Mist flowed between the abandoned islands like a thin veil, and the sea beyond the ship’s bulwarks was still as calm as when they arrived, while the ancient temple that stood deep within the haze had completely vanished at the far end of the sea, shrouded by the mist as if it was a dream that had never appeared from the beginning.
The sailor sat on a barrel at the stern deck, blankly gazing at the drifting fog in the distance without moving for a long ti.
Footsteps approached from nearby, finally rousing the dry corpse from his reverie. He swayed slightly and turned his head toward the direction of the sound, then looked up.
"Miss Fenna, good afternoon," the sailor murmured, greeting her lackadaisically, soon followed by a sowhat nostalgic tone, "Ah, you are really tall."
"People often say that," Fenna replied nonchalantly, sitting down on another barrel beside him and glanced in the direction the sailor had been gazing at, "Agatha said you’ve been sitting here all day. What are you thinking about?"
"I’m not sure," the sailor thought for a mont, shook his head, "I guess I was just daydreaming. You know, a corpse doesn’t have much to do usually—no need to eat, drink, or sleep—and there’s basically no need for manual labor on this ship. Look, the ship can tidy itself up, and the busiest things on board are just tidying up the ss Miss Alice made..."
Fenna didn’t speak, just calmly listening to the dry corpse’s prattle—ever since coming aboard the Holoss, the sailor rarely spoke, but when he did, it was like this endless stream of words, making one wonder if he was always like this even when he was alive.
After a while, once the sailor finished rambling, Fenna lightly laughed, shaking her head, "Don’t say these things to Alice. It would make her very sad."
"Ah, I know, I definitely won’t," the sailor gestured, his expression suddenly a bit complex, "Anyway... I probably won’t have the chance to say it anymore."
Fenna raised an eyebrow at his words but hesitated to say anything.
The sailor then looked up again, gazing toward the thick fog, in the direction where the temple stood.
"...You can hear it too, right? The faint sound of the waves," he suddenly said.
Fenna showed a slightly surprised look, but the sailor did not care for her reaction, and before she could speak, he continued on his own, "I can hear it, ever since the mont we decided to set sail, I’ve been hearing that sound from ti to ti, and amid the sound of the waves, soone is whispering to , though I cannot understand those words. The deity always talks to , just like I’m rambling to you...non-stop chattering. Is it a bit...blasphemous to speak of the gods like that?"
"The goddess is blessing you," Fenna answered, not quite sure how else to respond, after a brief hesitation, "She knows you’ve arrived; Her voice naturally appears in the ears of Her believers."
"...But I don’t rember Her," the sailor muttered, "I only rember that I’ve been to this place, rember that sothing happened here, but beyond that, those days when I was a priest of the Deep Sea Church, praying in the church, they seem like another person’s life to . I don’t think I can be considered Her believer anymore—over the past two centuries, I haven’t prayed to Her even once."
"You may not rember Her, but She rembers you," Fenna said calmly and firmly, never wavering in her faith, "The goddess rembers every one of Her children, even those like you who have been lost for two centuries. The ’Storm Scriptures’ describe it so: Prayer is just a form—our connection to the goddess is at a deeper level."
The sailor looked at Fenna in surprise, "You truly are a devout Believer."
Fenna seed a bit odd at this, "Do I not act devout enough normally?"
The sailor thought about it and chose not to continue that line of thought.
"My mission is almost over," he abruptly said, as if changing the subject, "The captain has obtained a new ’course’, and perhaps he will no longer need after that."
Fenna’s expression shifted slightly, she opened her mouth as if to say sothing but nothing ca out. She just heard the dry corpse calmly continue, "After completing this last mission, it’s ti for to retire from the ship. I have nothing to take with —those shabby burial shrouds, sailor’s blazer, they’re all items that shouldn’t exist in this world anymore. They’ll probably disappear along with , so there’s no need for you all to deal with anything for , it’s just..."
A calm and distinguished voice suddenly ca from behind them, "Just what?"
The sailor was startled and turned around in an instant. Fenna also rose from the barrel and turned to look in the direction of the voice.
"Captain, you’re back," Fenna showed a relieved expression and smiled at Duncan, but then her expression beca complicated again, raising her hand to point at anomaly 077, "Captain, the sailor, he..."
Duncan raised his hand, indicating that he was already aware of the situation, and focused his gaze on anomaly 077, "I’ve heard everything, now continue, ’just’ what?"
