Agatha from the Frost City-State had arrived—accompanied by the familiar Grey Wind, the woman who now also served as the Archbishop of the City-State appeared before Duncan and Alice, and bowed her head to Duncan, "Good evening, I am pleased to see that you have personally co to handle this matter."
Duncan looked up in the direction of the sea, "Strictly speaking, it is still twilight."
"Twilight will last a long ti, yet people still need to live according to a ’normal’ daily rhythm," Agatha said, then nodded gently to Alice beside her, "Long ti no see, Miss Alice."
"Uh... oh! Long ti no see!" Alice reacted after a mont before responding, scratching her head embarrassingly, "There’s also an Agatha on the ship, I didn’t realize it for a second."
At these words, a slight smile appeared on Agatha’s lips; even though her eyes were covered with a black cloth, it seed as if a warm gaze still fell upon Alice: "On the ship... how has she been recently?"
"She’s been good! Every day she chases Sherry through the mirror to do howork, or she takes advantage of the fog to sneak out and scare people—though she says she’s just out for a walk," Alice spoke rapidly, her face bearing a happy expression, "Everyone likes her a lot, only Sherry is a bit scared of her..."
Agatha listened silently to the descriptions of the puppet Miss, her expression at first a bit surprised, but gradually, it turned into a smile, and after a while, she nodded gently to herself, murmuring, "So that’s how it is... it sounds nice."
At this mont, Terian finally found an opportunity and stepped forward, "Has the cathedral arranged everything for the night watch?"
"I took care of that matter before coming here, do not worry, we have sufficient manpower," Agatha replied offhandedly but then couldn’t help frowning slightly, discreetly stepping back, "...Governor, are you... having stomach troubles?"
Taken aback by the question, Terian quickly understood what she ant; even as the "Iron Marshal," he felt a bit embarrassed at the mont. His lips twitched slightly, but he quickly recovered and raised his hand to point to the paper bag in his father’s hand, "...Would you like to try so potato cakes?"
Agatha did not understand how the subject had suddenly changed to this; she looked bewilderedly at the object in Duncan’s hand, who imdiately raised it, "Alice made them herself—Light Breeze Harbor flavor."
"...There’s no need," Agatha stepped back half a step at the ntion of "Light Breeze Harbor" but then, realizing her response might seem impolite, added another line, "This body no longer has life, and can’t enjoy worldly delicacies anymore, but thank you for your kindness."
Duncan glanced at Agatha’s body, covered in cracks and shattered like a broken puppet, knowing she was speaking frankly, so he could only shrug regretfully and stuff the bag of potato cakes directly into Terian’s arms, "Then you take them—eat them slowly on your way back."
Terian accepted his father’s gift with a slightly blank expression, his gaze silently sweeping over the figures present: a corpse, an undead, a puppet, and his father—who was also a corpse.
The Iron Marshal finally realized, belatedly, that he was the only unfortunate one present with a bit more human substance...
Duncan, paying no attention to Terian’s suddenly subtle expression after finally getting rid of the bag of treats, he clapped his hands and turned to look at the magnificent planet still quietly floating above the beach.
"This is just the beginning," he said to Agatha, "In the days to co, more and more Sun Shards will fall into the Endless Sea, each containing a variety of ’Lost Stars’ at their core—and in the long nights that follow, these Sun Shards may be the only safeguard for the safety of many City-States."
Upon hearing Duncan’s words, Agatha’s expression turned grave, "...So, the disintegration of the sun is unavoidable, is that so?"
"Yes, although it sounds quite bad, it is indeed unavoidable, and it will even accelerate," Duncan nodded gently, "Next, I will also contact the pontiffs of the four gods, reminding them to pay attention to the luminous bodies falling into the Endless Sea and to collect them in ti."
Terian and Agatha fell silent together.
In the days that followed, who knew how many more sunrises this world would witness—the long night was approaching, and even Terian felt a bit suffocated in the face of this fact.
As he felt this suffocation, Terian imdiately thought even more.
He raised his head in thought, looking at Duncan, "...You just said that these falling fragnts may be the only safeguard for the safety of many City-States?"
"Fenna has already received a revelation from the Storm Goddess, and I have also obtained information from The Saint of the Profound; according to the experience of Light Breeze Harbor, these Sun Shards can indeed exert a shelter force akin to Phantom 001 on a small scale," Duncan nodded gently, "They can’t pacify large areas of the sea, but at least they can protect a City-State."
