Chapter 1749: Chapter 1749

"Why don't you start by telling me what this so-called danger is?"

Jenkins coaxed. Now that he understood the full story, the professor's recent lie didn't bother him in the slightest.

The professor was clearly hesitant, but perhaps due to the guilt from his recent lie, he was more easily persuaded than usual.

"But you must promise me that no matter what you hear, you won't take any risks. If you do, I'll really have to tell the Church."

"Alright, I promise."

He gave a somewhat perfunctory reply. The professor eyed him suspiciously, then gave a slight nod before speaking.

"A voice in my dream told me that if you want to understand yourself on a deeper level, you must enter a Mysterious Realm..."

Jenkins suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity.

"A Mysterious Realm that doesn't appear in a fixed location. The voice claimed it wasn't dangerous. It also said I could suggest you enter it... but I don't buy any of that. How could any Mysterious Realm not be dangerous?"

"When you say... 'doesn't appear in a fixed location,' do you mean..."

The professor glanced at Jenkins again and shook his head firmly.

"I'm not telling you. Are you planning to go looking for it? I'm sorry, but if you're serious about entering that Mysterious Realm, we at least have to tell Papa Oliver. If he gives his consent, then I'll tell you."

When it came to Mysterious Realms, the professor was a man of firm principles, shutting down Jenkins's unspoken question before he could even voice it. He knew the chances of persuading the professor were slim; the man was clearly determined not to let him take any risks.

"But this is probably 'someone' wanting to have a word with me again," he mused. "Could it be... the Lord of Blossoms..."

He lowered his head, lost in thought. The cat sleeping on his lap suddenly twitched and woke with a start. It patted Jenkins's leg with its paw for some unknown reason, then stood up. With sleepy eyes, it pushed off his leg with its hind paws, placed its front paws on the edge of the table, and tried to climb up.

"Don't be so mischievous. I'll get you a late-night snack in a moment... There, you happy now? Weren't you full from the cake earlier?"

The professor asked absently from the side. Jenkins thought for a moment.

"Chocolate is different. He's had a Potion of Animal Intelligence."

At that, the professor asked no more questions.

The quiet outside didn't last long. Shortly after Jenkins and the professor finished their discussion about Chocolate and sweets, a second roar from a colossal creature, a sound that struck terror deep in one's heart, echoed from the distance.

After this roar, a sudden gale swept through the entire city. The sound of stones and sand striking the windows sent a wave of panic through those indoors.

Jenkins approached the window again and peered into the distance. Deep within the gray fog, at the edge of the night, a colossal dark figure stood, still moving slowly. Even Jenkins, who didn't suffer from a fear of giant things, felt a sense of unease at the terrifying sight.

He risked a glance with his Eye of Reality. It was likely due to the great distance that he couldn't see the auras of the Church's Enchanters, but the black aura of the fog giant remained completely unchanged.

His heart sank, and a sudden sense of foreboding washed over him.

Before long, someone called Jenkins out. Waiting for him outside the door was a Mr. Coppola Bellini from the church's Special Items Management Office. He hurriedly thrust a pure silver box into Jenkins's hands and led him away.

"Miss Bevanna wants you to take this and find her at the church entrance immediately."

As he spoke, he heard the sound of Chocolate running behind him and realized he'd left the cat on the table. But before he could even turn, with the soft thud of paws pushing off the ground, Chocolate leaped directly from the floor and landed perfectly on his shoulder. The landing was so light it didn't hurt him at all, leaving the writer marveling at his cat's agility.

"The plan failed. We ran into a few small problems."

Mr. Bellini explained succinctly, his expression unconcerned.

"That eggshell wasn't completely shattered. The [Suffocating Praying Maiden] ran into some trouble in the dense fog. It seems to have been assimilated and turned into a Cursed Item..."

The two walked down the corridor. A group of nuns carrying books hurried past, bowing to Jenkins as they went. One side of the corridor was lined with doors, the other with windows. Outside, the great wind had not ceased; its howling shriek sounded like a demon rampaging through the city. Yet, for all its strength, the wind failed to disperse Nolan's dense fog. Jenkins guessed that the source of the howling was the now Cursed-Item version of the [Suffocating Praying Maiden].

"In any case, get to the church entrance. Hold onto this silver box tightly, and whatever you do, don't let it touch the ground."

With that, Mr. Bellini turned down another corridor. He had plenty of his own tasks to attend to.

