Shirley, who had just finished sprinkling water on the open space in front of the store and was carrying an empty basin to go back, was stunned for a moment. She raised her head and saw the judge standing quietly in front of her in the backlight.
"...Fuck you!!" She exclaimed subconsciously, but then she reacted suddenly, coughed twice, and composed her words nervously, "Um, um, you... you..."
Fanna frowned slightly. For some reason, she always felt that this short and thin girl seemed too nervous when she saw her. This was the case last time when she and Heidi came to this antique store, and it is still the case now.
But she didn't think much about it. After all, due to various reasons, she was actually very used to this kind of "nervous reaction" when others saw her.
"I remember your name is Shirley," Vanna said with a smile, trying to make the short girl relax with her smile, "Don't be so nervous, I'm just here for a stroll."
Shirley quickly stood up straight and nodded stiffly: "Uh...hey! Okay, then welcome..."
Vanna shook her head helplessly, passed over Shirley, who was still tense, nodded slightly and said hello to Nina, who was looking at her curiously, and walked straight to the antique shop in front of her.
Pushing open the door, the crisp clang of bells broke the silence on the first floor of the antique store. Fanna stepped into the store and cast her eyes on the figure behind the counter.
The next second, she frowned in surprise.
In the early morning sunshine, a blond woman I had never seen before was sitting behind the counter. She was a very... beautiful lady, with an elegance and mystery that seemed not to belong to this place, or even to this era.
, the side face seemed to glow with a warm glow in the sunlight.
After hearing the noise coming from the door of the store, the blond woman behind the counter raised her head and glanced curiously at Fanna who was walking in. She showed a faint smile and said in a soft and slightly magnetic voice: "Welcome,
just looking around?"
Fanna was a little dazed. For some reason, she always felt that this new face who appeared in the antique store seemed like he shouldn't be there. But the next second, she felt that the mysterious and elegant temperament of the other person seemed to be in line with what the antique store presented.
...atmosphere.
The place is filled with all kinds of things that look quite primitive and mysterious, so there should be a lady with a mysterious and elegant temperament sitting behind the counter.
But this antique shop is full of fakes.
Fanna stared intently at the blond woman behind the counter.
Ah, that's right, fake.
"Excuse me..." Alice looked at Fanna with some confusion, who suddenly stood there in a daze after walking in. The situation in front of her seemed to go beyond the "standard procedure for entertaining guests" that the captain told her, which made her feel a little bit confused.
Not sure what to do, "Do you want to buy something?"
Fanna was so excited that she suddenly woke up.
A chaotic numbness and dizziness filled her mind, making her thinking intermittently. She vaguely remembered that she had seen something or thought of something just now, but the sudden chaos completely covered that
Everything you see and know in one moment.
The next second, the gentle sound of waves sounded in her mind again. In this sound of waves, she completely forgot about the chaotic numbness and dizziness she had just felt.
She felt like she had just walked into the store and the young woman behind the counter was talking to her.
"Ah, isn't Mr. Duncan here?" Vanna looked at the scene on the first floor curiously, but did not find the antique store manager. "I know him."
"Mr. Duncan? He went upstairs to put things away and will come down soon." Alice didn't care about the other person's daze just now. Anyway, as long as the conversation could continue, she was fine with it. "Want to buy something? Yes.
Pre-ordered products? I can help you look for them - although I may not be able to find them..."
What a straightforward statement.
Fanna felt strange. She instinctively felt that the beautiful young woman in front of her seemed to be a little inconsistent, but whenever she wanted to focus on this problem, she would immediately forget her thoughts, which made her speak.
He seemed slower than usual every time: "I...just took a look. I'll just wait a moment. Excuse me...are you new here? I haven't seen you before when I came here last time."
"Ah, I'm new here. My name is Alice," Alice said immediately with a smile. She liked to introduce her name to others. "Mr. Duncan asked me to help look after the store."
