Chapter 1559: Chapter 1559

"If this item exists, then why were those two still killed by me? Did they cherish their souls so much that they happened not to touch it on the day they ran into me? Or does the Silent Death Messenger have its limits?"

Jenkins pondered this, reaching out to retrieve the item from the corner of the wardrobe. After a moment's thought, however, he grabbed a piece of tattered clothing from nearby, wrapped the skull in it, and only then took it out, careful to avoid direct contact.

The previous occupant of this room had hidden important letters in a crevice of the bed frame. If not for Chocolate's help, Jenkins would never have discovered such a well-concealed slit.

Most of the letters were encrypted, and without knowing the cipher, Jenkins could only see a meaningless jumble of letters, unable to discern their meaning. The handful of letters written in plain language, however, confirmed his suspicions: the Gear Artisans' Association had indeed sent only two people to Bel Diran, and the order to capture Miss Windsor had been received just yesterday.

It was the last letter sent from Nolan City. The tone was severe, demanding that the recipients execute the plan immediately. The letter stated that Miss Windsor was an ordinary person, so no additional assistance would be sent from Nolan. It also urged the two agents to complete their mission as quickly as possible, because their partners claimed that the original operative assigned to this task had somehow managed to provoke both the Church and the Believers of Lies, and was now dead.

"What in the world is going on?" Official source ıs novel-fire.ɴet

Jenkins stood in the moonlight streaming through the window, using the soft glow to read the letter's text. He felt he was on the verge of uncovering the truth, but it was all still just speculation.

"Could Carmel be working with the Gear Artisans' Association? Yes, it's certainly possible. After all, he threatened me with the Gear Disease Curse. But capturing Miss Windsor... could it be for the so-called 'King Soul'?"

Until now, Jenkins had only heard this term from Carmel himself. He had once asked Old Man Broshier, a Keeper of Secrets for the Sage Church, but the old man had simply told him to ask his divination teacher, Miss Audrey.

He ran a hand through his hair, wondering that if the so-called "Four King Souls" truly existed, which one might Miss Windsor correspond to.

Besides the letters, Jenkins also found some occult and mechanical documents that the two Enchanters had been carrying. But since they were on an away mission, the materials didn't touch upon the core technologies of the Gear Artisans' Association.

He also found the antique mechanical parts that the cultist he'd killed tonight had purchased from the Antiquities Market. He surmised that these were materials the Nolan cultists needed to repair or unseal the Difference Engine.

He took nothing from the room, only copying some of the text into his Book of Memories. He had originally wanted to take the Silent Death Messenger, but after considering it, he gave up the idea. He held a profound reverence and wariness for prophecy and divination, and he had no desire to learn his future from any source. It would only interfere with his own plans and arrangements.

After leaving the inn, Jenkins went nowhere else, simply returning to his house with the cat. He washed up and then stood by the window of his second-floor bedroom, gazing down at the street below. It took him a long while to dismiss the idea of disturbing Miss Audrey. As he slid into bed, his mind was still occupied with the thought that if the Four King Souls existed, then did Dolores and her siblings possess the Ice Soul?

Heeding the advice of Hathaway and Briny, Jenkins, living alone, made no further attempts to cook his own breakfast. Instead, on Saturday morning, he went to the Rosalia Inn to dine with the young women. Since it was the weekend, the tour group planned to leave the crowded city and take a carriage to a small town in the countryside surrounding Bel Diran to enjoy the pastoral scenery. They seemed largely unfazed by the attack at City Hall the previous day.

After the meal, Jenkins recounted the entire story of his dinner at the Cold Spring Palace the night before to Hathaway and Briny. He then brought up the subject of that evening's banquet and the matter of his new title.

Briny and Hathaway were both astonished; neither had known their fathers were also in Bel Diran. But both were delighted to accompany Jenkins to the banquet and didn't mind at all that he had invited the two of them at once.

Of course, Jenkins didn't forget to mention Miss Windsor. He didn't speak of the attack they had endured together the previous night, only explaining that for certain reasons, he had to invite her.

"She asked me to invite her," he stated with considerable honesty.

He added that if they had any questions, they could ask Miss Windsor for the specific reasons that evening. Hathaway and Briny were pleased with Jenkins's candor. They trusted his word; after all, in their experience, Jenkins wasn't the sort of man who would proactively invite a strange young woman to a banquet.

In their eyes, he was a man of his word.

Since they needed to select suitable and formal gowns for the evening's banquet at the Cold Spring Palace, the two women decided not to join the tour group on their trip to the countryside. Instead, they excitedly set off together to browse the dress shops.

Jenkins, naturally, had no intention of joining them on a shopping trip. After arranging a time to meet that evening, he decided to find Papa Oliver and discuss the events at the palace.

Papa Oliver wasn't at the inn. After inquiring at the front desk, Jenkins learned that he had gone to church for services. With that, Jenkins made his way to the diocesan headquarters on the city's outskirts.

Papa Oliver had been swamped with work lately. He had originally come to Bel Diran for the Antiquities Market and to appraise a troublesome numbered item for the local diocese. But with the vast number of special items confiscated from Carmel, the Keepers of Secrets in the Bel Diran diocese were short-staffed, and Papa Oliver had been roped in to help with the appraisals.

When Jenkins found him, Papa Oliver was poring over a coverless book, searching for information. He continued flipping through the pages, nodding as he listened to Jenkins describe his experiences from the previous night. Finally, he spoke.

"Since you've already spoken with Pope Pontiff about your views on the throne, what you do next is entirely up to you. You are the Church's Saint Son; no one in the Church has the right to condemn any of your actions, so proceed boldly. Of course, if you run into any trouble, don't forget that the Church is always ready to help you..."

Papa Oliver finally lifted his eyes from the book and added with a meaningful look,

"Assistance of any kind."

Jenkins understood his meaning. The Church very much wanted him to take up the crown. Although they publicly professed non-interference in his choice, they were already prepared to lend him their aid.