The atmosphere on the deck suddenly became a little awkward, and an unspeakable silence shrouded Vanna and Tirian. The shock on the latter's face had not yet dissipated, but the former had already covered his forehead with his hands.
The silence was finally broken by a voice not far away. A few meters away, Shirley nudged Nina with her elbow: "Look, I said the first sentence must be this - you owe me two ice cream scoops."
"Okay, okay, you guessed it right," Nina muttered, "Two is two... I'll give them to you when we get to Frost."
Shirley's eyes widened immediately. "I'm not stupid! Eating ice cream in a place where the temperature is dozens of degrees below zero? Let's talk about it when we get back to Plande!"
Tirian blinked, and then he noticed the other people on the deck, and the atmosphere here was subtly different from what he had imagined. He first saw the girl named Shirley, whom he had met once, and then he saw the Deep Hound, whom he had met once, lazily basking in the sun at her feet. Next to her was another girl who looked about sixteen or seventeen years old, and an old gentleman with gray hair and elegant temperament.
Everyone was smiling.
Behind these people are the deck, sides, masts and sails of the Lost Homeland.
The yellowed and broken pictures of his childhood, the memories of the brother and sister playing around, all the pleasant and unpleasant impressions, seemed to emerge little by little from some dark and lost cave, and gradually regained their colors in the sunlight that filtered through the mist.
There were a few new faces here, but this was still the ship he remembered - not the gloomy, dilapidated, chaotic and twisted ghost ship he had imagined in his previous life.
At least the deck looked familiar.
Shirley frowned.
He watched with an expressionless face as Ah Gou ran around on the deck, and watched Nina and Ah Gou run to help but failed, which ended up with the man and the dog being chased around the deck by a bucket of vegetables. He turned around and patted Tirian on the shoulder.
My father didn't like other people's advice. In my memory, he was an arbitrary and stubborn person.
After they grew up, their father's captain's room was a place where they had to remain serious. Even after becoming captains of the Sea Mist and Brilliant Star respectively, Tirian and Lucretia would still instinctively get nervous when they stepped in here - it was here that their father formulated all the huge exploration plans, marked the newly discovered islands and visions by the Lost Homeland Fleet on the nautical charts, and completed the planning and dispatch of the entire fleet. Most of the time, they and their sister were only responsible for listening to and executing orders.
Back on the Lost Homeland, everything seemed to have deviated from its trajectory and expectations from the very beginning.
"Do you need help?"
"But she should be busy in the kitchen right now," Shirley nodded. "Alice is in charge of the food on the ship. You can taste her cooking today. We have fresh vegetables and freshly caught fish, which are rare on ocean-going ships."
The next second, his eyes fell on the edge of the navigation table and on the dark and strange goat head.
Tirian's expression seemed a little stiff. Even as a pirate leader commanding an entire fleet of undead, he seemed a little unable to keep up with the daily pace of the Lost Homeland.
When he was a child, his father's captain's room was a mysterious and slightly scary room. He and Lucrecia played around in most places on the ship, but they were strictly forbidden to set foot in this place. Even the most talkative sailor on the ship would ruthlessly block the brother and sister at the door.
"I accept your apology. Let's talk while we go," Shirley waved her hand and walked to the end of the deck. "We have a lot to discuss about the reason why Miss Inquisitor appeared here, the Obsidian, and this Dagger Island."
Tirian knew he was in a daze, and he also knew he should say something at this time, but he couldn't stop the thoughts in his mind from spreading. He knew that he had this daze problem since he was a child, and every time he was in a daze on the deck, his father would always suddenly come from nowhere and scold him from behind -
Tirian was startled for a moment before he remembered that this was the name of the doll lady - he always thought that she was called "Leinora": "Ah, yes, is she on the boat?"
「
"Food..." Tirian repeated the word subconsciously and almost said "Father actually eats other people's food". In the next second, a series of exclamations and hurried footsteps suddenly came from not far away, interrupting his distraction.
Of all his childhood and adult memories, this was the most impressive place on the entire ship.