Vaguely, Vanna seemed to notice something strange. The strangeness was hidden in Alice's reserved but slightly stiff movements, in that perfect but too perfect smile, and even in the lack of expression in her words.
In the sound of flowing words.
The judge frowned, not really noticing anything strange.
It's just a new clerk, nothing unusual.
At this moment, a sound of footsteps suddenly came from the stairs nearby, interrupting the conversation between Vanna and Alice.
Duncan's figure appeared on the stairs.
Just now, he sensed Vanna's appearance. Just to confirm the judge's purpose, he deliberately waited on the second floor for a few more minutes. At this time, he found that the other party did not seem to have any special purpose, so he walked down.
"It seems that a special guest has come," Duncan said to the puppet lady behind the counter, "I'll receive it. It's someone I know - Alice, you go make tea."
"Okay, Mr. Duncan!"
Alice stood up happily, agreed, and walked to the small stove on the other side of the stairs. Duncan came to Vanna and greeted the judge with a smile, who he had met many times before: "It's been a long time."
Missing, Miss Inquisitor."
"Just call me by my name," Fanna rubbed her forehead, "Sorry for the unexpected visit. Actually, I have some questions that I want to confirm."
"Problem?" Duncan raised his eyebrows, "What problem?"
Fanna calmed down and considered how to speak.
Some vague clues pointed to this unremarkable shop, and some intuitive guidance led her here. The inquisitor's experience and sense of smell seemed to be faintly beating. However, the church had previously investigated through official channels and found nothing.
Any abnormality that could support her coming to investigate this time seemed to be the only "talisman" belonging to her friend.
"As far as I know, Heidi once had an amulet from here," Vanna said slowly. "She kept wearing it before the reality pollution disaster."
"Oh, then I have the impression," Duncan nodded as usual, with a slightly enlightened expression, "I gave the amulet to Mr. Morris - and I sent another one out in the past two days."
As he spoke, he turned around, took another amulet from the shelf behind him, and displayed it in front of Fanna.
"That's it."
Fanna looked at the antique store manager in front of her with a strange look as he took out the "collection" in the store as mass-produced goods: "Do you have many such talismans here?"
"I bought a big box, and so far, a total of twenty-one have been sold out, including giving away and selling," Duncan nodded solemnly, "Are you interested too?"
As he spoke, he subconsciously looked at the young judge again.
Today's Vanna gave him a very strange feeling. She seemed to be in a trance and her speech was slightly sluggish. But compared with these apparent abnormalities, what was even more wrong was her unstable "aura" at the moment.
Duncan couldn't understand what was going on, but the feeling this young inquisitor gave him at the moment... was as if there was another person hidden in her thoughts, and another pair of eyes hidden in her eyes, and she was talking to herself here.
, but something else seemed to be hidden deep in her consciousness.
Fanna didn't seem to notice Duncan's scrutiny. She was just not used to the other person's frank business attitude - even though she knew from the beginning that there was nothing real in the store: "Uh... no, I'm just here to investigate.
I would like to ask about the specific purchasing channels of these talismans, and whether they have ever shown anything special, or have people who bought them reported any unusual situations?"
"you mean……"
"Heidi believes that the amulet she wore had a real protective effect and even helped her maintain consciousness during the 'disaster'," Vanna said simply, without going into too much detail. "
I think that the amulet you gave to Mr. Morris was very likely to have been affected by... extraordinary power, so I came here to investigate. Of course, you don't need to be nervous. Judging from the current information, this is not a bad influence.
.”
She said this, but there was still one sentence left unsaid: Investigation is investigation. Before she came, she didn't expect that Duncan had a whole box of similar amulets! And so many of them had been sold!
Duncan's heart moved slightly after hearing Vanna's words.
That thing... really had an effect? Did the "gift" I gave out casually actually protect the psychiatrist's self-awareness?
Why does this happen?
What's the key?
Is it the act of “giving a gift” itself, or is it because the psychiatrist’s own “inspiration” is too high?