The beautiful pure silver box in his hands radiated a dense yellow aura; it was a B-class spellcraft item. Its six faces were covered in interconnected protrusions that resembled blood vessels. As Jenkins walked, he studied the box's surface and, for a fleeting moment, thought he saw silver liquid actually flowing within the protrusions. He blinked, and the strange vision vanished.

A large crowd had already gathered in the church's main hall, the nave. The two imposing main doors were shut tight. When people saw Jenkins emerge from the back corridor, they quickly cleared a path. Sigrid handed him an overcoat, Captain Bincy suggested he either leave the cat indoors or put it in his pocket, and Papa Oliver, who was standing right by the doors, warned him to be careful of the wind.

He had just asked when the Scribes on either side of the doors pulled them open a crack. A blast of wind instantly surged in, tugging at his clothes and trying to push him back. He instinctively narrowed his eyes, bent his knees slightly to lower his center of gravity, and grabbed the cat, stuffing it into his overcoat pocket.

"Bevanna is waiting for you outside!"

Papa Oliver's voice seemed to come from far away. Then, someone pushed Jenkins from behind, sending him stumbling out the door against the gale. The two doors slammed shut behind him immediately.

He had heard the wind howling outside the windows, so he knew what to expect. But stepping out into it, he was still taken aback by the storm-like force of the gale. Fortunately, Nolan was a coastal city that was battered by a major storm every few years. He could recall such events from the original Jenkins's memories, so he didn't panic.

He shouted with effort against the wind, then walked toward several blurry figures standing ahead. Despite the wind raging with such fury, the fog under the night sky had only grown thicker.

Over a dozen people stood on the steps outside the church, all of them demigods, with several also holding the title of Saint. Miss Bevanna called Jenkins over through the wind, her eyes falling on the box he was clutching.

"Good. Bellini retrieved this item from behind the Gate of All Things."

As she spoke, she took the silver box and flew into the air. Standing nearby was another Saint from the Sage's Church, a Miss Bock Strass. She had only arrived in Nolan last week, and Jenkins had only exchanged brief greetings with her.

"That silver casket is B-02-3-0302, the [House of Wind]," Miss Strass explained. "It can treat the wind generated by atmospheric currents as a form of energy and absorb it. The current gale is a side effect of the [Suffocating Praying Maiden] turning into a Cursed Item. We have to stop this wind before we can find out what's happening over there."

Miss Strass explained. As she spoke, the wind truly did begin to subside. One by one, the figures at the church entrance took to the air, flying into the dense fog in the direction of the fog giant.

Leaving Jenkins to look around helplessly. He, after all, couldn't fly.

Fortunately, Miss Bevanna remembered him. She soon returned with the silver casket. Its lid was open, and a stream of azure gas was flowing slowly inside. Latest content publıshed on noᴠelfire.net

She took Jenkins by the hand and flew up as well. From the air, it was easy to locate the [Suffocating Praying Maiden]; after all, observing the flow of the wind was a specialty of the Church of the Storm Lord. With the demigods working together, the item—which wasn't particularly powerful to begin with and had only just transformed into a Cursed Item—was quickly and properly contained. For the time being, it was sent to the Evergreen Forest outside the city.

Meanwhile, the Enchanter squads scattered throughout the city found the others who had been sent to the front lines to carry out the Mist Blade Plan. None of them were dead, but due to the [Suffocating Praying Maiden]'s rampage, they had all been knocked unconscious and were found in various corners of the district.

Although the operation had failed, the fact that there were no casualties was a small comfort.

After returning to the church, a new plan had to be drawn up. At the same time, it became much more difficult to judge the feasibility of using more dangerous, catalogued items.

If the power of the fog could transform one catalogued item into a Cursed Item, it stood to reason that other items might suffer the same fate. Therefore, they had to carefully consider their next move: should they continue experimenting with B-class items, directly release an extremely dangerous A-class Cursed Item and then attempt to contain it again, or confront the fog giant head-on?

The Child of the Mist, protected by its egg, had demonstrated immense power. It would surely weaken once the egg was broken, but the Church couldn't determine to what extent. Unwilling to expend the power reserved for the coming cataclysm on this matter, the Church had adopted a conservative stance. But based on the current situation, a conservative approach might not be the right one.

Upon his return to the church from the fog, Jenkins excused himself from the next meeting, claiming he felt unwell. He mulled over the current situation, convinced he had to do something rather than just sit back and wait for disaster.

Unsure of the fog giant's true power, he didn't dare appear rashly in his guise as a Believer of Lies. Fortunately, he had another option, but it would require persuading Professor Burns.

And so, he sought out Miss Audrey, who was performing a divination in the basement of the white building behind the church, to ask his teacher for a favor.