Chapter 1861: Chapter 1861

Jenkins stood by the window, his fist clenching tight. He had never feared any of the powers he wielded, but at this moment, a profound apprehension toward [Mechanist] took hold of him.

"Why now?" he asked himself, summoning the iron-gray book. It opened without issue, its pages filled with far more content than its size suggested—all the scientific theories and practical knowledge from his memories that didn't exist in this world. He had been well-educated before his transmigration, so the knowledge manifesting in the book was vast.

"But it doesn't matter. Why should I be afraid of my own past?"

He suddenly broke into a laugh, startling his cat, who seemed to think he had lost his mind. Noticing his cat's worried expression—which primarily manifested as Chocolate incessantly patting the back of his hand with its paw—Jenkins stroked the cat's head and said:

"There's nothing to worry about. Power, once you have it, is what's real. My past is something I’ve always held onto, and it's that past, combined with my present, that makes me who I am. This power might bear some resemblance to the calamity we're facing, but I trust that in my hands, it will be put to its proper use."

Chocolate tilted its head back and let out a soft "Meow~," trying to nuzzle the palm of Jenkins's hand with its nose. Jenkins scooped the cat into his arms and gazed out at the fog.

"It won't be long now."

A serious incident had occurred at the Black Metal Tower, and as a Saint of the Church, Jenkins couldn't just stay home and sleep in. But by the time he "hurriedly" arrived at the base of the tower, the battle was long over. The Church was already combing the rooftops of the nearby streets, collecting the metallic skeletal birds that had fallen thanks to the Believers of Lies.

The great fissure in the ground had already sealed itself, leaving only a raised scar on the earth. Jenkins soon found Miss Bevanna and, pretending to know nothing, began fishing for information about what had happened. He soon learned that the night's events were, surprisingly, related to him.

The battle ended in a decisive victory for the Church. They had captured or killed over twenty cultists and obtained a trove of intelligence they'd never had before. It was their greatest victory against the Gearsmiths' Guild in months.

The Church believed that tonight's incident was the Guild's retaliation. The timing was too perfect to be a coincidence—a victory in the daytime, followed immediately by an attack at night. Fortunately, the Believers of Lies had indeed, as promised, helped to defend the city.

Miss Bevanna told Jenkins to just head home, explaining that he wasn't needed at the tower. After the night's attack, the Church would be tightening security in the area.

Following their original plan, Jenkins took his family to the Evergreen Forest the next day, a Saturday. Hathaway and Briny had prepared early, and Dolores had managed to take a rare break from her demanding meetings to get some fresh air in the woods.

Alexia, of course, was there as well. Although she would have preferred a quiet walk in the forest alone with Jenkins, she was delighted by his rare invitation and had prepared for the outing with a happy heart.

After breakfast that morning, the carriage Jenkins had rented first took the group from Saint George Avenue to the vicinity of the residence where Salhir II was staying.

Only after his identity was verified was Jenkins allowed to approach the main gate. Inside the residence, he met with Alexia and Dolores, then had a brief chat with Salhir II—which amounted to a half-hour private meeting in his study—before finally departing with the ladies for the city outskirts.

The Evergreen Forest was in the distant suburbs of Nolan, so the journey took quite some time. But with so many companions, the trip was anything but boring. Jenkins even suggested a game of cards along the way, but with too many players, he was ultimately left out. He and his cat became spectators, occasionally earning disgruntled complaints from the ladies for whispering a hint or two.

Because they had informed the Church in advance, the carriage was allowed to proceed deeper into the area after only a brief inspection.

The burst of life energy from the day the World Tree Seed had fused had caused the forest to triple in size, which in turn had led to some chaos in its management.

The original checkpoints at the forest entrance had to be relocated, a task made more difficult without the valley to serve as a natural barrier. New landmarks had to be established, new paths cleared through the woods, and they even had to consider the animals that called the forest home.

In the days that followed, another unseasonal migration of wild animals occurred around Nolan, with more and more creatures entering the forest and taking up residence. The Church now had the complicated task of planning new territories and water sources for the forest's inhabitants.

Since the newly expanded outer forest was still considered uncharted and dangerous territory, Jenkins led the group directly toward the center of the forest, to the valley area.

