Guests who knew each other stood in small groups, chatting quietly. Mr. Pisco's friends and family lingered near his headstone.
Jenkins was curious what might be engraved on the headstone of such a selfless man, but he decided against wading into the crowd just then.
Professor Burns was standing alone by a table, empty-handed, observing the crowd. Jenkins deliberately skirted around a musician nad Mr. Kevin, who was whispering to a young woman, and took a wide path to reach the professor's side.
"Would you care for sothing to eat?"
The professor asked politely. Jenkins shook his head, his eyes catching on the professor's tie. It was a deep blue, and the visible part was embroidered with a strange pattern in black thread.
"I ran into sothing."
he replied distractedly, still pondering whether it was worth it for Mr. Kevin to trade parts of his future for a bit more life.
"What happened? I've heard from Oliver, you know. He says that whenever you go out, there's a high chance you'll run into sothing unusual. We all believe it's a test from fate and the Sage. If you look at history, all the great figures who achieved incredible things had to endure..."
The professor launched into a unique perspective on fate. Jenkins, though not listening attentively, nodded along in agreent anyway.
Once the professor finished, Jenkins recounted what had just happened, not leaving out the part about Mr. Kevin.
"Oh, I know about that!"
The professor whispered excitedly to Jenkins:
"It seems your luck is quite good after all! The designation is correct: B-12-4-7777, the Death rchant Beneath the Withered Tree. For an Enchanter to encounter him is incredibly fortunate! He accepts any item containing spirit, not just numbered ones. Even extending one's life by a few days is worth it."
"Fortunate? It feels more like I stumble into every strange event there is."
"There are two sides to every coin, young man. Try to be more optimistic!"
He reached out and gave Jenkins a friendly pat on the back, then added a word of caution:
"Still, it's best to report the matter of that pianist to the Church. It's dangerous for ordinary people to be exposed to the hidden world. It must be officially docunted."
"I know."
It seed the future friendship Mr. Kevin had traded away was already taking effect. After this, Jenkins had absolutely no desire to befriend the man.
Selling off parts of yourself to survive wasn't necessarily wrong. But when he thought of Mr. Pisco, buried just a short distance away, he simply couldn't bear to look at the pianist again.
Leaving right away would be rude, so the two n continued to stand and talk for a while.
Their conversation drifted from Jenkins's Ritter Prize to the peerage that would follow, then to the latest gossip among the local nobility, and finally, to a matter that involved Jenkins directly.
"I heard from one of my students that the Lindsays' daughter was taken away by the Church of Death and End. See over there? That's Viscount and Viscountess Lindsay."
Near the gravesite stood a middle-aged man in black formal attire and a woman whose face was obscured by a black veil. A burly man, likely a bodyguard, stood beside them.
"For what reason?"
"Blasphemy, I heard. But who can say for sure?"
The professor shrugged. "But it's most likely related to Enchanters. Otherwise, the news wouldn't have been kept so quiet."
"I might know a little about that..."
He briefly described the Ouija board ga from that night, feeling a pang of regret that he hadn't been able to invite the professor to study the board with him.
"Do you know what happened afterward? I hadn't heard anything about this."
Professor Burns looked intrigued. Under the guise of getting drinks from the table, the two continued their conversation in hushed tones.
"I heard a few things from Papa Oliver this morning. The Ouija board was never found. The Church went back to inspect the cetery but discovered no traces of evil spirits or any other spiritual entities. That's all I know for now, though Papa Oliver did say Miss Lindsay would face so sort of punishnt and a warning. It was only from you that I learned it was the Church of Death and End that handled it."
"Things like this are usually left to them. It's standard procedure."
the professor said, taking a sip from his glass. Jenkins tried a sip of his own and found it to be a fruit wine with a very low alcohol content, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it had an odd aftertaste.
"Even if she is the Speaker's granddaughter, sothing like this can't be excused. You know, there are rumors spreading among my students that this whole affair has to do with Miss Lindsay's deceased lover."
"What on earth does the professor do at the university all day?"
he grumbled to himself, but put on a surprised expression. "But... she was a young lady..."
"That sort of thing is quite common. Why so surprised?"
Professor Burns gave him a look as if he were being naive. "Speaking of ladies' love lives," he continued, "that reminds . Both Oliver and the Bishop have ntioned your personal affairs to . I have a few students who are great admirers of your work. How about it? Do you have ti to et them?"
Jenkins felt another headache coming on.
After the funeral, Jenkins returned to the city. Seeing it was still early, he went ho to pick up his cat before heading back to the antique shop.
He described the rchant he'd encountered at the funeral, and Papa Oliver told Jenkins to report it to the Church himself. He had a new shipnt of goods to inventory today and didn't have ti for it.
The director of the Special Items Departnt, a Mr. Coppola Bellini, received him. He listened patiently to the entire story before nodding and taking down the details.
"I understand. We'll handle the follow-up. And I must say, you have quite the luck!"
His tone and expression were remarkably similar to the professor's from a few hours earlier, but Jenkins truly didn't consider it good fortune.
Since he was already at the church, he stopped in to speak with the Bishop for a while. Jenkins inford him that he had found a temporary etiquette tutor and would at least be able to master the required protocols before his trip to Bel Diran.
The Bishop gave him a knowing look.
He spent half an hour in the Secret Trace Library, but just as he'd suspected, he couldn't find any information on that Ouija board.
With no other option, Jenkins gave up. He declined an invitation to dine at the church and hurried ho. He had a great deal to do before his various lessons began next week. Tonight would be his second contact with Miss Miller; they were going to attempt to project him to Ruen.
Night descended, shrouding the city in darkness. The only pockets of light were in the Docklands, where ships lay moored and silent. Dockworkers, seemingly tireless, straightened their backs as they unloaded and loaded cargo. Day or night, the work for sailors and laborers never ceased.
After dinner, Jenkins played with Chocolate for a while before rembering he might be spending a long ti in Ruen tonight. But if he left Chocolate at ho alone again, the cat would surely raise hell.
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