Ashes Of Deep Sea-Chapter 269 - 273: Amulet?
Chapter 269: Chapter 273: Amulet?
A very tall figure suddenly blocked out the sunlight.
Sherry, who had just finished sprinkling water in front of the shop door and was preparing to return with an empty basin, paused for a moment and lifted her head to see the Judge standing quietly in front of her against the backlight.
“… Fuck!!” She instinctively exclaimed in shock, but immediately caught herself and coughed twice, nervously groping for words, “Uh, you… I mean… You…”
Fenna slightly frowned, wondering why the small and frail girl looked excessively nervous upon seeing her. It had been the same when she and Heidi had visited the antique shop last time, and it was the same now.
However, she didn’t dwell on it; after all, due to various reasons, she was quite accustomed to this kind of “nervous reaction” from others when they saw her.
“I remember you’re called Sherry,” Fenna said with a smile, trying to use her smile to make the short girl relax, “Don’t be so tense. I’m just here to browse.”
Sherry quickly stood up straight, nodding stiffly: “Uh… Ah! Sure, welcome to the shop…”
Fenna helplessly shook her head, walking past the still tense Sherry, and gave a slight nod to greet Nina who was curiously watching them, then headed straight for the antique shop in front of her.
Pushing open the door, the crisp sound of the bell breaking the silence on the first floor of the antique shop, Fenna stepped inside, her gaze shifting to the figure behind the counter.
The next second, she frowned in surprise.
In the morning sunlight sat a blonde woman behind the counter whom she had never seen before, a very… beautiful lady, exuding an elegance and mysteriousness that seemed out of place in this location, perhaps even from this era. Her profile shimmered with a warm radiance in the sunshine.
Upon hearing the noise at the entrance, the blonde woman behind the counter lifted her head and curiously glanced at Fenna as she walked in. She offered a faint smile, her voice soft and slightly magnetic: “Welcome, would you like to look around?”
Fenna was momentarily lost in thought, feeling for some reason that this new face in the antique shop shouldn’t be here. But the next second, she thought that the woman’s mysterious and refined demeanor seemed to fit the atmosphere the antique shop presented.
The place was filled with an assortment of objects that looked quite ancient and mysterious, just right to have a lady with a mysterious and elegant air sitting behind the counter.
Yet everything in this antique shop was a fake.
Fenna stared intently at the blonde woman behind the counter.
Ah, yes, fakes.
“May I ask…” Alice looked puzzled at Fenna who, after walking in, stood there suddenly and began to daydream, confused as the situation seemed beyond the “customer greeting procedure” that the captain had instructed her to follow, leaving her a bit at a loss, “Are you looking to buy something?”
Fenna jolted back to reality.
A chaotic numbness and dizziness pervaded her brain, making her thoughts disjointed. She vaguely remembered having seen something or thought of something just a moment ago, but the sudden confusion completely obscured everything she had known in that instant.
The next second, the soft sound of waves started ringing in her mind again, and in those wave sounds, she completely forgot the previous disorientation and dizziness.
She felt as if she had just entered the shop, and the young woman behind the counter was talking to her.
“Ah, is Mr. Duncan not here?” Fenna curiously surveyed the ground floor but couldn’t find the figure of the antique shop owner, “I know him.”
“Mr. Duncan? He went upstairs to put some things away; he’ll be down shortly,” Alice didn’t dwell on Fenna’s momentary spacing out, figuring everything was fine as long as the conversation continued, “Are you looking to buy something? Do you have an item reserved? I can help you look for it—although I can’t guarantee I’ll find it…”
Such a candid statement.
Fenna felt strange, instinctively sensing something off about the beautiful young woman before her, but every time she tried to focus on that feeling, she would immediately forget what she was thinking, making her speech slower than usual: “I’m… just looking. I’ll be fine in a moment. Are you new here? I didn’t see you last time I was here.”
“Ah, I’m new, my name is Alice,” Alice immediately responded with a smile, clearly enjoying introducing herself, “Mr. Duncan asked me to help with the shop.”
