Slightly hasty footsteps broke the tranquility in the cathedral. Bishop Valentine, who was assigning matters to the deacons on the side, raised his head when he heard the sound and saw the figure of Vanna walking towards him.
The bishop waved the deacons and attendants beside him to leave temporarily, and his eyes fell on Vanna: "I thought you would rest at home for two more days."
"Unfortunately, it seems that I don't have this spare time," Fanna shook her head, her expression a little serious, "What happened? I saw many priests in a hurry, and I also heard that a group of ascetic monks were sent in
Does the inside of the star observation well... have anything to do with today’s sunrise?”
"Yes," Valentin nodded, with a solemn expression, "Today's sunrise is fifteen minutes later than usual - and it is not a delay in dawn caused by local abnormal celestial phenomena. I have received transmissions from other city-states and maritime contact nodes.
Through the psychic transmission, this abnormal situation has been observed from all parts of the world."
"...This world was illuminated by the 'World Creation' for an extra fifteen minutes..." Fanna frowned little by little, "Is there any damage report now?"
"No, just a delay of dawn will not cause any problems. The fifteen minutes of night is still within the redundant scope of the city-state's protection." The old bishop shook his head, "What is really disturbing is that the whole world is observing the same
phenomenon, which shows that the problem does not lie on the surface of the earth or the sea."
"...It's because the operation of Vision 001 itself has changed." Vanna certainly knew what the old bishop was worried about. "There was no announcement at the Tomb of the Unknown King?"
Valentine shook his head slightly.
"There is no movement, so this may be just a minor...'accident', which does not involve the essential change of Vision 001, but...I am afraid that most people will not let go. We at least have to see today's
The sun set normally and saw the sun rise normally the next day, so I dared to breathe a little relieved."
Fanna was silent for a while, then asked: "Aren't ordinary people in the city affected?"
"There hasn't been much fluctuation yet - some people didn't notice the fifteen-minute delay, and some citizens who were aware probably didn't realize the seriousness of the matter. I have sent a letter to the Government Affairs Department to ask them
Evaluate whether subsequent announcements of a conciliatory and guiding nature are needed. The incident has not yet had such a big impact, but an overly positive official explanation may cause people to feel uneasy - especially since we have just experienced such a huge disaster.
"
Fanna listened silently to the old bishop's analysis without saying anything. As a judge who focused most of her energy on combat missions, she knew that she was not professional in this area of affairs, but she only showed her concern from time to time.
The thoughtful look on her face showed that her mood was not as calm as it seemed.
Valentin looked at Vanna who looked worried: "What are you thinking about?"
"I'm just a little emotional," Fanna sighed softly and shook her head, "Every time an extraordinary disaster occurs, we will become more and more aware of how fragile the world we live in today is... city-states, the Holy See, ocean-going ships, we lead
Everything we are proud of seems to be built on a thin and fragile ice surface. If any crack is not discovered in time, we will disappear from this world..."
"This is exactly what it means for us to always remain vigilant and tenacious," Valentine said in a deep voice, looking into the eyes of the young judge, "Fana, you rarely express emotions like this... What happened?
?”
Vanna fell silent. After a few seconds, she seemed to have made up her mind and said to Bishop Valentine: "There are two things. The first one... I saw that 'Captain Duncan' again yesterday.
"
Valentine's eyes became serious at first, but after a moment, he sighed softly: "Actually, it's quite expected."
He paused and then said: "We still have no way to deal with the mark left by the ghost captain on you. Even now, the entire Pland City-state may have established contact with the captain. He is coming
It's only a matter of time before I find you... What did he tell you?"
"...mostly just chatting." Fanna said in a slightly weird tone.
"...chat?" Valentine finally raised his eyebrows in surprise this time, "You mean, the captain of the Lost Home, the shadow returned from subspace, the 'Duncan' who reversed the historical pollution and took away the sun fragments.
, just to find you and chat with you?"
"I knew you would react this way - I can't believe it. To be honest, if he told me he had a plan to conquer the world, I would believe it, but..." Fanna sighed, and then continued
Within ten minutes, she told the old man in front of her everything about her conversation with Duncan last night.
