Chapter 1886: Chapter 1886

Miss Windsor simply nodded at Jenkins’s suggestion, saying nothing more. Magic Miss had no desire to continue their previous conversation either. She gave Jenkins a slight nod, and he turned his gaze to the three-handed, bald old man perched on the high stool.

"Open the second door."

"Before that, we must have a summary."

the old man declared, his voice as eerie as ever.

The corridor was windless and completely sealed. The dry, slightly bitter air was incredibly oppressive; even without the influence of a Mysterious Realm, a normal person would likely suffer mental strain if they stayed here too long.

Communicating with the old man had always been Jenkins’s job. Magic Miss stayed behind, shielding Miss Windsor and trying to prevent her from perceiving the native inhabitant of the Mysterious Realm with any of her senses.

"Possibilities are fascinating, aren't they?"

the old man asked, but received no answer.

So the dark hand behind him pointed first to Jenkins:

A single bubble floated from the black palm and drifted into Jenkins’s forehead. He now possessed one more blank bubble.

"A pleasant surprise. The book's... no, the matter of the Uncrowned King is now settled."

"You recognize neither yourself nor others. Fortunately, your luck is good. Among thousands of possibilities, very few people encounter the best one."

He pointed to Miss Windsor. The words seemed to hint at something, but before Miss Windsor could ponder it through her dizziness, she felt something being pressed into her hand while her eyes were still closed.

It couldn't have been Jenkins, who was still some distance away. Nor could it have been Magic Miss, whose hands weren't so cold. It could only have been that black hand.

She opened her eyes to see a magnifying glass with a handle of blood-red lacquered wood, topped with a round, polished crystal.

Magic Miss received no gift from the black hand, because she hadn't existed in the previous world at all.

The old man gave the three of them no time to talk. The black hand opened the door diagonally opposite the previous one, to the left. Behind it, once again, was the familiar Fifth Queen's Avenue.

"I wish you a pleasant journey."

the unsettling voice intoned.

Jenkins glanced at his companions and once again took the lead. Magic Miss and Miss Windsor followed, stepping over the threshold. The door closed behind them. The street, wreathed in a faint gray mist, felt more like the real world than the rainy Nolan of the last possibility.

"This one seems more normal than the last."

Magic Miss remarked, then asked Jenkins:

"Should we still go there?"

She pointed toward Pops Antique Shop.

Jenkins wasn't sure why the entrance to these worlds of possibility was always near Pops Antique Shop. But since they were already here, it was only natural to check it out.

With a jingle of the bell, they pushed open the shop's door. Papa Oliver was still behind the counter, reading a newspaper. And, as before, there was no Jenkins Williams in the antique shop. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs NoveI[F]ire.net

After his customary welcome, Papa Oliver looked up at the three young people with disguised faces. Jenkins glanced back at the shop's main entrance, and seeing that no one had followed them in this time, he began his conversation with the old man:

"Do you have any newspapers? We need some."

"Old newspapers, you mean? I do, but they're difficult to preserve, so the only complete sets I have are the Nolan Evening Post and the Kingdom..."

"No, we'll take this one."

Jenkins pointed to the newspaper in Papa Oliver's hands. The old man gave him a puzzled look, then hesitantly nodded.

"Sure. Just take it, no charge."

He handed the newspaper to Jenkins. Jenkins gave it a quick flip-through, left a one-shilling note on the counter, and walked out with his friends.

"Since you didn't stay to talk with Papa Oliver, you must have found a clue in the newspaper. So, tell us the most surprising piece of news."

Magic Miss said to Jenkins once they were on the street.

"I'm still a wanted man, and the bounty is the same as last time."

Jenkins said, shaking his head. He handed the page with the wanted poster to Magic Miss, and Miss Windsor leaned in to look. The poster prominently featured Jenkins's black-and-white photograph, and the description of his crimes was much the same as what they'd heard from Papa Oliver in the last world.

"Again? It seems you truly have the potential to be a criminal."

Magic Miss joked. Seeing that Jenkins was still flipping through the paper, she continued:

"Since there's still a version of you here, and there wasn't one of me in the last possibility, then there certainly won't be one of Miss Windsor this time. Is there any mention of me in the paper?"

"I don't see anything about you, or any news related to the Tri-King Summit. However, Queen Isabella is still visiting Nolan. It seems that no matter what, the Queen of Fidektri will appear in Nolan at this point in time. Oh?"

Magic Miss asked when Jenkins suddenly paused.

"I just saw something strange, unrelated to the royal family or politics. There's a notice for a house for sale. The address is St. George Avenue—my home. It's been on the market for a long time. Looks like I never owned that house in this world, which isn't all that surprising..."

This time, there was no obvious information handed to them. In a world without a counterpart for Miss Windsor, they could only search for clues related to the other two. But neither Jenkins nor Magic Miss were the types to have a fixed schedule, so tracking down their counterparts wouldn't be easy.

Relatively speaking, it would probably be easier to find Magic Miss's double than the wanted cultist Jenkins Williams. After a brief discussion, the three decided to try searching for this world's Magic Miss first. It was a complete shot in the dark, as even Magic Miss herself couldn't say where she might be at this time.

But their luck held out. While checking their third potential location—a desolate hill outside the Nolan City public cemetery—they finally found traces of Magic Miss in a small cabin in the woods.

They didn't see her directly, but they found signs of life. Magic Miss went to check the cabin's basement, while Jenkins and Miss Windsor rummaged through the small house.

He was forbidden from looking in the wardrobe, so he was left to search the bookshelves. Magic Miss had a truly impressive collection of books. His eyes scanned the titles on the spines, but before he could find any clues, he heard Magic Miss cry out from the basement.