Chapter 181: Chapter 181
Jenkins now understood the expression on Mr. Goodman’s face. The man was worried about whether his business could even survive. Three thousand pounds was a colossal sum for a factory of its size. The Hogg Mechanical Foundry wasn’t a well-known company; that amount was likely all the liquid capital they had.
Jenkins offered his sympathies, and Mr. Goodman sighed, one breath of despair after another.
The foundry had already reported the matter to the police, but so far their only lead was that the accountant, a man named Rex Savory, had wired the money to Eldron, a city in the Kingdom of Cheslan. Since the funds had crossed national borders, recovering them would be incredibly difficult.
It was almost laughable how simple the scam was. A forged document with a city hall signature and a police officer’s uniform were all it took to make off with that enormous sum. To Jenkins, the scheme seemed amateurish and incredibly risky. But then again, he was an outsider from a world where he’d spent a decade watching crime shows; his perspective was naturally a bit sharper than that of the average citizen.
As he watched the dejected Mr. Goodman depart, Jenkins realized he’d heard that city’s name mentioned earlier in the day.
“The main contingent of the Prince of Lies’s followers is gathered there, and the money was sent there too... That can’t be a coincidence, can it? Was the person who scammed the Hogg Mechanical Foundry also one of his followers?”
Lost in thought, he checked his mailbox. It was empty today.
“Still, it seemed so careless. Why not transfer the money to another city first before sending it to Eldron? Wouldn’t that have been much safer?”
Regardless, the followers of the Prince of Lies had no connection to him at the moment, and he was more than happy to keep it that way.
But the very next morning, a Tuesday, Papa Oliver arrived with new information about the swindlers.
“They found the missing man, Robert Coomb.”
“Already? It’s only the second day.”
“He ran out of luck. The Church and the police were both screening citizens who’d had contact with the man carrying the gear germ infection. While they were checking a carriage driver’s home, someone caught the smell of blood coming from the room next door. Unfortunately, the only one on the team was a level-four Enchanter from the Church of Starry Sky and Equilibrium, and she wasn’t skilled in combat or tracking. Coomb and his accomplice managed to get away.”
Papa Oliver knew the details of the incident so well because Jenkins had been the one to suggest the swindlers might be followers of the Prince of Lies.
“So what was the blood from? A gory ritual? That’s incredibly bold to do right in the city.”
Jenkins asked as he polished a golden artifact, thinking to himself:
“This Mr. Coomb has the worst luck. He gets stabbed in the street, is spotted by an Enchanter from an Orthodox Church, and then just happens to be found by a completely unrelated police squad. Turns out there really are people in this world more unfortunate than me.”
“No, Coomb’s wounds hadn’t even healed. His accomplice was taking him away, and it was the smell of blood from dressing his injuries that attracted attention. And when they fled, they definitely used the unique divine arts of the followers of the Prince of Lies to escape pursuit. Your guess was right on the mark. They are indeed heretics.”
As he spoke, Papa Oliver handed Jenkins a brass-colored nut.
It gave off a faint golden aura.
“Keep this on you. If it heats up, it means you’ve encountered someone infected with the gear germs. It’s a temporary divine artifact, made with technology shared by the Church of Creation and Machinery. It’s only good for a month.”
“Is it expensive to make?”
“It’s manageable. About fifty pounds a piece.”
Papa Oliver smiled as he watched Jenkins take the heavy brass item and carefully place it in his pocket. Fifty pounds was a small fortune. “Aside from important clerical staff like us, who come into contact with a lot of people every day, only the patrol squads get to carry these.”
“Alright, I’ll keep it on me. So the Church is currently handling two major cases, then? The Gear Artisans’ Association and the followers of the Prince of Lies?”
He felt the city reverting to how it had been when he first arrived in this world—danger lurking around every corner.
“No, not two,” Papa Oliver corrected. “Three.”
Papa Oliver’s expression was troubled. He wasn’t even wearing his favorite red woolen vest today. “There have been developments in the demon case. While searching the Wellington residence in the city, we found some letters. We have reason to believe those two demons didn’t just appear out of nowhere. They were summoned.”
“Sir, are you saying there are demon summoners involved? Like in the stories, opening a gateway to another world with some kind of evil ritual?”
“I’m afraid so. At the very least, a group was involved in the summoning, and a demon chose one of them as a vessel to manifest in our world. These summoners are just as dangerous. We don’t know if they’re capable of summoning another. Do you remember the Ashiash family I told you about? It’s very likely them. Oh, Goddess, where in the world are those damned blasphemers hiding?” Newest update provıded by nοvelfire.net
Papa Oliver didn’t know much more about the case. His focus lately had been entirely on researching the gear germs, as he was one of the few Enchanters in the diocese who had lived through a previous outbreak. But he did warn Jenkins that the Church now had evidence suggesting that most of the demon summoners were local nobles or their offspring, not some foreign secret society. This was going to implicate a lot of powerful people, and given the historically poor relationship between the Church and the Crown, secular powers would likely prove to be an obstacle.
If the Pirate King known as Femishue the Destroyer were to be spotted somewhere in Nolan City right now, the situation would become even more complicated. With manpower stretched so thin, even clerical staff like Papa Oliver and Jenkins might be pressed into joining the patrols.
The good news was that this madman, who had a bounty of over ten thousand pounds on his head, hadn’t picked this moment to resurface; he was still lying low. The Church of Ocean and Exploration, however, had never stopped searching for him within the city. The Bestowal known as the Heart of the Ocean wasn’t just any special artifact. Records clearly stated that it had been granted to a believer by the Storm Lord himself in an age long past, and was thus considered a sacred relic embodying the power of the sea. The followers of the Storm Lord would stop at nothing to capture the audacious thief.