Duncan felt that he was careless.
He only thought that Alice lacked common sense in living in the human world, but he never thought to what extent this lack of common sense could reach. He thought that after she came here, she could at least help out a little in the store, but he didn't expect that she didn't even know money.
But it's quite reasonable.
After all, she doesn't need to spend money to lie in the coffin...
"Sigh... While Shirley and Nina are away, I'll continue to make up lessons with you," Duncan sighed, reluctantly giving up his plan to go out for a walk in the afternoon. "First, I need to introduce you to the most basic things in the human world, such as currency..."
He paused and sighed, "Well, it looks like I really need to open a literacy class for you and Shirley."
"Oh, Shirley, you're the short girl just now, right?" Alice immediately recognized her name, her face full of joy. It seemed that meeting someone new was something worth celebrating for her. "I heard you say that she is like me... what's it called, 'illiterate', right?"
"This is not something to be happy about!" Duncan knocked on the table, "Besides, even Shirley is better than you - after all, she knows how to evade the fare when riding the bus!"
Alice: "What is fare evasion?"
Duncan: “…”
…
Heidi sneezed loudly.
She stood up and closed the living room window, rubbing her nose and muttering about the recent hot and cold weather. Then she looked up a little worriedly at her father who was sitting at the coffee table not far away.
The school has been closed for the holidays. The annual autumn break for all public schools in Plande lasts for more than two months. My father does not have to report to school during this period, and he does not have many social engagements on weekdays. Therefore, in previous years, he would usually hang out in the major libraries of the city-state at this time, or stay at home and spend his days leisurely like today.
But for some reason, Morris' condition looked quite wrong today.
He was holding a newspaper, but his eyes were not focused on it at all. He was sitting on the sofa, maintaining that stiff posture for nearly an hour. He seemed to be lost in thought about something and did not even respond to the question from the daytime maid.
Heidi frowned.
It seemed that my father had been in this state ever since he came back from Mr. Duncan's antique shop. He was absent-minded, occasionally showing a strange expression, ignoring others, and was lost in thought.
He even stopped going to the study—as if he had an instinctive aversion to books.
"Are you okay?" Heidi finally couldn't help but stand up and walked to Maurice's side. She bent down and asked with concern, "Are you feeling unwell?"
After asking twice in a row, Morris finally heard his daughter's voice. He raised his head quickly, and waved his hand after feeling the buzzing sound in his head subside a little: "I'm fine... Oh, you didn't go to church or city hall today? Or to the clinic?"
"The work at the church and the town hall has been completed long ago, and the clinic is closed today," Heidi frowned. "I remember you asked about it this morning."
"Oh, really? I forgot."
Morris tapped his temple lightly and spoke hesitantly.
He knew he was not in a good condition, but he couldn't explain this to his daughter.
He could not casually reveal the information about the existence of a subspace to the outside world - not only because it might anger "Mr. Duncan", but also because such information might be polluted and affect Heidi.
A low buzzing sounded in his mind, interrupting Morris's thoughts, but the noise soon subsided, allowing his thoughts to stabilize.
Thought noise, this is the sequelae of returning from the antique shop.
But in fact, compared with yesterday, the aftereffects have been weakened many times.
Morris knew that he should be thankful - after facing the shadow of the warp, he not only saved his life, but also his sanity. It was the protection of the God of Wisdom and the kindness of "Mr. Duncan" that worked together. He was left with some symptoms caused by "critical madness", but after a simple self-judgment, he confirmed that these symptoms would quickly alleviate over time and there was nothing to be nervous about.
But before the symptoms completely disappear, Heidi will probably have to worry about her poor condition for a while.
Morris frowned suddenly, remembering that his daughter was an excellent psychiatrist - he couldn't let her continue to be aware of her mental state.
At this moment, Heidi's voice came again: "Did you talk with Mr. Duncan yesterday? I feel that you are always absent-minded after you come back..."
