Shirley left with Agou, who was still a little uneasy. Vanna and Maurice also left. The captain's room became quiet, leaving only Duncan, Alice, and the napping pigeon.

Alice was wiping the furnishings and windows in the room, while Duncan sat behind the table, lost in long thought.

A creaking sound came from the table, and the goat-headed head slowly turned to Duncan: "Are you still thinking about Lahem, the god of wisdom?"

"It's not the God of Wisdom—it's the gods." Duncan leaned back in his chair, his expression thoughtful. "The gods...what kind of connection is there between them and this world?"

"Who knows? The scriptures of various sects portray them as the shapers and protectors of the earthly order, while many cultists hold the opposite view. They believe that the gods distorted the world and even stole the credit for the creation of the world. The content that Morris saw in the 'Book of Blasphemy' has another novel explanation. The 'Lost Kings' mentioned in the book seem to be the gods of today... Maybe all these statements are wrong, but they may also be correct..."

The goat head kept talking and finally shook his head.

"But if you want to ask me what I think, then my opinion is... they don't seem to be of much use. They can neither make the world a better place nor bring about any bad things."

"But for most ordinary people in this world, the protection of the gods does exist," Duncan said casually, "This protection allows most mortals to survive."

"Yes, alive - a way of saying maintaining the status quo," the goat-headed man said slowly, "Just like the state of Frost over the past fifty years. Before the balance was broken, no one knew how many shadows of disasters had accumulated beneath the balance, but at least everyone is still alive."

Duncan did not comment on Goat-Head's evaluation. He just thought for a moment before speaking thoughtfully: "As soon as Agou started thinking, he entered Lahem's sight. There are many famous examples of 'receiving God's grace' in history. The parties were suddenly noticed in their daily lives and established a connection with the Four Gods... So can we say that the Four Gods have established a system of 'monitoring' or 'scanning' all living beings in the world? They confirm the operating status of the real world by sensing certain specific nodes... Doesn't this mean that their interference and perception of the real world is actually indirect and limited?"

"...The Orthodox sect won't like your description. It sounds like they are researching some kind of machine. They don't have the slightest respect for the gods."

"Awe is the furthest distance from 'understanding'. I don't want to be in awe of them. I just want to understand them," Duncan said calmly. "After all, we have helped them deal with the mess twice."

※※※

The sound of footsteps echoed in the long corridor of the cathedral, and the rhythmic echoes seemed to knock on the time deposited in this ancient building.

Agatha, dressed in a black dress, walked towards the depths of the church. She had no followers with her, only her own shadow accompanying this lifeless but still moving body. In the niches on both sides of the corridor, the light of gas lamps and candlesticks intertwined and reflected each other, making the shadows cast on the ground appear dim and shaky.

After returning to his room and closing the door, the archbishop and gatekeeper, who had appeared calm and composed all the way, suddenly seemed to relax, leaned back against the door, and let out a long sigh.

She no longer needs to breathe, but "sighing" is a manifestation of human nature, and she is still used to using this method as a "symbol" of her relaxation.

After all, she didn't want to make herself look... too much like a corpse.

Order has been restored in the cathedral, and small churches across the city-state are gradually getting back on track. The tense mood in the city still persists, but after the intervention of the Sea Mist Fleet, the chaos in various places - especially public security cases - has been quickly suppressed.

On the other hand, although the distribution of supplies and the aftermath of the victims are still a mess, and serious shortage of staff still plagues every department, after the Sea Fog Fleet entered the city, they "magically" found a large number of professionals with administrative management capabilities or understanding of the grassroots operations of the city-state from every corner of the city-state, and arranged these people in the City Hall. According to the feedback from the City Hall, those who were "recommended" by the Sea Fog Fleet are familiarizing themselves with and taking over the work of various departments at an astonishing speed. It will probably only take a few more days of familiarization, and the problem of shortage of staff everywhere will be greatly alleviated.

At the same time, the public opinion preparations needed for the Sea Fog Fleet to enter the city and the propaganda work against General Tirian Abnomar personally are also progressing continuously, and the reorganization and reorganization of the city-state's remaining navy and the Sea Fog Fleet has also begun.

The new consul has not yet been officially swearing in - but the city has already fallen into his control at an astonishing speed.

