Deep Sea Embers

It was getting dark in the street.

After sending Morris away and tidying up the storefront on the first floor, Duncan finally had time to tell Nina what her teacher said during the home visit.

After all, this is actually the main reason why old Mr. Morris came to visit today-although the two of them got off topic after chatting.

"Have you not had a good rest recently? Or are you not feeling well?" At the dining table on the second floor, Duncan asked concernedly while spreading butter on a slice of bread, "I heard from your teacher that your situation has continued. It's been a few days."

Nina was obviously a little nervous, and she probably guessed that the teacher would bring up these things when she came today, but until not long ago, she never thought that her Uncle Duncan would really start paying attention to her situation in school—a kind of long-lost The awkward feeling of being cared about but uneasy permeated her heart: "It's just a little... sleepy."

"Then it seems that what Mr. Morris said is true." Duncan carefully observed Nina's expression. "Physical reasons? Or other reasons? If you have something on your mind, you can tell me."

Speaking of this, he paused, then added after deliberation: "Of course, at this age, you may have some things that you don't want to tell an adult like me. This is also normal, because you are growing up, and you have an independent personality and yourself. All ideas should be respected—but you still have to remember that it’s not shameful for people to ask for help when they encounter difficulties, if it’s something I can help, you can speak up and let’s find a solution together.”

He tried his best to make his words seem reliable and kind, which was not easy, because he never had blood relatives of this age to take care of, but he had more or less experience in dealing with students, so at this time, he was dealing with puberty He came to talk to Nina based on the experience of a student—he thought his attitude was gentle and reliable enough.

"I...I'm really fine, really!" Nina seemed a little uncomfortable with such a kind uncle, but she didn't resist her heart. She waved her hand vigorously and met Duncan's gaze, "I just feel Sleepy, always wake up when sleeping, sometimes dreaming."

"Dream?" Duncan frowned, and suddenly thought of something, "Nightmare? Could it be the dream of the fire when I was a child?"

Perhaps it was because he was paying attention to the fragments of the sun and the unsolved case eleven years ago, he suddenly thought of this matter subconsciously, but Nina shook her head: "No, it wasn't something that happened when I was a child."

"what is that?"

"I always dreamed... dreamed that I was standing on a very high place, like a tower in a city, and the neighborhood under my feet was dark, full of ruins and ashes," Nina recalled , said slowly, "The ruins and ashes are like a huge scar, extending along the center of the lower city all the way to the cross street, and then extending to the edge of the upper city, as if it is terrible to tear the city apart, I was trapped in that In a very high place, I wanted to leave, but was blocked by an invisible wall..."

Nina recalled, and suddenly shook her head slightly: "Dreams are always like this. If you say it's scary...in fact, nothing scary appeared, and there was no danger approaching. I just watched the city being crushed by something. A scar was pressed out, and then I was trapped in the same place and couldn't move, and I was still very tired every time I woke up, and I started to feel sleepy after class the next day..."

Duncan listened carefully to the girl's description, and slowly frowned.

What Nina described... was indeed not the fire she experienced in her childhood, nor was it the scene that Duncan remembered.

It was more like a static "display", showing her the scene presented by Plante in an unknown time and space.

If it was on the earth, Duncan would only regard it as a strange dream that kept appearing on the spot, but in this strange and unusual world, he couldn't help but feel vigilant.

Before, Nina somehow remembered a fire that only existed in her and Duncan's minds, and later, she had continuous strange dreams like "omens".

"When did you start having these dreams?" Duncan asked seriously.

"About a week or two ago? Maybe earlier... I can't remember," Nina took a sip of the vegetable soup, her voice was a bit vague, "I didn't pay attention at the time..."

When Duncan heard it, he wanted to say "you should have said it earlier", but he suddenly remembered that Nina's "uncle" was still a rotten person addicted to cult activities and alcohol anesthesia, and there was no one around her to talk to. He was a reliable person, so he swallowed the words abruptly, and then said, "Have you consulted a professional? Like a doctor?"

