Every day, Vanna would pass through the atrium of the Prader Cathedral before noon and follow the path between the flower beds to the church. The length of the path is one hundred and three steps, and it takes two steps from the entrance to the church to the statue of the goddess.
Seventeen steps - these steps have been part of her life since she became the inquisitor of this city.
She was familiar with everything in this church, every floor tile from the atrium to the sanctuary, as familiar as her own hands.
In the past many days and nights, she never thought that this short road would be so...difficult and long.
The door of the church opened, and the too bright sunlight was left behind. After adapting to the slightly dim environment in the room, Fanna saw two figures standing in front of the goddess statue in the center of the room.
The skylight shone through the tall stained glass windows, spreading a layer of glow over the statue of the goddess. Archbishop Valentine and Pope Helena turned their eyes at the same time, looking at the inquisitor who was entering the room in the sun.
.
"You're here," Helena nodded lightly, "one minute later than promised."
"Sorry," Fanna stepped forward, bowed her head slightly in greeting under the statue of the goddess, and then looked at the Pope, "it took me a few minutes to hand over the work with my subordinates."
"It doesn't matter," Helena nodded lightly, then glanced at Valentine next to her, "I have already told Bishop Valentine about your matter, and he will help you with the handover and work arrangements.
You don’t have to worry about the city-state’s arrangements. Your uncle has also received news and he understands the church’s arrangements - but I still hope that you will have a good talk with him later so that he can dispel some of his worries about the future."
Even though she thought she had made a lot of psychological preparations, Vanna still couldn't help but feel a jump in her heart after hearing the Pope's words.
A feeling that she couldn't tell whether it was a dream or reality came to her heart, making her feel dazed for a moment. She tried to accurately grasp this feeling, but in the end she found that all her emotions were actually just this sigh - ah, it really happened.
Already.
But she was suddenly a little confused, and even felt a little ridiculous. She looked at the Pope in front of her and couldn't help but said: "You really want to send me to the Lost Home - Of course, I'm not doubting your decision, I'm just
Suddenly I feel that... this is not a trivial matter. We must at least understand the attitude of 'Captain Duncan'. Will he really let a high-ranking priest board that ship casually?"
Fanna felt that her words were a bit confusing, but she still tried to straighten her thoughts and continued: "Yesterday things happened suddenly. I only felt something was wrong after I went back. The Lost Home is not an open area that can be entered casually.
', what do you plan to do..."
"Ah, you finally realized this question," Helena smiled and shook her head, "I thought you would not think of 'asking for directions' until you set off."
Vanna's eyes widened in surprise, and then she saw Helena take out a rolled piece of parchment from beside her and hand it over with a smile.
Fanna took the paper in confusion, unfolded it carefully, glanced at the words on it, and her expression gradually became wonderful——
"Deep Sea Church, the servants of Gemona know that...we are now accepting one of your personnel who needs to be transferred due to work needs, and temporarily arrange it to a combat position on this ship...the on-the-job salary is the same as that of a first-class crew member, and the salary and various expenses of the personnel are
It will still be paid by your organization, and the payment method is...
Captain of the Lost Home, Duncan Abnomar, signed in Vision-Plender, December 19, 1900."
In addition to the handwritten signature, there is also an eye-catching red seal at the end of the document.
Fanna: "..."
The young inquisitor looked a little confused. She looked down at the personnel transfer acceptance letter in her hand, then looked up at the Pope in front of her. After looking back and forth several times, her eyes fell on Bishop Valentine again.
"Don't look at me," Valentine said expressionlessly, "I didn't expect this either."
Fanna felt her lips tremble a little: "The signature on this..."
"It's true," Helena said calmly, "The seal is also true. If you search in the city-state archives, you can even find the old archives from when the Homeless Ship was resupplying at Pland Port a century ago.
Has the same seal and signature."
Fanna listened blankly. She opened her mouth, as if she still had something to say, but Helena interrupted her first: "You have to admit, this is very reasonable."
"I..." Fanna raised her finger and pointed at herself, and then raised the parchment in her hand. After a while, she finally said, "But isn't this reasonable and a bit too much?! And when did you..."
"Just yesterday," Helena said seriously, with a happy smile hidden in her eyes, "Captain Duncan and I discussed your onboarding process in detail. We have always believed that this should be a formal and contract-bound personnel transfer. For this reason
Official documents are required."
