"Viscount Franca" conversed with Jenkins, a smile gracing his lips. The face remained the sa, but the core within was no longer that of an ordinary mortal.
"You're..."
Jenkins was so stunned he was speechless.
"I am an ancestor of this body, from a ti long past," the being explained. "When one of my bloodline cos into contact with this letter, I automatically receive a ssage and a beacon to the material world. I wish to offer a small gift to the one who cleansed the Mad Poet's residual curse..."
Noticing the wary look on Jenkins's face, the one that scread he was ready to bolt, the being chuckled and continued:
"Forgive , I forgot to introduce myself. While I cannot reveal my true na, mortals are fond of calling Spiraling Mist."
This was not Jenkins's first encounter with a true deity in the material world. He had t five of them on the last day of the previous year, and after his return from the mirror realm, the forr God of Lies had even visited his ho bearing the Doomsday Docunt.
But that didn't an he was accustod to eting gods, especially not when they made such a "surprising" entrance. It was far too shocking.
"H-hello. It's a pleasure to et you."
He hadn't been prepared for a conversation with a god, and in his haste, Jenkins had no idea what to say.
"Fate is always fickle. Even as a god, I often marvel at it," the being began. "God of Lies, I did indeed leave that letter. In those days, I was still weak and could not resolve the curse leaked by the owner of the 'Child of Disaster' after his death. That is why I left it for a successor to handle. I imagine you can guess that the 'Child of Disaster' was one of the saviors of the 15th Epoch, and the Mad Poet Kavendish was its original wielder. By the ti of his death, he had completely mastered this ability. As for the power of a savior's ability... well, you yourself can appreciate that..."
The being's tone was slow but carried a palpable weight, as if he knew every secret Jenkins held, every piece of knowledge he possessed.
"I never imagined that after so many years, the one to resolve this trouble would be another Savior Candidate. Perhaps this is the fate of all saviors... But it is well. At least the problem is solved, and Kavendish has truly vanished from the material world. This can be considered the last lingering regret from my ti as a mortal, finally laid to rest."
"So, you and the Mad Poet... you were really both Savior Candidates from the 15th Epoch? You left your deeds behind but not your na because you truly beca a god..."
Jenkins trailed off as a knock sounded at the door. After "Viscount Franca" gave his permission, the butler and a footman entered with a tea tray. They poured for them both before quietly departing.
"Yes, that is correct. The battle with Kavendish was one of the few truly desperate fights I experienced as a mortal. We fought for three whole days atop a snow-capped mountain, and in the end, I simply wore him down until he died. That is a story from a very, very long ti ago. In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed in the material world.
But I imagine you're more interested in information than in my gift."
He sighed, then closed the book before him, signaling that Jenkins was free to ask his questions.
Jenkins took a deep breath. Though the situation was completely unexpected, it was clearly a golden opportunity. The god across the table seed amicable enough. "It is an honor to et you," he began. "Forgive , but there is still sothing I don't understand. Since you beca a god, why not resolve the Mad Poet's curse yourself? I would think such a thing would be of little difficulty for a deity."
He strongly suspected this was all a setup—that the god had deliberately waited for him to go to the mountain and solve the problem, creating a perfect pretext to appear before him under the guise of "offering thanks."
Thus far, the two gods he had dealt with most closely were the forr God of Lies and the God of Music. The forr had used his own believers as bargaining chips to establish a connection with Jenkins, profiting handsoly by shedding his heretical status for a more suitable divine domain. The latter's sche was even more incredible; he had laid a trap when Jenkins had first arrived in this world, luring him to Shire City and granting him a drop of divinity, only to demand repaynt half a year later. To this day, Jenkins still didn't know what that god had truly gained from the destruction of the Skull Sword, but such an elaborate plot surely wasn't just to have Jenkins deliver a music box to a follower.
And that was to say nothing of the later discovery of the connection between the God of Music and the Sage, a revelation that had sent a chill down his spine.
Therefore, it was only reasonable to believe that these high-dinsional beings, capable of perceiving the threads of fate, were all masters of scheming and manipulation.
"Gods are gods, and n are n," the man behind the desk explained patiently. "Even though it was a matter I myself caused, the mont I shed my mortal coil, it was no longer 'my' affair. I do not know if you can grasp the aning of this, as you are still among mortals. But there is a great chasm, a fundantal difference, between gods and n. So things can be done, but there is no need to do them. For instance, deities could solve every problem for every mortal in the material world, but as a rule, we do not. The principle is the sa."
"So you've co to see this ti just to give a small gift, to thank for resolving this little problem?"
"That is correct."
"I don't want a gift. I'm much more interested in stories... Could you tell about the end of the 15th Epoch? About how you saved the world?" Jenkins asked, forcing a look of earnest curiosity onto his face.
"God of Lies, though you did not forge that divine domain yourself, you are far more suited to it than your predecessor..." The being shrugged, his tone light as he answered, making it clear he knew exactly what Jenkins was after. "I, too, was once a Savior Candidate. I know the rules of an epoch's end very well. I'm sorry, but so things you must discover for yourself."
"I see. Just as I thought."
Jenkins was no longer disappointed by such things. He was completely used to these beings who knew the truth keeping their secrets.
"However, I can give you so hints. After all, I once held a status much like yours, so I know a few ways to circumvent the rules. Besides, you are not an ordinary mortal yourself. So rules that bind mortals are useless against you."
"And what would I need to do for you?"
As he asked the question, he saw, just as he'd expected, a smile spread across the man's face. Jenkins imdiately felt it—he was about to be drawn into sothing else.
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