"This is why we called for you," Captain Bincy explained. "The Church of All Things and Nature has a larger number of Enchanters skilled in healing, but it would be too much trouble to dispatch soone from out of town. In the entire Nolan diocese, there are only three people who can handle such a fatal injury and heal it in ti, but you're the only one with the most free ti."
Captain Bincy concluded, and Jenkins couldn't refute being called the one with "the most free ti." After all, he was clerical staff.
The young man tied to the bed was a death row inmate brought from the prison. Now, he could be called a test subject.
His cri was blackmail. He had been an assistant to a fairly well-known detective. While on the job, he had intercepted sensitive photographs taken during an investigation into an extramarital affair and used them to directly blackmail the victims for gold pounds, threatening to send the photos to the newspapers.
The young man was resourceful, and his profession as a detective's assistant made him careful about staying hidden. But his greed was too great; he blackmailed five victims in a single week. The police and the post office coordinated and found him with ease. Today was only the fourth day since his arrest.
As for the trial, one of the blackmail victims held a high-ranking position at City Hall, so the proceedings were expedited—saving the taxpayers' money, in a way.
According to the kingdom's laws, anyone who extorted more than one hundred pounds could be sentenced to hanging. The sentence itself was quite reasonable, though there were so issues with the process.
"He has thirty-four years of life remaining."
The old man aid a golden, pocket-watch-like ornant at the unconscious young man, studied it for a mont, and then turned to Jenkins. "In a mont, Luke will thrust the spear in and pull it out quickly. You are to heal him imdiately. Can you do that?"
"No problem."
The burly man behind the elder drew a long, slender steel spear from its burlap wrapping. The blood-red stain on its steel tip was particularly striking. It looked like the remnants of dried blood, but as Jenkins stared at it, he felt as if the stain were alive.
"Are you ready?"
Two other n in earth-yellow robes propped up the unconscious young man. The burly man raised the spear, aid it at the bared chest, and looked to Jenkins.
"Three, two, one!"
The spear thrust forward with steady, precise force. There was no faint sound of tearing flesh; instead, a pile of tiny tal parts spilled out of the wound.
The burly man froze for a second, then hurriedly pulled the spear out, revealing a hollow chest cavity. Jenkins placed his hand on it but quickly drew it back.
Shaking a sticky mixture of blood and oil from his palm, he frowned and declared:
"I can only accelerate healing. I can't generate organs out of thin air."
Everyone in the room stared at the young man's hollow chest. There was no flesh and blood to be seen, only a dense mass of tiny, gear-shaped components interlocked with one another. Bits of flesh were still caught in the gears, creating a strange and grotesque beauty.
"By the Sage! It's A-08-1-9990, the Gear Disease Curse! It's those people from the Gear Artisans' Association!"
Captain Bincy hissed.
The test for B-02-3-8810 was abandoned; the discovery of the Gear Disease Curse was the real major event. As the na suggested, this was a biological Cursed Item, and it possessed the general characteristic of a germ—contagion. ꞦάꞐỌ𝐛Ę𝐬
Mr. Smith and the old man from the Church of All Things and Nature imdiately took out a ceremonial silver dagger, slit their own fingers, and tasted a drop of their blood before having the others around them do the sa.
Including Jenkins, all nine people present slit their fingers in turn. Sothing seed to be wrong with one of the middle-aged n's blood; the mont he put the cut finger in his mouth, he froze completely.
"He's been infected."
Jenkins heard Captain Bincy murmur beside him, his voice filled with pity.
"The A-08-1-9990 Gear Disease Curse spreads through multiple ans, including air, water, and skin contact. Once infected, unless the body is completely incinerated, the victim will inevitably beco an emotionless automaton of interlocking gears. Of course, once more than thirty percent of their internal organs have turned to gears, they can no longer be considered human."
Jenkins, Captain Bincy, and Mr. Smith rode back to the city in the sa carriage. Mr. Smith slowly explained things to Jenkins.
"You can think of it as a type of flu with a very specific effect. Every ti this germ is discovered in a densely populated area, it's a disaster."
"Will it cause a plague?"
Jenkins asked with concern.
"No, a single source of the germ can only infect a limited number of people. In the patient carrying the source, the heart is the first organ to completely turn to gears, just like that man earlier. He's been infected for a long ti. Right now, we should focus on the people he had contact with before and after his arrest. The source of the virus can only be created through special ans."
While still at the hospital, Mr. Smith had already used a triangular charm to notify the Church of what had happened. The police station and the prison must be in an uproar by now.
"The A-08-1-9990 Gear Disease Curse is a Cursed Item completely controlled by the Gear Artisans' Association. We have reason to believe they possess the ans to produce this germ in small batches."
Captain Bincy's expression was grim. He had his collar turned up, obscuring half his face. A large black book now floated before him, its cover embedded with a constantly spinning gear. With every wave of Captain Bincy's right hand, the book released a puff of steam as he spoke:
"Every ti this germ appears, it ans those madn from the Artisans' Association have created a considerable number of infection sources. The good news is that its ability to infect Enchanters is far weaker than its effect on ordinary people. The bad news is that an infected commoner gains destructive power and strange abilities comparable to a typical level 3 Enchanter."
Although the carriage was the private property of the Church and the driver could be trusted, the three n did not discuss the matter further. Jenkins got out at the intersection near Fifth Queen's Avenue. Mr. Smith and Captain Bincy still had to go to the Church to gather people, trace the source of the germ, and prepare disease control asures.
"This city... it never gets a mont's peace."
Jenkins sighed to himself, stroking Chocolate's fur, and decided to head to Papa Oliver's place first.
"The Gear Disease Curse?"
Papa Oliver was so startled he dropped what he was holding.
"You've heard of it, too?"
"Of course. During the last outbreak fifty years ago, I was nearly infected myself."
He paced back and forth a few tis, then looked up at Jenkins.
"Co back tomorrow morning at nine. Bring your gun and your charms. I'm taking you sowhere."
"Wait, Papa Oliver!"
Jenkins imdiately grew wary. "Every ti the two of us go out together, we're bound to run into sothing unusual. Are you sure you want to take with you?"
"I'm sure,"
Papa Oliver said confidently.
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