Deep Sea Embers

The old gentleman walked into this antique store and looked at the surrounding furnishings curiously. The old windows, cheap iron shelves, and almost random "antiques" almost perfectly reflected the positioning of this store:

Except for the real money, nothing in the whole store is fake.

But even so, this old gentleman, who was not dressed like an ordinary citizen in the lower town, was still looking at the things in the store with interest. It was not until Duncan's voice came from the direction of the counter that he finally turned his eyes.

"It's a very interesting statement," the old gentleman laughed. "Take away the things that are destined... put aside the things, this is a beautiful sentence in itself."

"Actually, fate alone isn't enough, you also need money." Duncan also smiled back, "Fortunately, things here are not expensive - do you want anything?"

"Um...I'm not here to buy anything," the old gentleman opened his mouth, "Actually..."

As a result, before he finished speaking, Duncan continued enthusiastically: "Whether you want to buy it or not, it's a good idea to take a look. Maybe there's something that catches your eye?"

The old gentleman couldn't help but show a hint of helplessness on his face: "These...things of yours are all fake."

"That's right," Duncan said matter-of-factly, "Can the real thing be placed here? My store doesn't even have a security door, so thieves can't get their money back."

The old gentleman's face twitched obviously. He probably didn't expect that the antique store manager selling fake goods in front of him could have such a calm attitude. He choked for several seconds before speaking: "...Then..."

"Those who are good at persuading themselves will use my place as an antique store to satisfy themselves. Those who are realistic will use my place as a grocery store to find high-quality products at low prices. They recognize the reality and want to deceive themselves. , I congratulated him for finding gold bricks in the garbage. He found the only genuine item in the whole store. It was extremely fateful - anyway, the main reason for spending thirty or fifty is to be happy. You are in No matter how big of a scam I get here, I can’t get more than a hundred yuan, and I can still get the crystallization of modern industry. Think about it, isn’t it quite a bargain?”

The old gentleman listened to Duncan's nonsense for a while. He probably had no social experience in this area and was a little unable to react. Then, his eyes suddenly fell on a corner next to the counter. , the expression on his face changed slightly.

Duncan was seriously immersed in the pleasure of doing business. At this time, he noticed the change in the old man's gaze and his heart suddenly moved. Then he suddenly remembered something, but before he could speak, he saw the old man reaching out to the corner. Go: "This thing..."

Among a pile of debris, he found an ancient but extremely well-preserved dagger.

He took out the dagger.

That was the old item from the Lost Home that Duncan had hidden in the junk pile before—one of the only two genuine items in the entire antique store.

The other item was a cast-iron cannonball placed deeper in the debris pile.

Duncan wanted to divert the old man's attention at first, but then he noticed the change in the other man's expression and the professional demeanor when inspecting the pattern of the dagger scabbard, and immediately realized one thing:

This old gentleman may be a "professional".

Duncan frowned and glanced at the dagger.

In fact, it's not a big deal - this thing is not an extraordinary item, nor does it carry any "sea specialties" such as curses and pollution. Although it is something brought from the Lost Home, it is essentially the same as an ordinary "antique". No difference.

It would be something wrong if he reacted too much to an ordinary item.

"This thing..." the old gentleman repeated again. He raised his head and looked at Duncan with some surprise, "is it also a 'commodity' in the store?"

The gentleman's words were very tactful, but the implication was quite obvious: How come you got a real one among these fakes? What are the mistakes at work?

As soon as Duncan saw the other party's reaction, he guessed that this was a knowledgeable person. At this time, it would be wrong for him to act stupid and ignorant. Instead, he should admit it appropriately, so he restrained his smile and turned to a hint of inscrutability: "Look, doesn't this mean we have met something destined?"

Then he cleared his throat and said seriously: "Most of the products in the store are on sale, except for a few, such as the one in your hand."

