Chapter 1906: Chapter 1906
After their discussion, Miss Bevanna asked if Jenkins had any other plans for the day. His original itinerary was to speak with Fini, meet her friends, and arrange for the flower girls to have a role in the major event that weekend. After that, he needed to draw up some charts for a speech. That was supposed to be his entire day.
But the charts only required data that was still with Jessica, and the drawing process itself would take but a second with Psychography.
So, he told Miss Bevanna that he had a few things to take care of in the morning. She wasn't concerned with what he was doing, but mentioned that if he had time, he could lend a hand in Nolan's eastern suburbs.
The event that had appeared last night, B-06-2-4482, "The Treasure Hunter's War," was still ongoing, and a final victor had yet to emerge. This Extraordinary event was akin to a massive, rule-bound treasure hunt, and its properties would only vanish once the "treasure" was found.
The celestial sign that had appeared in the sky over the eastern suburbs—a pair of crossed swords formed from clouds—had been far too conspicuous. Now, nearly every Enchanter in the city was flocking there, hoping to try their luck.
The Church had no intention of restricting the influx of unregistered Enchanters, so they were merely maintaining a minimum level of order to prevent the eastern suburbs from turning into a battlefield. Miss Bevanna thought that Jenkins's unique destiny might prove useful in such an event. Content orıginally comes from N0velFire.ɴet
If he could find the treasure and persuade the swarming Enchanters to settle down, it would be a most welcome outcome.
Following Miss Bevanna's suggestion, Jenkins met with the flower girls in the morning, then returned to the church with his cat for lunch. Afterwards, he announced he was heading to the eastern suburbs for the afternoon, and Miss Bevanna immediately arranged for someone to coordinate with him.
Nolan's eastern suburbs weren't due east, but rather to the northeast. The area was characterized by low, rolling hills, and further north lay the mountain range that bisected the continent. The local economy was based on mining, fruit orchards, and the timber trade. The towns were small and sparsely populated; one could often travel a great distance without seeing another soul.
The carriage carrying Jenkins stopped in the small town of Bector. After alighting, he and his cat looked up at the little church before them.
The Sage's Church here was truly minuscule compared to Nolan's grand cathedral. In fact, it was about the same size as the church Jenkins had found in the Flowering Mysterious Realm, the one that had taken in a young Sigrid.
He thanked the coachman, then pushed open the gate and walked inside. A nun waiting in the small courtyard immediately came forward to greet him. A few moments later, in a reception room behind the church, Jenkins met the local priest and Mr. Bernoulli, a demigod from the diocese dispatched to manage the situation.
He, too, had been transferred from another region, having been previously stationed in the desert town of Oysus in the center of the continent. Although it was just a town, it held great importance for the Church, as the central desert had been the primary slumbering place for sealed, sub-spatial creatures since ancient epochs. Thus, the small town had a resident demigod.
Mr. Bernoulli was not an exceptionally powerful demigod, nor was he particularly prominent within the Church. Before this meeting, Jenkins had only heard his name and was unfamiliar with the man. But Mr. Bernoulli was surprisingly enthusiastic, explaining the current situation, handing over a detailed file on B-06-2-4482, "The Treasure Hunter's War," and even gifting him a small compass.
It was an alchemical item of his own creation, he explained, capable of detecting the treasure's location to some extent. Though it might not be effective against a B-class Extraordinary event, it was a gesture of goodwill.
Jenkins curiously fiddled with the alchemical item, not forgetting to ask Mr. Bernoulli if the matter of the obsidian seal beneath the unnamed temple in the central desert had been resolved before he left his post for Nolan.
The appearance of an ancient, nameless temple in the central desert, with an obsidian seal beneath it, had occurred quite early in the year. It was after the "Destiny's Stage" event had concluded but before "The Stranger" incident had begun.
This could be considered one of the starting points for the continuous series of disasters that had plagued the material world outside of Nolan. To handle it, the Twelve Orthodox Churches had dispatched numerous demigods, and even Miss Bevanna had nearly been drafted. Jenkins had been too busy with his own affairs to follow up on the incident. Now that he had met Mr. Bernoulli, a demigod from that desert town, he naturally wanted to satisfy his curiosity.
"It's been resolved," Mr. Bernoulli stated. "Just before I left town, I believe. We discovered a stone slate in the temple that explained it was merely a warning. There was actually nothing inside the obsidian. The temple and the seal existed to remind future generations not to rashly touch things that do not belong to them."
