Lord of The Mysterious Realms Chapter 1066

As the carriage neared the alley where the young girl Louise lived, Jenkins stroked his cat, which had woken up and was now contentedly sprawled across his lap. He spoke, his voice laced with concern:

"To be honest, I was in this very alley just last night. I was seeing a young flower seller home, but I didn't notice anything amiss... This confirmed case... does the family have a little girl named Louise?"

"No," Bevanna replied definitively. "The child in that household doesn't go by that name."

Bevanna's confident reply brought Jenkins a small measure of relief. Still, an incident wouldn't typically warrant her personal attention. There had to be more to the story, something he wasn't yet aware of.

He decided against returning to Pops Antique Shop for the time being. He would follow Bevanna into the alley, assess the situation firsthand, and then decide what to do next.

After alighting from the carriage, he first found someone to send a message to Pops, telling him not to worry. Then he stood behind Bevanna, listening to the report from the police chief and an apprentice of the Keepers, both dispatched from KalFax Field.

The case had been confirmed earlier that day. Byron Street was a typical urban road, and directly across from the alley's entrance stood a private clinic. The ground floor served as the practice, while the doctor and his family lived on the two floors above. Early that morning, the doctor had been roused from his sleep by a persistent knocking from downstairs. Still in his pajamas, with a coat thrown over them and slippers on his feet, he blearily opened the door to find a frantic middle-aged man on his doorstep.

The man was a resident of the alley, a laborer who earned his keep hauling luggage and cargo down at the docks. His wife worked at the textile mill in the eastern district. She had returned home from the night shift and gone straight to bed. When her husband awoke that morning, he discovered the woman sleeping beside him was no longer breathing. Strange markings covered her body, which looked as if she had been dead for some time—the postmortem lividity was stark and unsettling.

His mind immediately jumped to the rumors of the plague he'd been hearing, and panic seized him. To his credit, his first thought wasn't to conceal the matter, but to find a doctor and determine whether the plague was indeed the cause of his wife's death.

Such was the gist of it. By the time Jenkins met Bevanna and they arrived at the mouth of the alley, an entire morning had passed since the plague's presence had been confirmed.

The entrance to the alley was sealed off with barricades from KalFax Field. Figures in thick, black protective suits and unnerving plague doctor masks moved about within the lane, wielding even stranger contraptions.

The devices consisted of a slender metal rod with a brass-colored disc fixed to its lower end. They were held about half a foot off the ground, sweeping continuously from side to side.

To Jenkins, they looked more like crude mine detectors, but they were, in fact, professional instruments specially treated by the Church to detect the dreadful Corpse Plague.

Once the report concluded, a team of apprentices emerged from the carriage behind Bevanna, led by a Keeper named Corinshir. He was the youngest Keeper in the Nolan diocese and also the one with the largest number of apprentices.

Since they had to enter the alley, everyone donned the heavy protective suits and beak-like masks, regardless of their confidence in their own abilities. They looked just like the police, doctors, and patrol squads already moving through the lane.

Aside from the masquerade ball Hathaway had invited him to, Jenkins rarely wore masks. Such adornments obstructed his vision and made it difficult to breathe.

Naturally, the cat couldn't accompany him. There was certainly no protective suit and mask that would fit Chocolate's frame, and without proper protection, Jenkins would never allow his cat to enter such a dangerous situation.

Chocolate was clearly displeased, but there was no time to change Jenkins's mind. The cat could only sulk, settling atop a nearby wall to watch Jenkins disappear into the alley, its drooping tail a clear sign of its foul mood.

The situation wasn't as dire as Jenkins had feared. Or, at least, the flower girl Louise hadn't been struck by misfortune simply for having met him. The infected household was a good half-alley away from Louise's home. While the risk of infection still existed, it was far better than being next-door neighbors.

He exchanged a quick word with Bevanna. She and her group headed off to inspect the corpse, while Jenkins went alone toward Louise's home. To keep residents from wandering about, patrol officers in protective gear were stationed every few meters. However, Jenkins's suit was of a unique design—a clear symbol of his status. Even those who hadn't seen him arrive by carriage knew not to stand in his way as he approached the door and knocked.

A long moment passed before a man's terrified voice called out from within:

"Is... is there something you need?"

The family inside had likely guessed what was happening in the alley. They weren't allowed outside, but nothing stopped them from peeking through the cracks in the door. The sudden knock sent a wave of fear through the household; their minds filled with rumors of City Hall rounding up anyone suspected of infection and burning them.

"I'm looking for Louise," Jenkins stated. "Her friend, Fini, sent something for her."

Fini was a sensible girl; the small package contained only clothing, no money, which was why Jenkins had brought it over directly.

After he spoke, the door creaked open, just a crack. In truth, Jenkins could have kicked the old wooden door off its hinges with a single blow. The inhabitants of the small, low-slung house had no idea how little protection it truly offered.

The man who opened the door was middle-aged, likely Louise's father. He was clearly intimidated by the tall, strangely garbed figure in the frightening mask, but he managed a brave greeting nonetheless.

"Good afternoon," Jenkins said, holding out the package. "This is for Louise. I hope she likes it."

He held out the bag he was carrying. The man started to reach for it, then hesitated. He turned and called back into the house, and a moment later, a timid young girl appeared in the doorway.

She, too, seemed startled by Jenkins's bizarre appearance, but she bravely reached out, accepted the package, and whispered her thanks. Jenkins nodded, ready to turn and rejoin Bevanna's group to see what was so unusual about this outbreak. Just then, the man inside mustered his courage to ask another question:

"Excuse me, sir," he began. "I was wondering... do you know when this lockdown will be lifted?"

"I'm afraid it will be at least a week."

Jenkins answered, offering the most conservative estimate he could. A full disinfection alone would take a considerable amount of time, to say nothing of screening every potential patient to see if they were infected.

This neighborhood was a densely populated slum. The slightest misstep could land Nolan on the front page of the kingdom's morning papers all over again.