Free Web NovelChapter 44: Chapter 44 The Ordinary Person’s Breakfast
The price of a Plunder City-State newspaper was twelve pesos, which was equivalent to a shabby breakfast or the cheapest dessert in the Cross District—one could buy a paper from a newsboy passing by or walk a few more steps to the end of another street to a newsstand.
Duncan, with a few coins in his pocket, bought a local newspaper from the newsstand, where the middle-aged owner was engrossed in reading something. Upon hearing the clink of coins Duncan dropped into the box, the owner gestured for him to help himself to a paper, never lifting his head the entire time.
Duncan peeked at what the man was reading and found it to be an article analyzing past lottery numbers, adorned with colorful lines drawing up all sorts of unrealistic fantasies.
He glanced down at the newspaper he had just purchased. The front-page headline was exactly the type of news he found most interesting:
"The honorable Church Guard troop, under the leadership of Judge Fenna Wayne, successfully destroyed a Sun God heretics’ gathering place and apprehended a large number of heretics on the scene, saving several citizens in the process..."
The photo of the said "His Honor, the Judge" was printed on the side of the page. To Duncan’s surprise, it was a quite young woman with a striking scar over her left eye, though she still could be considered a beautiful lady—she stood with her subordinates, towering over every man around her by at least half a head.
The Judge was dressed in a form-fitting, lightweight suit of armor and a battle skirt, carrying a two-handed sword that looked as if it belonged in the pre-gunpowder age, resembling a dashing medieval knightess—yet behind the lady and her group of Church Guards, one could see a massive Steam Armored Robot, its body even displaying obvious artillery configurations...
It was a curious and eerie blend of styles, contradictory and yet harmonious.
Duncan’s gaze lingered on the photograph for a long time.
News of the eradication of heretics’ gathering places was good news for him. Without worrying about exposing his own identity, he could meet the ruffians who performed human sacrifices without any psychological pressure. On the other hand, he was more focused on the various pieces of intelligence the photo revealed.
A professional, female Judge who dealt with heretics, Steam Armored Robots fully armed, combined Church military forces equipped with both cold and hot weapons...
Intelligence that was extremely difficult to come by on the Homeloss was clearly laid out in a civilization’s newspaper that cost only twelve pesos.
As Duncan had thought before—while Homeloss aimlessly drifted for a century, times had changed.
Even without judging from the simplistic angle of "who is stronger," the civilization that the Plunder City-State represented had already developed to a... decidedly fascinating stage.
The crossroad was not a good place to read the newspaper. Duncan rolled up his paper and tucked it under his arm, remembering that Nina, his "niece" at the antique shop, was waiting for him. Thus, he turned to walk back.
Compared to wandering aimlessly alone through the city, a native who inherently trusted him was obviously a better source of information.
As for the Homeloss, Duncan wasn’t worried—at any given moment, even in a state of Spiritual Projection, he could distinctly sense the situation aboard the Homeloss, feel the state of his other body; the goat-headed one was steering for him, and Alice seemed quite well-behaved. He should have more time to act on this side.
After all, the original crew rules of the Homeloss did include "the captain may occasionally leave the ship," so it probably wasn’t a big deal for the captain to take a stroll in the Spirit Realm for a couple of days, right?
Moreover, as Duncan continued to walk in the Spirit Realm, he felt himself becoming more proficient at controlling this special "Spiritual Projection." Perhaps soon, he would be able to attempt controlling the activities of both bodies at the same time—then he needn’t worry about the ship’s affairs while he walked in the Spirit Realm.
A sweet scent suddenly wafted over from the side; instinctively, Duncan stopped walking to look. It came from a cake shop on the street, where freshly baked cakes were on display.
This was the Lower City District of the Plunder City-State, not a place for high-end dessert stores, but even the cheapest, coarser cakes were enough to halt Duncan in his steps.
He still had a few coins in his pocket, totaling less than twenty pesos, but that was more than enough to buy a piece of cake.
After some hesitation, he approached the cake shop and purchased the most ordinary piece of honey cake—the shop wrapped the cake in a kind of coarse, rough paper.
