Chapter 1564: Chapter 1564
In a corner of the palace gardens, Jenkins was quietly reminding Hathaway to be careful. She nodded in agreement, then watched as he reached for her neck and gently took hold of her necklace.
"One moment, please," he murmured, unclasping the necklace from the red-haired woman's neck. He cupped it in his hands, held it to his chest, and closed his eyes, softly reciting a prayer in praise of the Sage.
"There," he said a moment later, handing the necklace back to Hathaway. As she took it, she felt that the chain was somehow different. It had been an expensive piece of jewelry before, but now it seemed to possess an indescribable quality, a subtle texture that made it feel more... sacred.
"I've blessed it," Jenkins explained. "For a short while, it will grant you a degree of immunity to curses, and malevolent forces will instinctively avoid you. The effect will probably only last for about half an hour."
Jenkins had long been able to consecrate bullets on his own, so blessing a piece of jewelry was a simple matter for him. To Hathaway, however, imbuing an object with supernatural properties through prayer alone, without any materials or rituals, was nothing short of a miracle.
"So this is what it means to be a Saint," she thought, feeling for the first time the true difference between the man she had chosen and any mortal man.
Jenkins's eyes remained fixed on the red aura. He followed it around a flowerbed and between two hedge walls, finally spotting his target at the base of an equestrian statue of a knight. The statue likely depicted a past king of the Fidektri Kingdom, one renowned for his military prowess, but Jenkins knew little about him and couldn't say which of this body's ancestors it was.
Two figures were beneath the statue: one standing, the other collapsed on the ground. The one standing was a beautiful woman in a long blue dress, with two vertical lines of white lace running from her collar to her waist.
She smiled as Jenkins rounded the corner, then bowed her head slightly in a gesture of respect.
The woman was the source of the red aura, while the short servant lying weakly on the ground emanated a black one. Jenkins gave the woman a nod in response, then pulled a pair of white gloves from his pocket. He crouched and carefully turned the servant over, immediately noticing his already-distorting features.
"The Blood Mosquito Curse!"
Though startled, he kept his voice even. "What is this doing here? Hathaway, don't come any closer. Step back."
He shooed the cat from his shoulder as well, then rummaged through his pockets for several charms imbued with sacred, blessed, and protective power. He pushed them into the soil around the servant and offered a solemn prayer to prevent the curse from contaminating the land.
In truth, the garden itself possessed a powerful life spirit, its concentration second only to the Evergreen Forest, far surpassing even a primeval, untouched woodland. Jenkins guessed this was due to the Middleton family's long residence here. While this life spirit could likely contain the curse's spread, Jenkins chose to be more cautious.
"You needn't be alarmed," the woman in the blue dress said. She glanced at Hathaway, who stood at a distance, then smiled at the cat by her feet before continuing. "This is the only cursed one who escaped from the manor on the other side of the city. I brought him here myself and have him completely under control."
"Would you care to make a trade? I know you possess a great many Sin Coins, and I can certainly offer you something satisfactory in return. Consider this... a token of my sincerity."
She extended her right foot, clad in a sequined blue high heel, and nudged the cursed man. He let out a faint cry as his body began to petrify, slowly turning to stone. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novelꜰire.net
This was no ordinary petrification. As flesh and blood turned to stone, the black aura of the Blood Mosquito Curse faded along with it.
"Shall I introduce myself?" the woman asked, and without waiting for Jenkins's reply, she continued, "The followers of the Righteous Gods call me B-11-4-3091, The Lady of the Banquet. I only appear at lively gatherings such as this, and no one ever finds my presence as a stranger perplexing. When I am at a banquet, no mundane murders will occur, and any non-supernatural poison will be rendered ineffective. This effect lasts until the banquet ends or until I choose to depart."
Even knowing that some B-class Extraordinary items were bizarre, even absurd, Jenkins was still astonished by the abilities of the woman before him.
"I am the guardian of the banquet. I adore such occasions. When I appear at a banquet held on a rainy day, the drinks served will possess a certain healing quality for the duration of the event. When I appear at a banquet held at night, any act of procreation that occurs will have a twenty percent higher chance of conception. When I appear at a banquet with no guest over fifty years of age, there is a one-in-three chance that the last person to leave will find fourteen pounds of gold on their way home. And when I attend a banquet where a pure-blood elf, a dwarf, a halfling, and a succubus are all present, every single participant will go irreversibly mad by the end..."