This was a development that officials of the Frost authorities could only imagine in their nightmares, but for Frost now... this is all good news.

Agatha could finally relax a little.

The body doesn't get tired, but her spirit still needs to breathe a sigh of relief.

After leaning against the door for a few minutes, Agatha shook her head, slowly walked to her dressing table, and sat down to rest.

She was reflected in the mirror of the dressing table.

The feeling of being watched made Agatha look up suddenly.

There was no one else in the room, and she didn't sense any strange presence.

Yet the feeling of being watched was no illusion.

The blind priest raised her head, carefully feeling any movement around her, feeling the flow of air, her "eyes" slowly swept around, and then swept across the mirror on the dressing table.

The lifeless furnishings in the room appeared in her vision as various vague and dim outlines, exuding a cold atmosphere like a grave.

However, in the next second, the feeling of being watched disappeared.

The figure in the mirror shifted his gaze.

Agatha suddenly stopped in front of the dressing table. She seemed to have noticed something. After a brief hesitation, she slowly raised her arm and reached out to the mirror in front of her.

It felt cold and hard to the touch, it was a layer of lifeless glass.

The figure in the mirror hesitated for who knows how long before she also raised her arm and stretched out her fingers.

The feeling of fingertips touching came suddenly, accompanied by a slight warmth.

The next moment, new light and shadow emerged in Agatha's chaotic and dark vision - in the lifeless mirror, a faint, hazy outline suddenly emerged.

They looked at each other quietly across the mirror, and the room fell into a brief silence.

After a long time, Agatha in front of the mirror suddenly broke the silence: "Are you there?"

There was a hint of hesitation in her voice.

"Yeah," a voice seemed to drill directly into her mind, "I'm here."

"When did you... show up?"

"The key," the voice in Agatha's head said quietly, "I have been here since you got that key."

Agatha said nothing for a moment.

This feeling was very... weird, because she was clearly aware that the voice in her mind was her own voice. She could even feel some emotions revealed by that voice when it spoke, but she was also clearly aware that the person she was talking to was another individual - it was not an illusion in her mind, not a personality formed by schizophrenia, and not some kind of "appendage" of her own.

Unbelievable.

"Incredible," she said in the mirror, "If I must say, the symptoms are a bit like schizophrenia? But obviously not..."

"No matter how skilled a psychiatrist is, I'm afraid he won't be able to solve this problem."

"Stop giving the city-state's psychiatrists trouble - they're all trouble lately."

Agatha suddenly raised her hand and rubbed her eyebrows.

This feeling of talking to "another self" was unprecedented. During the conversation... she always had the illusion that she was gradually unable to tell which one was "herself". Although there was no cognitive confusion in reality, she couldn't help but stop and sort out her thoughts.

After a while, she raised her head and "looked" at herself in the mirror.

"That key... preserved your soul? And then used it as a medium to send you to my..."

She was a little stuck when she said this, as if she didn't know how to describe her current state.

The shadow in front of me... is it in my mind, in my perception, or... is it just a psychological projection?

"I don't know either," the voice in my head came, "I don't know whether I have a soul or not, nor do I know the details of this process, let alone how the key achieves all this. My consciousness has been in a chaotic state for a long time, and I have only woken up in the past two days."

Then, the voice hesitated for a moment, and continued after a few seconds: "Now it seems that the key should have the power to store and transfer memories, but perhaps only the Frost Queen herself knows all its secrets."

"Frost Queen..." Agatha muttered, as if talking to herself, "It seems that we need to tell the captain about this situation..."

"…But in theory we should report to the Deathly Hallows headquarters first." Agatha in the mirror reminded.

Agatha in front of the mirror was slightly startled when she heard this. Her expression changed for a moment, and she hesitated before speaking, "It seems... it is indeed the case. But the Deathly Sanctuary is now cruising at the farthest end of the civilized territory, and I'm afraid it may not have the time to pay attention to this kind of 'private matter'."

She paused here and looked up at the mirror.

"what you think?"

Agatha in the mirror thought for a moment.

Thoughts and memories flow slowly between them, and cognition and emotions are reflected on both sides of the mirror.

A faint green fire appeared in Agatha's eyes in the mirror.

"I think the captain should be told, too—he's obviously very experienced when it comes to mirrors."