Chapter 365: Chapter 365
Jenkins planned to tell Papa Oliver about tonight's events tomorrow. The Church would likely handle the cleanup, completely eliminating any possibility of his identity being exposed.
But he was genuinely intrigued by the Ouija board. If possible, getting his hands on it ahead of time would be ideal.
“Are you going to become a thief?”
He asked himself, mulled it over for a moment, and nodded.
“Yes. Leaving something like that in the hands of ordinary people is a constant risk. I'm just... collecting it before the Church does. Besides, I'll pay for it...”
With that thought, his misgivings vanished, and he began to plan his move.
But the plan was over before it even began. Jenkins’s home was closer than any of the ladies’ residences. Although two of the charming young women expressed a desire to see his place, he remembered he needed to contact Miss Miller shortly and politely declined.
Besides, he didn't think there was anything worth seeing there anyway.
He stepped out of the carriage, exchanged a few pleasantries with the ladies, and feigned walking toward the gate to his home. In reality, he quickly donned his black robe as a disguise, activated [Cat’s Grace], and hurried after the carriage.
But the carriage's owner, Miss Lindsay, didn't head home. Instead, she directed her servant to drive to the Docklands.
Two other carriages were already waiting there. Miss Lindsay refused the warm cloak her maid offered, her gaze falling sorrowfully on the tightly bound form of Dali Kaige.
“Why did you kill her?”
Mr. Kaige could only manage a series of muffled grunts, his mouth having been gagged.
Miss Lindsay probably wasn't looking for an answer. With a wave of her hand, two burly servants hauled Mr. Kaige onto the pier and kicked him into the water below. As he fell, Miss Lindsay cried out Carly Alex’s name, her voice breaking in the night wind.
She quickly composed herself and handed a servant the Ouija board, along with the bag containing the small statuette and the planchette. It, too, was tossed into the water at the same spot.
Nolan City boasted an exceptional harbor; even by the pier, the water was more than ten meters deep. The group stood in the chilling wind for five minutes before Miss Lindsay turned and climbed back into her carriage.
A short while later, Mr. Kaige’s soaking wet corpse was hauled from the water and stuffed back into a bag. With that, the group mounted their carriages and disappeared into the darkened city.
“Even if you don't want it, you can't just toss it away like that...”
Jenkins emerged from behind a low warehouse, gazing with a conflicted expression at the distant sea, which reflected the cold light of the twin moons. He couldn't care less about the passionate drama of young love and betrayal; he just wanted the Ouija board.
The items were right there, beneath the pier. He could see them with his Eye of Reality; they hadn't been swept away by the current.
The problem, however, was that the temperature was already below freezing, and he'd have to go into the water...
Chocolate suddenly scrambled out from Jenkins's collar. The fluffy kitten nimbly scaled a brass-colored steam pipe on the side of the building, scampering onto the roof. No matter how Jenkins called, it refused to come down from the top of the warehouse.
“So, is that the reason for your... current attire?”
Miss Miller, wrapped in a luxurious white mink coat, inquired from the chair opposite him.
They were in Jenkins’s living room. He was huddled on the sofa, swaddled in a thick quilt, a roaring fire in the hearth providing much-needed warmth. Meanwhile, Chocolate was sprawled on a soft cushion to the side, still fiddling with the metal block.
“It would be a disaster if I caught a cold,”
he replied, apparently feeling that meeting a guest in such a state wasn't the least bit improper.
“Was your journey a pleasant one?”
“Very smooth, Mr. J.W.,”
the woman replied, forgoing his first name in favor of his initials.
Jenkins, of course, understood her meaning and could only offer an awkward silence in response.
“So, when will you be back in Nolan?”
“I'm not sure. I actually have other business in Ruen. I need to look for some information in a tower, and it's proving to be quite a headache. The Frozen Tower isn't a place one can simply walk into. It's an incredibly difficult place to access.”
“Do you need my help?”
“No, I believe I’ve already found a way.”
she replied, her gaze drifting toward the window. “I just arrived in Ruen today and have already made some... interesting acquaintances. They should be able to help me.”
She didn't tell Jenkins that, thanks to the errand of delivering that letter, she had already established a connection with the kingdom's third princess. The situation was still uncertain, and she wasn't sure what to make of the princess yet. She planned to observe Dolores Elizabeth Stuart for a while longer before revealing the identity of this new pen pal to Jenkins.
Jenkins, for his part, didn't give it much thought. He still believed his pen pal, Miss Mary, was just a naive, carefree daughter of a wealthy family. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel⁂fire.net
Their conversation soon shifted to other matters. Having left Nolan City in a hurry, Miss Miller still had a number of loose ends to tie up.
First, she gave Jenkins the details of the sales channel for the [Witch’s Kiss]. This was crucial for Jenkins, who was in desperate need of a way to earn Gold Pounds. Miss Miller had already made all the necessary arrangements; Jenkins just had to jot down the time, place, and other specifics, and he could handle the transaction on his own.
Miss Miller's primary profession was that of a detective, and she still had several outstanding cases. Jenkins, of course, wasn't expected to take them over—truth be told, he wouldn't have been capable even if he wanted to. Instead, Miss Miller simply tasked him with going to a certain location to pay a cancellation fee for a contract she was breaking. It was, in fact, that same clothing shop from before. Behind the fitting rooms, there was a much larger, hidden space.
The place operated as a sort of commission agency, where clients left their requests and capable detectives, assassins, or mercenaries would take on the jobs.
After settling these affairs, the two spent nearly three more hours engrossed in mathematical problems. Only when the hands on the household clock all pointed straight up to midnight, and the soft carpet was strewn with papers covered in equations, did Miss Miller finally take her leave.
They agreed that next time, she would be the one to initiate the ritual, bringing Jenkins to Ruen for a visit. He needed to finish the final part of his story, *A Tale of Ice and Snow*, and he was also eager to see the different landscapes this world had to offer.
After seeing Miss Miller off, Jenkins noticed Chocolate was struggling to stay awake. He hurried to the washroom to clean up, then fetched a quilt from the guest room, spread it out, and burrowed under the covers in front of the fireplace.
After a moment’s thought, he retrieved the documents he’d stolen from the basement of the Panton Winery, deciding to deal with them before bed. If he left it until morning, who knew what else might come up.