Chapter 1 Before Dusk

The last rays of sunset hadn't faded from the horizon before Duncan saw the familiar facade of the antique shop.

The gas streetlights lining the road were already lit, their slightly yellow glow illuminating the sign and the dusty gray walls. Lights shone from the display windows on either side of the front door, indicating that Nina had already come home—she'd turned on the lights on the first floor, waiting for Duncan's return.

Strictly speaking, from Duncan's perspective, he and Nina had only just met, but for some reason, seeing the lights on the first floor, he felt a strange sense of…apology.

Was this apology because he was late in returning home?

Duncan stepped forward, pushed open the antique shop's door, and the bell hanging above it chimed crisply. The next moment, he heard hurried footsteps coming from the direction of the stairs.

The girl in the simple long dress ran down from upstairs like a gust of wind.

"Uncle Duncan!" Nina stopped on the stairs, looking at Duncan in the doorway with surprise and joy, a hint of bewilderment in her eyes. "I thought you were…"

"Just took a walk in the city and didn't realize it was getting dark," Duncan said, shaking his head. "Sorry, I was actually planning to pick you up from school in Cross Street, but something unexpected came up."

"You went to Cross Street?" Nina looked at Duncan with surprise and confusion, scrutinizing him as if to confirm whether he'd been drinking again or was feeling unwell due to medication. "Pick me up…from school?"

Uncle Duncan was showing a familiar yet strange side of himself again, leaving Nina unsure how to react.

"Just curious about how you're doing at school," Duncan said casually. "Never mind that. You don't have to worry about me going out drinking or hanging out with 'friends' anymore. If I'm late, it'll be because I'm taking care of business, got it?"

Nina stared blankly as Uncle Duncan entered the house and closed the door, noting his steady gait and energetic demeanor. She nodded subconsciously.

"It's getting late," Duncan said to Nina, who was standing at the foot of the stairs, as he headed towards the second floor. "Have you eaten?"

"Not…yet," Nina replied hesitantly, perhaps still not used to her uncle's current transformation. "When I got back, I saw you weren't home, and I didn't know if you were coming back tonight, so…I haven't made dinner yet. But I bought some bread, and I was planning to…"

"Bread alone isn't nutritious enough. Come on, there's something good in the kitchen," Duncan said, stopping on the steps. He turned back to Nina and smiled. "I'll cook tonight."

Uncle cooking?!

Nina felt like she'd heard something out of this world, but before she could ask, she saw Uncle Duncan striding upstairs. She had no choice but to follow quickly. At the same time, her gaze fell on Ayi, perched steadily on Duncan's shoulder, and she was immediately surprised. "Uncle, has this pigeon been with you the whole time?"

"Yeah, it's quite clingy," Duncan said casually. "Oh, right, I gave it a name, Ayi."

"Ayi? For a pigeon…that's a strange name…" Nina scratched her head. She had already followed him to the second floor. Seeing Uncle Duncan really heading into the kitchen, she couldn't help but ask, "Did you buy something?"

"Actually, it's just some dried salted fish," Duncan found the dried fish he'd put away in the kitchen cabinet, held up the stiff ingredient, and shook it at Nina with a rather smug expression. "Don't let its appearance fool you. It makes a great soup."

"Fish?!" Nina opened her eyes wide in surprise. "What's the occasion? Fish is so expensive, we usually don't…ah?"

She finally saw the dried fish in Duncan's hand clearly. The unimpressive thing left the girl very puzzled. She blinked and looked at it for a long time. "What kind of fish is this? I've never seen it before?"

Duncan knew Nina would react this way.

The residents of the city-state had, of course, seen fish—although the Endless Sea was dangerous, and there were dangerous things called "Offspring" threatening human safety in the deep sea, not all sea areas were as strange and extreme as the deep sea areas. Due to the protection of the gods and the defensive system of the city-state itself, the shallow sea near the city-state and a few sea lanes blessed by the gods were relatively safe. These areas often provided valuable resources for the city-state civilization.

