Jenkins had never been to Sarr Fifth Avenue, not only because it was far from his usual haunts, but also because the southern district was Nolan's largest slum and its main hub for the trade of chanical parts. His life, both past and present, had never given him a reason to go there.
The apartnt marked with the number 09 was easy to find, as unremarkable as most of the other rental buildings in the city.
After stepping down from the carriage with Chocolate, Jenkins first stood across the street, looking up at the building. He noted the four crouching stone statues surrounding the attic before crossing the street, climbing the steps, and knocking on the door. The owner was clearly neglectful; the door's surface was filthy. Though free of loose dust, a layer of dark yellow gri stained the area near the bottom.
Soon, the sound of footsteps ca from within. A small sliding panel just above the center of the door slid open, revealing the sallow face of a heavyset woman.
"Good day, I'm sorry to bother you. Is John Williams here with his classmates? I have a book for him."
As he spoke, he held up a copy of "An Introduction to chanics" and waved it in front of the small opening.
"Williams? Oh, yes, there is a boy here with that na."
"Wonderful. Could you please call him to the door? I'd like to give the book to him myself."
"Oh, sir, there's no need for all that trouble. I can give it to him for you."
The woman had no intention of opening the main door. Instead, she gestured from the small window, indicating that Jenkins should roll up the book and pass it through.
"Through here?"
He was a bit taken aback and wanted to insist, but worried he was just being paranoid. "But my mother asked to hand it to him personally."
"Sir, please don't waste our ti."
The woman's expression instantly soured.
"Surely you don't suspect I'd keep the book for myself?"
"No, no, of course not. You misunderstand."
Jenkins gave an apologetic smile, rolled the blue-covered book into a tube, and passed it through the opening to the woman. "Then I'll leave it in your care, madam."
"It's my pleasure,"
she replied perfunctorily, then slamd the small panel shut with a sharp thwack. A few seconds later, Jenkins, pressing his ear to the door, heard the heavy thump-thump-thump of soone climbing the stairs.
"I can't be running into trouble every ti, can I?"
He murmured, stroking Chocolate's little head as he walked from the apartnt back to the street. Chocolate let out a soft ow in response.
Unlike previous tis when misfortune was about to strike, he didn't feel anything amiss. Still, it was always better to be safe than sorry, and it wasn't even three o'clock yet. He had plenty of ti.
There happened to be a narrow alley right next to the apartnt at number 9 Sarr Fifth Avenue, serving as a shortcut connecting the street to the next block. Jenkins lingered on the street for a mont, bought a newspaper, browsed a few nearby shops, and then casually turned into the alley.
After confirming both ends of the alley were empty, he patted Chocolate, signaling for it to keep watch. He then quickly spread the newspaper on the ground, sat down on it with his back against the wall, and activated his Soul Departure from Dream ability.
Observing the world through the "vision" of a spiritual entity was a fascinating experience. Especially as his level increased and his contact with the divine beca more frequent, the heightened sensitivity of his soul allowed Jenkins to perceive subtle details that were otherwise unnoticeable.
But the ability didn't last long. Its essence, after all, was to enter dreams, not true astral projection. After "drifting" into the building, he passed swiftly through one room after another, and just as he suspected, found no sign of the young students who were supposed to be studying there.
He was about to return to his body and reassess the situation when he happened to spot an old man fast asleep in a room on the second floor.
"My lucky day."
He plunged straight into the man's dream.
Jenkins rarely had the opportunity to use his dream-entering ability. The last ti had been with Miss Miller on the 31st, when they fought off two mbers of the Witch's House who were trying to invade their apartnt.
But when the target was just an ordinary person, his powerful soul allowed him to easily and freely manipulate their dreamscape. Extracting information through such thods was not a difficult task.
Back in the alley outside, Chocolate perched on the man's shoulder, its large amber eyes scanning left and right. Only when the man's body gave a sudden jolt did it settle down again.
"Young people these days," he muttered. "Not an ounce of patience."
Having obtained the key information, Jenkins pressed a hand to his forehead as he stood up, then brushed the dust from the hem of his overcoat.
"Feeling too tired to study, so they all go on an outing to the countryside? I don't rember John being that kind of person. What sort of friends has he been making?"
To get his brother back on the right track—and to fulfill his responsibility to his current body—Jenkins hailed another carriage at the street corner and set off for the group's outing location himself.
He crossed the entire city and then traveled for a long ti down country lanes. When he saw a sparse patch of woodland in the distance, he knew he had finally reached his destination.
The Third Private Preparatory College was an exclusive school for the children of nobility and wealthy rchants, so John's classmates all ca from prominent and affluent families.
According to the information he'd gleaned from the dream, this stretch of woodland was the private property of a girl nad Madison, and it had been her idea to co out to the countryside for so fresh air.
He dismissed the driver early and walked along the edge of the woodland for a while before spotting five carriages parked by the side of the road—the ones that must have brought the young people here. The drivers were smoking hand-rolled cigarettes and chatting idly about the weather, paying no mind to Jenkins.
He sighed, stepped off the main road onto the damp earth, and entered the woods. He first skirted around the drivers, then followed a small path deeper into the trees.
He wasn't worried about finding them. After all, no matter how adventurous they were, the students were unlikely to stray from the path.
And sure enough, after walking for less than five minutes, he found a fresh apple discarded at the base of a tree. A third of it was rotten, which was likely why it had been thrown away.
A little further on, he could faintly hear the sound of chatter. He quickened his pace and, just as he'd expected, ca upon a group of young people. About a third of them were boys, and John was walking near the front with his friends. From the sound of it, they were discussing the latest gossip from Bel Diran.
Considering that trespassing on soone else's property was illegal, Jenkins didn't reveal himself. Instead, he patted his cat.
"ow~"
It sounded a little annoyed.
He gently scratched under the cat's chin with two fingers for a mont until, finally, it reluctantly leaped down from his shoulder.
He waited in place for two minutes. First, the cat ca running back from the distance, followed by the sound of stumbling footsteps. Then, John appeared.
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