ghost Ship captain.

Fenna thought this, but as if to respond to her thought, the next second, she suddenly sensed a presence approaching.

“Thud, thud, thud.”

Someone knocked on the room door.