Anne looked at the two "guests" in the cottage in a daze, her eyes moving back and forth between Agatha and Duncan. After a long time, the girl finally reacted a little: "Ah, Uncle Duncan, are you going to be the cemetery caretaker here?"

"Perhaps," Duncan said, looking at Agatha who was still in shock, "Isn't this feasible? The cemetery keeper must be a veteran of the Guard?"

Agatha finally reacted and said quickly: "No... Although generally speaking, the cemetery's guards are all retired veterans, but if I come forward, I can certainly arrange a position for you. The problem is not here, the key is... Do you really want to stay in this cemetery as a guard?"

"My identity in Plande is still an antique dealer," Duncan said with a smile in his eyes. "The Lost Homeland will not stop in one place, but my avatar will stay in the city-state. I have to find something to do. I can't spend the whole day doing nothing in the big house on Oak Street, drinking tea and reading newspapers, right?"

"This... I really haven't thought about this question," Agatha opened her mouth, feeling a little embarrassed, "I have never thought about what your 'incarnation' needs to do on a daily basis..."

"Normal. Most novels and movies don't mention that the protagonists have to change jobs after the events. The reality is that you are doing the work of two people now, and Tirian is overwhelmed by paperwork all day long." Duncan laughed. "For me, it is also very boring to sail on the boundless sea all day long in a ghost ship that never docks. Living a normal life in the city-state is my way to ensure that I am still like a 'human'. You can think of it as..."

Agatha spoke immediately: "I will arrange it for you immediately. You can come to the cemetery to take up your post tomorrow."

Duncan: “…I haven’t finished yet.”

"I have heard the most important part," Agatha said solemnly, "Please rest assured, even if the Supreme Holy Temple asks, I will ensure that you can be a caretaker in this cemetery with peace of mind."

"...I feel like you overinterpreted what I just said, but it's not a big deal," Duncan said awkwardly, and then he really asked about the "work", "What does a cemetery guard need to do on a daily basis?"

"In fact, there is basically not much work. The guard's task is just to ensure that the cemetery is not 'disturbed' and to ensure the peace of the supernatural power. In addition, they just need to register the living and dead who enter and leave the cemetery. As for the maintenance of the cemetery facilities, it is the responsibility of the people arranged by the nearby church," Agatha explained. "Since Frost City has become an extremely safe environment even at night, I think... not only you, but all the cemetery guards should not have to do anything."

Agatha's tone was somewhat odd when she spoke of this, and her eyes would occasionally glance at Duncan, obviously thinking about the relationship between the recent calm of the frosty nights and the being before her.

And she had something else to say - even if the nights in the city-state were still as dangerous as before, what did it matter? With such a "guard" in the cemetery, there would probably be no more incidents of supernatural power disturbances. Even if something from the subspace came out of the coffin, it would be slapped back by the new guard...

Anyway, that's a good thing.

Duncan didn't know what Agatha was thinking, and he himself didn't think about anything too complicated, because he really just wanted to find something for his body to do - and considering the last will remaining in this body, considering the "fate" between himself and this cemetery, he finally chose to stay here and become the new caretaker of the cemetery.

Here he would continue to watch over the frost, tending and watching over the city-state, just as he had in Plande.

The hot tea in my hand has gradually cooled down.

Duncan placed the teacup on the low table beside him, stood up and looked around the small house silently. The plain furnishings in the house came into his sight, as if there were still some traces of the previous owner.

On the wall next to the door, an old hunting rifle that looked very old was hanging quietly on an iron hook. The bolt was still shining, reflecting the fire next to it.

Duncan looked at the old shotgun for a moment, nodded slightly, pushed the door open and walked out of the cabin.

The sound of uplifting and cheerful music came from the direction of a street outside the cemetery, mixed with the sound of fireworks.

Anne came out of the door of the hut behind him, listened to the noise on the street in the distance, and happily pulled Duncan's clothes: "The new governor's motorcade is going to pass through the cemetery ring area!"

"Many people are still afraid of the new Archon." Duncan lowered his head with a smile in the corner of his eyes. "You don't look afraid at all?"

"I'm not afraid. Mom said the new consul is a hero who protects the city-state," Annie raised her face and squinted in the sunlight, "He's a very powerful person, just like Dad."

