Chapter 146: Chapter 146

"Would you like me to make some introductions? I have many unmarried friends, all proper ladies, and some are even fans of your book. What do you say? Care to consider it? My father told me your 'Stranger's Story Collection' has received unanimous praise from the kingdom's literary figures and critics, and those old gentlemen don't give out compliments lightly... Readers are calling you the best storyteller in years. So, Mr. Baron, why not think about your marital status? A proper gentleman should start a family sooner rather than later."

She said this with a playful grin, and Jenkins nodded dumbly, feeling as if he were facing Mary Williams all over again.

Before Jenkins could object, she continued:

"It's settled then. Next weekend, right here in the first-floor banquet hall, I'll be hosting a small ball for my friends. My father won't let me leave, so this will be our first get-together since that whole disaster. I wonder if our newly minted Baron would be able to attend."

"Wonderful! Saturday evening, then. I'll see you there!"

The blonde girl beamed, bowing at the waist in a distinctly masculine fashion before turning to laugh at Chocolate, who was lounging on the bed.

Hathaway, who had just entered with her maid, happened to witness the scene. She shot a look of reflexive confusion at Jenkins.

Then Miss Mikhail, her eyes narrowed, also fixed her gaze on Jenkins.

Jenkins lowered his head, pretending to smooth out his clothes, completely certain that he was still the same Jenkins who was hopeless at interacting with women.

He lingered at Miss Mikhail's for a while longer. She was in excellent health, showing no signs of having been tainted by the demon's blasphemous knowledge. It seemed Jenkins's Blasphemous Creation was truly the perfect antidote to that strange corruption.

Hathaway eventually learned of the invitation to the ball. She was slightly displeased but didn't let it show, though Jenkins somehow knew anyway.

Carrying this strange feeling with him, he bid farewell to the two noblewomen, declined their offer to see him out, and closed the large door behind him.

"Briny, what are you trying to do? Mr. Williams is my friend."

The red-haired girl was a little annoyed, but her tone remained gentle.

"I'm introducing him to potential marriage partners, of course. Didn't Papa Oliver mention this to us before?"

The blonde girl replied.

Miss Hersha considered this. With Jenkins's peculiar personality, if no one intervened, he might very well end up a thirty-year-old bachelor living alone. The thought cheered her up considerably.

"If that's the case, then it's a wonderful idea. Mr. Williams will thank us for this someday."

And just like that, there was one more person who felt bewildered.

"So it's not that kind of relationship?"

As Jenkins stepped out of the hospital room, he was immediately stopped by the short lady from before.

"Sir, I've come to repay you!"

She held out her hands, presenting a copper coin and a crumpled five-pence note.

"Oh, so soon? But I only gave you five pence."

"This is the interest. I always pay interest when I borrow money, otherwise it wouldn't be a fair transaction! According to the current rate at Travelers' Bank... Hmm, let's just round it up to one pence!"

"I can't beat her." The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the NoveI(F)ire.net

Jenkins silently acknowledged that the lady before him could easily knock him down, so he took the six pence.

"You don't have to be so precise."

"That won't do. Everything in this world can be calculated with precision. There must be no errors!"

As she spoke, the girl clutched the strap of her yellow satchel, waved at Jenkins, and clattered down the stairs in her little leather shoes.

"People who say things like that usually end up regretting it."

He muttered the rest of the sentence he had started, shrugged, and was about to leave with Chocolate in his arms.

A hand landed on his shoulder. He turned to see it was Captain Bincy.

"What are you doing here!"

"I could ask you the same thing."

Jenkins replied with a sense of resignation. It seemed he had to be cautious every time he stepped outside.

The two of them walked side by side to the oil painting of a knight on horseback that hung at the top of the stairs.

"I was just about to look for you, and here you are. It must be a sign from the Sage!"

"I was visiting a friend. Anyway, what's going on?"

Of course, that had to be the reason.

The matter stemmed from the recent demon incident. The spoils from killing the demon weren't limited to the candle and the short blade Jenkins had left behind. The Church had kept a far more dangerous item, discovered during the search of young Wellington's residence, from the public.

"B-02-3-8810, the Spear of Longevity at a Slight Cost."

Bincy led Jenkins to the hospital's top-floor attic. In addition to Mr. Smith, the Keeper of Secrets, there were several strangers in the room, along with an unconscious young man strapped to a hospital bed.

"These are friends from the Church of All Things and Nature."

Captain Bincy gave Jenkins a slight wink.

"B-02-3-8810 is an Extraordinary item that was lost by the Church of All Things and Nature. Now that we've found it, we've reached a buy-back agreement. This is simply a final confirmation to ensure its effects match what's on record."

That explained the choice of location. The Church of All Things and Nature had no official branch in the city, but this hospital likely served as one of their local strongholds.

In cities without a Church of Knowledge and Books, certain bookstores fulfilled a similar role. Some were public, hospital, while others were kept secret, like the one belonging to the Church of Sun and Justice.

"The item's effect is just as its name suggests. You pierce a person's heart with the spear and then pull it out. The target gains five years and eight months of life but permanently loses two of their senses—taste, smell, hearing, or sight. And a person can only use it once."

The one who spoke was an old man with the holy symbol of the Church of All Things and Nature emblazoned on his chest. His face was ancient, the wrinkles like a thousand gullies carved by a river. Jenkins recalled Papa Oliver once mentioning that the Enchanters of that church used to accumulate Spirit in the most primitive way: by communing with nature.

Unlike the primitive methods used by ancient Enchanters, the modern approach involved smearing a "special" kind of oil on one's body and sitting naked in the wilderness.

His excessively weathered face was probably related to that practice.

"What happens if you use it a second time?"

Jenkins asked curiously. The old man patiently explained, "Instant death. The most absolute kind of death. A death that no ability, ritual, or item can reverse."

Jenkins nodded in understanding.

The most malicious aspect of the item was that after the spear was withdrawn, the wound to the heart would not heal on its own. In other words, if one didn't have a method of healing prepared beforehand, they would bleed to death in seconds, extended lifespan or not.