Finney, in the Sage's Church, paid no mind to the vast, starry expanse of the night sky. Instead, she stood in the washroom, pulling a long face at her reflection in the mirror.
A sudden gust of wind blew the washroom window open. As Finney stretched onto her tiptoes to peer into the mirror again, a tiny angel materialized behind her, wrapping its arms around her in a tight embrace.
"You did wonderfully, Louise. We really did help Mr. Williatte."
A smile blossod on Finney's face as she spoke joyfully to her reflection. Realizing she'd lingered in the washroom for too long, she decided to leave, but then she saw Louise offer her a small shield. The whole scene was visible only in the mirror, yet when Finney reached for it, the shield seed to materialize out of thin air, solid beneath her touch.
"Oh, it's beautiful,"
she exclaid, tracing the pair of wings etched on its surface with a giggle. In Jenkins's hands, it would have been no more than a buckler, but for Finney, it was large enough to cover her entire torso.
The mont she touched it, a strange sensation washed over her. Her restless spirit surged uncontrollably into the shield, which then vanished from her grasp, leaving behind the faint image of a pair of wings on the back of her right hand. The mark was visible only to her and Louise; in the mirror, the back of her hand remained completely unmarked.
"Is this... a Bestowal?"
the girl asked, her voice brimming with excitent. She had been studying such things recently.
When the angel behind her nodded, Finney's smile grew even wider:
"Is this a gift from Mr. Williatte?"
The angel nodded again, a gentle, warm smile gracing its features.
"I'll study even harder now! So I can be a real help next ti he needs us... I still haven't finished learning all those rituals and abilities Mr. Williatte had Miss Audrey send over. Maybe I should start with the most difficult one... 'Our God is Here'?"
No matter what comndable feats he had accomplished that night, Jenkins's happiest mont was returning ho to find both Alexia and Chocolate waiting for him.
He was certain a genuine smile lit up his face as he opened his arms and embraced Alexia. During the hug, he felt sothing brush against the back of his head and glanced over to see Chocolate perched on the shoe cabinet, poised to leap onto his shoulder.
"Did everything go well? Chocolate and I both saw what you did up there."
She gestured toward the sky.
"It went as smoothly as it could have," Jenkins replied with a smile. "The whole affair is finally settled, and the outco was even better than I'd hoped."
"What about you?" he asked, his smile softening. "You waited all night. You must have been bored."
"Not at all. Your house is full of books, and I had your cat to keep company."
She didn't et his eyes as she spoke, and Jenkins knew she was lying. He assud she was just hiding the fact that she'd been bored, so he decided not to press the issue.
Besides Alexia and Chocolate, another woman was waiting for Jenkins: Magic Miss. She and Silver Flute Miss had been awaiting news at a mountain villa, and from their vantage point, they had witnessed the rare celestial phenonon of a white night over Nolan.
Magic Miss didn't need to guess how the papers would spin it—they would surely cook up so scientific-sounding explanation to convince the public that the white sky was a natural event. Over the past six months, they had beco quite adept at explaining away the strange occurrences in Nolan, inventing one reason after another. It was practically routine for them by now.
An hour after the sky returned to normal, Jenkins arrived in a hurry. He explained that the Doomsday Illusion had completely collapsed, which ant Silver Flute Miss could finally return to her own ho.
He had intended to leave right away—Alexia was waiting for him to watch the stars from her rooftop—but Magic Miss held him back. She led him to the villa's study to discuss sothing of great importance:
"I've made a decision about the pirate king," she began, her expression serious. "The operation to capture him will be this Wednesday. It's Sunday night now. When are you free over the next two days? We need to plan the operation ticulously."
the woman asked, her expression serious.
"This Wednesday?" Jenkins raised an eyebrow. "You've finally made up your mind, Magic Miss? I was starting to worry you'd forgotten all about our pirate king if we waited any longer."
He joked, settling onto the study's sofa.
"Who else is involved in the operation besides us?"
Pushing aside his earlier elation, he adopted a more serious tone and inquired about the details of the plan.
"You and I are the only ones who know the core of the plan," she explained. "Aside from us, I've hired a reliable group of rcenaries to handle the... ssier details."
"What about Mr. Hood and the others? Do they not want to be involved?"
Jenkins had assud Mr. Hood, at the very least, would take part.
"The simpler the plan, the better. The fewer people involved, the better. I considered asking Mr. Hood to join, but I ultimately decided against it."
"Just the two of us? Will that be enough firepower?" Jenkins asked, a note of caution in his voice. "If we were just ambushing Femishue alone, I'm sure we'd be fine, but he's bound to have n with him."
Jenkins pointed out.
"That's what the rcenaries are for," Magic Miss explained, sounding quite confident. "They're well-ard with firearms, and there are two Enchanters among them. They can buy us more than enough ti. Our only target is Femishue himself. We're not trying to wipe out his entire crew."
Magic Miss explained, sounding quite confident.
"Where did you even find rcenaries like that in this day and age?" Jenkins mused. "I thought they'd gone the way of history."
"In this era, as long as you have enough Gold Pounds, most wishes can be granted."
Magic Miss said evasively, clearly having no intention of revealing the rcenaries' origins.
"Well, as long as you trust them," Jenkins conceded. "I'm free every day for the foreseeable future, so I can co by anyti to discuss the plan. We'll need to be thorough; a madman like Femishue is far more unpredictable than a sane opponent... Wait a minute. Did you say this Wednesday?"
It suddenly dawned on him that there was more to this plan than t the eye.
"Yes. This Wednesday."
"If I recall correctly, Wednesday is the day the first fleet of the Nolan Navy is due to return, victorious, from the Broken Islands. City Hall is even organizing a celebration at the docks to welco them ho... Don't tell you chose that date by coincidence."
Hathaway had ntioned Earl Hersha's return several tis recently, so the date was firmly etched in Jenkins's mind.
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