北京青年手机

Nina didn’t hear what Shirley was muttering at all. Instead, her attention was entirely attracted by the black bone hound in front of her. After she jumped off the chair, the girl strolled around Dog for two full circles while eyeing the creature up and down. Then when she finally saw Dog’s reddish eye sockets, the girl finally showed a startled look, but that’s it, only a little shock and nothing more.

“So amazing…” she repeated again. Nina even looked like she wanted to reach out and touch Dog’s bony skull like she was petting an animal. But at the last second, the girl withdrew her hand and looked up at Shirley, “This is the first time I’ve seen such a supernatural existence with my own eyes… What is Dog? Is he a creature summoned by a magical spell? Or…”

“He’s a demon,” Shirley replied frankly as if to scare Nina and make the other party slightly aware of the dangers. “He’s the most dangerous kind of demon.”

Nina was really taken aback. She probably didn’t expect this polite-looking skeletal dog to be a demon. Then, showing an incredulous face: “Is he… really a demon?”

“Strictly speaking, I’m a shadow demon.” Dog partly raised his head and snuck a peak at Nina by lifting one of his paws from his face, “Miss, this may be the first time you’ve seen a shadow demon, but do not get the false impression about my kind. My compatriots are very diverse, but they are usually all fierce and ruthless…”

“Shadow…” Nina was stunned by the explanation. She finally woke up from the novel tension of seeing a supernatural being for the first time and recalled what the textbooks had said, “Shirley, you…”

“As you can see, I’m tied to a shadow demon,” Shirley raised her arm and showed Nina the chain that’s fused with her body, “so I don’t want people to know my secret, do you understand? If the members of the Storm Church find out, they will not hesitate to throw me into the fire or open sea.”

Shirley’s expression was particularly grim, which was passed onto Nina on how severe the consequences are if true.

“…. I’ve read from the books that the deep sea is full of crazy and evil creations, that they are the residual discharge of dark and unholy gods. But from Mr. Dog’s appearance…” Nina stopped and hesitated to continue since it’s rude to be so presumptuous.

“Dog is special,” Shirley replied lightly. “Unlike a normal shadow demon with no heart and emotions, Dog does. Even though I can’t explain why he does and how this came to be, this allows him to survive outside the deep sea.”

Nina was stunned and nodded half-understandingly: “Oh.”

While speaking, she fell into a short silence while scratching her head. Then turning to her uncle for help due to the distress, “Uncle, I feel like my mind is getting dizzy again.”

Going through the chaotic encounter today, then the knowledge of Shirley’s secret, any normal school girl would get dizzy by the absurdity of it all. It’s already a blessing she’s not crashing down and raising the white flag.

“You’ve been through a lot today,” came Duncan’s gentle and calming words, “some confusion is normal.”

Nina blinked, finally realizing that she had ignored something crucial since the start of all things: “Uncle, do you know Shirley from before? How about her secret? Do you also know about Dog?”

“I did,” Duncan smiled, “but I didn’t know she was the ‘friend’ you mentioned the other day.”

“Then…” Nina hesitated, “are you also investigating what happened eleven years ago? Are you investigating together?”

“Sort of. We’ve worked together once or twice by chance,” Duncan nodded.

“…… Why do I feel like I’m the only one in the dark?” Nina muttered belatedly, “And you are investigating what happened eleven years ago… Is there any secret about what happened eleven years ago?”

“We don’t know yet, but we all agree that there was a fire that had been erased back then,” Duncan said quietly, his gaze falling on Nina. “I’m sorry, I’m not hiding it from you because I mean to keep you in the dark, but this is a field out of your knowledge. It’s too dangerous.”

“Uncle, what about you?” Nina grew slightly angry, “Uncle, aren’t you in danger too?!”

While the man himself didn’t comment, Shirley on the side had begun to mutter in complaint: “Of course your uncle is in danger, your uncle is the most dangerous….”

Duncan instantly shot a warning look at Shirley, silencing any chance of the truth from coming out. “I am an adult, and as your uncle, I have a duty to keep you safe. Besides, I’m more powerful than you think.”

Nina’s gaze kept wandering between Duncan and Shirley, her expression repeatedly changing due to the mess inside her head. However, of all the fuss and stubbornness of an adolescent teen, it all ended with a sigh.

“It’s getting dark,” she glanced out the window and saw the dimming light, “I’ll go get dinner ready. Shirley, you can stay here too. It’s not safe when it’s dark.”

“Ahhh… Yes?” Shirley was stunned and didn’t react at once. But soon, she understood what Nina meant and frantically waved her hand, “Ah, no need! Dog and I can make it back…”

Sadly, Duncan’s voice had cut in from the side before the gothic girl could reject the goodwill: “Stay, the sun will go down in a few minutes, and the streets will be full of guardians. Are you sure you want to tangle with the curfew set by the city?”

Shirley froze with a visible shudder, her eyes glancing out the window as well. Eventually, her expression deflated into a whimpering frown at knowing she could no longer escape the antique store tonight.

“That… alright,” the girl sat down dejectedly, barely holding up a smile to face Nina, “is there anything I can do to help?”

“No, I always cook at home,” Nina giggled with delight as she strolled towards the staircase. Then suddenly, she swung around and eyed Shirley sternly, “Shirley, are we friends?”

Shirley didn’t expect this, so her first reaction was to look at Duncan, but the latter only looked away like it was none of his business. Finally, after a short and uncomfortable silence, she shook her head: “No…”

But then she nodded again: “But I can try.”

Nina squealed over the second part. Although she didn’t get the answer she so dearly desired, Nina was nevertheless pleased and jogged up the stairs with brisk fluidity.

Shirley stood motionlessly on the first floor, only coming back to reality when she heard Duncan’s voice again. “Thank you.”

Popping her eyes from surprise, Shirley quickly sat back into her chair nervously: “Why are you thanking me?”

“Nina has no friends at school.” Duncan has become accustomed to the overly antsy reaction of the other girl, so he doesn’t mind it. “The fact that you’re willing to try is a wonderful thing for her. She’s been so happy in the past two days when she told me about a new friend at school.”

Shirley blinked in confusion, somewhat not understanding.

“I… I still don’t quite understand,” Shirley appears troubled by the gratitude from the man.” Your role here is to play an ordinary person, right? Nina, she… doesn’t seem to know about how special you are. It’s the same at school. Her existence was so small that if it weren’t for Dog guiding me, I wouldn’t have found her at all. But as a kin favored by you, she…”

“Not kin, she’s my niece,” Duncan repeated and then looked at the other with an extremely serious expression. “Now that Nina is gone, I have a question for you.”

“Uhh, go ahead, I’m ready…”

“Dog guided you to get closer to Nina, right?”

“…… Right. ”

“Because Dog ‘smelled’ a specific aura on Nina, right? Based on this, he judged that Nina had something to do with the fire eleven years ago?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of aura is it? Is it the same energy signature as that factory? Or is it something else?”

This time Shirley didn’t answer; instead, she shifted her sight to Dog in the corner of the shop.

Under Duncan’s gaze, Dog hesitated for a few seconds before finally crawling over to the table.

“There are countless ashes floating around her, Mr. Duncan.”