The female pope paused for a moment when she said this. Looking at the still troubled expression on Vanna's face, she couldn't help but smile and spread her hands: "Otherwise? Vanna? How do you think we are going to send you to your homeland?"
On the ship? Light a few bonfires, draw blasphemous symbols on the ground, and then tie you to a stake and sacrifice you? Just like some dark heretics sacrificed the kidnapped girl to Ya in a damp cave.
Space like that?
"Fanna, we are an orthodox church and we follow formal procedures."
Fanna's mouth trembled, and she said to herself that she really hadn't thought about the details of this personnel "handover" at first. When the other party reminded her, she realized the rationality of the document in front of her, but because the process was too
It's reasonable but the whole thing feels weird.
All her uneasy imaginations about her future were shattered at this moment - she even suspected that she would see a sumptuous staff meal on the Lost Home, and there would even be a deck barbecue after the official dinner...
…
That’s the lost hometown number! The lost hometown number!
Helena saw all the weirdness in Fanna's eyes.
"Okay, now that you have seen the document, you must have dispelled your last concern," the female pope said with a smile, "Go and rest first and do some preparations before departure - there are more detailed contents on the back of this document
, including the specific handover time and handover method, you can go back and take a look."
Vanna was sent out of the church in a daze.
After the young judge left, the church became quiet for a while. After another two minutes, Valentine's voice broke the silence: "Actually, I'm very curious."
Helena turned back slightly: "What are you curious about?"
"What happened that made you suddenly decide to send Vanna to the Lost Home?" Valentin said with a slightly serious expression, "I know your reason, and that reason is indeed tenable, but the whole thing is...
It seems to me... it's a little too hasty, you seem to be eager to establish contact with that 'Captain Duncan', and you haven't even made enough preparations. What happened?"
"You are a perceptive person, Valentine, you have always been." Helena looked at the old bishop who had been loyal to the church for many years quietly for a moment, and then sighed, "Actually, this matter will not be the case soon."
What a secret it is, it won’t hurt if I tell you now.”
She paused and spoke slowly: "Do you still remember the 'warning' that Captain Duncan conveyed through Vanna not long ago?"
"Warning?" Valentin frowned and quickly thought of something, "You mean, about Vision 001..."
"There has been disturbing news recently from the Elven City-state 'Breeze Port' located near the border," Helena nodded and said, "'The Sea Witch' Lucretia sent them a gift, what do you think it is?
What?"
Valentine was startled, thinking of the details revealed in the Pope's words just now, and vaguely realized the truth, and the expression on his face instantly became wonderful: "Could it be that... something really fell from the sky?"
"A luminous fragment fell from the sky, it was pale golden in color, and it was a larger geometric object than the Storm Cathedral," Helena said. "Although there is no clear evidence yet to prove that it is the fragment that fell off Vision 001, but...
…”
Helena didn't say any more, just shook her head.
Valentine listened in stunned silence, and after an unknown amount of time, he squeezed out a few syllables from his throat: "...goddess."
"There is a problem in our world, and the situation is more serious than imagined, and the Lost Home is the only voice so far that has issued a warning to the civilized world - and this warning has been confirmed," Helena said slowly,
"This is Captain Duncan taking the initiative to convey goodwill. No matter how terrible that ship was in the past, we must respond now. After all... this time it is not a certain city-state that is crumbling, but the sun above our heads."
"...Can Fanna really complete this task?" Valentin dispelled his previous doubts, but he was worried about another thing, "She is actually a slightly reckless person, and is not very good at...delicacy.
Caution in interpersonal interactions, if we were to send an envoy 'on board', she would not be the best candidate."
"We don't decide the best candidate, Valentine." Helena shook her head.
She turned around and stared silently at the icon of the storm goddess Gmorna.
"The chess players decide the position of the pieces as early as the beginning."
(The whole family was infected, and eventually even the four elderly people on both sides were infected. Fortunately, everything was safe in the end.
After I turned negative, I recovered for a few days. Now my situation is much better. I am just still coughing, tired and lethargic. I heard that this will last for a long time, but I think it is not a big problem. Now I can write a chapter every day, occasionally
I'm in good condition to write two chapters, so I'm updating both chapters today.
However, this kind of double update is not yet stable, and I can only write one more chapter when conditions permit, so you don’t have to wait every day, I will try my best, try my best...)