Chapter 1876: Chapter 1876

From the looks of it, Miss Windsor had completely deviated from her planned schedule for the day.

Miss Silver Flute heard from Miss Windsor's servants that around eleven o'clock, Miss Windsor had claimed to feel unwell and canceled all her plans for the day. Her staying in all afternoon hadn't aroused any suspicion among the staff.

Miss Silver Flute had found no signs of a struggle in the study, which was why she had decisively come to find Jenkins. She suspected that Miss Windsor might have needed to handle a confidential matter, prompting her to have Magic Miss help her slip away, and that they would return by dinner. However, she couldn't rule out the possibility that they had genuinely run into danger, which was why she had risked coming to the Church of the Unlit Moon—where the Twelve Orthodox Churches were meeting—to find him.

Jenkins thought to himself, trying to activate [The Unknown Path], but there was no response.

"Let's go back to Miss Windsor's residence and take a look."

The carriage tore through the streets.

Miss Windsor was currently living with her parents, and the Windsor family owned a well-situated residence in Nolan. When Jenkins arrived, Duke Windsor was at a meeting in the city hall and the Duchess was also out, which spared him any unnecessary awkwardness.

The servants all recognized Jenkins, so when he said he needed to speak with Miss Windsor privately, none of them found it the least bit strange.

He spotted the faint trace of a spiritual aura near the window. A closer look revealed it to be a fine powder that stretched from the windowsill, led outside the house, and continued on until it was beyond his sight.

"It seems to be Magic Miss's eyeshadow."

If Jenkins hadn't pointed it out, Miss Silver Flute would have dismissed it as dust. Only after pinching a bit between her fingers and examining it closely did she confirm it was indeed a trail left by Magic Miss. Jenkins decided to follow it; since Magic Miss had deliberately left a sign, they obviously hadn't just stepped out to run an errand. For more chapters visıt novel✶fire.net

"Just the two of us? Shouldn't we find some more help?"

Only Magic Miss knew for certain that Jenkins Williams was Mr. Candle. Miss Silver Flute was suggesting that Jenkins should either find his friends or go straight to the Church for assistance.

"Before they left, they used that paper effigy as a decoy specifically to keep anyone from realizing they were gone. They must have had their reasons, so it's best if we keep our investigation quiet. As for Mr. Candle... right. We'll split up. I'll go find Mr. Candle, and you'll wait here. That way, if the effigy fails, you'll be here to keep anyone from finding out Miss Windsor is missing."

Miss Silver Flute knew this was the most sensible plan, so she didn't object to Williams asking her to stay behind.

Still, as she watched the man crouch low and slip stealthily out the window with his cat, she couldn't shake the feeling that his movements were exceptionally familiar.

"If only that cat were pure white..."

She was instantly reminded of the peculiar way Magic Miss would look whenever she spoke of her client's... associate.

She pressed a hand to her forehead and told herself she didn't know anything at all.

Meanwhile, Jenkins had followed the faint trail of spiritual light out onto the street. Magic Miss's eyeshadow must have been specially formulated; it had neither been scattered by the wind nor erased by footsteps and carriage wheels. This allowed Jenkins to follow the trail steadily until it finally stopped in front of a hat shop on a commercial street adjacent to Fifth Queen's Avenue, where Pops Antique Shop was located.

He had been worried that Magic Miss might run out of eyeshadow, so he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the trail lead straight into a storefront. Even if the clues ended here, at least he knew their last known location.

It was a perfectly ordinary hat shop. Unlike the one in the suburbs that secretly served as a mercenary guild, this establishment was exactly what it appeared to be. The trail of Magic Miss's eyeshadow vanished just inside the entrance.

Jenkins glanced around and, feeling a bit awkward, realized the shop exclusively sold ladies' hats and apparel. He quickly approached the counter, head slightly bowed:

"Have you seen these two?"

He produced a black-and-white photograph of Miss Windsor. Since he had just 'drawn' it, the image was guaranteed to be perfectly clear.

The young clerk behind the counter, her nose dotted with blackheads, seemed to take a liking to Jenkins's handsome face and didn't refuse to help. She tilted her head slightly, studying the photograph, and recalled the two elegant women:

"Around eleven, just before lunchtime. Yes, those two ladies came in together."

"Nothing much. They just came in, glanced around quickly, paused for a moment by that hat hanging over there, and then left. Are they friends of yours, sir? Would you like to buy the hat for them as a gift?"

The young clerk had only been trying to probe their relationship and was surprised when the man agreed so readily. He turned, retrieved the hat, asked for the price, and paid on the spot. He didn't even wait for his change—a rare sight indeed—before rushing out of the shop.

Jenkins frowned as he plucked a slip of paper from where it was pinned to the hat's inner lining.

This was an incredibly risky way to pass a message. In the course of an afternoon, anyone who so much as touched the hat could have discovered the note. It could only mean one thing: their situation had been so desperate that they had been forced to resort to such a method.

He stepped behind a streetside postbox to unfold the note. It contained no complete sentences, only a single letter and a few words, all hastily scribbled:

[A] [Gains power when known] [Devours darkness] [Serpent's Tail Alley]

The first few phrases were clearly describing the traits of a Mysterious Object, confirming Jenkins's suspicion. The clue 'Gains power when known' not only described one of the object's properties but also proved that Jenkins had been right not to rashly ask the Church for help.

"But where is Serpent's Tail Alley?"

Although the body's original owner was a Nolan native, and the current Jenkins had been living in the city for nearly a year, his memories held no mention of a "Serpent's Tail Alley." This was hardly surprising. Nolan was one of the largest cities on the west coast, its urban core a tangled web of crisscrossing alleys. Not even the oldest residents who had spent their entire lives here would dare claim to know every alley by name.

Fortunately, Jenkins knew someone even older. Since he was already so close to Pops Antique Shop, he decided to go ask Papa Oliver directly.