The sailor opened his mouth, seemingly hesitant again, but under Duncan’s calm gaze, his hesitation eventually turned to resignation. He spread his hands, feeling like he had never been so candid before Captain Duncan, "It’s just that I feel sorry for Captain Lawrence—I left in such a hurry, I didn’t properly say farewell, I didn’t even tell him I might not return. Right now, the crew of the Oakwood is probably still waiting for ..."
He paused, smiling with a touch of regret yet with a sense of relief.
"Please relay a ssage for , just say ’the sailor’ was honoured to have served on the Oakwood for that period, albeit a short one, and despite being noisy and troubleso on the ship, it truly was the happiest ti in my mory.
"I have no personal possessions, so please apologize to Oakwood’s First Mate Gus for , I bet the two pounds of fine tobacco I owe him is probably not repayable, as well as what I owe to the second mate, the boatswain, the stoker, the chanic, and the priest..."
He counted off nas on his fingers, then spread his hands, "You see, gambling never ends well, right, including making bets with people."
"Lastly, there’s sothing for you. I had originally planned to write you a letter in secret, then quietly leave on my own. So things, I feel, are just too awkward to say to your face. But as you can see, situations can be unpredictable..."
The sailor rambled on, and under Duncan’s calm and gentle gaze, he took a deep breath—a cold stream of air from his lungs that no longer needed to breathe slowly dissipated, rging into the omnipresent fog.
He looked at Duncan, his withered eyes carrying an unprecedented seriousness and solemnity.
"I’m honored, even though I was scared at first, I am still honored to have been a brief mber of the Holoss.
"You are the greatest explorer and captain in history. What you’re setting out to do will succeed. I have no basis for that, I don’t understand prophecies or such things, but that’s how I feel... What you’re out to do, it will succeed.
"So, if there really is a new world afterward, I hope you can still rember the story of the Sea Song. I hope you can tell it to the people then, let them know that in the days when the world was inching towards its end, there was a group of people... who tried their hardest.
"And lastly, thank you. Thank you for your efforts to date, thank you for still trying to save this world...although it’s a cold and twisted place to now, I vaguely rember it was a good place."
The sailor finished calmly, all his hesitation and regrets finally dissipated in the endless mist.
Then he bowed seriously before Duncan, and after straightening up, he raised his right hand before Fenna, tracing the symbol of the waves over his chest.
Fenna instinctively moved half a step forward, as if she wanted to reach out and hold onto sothing, but stopped halfway through, then returned the gesture in silence.
"Are you sure you want to leave?" Duncan asked, watching the sailor’s eyes.
"You’ve returned; it’s ti for to leave," the sailor smiled, slowly backing away two steps, "I’ll find a quiet place—let be quiet for a while. I haven’t had a good sleep in a long ti."
Duncan nodded, saying nothing.
The sailor moved toward the dense white fog that had sohow spread across the deck, his figure swaying within it until finally fading from Duncan’s and Fenna’s sight.
After a prolonged silence, Fenna eventually turned her head, breaking the silence softly, "Captain..."
Duncan simply waved his hand and spoke softly, "Fenna, do you know how many deaths a person can go through?"
Fenna paused, seemingly grasping sothing. She didn’t speak again but involuntarily looked back in the direction the sailor had left. After gazing silently for a few seconds, she turned back to Duncan, "Captain, what do we do next?"
Duncan nodded, turned, and walked towards the helm at the stern of the deck, speaking without looking back, "The journey is still long. It’s ti for Holoss to set sail—Alice is ready, and next we will conduct the first test of her ’navigation’ abilities."
Fenna, caught off guard, imdiately followed.
At that very mont, at the ship’s helm, Alice already stood by the wheel with a nervous expression.
She was waiting for the captain’s further instructions.
Mops, buckets, swaying ropes, and spare iron hooks on the deck, many things had gathered around the helm, seemingly waiting to witness the excitent.
A rope snaked its way over, bumping against the feet of the doll with its end.
"I’m a little nervous..." Alice whispered, "Although the captain said it’s okay, I’m still nervous..."
Surrounding ropes and items like buckets shook, creating a series of sowhat chaotic noises.
Alice gleaned the response of her "friends" from those tumultuous sounds.
They were even more nervous than she was.
The entire ship was tense...
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