Terian’s expression gradually beca heavy, and after a while, he muttered to himself softly, "...Is that enough?"
His soft mutter reached everyone’s ears, with Alice looking sowhat confused, while Aiden and Agatha clearly realized what Terian’s "Is that enough?" referred to, their expressions imdiately shifting to solemnity.
Duncan slowly nodded.
"I understand what you an," he said in a deep voice, "Frankly, no one knows how many shards there will be when the ti cos, and even less know if there will be enough... But if there isn’t a strong binding force, then even if there are plenty of shards, they will always be ’not enough.’"
"The church will intervene, and our patrol fleet covers all routes," Agatha said after a brief mont of contemplation, "If the church’s fleet isn’t enough, the Frost Navy can be relied upon as well."
"But that’s also the most optimistic scenario—frankly, I’m not accustod to facing the future with such optimism, especially when it tests human nature," Tyrion shook his head, "What if even the church begins to disagree? When night falls, all challenges beco infinitely magnified... Even the most loyal and upright people have their own positions."
Then they fell silent, and the atmosphere on the scene beca sowhat oppressive for a mont.
Yet Alice still looked at the scene with so confusion, glancing between Tyrion and Agatha and then looking up at the captain, until she finally couldn’t help but speak up, "What are you all talking about?"
Duncan didn’t answer, but rely raised his hand and gently patted Alice’s hair.
"We’re worried that there won’t be enough Sun Shards to shelter all the City-States when the ti cos, or that so may want to hoard more ’sunlight’," Aiden said from the side, "After all... it’s for survival."
With such a straightforward explanation, Alice finally understood what everyone was discussing.
The puppet’s eyes widened, looking sowhat at a loss—these were issues she had never contemplated, puzzles she had never faced.
Tyrion lowered his head, looking at the paper bag in his hands with a complex expression, "... When that ti cos, a Northerner may never taste the potato cakes from Light Breeze Harbor again."
Duncan, however, shook his head and said quietly to Alice, "Don’t think about it. It’s not for you to worry about. This world has always had terrible aspects, and it’s not just today."
Upon hearing the captain’s words, Alice seed to suddenly think of sothing and imdiately raised her head, "Then... you’ll take action when the ti cos, right? Just like what happened in Prandt and with Frost..."
Duncan didn’t answer, but Agatha quickly caught on, "Right—the Exiled Fleet. If we add your strength as well, it might be easier to keep the City-States in check and maintain basic order after nightfall, at least... to prevent the worst-case scenario from happening..."
Still, Duncan remained silent, noncommittal.
His response made Tyrion realize sothing, "Aren’t you planning to get involved?"
"No, I’m thinking about sothing else," Duncan shook his head lightly.
He turned around and silently gazed at the "Lost Star" hovering in midair; no one knew what his silence ant, not even Tyrion, who didn’t dare to speak at this mont, and it wasn’t until much later that Duncan finally looked away, breaking the silence softly, "If it really cos to the worst case scenario, I might need to do sothing that only I can do—it’s probably going to be a long distance away, and I might be gone for quite a while."
At this mont, Tyrion seed to sense sothing faintly, so kind of premonition from his intuition that made him feel as if the edges of his vision blurred. For an extrely brief instant, he felt as if his father’s figure was already standing in a place too far for him to ever reach. Although they were now inches apart, there seed to be an invisible curtain gradually closing between them, as if to separate them in two different tis and spaces.
That invisible curtain... it seed to be filled with starlight.
But the sensation was fleeting; Tyrion felt as if his thoughts had skipped a beat. When he tried to recall his feelings just now, all that was left was an endless void.
Duncan turned his head, his bandaged face only showing his calm eyes.
"There’s no need to worry too much. Even in the worst of the worst cases, there will be a fla that relights this world. Hard days are always temporary."
His father’s words seed to carry a deeper aning.
But Tyrion had no chance to ask further—a rising Spectral Fla suddenly erupted on the beach, slowly tracing a vortex.
His father was preparing to leave.
"I have many things to do," Duncan said, waving his hand to Tyrion, Aiden, and Agatha. He stepped toward the fla and began speaking, "Focus more on dealing with the upcoming nightfall, don’t think too much—also, don’t worry about the cetery area."
The fla surged upward, and then, like a teor in reverse, shot towards the sky, quickly vanished from Tyrion and Agatha’s sight.
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