Chapter 1 A Tall Figure

A tall figure suddenly blocked the sunlight.

Shirley, who had just finished watering the ground in front of the store and was holding an empty pot to go back inside, was stunned. She looked up and saw the Inquisitor standing quietly in front of her, silhouetted against the light.

"...Holy crap!!" she exclaimed subconsciously, but then she suddenly reacted, coughed twice, and tried to organize her words with a nervous expression, "Uh, that, you... Your Excellency..."

Vanna frowned slightly. For some reason, she always felt that this short, thin girl was overly nervous when she saw her. It was the same the last time she and Heidi came to this antique shop, and it was the same now.

But she didn't think much about it. After all, for various reasons, she was quite used to this kind of "nervous reaction" from others when they saw her.

"I remember your name is Shirley," Vanna said with a smile, trying to relax the short girl. "Don't be so nervous. I'm just browsing."

Shirley quickly stood up straight and nodded stiffly, "Uh... Yes! Okay, welcome..."

Vanna shook her head helplessly, walked past the still tense Shirley, nodded slightly to Nina, who was curiously looking over, and walked straight towards the antique shop.

Pushing open the door, the crisp sound of the bell breaking the silence on the first floor of the antique shop, Vanna stepped into the store, her eyes turned to the figure behind the counter.

The next moment, she frowned in surprise. She calmed herself and considered how to speak.

"Okay, Ms. Shirley!"

As she spoke, she subconsciously glanced at the young Inquisitor again.

After hearing the movement at the door, the blond man behind the counter looked up curiously at Duncan, who was walking in. He smiled faintly, his voice gentle and slightly magnetic: "Welcome, are you looking for something?"

Duncan was a little dazed. For some reason, he felt that this new face in the antique shop shouldn't be here, but the next moment, he felt that the other person's mysterious and elegant temperament seemed to fit the atmosphere presented by the antique shop...

Duncan felt strange. He instinctively felt that the beautiful young woman in front of him seemed a little out of place, but whenever he wanted to focus on this problem, he would immediately forget his thoughts, which made him speak more slowly than usual: "I... I'm just looking. I'll be a moment. Are you... new here? I haven't seen you when I came last time."

She felt that she had just walked into the shop, and the young man behind the counter was talking to her.

Earlier, she had sensed Duncan's arrival, but in order to confirm the Inquisitor's intentions, he deliberately waited a few more minutes upstairs. At this time, he realized that the other party didn't seem to have any purpose, so he came down.

Why did that happen? A chaotic numbness and dizziness filled her mind, making her thoughts fragmented. She vaguely remembered that she seemed to have seen something, or thought of something, but the sudden chaos completely covered everything she saw and knew at that moment.

"Problem?" Shirley raised her eyebrows. "What problem?"

It was hard to explain what was going on, but the young Inquisitor gave her the feeling that... there was another person hidden in her mind, another pair of eyes hidden in her eyes. She was here talking to herself, but deep in her consciousness, there seemed to be something else hidden.

"Oh, I remember this," Vanna nodded with a normal expression, and a slightly enlightened expression. "I gave this amulet to Mr. Morris—and I've given away another one in the past two days."

In the morning sunlight, a blond man she had never seen before was sitting behind the counter. He was a very... handsome man, with an elegant and mysterious temperament that didn't seem to belong to this place, or even this era. His profile seemed to glow with a cool light in the sunlight.

Shirley's heart stirred slightly after hearing Duncan's words. Ah, that's right, fake.

Alice stood up happily, answered, and walked towards the large stove on the other side of the stairs. Shirley came to Duncan and greeted the Inquisitor, whom she had not met often, with a smile: "Long time no see, Miss Inquisitor."

As she spoke, she turned around and took another amulet from the shelf behind her, showing it to Duncan.

Here, filled with all kinds of things that looked quite simple and mysterious, there should be a man with a mysterious and elegant temperament sitting behind the counter.

