The two most severe problems currently facing Nolan City were the vampires and the advent of the Evil God's Scion.
The latter was considered a potential city-destroying catastrophe, while the forr had orchestrated the Blood Moon incident, causing a considerable stir across the entire continent.
The Orthodox Churches in Nolan City had mobilized nearly all their combat units for day and night patrols, but even so, the leads they had gathered were minimal.
Regarding the investigation into the vampires, what was currently clear was that there were three pure-blood vampires in total—the orchestrators of the three arcane locks that night.
The Church believed their intention was to collect blood by activating a large-scale ritualistic arcane lock; otherwise, there would have been no need to expose their identities.
On the night of the Blood Moon, two of the three vampires were severely injured. Through large-scale divination, the Church had determined they were now staying sowhere in the eastern part of the city, but the area was so vast that finding them remained impossible.
Papa Oliver had already warned Jenkins to stay away from the eastern district for the ti being. A curfew had been officially imposed on the area. The Church's concern wasn't about scaring them off, but that they would simply remain hidden, continuing to weave their conspiracies.
As for the Evil God's Scion, it had vanished without a trace since its premature birth that night. However, the Church had confird that the person who slipped past the lax defenses into the Evergreen Forest to assassinate Jenkins during his first baptism had intricate ties to the Scion's followers.
Although it was the Scion of the evil god, the Void Gazer, its birth process exposed far more than one cult. In fact, no followers of the Void Gazer had appeared. Instead, the investigation had uncovered believers of other evil gods, including the Prince of Lies and the Thousand-Faced Demon.
The Church was still unclear about the purpose of the Scion's birth in Nolan, and the slow progress of the investigation was a major headache.
Monday at Pops Antique Shop was peaceful and quiet; not a single sale was made the entire day.
In the afternoon, John ca to the antique shop alone to see Jenkins. After a week of rest, he was ready to return to school.
Mary had learned from other sources that John's outing that day was because of a girl he liked at school, so she wanted him to talk it over with Jenkins.
"You boys are grown up now, so it's not my place to pry into such matters."
But both Jenkins and John knew that Mary's real intention wasn't to discuss John's crush, but to warn Jenkins that he absolutely must not get married after his younger brother.
As for the three remaining ingredients for the elf potion, the Water of Life was easily purchased from the church, which wasn't difficult. The unicorn hair wasn't a problem either, though when the pure little beast looked at him with its wounded eyes, Jenkins truly felt his heart tremble.
The troubleso part was the three cores from trees over a thousand years old. They certainly weren't on the church's procurent list. When Jenkins asked Papa Oliver about it, he replied:
"Over a thousand years old? What do you need that for? The last ti I heard of such a material was twenty years ago."
This ant it was nearly impossible for Jenkins to obtain what he needed through normal channels. But that was fine. Mr. Hood's gathering was this Thursday, and the Corpse Gentleman's was on Sunday. He was confident he'd be lucky enough to get so information from the attendees at those etings.
Returning to the church in the evening, he happened to see two Enchanters from the Church of Sun and Justice, Miss Celtic Knight and Mr. Slang Kreide, walking out of Miss Bevanna's office.
They had received treatnt from Jenkins after the story-thed Mysterious Realm, so they recognized him. A simple nod served as a greeting, and they brushed past each other.
Captain Bincy had been escorting them out, but he stopped beside Jenkins instead of continuing on.
"What were those two here for? Sorry, I suppose that's confidential."
He remarked, shaking his head.
"No, it shouldn't be confidential for you. I believe Miss Bevanna told you that your neighbor, the solitary widow, was a witch from the Witch's House. Knight and Kreide are staying in Nolan to handle the aftermath... I heard they were originally looking for so letter, but now they have to work with the local church to deal with the Scion. They were just reporting on their progress. Miss Bevanna has been terribly busy lately."
"So, where is Mrs. Margaret's body now?"
Jenkins asked.
"Right here in the church. The body mutated after giving birth to a divine creature and is now contained behind the Gate of All Things. What, want to take a look?"
"No, no, I was just curious."
He quickly waved his hands.
Jenkins was actually wondering if Mrs. Margaret's body still contained so residual divinity that hadn't been completely taken away, much like the body that had been possessed by the pseudo-god, the Wondrous Musical Score.
But since it was now behind the Gate, there was no way to verify his theory. Perhaps he'd get a chance to see the body after the matter with the Evil God's Scion was resolved, but that would be a long ti from now.
During dinner, Chocolate was a bit angry because Jenkins had cut back on its al portions. It was a special diet plan Jenkins had designed for the cat's recent habit of eating too much and being lazy, but Chocolate had noticed it on the very first day.
Bishop Parrold, who was nearby, suggested that Jenkins should wait until Chocolate actually gained weight before putting it on a diet. After all, even though the cat ate a lot, its figure didn't seem to have changed much. Forcing such a young cat to lose weight was a truly cruel thing to do.
"If you gain even half a pound, you can forget about climbing onto my shoulder ever again."
He threatened the cat in a low voice.
"ow~"
Chocolate extended a paw in retaliation.
Last night, after hearing the maid Julia's description of Alexia using Cat's Grace, Jenkins suddenly realized that the ability he had acquired by chance had a great deal of untapped potential.
He had previously only used the ability for traveling, climbing trees, and hiding. It had never occurred to him that possessing a cat's agility, speed, reflexes, and sensitivity could be extrely beneficial in direct combat.
During Miss Bevanna's combat lesson on Monday night, he briefly described his idea and received her approval.
"Red Martial Arts abilities that can enhance overall physical conditioning are extrely rare. Most of them rely on the power of exotic species to strengthen the user."
For example, the dragon blood enhancent Jenkins had once fantasized about falls into the category of using the power of a formidable exotic species to strengthen oneself. He had even possessed a vial of dragon blood once, but later...
The thought brought with it an indescribable heartache.
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