"Once I get through today's hurdle, I'll have the energy to deal with that sword... and tomorrow's baptism. Last night, the Keeper of Secrets ntioned that the ritual to learn the 'Blessing of the Books' will be held at the sa ti. As soon as I master that sacred art, I truly won't have anything left to fear."
Jenkins was still mulling this over as he walked toward the carriage.
"ow~"
The cat responded to Jenkins's muttering, though it knew deep down he wouldn't be able to pull it off.
The driver saw the young man and his cat approaching, and his professional instinct told him Jenkins was looking for a ride. He was just rising to greet him when soone suddenly darted out from behind, giving the driver a start.
"I need a ride. To Malf's Bookstore."
The newcor was soaking wet, looking like he'd just been dragged out of the river. He was shivering violently, arms wrapped around his chest and neck hunched, his deathly pale face a pitiful sight.
"So he did jump after all..."
The man hailing the driver was none other than the desperate fellow who had just been fired. Jenkins was relieved to see he was still alive.
"Take this gentleman first," Jenkins told the driver generously. "He looks like he needs this carriage more than I do. Gods, falling into the water in this weather... that's just awful."
Seeing him with flowers in one hand and a briefcase in the other, looking to be in high spirits, the driver could tell the man was in a good mood.
He smiled apologetically at Jenkins and helped the soaked middle-aged man climb into the carriage.
"What a coincidence. How many tis have I run into him today?"
Jenkins wondered to himself as he strolled down the street, looking for another carriage. A strange feeling crept over him; this "chance encounter" felt far too convenient.
"Hmm..."
His Eye of Reality scanned the surroundings, but he didn't detect any unusual colors. The spiritual aura around Chocolate, however, had grown much stronger, which ant the cat was becoming more powerful.
He didn't know how ordinary supernatural creatures strengthened themselves, but he doubted it was by being as lazy as Chocolate every day.
In the six-plus months since he'd adopted the cat, he had never seen it focus on a single task. Its interest in the fantasy flower seeds had lasted the longest, but even that had waned by the end of winter.
He found another carriage and hurried to the Hersha estate. As luck would have it, Earl Hersha was actually at ho. It was quite surprising that on a weekday morning, he was not at naval headquarters or city hall, but was instead supervising his youngest son's howork.
What was even more awkward was that Jenkins had once threatened the man, and their relationship had been delicate ever since.
Earl Hersha, with his intensely piercing gaze, scrutinized the young visitor, casting an awkward pall over the drawing-room for a long mont. On the surface, both wore solemn expressions, their movents in lifting their teacups impeccable. In reality, they were both struggling to find sothing to talk about.
"Is Hathaway ho?"
In the end, it was Jenkins who spoke first.
"She went to Mainz to visit her aunt. She'll be back tomorrow."
"..."
When he arrived near Marquis Mikhail's estate, it was exactly eleven in the morning. At the intersection, Jenkins once again saw the man who had been fired and had attempted to take his own life.
He was standing on the second floor of an apartnt building, arguing at the top of his lungs with a woman. The subject of their dispute, it seed, was sothing strange and cumberso the man had brought ho.
The middle-aged man's voice was hoarse; after falling into the water at this ti of year, a cold was inevitable. Jenkins just hoped he hadn't caught the tail end of the winter flu. With a plague about to break out, it would be absolutely impossible for a sick person to find a job.
"How did I run into him again?"
Jenkins grew wary, but when he scanned the area again with his eyes, he found no suspicious people or objects. The item the middle-aged man had brought ho, however, was highly unusual. Judging by its faint golden spiritual glow and its shape, it was likely architectural debris discarded by the Church.
After sitting in a church for years, the building materials had absorbed so supernatural properties. He just didn't know why they would have been tossed into the river.
"Could a carriage carrying the debris have been crossing the bridge?" he mused. "Perhaps the wheels hit a repaired seam, and a piece of the load fell into the water?"
He felt he had stumbled upon the truth.
When the Mikhail family's butler led Jenkins inside, Marquis Mikhail was not at ho. Since he was visiting under the na Jenkins Williams, which qualified as a visit between nobles, Miss Mikhail's mother and her second son, who happened to be ho, received Jenkins and his cat.
"Is Briny at ho right now?"
"She went with friends to the Hams estate in the south of the city. I hear Miss Hams brought back a new way to play lawn ball from the Cheslan Kingdom."
"..."
In the distant northern city of Ruen, it was one o'clock in the afternoon, Nolan ti, when he saw Miss Stuart. For so reason, Alexia's spiritual lodestone was in the princess's hands, and both she and her maid were in a carriage.
Judging by the sounds from outside, they were traveling through a bustling city. The won had not expected Jenkins to suddenly appear.
"Good afternoon, Miss Stuart. Good afternoon, Miss Minnewick... Where is Alexia now?"
"Good afternoon, Mr. Williams. My teacher just left for the tower. I applied for a half-day visit for her, so she won't be back until midnight."
The princess maintained a dignified smile, tugging at her skirt as she asked in a low voice:
"Is there sothing you need to see Teacher Miller about?"
"I..."
He could have invited Miss Stuart, of course; Jenkins felt she wouldn't refuse. But then he rembered that the third princess was only sixteen, and bringing a sixteen-year-old girl to his ho could stir up serious trouble. Besides, her identity was sensitive. Even if Jenkins didn't particularly mind the churches in Nolan knowing he had so connection to Ruen, he absolutely could not involve a princess.
"It's nothing, I just wanted to talk to her about the Tree House..."
An invitation to such an important banquet should have been sent a week, or even a month, in advance. But Jenkins had been so overwheld this month that before he knew it, the last day was upon him.
He had anticipated certain difficulties, like deciding which lady to invite. But he never imagined he wouldn't be able to find a single person to accompany him.
The whole affair had a sense of absurd cody, and life's malice once again revealed itself before Jenkins.
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