Duncan felt he had been careless.

He had only considered that Alice lacked common sense about living in the human world, but he hadn't imagined the extent of that lack of common sense. He had thought that after she came, she could at least help a little in the store, but he didn't expect that she didn't even recognize money.

But this was quite reasonable.

After all, she didn't need to spend money lying in a coffin...

"Sigh...while Shirley and Nina are not here, I should continue to tutor you," Duncan sighed, reluctantly giving up his plan to go out for a walk in the afternoon. "First of all, I have to let you know the most basic things in the human world, such as currency..."

He paused, and then sighed again: "Well, it looks like I really have to open a literacy class for you and Shirley."

"Oh, Shirley, is that the short girl just now?" Alice immediately matched the person, her face full of joy. Being able to meet a new person seemed to be a very happy thing for her. "I heard you say that she is also a...what was it called, an 'illiterate', right?"

"This is not something to be happy about!" Duncan knocked on the table. "And even Shirley is better than you—at least she knows how to evade fares when taking the bus!"

Alice: "What is evading fares?"

Duncan: "..."

...

Heidi sneezed hard.

She got up and closed the living room window, rubbing her nose and grumbling about the recent hot and cold weather. Then, she looked up a little worriedly at her father, who was sitting at the coffee table not far away.

School was already on holiday. The annual autumn break for all public schools in Pland would last for more than two months. During this period, her father did not have to report to school, and he usually had no social engagements on weekdays. Therefore, in previous years, he would usually immerse himself in the various libraries of the city-state during this time, or simply relax at home like today.

But for some reason, Maurice seemed to be in a rather strange state today.

He held a newspaper, but his eyes were not focused on it at all. He had been sitting on the sofa in that stiff posture for nearly an hour. He seemed to be contemplating something, and even the inquiries from the daytime maid just now went unanswered.

Heidi frowned.

Ever since returning from Mr. Duncan's antique shop, her father had been like this, absent-minded, occasionally showing strange expressions, ignoring others, and just thinking to himself.

He didn't even go to the study—as if instinctively resisting books.

"Are you alright?" Heidi finally couldn't help but get up, came to Maurice's side, and asked with concern. "Are you feeling unwell?"

It took two inquiries before Maurice finally heard his daughter's voice. He quickly looked up, and after feeling the buzzing in his mind subside slightly, he waved his hand. "I'm fine...Oh, didn't you go to church or city hall today? Or the clinic?"

"The work at the church and city hall has been completed long ago, and the clinic is closed today," Heidi's brow did not relax. "I remember you asked me once this morning."

"Oh, is that so? I forgot."

Maurice gently tapped his temple, saying hesitantly.

He knew that he was not in a good state, but he couldn't explain the problem to his daughter.

He couldn't casually reveal information about a subspace entity—not only because it might offend that "Mr. Duncan," but also because this information might cause pollution and affect Heidi.

A low buzzing sound rang in his mind, interrupting Maurice's thoughts, but soon the noise subsided, allowing his thoughts to stabilize again.

Thought noise, this was a sequela from returning from the antique shop.

But in reality, compared to yesterday, this sequela had weakened many times over.

Maurice knew that he should be grateful—after directly facing the shadow of subspace, he not only saved his life but also preserved his sanity. The protection of the God of Wisdom and the kindness of "Mr. Duncan" had both taken effect. He was left with some symptoms caused by "critical madness," but after simple self-assessment, he confirmed that these symptoms would rapidly decrease over time and there was nothing to be nervous about.

But before the symptoms completely disappeared, his terrible state would probably make Heidi worry for a while longer.

Maurice suddenly frowned, remembering that his daughter was an excellent mental physician—he couldn't let her continue to notice that his mental state was abnormal.

Just then, Heidi's voice came again: "What did you talk about with Mr. Duncan yesterday? I feel like you've been absent-minded ever since you came back..."

"Some...topics in the field of knowledge, very profound knowledge," Maurice's mind uncontrollably popped up with information related to the "Creeping Sun Disc," recalling the information about the current state of the Black Sun that Mr. Duncan had revealed to him. He used great willpower to control these "knowledge" that seemed to have independent lives and were drilling around in his sea of ​​consciousness, and showed Heidi a smile. "Quite taxing on the brain, I still haven't figured it out, so I'm always distracted today...Let's not talk about this, I suddenly remembered, didn't you agree with a friend to go to the cinema on your day off?"