Valentin rubbed his forehead and listened to Vanna's narration. This old bishop, who had never wavered in the face of doomsday crises, now had trouble and fatigue on his face that was difficult to conceal.
But after a brief look of trouble, he still raised his head and said in a complicated tone: "Fanna, actually I have been thinking about a problem since last night."
"what is the problem?"
"...You have had two direct communications with Captain Duncan. In your opinion, does the 'Ghost Captain'... look like an intruder from subspace?"
"What...what do you mean by this?" Fanna's face changed slightly and she asked cautiously, "It is clear that the Lost Homeland fell into subspace and returned..."
"I'm not doubting this. Of course I know the record of the Lost Home's return from subspace. It's just that if you carefully recall the situation, what should be the state of a person who is completely affected by subspace, and... the real subspace invader,
Is it possible to talk to people sensibly without causing uncontrolled contamination in the process?"
This time, Fanna hesitated. She could not respond as easily as before. She hesitated for several seconds before speaking: "Judging from all the cases and the basic understanding of subspace... this is impossible."
"When conducting mental examinations on people who have suffered from 'deep' pollution, there is the simplest and most effective judgment standard - those who can speak rationally can be saved, at least they have not been completely transformed," Bishop Valentine pointed out
He nodded, "The pollution of subspace is very deadly. For this reason, there have never been subspace polluters or invaders in history who can stay awake. Madness is a characteristic they cannot erase, and we...maybe we can also
This simple criterion applies to the Lost Home and its captain."
"...You mean that 'Captain Duncan' is most likely to retain his humanity?"
"Or regained humanity," Bishop Valentine corrected the subtle difference. "In the early records, there are clear witness reports of the indiscriminate attack by the Homeless Ship and Captain Duncan's madness. At that time, he was obviously
Meets the criteria of a warp invader."
Fanna thought about it, and the more she thought about it, the more unbelievable the expression on her face became: "Is this possible? After being completely transformed by subspace pollution... I can actually regain my humanity. This..."
"If this is impossible, how do you explain Captain Duncan who was 'chatting' with you?" Bishop Valentine interrupted Vanna softly, then he paused and reminded, "Don't forget that 'Law Zero'
'."
Fanna was stunned for a moment, then reacted: "There will always be anomalies and visions that do not meet the cognition or exceed the definition..."
The cathedral fell silent for a while, and this silence lasted for an unknown amount of time before Valentine suddenly said: "But we still can't treat the Lost Home and its captain as harmless based on this, do you understand?
"It is returning from subspace after all. Even if the captain regains his humanity, it's hard to tell from what perspective he is looking at us... 'mortals' at this moment.
"And we cannot make rash judgments on our own. We must report all the information currently available to His Majesty the Pope to see how she views this matter."
Fanna's expression was calm, and she nodded seriously immediately: "Of course, I still know this very well."
Then she paused, with a strange expression on her face: "Talking about this kind of thing in this sacred church is really... stressful. If it had been in the past, I would have labeled myself a heretic
' is defined."
Valentine just sighed noncommittally, and then asked: "You just said there were two things. Besides seeing the ghost captain, what was the second thing?"
This time, Vanna was silent for a longer time. She seemed to be very entangled, and finally, under the gaze of the icon of the storm goddess Gemona, she mustered up great courage and said solemnly to the old bishop:
"I...should repent."
"Repent?" Valentine looked at her in surprise, "Why do you want to repent?"
"I was shaken - although I am still pious, I can't avoid my wavering behavior," Vanna took a deep breath and confessed simply, "After the fire, I had questions about my faith.
.”
She told her doubts about the goddess and her wavering in her faith. She didn't hide anything except hiding the secret her uncle told her.
The old bishop did not speak for a long time.
Vanna looked at the old man's face with some anxiety, but she found that she could not judge Valentine's attitude this time.
The old bishop seemed to be deep in thought, hesitant to speak, but without any reproach.
After an unknown amount of time, Fanna heard the other party's voice reaching her ears.
"Fanna, you came to me to confess...then who should I confess to?"
A hint of surprise finally appeared in Fanna's eyes.
"Now, there are two people who are wavering in their faith in the Great Cathedral." The old bishop turned around and stared at the icon of the Storm Goddess quietly, with a strange calmness in his voice, "Fanna, you can feel it.