Before encountering Mr. Candle on the streets of Nolan, Miss Stevel had only just left the church. She was terrified that the Believer of Lies standing before her would discover her identity as an infiltrator.
She peered through the thin mist at the ordinary-looking man, her mind racing. If he uncovered her true identity, should she try to capture him on the spot?
"There is no one in this city I cannot find."
Jenkins declared, his dismissive tone paradoxically putting Miss Stevel slightly at ease. He then strolled over to a nearby streetlight with her, continuing their conversation under its glow. It was better than hiding in an alley; the streets were deserted anyway.
Seeing that the man before her wouldn't reveal his thods, yet seed genuinely unaware of her secret, Miss Stevel decided not to press the issue. She filed the matter away in her mind and shifted the topic.
"You finally ca to see ," she said. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten."
"Impossible. So, what is your sect's decision? Will you cooperate?"
"I can agree to your proposal on behalf of my lord's sect."
Miss Stevel stated, before adding:
"As you know, mortals who follow the path of music are few, and Enchanters among them are rarer still. Furthermore, our connections are loose; we lack a unified organization. I serve as the sect's liaison for the eastern coast of the continent, and there is another lady here in Nolan who holds our lord's deep trust. The two of us can agree to your proposal on behalf of the entire sect. However, as for the specific terms of our cooperation..."
Her voice trailed off in hesitation, prompting Jenkins to elaborate.
"We have neither the ti nor the interest for lengthy negotiations," he began, his tone sharp. "I'll be blunt. We will cooperate, and while the Believers of Lies will take the lead, our status will be equal. As for the terms, they are quite simple. During the final conference, I will petition the Orthodox Churches and the secular powers, fighting to grant the Music Sect the right to establish churches and spread its faith in the material world. In return, you must support our candidate to beco the true Savior at the end of the Epoch and unify all powers to save the world."
"The Savior of the Epoch's end?"
Miss Stevel asked, feigning ignorance.
"Don't feign ignorance. I am quite certain you are familiar with the legend."
Jenkins scoffed, a clear mockery of her poor acting.
"So, do we have a deal? If we succeed, the Savior will arise from the Believers of Lies. And for the next thousand years, the followers of the God of Music will walk freely upon this earth."
Of course, Jenkins's true goal wasn't simply to toy with everyone, only to jump out at the last mont and declare it all a grand prank.
His true aim was to unify all forces. To do that, he needed to prop up the "Believers of Lies" as a common enemy. First, he would unite the secular powers through the Tri-King Summit, and then unite the Orthodox Churches through the Twelve Churches Joint Conference.
Finally, during the negotiations with the "God of Lies," he would broker a complete alliance between the crowns and the churches. The Believers of Lies would then recede from the stage, allowing the Orthodox Church's "Williatte" to erge as the true Savior.
This plan required a plausible reason for the Believers of Lies to "fail" in the negotiations. While their combined strength—both real and fabricated—was no match for the united Twelve Churches, most of the Savior candidates were currently aligned with the side of Lies. Orchestrating a convincing "defeat" at the hands of the Orthodox Churches would be no easy feat.
Therefore, Jenkins needed a reliable inside agent from within the Orthodox Churches. Miss Stevel and the followers of the God of Music were, from every angle, an excellent choice.
After Jenkins finished, Miss Stevel remained silent for a long mont, appearing deep in thought. Jenkins was certain she would agree. He already knew from Miss Bevanna that her true mission was to infiltrate the Believers of Lies, not to negotiate benefits for the Music Sect.
So he pressed on:
"Of course, if you know of any other sects that follow benevolent gods, feel free to introduce them to . They can join our alliance. I need more supporters. As long as they are not followers of an evil god, any sect is welco."
"The way you're going about this makes suspect you're planning so grand deception to make fools of us all."
Miss Stevel quipped. Her playful tone told Jenkins she had dropped the pretense and was ready to agree—even though he was, in fact, plotting a world-shaking deception.
"Mr. Candle, I believe I can agree to your terms on behalf of my associates, but this only ans we trust you for the mont. I must admit, you've presented a very tempting offer. However, we do not place our full trust in the Believers of Lies. On that point, I'm sure you are well aware that your reputation is... less than stellar—"
This was primarily because the group Jenkins had fabricated were followers of "Lies." People naturally assud that those who worshiped deception could not be trusted. It was, of course, an entirely correct and rational assumption.
"Therefore, I wish to have a way to contact you at any ti and be kept inford of your preparations for the final negotiations."
Miss Stevel proposed her true condition.
