This ti, at the month's end, Jenkins made a truly astonishing discovery. This ineffable dinsion was awash with vast amounts of energy and information, yet it didn't feel eternal. It seed more like a realm that had been temporarily constructed. In the "higher planes," there appeared to be even more mysterious places, but they remained beyond his sight for now.
This led Jenkins to a new line of thought:
"What kind of dinsion is this, exactly?"
February belonged to the Righteous God, the Eternal Blazing Sun, while March belonged to the Righteous God, Mother Earth. These two great beings, along with January's Righteous God, the Spirit of All Things, were known as the "Primordial Trinity."
In Jenkins's perception, the Sun God was a majestic giant wreathed in burning flas, his boundless light seeming capable of lting anything and everything.
The Earth Goddess, by contrast, appeared to him as a slender woman. He could discern no details of her face or attire; he only sensed that her aura was imnse and terrifying, as if it could embrace all of creation, yet also absorb it entirely.
He quieted his mind, feeling for the information embedded in space and ti, striving to commit every possible detail to mory, accepting all that he could with a tranquil heart.
When his consciousness returned to his body, the dull ache in his head was much milder than before. This ti, however, his skin felt not the soft comfort of his bedding, but the hard floorboards and the prickly texture of a doormat.
"ow~"
"Chocolate was worried about , after all."
A smile spread across Jenkins's face at the thought. He pushed himself up from the floor, patting the side of his head before scooping up the nearby cat.
"What would you like to eat?"
The cat had been remarkably well-behaved since the incident with the mouse, and Jenkins was not one to be stingy with rewards.
His gains from this Month's End Whisper were substantial. In addition to six incredibly useful special rituals, he had also acquired the rituals for three new abilities.
The ability from the Sun God was called [Righteous Swing (Red Martial)]. When an Enchanter with this power made a "swinging" motion against evil, they could inflict trendous damage upon it.
The definition of "evil," however, was determined entirely by the user's own convictions. In other words, if an Enchanter with this ability believed that the very existence of humanity was evil, the power they could wield would be all the more devastating.
The abilities from the Earth Mother Goddess were [Promote Growth] and [Wooden Body]. Jenkins had encountered both before. The forr was one of Alexia's abilities, which she claid to have gained after witnessing him perform the [Breath of Life] ritual. The latter was a temporary power he possessed while transford into the exotic [String-Pulling Puppet]. He was actually still a bit disappointed that upon escaping that Mysterious Realm, he had ended up with the far less useful [The String-Puller] instead of [Strong Elental Resistance].
"I'm getting too greedy."
He muttered this to himself, but Chocolate, sitting beside him, thought he was the one being admonished. A hurt look crossed the cat's face, and the little paw that had been reaching for a lychee quietly retracted.
Beyond the rituals and abilities, Jenkins had also absorbed a trendous amount of knowledge and fragnts of information—things like the various uses for sunflowers and techniques for spring planting. But the most intriguing piece of information concerned the land itself:
[On the 17th day of the Month of Earth and Flowers, at the threshold between day and night, the Unnad One will briefly descend to the earth in human form to inspect the spring plowing.]
The ssage began with a grave tone, but the final phrase, "to inspect the spring plowing," struck him as slightly absurd.
Jenkins wasn't sure if this was just so wild information conjured by his muddled mind or a genuine divine revelation. In any case, it had nothing to do with him. The material world was vast; even if this so-called "Unnad One" truly did descend, it was highly unlikely that he, a permanent resident of Nolan, would ever cross its path.
"Excellent. March is officially here. My short-term goals are tomorrow's baptism and finding and dealing with the Skull Sword. My long-term goal is to sort out my relationships with the young ladies. May the Sage protect , and may Your light illuminate the path before !"
He shouted the last line with conviction, tracing the holy emblem over his chest.
He suddenly felt a surge of confidence, as if his luck was about to turn. He summoned his glowing nodes of power and ntally activated [The Unknown Path], but there was no response.
"No reaction is better. If this ability activates, it ans I'm either already in trouble or about to be."
He sighed, then arranged his bedding before the fireplace, preparing for sleep. Once the weather ward a bit more, he would move back to his bedroom on the second floor. He wondered if Chocolate would be able to get used to sleeping on a proper bed.
(Chocolate, anwhile, was already darting about...)
Let us rewind the clock a little. Around the sa ti that Jenkins and his friends were rescuing Mr. Hood from his clash with human traffickers, Julia had arrived safely back at the royal palace in Ruen.
She had a small room of her own here. It was, of course, situated with the other servants' quarters, though hers was slightly larger, in a slightly better location, and a little more finely decorated.
It was only upon her return that she rembered she had not yet given the ruby jewelry back to Mr. Williams, but it was far too late for that now.
"Julia, are you in? I have wonderful news! Father just..."
Princess Dolores's vibrant, enthusiastic voice drifted in from the hallway just before the door was pushed open. Julia was, after all, only a maid; the princess had no need to knock.
"Julia, I've had the most wonderful luck today! Father and I were discussing finance and banking, and he wants to..."
The sixteen-year-old's voice trailed off. She stood frozen, staring in astonishnt at Julia's elegant gown and the exquisitely crafted set of jewelry she wore.
"Your Highness..."
A deep blush of embarrassnt crept up the maid's face. If Jenkins had been there, he would surely have concluded that he had sohow passed his bad luck on to Julia.
"Julia, where have you been?"
Dolores was clearly burning with curiosity, but out of respect for her friend, she asked the question gently. She waved away the maids who had followed her and had the door closed.
The room was simply decorated, but as one of the few maids permitted to reside within the palace walls, Julia's furniture and adornnts were of a quality that no ordinary middle-class family could hope to afford.
Hanging on the wall opposite the bed was an oil painting rendered in a rather amateurish style. The face of the girl depicted—seated on a chair with her hands clasped—was slightly distorted, but from the hairstyle and clothing, it was unmistakably Julia.
Dolores had painted it two years ago, when she was fourteen, using her maid as a model for a piece in her art class. Julia had treasured the painting in her room ever since. It was her most precious possession.
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