The carriage couldn't enter the woods, so the group proceeded on foot along a newly cleared path. Briny, the only ordinary person among them, was deeply curious about how the forest had come to be.

Although the two people who had directly caused the forest's appearance during the thirty-one-day loop were both present, Jenkins couldn't explain the true origins of the forest, so he gave a vague reply:

"A group of cultists had a clash, and it turned this place into a forest."

"Were they extreme environmentalists?"

"No, cultists... though I suppose there's not much difference between extremists and cultists."

It was the first time here for Dolores, Julia, and Briny, and they were thrilled by the sight of a herd of deer that began to follow them down the path. Dolores even wanted to hug one of the small, short-eared fawns, but the animals seemed wary of her.

Jenkins noticed that there were even two or three moose following him. He never knew a moose population existed near Nolan and wondered where they could have wandered in from.

"Are you always this popular?" Briny asked, looking up at a cluster of squirrels on a branch. Chocolate made no effort to hide its disdain for the creatures with their ridiculously bushy tails.

"Of course. I'm a genuine descendant of elves, after all."

"When I was little, I used to dream of marrying an elf on a white horse."

Noticing Hathaway glance in her direction, she quickly added, "That was before I met Hathaway."

"Jenkins can't ride a horse," Hathaway said with a laugh.

"But he has a unicorn... borrowed from a friend. I've seen it before. It's a very beautiful little creature," the princess chimed in at once.

"A unicorn?" Briny asked, her eyes wide with wonder.

"The most sacred and beautiful creature you can imagine, the very one from every little girl's childhood dreams," Alexia clarified.

Seeing Briny turn to him, Jenkins slipped his right hand into his pocket and pulled out a small, metal unicorn figurine. Because his [Psychography] and [Creation Pencil] worked by directly pulling images from his [Book of Memories], the sculpture was incredibly lifelike.

"Why would you carry something with you? You weren't prepared for this, were you?" Hathaway asked suspiciously, noticing the sheer delight on Briny's face.

"It's a toy for Chocolate."

Hathaway looked at the cat.

Perched on Jenkins's shoulder, Chocolate shook its head at her, then froze for a second before putting on a goofy expression and turning to chase its own swishing tail.

Hathaway was reminded of a question she had asked another lady at the last soirée.

The group spent the entire day in the Evergreen Forest. Jenkins showed the ladies all the interesting sights, even pointing out the inverted Saint's Shadow hanging beneath a tree.

Alexia had visited the forest many times since "confessing" her identity to the Church, so she wasn't particularly interested in the scenery. She was simply enjoying a walk through the woods with Jenkins.

Hathaway had once snuck into this forest to use the music box Jenkins sent from Shire City to call upon her god. This was her first time entering so openly in broad daylight, and she savored the feeling of freedom.

Dolores and Julia were purely sightseeing. They had lived their entire lives in the frigid north. Even though Ruen wasn't snowbound year-round, there certainly wasn't a forest one anywhere near the city.

Briny held onto the unicorn figurine Jenkins had given her the entire way, privately asking him if she could see the real creature. That was impossible in the Evergreen Forest, of course—Jenkins wasn't looking for that kind of thrill—but he promised she could see it when they returned to his home that evening. His promise earned him a light kiss, delivered on tiptoe.

Of course, Jenkins hadn't spent the day doing nothing else. While they were having lunch in the forest, he learned more about the previous night's events from Miss Strass. The Believers of Lies had used some unknown method to take down most of the clockwork bone-birds, a piece of information he had already received from Miss Bevanna.

This time, their discussion focused on the Black Metal Tower, which had now undergone its fourth transformation.

"So, has the Church discovered anything about the tower's fourth level?"

"Its cross-sectional area is larger, and the Church has detected the power of shadow."

"The power of shadow?"

Jenkins voiced his surprise, then summarized what they knew:

"So, as of now, the Believers of Lies have explored the first level and found statues of three kings. The second level has changing characters on its exterior, though we haven't deciphered the full text. The third level is inscribed with words like 'Moonlit Town,' and now the fourth level possesses the power of shadow."