There was no way to sweep the matter of the godhood under the rug. The observation team from the twelve churches had witnessed the mont Jenkins sacrificed it. As soon as they returned to the temporary camp with him and reported what they’d seen, the Church of the Sage was swiftly inundated with reprimands and inquiries from the other orthodox churches.
Of course, none of that concerned Jenkins. After erging from the fog, he didn't even have a mont to rest at the camp. Before he could return the All-Seeing Card, Papa Oliver had already dragged him onto a carriage, which imdiately sped toward the church in the city.
There were only the two of them and a cat in the carriage. Once he was sure they hadn't been followed from the camp, Papa Oliver finally took a long, careful look at Jenkins.
"This whole affair... you truly exceeded my expectations," he began. "To think you actually succeeded."
"You an you didn't think I'd succeed when you sent ?" Jenkins retorted. "Besides, I don't recall saying I did."
As he spoke, he tugged down his right sleeve to cover the silver 'bracelet,' making sure Papa Oliver wouldn't see it. Chocolate squatted nearby, watching Jenkins with a predatory gleam in its eyes, clearly hatching so sche.
"A few minutes ago, when Bevanna was leading her people into the fog to find you, we received an urgent ssage from the church through special channels," Papa Oliver explained. "The holy emblem hanging in the main nave suddenly began to glow. Then, everyone inside the church felt a divine power descend. It was a blessing from the Sage. If you hadn't succeeded, I can't imagine what else could have caused it."
Papa Oliver said, then asked with great curiosity:
"How did you manage it? What did you see when you went into the basent?"
"Just luck, really," Jenkins replied. "I'm a World Tree Seedling now, so I'm incredibly sensitive to those strange energies. And as you know, Pops, I've always been sensitive to spirit. So I got lucky—as soon as I entered the basent, I found the target right away. I even managed to destroy the Cursed Item in the process. A pity all that spirit wasn't enough to level up..."
"What are you talking about? It's been less than a week since you reached the 7th level. Did you really think becoming a demigod would be that easy?"
Papa Oliver wagged his finger, but then hesitated for a mont before adding:
"Although, for you, it just might be that easy. After all, you went from being an ordinary person to a 7th-level Enchanter in less than a year. If my mory serves right, the anniversary of the day we first t is in about ten days."
"That's right. So, Pops, are you getting a gift?"
"Why would I be the one giving the gift? Shouldn't you be the one giving sothing?"
Papa Oliver chuckled before letting out a soft sigh.
"Jenkins, my boy, you might just be the fastest human Enchanter to reach the 7th level in all of recorded history. But extraordinary gifts and a peculiar destiny often co with an extraordinary mission."
"I understand. Every gift from fate cos with a price. Don't worry about , Pops. I'll be fine."
He clutched his right wrist as he spoke, his voice filled with an unshakable confidence.
"But about that key of yours..."
"Don't speak of it," Papa Oliver cut in. "You're already carrying more than enough. Until the day I die, the key is my burden to bear."
Papa Oliver shook his head, though a smile remained on his face.
"Jenkins, you are my most brilliant apprentice. To have t a student like you at my age... it makes truly happy."
"You... you probably shouldn't say things like that. I'm not superstitious, but still."
Jenkins shook his head.
"Besides, Miss Stevel probably wouldn't be happy to hear you say that."
"She would understand ," Papa Oliver said, "just as I understand why she hasn't contacted all these years for the sake of her mission."
Jenkins sensed a distinct note of dissatisfaction in that statent.
"Miss Stevel must be busy lately, right? I haven't seen her since the incident with the evolving pixie."
"I hear she's busy with the Believers of Lies."
Papa Oliver didn't seem concerned about revealing such a secret.
"If you ask , trying to deceive a pack of liars is like lighting a candle in a room full of gas. People always overestimate their own abilities. Heh, I'd wager that in the end, we'll find we've simply fallen into an even bigger trap set by the Believers of Lies."
Those who have lived longer truly do see things with greater clarity, Jenkins mused.
"If that's what you believe, why not stop Miss Stevel and the Church?"
"The Believers of Lies aren't evil."
Hearing this, Jenkins realized he had rarely heard Papa Oliver share his opinion on the Believers of Lies.
"They are rely another group of poor souls caught in the web of fate. As followers of a new god, they are undoubtedly burdened with a greater mission. If you were rely dragged onto the stage for this end-of-the-epoch drama, then they are the actors who were cast in their roles from the very beginning."
Papa Oliver slid open the carriage window and, rather uncivilly, stuck his arm out to point at a purple star in the sky.
