Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 499 - Chapter 499 Chapter 500 The Departing Ones

Chapter 499: Chapter 500 The Departing Ones Chapter 499: Chapter 500 The Departing Ones Annie looked somewhat bewilderedly at the two “guests” in the cabin, her gaze flitting back and forth between Agatha and Duncan for a long time before the girl finally reacted a bit, “Ah, Uncle Duncan, are you going to be the custodian of this cemetery?”

“Perhaps,” Duncan said, glancing at Agatha who was still in shock, “Is this not possible? Must the cemetery custodian be a retired Guardian veteran?”

Agatha finally came to her senses and hurriedly spoke up, “No… although generally speaking, cemetery custodians are indeed retired Guardian veterans, of course I can arrange a position for you, that’s not the issue, the key is… do you really want to stay in this cemetery and be a custodian?”

“In Prand, my identity is still that of an antique dealer,” Duncan said, a hint of amusement in his eyes, “Homeloss won’t stay in one place, but my avatar will remain in the City-State. I have to find something to do, after all, I can’t just do nothing all day long in that big house on Oak Street, sipping tea and reading the newspaper, can I?”

“This… I never really thought about that,” Agatha opened her mouth, feeling a bit embarrassed, “I’d never considered what your ‘avatar’ might need to do on a day-to-day basis…”

“It’s normal. Most novels and movies don’t mention anything about the protagonists transitioning to other jobs after their adventures are over. In reality, you’re doing the work of two people by yourself, and Tirian is overwhelmed with paperwork every day,” Duncan laughed, “For me, wandering the Endless Sea on a Ghost Ship that doesn’t dock can be very tedious. Living the life of a normal person in the City-State is my way to ensure I still feel like a ‘human’. You might think of it as…”

Agatha immediately interjected, “I’ll arrange it for you right away. You can come to the cemetery to ‘take up your post’ tomorrow.”

Duncan: “… I haven’t finished talking.”

“I’ve already listened to the most important part,” Agatha said earnestly, “Rest assured, even if the highest sanctum inquires, I will make sure you can peacefully be a custodian in this cemetery.”

“… It feels like you’ve perhaps misunderstood my words, but that’s not a big problem,” Duncan said somewhat awkwardly, then really inquired about the “job”, “What does a cemetery custodian usually need to do?”

“Actually, there isn’t much work at all–the custodian’s task is merely to ensure that the cemetery is not ‘disturbed’, to maintain the tranquility of Transcendent forces, and besides that, to simply register the living and the dead who enter and leave the cemetery. As for the maintenance of the cemetery facilities, that’s taken care of by staff arranged by the nearby church,” Agatha explained, “Given that even the nights in Frost City have become extremely safe, I think… not just you, all cemetery custodians probably don’t need to do much anymore.”

Agatha said this with a somewhat peculiar tone, her gaze occasionally sweeping over Duncan. She was obviously thinking about the recent peacefulness of the nights in Frost and its relation to the person before her.

And she had more unsaid–what difference would it make if the nights in the City-State remained as perilous as before? The cemetery had gained such a “custodian”, and it was unlikely that there would be any more incidents of Transcendent forces stirring. She figured that even if something from Subspace crawled out of a coffin, it would be slapped back into place by this new custodian…

Anyway, this was a good thing.

Duncan didn’t know what Agatha was thinking. He himself hadn’t considered anything too complicated, because he truly just wanted to find something to do for this body of his–and considering the last will leftover inside this body and his “fate” with this cemetery, he ultimately chose to stay here, to become the new custodian of the cemetery.

He would continue to watch over Frost here, tend to, and protect this City-State, just as he did in Prand.

The hot tea in his hand had gradually cooled down.

Duncan put the teacup aside on the low table next to him, stood up, and silently surveyed the small room. The simple and plain furnishings caught his eye, as if they still retained some traces of the previous owner.

On the wall near the door, an old hunting rifle that looked quite aged quietly hung on an iron hook, the action still gleaming, reflecting the fire from the hearth nearby.

Duncan looked at the old hunting rifle for a while, nodded slightly, and then stepped out of the cabin.

Cheerful and lively music came from the direction of a street outside the cemetery, mixed with the sound of firecrackers being set off.

Annie popped out of the cabin door behind him and, hearing the commotion from the distant street, happily tugged at the hem of Duncan’s clothing, “The Governor’s procession is about to pass through the cemetery ring!”

“Many people are still very afraid of the new Governor,” Duncan leaned down, his eyes crinkling with a smile, “You don’t seem scared at all?”

