"The strength of a Pirate King is tied to the power they command, and Femishue has clearly infiltrated this city alone. There are plenty of demigods stationed here; if he dares to show his face, the Church has countless ways to deal with him. The only problem is, we still don't know why he's here."
Jenkins offered this reassurance. He had been curious about Femishue's purpose for a long ti but could never find an answer.
The information Silver Flute Miss provided seed a bit unremarkable compared to the others. She pointed out that since the end of last year, there had been a continuous string of incidents in the ceteries around Nolan where ordinary people had witnessed undead creatures.
The Church of Death and End had already investigated the matter, but they hadn't been able to find any trace of the undead creatures.
They were now checking the graves in the locations where the incidents occurred, one by one. After all, reanimating the dead requires bones, but to this day, there has been no encouraging progress.
When she ntioned this, Jenkins's first thought was of Mr. Dagger, whom he and Magic Miss had killed so ti ago in the abandoned cetery near Augustus's ancestral tomb. According to Magic Miss, Mr. Dagger had already displayed rather advanced necromantic skills at the ti.
But Silver Flute Miss's information was likely unrelated. Mr. Dagger had died last year, while the most recent sighting of undead creatures had occurred just half a week ago. The tilines didn't match up.
In this era, the Church's control over necromancy remained strict. To be more specific, other than the believers of the great Righteous God, Death and End, no one was permitted to use similar abilities, or they would face sanctions from the Orthodox Church.
Take, for example, the doctor from the snowy mountain manor. He had hidden himself away in that remote estate to continue his research, precisely to avoid the Church's scrutiny.
"It's been a long ti since anything like this happened in Nolan. Those who illegally ddle with corpses usually prefer to hide in small countryside villages, using the guise of a gravedigger to get legitimate access to the bodies."
Magic Miss voiced this sentint, though as far as Jenkins knew, she herself seed to possess knowledge of so necromantic rituals. This wasn't just a guess; they had t quite a few tis around the end of the year, and he had learned of it during their casual conversations.
Jenkins was the last to offer information. He didn't actually know any deep secrets, so he could only pick out a few things that had happened around him:
"I believe we just ntioned the Gear Artisans' Association? Well, they haven't actually left Nolan City. The earthquake that occurred late at night a few weeks ago was connected to them. According to a reliable source, the mbers of the Association are right beneath our feet, searching for sothing in an abandoned mine from an ancient era."
"Does that an other heretical cults might not have left Nolan either?"
Hathaway asked.
"I'm not sure, but at the very least, the followers of the original Lying God are definitely gone."
That was an obvious statent, one that everyone already knew.
During the trading session that followed, Jenkins was eager to buy another thousand-year-old wood heart, which would allow him to gather all the ingredients for an elven potion. This ti, however, he wasn't so lucky; none of the others had any leads on the material.
At the sa ti, Jenkins also wanted to sell the bone whistle he was carrying, hoping to barter it for another special item. But since Hathaway had seen the skeletal horse, he absolutely couldn't take it out now.
The exchange of miscellaneous materials went without saying, but the most significant event of the trade was when Silver Flute Miss produced a special item with clear docuntation. Unlike Jenkins, she wanted to exchange it for usable cash.
"B-11-3-0225, [The Traveler's dal]."
In her hand was a round, gleaming gold dallion. At the top was a small loop through which a red, white, and blue ribbon was threaded. Jenkins could only see the front of the dal, which depicted an aerial view of the Nolan City coastline etched in raised relief. He had seen the very sa view from the sa angle while riding a unicorn through the sky.
"I've had this item for over three years, and if I wasn't in desperate need of money, I would never sell it. The front of the item can display the current situation in whatever city it's in. Look, it's normal right now, but last month when the Evil God's Scion was active, and earlier this month when the vampires were running rampant, the dal showed so terrible ons. I use it as an early warning system. It's very effective."
After speaking, she held up the dal for everyone to inspect in turn, then continued her introduction:
"The back of the dal has a design of the sun and moon, which matches the celestial phenona in the sky at any given ti. For instance, it's late at night now, and tonight is a half moon, so it's displaying two opposing half-moon silhouettes. Are any of you interested? Sixty thousand gold pounds, and I'll only take cash."
This was a huge sum of money, but if the dal's warning function was truly that effective, the price was actually quite reasonable.
Jenkins had no money, so he had no interest in speaking up. Mr. White Cat and Hathaway, on the other hand, showed great interest in it.
Unfortunately, Hathaway didn't have that much money either. She proposed paying part of the price in cash and covering the rest with goods, but Silver Flute Miss seed truly desperate for money and firmly refused. In the end, she reached so sort of agreent with Mr. White Cat, and the transaction was concluded.
"Hathaway's assets probably aren't as substantial as mine right now. Speaking of which, what does she want that thing for?"
He glanced sideways at the others, then suddenly felt the cat in his chest stir again. The vinegary sll in the warehouse was indeed quite strong; Chocolate probably couldn't stand it any longer.
"It'll be over soon."
He wanted to tell the cat, but the act of speaking to his own chest was simply too strange, and he didn't want Hathaway to recognize the familiar gesture.
Just as Jenkins was wondering how to soothe it, Hathaway raised a finger, signaling for everyone to be quiet.
A sudden silence fell over the warehouse. Even without Hathaway's exceptional auditory sensitivity, one could now hear the sound of wheels crunching on the road outside.
"Mr. Hood, what's going on?"
"I don't know. I can guarantee that in the warehouse data I obtained, none of the ones around here were scheduled for use tonight! Let's go through the window. Follow !"
He was about to move as he spoke, but Jenkins stopped him.
"Wait. The group outside is heading straight for us, and there's a level-two Enchanter among them. There are people behind the warehouse, too—another level-two Enchanter, and it looks like they're on patrol!"
"I hear them too, but it's the footsteps of three people. If Mr. Candle is right, then there are two ordinary people with him. We can't go out the back either!"
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