Squinting, Jenkins kept his breathing steady as he gazed at the floating stone slate, which emanated a pure white aura. It looked identical to the Doomsday Docunt he had found in the dungeon, though that one had glowed red.
"Thank goodness I reacted in ti."
He complinted himself internally and closed his eyes again, feeling a sense of relief. There was still so much to consider, more lies to spin. But he was exhausted and just wanted to sleep.
This ti, he truly let his mind relax, listening to the gentle breeze whispering through the forest as his consciousness slowly drifted away.
"I'll deal with all that trouble when I wake up."
When his consciousness returned, in that fleeting mont before he opened his eyes, he found himself questioning the reality of his mories.
"Was it all just a dream? How absurd."
The confusion between dream and reality lasted only an instant. Even with his eyes closed, he could see the glowing motes that represented his abilities. The brand-new white basic ability, [Undying Man], had appeared alongside [Twin Demons], [Breath of Healing], and [The Unknown Path].
The mont he confird it, he felt not joy, but a sharp pang of regret.
After the ritual had concluded, Jenkins knew he was in deep trouble again. He had practically fallen headfirst into the pool, and when he scooped out a handful of water, he found fragnts of the Godhead tal Block.
Looking up, he saw Chocolate standing by the edge of the pool, gazing at him smugly. He imdiately understood what had happened.
In any case, while the outco had been favorable, nearly all of his belongings were destroyed. Thankfully, the [Life Pearl] Bestowal remained intact. Jenkins recalled flas erupting from his body to steam his clothes dry as he sprinted toward the corpse and collapsed, just as Chocolate was nudging the pearl around, playing with it.
"If I rember correctly, the eclipse was over when Miss Bevanna found ," he mused. "So we must have won."
At that thought, his foul mood lifted slightly.
He told himself to remain calm. He started by gently wiggling his fingers, feigning the first signs of waking. Then, he let his eyes dart about beneath his eyelids before finally opening them with a vacant expression.
"An unfamiliar ceiling."
Papa Oliver's voice spoke from beside him, as if he'd read his mind. He was holding a knife in one hand and an apple in the other—a familiar scene, just like old tis.
"Papa, who sent the apples this ti?"
His voice was genuinely hoarse; Jenkins guessed he must have been asleep for a long ti.
"It's already this ti of year," he added. "I rember apples being terribly expensive right now."
"For that to be the first thing you say upon waking proves you're in good spirits."
Papa Oliver shook his head with a sigh, setting the apple aside. He picked up a steaming mug and took a silver spoonful of colorful, fine sugar from an exquisite wooden box beside him.
"You're finally awake," he said. "Oh, don't move. You can keep resting. As for what happened that day... we have plenty of ti to talk about it later."
The young man nodded, moving his heavy limbs with so effort. He shifted onto his side, just enough to see the church courtyard.
The weather was beautiful. Chocolate was sprawled beside the Fantasy Flower patch, busying itself with sothing, while a few nuns stood nearby, watching it with smiles and quiet chatter.
The winter sun was warm, the breeze was gentle, and all was well.
The followers of the Lord of Immortality had been utterly eradicated from the city. During the chaotic battle, they had made a desperate, all-or-nothing attempt to complete their ritual, hoping to at least seize the Savior's ability. But their efforts ended in an absurd tragedy, for they had been wrong from the very start.
The 'silver vertigo' was completely cured soon after, and the ruins of the Ponton Winery were officially renad the Evergreen Forest. The white figure beneath the giant tree, however, remained a secret.
While the reason for the white, inverted figure's formation was being explained to Jenkins, he posed an interesting question:
"So, the 'Hanging Mother Goddess's Shadow' that the Witch's House worships is..."
"You don't know?"
Miss Bevanna rested her chin in her hand and looked at Jenkins, a light breeze ruffling her long hair and making it shimr in the sun. "It should be easy enough to guess, shouldn't it? Especially after what happened. It's the shadow the Righteous God, Mother Earth, accidentally left behind when she entered the Shadow Realm during the 10th Epoch. Although it resembles a great being, it's ultimately just a shadow. That's why it was so easily frightened away by the New God that day."
During the few days Jenkins was unconscious, the Church discovered that the water in the pool beneath the figure had transford into a special item, permanently imbued with spirit. It was now designated B-10-5-2885, Panacea. After being diluted ten-thousandfold and distributed to the city's patients, the curse-like illness was completely cured.
On that bright and breezy afternoon, Jenkins sat in Miss Bevanna's office and recounted the insane events of that day.
He told the truth, at least about everything up to the point of killing the imposter, rely omitting the part where Magic Miss had appeared. As for what ca after, he explained that strangers calling themselves "Candle Mr" and "Magic Miss" had intruded. The latter left quickly, while the forr knocked him unconscious.
"That's all I know... But the man seed rather amiable and spoke gently. I don't think he's a bad person, right? At least, he didn't kill ."
He wore a handso smile as he said it.
"He is a follower of the New God. As I thought, they're a strange group."
Miss Bevanna replied gently.
Nolan City returned to a state of peace. The followers of the Gear King went deep into hiding, and the mbers of the Witch's House were all but annihilated. Only a handful managed to escape, and it was believed the organization would not be able to cause any major trouble for the remainder of the epoch.
Jenkins had been unconscious for a long ti. By the ti he awoke, it was already the twelfth of November.
That Monday, he was subjected to a battery of dical examinations by various people and was only permitted to leave the church after they had thoroughly confird he was in good health.
On Tuesday, he visited Professor Burns and Hathaway. The professor was his usual self, overjoyed that Jenkins had recovered and eagerly joining him in cursing the ruthless followers of the New God. He found Hathaway and Miss Mikhail together at a club—a gathering place for young noblewon, where Jenkins was one of the very few n permitted to enter, even for a short while.
Both young won looked to be in excellent spirits, having been fortunate enough to remain untouched by the recent turmoil. Hathaway tugged on his sleeve and quietly pressed him for details about what had truly happened, but Jenkins could only lower his head, pretend to stroke Chocolate, and repeat that he didn't know anything either.
However, not everything was quite so pleasant. Even during these few days of clear skies, tragedy had not been entirely absent.
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