Chapter 1944: Chapter 1944

B-01-5-0224, the [Song of Nature], was a unique item that existed in the form of a musical piece, similar to B-10-5-7722, 'Music Befitting the Occasion,' which Jenkins and Hathaway had received at the masquerade ball last autumn. These types of numbered items required a physical medium to exist, such as a phonograph, a music box, or even a landscape with unique acoustic properties. They could sometimes coexist with musical instruments, but only in extremely rare cases.

The [Song of Nature] used by the Church of All Things and Nature in the previous epoch was stored in a naturally formed stone that could retain sound. At the time, to maximize the blessing effect of the [Song of Nature], they destroyed the stone, releasing the music completely, effectively treating the [Song of Nature] as a single-use item.

Numbered items that existed as music could be copied, but just like special texts such as the 'Devil's Document' or the 'Dark Scripture,' the effect would weaken after duplication. An artificially copied [Song of Nature] would have its effects greatly diminished and could no longer be called the [Song of Nature].

Only the original, naturally formed version of the sound was qualified to have a number. Therefore, while many people had heard the *Song of Nature*, very few had heard the true [Song of Nature]. The rıghtful source is novel⦿fire.net

Hathaway told the two women everything, explaining that the Orthodox Churches had discovered the Human Jigsaw Puzzle and planned to defeat it again by emulating the method from the previous epoch.

Miss Bernreuter simply lamented how dangerous Nolan truly was for such a thing to appear in the city. Miss Stevel, however, asked curiously:

"Who are they sending? Did the Orthodox Church find the [Elf's Arrow of Ruin]?"

After admitting he was the God of Lies, Jenkins had not revealed Miss Stevel's identity as well. He felt there was absolutely no need to. Since his senior apprentice had been so successful in her "undercover" role, he believed she should continue with it until the final negotiations were over.

"The Orthodox Church intends to have my... fiancé, Jenkins Williams, take the lead on this matter. Jenkins said he'll find a way to get another arrow, so I need to gather enough people to perform the [Song of Nature] together to bless that arrow."

Miss Bernreuter asked, confused. Not everyone knew that Jenkins was the Saint of the Church of Knowledge and Books. While it was not a secret within the church, outside of it, only a few cultists were aware.

"Jenkins is actually... he's actually the Saint of the Sage."

Hathaway hesitated for a moment before saying it, before Miss Stevel could stop her. Miss Stevel mentally kicked herself for not interjecting sooner, but since the words were already out, the most important thing now was to maintain secrecy.

But before she could finish, Miss Bernreuter spoke up even faster:

"The Saint? Oh, gods... So, you're not just marrying the future king and possibly becoming the queen of this country... you're also marrying the Saint of a Righteous God?"

Hathaway gave a demure nod.

Miss Bernreuter clicked her tongue in amazement, repeatedly marveling at how favored Hathaway was by the gods. The churches of pseudo-gods usually didn't have strong opinions about their followers marrying heretics, as long as there were no doctrinal conflicts between the two sides. Therefore, even knowing Hathaway's fiancé was the Saint of a Righteous God, Miss Bernreuter wouldn't say much about it.

"But in that case, our support for the Believers of Lies..."

The thought occurred to her.

"It's fine. Jenkins's identity has nothing to do with my work," Hathaway reassured her. "I'll manage the relationship between my family and my work. He actually encourages me to have my own career."

"Does he know that you're helping the Believers of Lies?"

This was the first lie spoken here today.

"Oh, Hathaway, I admire you more and more. All women should be like you. I won't make it difficult for you to handle these relationships. While we support the Believers of Lies, we don't actually intend to do anything evil, nor are we harming anyone's interests."

She clapped her hands and then looked at Hathaway's face again:

"Truly a lucky girl."

Miss Bernreuter sighed again in admiration.

After Hathaway had explained the whole situation, Miss Bernreuter set about gathering all the musicians who were either in the club or lived nearby. Meanwhile, Miss Stevel was in charge of directing the club's servants to move all the furniture out of the grand concert hall on the third floor. The upcoming ritual required a clean and uncluttered space.

She had been at the club all day and did not yet know about the Human Jigsaw Puzzle. But she trusted what Hathaway said and was very willing to help the Church of Knowledge and Books as a member of the Music Cult. It was a rare scenario where both her identities could lead to the same decision. Miss Stevel decided to make the most of her role; even as an undercover agent, she could still contribute to her church.