Heidi was stunned for a moment: "...Friend? I don't remember...agreeing to go to the cinema with any friend...Are you mistaken?"

"I'm mistaken?" Maurice rubbed his temples. For some reason, he suddenly felt his temples throbbing and heating up, and his memory was hazy, as if something forgotten was awakening in his consciousness. "But I clearly remember, you said the day before yesterday, that you had a friend...what was her name, a very tall one, who is also very familiar with me..."

Maurice's rubbing of his temples gradually became more irritable, and he began to gently tap his forehead with his fist, muttering in his mouth. This made Heidi, who was originally just a little puzzled, suddenly feel inexplicably nervous. She quickly squatted down and held the old man's hand: "Are you alright? Do you have a headache? Should I...do some hypnotic relaxation or soothing guidance for you? Or find another doctor..."

"I don't need a doctor, I don't need it," Maurice waved his hand vigorously. Noise appeared in his mind again, but this time the noise was different from the previous "thought noise." This time, the sound seemed to be desperately conveying some information, desperately awakening something. He felt as if another consciousness was awakening in his mind—that consciousness was still himself, but it had a subtle deviation from his current thinking. "I just need to remember, to remember something very important...Heidi, you have a friend, listen, you have a friend, very important..."

The worry and nervousness on Heidi's face became more and more serious. She held Maurice's other hand tightly, and her words unconsciously carried the power of soothing guidance: "Of course I have friends, but who exactly are you talking about..."

Maurice could no longer hear Heidi's words after that.

He felt a sudden roar in his mind, which was the sound of all the noise being compressed and released in an instant. Then, the thought noise that had troubled him for a long time completely disappeared, and a large number of strange memories涌从意识深处涌了出来。In a daze, he seemed to see that scene again—a giant, filled with starlight, a giant made of crushed mirrors twisted and fused together. Then he saw green flames again, the flames burned away, and the mist disappeared.

Everyone can try it quickly. 】

This time, he did not suffer any damage to his sanity from witnessing the giant. On the contrary, the impression that emerged in his mind seemed to carry inexplicable great power, piercing an invisible curtain.

The old man suddenly raised his head and stared into Heidi's eyes: "Where is Vanna?"

Heidi was stunned: "...Who is Vanna?"

"The city-state's inquisitor, one of your best friends, Governor Dante's niece..." Maurice said slowly, his breathing already steady, and his eyes regained their usual depth and sharpness. The noise disappeared, the figure of the giant also disappeared, and only two memories that existed simultaneously and were completely different remained in his mind, and he could clearly distinguish all the differences in that memory, as if he was reading two ancient historical scrolls spread out in front of him—distinguishing history and searching for the truth, this was one of his greatest strengths. "You don't remember, do you?"

Heidi hesitated: "I...don't know who you're talking about, but your condition worries me a lot..."

"Don't worry about me, I'm in very good condition now, but we should worry about Vanna," Maurice suddenly stood up, his expression more serious than ever. "Heidi, our city-state may have a big problem, we have to take action."

Heidi subconsciously followed him up, she could perceive that her father's spirit was indeed inexplicably invigorated, but she didn't know what had happened at all: "Action? Do what?"

"You go to the cathedral, find Bishop Valentine, tell him..." Maurice said quickly, but stopped halfway through, and after weighing it nervously and seriously, he shook his head. "No, it's possible that Vanna's accident was also because she noticed the truth...You find Bishop Valentine, and just say that you want to seek shelter, the highest level of shelter. You tell him that I asked you to do this, that the most outstanding historical scholar in the Pland city-state asked you to do this, don't say anything else..."

Heidi listened in a daze. She had realized that something dangerous and urgent might be happening, and that these things could not be said directly, so she controlled the urge to ask questions and prepared to do as her father instructed first, but then she noticed that Maurice picked up the coat next to him, and her eyes widened slightly: "What about you? What are you going to do?"

"...Go to the antique shop," Maurice said in a deep voice.