"Nothing inside the seal?" Jenkins confirmed.
"Yes, nothing at all," Mr. Bernoulli replied with certainty in his halting Fidektri accent, not forgetting to add a suggestion.
"Saint Williamette, if you are very curious about this matter, you can send a letter to the Holy See in Bel Diran and request to see the incident report. Oh, to be honest, writing the report after the event was over was far more troublesome than dealing with the incident itself."
The Church's original intent was to send a team to accompany Jenkins, but he had declined. So, after his conversation with Mr. Bernoulli, he left the church with his cat.
He toyed with the beautiful golden compass as he walked out of town. As expected, it showed no reaction. Unbothered, Jenkins let out a sharp whistle, summoning two hawk-like birds that were circling overhead.
He conjured a piece of cloth, wrapped the small compass in it, and tied it to one of the bird's legs. To the other's leg, he fastened a thin bamboo tube containing a slip of paper.
"To the Sage's Church," he instructed. "Find Miss Bevanna."
With a touch of Knowledge Bestowal, he transferred the route to the city, techniques for avoiding hunters, the location of Miss Bevanna's office, and her appearance directly into the birds' small brains.
The two birds seemed dazed for a moment, then flapped their wings at Jenkins before soaring into the distance.
Chocolate had little patience for such low-intelligence animals. He poked the back of Jenkins's head with his tail, urging him to stop staring after the birds and get on with the treasure hunt.
Jenkins's actions were not a spur-of-the-moment whim. While Mr. Bernoulli's aura had seemed fine, the compass he had given him was a major problem.
Not long ago in Bel Diran, after defeating Carmel of the old goods shop in his guise as a Believer of Lies, Jenkins had acquired the alchemical knowledge passed down through the Carmel family for ten thousand years. He hadn't turned the information over, intending to keep it as a foundation for his own church's future development.
Of course, he hadn't just let the knowledge gather dust; he would study it from time to time as a hobby. While this couldn't instantly make him a master alchemist, it had, at the very least, given his ability to appraise alchemical items a qualitative leap.
Mr. Bernoulli claimed to have made the compass himself, but the techniques used in its construction dated back to before the 15th Epoch. This could perhaps be explained if the man had chanced upon some ancient alchemical legacy. But more importantly, Jenkins could clearly see the forbidden methods of soul alchemy within the compass.
He himself lacked the skill to perform soul alchemy. Carmel, the shop owner he had killed, had possessed such alchemical ability but would never have dared to use it. In a world where true gods existed, using souls as fuel for alchemy was considered an unforgivable sin by most churches—even by the cults of heretical gods. If the compass was truly Mr. Bernoulli's creation, the man would likely be taken away very soon.
Of course, Jenkins was also worried that his own dabbler's knowledge of alchemy might be flawed. Therefore, he hadn't dealt with the matter rashly, but instead reported it to the Church. As for the source of his basic alchemical knowledge, he would attribute it to Alexia.
Alexia did know a little, after all. She had been studying automatons for many years.
Jenkins had no intention of worrying about the compass. The Church would handle it. He planned to spend the afternoon in the eastern suburbs, testing his luck to see if he could find the treasure.
He wouldn't have any more opportunities for leisure. It was already Tuesday, and with the important event that weekend, the next few days would be incredibly busy. He had to cherish this final moment of respite.
B-06-2-4482, "The Treasure Hunter's War," was an event-type Extraordinary phenomenon. Within a certain range, a "treasure" would appear in an area. During this time, any Enchanter who entered the area and stayed for more than an hour would be considered a participant in the event by default.
The sole victory condition was to find the treasure. It could be a previously unrecorded numbered item, a collection of priceless jewels, or even the direct acquisition of some unique and powerful ability.
But since its danger rating was a "2," this was certainly no simple treasure hunt.
During the event, monsters that only participants could interact with and see would appear intermittently in the area. The Church had named these creatures "Greed's Reflections." The more people who joined the event and the longer it lasted, the higher the frequency, quantity, and quality of the monsters would become.
According to the Church's records, reflections with power exceeding that of a level-eight human demigod had appeared during this event in the past. In fact, demigod-level reflections appeared in almost every Treasure Hunter's War. After all, the treasure was just too tempting.