Nina raised her head: "You mean a psychiatrist?"

"Yes, a psychiatrist." Duncan thought for a while and nodded immediately.

In this world, "psychiatrist" is an indispensable profession, because there are too many things in the night and the deep sea staring at the city-state, and the spirits of ordinary people are affected by these breaths, and it is very likely that they will appear large and small. Problems - Nightmares, auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, cognitive shifts, and even personality disorders, these diseases plague many people, so that the world's treatment technology in related fields has developed to an unimaginable level - the most brilliant psychiatrist Even use extraordinary power to correct the distorted mind.

Nina's frequent strange dreams should also belong to the "disease" that these psychiatrists pay attention to.

"I haven't yet," Nina said in a muffled voice. "Their consultation fee is very expensive... I'm just having some weird dreams."

"But these strange dreams have already begun to affect your life," Duncan said seriously. "Continuing to dream of such weird scenes may be a sign of danger. You should have learned these in school."

As he said this, he was also thinking quickly in his mind - there must be something wrong with Nina's continuous strange dreams. In any case, since he is already living in a strange and abnormal world, he must have a good understanding of these superhuman realms. "Element" is somewhat vigilant, but he himself is a layman in terms of theory, so he must find some professionals for this matter.

Coincidentally, he also wanted to find an opportunity to get in touch with "professionals" in civilized society and see how they deal with incidents that may involve the extraordinary.

Nina was obviously still hesitant, but in the face of Duncan's serious expression, she finally gave up: "Then...then we can go to the community church on the weekend and ask the pastor from Deep Sea to give a blessing to the gods. , so the cost is very low, if it doesn't work, then find a professional psychiatrist, okay?"

church? Deep Sea Priest? A priest who believes in the storm goddess Gamona?

Duncan's heart moved, and he suddenly felt that this was also very good - he was also very interested in those priests who served the gods.

"Okay, then it's settled," he nodded immediately, "It happens that you're going to the museum on the weekend, and we'll stop by the church when you come back."

"Um!"

After dinner, Nina returned to the room early as usual, and Duncan also returned to his room, and saw Ai's lazy figure lying on the window sill at a glance.

The pigeon flew outside for a day and came back with nothing.

Duncan closed the door casually and walked towards the window. The pigeon lazily raised its wings to say hello after seeing its master, making a nagging sound: "Destroy, hurry up, I'm tired..."

"You really worked hard," Duncan knew from the half-dead look of the bird that it was really tired this day. He stepped forward to untie the "cultist sensor" on the pigeon's back, and comforted him, "It's true. It’s not that easy, after all, they are all hiding very deeply, and the Deep Sea Church has been keeping a close eye on them recently, so they will definitely be more cautious..."

The pigeon rolled its eyelids, shook its wings, and continued to lie still.

Duncan was immediately happy when he saw it: "Even so, this matter still needs to be done in the future... Of course, flying for a day is indeed a bit too intense. I will arrange for you to combine work and rest."

He decided to search for the cultists in the city as a long-term job at this stage, although after doing today's "big business", he is not so urgent in terms of money, and there is no need to rely on "hunting" to supplement his family , but the trouble with those cultists is quite meaningful in itself.

On the one hand, by doing so, you may be able to catch big fish from the cultists to meet your intelligence needs—the priests at a higher level must know more about the "sun" secrets, and they may also know about the "sun" More information from the shards, which was what Duncan was focusing on.

On the other hand, there is a wild-looking supernatural dog called Loli who is active in the city-state. The other party is also constantly making troubles for the Sun Cultists, and she may also know some secrets of the supernatural world. Duncan wants to try his luck and see if he can come again Talk to her about the deep sea and the deep devil - after talking with Morris, he is now very curious about the "starry sky" above the deep sea.

Noticing the serious expression on Duncan's face, and realizing his fate of being forced to work overtime in the future, Ai sighed in an extremely humane manner.

"Ah..." The bird's tone was full of sorrow, "There is already a thick and sad barrier between us..."

Duncan: "...Your vocabulary is quite rich!"