A scholar who unexpectedly ended up teaching history at a "commoners' school," and a teacher knowledgeable about ancient history who seemed to have a good relationship with Nina, was an unexpected situation for Duncan—but also an opportunity. Mr. Morris's expertise in his field could certainly help Duncan solve many problems, and if he could build a good relationship with such a professional, it might bring unexpected benefits in the future—an esteemed old scholar would surely have some connections in the city.
Nina didn’t understand why her Uncle Duncan suddenly agreed to a home visit; she didn’t think too much about it and just felt very happy. This even gave her a fleeting illusion—it felt like her life was really changing for the better, gradually… returning to the past.
Outside, night was falling, and the pale, cold light of the world’s creation illuminated the window sill of the antique shop's second floor. Under the quiet night sky, the whole city was gradually becoming silent. In this world filled with strange things, most people didn’t have much of a nightlife.
“Dinner’s ready,” Duncan called to his “niece,” who was daydreaming by the window. He brought the simmered fish soup to the table, along with the bread Nina bought in the afternoon and the onion rings he had just fried. To him, this dinner wasn’t exactly lavish, but considering the special nature of the “fish,” it might be considered a feast in this part of the lower city. “You have to get up early for school tomorrow.”
“Oh, okay, Uncle Duncan.”
Nina replied and obediently came to the table. The aroma of the fish soup had already spread, and she sniffed in surprise, looking at Duncan in disbelief: “It smells so good… Uncle, when did your cooking get so good?”
“Is this really considered good cooking?” Duncan chuckled, thinking that his cooking skills were probably only slightly better than Alice’s, yet someone was calling it good. “Was my cooking really that bad before?”
“Bad doesn’t even begin to describe it! You used to cook just enough to keep us from starving, and despite your terrible skills, you always ambitiously tried to create new dishes, dragging me along to be your taste tester…”
Nina started to ramble, recalling the past with a sparkle in her eyes.
“Once, you made something so inedible that you couldn’t even eat it yourself and had to throw it in the trash. Then you took me to the family restaurant down the street for lunch, and when we came back, we found the neighbor’s dog lying in front of the trash can, throwing up everywhere. From then on, that dog avoided you…”
As she spoke, her voice gradually trailed off.
“Never mind, that was years ago, and you’ve never liked me bringing it up…”
Duncan fell silent. In the memories left in this body, there was no trace of what Nina recalled—these were almost the only good memories she had with her uncle, but they had completely vanished with the last breath of the misguided person.
Nina silently broke apart the hard bread, soaking it little by little in the delicious soup. Suddenly, Duncan reached out and ruffled the girl’s hair.
Nina looked up in surprise: “Uncle?”
“My new dish research has been successful,” Duncan said seriously.
Nina stared at Duncan, her expression changing several times, thoughts swirling in her mind. Finally, all her expressions turned into an uncontrollable smile: “Uncle, you look so funny when you’re serious!”
“Don’t make fun of adults,” Duncan shot her a glance, then seemed to remember something and casually mentioned, “By the way, I’m planning to organize the shop’s situation. If you see anything strange or unfamiliar on the first floor, don’t touch it.”
He was preparing for the upcoming back-and-forth trips and the circulation of “supplies.” With Aiyi’s abilities being developed, he would frequently need to transport goods between the Lost Land and the antique shop, and it would be hard to keep that from Nina’s eyes—so it was better to give her a heads-up.
Nina didn’t doubt him at all and quickly nodded. Duncan continued, “Also, I plan to hire some help in the shop, so if I’m out during the day, there will be someone to keep an eye on things—though this is just a preliminary plan and might not happen. I just wanted to let you know in case you see someone unfamiliar in the shop one day.”
This was a setup for Alice’s arrival—though just a setup. There were still many things to consider before bringing the doll into the city. Transporting her was just the least noticeable part; he also had to think about how to keep Alice’s “doll” secret from being discovered. Alice looked almost indistinguishable from a real person; as long as she wore long gloves to cover her joints, there wouldn’t be a big problem. A veil to hide her even more exquisite face compared to a real person was a minor issue. The real big problem… was her head.
He brought Alice over to help him, but he couldn’t have her running around in front of people acting like a scared little mouse.
Nina looked at Duncan in surprise: “Uncle, you’re actually going to hire staff for the shop?! This is a big deal… Do you have someone in mind? What kind of person are they?”
Duncan thought for a moment, trying hard to filter out a long list of not-so-good adjectives from his mind before putting on a serious face: “I have a preliminary target, a… hardworking young lady.”
He thought carefully; it seemed “hardworking” was the only positive term left for Alice.
Then he noticed Nina’s expression suddenly become subtle. The girl sized up her uncle several times, finally unable to hold back: “A young lady? Uncle, do you…?”
Duncan, being someone with experience, could tell what Nina was thinking just by looking at her face. He quickly tapped the table with his finger: “Eat properly! Stop overthinking!”
Nina immediately stifled her laughter, making “huh-huh” sounds as she continued to eat. After tasting a piece of fish, her eyes widened in surprise: “It’s really good!”
Duncan laughed, casually breaking off a piece of bread to toss to a pigeon that was wandering nearby: “Then eat more, there’s plenty in the kitchen.”
On the small second floor of the antique shop, Nina and her Uncle Duncan ended their simple yet long-awaited dinner. After dinner, once everything was cleaned up, Duncan called out to Nina, who was about to head back to her room to rest.
He had some things he wanted to confirm.
“Nina,” he said, looking at the girl who had just come out of the kitchen with the cleaned dishes, “I want to ask you something.”
“Ah?” Nina looked curious, “What is it?”
“Do you remember… things from when you were little?” Duncan carefully considered how to approach this while recalling the information he heard at that cult gathering, “Like when you were six years old.”
Nina frowned. She didn’t understand why her uncle suddenly brought up something from eleven years ago, but she started to think about it.
It had been eleven years since that day, and she was only six back then, so she didn’t feel too much sadness when recalling the past.
“I was still young, and I don’t remember many things clearly, but I remember that day was very chaotic… there were adults everywhere, all in a mess. Some said there was a factory leak near Cross Street, others said there was a collective frenzy on Lower Third Street, and some even said something happened in the Upper District… I didn’t have any impressions of many things back then; I only pieced it together later from what the adults talked about…”
Duncan thought for a moment, looking into Nina’s eyes: “Do you remember a big fire? I took you away from the fire… your parents… they were in that fire…”
He only brought it up tentatively, but to his surprise, Nina’s eyes suddenly widened: “A fire? Uncle, you remember there was a fire back then?!”
“...Of course I remember,” Duncan could tell from Nina’s reaction that something was indeed off about this matter. “What’s wrong with my memory of the fire?”
“I remember there was a huge fire,” Nina said excitedly, “but when I told the adults around me, not one of them remembered it. They all said I was just scared and that there was no fire at all… Later, when I got older, I even looked for the newspapers from back then…”
She paused, shaking her head slowly with a strange expression: “But even the newspapers didn’t mention any big fire… all the records just said there was a factory leak, and chemicals caused widespread hallucinations…”
(End of Chapter)