Faintly, Fenna sensed something was amiss, an oddity hidden in Alice’s modest yet somewhat stiff movements, in that perfect yet overly perfect smile, and even in the breathless sound of her speech.
The Judge furrowed her brows, not truly detecting anything unusual.
It was just a new clerk, nothing out of the ordinary.
At that moment, a series of footsteps suddenly came from the staircase beside them, interrupting the conversation between Fenna and Alice.
The source of this c𝓸ntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.
Duncan appeared at the top of the stairs.
He had sensed Fenna’s arrival earlier, but in order to confirm the purpose of the Judge’s visit, he deliberately waited a few more minutes on the second floor; now that he saw she didn’t appear to have any special intentions, he came down.
“It looks like we have a special guest,” Duncan said to the lady behind the counter, “I’ll take care of it, it’s someone I know—Alice, you go make some tea.”
“Sure thing, Mr. Duncan!”
Alice stood up happily, agreed, and then headed towards the small stove on the other side of the stairs, while Duncan approached Fenna, smiling as he greeted this Judge whom he had actually met several times before, “Long time no see, Miss Judge.”
“Just call me by my name,” Fenna rubbed her forehead, “Sorry for the sudden visit, but I actually came here to verify some matters.”
“Matters?” Duncan raised an eyebrow, “What matters?”
Fenna steadied herself, pondering how to begin.
Some vague clues pointed to this ordinary-looking shop, and some instinctual guidance brought her here; the experience and intuition of a Judge seemed to be quietly throbbing, yet previous official church investigations had revealed no abnormalities. It seemed that the only reason supporting her visit to scout this time was a “talisman” belonging to a good friend.
“From what I know, Heidi had a talisman from here,” Fenna slowly said, “She had been wearing it before the reality contamination disaster occurred.”
“Oh, I remember that,” Duncan nodded nonchalantly with a flash of recognition, “That was a talisman I gave to Mr. Morris—and I’ve given out another one these last two days.”
As he spoke, he turned and took another talisman from the shelf behind him, showing it to Fenna.
“Like this one.”
Fenna looked strangely at the action of the antique shop owner who was frankly presenting an item from the store’s “collection” as mass-produced goods, “Do you have many of these talismans?”
“I bought a large box of them, and have given or sold a total of twenty-one so far,” Duncan stated matter-of-factly, nodding, “Are you also interested?”
As he spoke, he subconsciously sized up the young Judge again.
Fenna today seemed odd to him, appearing somewhat absent-minded and slightly slow in speech. More unsettling than those surface peculiarities, however, was her unstable “aura” at the moment.
Duncan couldn’t explain what was happening, but somehow it felt as though there was someone else tucked inside the young Judge’s thoughts, another set of eyes hidden within her gaze. She was here conversing with him, but it seemed something else was concealed deep within her consciousness.
Fenna, however, seemed unaware of Duncan’s assessment. She was just slightly uncomfortable with his frank business demeanor—although she had known from the beginning that this store didn’t have anything genuinely authentic, “Uh… no, I’m just here to investigate some matters. I want to ask about the specific channels through which these talismans are acquired and if they have ever exhibited any peculiar properties, or if the people who bought them have reported any unusual experiences?”
“Do you mean…”
“Heidi believed the talisman she wore had provided actual protection, even helping her remain clear-headed during the ‘disaster’,” Fenna summarized without going into too much detail, “I think it’s very possible that the talisman you gave to Mr. Morris had been affected by… transcendent forces, hence my inquiry. Of course, there’s no need for concern, as the current information suggests it’s not a harmful influence.”
As she spoke, she left one thing unsaid: investigation aside, she hadn’t expected Duncan to have an entire box of similar talismans! And that he had already sold so many!
Meanwhile, Duncan felt a slight stir in his heart upon hearing Fenna’s words.
Did that thing… really work? The “gift” he had casually given away had actually protected the spirit doctor’s self-awareness?
Why had this happened?
What was the key factor?
Was it purely the act of “giving the gift” itself, or because the spirit doctor’s own “intuition” had been too strong?
