The huntress's report included information on the household in question, stating that at least four n were long-term residents, though they rarely showed themselves. Furthermore, only two strangers were seen frequenting the place, and they mostly ca and went under the cover of night or in the early hours of the morning.
Since Jenkins’s commission hadn't required an investigation into the household itself, most of the information gathered was simply to corroborate the fact that it was the source of the flu.
Based on this information, Jenkins could roughly deduce that his targets were located there. The next step was to formulate a detailed plan. He was determined to resolve this matter before embarking on his week-long journey.
Acting alone would be far too arrogant. While he had recently managed to slay a demigod, that victory was a near-unrepeatable miracle.
Therefore, Jenkins sought help from another exceptionally intelligent friend: Alexia, of course. She readily accepted his request and showed imnse enthusiasm for the task.
"Although using [chanical Light] ans you’ll be effectively out of commission for a short while, I hope you can demonstrate it for in the final monts. If that ability truly possesses the functions you’ve described, then it is as significant to you as [Mathematical Principles] is to ."
Miss Stuart, of course, was eager to get involved, but everyone was against her participating in such a dangerous affair. Without Jenkins's support, she couldn't travel to Nolan City, so in the end, she had to content herself with providing logistical support for her two friends.
"I’ve never done anything so dangerous and exciting."
Miss Stuart whispered to Jenkins and Alexia, taking advantage of the mont Julia left the room to fetch so tea.
"This isn't sothing to be excited about," he warned. "Staying away from danger is the correct course of action."
He had to warn his friend, to prevent her from treating this as so kind of thrilling adventure.
This was likely the first ti Jenkins had systematically planned to hunt down an entire group. He had always believed that the more complex a plan, the more easily it could fail, yet he still found himself drafting a complicated strategy that accounted for every possible contingency.
Alexia tried to soothe his nerves, but Jenkins couldn't stop himself from obsessing over how to recover "if sothing went wrong."
There was one last matter to attend to before the plan could comnce: his divination lesson with Miss Audrey. She had left Nolan City around the Year's End Festival to report back to the Church of Destiny and Order, which ant Jenkins’s lessons had been delayed for nearly two weeks.
When he saw her again on Saturday evening, she looked much the sa as always; her journey to and from Nolan had apparently been uneventful. She answered the door herself when Jenkins knocked, and from the doorway, he caught sight of Miss Mikhail and Hathaway's carriage departing down the street.
"Your friends?"
she asked, stepping aside to let him in.
"Yes."
"Won?"
"...Was that a divination?"
"No. I slled their perfu on you."
She wasn't Papa Oliver, so she offered no opinion on his romantic affairs. However, as his guide on the path of divination, she did warn him that an Enchanter’s choice of a spouse was a grave matter, one that could profoundly affect their destiny.
Normally, this would have been the perfect opportunity to ask her what sort of partner would be suitable. But Jenkins had no interest in the subject, which Miss Audrey—who had recently received a letter from Alexia—found rather dull.
Jenkins’s recent feat of ‘peeking into destiny’ had deeply shaken her, but it also solidified her conviction that he was a divinatory prodigy, the likes of which appeared only once a century. Because of this, she planned to accelerate his lessons, intending to cover all the material on inspirational divination before the arrival of spring.
This ti, they didn't use any wondrous artifacts. Instead, she presented him with an ordinary cardboard box containing several stones inscribed with runes and asked him to guess their markings.
He succeeded only once during the three-hour lesson, and unfortunately, that success could be attributed purely to luck.
"Don’t be discouraged. This is, at the very least, a first step toward success."
Miss Audrey was quite satisfied with the outco of the lesson, believing it a sign from destiny that success was on the horizon.
In the middle of the lesson, Jenkins made a request:
"Forgive , Miss Audrey. I have to undertake sothing soon that carries a high risk of failure, and it’s been weighing on my mind. Could you perhaps perform a divination for ? I’d like to seek guidance from fate."
"Can you tell what it is? Perhaps I can help."
This gave Jenkins pause. After a mont of hesitation, he decided it was best not to let anyone living in Nolan in on his secret.
Since she couldn't get any useful information from Jenkins, Audrey had to resort to a simple card reading to seek fate's guidance. Of course, abilities like [The Observer] and [The Unknown Path] would inevitably influence the outco, so it would be up to Jenkins to decide whether to trust the results.
He had three draws. The first card was the Sword, upright, representing conflict and strife, but with a generally positive outco. The second was the Shadow, reversed, signifying that the shadows would shelter him. The third card, however, was completely blank.
"I’m sorry, is this a mistake?"
he asked nervously.
A full divination deck contains many cards, which significantly increases the risk of one going missing. For that reason, comrcially sold decks often include a few blank cards to serve as temporary replacents.
But that was a feature of decks made for common folk. Jenkins had never known a true diviner to use them. Besides, he couldn't believe Miss Audrey would perform a reading with an incomplete set of cards.
"What do you suppose it ans?"
Miss Audrey was clearly distracted. It wasn't like her to ask such a question.
"Perhaps it ans a god will appear," Jenkins said casually. "Matters concerning great beings are always a blank slate."
It was a wild guess.
"Oh, a god... That should be impossible. This card... perhaps I made a mistake."
Miss Audrey took the card from Jenkins, offering a vague explanation. But her expression was one of profound astonishnt.
"Don't worry," she said, composing herself. "Although I can't explain it, this is not an on of misfortune. Your endeavor will be successful. Yes, you may face so setbacks along the way, but you will absolutely achieve your goal. You must believe that."
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