"Some... topics in the field of knowledge, very advanced knowledge," Morris couldn't help but think of the relevant information about the "Creeping Sun Disc" in his mind, and recalled the information about the current situation of the Black Sun revealed to him by Mr. Duncan. He used great willpower to control this "knowledge" that seemed to have independent life and was running around in his sea of consciousness. He smiled at Heidi, "It's quite brain-wracking. I haven't figured it out yet, so I've been distracted today... Let's not talk about this for now. I suddenly remembered that you and your friends made an appointment to go to the cinema on your day off, right?"
Heidi was stunned for a moment: "...Friend? I don't remember...which friend I made an appointment with to go to the cinema...Did you remember it wrongly?"
"Did I remember it wrongly?" Morris rubbed his temple. For some reason, he suddenly felt a throbbing heat near his temple. His memory was hazy, as if something forgotten was awakening in his consciousness. "But I clearly remember that you said the day before yesterday that you had a friend... What was his name? He was very tall and familiar to me..."
Morris's movements of rubbing his temple gradually became irritable, and he began to tap his forehead with his fist, mumbling something. This made Heidi, who was originally just a little confused, suddenly feel inexplicably nervous. She quickly squatted down and held the old man's hand: "Are you okay? Do you have a headache? Do you want... I can give you a hypnosis to relax or calm your nerves? Or find another doctor..."
"I don't need a doctor, no," Morris waved his hands vigorously. Noise appeared in his mind again, but this time the noise was different from the previous "thinking noise". The sound this time seemed to be desperately conveying some information, desperately awakening something. He felt as if another consciousness had awakened in his mind - that consciousness was still himself, but it was subtly different from his current thinking. "I just need to recall, recall a very important thing... Heidi, you have a friend, listen, you have a friend, very important..."
The worry and tension on Heidi's face became more and more serious. She tightly grasped Morris's other hand, and her words unconsciously brought the power of soothing and guiding: "Of course I have friends, but which one are you talking about..."
But Morris could no longer hear what Heidi said next.
He felt a sudden roar in his head. It was the sound of all the noise being compressed into an instant and released. Then, the thought noise that had troubled him for a long time completely disappeared, and a large number of strange memories poured out from the depths of his consciousness. In a daze, he seemed to see that scene again—a giant, his body filled with starlight, a giant formed by the distortion and fusion of crushed mirrors. Then he saw green flames, the flames burned out, and the fog disappeared.
This time, his sanity was not damaged by witnessing the giant. On the contrary, the impression that emerged in his mind seemed to have an inexplicable power that pierced through an invisible curtain.
The old man suddenly raised his head and stared into Heidi's eyes: "Where is Vanna?"
Heidi was stunned: "...Who is Vanna?"
"The judge of the city-state, one of your best friends, the niece of Archon Dante..." Morris said slowly. His breathing had stabilized, and his eyes had regained their former depth and sharpness. The noise disappeared, and the figure of the giant disappeared. Only two memories that existed at the same time and were completely different remained in his mind. He could clearly identify all the differences in the memories, as if he was reading two ancient historical scrolls spread out in front of him - distinguishing history and finding the truth, this was one of the things he was best at. "You don't remember, right?"
Heidi hesitated: "I... I don't know who you are talking about, but your condition makes me very worried..."
"Don't worry about me. I'm in very good condition now, but we should worry about Vanna." Morris suddenly stood up, his expression more serious than ever. "Heidi, our city-state may have a big problem. We have to take action."
Heidi stood up subconsciously. She could sense that her father's spirits were indeed inexplicably lifted, but she had no idea what was going on. "Action? What to do?"
"Go to the cathedral, find Bishop Valentine, and tell him..." Morris spoke quickly, but stopped halfway through. After weighing the pros and cons nervously, he shook his head, "No, Vanna might have gotten into trouble because she discovered the truth... Find Bishop Valentine and tell him that you want to seek asylum, the highest level of asylum. Tell him that it was me who asked you to do this, and it was the most outstanding historian in the Plande city-state who asked you to do this. Don't say anything else..."
Heidi listened in confusion. She had already sensed that something dangerous and urgent might be happening, but these things could not be said directly, so she controlled the urge to ask questions and prepared to follow her father's instructions. But then she noticed that Morris picked up the coat next to him, and her eyes widened slightly: "What about you? What are you going to do?"
"… Go to the antique shop." Morris said in a deep voice.