To allow everyone from the Church to read comfortably, the room was ablaze with light. Gas lamps, chandeliers, and candles cast a warm yellow glow that reached into nearly every corner.
Jenkins clearly saw the professor's surprise and alarm when he ntioned his plan to swallow the World Tree seed.
"You absolutely must not swallow the World Tree's seed."
The professor imdiately warned, setting down his book to look at Jenkins with grave seriousness. The long dining table was piled so high with books that it ford small mountains, so no one else paid any attention to their conversation:
"You absolutely must not."
"Why?"
"Mrow..."
The cat on his lap murmured in its sleep, seemingly dead to the world.
"Because you are a descendant of elven royalty, a true priest of the World Tree, but you are not the World Tree itself. If you were to swallow that seed, your current self would be assimilated by its imnse life force!"
"Is that so?"
Jenkins was startled, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. The last ti he'd consud two-thirds of it, he'd nearly damaged his own body. A complete World Tree seed would surely pack more than just the power of the final third.
His soul would likely be unhard, but his body might just sprout roots and begin to grow right then and there.
He was imnsely grateful for the tily warning, a cold dread washing over him at what might have been. Thank goodness he had never asked for that final third.
"You're right, I definitely can't swallow it. So how am I supposed to make use of the World Tree's seed, then? Thank you, Professor. I nearly turned myself into a treant."
"Think nothing of it. It's sothing that occurred to while I was researching the Prosperous Forest you ntioned. Our world is truly a wondrous place."
Jenkins had learned about worlds beyond the material plane from that Mysterious Realm on the train last autumn, and had asked the professor about it afterward. That was how Professor Burns had learned the nas "Prosperous Forest," "Molten Hell," and others.
But Jenkins paused, taken aback. His Lie Godhood had just signaled that the professor's last statent was a lie.
He never expected to hear a lie now, and certainly not from the professor. Analyzing the man's last statent, there seed to be only one part that could be false—unless Professor Burns genuinely believed Jenkins’s thanks were sincere and not re politeness.
"You... are still researching the Prosperous Forest?"
he asked cautiously.
"Yes, but information is scarce. I've only managed to find fragnts in a few elven docunts, and I don't read Elvish."
That was the truth, which ant there was only one possible part of his earlier statent that could have been a lie.
"So, what are your thoughts on the 'World Tree Seedling' ability?"
Jenkins pressed.
"That..."
The professor thought for a mont:
"If you want to truly awaken this ability, you should embark on a journey of self-discovery. Find your true essence. I suspect your essence is life itself. The more deeply you co to understand that, the better you will understand yourself."
This advice aligned perfectly with what Miss Knight had suggested regarding the awakening of his bloodline.
"Did you also co up with this yourself?"
"Yes."
The professor nodded, and again, Jenkins knew it was a lie. He dropped his gaze back to the page in front of him, unable to fathom why the professor would deceive him on this particular point.
"But why?"
The professor wasn't trying to harm him—of that, Jenkins was certain. The problem, then, must lie with his source of information. It wasn't that the professor was unwilling to tell him the truth; it was that he was unable to.
"What I said earlier was just speculation. You don't have to take it seriously."
Just as Jenkins was thinking this, Professor Burns added sothing else. Jenkins noted that the professor avoided his gaze as he spoke, a clear sign of a guilty conscience.
"Alright, I understand."
he replied, then hesitated, his mind suddenly grasping the crux of the matter.
After a silence of nearly a minute, Jenkins suddenly asked:
"Speaking of which, I rember you said that you beca an Enchanter because of an epiphany in a dream. Have you made any headway in understanding that?"
The professor’s expression froze. The hand he had raised to turn a page stopped in mid-air. His eyes, however, remained glued to the book, pointedly refusing to look at Jenkins.
Jenkins knew he had struck the heart of the matter. He didn't press, waiting in silence for the professor to speak. He was certain the professor wouldn't try to evade the question. Given the man’s character, telling a lie was already the worst he could bring himself to do.
Outside, an unnerving quiet persisted, as if the world consisted of nothing but the endless fog. Inside, the people around the long table were oblivious. Candles in the chandelier above burned with a silent, steady fla, stretching the shadows of the book mountains and the readers far across the walls.
The others murmured quietly amongst themselves, but a strange silence had fallen over Jenkins and the professor. By unspoken agreent, they both pretended to stare at the books in their hands, though neither was reading a single word.
"Actually..."
Finally, the professor broke the silence. His voice was so low, Jenkins had never heard him speak like that before:
"You're right. I didn't co up with it myself."
He had heard the unspoken question in Jenkins’s words and offered no further defense.
"So... the advice from before, did you really get it from a dream?"
Jenkins recalled Papa Oliver telling him that the Church was fully aware Professor Burns's awakening as an Enchanter had co from a dream, yet they remained unconcerned. They had even approved his application to apprentice as a Keeper of Secrets. This implied that the Church deed the source of the professor's inspiration safe and reliable, which in turn ant the advice he'd just received should be trustworthy as well.
"Yes, from a dream. Ever since I told you about the Middleton family and the elves two months ago, I've been hearing whispers in my dreams. It was only recently that I finally managed to understand what they ant."
"But why... did you have to..."
Jenkins trailed off, unable to finish.
"The whispers told I couldn't reveal the source of the information to you directly. However, they said it would be fine if you figured it out on your own... I'm really not cut out for lying. I'm sorry, Jenkins..."
He sounded as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, but Professor Burns still looked deeply remorseful.
"Don't apologize for sothing so trivial. I don't mind..."
Jenkins waved his hand dismissively and asked another question:
"What else did you hear? Was there anything besides the information we just discussed?"
"Yes, there was one more thing. But I wouldn't recomnd you attempt it, so I kept it to myself. Jenkins, you must not take any risks. If you do, I will report this matter directly to the Church. I don't care if the Sage herself or the being from my dreams decides to punish —I will not allow you to walk into danger."
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