Chapter 1485: Chapter 1485

“Everyone in the black market is talking about it. If you were actually in Nolan, you could have heard it for yourself.”

Hathaway answered with a shrug, leaning against the wall. Beneath the moonlight, the curved eyeholes of her white mask seemed to glitter, lending her a rather eerie appearance.

“I am in Nolan, but I haven’t heard anything about the Gear Artisans’ Association.”

Jenkins caught the linguistic trap in her words. He also knew that his "Candle Mr" alias probably wouldn’t last much longer. He considered telling Hathaway the truth, bit by bit, after he returned from Bel Diran.

But the most important thing after returning from Bel Diran would be to investigate exactly what the Gear Artisans’ Association had been up to while he was away. Their activities had already attracted the attention of the Orthodox Churches. The followers of the Earth Mother were currently using the locations and depths of the frequent earthquakes from the past six months to calculate and deduce their cause. He believed they would have results soon.

After the gathering concluded, Magic Miss asked Jenkins to wait. She handed him the knowledge she had promised during their trade for the Heart of the Ocean and repeated the clue about that Bestowal one more time.

Though the clue was reliable, it was extremely vague. Jenkins figured it would take more than a single night to unravel, so once the gathering was over, he returned to Bel Diran and spent a peaceful night in his room at the church.

The next day, after breakfast, Pontiff IV received Jenkins in his office. They discussed his journey to the northern kingdom and the current state of the continent. The official purpose of Jenkins’s visit to Bel Diran was to report on his duties, which required not only writing a tedious report but also giving a presentation in Bel Diran on the topic of "Suggestions and Opinions on Church Development in the Northern Kingdom."

He would likely stay in Bel Diran for about a week at most. Once he had settled these matters, he could take the steam train back to Nolan City.

Jenkins didn't detect any hidden meaning in the old man's words. He then spent another hour discussing the situation in Bel Diran with him.

Her Majesty the Queen’s health was failing. This was hardly a secret anymore. With the onset of war, spies from both kingdoms were actively searching for any noteworthy information to exploit.

Consequently, discussions about the royal succession had spread from the upper echelons of the nobility to the city's streets and alleyways. People delighted in debating the topic, though the most fervent were those who vehemently opposed letting that foreigner from Cheslan inherit the throne.

“So, has the Queen made up her mind yet?”

Jenkins inquired. In a situation lacking a direct heir, where those high in the line of succession by blood were less than ideal, it would be understandable if the Queen simply appointed a successor herself.

“The rumor is that the current Queen intends for the daughter of the Windsor family to inherit the throne. As you know, she is a distant relative from her mother’s side. If you were to check the genealogy, you’d find they did indeed acquire Middleton blood through marriage more than a dozen generations ago.”

“If that’s true, the kingdom will have a female monarch for two consecutive generations. That’s never happened before, has it? Speaking of which, what is our position on this? I believe you could offer me some insight.”

Jenkins posed the question to the old Pontiff. Were it not for his status as the Saint Son, he would never have dared to ask such a thing.

“I won’t bother with the official statements meant for the heretics; you can read those in the newspapers. As for our true intentions...”

The old man glanced at Jenkins, his aged hand lifting the teacup before him for a small sip, bringing the conversation to a halt for a few seconds.

“We will not support Windsor. She is a follower of the God of War, which is quite dangerous. Even though the war has begun, no one wants to see it drag on for decades. If possible, we will support a follower of the Sage. This doesn’t mean we are attempting to violate the High Tower Accord by interfering in the secular succession of power. It is simply a necessary measure to deal with the current complex decision.”

Due to frequent royal intermarriages, among the dozens of heirs in the line of succession, there were indeed three who believed—or at least claimed to believe—in the Sage.

The Church had no intention of installing a puppet and manipulating them to turn the Fidektri Kingdom into a theocracy, and Jenkins supported that stance. The End of the Era had arrived, and with disasters and incidents occurring one after another, all the regulations and clauses that applied in times of peace were indeed somewhat obsolete now.

As for the war on the front lines, the situation on land remained much the same. The excessively long border forced both kingdoms to disperse their forces, which meant neither side could immediately organize a large-scale battle capable of shifting the tide of the war. At sea, the Fidektri navy, having absorbed the Seven Pirate Kings, was now stronger than Cheslan’s, despite some unpleasant incidents in Nolan City.

But the warships and sailors needed to recuperate. The great battle in the Broken Isles, though partially a performance, had been a real war. The Kingdom planned to dispatch the fleet as soon as possible, and Cheslan was actively seeking a way to counter it.

In other words, the war was at a stalemate. As time went on, its effects would spread from the front lines to the entire nation and eventually the whole world. Then, the challenges facing the kingdom would extend far beyond supply and recruitment. Newest update provıded by NoveI-Fire.ɴet

After concluding his conversation with Pontiff IV, Jenkins found himself with nothing to do. He projected himself to Nolan City, hoping to speak with Hathaway.

But when he arrived at the Hesha Estate, he didn’t see Hathaway. He went to Briny’s, but neither of them was there. Finally, he checked the club and Hathaway’s house in the riverfront district, but there was no sign of the two young women.

Completely baffled, he used some less-than-honorable means to sneak into the Hesha Estate, where he learned from Hathaway's brother that Hathaway and Briny had recently set off with some friends on a trip to Bel Diran.