Captain Karani's Log

The moment Duncan spoke, "Sailor" immediately knew what the captain intended to do. After all, ever since Lawrence had "awakened" him aboard the White Oak, the greatest nightmare of his "life" had been this: Captain Duncan getting carried away and setting him on fire...

Of course, that nightmare had now come true—he had been blasted here by a huge fireball from the messenger called Ai.

Precisely because he had personally experienced the terror of being engulfed by that Spectral Flame, as though his soul could be vaporized at any moment, the mummy was especially nervous now. "...Won't this burn the shroud away entirely?"

"Theoretically, no," Duncan said with great confidence. "I can precisely control my flames and use them to understand the 'truth' beneath the surface of various supernatural objects. I've inspected and explored many things this way before. The process is very safe..."

Before he had even finished speaking and Sailor had yet to let out his breath, Shirley beside them suddenly muttered, "Who says so? That black-covered book we got from the Annihilation Cultists in Frost was burned away after you took one look at it..."

Nina immediately added, "And even earlier, the Golden Mask we got from the Sun Cultists in Pland was burned too..."

"Xilantis got burned too..." Lucretia muttered softly. "That was recent."

Duncan's expression visibly began to stiffen, and the atmosphere immediately turned a little awkward. But Alice, who was feeding pigeons nearby, unexpectedly caught on this time. Seeing this, she immediately raised her hand to help the captain out. "My wooden box didn't burn up!"

After saying that, she thought for a moment and added with a serious expression, "Though after the captain 'looked' at it, it became part of the Lost Homeland..."

"...You could have left out that last sentence," Duncan forced