With sothing like this happening, the baptism obviously couldn't continue. A brief investigation revealed that all the ordinary humans in the Evergreen Forest had fallen into a deep, unwakeable slumber. The Benefactors and the animals gathered around the clearing, as if on a pilgrimage (Chocolate included), were completely unaffected.
Only one thing could cause such an effect: the Cursed Item A-06-1-6269, "Good night, my child." And that particular item was still supposedly secured within the Legacy Sage Church, which clearly ant a major incident had occurred in the city.
There wasn't even ti to take Jenkins back to St. George Avenue. Old Daddy and Miss Bevanna simply told him to stay put in the forest before they, along with the others, rushed back toward Nolan City.
Not many Benefactors remained in the Evergreen Forest, and most of them were busy tending to the unconscious who had been injured when they collapsed.
"I knew it. Whenever there's a baptism, sothing's bound to go wrong."
Jenkins muttered to himself, then went over to help Captain Bincy's squad, propping up the injured children and moving them to one side.
As he bent down to help Finney, he noticed the ruby necklace he'd given her for her birthday hanging around her fair neck.
Suddenly, he felt sothing touch his behind. Jenkins spun around, annoyed, only to see Chocolate perched on the antlers of a magnificent stag, tapping him with a tiny paw.
Behind them, the vast legion of animals rose like a tide, their eyes fixed intently on Jenkins.
"Jenkins, go and keep an eye on them."
The animals' movents were starting to interfere with the first aid efforts, so Captain Bincy had Jenkins stop helping and lead them toward the pool at the base of the great tree.
The young writer leaned against the massive trunk and sat down on the ground. The rabbits, birds, fawns, and other creatures ford a circle, cordoning off the area. This cleared space for treating the injured and arranging the unconscious, and it also ensured Jenkins wouldn't wander off. Captain Bincy signaled for him to just stay put and not move around.
"Are you all looking for for so reason?"
Seeing that everyone else was so distance away, Jenkins dared to ask in a low voice. A chorus of calls and chirps answered him, but unfortunately, from cat ows to birdsong, Jenkins didn't understand a single animal language.
He reached up and lifted his mischievous cat off the poor stag's head. The kitten owed, flailing her little paws in the air, clearly having the ti of her life.
"You stay here and be good. I'm going back to the city to see what's happened."
He whispered into the cat's ear, and Chocolate nodded frantically.
Jenkins sighed, tossing the spiritual lodestone from his pocket at the base of the tree. Then, with incredible speed, he used the "Real Illusion" linked to a closet back ho to return to St. George Avenue.
He projected himself back to the base of the tree, leaving behind an illusion of himself resting with his eyes closed, then canceled the projection and returned ho.
This way, the Jenkins at ho was fully physical, while the people in the forest saw an illusion of Jenkins cradling his cat, dozing among a nagerie of resting animals.
"I have a feeling this is sothing really big."
With Chocolate not around, he was talking to himself again. He summoned his ability motes and ntally prodded "The Unknown Path," but there was still no response.
He narrowed his eyes in thought for a mont, then went down to the basent to grab his essential weapons, charms, and materials. Only then did he ride his unicorn from the second floor, flying up into the sky toward the black clouds.
If the pocket watch Alexia had given him wasn't broken, it should only be ten in the morning.
But the sun was completely obscured by ominous clouds, making the whole of Nolan look as if night had fallen. The thick fog that usually lingered on the city's outskirts had taken the opportunity to creep into the urban center, reducing visibility even further.
Not even in the dead of night had Jenkins ever witnessed such an apocalyptic scene. He flew against the grim wind for a while, but he couldn't stand the feeling of sand repeatedly lashing his face. He had a slightly disgruntled unicorn return, then proceeded toward the church on foot.
He could see slumbering pedestrians on the streets. At one five-way intersection, Jenkins saw a carriage that had nearly crashed into a shop wall.
Fortunately, though the driver and passengers were unconscious, the horse pulling the carriage was not. It stamped its hooves restlessly near a postbox, not even paying attention to the strange man walking past.
The atmosphere grew tense as he neared the Legacy Sage Church. From several streets away, Jenkins could hear unusual sounds. He didn't dare get any closer, instead climbing up a drainpipe to the roof of a three-story apartnt building to get a look at the situation.
But such a good vantage point had already been taken. The mont he poked his head over the edge, he saw Magic Miss, cloaked in camouflage, lying behind a decorative clay statue on the roof.
If the wind hadn't been whipping her clothes about, causing the air around her to shimr with an unnatural optical effect, Jenkins might not have spotted her at all.
"I'm Mr. Candle!"
He wasn't carrying the white cat, Vanilla, so he had to announce his identity beforehand. After flashing his purple emblem, he crouched down and moved beside Magic Miss, whispering:
"Why do I keep running into you lately?"
"I was about to ask you the sa thing."
The woman replied in a low voice. She patted Jenkins's arm, and her camouflage imdiately extended from his sleeve, enveloping him as well.
"I ca to see what all the commotion was about. You really gave a scare just now. What's the situation?"
He asked softly.
He had only expected to get so vague information from Magic Miss, who had arrived earlier, but she knew far more than he'd imagined.
"I've been lying here ever since I left Mr. Hood's place last night."
"Hmm?"
Jenkins already knew Magic Miss was unconventional, but he hadn't thought she'd be audacious enough to spy on an Orthodox Church.
"I wasn't spying on the Legacy Sage Church. I was watching the river over there."
She pointed behind them.
"Around nine this morning, that man with the Skull Sword we saw last night suddenly stord the church. A few minutes later, the people on the streets fell unconscious. I assu so strange Cursed Item was activated."
"It's A-06-1-6269, 'Good night, my child'."
Jenkins inford her.
"I see. So that thing was found. Hasn't it been lost for several epochs?"
Magic Miss looked astonished, then continued:
"The church's demigods aren't here, and Pomphey seed to be after sothing. He left the church not long after the Cursed Item was activated. But the power that sword is displaying now is even greater than last night; only the gods know what it's absorbed. Mr. Candle, if you have any designs on it, I'd strongly advise you not to be the first one to charge in."
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