Deep Sea Embers

Chapter 61 “Unstable Navigation”

Duncan thought he spent the entire night exploring the ship, but upon looking up at the darkness of the night, it appears he and the doll had only spent a few hours. Nevertheless, the impression it left on his mind was enough to last.

What exactly is that thing behind the door….

Eventually, the two had come before the captain’s room. Neither had spoken much during the journey – Alice remains focused on what she’s going to make in the kitchen, while Duncan’s sight had landed on the stuff around the deck.

According to his memory, the makeup here was practically the same as the design down in the lowest level – long and connected from one end to the other. Even so, he got this aching suspicion that he was missing something, like there was another passage or room hidden inside that dilapidated cabin that he was not aware of.

Does the goat head know about that door? Does it know where it leads?

Should I ask it myself?

When Duncan finally reached to open the door, he was still lost in thought when Alice’s voice called out to the goat head. The wooded figurine was still sitting quietly on the mapping table like usual, giving no sign of ever hanging.

“Mr. Goathead! I went to the bilge with the captain! This ship is so incredible underneath! The bottom cabin is torn apart, and there’s a strange door at the end!”

That did it. Instead of trying to start the topic on his own, the doll had done the nice act of doing it on his stead.

Trying to keep himself from making a sound, the ghost captain pretended to pack his things and listened to the conversation in the background.

“Oh Miss Alice, I knew you would be surprised! Do you understand how great the Vanished is as a ship? It can sail across different dimensions at the same time without being a detriment to our safety!”

Duncan’s heart suddenly jerked at the information. It’s as he suspected, the ship was indeed sailing across multiple dimensions and not bound to this plane of existence!

At the same time, his mind was also thinking quickly: Since Alice is full of curiosity about the lower half of the Vanished, she’s going to keep asking for more information. Since I’m too intimidating for her to direct those questions, the only obvious choice is the goat head. But if I stay here and listen, it will get awkward and weird. On top of that, I risk getting thrown the ball if the wooded figurine shifts her questions over to me. At that point, I won’t be able to answer Alice’s question.

By then, the ghost captain has hatched a plan. With a straight face, he casually said, “You two talk, I’m going out for a walk. Goat Head, Alice is already a member of the ship. As long as the subject is not too sensitive, you can tell her anything.”

Alice smiled cheerfully as soon as she heard this, and the goat head didn’t object either and immediately agreed: “Of course Captain, your loyal first mate will always welcome a new member…”

Done with that, Duncan pushed the door open and left the captain’s room. But the next second he did so, the sneaky bastard concentrated his mind again and connected with the Vanished at a spiritual level. Through this, he could spy on the pair without the chance of being caught.

As he focused, the vague perception became clearer and clearer until he saw Alice sitting on a stool across from the talking goat head.

Apparently, the girl had forgotten how scared she was behaving during the entire trip and even omitted the fact that she offered to make the captain’s late-night snack. Naturally, the man himself didn’t care at all for the latter part.

Meanwhile, Ai the dove had flown herself up to the nearest mast while the owner did the horrendous act of eavesdropping. The bird had enough insight to act as a scout in case someone tried to sneak up on him like some naughty sidekick at a bank job.

“… That door looked a little scary, and the captain wouldn’t let me get close…” Miss Doll had already glossed over the part about the lamp light being inverted and had started recounting the mysterious door.

“That’s a given. Not only you, but even I can’t touch that door. Don’t make that face. I know I don’t have any arms or legs. When I say touch, I mean it in another sense… interact, control, overseeing, you understand? That door is untouchable in every sense of the word… you didn’t touch it did you?”

Alice seemed to be startled by the extra severe tone from the goat head there. After a split second of hesitation, she jolted and cried: “That… what is that door then?”

This part had the direct effect of hooking Duncan’s attention to the fullest. Yet, the goat head was dastardly enough to go silent for a good minute before replying: “You really didn’t touch it?”

“I didn’t touch it!” Alice replied hurriedly but then hesitated again before continuing, “But… But the captain leaned over and looked inside. There was a slit open so he stabbed his sword through the crack at something…”

As soon as the doll said that, Duncan could feel the entire ship shaking, followed by the low whimpering sound of the wind hitting the sails. There’s also the creaking sound of the wood and ropes, but those were so messy that he didn’t know which came from which. This was obviously coming from the goat head who was steering the Vanished!

“What did you say?! There’s a slit in the door? There’s a crack?!” It didn’t need the power of spying to know how shocked and astonished the goat head was.

“That… That’s right…” Alice seemed frightened by the strong words, “the door was softly closed so it didn’t fully lock, probably about a finger’s wide at the side…”

“And the captain peeked through the slit? And then what? He stabbed his sword… did anything change about him at that time? Did he behave oddly or fall into a trance?”

“No,” replied Alice at once, “the captain just had a serious face when he pulled his sword back out. Then he brought me back up here like something’s troubling his mind. I offered to cook him something because of that. Oh right, I was about to go to the kitchen before….”

“Forget the kitchen! Do you know what’s behind that door?”

“Ahh… What’s behind that door?” Alice’s tone still sounded stunned and a little dazed this time. She had never seen the goat head be so serious and urgent before so it worried her a lot.

“Behind that door, is subspace….”

Duncan, who was walking around the deck, froze on the spot.

Behind that door, is subspace?

He was stunned beyond words, and rightfully so.

So the lowest level of the ship is actually sailing in subspace?! But based on what the goat head implied, this state of navigation isn’t stable at all. In that case, is the slit at the door not supposed to be there? That it’s supposed to be entirely closed? Or is it…. That something on the other side had forced it open….

Duncan didn’t think much about it at the time, but when he recalled how strange the resistance was from the door, a frightening idea hit him.

Maybe…… When I tried to close the door earlier, something on the other side was pulling against my hand and preventing it from being closed….