After lunch, Duncan watched Nina clear the table. He had wanted to help wash the dishes, but she firmly stopped him on the grounds that "Uncle, you're not well, and the doctor said you should avoid cold water." So he could only lean near the foot of the stairs, reading the newspaper he had bought that morning while watching the girl bustle about in the kitchen.
This scene of everyday life in an ordinary household gave him an oddly strange feeling.
Just then, Nina's voice came from the kitchen. "Uncle Duncan, is there any news in the paper?"
Duncan glanced down at the paper. The first thing he saw was the date—August 14th, 1900, New City-State Calendar—followed by a report about a Church Inquisitor leading a team to capture dozens of cultists. This was probably the most significant front-page story in the entire paper.
"It says an Inquisitor led a team and caught dozens of Sun Heretics," he said casually. "It also says this was the largest heretical gathering the Church has successfully uncovered in the past four years. There are also reminders for citizens to stay safe at night and be alert for heretical beliefs among those around them."
"Ah, I heard about it on my way here too!" Nina swiftly placed the washed dishes into the cupboard. "It's terrifying. My teacher once told us that those cultists who worship the sun would even sacrifice living people to the Sun God... Who would be crazy enough to believe in a sect like that?"
Duncan suddenly had no idea what to say, because anything he said felt far too delicate—should he mention that he had recently experienced the full sacrificial package on that altar, or should he say that her uncle was exactly that kind of crazed cultist?
But one