The sailor became a special new occupant of the "Witch's Mansion" - but his addition did not seem to have had the slightest impact on the day-to-day functioning of the mansion.

Most of the time, this dry corpse can stay in one place honestly like a real corpse, he doesn't need to eat, he doesn't need to sleep, if no one talks to him, he can even not speak for two or three days in a row, he always stays in his quiet corner as if thinking about something, finding a place to be in a daze for a whole day, without moving in the middle.

This made the rest of the house almost forget that there was such a new "guest" here.

Only when Luni was cleaning would she have a few words of communication with the dried corpse, and the main content of the exchange was just a few words-

"Ah, you move to the side." "Hey." "Alright, you can move back." "Oh."

The days went by like this, and on the third day, the mistress of the house finally couldn't help it - Lucrecia found the "sailor" lying in the clutter pile in the basement and pretending to be a corpse: "I heard my father describe that you are not like this on the White Oak, and there is a lot of movement jumping up and down every day, why is it so quiet here?" ”

"Be quiet, isn't it?" The sailor sat up from the middle of the pile and looked into the witch's eyes in the darkness, "As far as I know, you are a man who likes to be quiet. ”

Lucrecia was stunned for a moment: "It's not the same...... It's not bad. No, I'm going to say ......."

But she was interrupted in the middle of her sentence.

"I'm recuperating for the voyage," said the sailor suddenly, the corpse's eyes getting serious, "we're about to make a historic voyage, ma'am, and though the captain didn't say it, you should know his plans—and I'll have to adjust myself in the days to come." The captain told me to rest more these days, and then to recall as much as possible about the Sea Song, which I have been doing for the past two days. ”

"Voyage ......" Lucrecia's expression changed slightly, but immediately recovered, "So what do you recall?" ”

"Captain Carani is a good man, the cafeteria on the Sea Song is terrible, the crew of the second squad is always noisy, and beyond that there is fog, a fog that never ends in sight," the sailor stretched, and the shriveled and twisted joints made a terrible sound as if they were about to be pulled off, and then he fell backwards and lay down in the debris pile again, "I disappointed you, I didn't think of anything related to the 'route', although the captain seemed to have confidence in me......"

Few people dare to behave in such a lazy and rude manner in front of the "Witch of the Sea" - Lucrecia's eyebrows raised involuntarily, but soon returned to her usual expressionless appearance: "Father always has his way. ”

The sailor lay in the pile of debris, smacked his lips noncommittally, and suddenly changed his words: "What about you?" Is your Brilliant Star ready to sail? ”

Lucrecia didn't respond, just frowned.

"You are still resistant, and I can see your wavering," said the sailor calmly, "and I probably know what you are resisting...... But be prepared, it may be the greatest voyage ever, it may be the last, at least this time, you can choose to set off with your father......"

A calm, stressful gaze made the dry corpse shut its mouth.

"Has anyone told you that you talk too much."

The sailor thought for a moment: "...... I've been with you for three days, and that's all I have to say today...... Well, I won't talk about it. ”

Lucrecia looked at the dried corpse quietly for a moment, then finally withdrew her gaze and turned to the door: "The Bright Star is always ready to sail. ”

But she had barely taken half a step when the sailor called out: "Hey, wait a minute, there's something else ......"

Lucrecia stopped and looked back in confusion: "What else is going on?" ”

"Help me connect my lumbar spine and shoulders......" The sailor continued to lie arrogantly in the pile of debris, unable to move, "just now the lazy waist stretched over his head, and the joint was pulled down......"

Lucrecia's expression finally changed a little subtly, she looked at the dried corpse quietly for two or three seconds, and finally turned her head and left without hesitation: "Lie down." ”

……

Duncan stopped writing and looked up—outside the window, night was still falling, and the bright electric light illuminated the study, and Alice was sitting quietly in the chair near the window, the light falling on the doll's shoulder, her eyes half-closed, as if about to fall asleep.

But after noticing the gaze coming from the direction of the desk, the doll immediately opened her eyes, and she looked at Duncan with a happy smile on her face: "Captain! Are you done? ”

As she spoke, she got up from her chair and walked over to Duncan's side.

"It's done," said Duncan casually, and instead of putting away his diary, he spread it out on the table generously—for he knew that no one in the world could read what he had written, "and if you are sleepy, go back to your room and rest, and you don't have to be with me all the time." ”

"Not sleepy, not sleepy!" Alice immediately waved her hand, and then her eyes fell on the captain's diary involuntarily out of curiosity, "This is your diary?" Forehead...... Why can't you read a word......"