"Why is that?" Hathaway couldn't help but ask from a distance.
"A banquet is for enjoyment," the woman explained. "But the attitudes of those four exotic races toward revelry are mutually exclusive. I despise conflict at a party."
She then gestured toward the statue of the cursed man on the ground. "During a banquet, when I face any being with the intent to ruin the festivities, I am the equivalent of a Saint descended upon the material world. Stopping something from spoiling the party is a trivial matter."
After her explanation, she looked back at Jenkins. He studied her with curiosity, feeling little tension or alarm. He organized his thoughts before speaking. "This is fascinating. I have encountered a number of sentient, humanoid B-class Extraordinary phenomena before, and I have seen unique individuals among them in many special incidents, but you are... perhaps the most rational and human-like of them all."
If not for the undeniable aura she radiated, Jenkins would have suspected she was simply human. Her presence felt nothing like that of a B-class entity.
But everything the woman had just said was true. She had repeatedly called herself "the guardian of the banquet," and given her current state, Jenkins had reason to believe that she was nearing the end of the second path to godhood—the path of collecting Sin Coins and shouldering sin. That was why she appeared so lucid, almost entirely shed of her abnormal nature.
Even the insurance salesman he had met before hadn't been as rational as she was. If she truly ascended, the world would likely gain a new "God of Banquets and Revelry."
"You've reached the end of your path?" he ventured, testing his theory.
"Yes. After countless epochs, I am finally about to take the final step. That is why I need Sin Coins. I believe you understand my meaning."
The woman spoke, then bowed respectfully to Jenkins once more. "So, is there anything you wish to receive from me? I will do everything in my power to fulfill your request."
Jenkins furrowed his brow. Such a chance encounter was not part of his plans for the evening. But at least it wasn't a bad thing. Compared to stumbling upon a Cursed Item, a B-class entity willing to trade was at least unlikely to cause any destruction.
With that in mind, he turned to look at Hathaway. The red-haired woman understood his meaning. She looked curiously at the woman, whose exceptional looks and bearing were quite remarkable, and said carefully, "I'll go find Briny. She's probably wondering where we went. You... be careful."
She knew the situation was strange. The woman claiming to be a B-class Extraordinary item was being far too respectful toward Jenkins. Even if Jenkins was the Saint of the Inherited Sage Church, such friendliness felt abrupt. But she wouldn't press him for an explanation. She knew Jenkins still had his secrets, and that he would tell her in his own time.
Jenkins walked over to the red-haired woman and gently kissed her forehead. Hathaway smiled and pushed him away playfully, then disappeared around a hedge. Only after he was sure she was gone did Jenkins bend down, scoop up his cat, and turn back to continue their conversation.
"That human female is truly fortunate. I imagine that after you leave the material world, you will make her your angel or perhaps a holy spirit? That is a privilege even the most devout believers rarely receive."
The woman inquired. Jenkins neither confirmed nor denied it. He took the round coins from his pocket and opened his palm for her to see. "If you are willing to trade fairly, I have no objection to a discussion. I have three Soul Gold coins, two Gems of Ages, one Seed of Blasphemy, and one Ring of Greed. It is not much."
"No, for me, this is already a rare fortune. Do you think Sin Coins are so easily obtained?" the woman said, then asked, "So, what must I provide to receive these from you?"
Jenkins was actually quite curious about the abilities the woman could offer, but he clearly had more pressing matters to address. "Instead of a material trade, let us begin with a few questions."
He put the coins back in his pocket, save for a single Seed of Blasphemy which he held between his fingers. "I know there are some questions you cannot answer, but I trust you will not refuse to speak on matters you can. First, I am curious: can beings such as yourself not create your own Sin Coins?"
He had not forgotten the origins of his "Blasphemous Creation" ability, and from his own experience—whether it was the girl selling flowers, the insurance salesman, the reaper under the tree, or any of the other strange things he had met—they all possessed the power to extract sin from intelligent life and condense it into Sin Coins.