Her uncle brought some soothing herbal wine, and the power of the medicine and alcohol finally calmed Vanna's slightly irritable mood. She opened the door to the balcony, stood on the balcony, feeling the wind, and looking in the direction of the cathedral in the distance.
Dante Wayne's voice came from behind her: "Every time you come back to live here, you have nightmares, and they always involve things from your childhood."
"... As an inquisitor, this is an inappropriate display of weakness," Vanna said in a low voice. She was more than a head taller than her uncle, but in front of this elder who raised her, she never minded showing her true self, "I am very distressed."
"…Have you talked to Heidi?"
"She recommended four brain surgeries and two nerve puncture therapies to me," Vanna sighed, "but considering our long-term friendship, I didn't do it."
"… That's her style. She doesn't interact with normal people very much," Dante Wayne shook his head. "In fact, I didn't expect that after all these years, you're still trapped by the nightmare of that night."
"I always thought I had gotten over it," Vanna rubbed her brows, "Maybe it really has something to do with this big house. Whenever I come back here, I will dream about the scene back then... Maybe I should consider holding another exorcism ceremony for this house, otherwise I always feel that this building is sealed with the shadow of the disaster that year..."
Uncle Dante thought about it for a moment, but did not raise any objections. He just asked thoughtfully, "Is there still that fire in your nightmare this time?"
Vanna nodded: "Yes, there were fires everywhere. You carried me on your back to escape from the fire. I even clearly remember that we escaped from the city on the factory pipeline. There was a burning building nearby that was gradually collapsing in the fire..."
She paused and looked at her uncle: "... You don't remember the fire, right?"
"It's not just me who doesn't remember. No one remembers," the serious-looking city-state governor slowly shook his head. "I only remember the gas leaking from the pipes and those crazy cultists... There were many people involved that night, but it seems that you were the only one who saw the blazing sea of fire."
Vanna didn't speak for a while, just thinking silently for an unknown period of time, and then she suddenly spoke softly: "Except for the 'fire' incident, my memory is consistent with yours... I didn't understand anything at the time, but now I know very well that this must be some kind of extraordinary power that exerted an influence, and so many years have passed, and I have been promoted to a saint, but this influence has not dissipated."
"This means that either the influence is of such a high status that it has left an indelible mark on your soul, or the source of the influence did not disappear with the incident, but has been hidden somewhere in the city-state. I have been investigating this matter over the years, but unfortunately, there has been no progress so far."
Dante Wayne's tone was apologetic at the end. He was not only apologizing for not being able to solve his niece's troubles, but also regretting that as the governor of the city-state, he had never been able to investigate an old case clearly.
The scars left by the "great chaos" eleven years ago are too long-lasting.
Fanna knew that this incident was not only her concern, but also her uncle's. However, she was not good at comforting others. After thinking for a long time, she could only change the subject: "I remember that many cult members were arrested at that time. Judging from the subsequent investigation, that incident was even larger than the 'Black Sun' incident four years ago."
"Yes, thousands of people were captured, so many that I even doubt how so many cultists could hide in the city-state of Plander," Dante Wayne sighed, "and there is more than one sect... There are Sun Heretics who follow the Black Sun, Annihilation Cultists who worship the Deep Lord, and even End of the World Preachers who worship the Warp itself... All these maggots in the gutter emerged that night, destroying everything in a crazy way."
Vanna looked at Dante. "But according to the interrogation results, none of the thousands of saboteurs arrested by the authorities could be called the 'mastermind'. No one even knew why the chaos was caused that night. Rather than saying that the cultists organized to sabotage, it's better to say that they were all detonated at the same time and fell into a collective state of loss of control."
Dante was silent for a while, thinking quietly, and then suddenly looked into Vanna's eyes: "The reason for your irritability should not only be because of the nightmare - is the sudden mention of these things related to the recent unstable situation in the city-state?"
Vanna did not avoid the question: "There is indeed a certain connection - the solar heretics are gathering towards the city-state. They are looking for an 'anomaly' called a solar fragment, and the Lost Homeland also reappeared in the real world almost at the same time, and its 'course' vaguely pointed to Plender. Although it is hard to say whether these two things are related, this turbulent atmosphere... always reminds me of the chaos eleven years ago."
"... I have ordered all ports to strictly check the flow of people, and informed the governors of other city-states. Many solar heretics were caught on the ship, and their access to the city-states has been basically cut off. As for those who have already flown into Plande... it mainly depends on the actions of the church. The guardians are professionals who find and target extraordinary crimes."
At this point, the middle-aged consul suddenly stopped, as if he was carefully considering whether he should bring up some issues now. But after a moment's hesitation, he made up his mind: "As for the matter of the Lost Hometown, I can't help much in the supernatural field, but in the secular field, I have an idea."
"Mundane?" Vanna frowned. She was about to say that the ghost ship Lost Home had anything to do with the "mundane" world, but then she remembered a certain saying, "Wait, you mean..."
"Lucretia Abnomer, the captain of the pioneer exploration ship Brilliant Star, and Tyrian Abnomer, the captain of the Sea Mist, the pirate leader in the northern seas," Dent said slowly. "It is true that the Homeland Lost is a ghost ship beyond the understanding of reality, but as long as it was once a member of the real world, the real world has an 'anchor' of its existence... I wonder how Captain Duncan's children will react to their 'father' reappearing in the world."
Fanna slowly opened her eyes. She was used to using simple and crude methods to deal with enemies directly, but she had never considered things related to the Lost Homeland from this perspective. But soon she frowned: "But I heard that those two people hardly deal with the city-state forces... They have formed their own forces in the vast sea and dominate their own areas. They maintain a cold or even tense relationship with all the city-states."
"This is normal. After all, they are the children of that ghost captain. The Brilliant Star and the Sea Mist were the two escort ships of the Lost Homeland. Although they parted ways a hundred years ago, in the eyes of most city-states, anyone who has had any connection with that ghost captain is cursed and dangerous. It's not so much that they have distanced themselves from the city-states, but rather that the city-states are actively avoiding them."
Vanna frowned and looked at her uncle: "Do you expect them to come to help Plande fight against their father?"
"It's just an idea, but it's worth a try," Dante said seriously. "After all, we all know that the Brilliant Star and the Sea Mist parted ways with the Homeless more than a century ago. Lucretia and Tyrian broke with their father before the Thirteen Islands of Veselan incident. More than half a century ago, there were rumors that some ocean captains saw the Sea Mist fighting with the phantom of the Homeless in the northern waters. At that time, the Homeless had become a legendary ghost ship. This may explain the attitudes of the two captains when facing their 'father'."
"More than half a century ago... At that time, the Sea Mist was still the flagship of the Frost Queen, and Captain Tirian might have just been ordered to protect the city-state," Vanna said slowly while thinking, "But you are right, at least this is enough to prove that the Sea Mist did have a record of fighting against the Lost Homeland."
But she still had some doubts, and after thinking for a few seconds, she expressed her doubts: "What if the Brilliant Star and the Sea Mist ignore Plender?"
"So this is just an attempt," Dante said quietly. "I will spread the news and find a way to send the Lost Homeland to the two captains. That's all I will do. How the two captains will react will depend on them."