"Speaking of power, I went from level four to level five while I was in Ruen."
At so point during their al, the topic ca up, and Jenkins casually made the announcent. In truth, he was already at level six, but he couldn't possibly admit to leveling up twice in just a month and a half.
"So fast?"
Papa Oliver eyed him with suspicion.
"Did you run into a Cursed Item in Ruen? Even with your remarkable talent, you couldn't have gone from level four to five that quickly just by transcribing those tadpole-like texts."
"I might have encountered a few things... Actually, Dolores is an Enchanter, too. An unregistered one. She helped a lot."
He decided it was ti to reveal a few secrets.
"Dolores? Ah, yes, I rember now. That's the na of the Stuart family's princess. If I recall correctly, there are no Enchanters in this generation of the Stuarts, which ans the treasures in their family vault have probably gone untouched..."
The look Papa Oliver gave Jenkins turned peculiar.
"I wasn't sponging off her. We're friends. I wouldn't take advantage of a young girl's feelings for to gain benefits."
He rushed to clarify his position.
"Yes, just friends who happen to live together."
Papa Oliver let out a huff, clearly unconvinced, but then offered a warning.
"While I can't ddle in the affairs of you young people, and I have no idea how a block of wood like you managed to charm that princess, I must remind you, Jenkins, don't forget you still have two friends back in Nolan."
Papa Oliver put heavy emphasis on the word "friends," a clear jab at Jenkins's earlier statent. Jenkins said nothing in return, choosing instead to focus his attention on stroking his cat.
"I honestly can't tell if you're pretending to be dense or if you really are. Was that stone-faced act of yours in the past your true nature, or just a clever trick to attract won?"
Papa Oliver tossed out another barb. Seeing Jenkins continue to fuss over the cat, he realized the young man didn't want to discuss it and switched to a new topic.
"Did you know your family is coming to Bel Diran?"
"My family? The whole family is coming?"
He was feigning ignorance again. He'd received the news back in Nolan.
"That's right. Before I left for Bel Diran, I asked if they wanted to pass on a ssage. Your father told the whole family was coming to Bel Diran for a holiday and that they'd look for you then. Their train tickets were for a later date than mine, but based on the timing, they should be arriving tomorrow or the day after. If you want to surprise them, you can check the train schedule at the station. I'll give you the number of their steam locomotive in a bit."
"They're coming to Bel Diran... I doubt it's just for a holiday, is it?"
Jenkins asked, his fork pausing mid-air.
"How would I know? You can ask them yourself. It's your family's business, and it's not my place to get involved."
Papa Oliver shrugged, reaching out to turn up the wick on the kerosene lamp before lowering his head to attend to the food on his plate.
"Papa Oliver, why don't you move in here? It's better than staying in a hotel."
Jenkins suggested again.
"I think I'll pass. An old man's habits are different from you youngsters'. I think we're better off keeping so distance."
For so reason, Papa Oliver's answer made Jenkins think of the curse placed upon him by the key—a curse that would bring terrible misfortune upon any Enchanter stronger than Papa Oliver who stayed near him for too long.
Jenkins lowered his head, his mood darkening. After a long mont of silence, he brought up the matter of the mirror he had retrieved earlier that day.
"B-10-04-3977, the Mirror of Good and Evil? I've heard of it. According to so rare pre-epoch records, that mirror was not born of the material world, nor did it enter our world through a Mysterious Realm. It's a treasure left behind in the material world when an angel was summoned."
Papa Oliver remarked.
"It certainly is a treasure. If you ignore the dangers of its reverse side, the front's ability to dispel and absorb curses and diseases is magical enough..."
He thought again of the curse on Papa Oliver and asked tentatively,
"So, can that mirror absorb all curses?"
"How could that be possible? It only works on ordinary curses. I even doubt it could completely dispel your [Disease Curse]. You're a level five Enchanter now. Even without counting the power bestowed by the Sage, you could be considered powerful among mortals. You need to realize that yourself, Jenkins."
As he spoke, Papa Oliver used his spoon to press torn pieces of bread into his stew. It was a peculiar way of eating that Jenkins could never quite understand the appeal of.
"I see. So it won't work."
Jenkins thought, deeply wanting to dispel the curse the key had placed on Papa Oliver. The Sage's gaze couldn't do it, but that didn't an a god's power was entirely useless. He was convinced that if a fully manifested deity were to act with all their might, the key's curse would be nothing more than dust.
"I will help him. I definitely will."
He vowed silently, not noticing that his cat had already pilfered a portion of the food from his plate.
Speaking of the mission to retrieve the mirror brought to mind the three individuals in disguise. Papa Oliver had no interest in strange organizations or old junk shops, but he did know of the Countess Paramont.
"I don't know the Countess personally, but my friends in Bel Diran all say she's a once-in-a-century beauty. She and the Count married around the beginning of February this year. The tabloids were having a field day with it at the ti. You surely rember that, don't you?"
Only when Papa Oliver ntioned it did Jenkins manage to dredge up a faint mory of such news. He wasn't one for reading gossip columns.
"As for Count Paramont himself, he's a well-known pro-Cheslan sympathizer among the kingdom's nobility. With our two countries at war, the papers have mocked him repeatedly, so he rarely appears in public anymore, but he should still be in Bel Diran. The man may have chosen the wrong side, but he is still fiercely loyal to the royal family. I don't believe he would get himself mixed up with illegal supernatural powers. It's more likely he's just fallen in with the wrong crowd. That beautiful countess of his is probably the real problem."
Papa Oliver's premonition was spot on. Early on Sunday morning, as Jenkins sat groggily on his bed, wondering what to have for breakfast while Chocolate persistently nudged his arm, urging him to get up and cook, a series of urgent knocks at the door announced the second visitor to his new house.
He opened the door in his pajamas and found a priest from the church. Hurriedly changing, he grabbed the loaf of bread Papa Oliver had brought as a gift to eat on the way, and then rushed off with the priest toward the church on the outskirts of the city.
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