Duncan thought about it, then reached out and gently pressed the girl's furry hat.

"Indeed, he will be an excellent consul."

※※※

On the vast sea, Duncan crossed the stern deck and returned to the captain's room.

Goathead was steering the ship seriously. On the navigation table, the thick fog floating on the surface of the large nautical chart was flowing and dissipating little by little.

Duncan stood in front of the nautical chart for a while, his eyes scanning the route near Frost that was gradually becoming clear, and then walked to a corner of the room.

The quaint and elegant oval mirror in the captain's room was still hanging quietly on the wall, reflecting the scene in the room. In the interweaving of sunlight and shadow, the scene seemed a little blurry for some reason.

Duncan took a step forward, bent his fingers, and tapped lightly on the edge of the mirror.

The next second, layers of hazy light and shadows suddenly floated up on the seemingly ordinary surface of the mirror, as if countless fog and smoke were rising from the world in the mirror. Then, a figure emerged in the hazy light and shadows.

Agatha - the gatekeeper in the mirror - appears before Duncan.

"Good day, Captain," Agatha's slightly magnetic voice came from the mirror, "Nice to meet you."

Duncan nodded and asked casually, "How does it feel? Are you used to it?"

"It feels... not bad," Agatha said slowly. "When I was just 'transferred' to the ship, the huge and empty mirror world here made me a little nervous, but perhaps as I gradually adapted to this place, the empty darkness has gradually faded away... I also tried to communicate with that lady 'Martha', and she told me a lot of skills and knowledge as a 'mirror image', which were all very useful."

Duncan raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "Oh? You can contact Martha directly here?"

"The Black Oak is swimming in the reflection of the nearby sea. In the mirror world, she and I are 'neighbors'," Agatha laughed. "It's a wonderful experience - the world in the mirror is discontinuous, yet connected everywhere. I can jump from one mirror to another, appear in many mirrors at the same time, or hide in the vast nothingness behind the mirror... Perhaps it will take many, many years for me to fully understand all of this."

Duncan listened with great interest as the "mirror" told him about the "rules in the mirror" that were beyond the common people's cognition and unimaginable. When the other party finished speaking, he nodded slightly: "It sounds like you are enjoying this process. That's good."

Agatha was stunned for a moment, then sighed softly, "...Yes, it's better than I thought."

The captain's room was silent for a while. After an unknown amount of time, Duncan suddenly broke the silence: "I want to know, what made you decide to leave Frostbite and embark on a journey with the Lost Homeland? This will be the longest journey of your life. This ship may go to many places, distant city-states, blocked secret realms, the spirit world, the abyss, and even the warp..."

Agatha in the mirror fell into deep thought. She thought about this question seriously. After several minutes, she slowly spoke: "I think it was when 'we' dived into the dark deep sea together."

Duncan didn't say anything, just looked at the person in the mirror, waiting for her to continue.

The voice in the mirror came again——

"I have all of Agatha's memories and emotions. In that memory, I was born in Frost, accompanied by my family and friends, I studied and trained, and accepted the test of the church, as well as those streets, those old bell towers, those things that were in disrepair... but very familiar. All these things are in my mind, clear and profound, just like... experiencing them myself.

"But what we all know is that, until the day of the mirror invasion, the life that truly belonged to 'me' was actually only three days.

"So, when I regained consciousness and returned to this world in the form of a mirror, I kept thinking about one question - am I the gatekeeper Agatha, or a 'person' who was born again in this world and simply inherited someone's memories?"

She stopped, and as a "mirror image", her eyes were bright, and those eyes were now staring intently at the captain outside the mirror.

“You are right, a ‘man’ cannot live forever as the shadow of another man.

“Almost all of my past life memories are from another individual, but even so, there are three days in that memory that are my own.

"But if I stay in Frost, my three-day 'life' will sooner or later be buried by larger and deeper memories. I cannot sever my connection with that city, nor can I avoid my human weaknesses as a mortal. I am destined to be a shadow, a shadow full of regrets, trapped in memories, and as time goes by... this regret will sooner or later turn into resentment and hatred.

“I cannot accept this possibility.

"But during that 'deep dive' journey with you, what you said to me... made me find new possibilities."