Anne looked at the two "guests" in the cabin somewhat bewilderedly.
Her eyes moved back and forth between Agatha and Duncan. After a long time, the girl finally reacted a little: "Ah, Uncle Duncan, you are going to be the cemetery caretaker here?"
"Perhaps~" Duncan said, looking at Agatha who was still in shock~~"Is this not feasible? Must the cemetery keeper be a veteran of the Guardian?"
Agatha finally reacted and said quickly: "No... Although generally speaking, the cemetery's guards are all retired veterans, but if I come forward, I can certainly arrange a position for you. The problem is not here, the key is... Do you really want to stay in this cemetery and be a guard?"
"My identity in Plande is still an antique dealer~"
Duncan said with a smile in his eyes: "The Lost Homeland will not stop in one place, but my avatar will stay in the city-state~ I have to find something to do. I can't just sit there in that big house on Oak Street drinking tea and reading newspapers all day, right?"
This… I really haven’t thought about this question. Agatha opened her mouth, feeling a little embarrassed, “I haven’t thought about your incarnation at all, what else needs to be done in Pingyouli.”
"Normal. Most of the movies don't mention the protagonists' job transfers after the incident. The reality is that you have to do the work of two people, and Tirian is overwhelmed by paperwork for the whole month~"
Duncan laughed. "For me, it's also very boring to drive a ghost ship that won't come close to the cliff and wander around the endless sea all day. Living a normal life in a city-state is my way of ensuring that I still look like a 'human'. You can think of it as..."
Agatha said immediately: "I will arrange it for you immediately. You can come to the cemetery to take up your post tomorrow~~"
Duncan: "... I'm not done yet"
"I have heard the most important part~~"
Agatha said solemnly, "Please rest assured, even if the Supreme Holy Temple asks, I will ensure that you can be a caretaker in this cemetery with peace of mind."
"I feel like you've over-interpreted what I just said, but it's not a big problem."
Duncan said this somewhat awkwardly, and then really started asking about the "work".
"What does the cemetery keeper Ping Yuri need to do?"
"In fact, there is basically not much work. The task of the guard is just to ensure that the cemetery is not disturbed and to ensure the peace of the extraordinary power~~"
In addition, it is sufficient to register the living and dead people entering and leaving the cemetery.
As for matters such as the maintenance of cemetery facilities, those are all handled by people arranged by nearby churches...Agatha explained.
"Given that Frost City has become an extremely safe environment even at night, I think not only you, but all the cemetery guards should not have to do anything."
Agatha's tone was somewhat strange when she said this, and her eyes glanced at Duncan from time to time. It was obvious that she was thinking about the relationship between the recent calm frosty nights and the existence in front of her~~and she had some words unsaid.
Even if the night in the city-state is still as dangerous as ever, what does it matter
The cemetery has welcomed such a "guard". I'm afraid there will never be any incidents of supernatural power disturbances again
I guess even if it's something from the subspace that comes out of the coffin, it will be slapped back by the new guard. In any case, it's a good thing.
Duncan didn't know what Agasha was thinking, and he himself didn't think about anything too complicated, because he really just wanted to find something for his body to do. Considering the last will remaining in this body, and considering the "fate" between himself and this cemetery, he finally chose to stay here and become the new caretaker of the cemetery.
He would continue to watch over the frost here, taking care of and watching over this city-state, just like he did in Pland. The hot tea in his hand had gradually cooled down, and Duncan placed the cup on the low table beside him.
Standing up, he silently looked around the small house. The plain furnishings in the house seemed to still have some traces of the previous owner. On the wall next to the door, an old hunting rifle that looked very old was quietly hanging on an iron hook. The bolt was still shining, reflecting the fire beside it. Duncan looked at the old hunting rifle for a while, nodded slightly, pushed the door and walked out of the house. The sound of upbeat and cheerful music came from the direction of a street outside the cemetery...
There was also the sound of fireworks going off. Anne came out of the door of the small room behind him, listened to the noise on the street in the distance, and happily pulled Duncan's clothes, "The new governor's motorcade is going to pass through the cemetery ring area."
"Many people are still afraid of the new governor."
Duncan lowered his head with a smile in the corner of his eyes: "You don't look scared at all."