"There's also the matter of the [Song of Nature]."

Hathaway pointed to her head:

"In the last epoch, the Church of All Things and Nature used the true [Song of Nature]. Though their method was crude, the song's effect still reached over eighty percent of its potential. Now, we need to bless that arrow. Even if we can draw out one hundred percent of its power through the ritual, we must find a melody that is closest to the true [Song of Nature]."

Miss Bernreuter asked.

Earlier this winter, Hathaway had mentioned the [Song of Nature] to Jenkins. It was when the two of them were co-writing the opera 'Murder on the Express Train' for the Silver Jasmine Opera Troupe and went to watch their rehearsal for the first time that Jenkins shared a song from another world with her.

Hathaway's assessment had been, "I see a completely different kind of music. It's not solemn court music, nor is it a frivolous ditty. It's something like a combination of a serenade and the [Song of Nature]."

Afterward, on the night between January and February, Jenkins truly obtained that song during the Month's End Whisper.

Mortals cannot permanently preserve the music of a numbered item through memory; they can only retain less effective copies.

However, a piece of music obtained from a god's whisper would naturally not come with the cataloging information assigned by mortals. So Jenkins simply treated it as a beautiful song, unaware that it was a numbered item.

That was until his business trip to Shire City. While he was helping Old Jack catch a Lost Butterfly, he stumbled into a Mysterious Realm due to Chocolate's mischief and experienced a unique adventure with Magic Miss and Silver Flute Miss, transforming into an alien species.

He used the broken leg of a puppet, obtained from beneath the Snowstorm Mountain Villa, and became the exotic creature [String Puppet]. During the third trial, to fight against an evil creature in the library that resembled a Fergus Pixie but was only superficially similar, he chanted the [Song of Nature], and that was how he learned of the music's special properties.

Having just learned about the Human Jigsaw Puzzle from Captain Bincy, Jenkins immediately thought of the song he held in his memory—this was the genuine, original melody received directly from a god.

When giving Hathaway her task, he used his [Knowledge Bestowal] ability to share the memory with her.

Although this sharing weakened the original power of the [Song of Nature], because it was a "bestowal" from a divine soul, the degree of weakening was not significant.

And considering that the Human Jigsaw Puzzle that had appeared this time was not the genuine article either, this should be more than enough.

While the members of the Music Cult were preparing for the ritual, Sigrid, who had left the old elf, also arrived at the club, following the address Jenkins had given her. She personally handed the box containing the arrow to Hathaway, but to avoid suspicion, she did not go up to the third floor of the club, waiting downstairs instead.

Hathaway entered the concert hall, holding the box with both hands. The hall was filled with high stools of varying heights arranged around the room. The musicians of the cult sat on the stools, each holding their instrument.

Miss Bernreuter, now changed into a formal gown, raised both hands. Her left hand was held in an elegant, flower-like gesture, while her right hand brought down a conductor's baton:

"Everyone, the cult came to Nolan to witness the end of the Eighteenth Epoch, to offer a final hymn for this age. But that does not mean we will not do other things. Now, with Hathaway as the lead performer, we will play the Song of Nature together to bless this arrow."

Hathaway opened the box, placed it on the tallest stool in the center of the room, then walked to the wall to get her instrument case and prepare.

There was something Miss Bernreuter had left unsaid. Although she fully supported the Believers of Lies, as the most important leader of the cult, she understood very well the principle of not putting all one's eggs in one basket.

Since a member of her cult was the fiancée of the Sage's Saint, it was all the more reason to have a backup plan. It was not that she intended to betray her allies, the Believers of Lies. Miss Bernreuter had not lost her mind to the point of trying to deceive a group of deceivers.

It was just that establishing some connection with the Orthodox Churches through this incident was a rather good idea. Even if she did not know how the future would unfold, maintaining a good relationship with every side could never be the wrong choice.

Music filled the concert hall, while at the city hall, the speech continued. Miss Windsor fully realized just how different this world with Jenkins in it was from her own.

In her own possibility, the "Fabry Fraud" had never existed, so the financial and banking reforms had never occurred. Therefore, even as a queen, she had no insight into such matters.

Fortunately, little Finney was very composed. During the time Miss Windsor was delivering the speech in Jenkins's place, Finney played a crucial role in ensuring the speech continued smoothly.