Faint, ancient script was imprinted on the white paper, its origins highly suspect:
[...The sole exception is the Mysterious Realm. Clear evidence indicates its space is fundantally different from that of the material world. In other words, while the nurous pocket dinsions that seal away malevolent entities of the void and the spawn of Calamity were carved from the material world, the origin of the Mysterious Realm is most certainly not...]
This directly confird Jenkins's long-held suspicion that the Mysterious Realms had likely split off from worlds like the "Magma Inferno" or the "Sea of Eternity." However, Jenkins wasn't sure if this was a natural phenonon or a spatial shift actively initiated by the Sovereigns.
Information about the Mysterious Realms was exceedingly rare, and data on those other dinsions was nonexistent. To date, aside from a copy of the "Devil's Docunt" he had seen long ago, Jenkins had never encountered any explicit ntion of "Sovereigns" in any book, nor had he found any records describing the strange dinsions beyond the material world.
Another gain was discovering a better use for the Stone of Life. His original plan had been to find a suitable longsword and simply affix the stone to it. But in a book titled *Strange Stones: Gifts of Nature*, it ntioned that if the Stone of Life underwent a ritualistic treatnt before use, it could grant enchantnts akin to "Lesser Fortification" and "Sunlight Convergence" when embedded in a weapon.
This was sothing not even Alexia had ntioned. Seeing that the required ritual components were all common, Jenkins left the library and imdiately put in a request for them at the church.
After getting the materials, he started searching the church for Chocolate, who was running around sowhere. Since the cat wasn't in the courtyard by the nursery, guarding its precious flower, it was most likely in either the kitchen or the library. The kitchen, to find out what was for dinner ahead of ti; the library, because it was warm, comfortable, and quiet—perfect for a cat's afternoon nap.
He didn't find the cat, but in the courtyard corridor, he did spot three Enchanters from the Church of Creation and Machinery. A pang of unease made Jenkins instinctively duck behind a corner. He had no intention of eavesdropping, but he couldn't help but notice that one of them had an arm made entirely of gears, bearings, and bolts—a chanical limb.
"Startled you, didn't it?"
Soone suddenly spoke from behind, and this ti, Jenkins truly was startled. He spun around to see Captain Bincy, whom he hadn't seen in a while. The captain was dressed in his standard-issue black trench coat for outdoor duties, holding a long wooden staff in his hand.
"You certainly did startle ."
"No, no, I an, did those believers from the other church startle you? That arm."
To be polite, and to ensure the three individuals couldn't overhear, Captain Bincy kept his voice low.
"A little. Has chanical technology advanced enough to create prosthetic limbs?"
Jenkins had only ever seen sothing similar on the cultist who controlled C-08-2-2218, the Stopped Clock.
"Of course, this isn't the work of mortal chanical technology. It was created with divine arts and spellcasting abilities. And, naturally, the Church of Death and End provided so biological support as well."
The middle-aged man seed rather contemplative. Noticing Jenkins's curiosity, he asked another question:
"Do you know the highest percentage of chanization achieved by a follower of the Great Artificer?"
The question was quite intriguing. Jenkins thought for a mont before making a conservative guess:
"Thirty percent?"
"No, no, that was the figure from ten years ago. The highest modification ratio now is sixty-three percent. And that's just the number those believers themselves have disclosed."
Jenkins couldn't see his own face, but he could guess that an expression of disgust had crossed it.
"Yes. When I first heard about it, I had the exact sa expression as you."
Captain Bincy shifted the staff to his other hand as Jenkins asked:
"Sixty-three percent... Can that even be considered human anymore?"
"It's hard to say."
Captain Bincy shrugged.
"Perhaps many years from now, a new category of 'chanoids' will be added to the exotic species of the material world."
"Hm?"
Jenkins didn't understand the logic behind that statent.
"I an, when the number of these modified humans grows, and they develop their own history, culture, and customs, and establish their own settlents, the world will acknowledge the birth of a new supernatural race."
"Huh? Humans can create new exotic species?"
Jenkins exclaid in shock. He had never considered such a thing.
"No, no, no. The birth of a race has nothing to do with how it cos into being. It only relates to the depth of its history and the level of its civilization. Whether it's through natural evolution, co-ergence with the world, or creation by an intelligent species, none of that affects the judgnt of a new race."
"Is that even possible?"
Jenkins was suddenly struck by the madness of this world. He heard a whoosh of air from above, and then a heavy weight landed squarely on his shoulder. The young man scrambled to catch Chocolate, who had just leaped down from the roof, oblivious to the danger and seemingly finding it all very amusing.
"It's not without precedent."
Captain Bincy glanced at his watch. It seed he was running late, and he prepared to take his leave of Jenkins.
"Humanity has created new races before, but that was all a very long ti ago... Hippogriffs, Gem Slis, Marionettes... You can find records of them in the Secret Trace Library. Go take a look. Papa Oliver might know a thing or two as well."
With that, he bid Jenkins farewell and jogged toward the rear gate of the church. It seed Captain Bincy's squad was scheduled for patrol duty in the Evergreen Forest for the next few days.
"ow~"
Jenkins hurriedly tried to soothe the cat, who seed to feel neglected, but Chocolate was actually pondering sothing much deeper. The human had ntioned a race that intrigued it greatly. Those interesting creatures were the most "impressive" things it had seen since awakening its intelligence.
"ow~"
Rembering the uniquely flavored, precious gems produced by the Gem Slis, the cat couldn't help but swallow hard.
"No, it's not dinnerti yet. You can't have any more."
Jenkins had misunderstood the aning of the gulp, a mistake that earned him the retribution of a sharp claw.
All day, Jenkins had been curious about how the circus situation was being handled, but by dinnerti, Miss Bevanna still hadn't returned. He grew a little worried and even brought it up while discussing the bloodline awakening potion with Mr. Smith.
"Don't worry. Bevanna took the information you provided very seriously. She took a lot of people with her."
"That's good. How many people did she take?"
"All the demigods from the Orthodox Churches in Nolan City went."
"Oh... huh?"
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