"First mate?" Tirian blinked, then turned back to look at this strange "wooden sculpture". He accepted his father's words and tentatively greeted him, "Hello, Mr. Goat Head?"
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he always felt that Tirian's state at this moment was very subtle, which was very different from the impression left by the previous contacts, but it was vaguely familiar. But soon he felt relieved.
Tirian followed Shirley in a daze, heading towards the captain's cabin in his memory, while Duncan walked silently on the other side.
"It's because of the bucket. It has its own ideas about how to store vegetables, so it often conflicts with Alice."
Shirley was not surprised by this. She just patted Tirian on the shoulder and said, "You have to learn to adapt. If I help Alice every time she cries for help, I won't have to do anything every day. It turns out that her adaptability and vitality are actually quite strong."
The pitch-black goat head with a wooden texture creaked and turned around, and a pair of hollow and deep obsidian eyes stared at the visitor who stepped into this place.
Shirley of course noticed the other party's little action: "Are you looking for Alice?"
"But I think she seems to be asking you for help..."
"Tirion turned around in bewilderment, his mouth twitching twice: Are the ingredients on the ship too fresh?"
Tirian wanted to say something else, but they arrived at the captain's cabin.
"I didn't take down the church - watch your thoughts, Tirian," Duncan knew what he was thinking before he could speak, and interrupted him immediately, "Do I need to emphasize it again? I am not an enemy of the civilized world now. You should face me more calmly, instead of being on guard against a natural disaster that can wreak havoc at any time."
The door opened, and the interior environment, which was slightly dim compared to the deck, came into Tirian's sight.
"I'm sorry, Father," Tirian said automatically, "I was distracted."
It was not the phantom in the mirror, nor the vague outline seen across the distant sea and artillery fire. They were standing face to face. At the same time, Vanna, who had been silent for a long time due to embarrassment, finally spoke up: "Captain Tirian, I need to explain my identity here. First of all, the situation is not what you think. I came to the Lost Homeland because of the assignment of the church..."
Then he turned around and waved to the guys who were watching the fun not far away: "If you are not interested, go and do your own thing and don't join in the fun."
Tirian looked in astonishment in the direction of the sound, and saw the Gothic doll running across the deck not far away, shouting and screaming, with a kitchen knife in her hand. Behind her was a jumping wooden barrel full of carrots and vegetables.
The pirate captain shuddered visibly, the momentary confusion between memory and reality even causing his mind to freeze for two or three seconds. Then he turned around hesitantly and saw a tall and majestic figure standing in front of him.
"Appointed by the church?" Tirian was even more confused than before, and then he suddenly turned his head to look at his father, "You..."
Tirian was startled and turned his head subconsciously: "This is..."
Tirian looked at Vanna in surprise.
Tirian: "I'm... sorry."
"When talking to it, you must be familiar with the operation of interrupting in advance and don't let it talk recklessly. This is my advice."
"Hello, nice to meet you, Mr. Tirian."
The goat head shook its neck, as if it was about to say something, but the next second, Shirley interrupted in advance with ease: "Shut up, and keep quiet while we talk."
Tirian looked around subconsciously, observing the
I am looking for things that corroborate my memories, and I am also looking for a figure that should be here in theory.
The scenes in my memories and the scenes before my eyes merge and separate, sometimes overlapping and sometimes creating a clear sense of disharmony.
The goat head is as strange and dangerous as its appearance, as even the deceased Captain Shirley treats it so seriously and cautiously.
"This is the first mate on the Lost Homeland. He's trustworthy," Shirley introduced. "You can just call him Goat Head."
Naturally, Tirian regarded the goat head as something extremely dangerous and "normal", and shutting it up was obviously a requirement for sealing the dangerous object...
"Tirion, what are you doing here?"
Listening to his father's warning, Tirian's expression quickly turned serious.
After all, this was the first face-to-face conversation after a hundred years, and it was also the first time returning to this ship, so it was normal for the other party to have such a reaction.