Chapter 1 In the prayer room, filled with burning incense and watched over by the statue of the goddess, the two longtime friends fell silent. Only the blessings bestowed by the divine gently soothed their frightened hearts, and the soft, gentle sound of the waves echoed in Vanna's ears, the whisper of Gomona, the Goddess of Storms.

The goddess was still watching, more attentively than ever before.

After an unknown length of time, Heidi gradually calmed down. She cautiously broke the silence, "What exactly did I see?"

Vanna hesitated for a moment before speaking softly, "Perhaps… it was precisely what those solar heretics have been searching for."

"What those solar heretics have been searching for?" Heidi was stunned. "You mean…"

"A shard of the sun," Vanna nodded gently before Heidi could finish, "Perhaps only a shard of the sun could be worthy of the power you saw in that vision."

As she spoke, Vanna slowly raised her head, gazing at the statue of the Storm Goddess, and murmured thoughtfully, "After all… those heretics claim that the sun shards are remnants that fell from the so-called 'True Sun'."

Heidi paused, her expression suddenly shifting slightly. "If something like that had really appeared in the real world, Pland City-State couldn't possibly be as safe and sound as it is now…"

"So that thing must be in some kind of sealed state," Vanna nodded. "Intelligence shows that the sun shard appeared in Pland City-State eleven years ago, but now it seems that the so-called appearance at that time was just a slight leakage of power. In the past eleven years, it has remained dormant…"

"And now those solar heretics want to awaken that thing?!" Heidi looked horrified. "Do they want to destroy the entire Pland?!"

"This isn't the first day you've dealt with cultists," Vanna glanced at Heidi. "Aren't you clear about their mental state? To those fanatical heretics, what does sacrificing one or two city-states matter as long as they can awaken the 'Black Sun'? They wouldn't even mind letting the whole world burn, turning it into fuel for the resurrection of the Sun God!"

Heidi opened her mouth for a long time without saying a word. Vanna calmed herself down before slowly speaking, "The most critical question now is what exactly happened when you saw that vision—what happened to you, what happened around you, what happened to the museum itself. Understanding these things is the key to understanding the state in which the shard is dormant and where it is sleeping."

"……………No, I can't remember the details," Heidi tapped her forehead lightly. "But now I can roughly confirm that I did see its projection while I was unconscious, and I performed emergency self-hypnosis in order to retain important clues… Let me think, I was rescued and temporarily placed in a room on the first floor of the museum… According to what they told me after I came out, that room was near the main exhibition area…"

Heidi recalled with difficulty, thinking as she spoke, "Can't we conclude that the clues are in the museum?"

"It's difficult. Judging from a mystical point of view, what you saw wasn't the shard's main body, but a 'shadow' of a vast, transcendent existence leaking into the real world. The museum isn't necessarily the shard's resting place; it may only contain a 'rift'. And because the mental barrier is weak when humans are unconscious, your consciousness inadvertently crossed the rift and saw the scene on the other side."

"This kind of rift, which drifts on the edge of reality, is often not fixed. It was in the museum before, but now it may have moved somewhere else."

Vanna explained patiently, then suddenly shook her head again. "Of course, we will still conduct a top-level search of the museum and maintain surveillance afterward. After all, anomalies and apparitions are always unconventional. Maybe the shard really will remain in the museum in the form of some sealed medium. Even if it doesn't, we may be able to find some clues in the fire to explain why the 'rift' happened to appear in the museum…"

"But this subsequent search has nothing to do with you. From a security point of view, it's best if you don't go near that museum for the next month."

"Of course, I can't wait to stay away from this," Heidi nodded immediately. "I've had enough bad luck!"

Vanna silently looked at her friend, who had been unlucky since childhood. She seemed to want to say something, but in the end, she didn't say anything. She remained silent under the statue of the goddess, and after half a minute, she suddenly asked, "Who rescued you?"