Duncan shook his head with a smile and didn't explain anything, just casually asked, "Are you going to try to keep a diary?" ”

"Me?" Alice was stunned for a moment, but quickly shook her head, "I won't...... I don't know what to remember, and it takes a lot of words......

Duncan laughed: "It's okay to write down something you think is meaningful or interesting, you don't need a lot of words to write a diary, you should have enough vocabulary right now - you really can't, you can draw it." ”

The puppet listened quietly, and there seemed to be some light in his eyes.

"I can draw!" She said happily.

Although the upper limit of what she says about "being able to draw" is that she can tell whether she is drawing a man or a woman, a man or a dog – she has always proudly considered herself to be "able to draw" ever since Duncan taught her the most basic drawing skills.

Duncan just smiled, then reached out and pulled out a new journal from the desk, and put a pencil in the notebook, handing it to the doll in front of him.

"For you, I brought it from the ship," he said, "and you can write down what you want to remember." ”

Alice happily took the "new gift" from the captain, she flipped through the blank diary, and then lay down directly at the desk, as if this was going to write something in the notebook, but as soon as she picked up the pencil, she thought of a new question, and looked up at Duncan: "Why do you suddenly want me to write a diary?" ”

Duncan was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect the puppet to suddenly ask this, and after a short thought, he nodded: "We're going to leave soon, this time to a far away place, and you may see all kinds of things on the way...... Memories are short-lived, and if you don't want to miss the scenery during your trip, it's important to keep them safe. ”

Alice listened to the captain's words as if she didn't understand what the puppet was thinking at the moment, and after a few seconds she nodded "oh", then lowered her head and wrote a few words on the title page of the diary with a pencil - "Alice's diary".

"I'm done!" She happily showed the captain the name she had just written.

The line of letters was crooked, but it was the best she had written since she had learned to read and write with Duncan.

"Very well," Duncan smiled and nodded, but then couldn't help but remind, "But the diary can't be shown casually, you need to put it away......"

Alice tilted her head and pointed to Duncan's journal on the desk, "But you showed it to me." ”

Duncan's expression froze: "...... That's because I know you can't read the words on it. ”

“…… Oh," Alice scratched her hair, looking at her journal a little confused, "can't you show it to you?" ”

"No," Duncan said seriously, but then he noticed the confusion and confusion in the puppet's expression, thought for a moment and added, "But if there's something you really want to share with me, that's fine—I don't read anything else, that's your secret." ”

The puppet then became happy again: "Good! ”

Duncan only felt a little helpless, but anyway, he was in a much better mood to let this puppet break like this.

Alice didn't think about it that much, but she could feel that the captain's mood was improving, which made her happy, she looked at Duncan put away the diary on the table, thought for a moment and asked casually, "Captain, are we going to the border next?" ”

Duncan glanced at the puppet in surprise.

"It was Miss Vanna who told me," said Alice at once, "and she said that we would leave in two days—and that we should bring enough food and water with us on board this time, for the place we were going to might be special......"

Duncan nodded slightly: "That's right, it's going to be special there...... It's a place where I don't even know what it looks like or what will happen. ”

“…… Farther than the previous 'Holy Land Island'? ”

"Farther than that."

"Oh-"

Alice lengthened her voice, as if trying to imagine what it would be like to be farther away than the Holy Land Island, but she couldn't.

"Aren't you worried?" Duncan looked curiously at the puppet in front of him, and in the clear gaze of the other party, he didn't seem to see any uneasiness.

Alice rubbed her head and shook her head vigorously.

Duncan thought for a moment and deliberately made things a little more serious: "We may get lost outside the border, we may encounter a time gap, and even if we are well prepared, we may not be able to return for a long, long time...... Or, simply not being able to return. ”

Alice still shook her head, and then suddenly a smile bloomed—

"Don't be afraid, I'll bring you back."

"You? Take me back? ”

"Hmm!"

Duncan was stunned and laughed helplessly: "How are you going to bring me back?" ”

"I don't know!" Ellie replied without hesitation.

Duncan: "......"

He looked helplessly at the puppet in front of him who always seemed to be confused, and looked at the other party's obviously confused but extraordinarily confident smile on his face.

But suddenly he seemed to think of something, and when he looked at Alice again, there was a hint of thoughtfulness in his helpless expression......

(End of chapter)