Jenkins didn't linger behind the Gate of All Things for long. Growing weary of the place, he stepped out, intending to ask Papa Oliver what the plan was.
But upon leaving the Gate of All Things, he was greeted not by Miss Bevanna, but by Miss Strass, who had hurried over. Jenkins learned from the demigod that the Holy See had not yet sent word of their decision.
"Where did Miss Bevanna go?"
He asked curiously, but Miss Strass seed hesitant to speak. Unable to resist Candle Mr.'s persistent questioning, she finally answered reluctantly.
"Sothing... happened in the city," she explained. "Bevanna went to assist."
At this point, nothing that happened in the city could surprise Jenkins. Driven by curiosity, he pressed for more details, but Miss Strass was unwilling to reveal anything further.
This was unusual, considering they were supposed to be cooperating. After all, the Believers of Lies had worked with the Church to resolve the city's problems on nurous occasions.
"So, is what's happening now related to my group?"
he ventured.
Strass imdiately shook her head.
"At least for now, we haven't found any evidence linking this to you."
That was the truth.
"Then is it related to the King Souls?"
"No, of course not."
This was also true. In fact, it was a redundant question; Jenkins had all the King Souls in his possession. Unless there were actually five King Souls instead of four, it was impossible for the incident to be related to them.
"If it's neither of those, then..."
He stroked his cat, his eyes darting thoughtfully.
"Is it related to Jenkins Williams?"
Miss Strass gave an awkward smile, and Jenkins knew he'd hit the mark.
To be precise, it wasn't about Jenkins himself, but his fiancée, Dolores. Recently, a number of spatial anomalies had appeared in Nolan, one of which directly connected to Ruen, the capital city of the Hamparvo Kingdom.
Upon learning of this, King Salsi II had repeatedly asked the Church for permission to use the overlapping space to temporarily return to Ruen. The Church had always refused out of safety concerns. However, as part of the recent final negotiations, King Salsi II had made concessions in exchange for the right to use that specific anomaly five tis.
Dolores hadn't thought such a minor detail was worth ntioning to Jenkins, and the Church had assud he would hear about it from the northern princess. As a result, Jenkins had been kept completely in the dark.
Today marked King Salsi II's first use of the spatial anomaly to return to Ruen. The Twelve Churches had each dispatched personnel to protect him and had perford a special ritual to stabilize the spatial fluctuations, reinforcing the passage as much as possible.
Their efforts had been effective. The party hadn't gotten lost in a spatial rift, and King Salsi II had indeed arrived back in Ruen at around ten o'clock on Monday night—roughly four hours ago.
After a brief stay, they began their return trip around the sa ti Jenkins was entering the Gate of All Things. There was ample evidence from the Ruen side confirming that the entire party of forty-two—including the Church's team and the royal guards—had entered the spatial anomaly. The problem was, they never erged on the Nolan side.
Unsure of what had transpired within the anomaly, the Church opted not to send anyone in directly. Instead, they urgently convened a eting of the various churches to determine a course of action.
King Salsi II had been aware of the risks and had therefore forbidden his heir, Dolores, from accompanying him. Dolores was now at the site of the anomaly just outside the city, attending the Church's eting with Alexia by her side.
The incident had nothing to do with the Believers of Lies, but it could potentially involve Jenkins. That was why the Church hadn't intended for Candle Mr., who was waiting for news in the Sage Church, to learn of the situation.
"So, will Jenkins Williams be handling this?"
he asked.
"No. Both Papa Oliver and Princess Dolores Stuart said not to disturb Jenkins. While he may be one of the Saviors, even he would be powerless against a problem like this."
Papa Oliver didn't want to bother Jenkins because he believed there was little Jenkins could do, so it was better to wait until he was truly needed. Dolores, on the other hand, felt that Jenkins was simply exhausted from recent events. She was confident the Church could find a solution, and if soone truly needed to enter the anomaly to rescue her father, it wouldn't be too late to ask for his help then.
Since no one was going to St. George Street to disturb the "sleeping" Jenkins, then Candle Mr., in his capacity as a Believer of Lies, naturally had to go see what all the fuss was about.
He assured Miss Strass he was only going to have a look and would absolutely not stray from the Church's "supervision." As Miss Strass repeatedly insisted it wasn't supervision, Jenkins was already preparing to depart.
"Care to ride the unicorn with ?"
He extended a sincere invitation, summoning his small beast. In the darkness of the night, even with the indoor lighting, the horned creature seed to radiate a soft, white glow.
Miss Strass instinctively held her breath, her eyes fixed on the unicorn. After a long mont, she softly declined his invitation in a hushed voice.
In the end, the group took a carriage to the site. The spatial anomaly connecting to Ruen was located on a hill near a public cetery on the outskirts of Nolan.
A thick fog blanketed the area that night, so Jenkins didn't see the dense miasma until the carriage ca to a halt. They were near a patch of woods; looking down, he could make out the quiet cetery at the foot of the hill.
"Soone's robbing graves down there,"
he remarked, glancing back and pointing casually. Without another thought for the matter, he followed Miss Strass into the makeshift camp.
Since they had arrived by carriage, the Church had received advance notice of the Believers of Lies' interest in the situation and had arranged a reception party.
Dolores and Alexia were both inside a tent, but Jenkins made no move to greet them. Instead, he inquired about the current situation and any clues they had found. The Church must have decided Candle Mr. was trustworthy, at least for now, because they shared details that Miss Strass had omitted.
The party that departed from Nolan, including King Salsi II, had numbered forty-one. But when they left Ruen, a headcount revealed forty-two. The authorities in Ruen confird that no locals had left with them, which ant the unexpected incident was most likely caused by the extra passenger—a passenger who might not have been human at all.
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