"Two girls who are still in school, and a man who looks to be in his forties," Heidi thought for a moment. "As luck would have it, one of the girls is a student my father went to visit a few days ago, and the man is her uncle… I mentioned it to you, right? His name is Duncan, Duncan Straine, an antique shop owner."

"…I get a little allergic when I hear the name 'Duncan' now," Vanna's lips twitched visibly. "Although I know it's definitely not the same person…"

"My reaction was the same as yours when I first heard the name from my father," Heidi spread her hands. "Speaking of which, I promised that gentleman that I would go to his house tomorrow afternoon to do a psychological assessment for his niece and to formally thank him for saving my life… Everything was chaotic today, and I said goodbye in a hurry, which was really impolite."

"Strictly speaking, it's not just the 'niece' who needs a psychological assessment," Vanna's expression suddenly turned serious, her eyes fixed on Heidi. "All three of them do."

"Why…" Heidi opened her mouth subconsciously, but then she realized. "Ah!"

"That's right, they were all by your side at the time, and you saw the appearance of the sun shard while you were unconscious," Vanna stared into Heidi's eyes. "If that is really the remnant of an ancient god, its contamination may have spread to them along with your consciousness. Perhaps the scale of this spread is small, but for ordinary people, it could be fatal."

Heidi was dumbfounded.

In the antique shop in the lower city, Duncan had already closed the shop door early and was sitting in a relaxed posture in the chair behind the counter. Nina and Sherry were sitting on either side of him.

The two of them took a shower in the simple bathroom upstairs. Nina changed into a new set of clothes, but Sherry was still wearing her black dress—not because Nina wasn't willing to lend her clothes, but because the difference in their figures was a bit too big. Sherry took the initiative to refuse those clothes that were too big for her.

Of course, whether this girl had other concerns when she refused is unknown… Perhaps she thought that accepting Nina's clothes was equivalent to accepting a gift from a spawn of an evil god? Only she herself knew.

And on the other side of the counter was Ivy the pigeon, leisurely pacing.

Behind it, on the table, was a large pile of French fries—which Duncan had promised it.

Ivy got the French fries it had been longing for, Nina returned home safely, and Duncan rescued his niece and further familiarized himself with the power of the flame.

Everyone was happy.

Except for Sherry.

She was about to cry—she had wanted to cry several times today.

"So… Sherry, you're actually not my classmate… You just used some kind of… 'detective technique' to sneak into school to investigate something," Nina looked at her friend, whom she had finally made, with a somewhat complicated expression. "And you don't like steam and mechanics…"

"I can't even understand those textbooks…" Sherry said cautiously. She was answering Nina's question, but her eyes kept glancing at Duncan. "I'm sorry, I… I'm sorry."

Nina didn't seem to notice Sherry's apology. She just frowned in confusion. "But how did you do it? I… now that I think about it, you always suddenly appeared in my classroom, and then you often showed up by my side, but you never attended classes normally, and even the nearby teachers and students didn't seem to notice you. You…"

Sherry quickly glanced at Duncan again. After confirming that his expression was still calm, she muttered in a low voice, "It's actually a little bit of transcendent skill…"

"Transcendent?" Nina's eyes widened in surprise. "Are you an investigator from the church?"

"No, no, I'm not from the church, I…" Sherry glanced at Duncan again. She recalled the precautions that the boss had told her when Nina went upstairs to take a shower. Although she still didn't understand why this boss was playing the "playing human" game in this antique shop, she still honestly obeyed the boss's instructions, "I'm a wild… wild transcendent…"

Nina looked surprised. "…There are wild transcendents?!"

"Not registered, isn't that wild?" Sherry seemed to have given up on something completely, and said with a self-destructive air, "Isn't that what those troublesome guys from the church usually call people like us?"

Nina listened to Sherry's explanation in a daze, and then looked her up and down several times. The latter felt uncomfortable under this scrutiny, and Sherry subconsciously dodged. "Why are you looking at me like that…"

"Then you're so amazing!" Nina suddenly said very seriously.

Sherry was immediately a little confused. "…You're just impressed by this?"