Chapter 184: Chapter 184
Cursed Items are always such treacherous things, demanding a price for a wish they can’t even grant properly.
As the thought crossed his mind, he shook his head.
It was an honest answer.
“Alright then. The Orthodox Church has obtained an authentic portrait of the Pirate King Femishue. I want to know where I can get it.”
“I have one right here. This is the answer to your question. If you can answer another question for me, I can give it to you now.” ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel•fire.net
As Jenkins spoke, he moved his left hand behind his back. First, he used his Creation Pencil to conjure a sheet of ordinary paper. Then, drawing on his Psychography and the Book of Memories, he sketched the portrait he had seen at Papa Oliver’s.
“You’ll have to tell me what you want to know first.”
She was, as expected, very cautious.
“A moment ago, I accidentally—I mean, I unintentionally, passively, definitely not on purpose—overheard your conversation with your companion. I’d like to know, what did you mean about the demons? I assume it’s not some outdated news like the demons are already dead, right?”
The woman reached up and grasped the pendant on her chest. A blue halo spread outward from her feet, quickly enveloping Jenkins as well. Jenkins frowned but didn’t move to avoid it.
“I should have shielded the sound from the very beginning... Fine. While reading the newspaper, I learned that the Good Luck Steam Plumbing company had dug up some bones while renovating the old steam pipes. I marked the locations of these bones on a map and noticed a pattern. Even so, I couldn’t determine what it was. But later, using death and sacrifice as clues, I also marked the locations of those who died in the evil spirit incident, as well as the places where the possessing spirits had appeared. It formed the foundation of a massive, incomplete, ancient sacrificial ritual. This type of ritual is incredibly old and requires victims numbering in the triple digits at the very least.
“I tried to restore the full layout of the array and even dug up some undiscovered bones at a few of the locations. All signs indicated that this was a ritual that had already been activated, one designed to sacrifice living beings to summon an otherworldly creature. The people killed by the evil spirits were a symbol of the ritual being restarted, replenishing the materials consumed last time. But thankfully, some kind gentleman has already dealt with the evil spirits, so we don’t have to worry about the ritual being restarted.”
“What a coincidence. You just ‘happened’ to know about this kind of ritual?”
“Of course. I’m a believer in the Lady of Mysteries and Rituals! Through my divine arts, I can discern the purpose of any ritual through perception and feedback, even one I’ve never seen before. Now, hand it over.”
Jenkins nodded and passed the paper to her. The woman glanced at it, and a brilliant blue flame erupted from her hand, consuming the paper in a whoosh until not a trace remained.
“Farewell for now, Mr. Candle. If you’re interested in this matter, I believe the Ashiash Family is involved. Yes, that ancient family. I once saw a fragment of the ‘Ashiash Summoning Text’ in a foreign country, and this bears a strong resemblance to a section of it. Farewell.”
As she spoke, she once again tightened her grip on the hexagram pendant at her chest. A few seconds later, she leaped off the roof, turned, and disappeared into a nearby alley.
The hexagram pendant had a very distinct feel to it. This was the first time he had truly seen a Bestowal that wasn’t his own. The spiritual light it emanated was white.
The fallout from the demon incident would likely continue for a long time, and the demon summoners hiding in the city would hardly wait quietly for the believers of the Orthodox Church to find them.
Jenkins could only pray to the Sage that none of this would disrupt the peaceful life he was currently enjoying.
Magic Miss and her companion had been able to leap from the roof to the ground, but Jenkins couldn’t. By the time he painstakingly found a way down, Magic Miss and the tree creature were long gone.
A few leaves were scattered across the street. They were the same shape and size as ordinary leaves, but Jenkins could see a very faint spirit clinging to them.
“Leaves from that Cursed Item tree?”
He noticed that the spirit on the leaves was green, not black, so he bent down, intending to collect them all. It was the first time he had ever seen an item with green spirit; perhaps old Jack would know what it could be used for.
There weren’t many leaves. Jenkins gathered the last one by the moonlight, and when he straightened up, he realized he had already reached the corner of the street.
He surveyed his surroundings, trying to figure out which way to go home. Suddenly, a man burst around the corner and slammed right into him.
Chocolate, still in her white cat form on Jenkins’s shoulder, hissed threateningly at the stranger. The man, who was missing an ear and had a scar across his left cheek, looked utterly panicked.
“Damn dogs of the Orthodox Church!”
Jenkins wanted to point out that Chocolate was a cat and he was a man, but his attention was immediately drawn to the small sphere the man had hastily tossed to the ground.
That was his first thought.
“No spirit... Ha, it’s just a normal object.”
“Wait, my predecessor’s memories seem to have something on this... I saw it in the newspaper. This is... a steam bomb!”
The black sphere hit the ground and immediately began to spin with increasing speed. Hissing steam shot out from small holes on its surface. As the steam pressure rapidly built, the metal ball, patched together from brass and black plates, spun faster and faster.
Jenkins snatched up Chocolate and dove into another street, pressing himself flat against a wall. A moment later, a muffled explosion ripped through the air, and a storm of iron pellets, glass shards, and scraps of metal shot out in every direction. The continuous rattle and clatter of debris echoed through the street, and even the windows of nearby shops were shattered.
A commotion sounded in the distance, followed by flashing lights. Jenkins, a charm held tight in his right hand, peeked his head out. The man who had thrown the bomb was sprawled on the ground, but as soon as he saw Jenkins was still alive, he scrambled to his feet and charged at him again.
He desperately wanted to say it, but the man didn’t give him the chance to open his mouth.
The one-eared man barked the command, and Jenkins instantly felt his voice catch in his throat. He couldn’t make a sound. Frowning, he backed away, only now noticing that the man was a Level 1 Enchanter.