Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Instead of handing over the coins, Jenkins reached back into his pocket and pulled out a blue ten-shilling banknote.

He struggled to muster a smile.

The little girl glanced from Jenkins to the banknote, then back again. Like a frightened animal, she clutched her small basket and retreated a few steps into the alley's shadows, her face etched with suspicion.

Maintaining his smile, Jenkins shrugged, bent down to place the banknote on the ground, then turned stiffly and hurried back in the direction of Pops Antique Shop.

He truly didn't dare to look back.

Jenkins didn't dare say a word. He shut the door and strode down the narrow path between the cluttered antiques, making his way to the counter.

"Is there anything behind me?"

he asked in a low voice, terrified the answer would be a little girl. Chapters fırst released on novel_fіre.net

Papa Oliver frowned. He set down his pen, removed his glasses, and, steadying himself on the desk, leaned over to look behind Jenkins.

Jenkins breathed a long sigh of relief. He cautiously turned his head, and only then did a relieved smile break across his face.

"I think I just encountered something... unnatural,"

"I see. Hold on, I think I have a few charms for warding off spirits. Of course, you should probably visit the church as well..."

Papa Oliver nodded calmly, but Jenkins cut him off mid-sentence.

"No, it wasn't a ghost or anything like that."

he said hesitantly, trying to buy time to come up with a good excuse for how he'd discovered the Cursed Item.

"I was just on the main road, and a little girl came up to sell me flowers. It seemed normal, but the moment I went to get my money, I was hit with that same dizzying sensation I felt when I faced that giant octopus..."

He stammered through the explanation, trying to gloss over how he had "accidentally" realized something was wrong.

Papa Oliver's brow furrowed. He paused for a few seconds. "That sounds familiar. I think I've read a file about that."

"Thank goodness," Jenkins thought. "I don't have to keep explaining. I was completely out of excuses."

He was inwardly delighted.

"If it's really the one I'm thinking of... did you buy the flowers?"

A hint of tension crossed Papa Oliver's face, making Jenkins's heart leap back into his throat.

"So... should I have bought them?"

"If it's the one I'm thinking of, you have to buy them. Otherwise..."

Papa Oliver didn't finish, his gaze fixed on Jenkins's waist. Jenkins looked down and saw three fresh white flowers pinned to the bottom button of his coat.

Without another word, Papa Oliver quickly shut the shop door and led Jenkins toward the church in the city center.

They hired a carriage, and the ride was silent. Jenkins, clutching the three flowers with a growing sense of dread, followed Papa Oliver through a secluded back door of the church. They wound their way through a courtyard and into an unfamiliar office.

Inside the office, a well-dressed, middle-aged gentleman sat reading a newspaper. The main desk at the head of the room was empty.

The man stood up in surprise. "What brings you here at this hour? Is something wrong? Did you get your hands on something... significant?"

"No, James." Papa Oliver's expression was so grave it gave Jenkins the unsettling feeling he was about to die. "This is my new apprentice. This evening, he encountered a little girl selling flowers. We suspect it's A-01-2-0198."

*A Cursed Item, first discovered by the Church of All Things and Nature. Contact forbidden for Enchanters below level 8. Random designation 0198.*

Recalling what he had studied over the past few days, Jenkins immediately realized he was in serious trouble.

The gentleman in the black suit told him not to panic, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Jenkins and the flowers in his hand.

He asked them both to sit down and wait, then strode out of the room.

After he left, Papa Oliver explained that the middle-aged man was Mr. James Hert, from the Nolan diocese's Office for Special Items and Incident Management.

A short while later, three men with solemn faces entered the room. In addition to Mr. Hert and Mr. Bincy, whom Jenkins already knew, there was an elderly man in a comical top hat. He had a thick white beard and remarkably small eyes.

The old man nodded to Papa Oliver, who in turn addressed him as Smith.

Bincy, who had entered last, turned to shut the door. He then produced a small silver knife and began to trace a pattern on the heavy, bronze-colored wood. Mr. Hert wasn't idle either. He walked over to the desk, took a small wooden block from a drawer, muttered a few words, and tossed it against the wall.

To the naked eye, nothing happened. But in Jenkins's other sight, a faint membrane of light enveloped the room, and a shining holy emblem of the Legacy Sage appeared on the door.

Once this was done, the men sat down. They listened as Jenkins recounted his experience, then questioned him in detail about the little girl's clothing and appearance before exchanging glances.

Smith, the eldest of the group, carefully took one of the flowers from Jenkins to examine it. When he handed it back, his expression was a mixture of relief and vexation.

"We can confirm it. Mr. Williams did indeed encounter A-01-2-0198, the Young Flower Seller, also known as the Deadly Flower Girl."

The word "deadly" made Jenkins's heart skip a beat.

Mr. Smith noticed Jenkins's expression and offered a reassuring smile. Then, he drew a document from his coat and began to read it aloud.

"A-01-2-0198. First confirmed and cataloged by the Church of All Things and Nature in 1078, following an incident of mass death in an urban population.

Subject appears as a nine-year-old human female with blonde hair, dressed in the garb of a commoner from the ancient Xiteli Kingdom. She carries a basket made of an unknown plant material on her right arm."

He looked up from the document at Jenkins.

"A-01-2-0198 appears without any discernible pattern of time or location. The last recorded sighting was ten years ago in Thorn Town, a small city on the border of the Hamparvo Kingdom. You're a very lucky man, Mr. Williams."

Jenkins froze. *Lucky? How am I lucky to have run into this thing?*

"According to its known characteristics, the subject possesses power equivalent to a level 8 Enchanter or higher. However, as long as it is engaged in normal conversation, it behaves exactly like an ordinary human girl."

Level 8, Jenkins recalled, was the strength of the most powerful Enchanter from the Church of Knowledge and Books in Nolan—a being who could be called a demigod walking the earth. But that person had already left the city, having set out to sea with a fleet to deal with some other problem.