"Ever since that star appeared, the followers of new gods have been inextricably linked to the calamities at the end of the epoch. Compared to everyone else, they are the truly pitiful ones. Everything happening now is rely a single act in the grand play of disaster and salvation. Why should I stop Stevel? There's no point. What is fated to happen will happen. And besides," he added thoughtfully, "the Believers of Lies are probably doing so good, too, wouldn't you say?"
Papa Oliver's assessnt was remarkably close to the truth. Before Jenkins could voice his own thoughts, the old man asked another question.
"Co to think of it, why are you covering your forehead? Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm not injured."
He couldn't very well explain that while he was sacrificing the godhood, as the Sage's gaze descended from above, an unseen figure had kissed him again. And this was no simple kiss—it wasn't even like the blessed kiss he had received when he beca a Saint.
A ceaseless tide of power was now surging from his forehead through his entire body, transforming his already formidable physique and suffusing the spirit within him with a faint golden sheen.
Jenkins knew this had to be one of the Sage's rewards for sacrificing the godhood, but he worried that admitting to being kissed by a deity would be considered heresy, so he kept it to himself.
"Chocolate scratched a mont ago," he lied. "It got a little too excited to see ."
Papa Oliver didn't seem to doubt his explanation, but Chocolate was clearly displeased. The irritable cat only cald down after Jenkins promised to fix it a late-night snack once they arrived at the church.
The carriage rattled on, carrying them through the city streets.
He had been whisked away by carriage the mont he left the fog, partly to avoid being interrogated by the other churches, but also because the Sage's blessing upon the church had co with a special gift. This gift was the reward for Jenkins's sacrifice, and as such, only he could be the one to open it.
Sacrificing the godhood of a foreign deity to one's own was an epic feat, one worthy of being immortalized in the Church's histories for all ti. The Church would certainly reward the believer who perford such an act, bestowing both material prizes and intangible honors. However, that required a formal process, one that would take at least a month to complete.
A reward from the god itself, however, would not be so delayed. The last ti had been an exception, as the preparations for anointing a Saint took ti. But this ti, the reward for the Saint could be bestowed directly by the deity. And so, the Sage had "delivered" the prize straight to the church in Nolan.
A Saint receiving a reward from the Sage was a sacred occasion that required witnesses, so the church mbers stationed in the Evergreen Forest were already on their way into the city. Jenkins and Papa Oliver arrived before them, so after eting up with the Keeper of Secrets and Mr. Gilbert, they waited in Miss Bevanna's office.
Since Miss Bevanna was still at the temporary camp outside the fog, being questioned by the other churches, Papa Oliver went to help prepare for the upcoming ceremony. Jenkins was left alone in the office. The mont the door clicked shut, Chocolate pounced at his wrist, only for Jenkins to deftly catch its soft face in one hand.
"Mrow~"
Its soft cheeks squished, distorting its ow into a strange, muffled sound.
"I was wondering what you were up to earlier," Jenkins said.
Jenkins set his cat down and extended his right arm, revealing the silver 'bracelet' on his wrist. Chocolate, now perched on Miss Bevanna's desk, imdiately locked its eyes on the object.
When Jenkins moved his hand to the left, the cat's little head tracked it. When he moved his hand to the right, its head swiveled to follow. That confird it: the cat's target was the bracelet.
"It's not for eating," he chided.
He ruffled the cat's head with his left hand. Chocolate purred, its eyes squinting in pleasure, and while it no longer seed poised to attack the bracelet, it still looked rather disgruntled.
Here in the church, Jenkins could clearly sense the lingering traces of the Sage's power—not with his eyes, but with his innate sensitivity to divine arts. It told him that the blessing bestowed twenty minutes ago must have been incredibly potent.
The gift itself had materialized slowly on the pulpit in the main nave, descending in a pillar of white light. It was a square box that emanated a silver sheen, bright enough to be seen even in total darkness. The front bore the holy emblem of the Sage, and its edges were studded with multicolored gemstones.
The box itself was not the gift, of course. According to historical records, the Sage always used a box of this exact design when bestowing gifts upon the faithful. The box was a single-use container; though it appeared small, it could hold an object of any size, whether corporeal or not. Once the contents were removed, however, the box would lose this magical property.
Still, the tal and gemstones it was made from were the finest possible materials for conducting divine rituals. Naturally, no one would be so extravagant as to dismantle a god-given box just for a ceremony.
From what Jenkins understood, most of these boxes were kept at the Holy See. Aside from being used to contain Cursed Items that were susceptible to divine power, so were also repurposed as funerary urns.
If Jenkins were to et an untily end and leave a corpse behind, it was entirely possible that the very box before him could one day beco his eternal ho.
It was a rather grim thought, but for so inexplicable reason, the possibility made Jenkins want to smile.
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