The old man immediately looked back at the shelves and glanced at the "modern handicrafts" that were priced at hundreds of thousands and discounted by tens of thousands. He didn't know what he was thinking. He suddenly felt that these antiques looked shabby and intimidating. The store became mysterious and interesting. He carefully placed the dagger on the counter, and seemed to be about to ask about the price, but at this moment, the sound of a bell suddenly sounded from the door, interrupting his movements.

Duncan looked up at the door of the store and saw Nina's figure.

"Uncle Duncan, I'm back!" Nina shouted towards the counter without raising her head as soon as she entered the door, "Is Mr. Morris here?"

"I didn't see it," Duncan glanced inside the store, "I was entertaining..."

Before he finished speaking, he saw the old man in front of him cough twice, then raised his hand and pointed at himself: "My name is Morris."

Duncan: "...?"

"Mr. Morris!" Nina also saw the old gentleman in front of the counter at this time, and immediately shouted in surprise. Then, like every student who bumped into the teacher after school, she became visibly nervous and stood up suddenly. Straight, "Good afternoon!"

Duncan looked at Nina and then at the old man in front of him, looking back and forth twice, feeling that the atmosphere had finally become awkward.

"I wanted to introduce myself from the beginning," the old man spread his hands helplessly, "but you interrupted me before I could say anything, and then you started to introduce me to the things in the store..."

Nina also realized what happened at this time, and immediately noticed the gray-looking dagger placed on the counter, and quickly took two steps forward: "Teacher, don't buy it! Everything in my store is full of Fake!"

Duncan glanced at the girl strangely, wondering how this child could be so sincere and sell out his family details in front of the teacher in less than a second - even though the quality of the products in this store and Morris, a history expert, With her eyesight, it makes no difference whether she sells it or not...

Mr. Morris on the other side shook his head after hearing Nina's words and raised his hand to point to the dagger on the counter: "This one is real."

Nina was stunned: "...Huh?"

"This dagger should have come from a century ago. It was one of the tool daggers favored by sailors in central city-states such as Plande and Lunza at that time. However, due to the bankruptcy of the forging workshop and the fact that items shipped to sea are susceptible to corrosion by wind and waves, there are not many in existence today. Very few, and most of them are in extremely bad condition..."

As he spoke, Morris carefully picked up the dagger on the counter, pulled out a section of the blade and continued with an exclamation tone: "I...I have never seen such a well-preserved state, it's almost like It was being used normally not long ago, the blade was so sharp that it could slide open paper, and there was no flaw on the whole body..."

"It also comes with an original scabbard," Duncan added beside him, "If you look closely, you will find that even the buckle on the back of the scabbard is original."

Upon hearing this, Maurice quickly checked the scabbard and accessories of the dagger carefully, and the surprise in his eyes was even worse: "This...I really didn't pay attention just now...Oh my god! This thing looks like it just came from a man from a century ago." I took it out of the sailor's pocket in front of me! If I hadn't been confident enough in my own vision, I would have even suspected that it was an amazing imitation... But even the pattern on the joint of the handle and the end of the handle were special. The flaws are all..."

Speaking of this, he suddenly became confused. He looked up at Duncan and then at Nina next to him. The history expert became unconfident: "It's really not a replica?"

Upon hearing this, Nina quickly waved her hands: "Uncle can't imitate something so real..."

Duncan's eyes twitched and he looked at his niece: "Go upstairs and do your homework!"

Nina was stunned for a moment: "I have no homework today..."

"Then go read a book!"

Nina stuck out her tongue and walked towards the stairs in small steps. But after taking two steps, she looked back at her history teacher: "Mr. Morris, don't forget that you are here for a home visit..."

"Of course, I have a lot of things to talk to Mr. Duncan," Morris said with a smile on his face, and the old man looked radiant. "You go upstairs and read first - don't worry, I won't sue my student behind his back. ”

Nina looked at Uncle Duncan and her teacher in confusion - she didn't seem to have expected that this "home visit" would start in this way.

But the next moment, she suddenly smiled again for some reason.

The girl ran briskly up the stairs.