Dulmi was packing his things.
Traveling to Fogland was a long and complicated journey, not to mention he was departing as a sailor.
He needed to prepare many things. More importantly, he wasn't sure when he would return, so he had to organize everything at home properly, waiting for their reunion years later.
...Home.
He and his parents had come to Nightingale five years ago, when Dulmi was 13. Before that, the Knight family had always lived in Christian, the capital of the Kingdom of Augustus.
Christian was located in the distant inland, an ancient and traditional city. The residents of Christian took pride in the fact that their city was once the capital of the Fanes Dynasty.
But times had changed. The glory of the Fanes Dynasty had long since vanished, and Christian's radiance had gradually been overshadowed by the prosperous economy of the coastal cities to the east.
In recent years, as economic exchanges between Sheran and Fogland flourished, there had been some thoughts of relocating the capital within the Kingdom of Augustus. But no one could deny Christian's glorious past.
Most importantly, the Emperor still remained.
The Fanes Dynasty was gone, but its founder remained eternally glorious, inscribing himself in the monument of history under the dual titles of god and emperor.
According to legend, the Emperor still watched over Christian from its solemn and sacred palace.
This was just a legend, of course.
For ordinary residents, they only knew that Christian endured—Christian was eternal.
In Dulmi 's memory, Christian was a broken, old city. He had been too young then, and many things were unclear in his memory.
He only remembered Christian's endless winter rains, bright summer skies, and in the house where they lived, countless archives and documents. As a child, just walking into the study made him feel like those words were trying to drill into his head.
Those documents were later brought to Nightingale , only to be weathered by the damp sea breeze until they were barely recognizable.
Part of the reason was that his parents had already left, and no one knew how to properly organize these materials.
Dulmi only knew to keep them neatly together, rarely opening them. Whenever he did open them, he would remember the days when his parents read documents in the study, while he would get drowsy just reading novels beside them.
He wasn't the type who could settle down to do research. His parents had discovered this early on, and had spent some time discussing, wondering whose nature this child had inherited.
His father would say he inherited his mother's impulsive adventurous nature from her youth, when she ran straight from Fogland to Sheran to study.
His mother would say he inherited his father's resolute and stubborn character, shown when he refused to inherit his noble title in his youth, determined to pursue an academic path.
Then they would exchange smiles, realizing that their child had truly inherited both their natures.
Meanwhile, young Dulmi would rest his chin on his hand beside them, looking puzzled and thinking, Did Mom and Dad really have such adventurous stories?
He didn't know much about his parents because he had been too young then. But by the time he had grown old enough to understand his parents, they had already left him.
"...! What are you thinking about?"
Amy walked up to him, waving her hand in front of his face.
It was a rest day, and Amy had come over to help. They were tidying up Dulmi 's house since he would be leaving in a couple of days.
Dulmi blinked and replied, "Just thinking about how long it would take to read all these documents."
Amy tilted her head to look, then nodded solemnly: "your parents were really amazing!"
Dulmi affectionately pinched Amy's cheek, saying: "But little Amy gets sleepy even when doing homework!"
The two children who had both lost their parents laughed together.
Dulmi hadn't sorted through these documents in these three years.
After his parents' passing, their collected books, documents, volumes, and even their own manuscripts and notes naturally became highly sought after.
Countless people had written to Dulmi, asking if he would be willing to donate or sell those materials.
At that time, Dulmi had just encountered the Outer zone, constantly wavering between life and death, feeling lost. He couldn't be bothered with such matters and rejected them all, even when enormous benefits were laid out before him.
Some incidents even flared up during that time. Fortunately, Benjamin Nope appeared soon after. As an adult, he was much better at handling these situations and quickly calmed things down.
...In fact, at that time, Dulmi was still puzzled about something.
He had inherited his parents' legacy. Aside from the academic heritage, the wealth was quite substantial.
But he had never seen any relatives from his father's side.
His mother's side was understandable. Adeline Fernival Knight had never kept in touch with her family in Fogland, only receiving letters every few years. After Dulmi sent the tragic news to his mother's relatives using the address she left behind, he never got a reply.
But his father's side was in the same situation, which was rather extraordinary. There was no Rift's barrier within Sheran.
He only remembered meeting some elders when he was very young. He recalled that his father's blood relations were quite complex, with numerous relatives, and he couldn't even remember all of them.
After they left Christian, that side seemed to have completely vanished, at least Dulmi hadn't seen those relatives again.
Dulmi had once asked Benjamin if he knew anything about this. After pondering for a moment, Benjamin only said that he would understand when he grew up.
Now he had grown up, and still didn't understand.
But Dulmi had learned to put aside things he couldn't figure out.
Dulmi picked up a stack of documents, intending to put them on the side bookshelf, but his hand slipped, and a piece of paper floated out from the top. He casually picked it up and glanced at it.
It was an excerpt from another book.
"...Duke Absalom Joiet rarely appears in any records about the Fanes Dynasty, and biographical records of this duke have long disappeared into the mists of history. People may be curious about him, but they know they won't learn any more about him."
Duke Joiet?