Deep Sea Embers

Before the last ray of light on the horizon dissipated, Duncan saw the familiar facade of the antique store.

The gas street lamps on both sides of the road had already been lit, and the slightly yellowish light illuminated the signboard in front of the door and the gray wall. The lights were on in the windows on both sides of the door. It was obvious that Nina had already gone home - she opened the door The light on the first floor is waiting for Duncan to come back.

Strictly speaking, from Duncan's perspective, he and Nina had just met, but for some reason, when he saw the lights on the first floor, he felt an inexplicable... apology in his heart.

Is this apology because I haven't returned home for a long time?

Duncan stepped forward and pushed open the door of the antique store. The bell hanging at the door rang loudly. The next second, he heard a rush of footsteps coming from the direction of the stairs.

The girl in a simple dress ran down the stairs like a gust of wind.

"Uncle Duncan!" Nina stopped on the stairs, looking at Duncan who appeared at the door in surprise and joy, with some surprise in her eyes, "I thought you were..."

"I was walking around the city and didn't notice that it was almost dark." Duncan shook his head. "Sorry, I actually wanted to pick you up from school in Cross Street, but something unexpected happened."

"Did you go to the Cross Street District?" Nina looked at Duncan in surprise and confusion. She looked up and down, as if to confirm whether her uncle had been drinking outside again or was in low spirits due to the effects of drugs. "Pick me up... after school. ?”

Uncle Duncan showed a strange yet familiar side again, which made Nina not know how to react.

"I'm just a little curious about your current situation at school," Duncan said casually, "Let's not talk about it anymore. You don't have to worry about me going out to drink or hang out with 'friends'. If I come back late, it's because I have to do business. Got it?"

Nina stared blankly as she watched Uncle Duncan enter the house and close the door. Looking at the man's steady steps and energetic demeanor, she nodded subconsciously.

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

"Not yet... not yet," probably because she still couldn't adapt to her uncle's current changes, Nina always seemed a little hesitant when answering, "I saw you weren't at home when I came back, and I don't know if you will come back tonight. ...I haven't cooked yet, but I bought some bread, originally planning to..."

"Just eating bread is not nutritious enough. Come on, there is something good in the kitchen." Duncan was about to step up the steps. He turned back and smiled at Nina, "I'm cooking today."

Uncle wants to cook? !

Nina seemed to have heard some fantasy, but before she could ask any questions, she saw Uncle Duncan striding upwards, so she had to follow him quickly. At the same time, her eyes also noticed the steady stop. Ai Yi, who was on Duncan's shoulder, was suddenly a little surprised: "Uncle, has this pigeon been with you all this time?"

"Yeah, it's quite clingy," Duncan said casually, "Ah, by the way, I named it Ai."

"Ai? For a pigeon... such a strange name..." Nina scratched her hair. She had already followed him to the second floor. Seeing Uncle Duncan really walking towards the kitchen, she finally couldn't help but ask. , "Did you buy anything?"

"Actually, it's just a dried salted fish." Duncan found the salted fish that he had put away from the kitchen cabinet. He waved the hard ingredient to Nina with a rather proud expression on his face, "It doesn't look very good even though it's It tastes pretty good when used to make soup.”

"Fish?!" Nina's eyes widened in surprise, "What day is it today? Fish is so expensive, isn't it usually...?"

She finally saw clearly the dried fish in Duncan's hand. This ugly thing confused the girl. She blinked and looked at it for a long time: "What kind of fish is this? Why haven't I seen it before?"

Duncan knew Nina would react this way.

Of course the residents of the city-state have seen fish - although the boundless sea is very dangerous, and there are dangerous things called "scions" in the deep sea that threaten human safety, but not all sea areas are as weird and extreme as the deep sea areas, because With the protection of the gods and the city-state's own defense system, the ocean will be relatively safer in shallow seas close to the city-state and on a few routes blessed by gods, and these areas often provide valuable resources for the city-state's civilization.

People collect seafood and minerals from offshore areas, and hunt whales and other fish with great industrial value on the routes protected by the gods. They use these things to maintain the survival of city-states and support industrial development.

Under this premise, the profession of "fisherman" will certainly exist.

However, the oceans in this world are not like the earth after all. Even safe sea areas are "safe" compared to deep sea areas. Therefore, even offshore fishing in this world is extremely professional, thrilling and even requires extraordinary knowledge and combat skills. things.

Fish is a known but expensive ingredient for people living in city-states.

Even if they are surrounded by the sea, even if there are countless fish in the sea.

Nina had not eaten fish for many years - even before her uncle fell ill, and ordinary people like her had not had many opportunities to see fish being served to the table.

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

Duncan even suspected that the deep-sea fish he caught on the Lost Home was the first time it appeared in the city-state of Pland - not to mention Nina, a common girl, I am afraid that even the governor of the city-state and the high-ranking priest of the church We haven't had the chance to taste this either.

Nina is in a good mood today.

"Don't worry about the variety, just wait and eat." Duncan knew that some things couldn't be explained, so he simply didn't explain. He turned back to the kitchen and started preparing for today's dinner.

This strange fish is quite big, even after it is dried, it is very large. If it is used to make soup, it cannot be eaten at one time, so he divides the dried salted fish into two parts and prepares to use the head part first - the rest can be used After the string is tied and hung in the cupboard, it may become more flavorful after further drying.

Uncle really started cooking.

Seeing the familiar figures busy in the kitchen, Nina felt like she was in a dream.

In fact, she didn't care at all about the strange fish that her uncle brought out. She didn't even care about today's dinner.

Compared with these trivial things, the changes that happened to her uncle were the weirdest things and the most worthy of her attention.

The sound of the knife hitting the chopping board was heard, the gas stove was hissing, and the soup in the pot was bubbling and bubbling.

Nina was in a daze. How many years had she not seen such a scene?

There was a trace of hesitation on her face, and after a moment she seemed to suddenly make up her mind. She said at the kitchen door to the busy backs inside: "Uncle, tomorrow...Mr. Morris will come for a home visit."

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

Nina nodded: "Yes."

"The teachers in that school actually do home visits?" Duncan put the prepared fish pieces into the pot, put the knife into the pool and looked back at Nina in surprise, "I thought these were the ones in the uptown area. A ‘characteristic’ that only a school can have.”

"The school... does not have such rules," Nina said carefully while paying attention to Duncan's attitude, "but Mr. Morris is special. He... pays special attention to the students."

Duncan didn't speak for a while.

Things were slightly beyond his expectations.

He didn't expect that he, "Captain Duncan", would suddenly encounter such a situation and need to deal with it when he was carrying out activities in the city-state!

He considered dealing with the church, the sheriff, and even the city-state navy and military and police forces - whether he wanted to or not, his plan was full of spiritual fire, swords and more than a hundred members of the Lost Home. Door broadsides.

But he never considered in his plan the appearance of an old man teaching history in a public school.

Why is this reality always so unexpected?

"Uncle?" Nina saw that Duncan didn't respond for a long time, and she couldn't help but feel a little worried, "Aren't you willing? Then I can tell Mr. Morris... In fact, I told him today, I told him about your body It wasn’t very good, so I couldn’t accept the home visit this time. He didn’t say anything at the time..."

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

It seemed that this was not the first time that Mr. Morris had requested a home visit.

So how many times did Nina refuse for the same reason?

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

Although she didn’t know why her uncle asked this question again, Nina still nodded: “Yes.”

"That's good. I happen to want to interact with professionals in the field of history," Duncan laughed. "When will he come over tomorrow?"