I feel very strange today, she looks a little dazed, and her words are slightly agile, but more strange than those obvious abnormalities is her unstable "aura" at the moment.

"Not this one."

"Mr. Duncan? I'm going upstairs to put things away, I'll be right back," Alice didn't care what the other party's daze just now was, anyway, she felt it was okay as long as the conversation could continue, "Are you buying something? Do you have any pre-ordered goods? I can help you find them—although I may not be able to find them..."

"It looks like an unusual guest has arrived," Shirley said to the mannequin behind the counter. "I'll take care of it. People I don't know—Alice, go make tea."

Duncan suddenly came to his senses.

It's just a new employee, what's so abnormal about that.

The Inquisitor frowned, but didn't really notice anything unusual. What a straightforward statement.

He said so, but there was one more thing he didn't say: Investigation is investigation, but before you came, did you ever think that Shirley has a whole box of similar amulets here! And so many have been sold!

"Excuse me..." Alice looked at Vanna, who had suddenly stood there in a daze after walking in, with some confusion. The current situation seemed to exceed Captain Duncan's "standard procedure for entertaining guests," which made her a little at a loss. "Are you here to buy something?"

But everything outside this antique shop is fake.

Did this thing... really work? The "gift" that I gave away casually actually protected the self-awareness of this psychiatrist?

Duncan looked at the antique shop owner taking out the "collection" in the shop as if it were a mass-produced item with a strange expression: "Do you have a lot of these amulets here?"

Duncan's figure appeared on the stairs. "Ah, is Mr. Duncan not here?" Duncan looked curiously at the scene on the first floor, but couldn't find the antique shop owner. "I know him."

The next moment, the gentle sound of waves sounded in her mind again. In the sound of the waves, she completely forgot the chaotic numbness and dizziness she had just felt.

Just then, a sound of footsteps suddenly came from the stairs next to them, interrupting the conversation between Duncan and Alice.

What's the key?

"As far as I know, Heidi once had an amulet from here," Duncan said slowly. "She wore it all the time before this reality pollution disaster."

"I bought a big box, and I've given away or sold a total of seventy-one so far," Shirley nodded seriously. "Are you interested too?"

"Just call me Duncan," Duncan rubbed his forehead. "Sorry for the sudden visit, but I actually have some questions I want to confirm."

"You mean..."

"Heidi believes that the amulet she wore at the time provided real protection, and even helped her maintain a clear consciousness during the 'disaster,'" Duncan said complicatedly, without going into too much detail. "I think the amulet you gave to Mr. Morris back then was very likely to have been affected by... supernatural power, so I came here to investigate. Of course, you don't have to be nervous, judging from the current information, this is not a bad influence."

"Ah, I'm new here, my name is Alice," Alice said immediately with a smile. She hated introducing her name to others. "Mr. Duncan asked me to help look after the store."

Vanna didn't seem to notice Shirley's scrutiny. She was just a little unaccustomed to the other party's frank business attitude—although she knew from the beginning that there was nothing real in this store: "Um...

No, I'm just here to investigate

some situations. I want to ask about the specific channels for purchasing these amulets, and whether they have shown anything inappropriate, or whether the people who bought them have given any feedback?"

Vaguely, Vanna seemed to have noticed something strange. This strangeness was hidden in Alice's reserved but slightly stiff movements, hidden in her perfect but too perfect smile, and even hidden in the breathless words she spoke.

Some vague clues pointed to this unremarkable shop, and some intuitive guidance brought me here. The experience and sense of smell of the Inquisitor seemed to be throbbing faintly, but the church had previously conducted an investigation through official channels and found nothing abnormal. The only reason that could support her coming here to investigate seemed to be her friend's "amulet."

Was it the act of "giving gifts" itself, or was it because the psychiatrist herself had too much "inspiration"?

Vanna stared blankly at the blond man behind the counter.