A Commoner's Breakfast

A copy of the Pland News cost twelve pesos, equivalent to a meager breakfast or the cheapest dessert in the Crossroad district. You could buy a newspaper from a passing newsboy or walk a few extra steps to a newsstand at the end of another street.

Duncan, with a few coins in his pocket, bought a local newspaper from the newsstand. The owner, a middle-aged man engrossed in reading, gestured for Duncan to take the paper after hearing the clink of coins in the box, without even looking up.

Duncan leaned in to see what the man was reading. It was an analysis of past lottery results, filled with colorful lines depicting all sorts of unrealistic fantasies.

He then looked down at the newspaper he had just bought. The front-page headline was the news that interested him most:

The esteemed Church Guardian forces, led by Inquisitor Vana Wayne, successfully raided a Sun God cult gathering, apprehending a large number of cultists and rescuing several citizens...

A photo of "Her Excellency the Inquisitor" was printed on the side of this news report. To Duncan's surprise, it was a remarkably young woman with a prominent scar over her left eye, yet she was undeniably beautiful. She stood with her subordinates, half a head taller than any of the men around her on average.

The Inquisitor wore form-fitting, lightweight armor and a battle skirt, and carried a greatsword that looked like it belonged in the cold weapon era. She was like a valiant female knight from a medieval painting. However, behind this lady and a group of Church Guardians, a massive steam engine was visible, complete with what appeared to be obvious turret structures...

A strange and eerie art style, contradictory yet harmonious.

Duncan's gaze lingered on the photograph for a long time.

The news of the cultist gathering's suppression was good news for him. Without worrying about his identity being exposed, he could feel no psychological burden seeing those villains who performed human sacrifices brought to justice. On the other hand, he was more interested in the intelligence revealed by the photograph.

A female Inquisitor specializing in dealing with cultists, fully armored steam-powered robots, and Church armed forces equipped with both cold and hot weapons...

Intelligence that was extremely difficult to obtain on the Lost Homeland could be clearly understood from a newspaper costing twelve pesos within civilized society.

Just as Duncan had thought before – while the Lost Homeland drifted blindly for a century, times had changed.

Even setting aside the crude consideration of "who can fight better," the mortal civilized society represented by the Pland City-State had developed to a stage that could be called… spectacular.

The intersection wasn't a good place to read the paper. Duncan casually rolled up the newspaper and tucked it under his arm. He remembered that his "niece" Nina at the antique shop was waiting for him, so he started walking back.

Compared to wandering aimlessly through the city alone, a local who inherently trusted him would clearly be a better source of information.

As for the Lost Homeland, Duncan wasn't worried. Even while walking in the Spirit World, he could still clearly sense the situation on the Lost Homeland and the state of his other body. Goat Head was at the helm, and Alice seemed to be behaving herself. He should be able to act here for a while longer.

After all, the original crew rules of the Lost Homeland stated, "The Captain may occasionally leave the ship." It wasn't a big deal for the Captain to wander around in the Spirit World for a couple of days, right?

Moreover, as his Spirit World Walk continued, Duncan felt his control over this special "mental projection" was gradually improving. Perhaps soon he could try controlling both bodies simultaneously – which would further alleviate his worries about the ship's situation while he was in the Spirit World.

A sweet aroma suddenly wafted over from the side. Duncan instinctively stopped and looked to his side, seeing a street-facing cake shop with freshly baked pastries displayed outside.

This was the lower district of the Pland City-State, so there were naturally no high-end dessert shops. But even some of the cheapest, crudest pastries made Duncan pause.

He still had a few coins in his pocket, less than twenty pesos in total, but it was more than enough to buy a cake.

After a moment's hesitation, he approached the cake shop, paid for a plain honey cake. The packaging material the shop used was a rough, thick paper that felt coarse to the touch.

Duncan walked towards the antique shop with the newspaper and the cake, feeling inexplicably cheerful.

Walking on the street, talking to people, buying things, returning home.

Such simple things gave him a sense of being in another life. He savored the feeling of breathing on land, treating these ordinary daily occurrences as precious life experiences.

Life on the Lost Homeland was also quite good. Goat Head was noisy but reliable, and Alice was an interesting fellow. But experiencing life on land wasn't bad either.

Before long, Duncan returned to the front of the antique shop. Before pushing the door open, he looked up at the shop sign. The words "Duncan's Antiques" were still quietly imprinted on it, with an old texture that seemed unchanged for over a decade.

He pushed the door open, and the chime of bells rang out clearly. Immediately, hurried footsteps could be heard from the direction of the stairs.

A young girl with long brown hair rushed down, then stopped abruptly at the foot of the stairs. She held onto a nearby pillar, her eyes wide as she looked at Duncan, her expression tense and worried.

"Uncle Duncan, where did you go?" she said quickly. "You said you were just going to look outside, but you disappeared in the blink of an eye... I thought you'd gone to a bar or a casino again..."

Duncan looked at the girl in front of him with some surprise. He could tell she was genuinely worried about something.

She was worried about the only family she had left in the world, the one she depended on – even if that family member was a drunken, gambling, degenerate, irritable wreck, who was also involved in shady dealings with cultists behind the scenes.

An indescribable feeling surfaced faintly, but his expression remained unchanged. "I just went for a walk and bought a few things."

As he spoke, he walked towards the antique shop's counter, preparing to place the newspaper and cake on it. Nina seemed to suddenly relax and then ran upstairs, saying quickly as she went, "Uncle, wait a moment. I'll bring down breakfast – you definitely haven't eaten breakfast yet at this time. I made corn and beet soup..."

Before Duncan could say anything, Nina had already disappeared up the stairs. A moment later, she carefully came down carrying a large tray.

On the tray was a simple breakfast for two.

Duncan stared blankly at the girl bustling around, watching her skillfully clear a space on the counter, arrange the food, and then fetch an extra chair for him...

Her movements were exceptionally quick, and she exuded a sense of happiness that seemed to come from nowhere.

Duncan watched her busy herself, wanting to help but finding no opportunity to interject.

He had interacted with many young people of her age, but he had rarely seen a child as diligent and quick as her.

If this were Earth, she would likely be a high school student. Even here, she looked like a student.

Duncan suddenly thought that living with an "uncle" who had fallen into a cult couldn't be easy. But this girl named Nina seemed to have fully adapted to a life that could hardly be called fulfilling, and she was able to find something to sustain herself in it.

"Let's eat," Nina said, having prepared everything. She glanced at Duncan and spoke as if she had said it countless times before. "Doctor Albert said that if you eat breakfast regularly and maintain a good mood, it will be more effective in the long run than strong liquor... or painkillers."

Duncan remained silent for a moment, just looking at Nina. Before her expression could turn awkward and tense, he picked up the cake he had placed aside earlier, unwrapped it, and placed it in front of Nina.

Nina's eyes widened in surprise, and she looked at the item before her in confusion. "What is this..."

"Cake, bought from the corner," Duncan said casually. "You're growing, you need to eat nutritious food for breakfast."

Nina, however, froze. She just stared blankly at the cheap pastry before her. After a long moment, as if she had just realized something, she whispered almost to herself, "Are you really okay?"

"Of course, I'm fine," Duncan said with a very natural expression. "I just remembered, it's been a while since I bought you any sweets."

"It has been over a year..." Nina murmured, but then she suddenly smiled and picked up a knife. "Then let's split it. Doctor Albert said you need nutritious things too."

Duncan felt a strange sensation, but after a moment of silence, he nodded.

"...Okay."