"That's no problem, of course. Do you know the bar at the entrance to the black market? Leave a letter there; we have soone check it daily. As for our plans and preparations—they're quite simple. We are currently purloining the confidential records from the Tri-King Summit while systematically infiltrating the Orthodox Churches to gather intelligence from their sanctuaries and the residences of their Enchanters."
Miss Stevel said nothing, her gaze fixed suspiciously on the man under the streetlight. She clearly didn't believe a word of it.
"It's true," he insisted. "I can tell you the na and gender of every Saint of the Righteous Gods currently in Nolan. Would you like a demonstration? Perhaps we could start with Jenkins Wi—"
"No, that won't be necessary!"
Miss Stevel jumped, casting a nervous glance at their surroundings.
"Relax. I'm a friend of Miss Skylark's. I'm aware of her relationship with that particular Williatte, so I would never spread such sensitive information."
Jenkins said, putting on a serious expression while struggling to suppress a laugh.
"If I were to carelessly speak of Williatte's affairs, Miss Skylark would surely kill the next ti we t."
"Now I believe you," she conceded. "You truly do have the ans to infiltrate the Church... How did you manage it?"
"That is none of your concern."
Jenkins certainly wasn't about to tell her he'd learned it by "simply walking into a church and listening to people talk."
"There is still a great deal of ti before the Tri-King Summit and the joint conference of the Orthodox Churches conclude. During this period, the Believers of Lies will continue to gather intelligence on the Orthodox Churches and the secular powers. Your task will be to contact more Pseudo-God sects who might be interested in cooperating. I will extend offers to them as well, but none will be as favorable as the one I've given you. Madam, I personally hold the followers of the God of Music in high regard, and my associates agree that bestowing our greatest trust upon you is an entirely reasonable decision."
Of course, Miss Stevel didn't believe for a second that she had so easily "deceived" these masters of deception. The reality, however, was that Mr. Candle truly showed no signs of wariness or suspicion toward her.
She was about to say sothing more, to probe him further, when a bobbing light appeared in the distance, accompanied by the sound of frantic footsteps. Jenkins and Miss Stevel instantly straightened their postures. A young policeman in uniform erged from the depths of the night fog, clutching an oil lamp, his face slick with sweat from a hard run.
Security in the city had been deteriorating recently. Not only had the Orthodox Churches deployed Enchanter squads from all over to participate in night patrols, but the Fidektri Kingdom had also dispatched elite police units from across the nation to bolster Nolan's security. A major incident at a ti like this was unacceptable, making the chances of encountering police at night quite high.
"What's happened?"
Miss Stevel had intended to ignore the officer; she wanted no entanglent with the police, as exposing their identities was out of the question. To her astonishnt, however, the Believer of Lies stepped forward and stopped the young policeman, who looked equally surprised by the intervention.
"There's been a murder in the southern district! Sothing strange has appeared in the fog!"
The officer spoke in the kingdom's common tongue, his words thick with a Nolan accent and broken by gasps for air. As he panted, the oil lamp in his hand swayed, casting the three figures under the dim streetlight in an alternating dance of shadow and light.
"I've heard about this," Jenkins nodded, placing a hand on the officer's shoulder.
"The southern district, is it? And yet... I have a feeling the strange thing in the fog is right here."
Miss Stevel watched, her eyes wide. Where the Believer of Lies's hand touched the officer's shoulder, black smoke began to seep out. Simultaneously, dark, vein-like patterns crawled across the back of the Believer's hand before vanishing just as quickly.
The officer, knowing he was exposed, didn't wait for them to react. He burst into a cloud of black mist on the spot. The explosion was harmless, but the mist coalesced instead of dispersing, swirling restlessly around them.
"Courting death~"
He pulled the B-02-3-2526, the Air Bomb Ring, from his pocket, slipped it onto his finger, and swung his hand violently forward. The bomb ring targeted the eerie black mist. Unable to precisely contain the entire cloud in his haste, Jenkins expanded the target area, detonating the mist and all the air surrounding it.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted the instant his hand dropped. Miss Stevel reacted in a flash, throwing up a protective barrier around them. Thanks to her quick thinking, neither she nor Jenkins was hard.
"My thanks for the assistance, madam."
Dust and pebbles rained down around them. A sharp hissing from nearby suggested a water main had burst underground. In the aftermath of the blast, even the streetlight lay toppled, plunging the area into darkness. The thick fog further obscured their vision, but Miss Stevel could still make out the devastation.
"You..."
She stood at the edge of the blast crater that had once been half a street, pointing a trembling finger at Jenkins, utterly speechless.
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