Strolling through the rain, Jenkins instinctively slowed his pace. Through the veil of rain, he saw a street corner where a sweet shop stood. Normally, it sold cakes and cookies, and during the sumr, they'd set out tables and chairs to serve ice cream.
The shop was closed now. Huddled under the eaves in front of its shut doors stood Fini and the young flower seller Jenkins had encountered just a few days prior, both seeking shelter from the downpour.
The two girls appeared to know each other, chatting quietly as they watched the rain fall.
Fini clutched a brown paper bag, its contents a mystery. The flower seller, on the other hand, held an empty basket, suggesting she'd sold all of her blossoms for the day.
Neither of them noticed the man across the street was Jenkins, but he felt compelled to go over and greet them.
He crossed the street with his umbrella, and Fini imdiately greeted him with a warm smile. The other girl seed a little shy, though Jenkins couldn't recall having done anything untoward the last ti they t.
Upon asking, he learned they were both stranded, caught in the rain without umbrellas.
The rain had let up for a short while in the evening, so Fini had left the church to run an errand, only to be trapped when the downpour returned. The flower seller had spent the entire day under the eaves of a nearby intersection, peddling her wares. She intended to wait for the rain to subside before heading ho; getting soaked could lead to a cold, and for soone who couldn't afford a doctor, a simple illness could be a death sentence.
She was a friend from Fini's own days of selling flowers on the street. Fini had spotted her by the roadside while looking for shelter, and they had struck up a conversation.
Since neither of the girls had an umbrella, Jenkins decided to take a detour. He first escorted the flower seller ho, and then walked Fini back to the church.
The flower seller lived with her parents and a flock of siblings, both older and younger. In that sense, she was more fortunate than Fini, who was all alone. But her family lived in the slums, with nearly ten people cramd into a single tiny room. As they walked, she occasionally glanced at Fini with a look of envy, a detail that Jenkins noticed, but Fini did not.
On the way back to the church, Fini ntioned that because she had witnessed a supernatural event with Jenkins last year—the massacre of her aunt's family—the church had consulted her and decided to test her for any potential as an Enchanter.
The test would be a long process, and Fini wouldn't be allowed to leave the church for its duration. If she could develop her spirit within a year without any adverse ntal effects, she would officially be accepted into the diocese's training program.
She wouldn't be the only child undergoing the test, so spending a full year inside the church wouldn't be a lonely affair.
Fini seed incredibly excited as she walked through the rain, chattering on and on to Jenkins about her future. He listened, but never brought himself to tell her that the odds of an ordinary person possessing the talent for such powers were actually incredibly low.
"You'll bless , won't you?"
As they parted ways, the little girl asked him with a hint of hesitation. The phrasing was rather odd; Jenkins suspected she'd picked it up from so obscure religious text.
"Of course."
Jenkins answered with a nod, and Fini's face imdiately broke into a radiant smile.
Ever since last week's gathering in Ruen, it seed a week had passed without any major incidents for Jenkins.
As his form materialized on the sofa, he was still mulling over what new developnts he could share with Alexia. All he could think of was the green-flad demon he'd slain, the cult known as the Dead Man's Whip, and the Cursed Item summoned by the Quake family. But none of those seed particularly significant.
"Should I ntion that strange future?"
He wondered, then dismissed the thought.
Ruen remained peaceful and serene. The curtains were drawn back, allowing Jenkins to gaze out at the city's nightscape. There was no snow tonight; in fact, he could feel a distinct warmth in the air compared to the previous week. It was the third month of the year, and spring was finally on its way to the city.
The young won in the room were all delighted to see him. While last week's incident with the wish-granting monster had led to so unpleasantness, the matter was resolved. Jenkins suspected Dolores would have no desire to revisit such an embarrassing topic.
"A noble family used the power of a Cursed Item to try and assassinate soone favored by an Orthodox Church? The Quakes will be stripped of their title."
Her Highness the Princess ca to this conclusion. She was concerned about whether Jenkins had been hard in the dangerous affair, but he assured her it was his divination teacher, and his teacher's teacher, who had been injured.
He, in turn, was concerned about the "Snowman Legion" incident unfolding in the northern Hamparvo Kingdom. Ever since hearing about it from Papa Oliver, he had been worried about how it might affect his friends in the north.
Alexia inford him that while the legion's speed of expansion and its sheer power were beyond what anyone had anticipated, it was, for the mont, still considered manageable.
"I heard from my father that once the situation in the desert is resolved, the Orthodox Church will dispatch forces to the north to eliminate that strange army. The thing is, the situation in the desert isn't looking very optimistic either..."
The princess glanced furtively at Jenkins, hoping he might have more information. But Jenkins knew little about the naless temple discovered deep in the desert, other than his initial speculation that it had been built to suppress so kind of seal beneath it.
Reports of bizarre events and artifacts were now erging from all corners of the continent. While not yet on the scale of Nolan's troubles, it was a clear sign that the material world was descending into chaos once more.
Many people, Jenkins included, believed these were ons foretelling the end of the Epoch—the overture to a great cataclysm.
While Jenkins's life in Nolan had found a temporary peace, the young won in Ruen were still navigating a life of tense intrigue.
After the incident with the secret coffer last week, no further threats had materialized around Dolores. It was as if the Cursed Item had truly ended up in the third princess's possession by pure chance.
But Dolores's agents had already uncovered a few leads. Her eldest brother and sister had also beco aware of the extraordinary power surrounding their younger sibling and had, for the ti being, refrained from making their next move.
At present, the conflict among the Stuart children centered on the creation of a new governnt departnt. More than one person saw its potential, and more than one person wanted to control it.
Fortunately, Dolores had already won her father's approval with her outstanding "talent," and none of the Stuart children had the courage to challenge their father's authority.
She could involve herself in the matter without a fight, making it easier to place her own people on the council. As for her other siblings, Dolores certainly held no affection for them.
She wasn't naturally cold-hearted; it was simply that her family had never offered her any warmth.
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