Deep Sea Embers

Chapter 157 “The Captain’s Big Purchase”

Duncan was telling the truth — after saying goodbye to Shirley, he actually went to the store near the crossroad to buy Nina a bike.

At the same time, he also managed to tick off a task he’s been putting off for a while due to various reasons: opening a bank account for himself.

Inside the Pland city bank, Duncan was waiting for the clerk at the front desk to prepare the last form for him. The waiting process was boring of course, so he humored himself by paying attention to the surroundings instead.

Perhaps it was because it was a work day, and not many upper and lower city citizens needed to handle business with the bank in general. The small lobby, which was not large in itself, seemed quite deserted, with three of the five service windows idling. The staff in black uniforms were busy chatting behind those unoccupied windows, and the bright electric light shone on the glass counter gave off a lazy and comfortable haloing effect.

Following the light, Duncan’s gaze moved upward and saw long casting pipes protruding out from the counters. They went straight to the ceiling like tiny pillars and extended somewhere to the halls behind the front. He didn’t know what their uses were, but the low rhythmic click from beneath the floor indicated a mechanical device was likely running the whole operation underground.

“After confirming everything is correct, sign with your name and seal at the end. The handling fee is six solas and five pesos.” The clerk confirmed the last item and handed the form back to Duncan while pointing to the last line.

Duncan took the paper and quickly skimmed through the content. He’s no expert in the banking world so it didn’t take long for the muddled lawyer talk to confuse him. After a short and painful read, he signed his name and handed the form back with the fee attached.

The clerk took the form and glanced at it casually. Then putting it into a large punching machine next to herself, she stuffed the document into a metal cylinder she had prepared before throwing it into the pipes.

The sound of metal colliding, the closing of the pipe connections, the hiss of steam pressurization, and the sound of objects sliding rapidly through the tubes promptly reached Duncan’s ears. One of the bent pipes even shook slightly at a bending corner when it slid off to some far-off place.

“Wait a bit,” said the clerk behind the counter casually, “if the steam pipe doesn’t break down today and the machine on the other side happens to be in good condition, you’ll get the receipt in half an hour. But if the blinker next to the pipe lights up, you’ll have to come back tomorrow.”

The man inwardly thought the process was incredible. It may not be very efficient in his eye, but for this world, this could already be called advanced technology due to the limitations they had to work with in the deep sea age. Besides, what’s so bad about waiting? He could eavesdrop on the conversation of the employees, who were chitchatting about various topics not discussed on the streets.

“I heard the Truth Academy is in contact with the head office. Words going around that they’re going to install a new machine to increase the processing efficiency of the head office several times over…” A younger female clerk says.

“That’s called a large sorting machine—the city-state bank in Moco has long been using it. There are a few smaller ones on the side of the tax office and the Institute of Mathematics, but I heard there’s an even bigger one in the main storm cathedral. It’s supposedly very good at sorting the documents inside the archive,” the older clerk sitting across from Duncan mentions to her peers after the topic was brought up. “If you ask me, the sorting machine in the head office should’ve been replaced ages ago. It’s always breaking down and slow.”

“Well, that’s not up to us to decide,” another clerk from an idle service window joined in, “that thing is expensive and bulky. Just counting the steam cores used to support the punching boxes is enough to fill the entire hall here…”

“But didn’t they say the Truth Academy is developing a newer generation of sorting machines? They say the size is half as big, and the performance is on par with the big ones. Oh, it’s also rumored to be powered by electricity instead of steam….”

“Electricity? Are they not using a steam core? What are they supposed to do if the machine is corrupted by evil spirits? That thing goes through so much information at once. Without the divine blessing of steam, it’s going to attract dark things to its gears and bearings, right?”

“How am I supposed to know… Maybe they intend to put a priest next to it and constantly purify the gears every day?”

“…… If that’s the case, it doesn’t feel all that useful. Aside from making it smaller, it also occupies the work of a clergy….”

“Ha, what do you know? How much space can a single priest take up compared to a single steam core? Do you have any idea how expensive the current housing marking is at the city center?”

It seems that no matter which world one is in, the gossiping nature of office workers never ceases to amaze. From the bank’s aging machinery to the city’s housing price, these bank clerks were all over the place to the point that Duncan had lost track of time due to how fascinated he was by their conversation.

But the small talk didn’t last long. With the banging sound coming from a nearby transmission pipe, everyone’s topic of “which one was more expensive, the housing price or the priest”, was finally interrupted.

The clerk opposite of Duncan popped open the pipe and took out a small cylinder. This small metal tube was obviously not the same model as the one sent away before. Instead, it looked thicker, and the seal had a complicated locking feature. It took a little fiddling with a special tool, but the clerk eventually popped the lid and took out the contents.

It was a rectangular metal plate half the size of a palm, with letters and symbols stamped on it like a regular bank card. However, one side of the card had holes punched into it like those old punch cards used by ancient computers on Earth.

“This is your ID card,” the clerk lady handed the metal plate over to Duncan, “it can be used within any bank of Pland and the branches belonging to the Chamber of Commerce. However, if you use it outside of Pland, it will take three to seven days to process the transaction.”

“Thank you.” Duncan took the metal plate and examined the creation that seemed to represent the current technological level of the city.

There’s no picture and such, only a few punch holes with his name mainly at the center. A simplistic form of identification, but effective nonetheless. At the very least, it represented a different type of advancement from that of Earth.

“Is there anything else we can do for you?” An inquiry came from behind the counter.

“Ahhh… no, nothing else. Thank you.” Duncan woke up from the little stupor and got up from his seat. But before leaving, he seemed to recall something and asked the clerk, “By the way… can machines really be possessed by evil spirits?”

“Of course it will. What’s so strange about that?” The clerk behind the counter immediately replied, as if the question was something she didn’t need to think about at all. “Isn’t it common sense that everything in this world can be polluted except for subspace?”

Duncan was startled by the quick response, but at the same time, it triggered something inside his heart. A new idea….

After a moment, he nodded lightly: “Indeed, everything in this world can be polluted except for subspace.”

He then left the bank.

According to the plan, he still has a big purchase to make today – in addition to buying Nina a bicycle, he also has a lot of things on his purchase list that could scare Nina into a mess.

The income from the dagger sold to Mr. Morris, plus the bonus for reporting cultists, added up to a number that’s capable of supporting a family of three in the lower city for two to three years. Since most of the money had not been touched yet, Duncan felt it was time to put them to work.

So for the next half day, Duncan almost swept through every market and shop near the crossroad…

At about four o’clock in the afternoon, in the shadow of an alley near the crossroad, Duncan dropped the luggage with a dunt sound before issuing a long, heaving breath. He’s very satisfied with the mountain of things he bought.

Flour, vegetables, seeds, spices, fresh meats, pickled ingredients, various dried mushrooms, drinks, and cheese~

Edible, normal, cheese that’s younger than him.

In addition, there were even a whole bunch of pots and pans and a lot of things that Duncan thought might be useful.

After transporting these things to the ship, the living environment of the Vanished would surely take a drastic change for the better.

At the very least, the kitchen could produce edible food.

Duncan nodded gleefully and called out: “Ai!”

The sound of fluttering swiftly came from a nearby building, followed by Ai landing firmly on his shoulder.

In the next second, this dove glanced at the things on the ground and exclaimed: “Are you messing with me!”

Before her words could stop ringing in the air, the bird had tilted her head and dropped dead towards the ground. Although Duncan hadn’t said what he intended to do, it’s clear as day to the witty creature.

Duncan just smiled and grabbed the free-falling dove in mid-air: “It’s okay. If once is not enough, you can go for several trips back and forth….”