People harvested seafood and minerals from the coastal areas, and hunted whales and other fish with great industrial value on the sea lanes protected by the gods, using these things to maintain the survival of the city-state and support industrial development.

Under this premise, the profession of "fisherman" certainly existed.

However, the ocean in this world was ultimately not like Earth. Even safe sea areas were "safe" compared to the deep sea areas. Therefore, even nearshore fishing in this world was an extremely professional, thrilling, and even required extraordinary knowledge and combat skills.

Fish was a known but expensive ingredient for people living in the city-state.

Even though they were surrounded by the sea, even though there were countless fish in the sea.

Nina hadn't eaten fish for many years—even before her uncle fell ill, ordinary people like her didn't have many opportunities to see fish served on the table.

Ordinary fish was already so rare, let alone the gifts from the deep sea.

Duncan even suspected that the deep-sea fish he caught on the Vanishing Sail was appearing in the Pland City-State for the first time—not to mention Nina, a commoner girl, probably even the city-state's executives and the church's high-ranking priests wouldn't have the chance to taste this delicacy.

Nina was in for a treat today.

"Don't worry about what kind it is, just wait and eat." Duncan knew some things were hard to explain, so he simply didn't. He turned around and went back to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

This strange fish was quite large, even after being dried, its size was still considerable. If used for soup, it couldn't be finished in one meal, so he divided the dried salted fish into two sections, preparing to use the head first—the rest could be strung up and hung in the cupboard, and after further drying, it might even have a better flavor.

Uncle really started cooking.

Watching the familiar figure busying in the kitchen, Nina felt like she was dreaming.

She didn't care at all about the strange fish her uncle had taken out. She didn't even care about dinner tonight.

Compared to these trivial things, the changes happening to her uncle were the strangest and most worthy of her attention.

The sound of a knife hitting the cutting board came, the gas stove hissed, and the broth in the pot bubbled.

Nina was a little dazed. How many years had she not seen such a scene?

A hint of hesitation appeared on her face, and after a moment, as if she had suddenly made up her mind, she said to the busy figure in the kitchen doorway, "Uncle, tomorrow…Mr. Morris is coming for a home visit."

"Home visit?" Duncan, who was busy cooking, was taken aback when he heard this. "Mr. Morris…your history teacher?"

Nina nodded. "Yes."

"The teachers at that school even do home visits?" Duncan put the prepared fish pieces into the pot, put the knife into the sink, and looked back at Nina in surprise. "I thought that was a 'feature' only those schools in the upper districts had."

"The school…doesn't really have such a rule," Nina said carefully, watching Duncan's attitude. "But old Mr. Morris is special, he…pays special attention to his students."

Duncan didn't speak for a moment.

Things were slightly beyond his expectations.

He never expected that when he, "Captain Duncan," began his activities in the city-state, he would suddenly encounter such a situation that required him to deal with!

He had considered dealing with the church, the magistrate, and even the city-state navy and military police—whether he wanted to or not, his plans were full of spirit flames, swords, and the Vanishing Sail's hundred-plus broadside cannons.

But he had never considered that an old man teaching history at a public school would appear in his plans.

Why was reality always so unexpected?

"Uncle?" Nina looked at Duncan, who hadn't reacted for a long time, and couldn't help but worry. "You don't want him to come? Then I can tell old Mr. Morris…actually, I told him today. I told him you weren't feeling well, so we couldn't accept the home visit this time either. He didn't say anything at the time…"

Duncan looked at Nina's somewhat nervous reaction, and thoughts arose in his mind.

That old Mr. Morris seemed to have made the request for a home visit more than once.

Then how many times had Nina refused with the same excuse?

"…He teaches history, right?" Duncan suddenly asked again.

Although she didn't know why her uncle asked this question again, Nina nodded. "Yes."

"That's great, I happen to want to interact with professionals in the field of history," Duncan smiled. "What time is he coming tomorrow?"