Walking towards the antique shop with the newspaper and cake in hand, Duncan felt an inexplicable sense of pleasure.
Walking down the streets, talking with people, buying things, returning home.
Such simple acts evoked a peculiar feeling, as if from another life—he savored the sensation of breathing on land, treating these ordinary daily experiences as treasures to be cherished.
Life on the Homeloss was actually not bad with the noisy goat-headed crew, but reliable; and Alice was an interesting guy. But it was also nice to experience life on land every now and then.
Not long after, Duncan returned to the antique shop. Before pushing the door open, he still looked up first at the sign above the shop—Duncan’s Antique Shop. The row of letters was still quietly imprinted there, carrying an old-fashioned texture that seemed unchanged for over a decade.
He pushed the door open, and the clear sound of the bell ringing followed. Right after, hurried footsteps came from the direction of the staircase.
A young girl with long brown hair rushed down, then came to an abrupt halt at the staircase landing. She stood there, bracing against a nearby pillar, and stared at Duncan with wide eyes, her expression both tense and worried.
"Uncle Duncan, where have you been?" she said hastily, "You said you’d just step out to the door, but then you disappeared... I thought you’d gone off to the tavern or the gambling hall again..."
Duncan looked at the girl before him with a bit of surprise. He could tell she was genuinely nervous and concerned about something.
She was worried about her only remaining relative in the world, someone she was entirely reliant upon—even if this relative was a degenerate and volatile man addicted to alcohol and gambling and secretly involved with the bloody affairs of the Heretics.
An indistinct feeling arose, but his facial expression remained unchanged: "I just went out for a walk and bought some things along the way."
While speaking, he walked towards the shop’s counter, intending to place the newspaper and cake on top of it. Nina seemed to suddenly relax, only to immediately dash upstairs, saying as she ran, "Uncle, you wait a bit. I’ll bring down breakfast—you surely haven’t had breakfast yet. I made corn and beet soup..."
Before Duncan could say a word, Nina disappeared up the stairs. After a while, she reappeared, cautiously descending with a large tray.
On the tray were two modest breakfast servings.
Duncan watched the girl busying herself with a somewhat dazed expression, as she skillfully cleared a spot on the counter, arranged the food, then moved an extra chair over for herself...
Her movements were quick and efficient, marked by an inexplicable cheerfulness.
As Duncan watched her bustle around, wanting to help but finding no opportunity to jump in.
He had dealt with many young people of her age, but he had hardly ever seen a child as diligent and adept as she was. freēwebnovel.com
On Earth, she would have been the age of a high school student. Even here, she appeared to be nothing more than a student.
Suddenly, Duncan thought that living with an uncle who had fallen into a cult must not be easy—but this girl named Nina seemed to have fully adapted to this far-from-perfect life and even managed to find something to support herself within it.
"Let’s have breakfast," Nina said, having prepared everything. She glanced at Duncan, as if she had said it countless times before, "Doctor Albert has said if you could eat breakfast regularly and keep in good spirits, in the long run, it will work better than strong liquors... better than painkillers."
For a moment, Duncan said nothing, just quietly watching Nina. Before the expression on her face could turn awkward and tense, he picked up the cake he had placed aside earlier, opened the packaging, and set it in front of Nina.
Nina’s eyes widened in surprise, looking puzzled at the item before her: "What is this..."
"Cake, bought it from the corner," Duncan said offhandedly, "You’re growing, it’s good to have something nutritious for breakfast."
Nina froze, just staring blankly at the cheap pastry. After a long moment, as if just understanding, she murmured almost to herself, "Are you really okay?"
"Of course, I’m fine," Duncan said, his demeanor quite natural, "I just suddenly remembered that I hadn’t bought you sweets in a long time."
"Indeed, it’s been over a year..." Nina muttered, but then she suddenly smiled and picked up a knife, "Then we’ll split it halfway. Doctor Albert also said you need nutritious food."
Duncan felt strange, but after a brief silence, he nodded.
"...Alright."
