Chapter 186: Chapter 186

Jenkins had mailed so many letters, and specifically mentioned St. Pascatini Academy—the school Hathaway and Briny attended—all to add a layer of credibility.

If the letter never came back, Jenkins would have no choice but to deliver the address directly to the church's doorstep, just as he'd done with the portrait of Femishue the Destroyer, the pirate king. But if it did return, regardless of its contents, Jenkins was confident he could glean some crucial details from it.

For daily expenses, Jenkins kept a small stash of cash at home. He rummaged through it and, to his surprise, managed to find exactly fifty two-shilling notes.

"This is fate guiding me."

His confidence bolstered, he combined his Psychography ability with the Creation Pencil to draw an envelope and a fake postage stamp. He then placed the similarly created letter inside, before finally slipping in the banknotes.

"Maybe I can draw the shillings too? With this combination of two Bestowals and a divine art, no one would ever suspect I could counterfeit money."

The thought surfaced in his mind.

"Don't be silly. You're a good person."

Jenkins smiled and shook his head, then drew a bottle of glue and carried on with his work.

As for the addresses on the remaining forty-nine letters, he had simply filled in random street names and numbers based on a rather blurry tourist map of the Cheslan Kingdom.

Although Eldron was in a foreign country, it was actually quite close to Nolan City—about the same distance as Shire City. In fact, Eldron was the next stop for the Silver Jasmine Opera Troupe, which was still performing in Nolan, precisely because it was only a day's journey by sea.

With all the envelopes stuffed into the mailbox, Jenkins figured he would get a reply in two or three days, provided the fake stamps held up. He felt he had handled the situation perfectly. In the eyes of his cat, however, a far more amusing future was taking shape.

(Chocolate, fast asleep...)

Jenkins read all about the previous night's events in the morning paper. Stevel Place had officially reclassified the escaped murder victim, Kunbu, as a con artist. During an operation the night before, they had nearly apprehended one of Kunbu's accomplices. However, the man seemed to have been tipped off, escaping just in time and leaving a trap in his rented apartment. A steam bomb had severely injured a brave rookie officer, and the police were now offering a twenty-pound reward for the fugitive, who was suspected of carrying numerous dangerous items.

Papa Oliver had more information. The police had discovered occult artifacts and fragments of human limbs at the fugitive's apartment. After contacting the Church for assistance, they confirmed the man was an Enchanter and that at least three people had been murdered there. The Church now suspected that Kunbu and his associates were followers of the 'Prince of Lies'. Furthermore, there was evidence suggesting that the source of the Gear Germs infection, the unlucky detective's assistant, had been in contact with this group.

It remained unclear whether the followers of the 'Prince of Lies' and the 'Gear King' were collaborating or if this was just a coincidence, but the Church was keeping a close watch on the matter.

What surprised Jenkins the most was that the police, with the help of a detective and by checking post office records, had also managed to find the address in Eldron. In other words, all his efforts the previous night had been for nothing.

"Just as well. It's not my problem anymore!"

He was actually somewhat pleased with this turn of events. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ Nove1Fire.net

As for the Cursed Item from the previous night, no one mentioned it. It had simply vanished after fulfilling its wish.

The Enchanter squad temporarily assigned to the night patrol had, of course, found the scene of the confrontation between Jenkins and the fugitive. They hadn't yet figured out who had intercepted the con man, but they had collected the scattered fragments of the steam bombs. When they compared these with the remnants from the apartment, they made a startling discovery: the bombs were of Nolan military issue.

The case had just taken an even stranger turn. As a mere clerical worker, this was all Jenkins knew for now; whatever happened next wouldn't involve him until it came to a head.

There were new developments in the demon-summoner case as well. The Church had already zeroed in on several young suspects. As soon as the preliminary investigation concluded, an arrest team would be dispatched. It seemed that with the actual demon dead, its summoners had lost their nerve, which simplified matters considerably.

Jenkins also remembered that he was scheduled to teach a one-hour basic arithmetic class at the church on Wednesday evening. In his opinion, an hour was hardly enough time to even introduce the subject, but the congregation's time was limited, so there was nothing to be done.

Holding Chocolate, who refused to be left home alone, Jenkins climbed into a carriage and set off through the quiet city. The carriage had been sent by the Church to pick him up—one of the nice little perks of the job.

It wasn't a closed carriage, but the more common, open-air type without a canopy.

Gazing at the dark silhouettes of the buildings in the distance, Jenkins decided he ought to strike up a conversation to pass the time. Otherwise, the next twenty minutes would be dreadfully boring.

"It's been getting colder lately. If this year is anything like the last, we should see the first snow in about a month."

He started with the weather, as usual.

"That's right, sir. Even the horses can feel the chill in the air at night. I've been meaning to reinforce the stable walls; they were already getting drafty last winter."

Although Jenkins knew nothing about raising horses, the topic seemed a perfectly good way to pass the rest of the journey.

"Is that so? You'd best get on that soon, then. We're already a good way into the month, and the temperature will only drop faster from here on."

Jenkins had considered buying a few little sweaters for Chocolate to help him through the cold winter, but it was obvious the cat would despise anything so constricting.

"You're absolutely right! Praise the Sage! Because I work for the Church, they give me an extra five shillings a week in the winter. That money is enough to see my family and me through the coldest months."

Jenkins stared, stunned, at the driver's joyful expression and his constant praise for the Sage. It suddenly dawned on him that five shillings, an amount he considered trivial, could genuinely change the fate of a family in this day and age.

Cursed Items lurked in the shadows and Enchanters chased after Bestowals, but this was still, fundamentally, a great age of rising capital and ascendant steam power. He was lucky enough to be one of the very few who benefited from it, but beneath him lay the vast, broad base of the pyramid—the common folk.

He felt he should do something meaningful with his eight thousand pounds, but at the same time, he realized that in the face of this great new era, the power of one person was nothing more than a drop in the ocean.