“I’m not scared. Mom said the new Governor is a hero who protects our City-State,” Annie lifted her face, squinting in the sunlight, “Just like Dad, he’s a very powerful person.”

Duncan thought for a moment and then reached out to gently press down on the girl’s fuzzy hat.

“Indeed, he will make an excellent Governor.”

…

Over the Endless Sea, Duncan passed through the aft deck and returned to the captain’s cabin.

The goat-headed figure was earnestly steering, and on the navigation chart on the table, the thick mist drifting across the surface was slowly flowing and dissipating.

Duncan stood in front of the sea chart for a while, his gaze sweeping over the sailing routes near Frost that had gradually become clear, and then stepped over to a corner of the room.

The mirror in the captain’s cabin, with its quaint and elegant oval shape, still hung quietly on the wall, reflecting the room within. In the interplay of sunlight and shadow, for some reason, the scene seemed somewhat hazy.

Duncan took a step forward, curled up a finger, and gently tapped the edge of the mirror.

The next second, the seemingly ordinary mirror surface abruptly rippled with hazy layers of light and shadow, as if countless mists and dust were diffusing and rising from the world within the mirror. Then, within that hazy light and shadow, a figure emerged.

Agatha–the guardian of the mirror–appeared before Duncan.

“Good day, Captain,” a voice with a magnetic quality came from the mirror, “I’m pleased to see you.”

Duncan nodded and casually asked, “How do you feel? Are you still getting used to it?”

“I feel… not bad,” Agatha slowly said, “At first, when I ‘transitioned’ here, the vast and empty mirror world made me nervous, but perhaps as I’ve become gradually accustomed to it, that empty darkness has begun to fade… I’ve also tried to communicate with ‘Martha,’ and she taught me many skills and pieces of knowledge about being a ‘reflection,’ which have been very useful.”

Duncan raised his eyebrows at this, “Oh? Can you reach Martha directly from here?”

“The Ghost Ship drifts in the reflected waters nearby; in the world of reflections, she and I are ‘neighbors,'” Agatha laughed, “It’s a wonderful experience–the world within the mirror is discontinuous, yet connected everywhere. I can jump from one mirror to another, appear in many mirrors at once, or hide within the vast nothingness behind the mirror… Perhaps it will take many, many years before I can fully comprehend all this.”

Duncan listened with interest as the “reflection” spoke about the mysterious and unimaginable “laws within the mirror,” and after she had finished, he gently nodded, “It sounds like you’re enjoying the process, that’s good.”

Agatha paused for a moment, then sighed softly, “…Yes, it’s better than I had imagined.”

The captain’s cabin fell silent for a while, and after an unknown amount of time, Duncan suddenly broke the silence, “I want to know, what made you decide to leave Frost and embark on this journey with Homeloss? This will be the longest journey of your life. This ship may go to many places, distant city-states, sealed secrets, the Spirit Realm, the profound depths, even subspace…”

Agatha in the mirror fell into contemplation. She thought over the question carefully for several minutes before she slowly began, “I think it was when ‘we’ dove together into that dark, deep sea.”

Duncan did not speak, just watched the person in the mirror, waiting for her to continue.

The voice from the mirror came again–

“I carry all of Agatha’s memories and emotions. Within that cache of memory, I was born in Frost, with friends and family, I learned and trained, accepted trials from the church, and those streets, those ancient bell towers, those things long in disrepair… but still so familiar to me, all of these things are crystallized in my mind, clear and profound, as if… I had experienced them myself.

“But what we all know is that, up until the day of the reflection invasion, the life that truly belonged to ‘me’ consisted of just three days.

“So, when my consciousness was restored, when I returned to this world in the form of a reflection, I’ve been pondering one question–am I the mirror guardian Agatha, or am I someone else, reborn in this world with only the memories of another… ‘person’?”

She paused, the “reflection” her eyes shining brightly, and those eyes were now earnestly gazing at the captain outside the mirror.

“You’re right, a ‘person’ cannot live forever as another person’s shadow.

“Almost all of my life memories come from another individual, but even so, there are three days among those memories that belong to me alone.

“But if I were to stay in Frost, that scant three days of ‘life’ will ultimately be buried by much larger, deeper recollections. I cannot sever my connection with that city, nor can I avoid my own human frailty– I would be destined to be a shadow, full of regret, trapped in memories, and as time passes… that regret will eventually turn into bitterness and resentment.

“I cannot accept this possibility.

“But on that ‘deep-sea dive’ journey we undertook together, something you said… helped me find a new potential.”