"I'm not afraid. Mom said that the new consul is a hero who protects the city-state." Annie raised her face and squinted her eyes in the sunlight. Like her father, he is a very powerful person.
Shuang Ken thought about it, reached out and gently pressed the girl's furry hat. Indeed, he would be an excellent consul.
On the boundless sea.
Duncan crossed the stern deck and returned to the captain's room. Goat Head was steering the ship seriously. The thick fog floating on the surface of the large bat chart on the navigation table was flowing and dissipating. Duncan stood in front of the chart for a while, his eyes swept across the route near Frost that was gradually becoming clear, and then walked to a corner of the room. The captain's room's simple and elegant oval mirror was still hanging quietly on the wall.
The mirror reflected the scene in the room, and in the interweaving of sunlight and shadow, the scene looked a little blurry for some reason.
Duncan took a step forward, bent his fingers, and tapped the mirror lightly.
Edge, the next second, the seemingly ordinary mirror surface suddenly began to float with layers of hazy light and shadows.
It was as if countless mists and smoke were rising from the mirror world, and then a figure emerged from the hazy light and shadow... Agatha, the gatekeeper in the mirror, appeared in front of Duncan. "Shipwretch," Agatha's slightly magnetic voice came from the mirror.
"Nice to meet you~~"
Duncan nodded and asked casually: "How does it feel? Are you used to it?"
"It feels good." Agatha said slowly and happily.
Just now, when I was transferred to the ship, the huge and empty mirror world here made me a little nervous~~ But perhaps as I gradually adapted to this place, the vast darkness has gradually faded away...
I also tried to communicate with the woman named 'Martha', and she told me a lot of techniques and knowledge about being a mirror, which were all very useful.
Duncan raised his eyebrows when he heard this. "Oh? You can contact Martha directly here?"
The Black Oak was wandering in the reflection of the nearby sea. In the mirror world, she and I were neighbors.
Agatha laughed: "This is a wonderful experience - the world in the mirror is discontinuous, yet connected everywhere. I can jump from one mirror to another, or appear in many mirrors at the same time, or hide in the vast nothingness behind the mirror... Maybe it will take many, many years for me to fully understand all of this."
Duncan listened with great interest as this "mirror" told him about the "laws in the mirror" that were beyond the ordinary people's cognition and unimaginable.
After the other party finished speaking, he nodded slightly. It sounded like you were enjoying this process, which was good.
Agatha was stunned for a moment and sighed softly, "Yes, it's better than I thought."
The cabin was silent for a while. After an unknown amount of time, Duncan suddenly broke the silence: "I want to know, what made you decide to leave Frostbite and the Lost Homeland and embark on a journey together? This will be the longest journey of your life. This ship may go to many places, the secret realms blocked by distant city-states, the abyss, and even the subspace...
...
Agatha in the mirror pondered. She thought about this question seriously. After several minutes, she slowly spoke: "I think it was when 'we' dived into the dark deep sea together~~"
Duncan did not speak, but just looked at the person in the mirror, waiting for her to continue. The voice in the mirror came again, "I have all the memories and emotions of Agatha. In that memory, I was born in Frost, accompanied by my family and friends. I studied and trained, and accepted the test of the church. There are also those streets, those old clock towers, those things that have been in disrepair for a long time... but are very familiar. All these things are in my mind, clear and profound~~ Just like I experienced it myself.
"But we all know that, until the day of the mirror invasion, the life that truly belonged to me was actually only three days. "So, when my consciousness was restored and I returned to this world in the form of a mirror, I have been thinking about this question - am I the gatekeeper Agatha or a 'person' who has inherited someone's memories and has been reborn in this world
She stopped, and as a "mirror image", her eyes were bright, and those eyes were now looking intently at the captain outside the mirror.
"You're right. One cannot live forever as another person's shadow."
Almost all of my past life memories come from another individual, but even so, there are three days in those memories that belong to me alone.
"But if I stay in Frost, the three days of my 'life' will sooner or later be buried by bigger and deeper memories. I can't sever my ties with that city. I can't avoid my human weaknesses as a mortal. I am destined to be a shadow, a shadow full of regrets, trapped in memories. And as time goes by, this regret will sooner or later turn into anger and resentment~~"
I can't accept this possibility anymore.
But during that 'deep dive' journey with you, something you said to me... made me find new possibilities!