Chapter 372: Chapter 372

The thought of those troublesome cultists inevitably brought to mind the suicidal demonic eye buried in his basement. Although the thing was completely suppressed by a true name, Jenkins still didn't want such a dangerous object in his house for a second longer.

He had tried to find a way to destroy the eye, but unfortunately, he had failed.

After leaving the church, Jenkins stood on the street for a long while, holding his cat. Then, letting Chocolate retreat into his collar, he tucked his hands into his overcoat pockets and strolled toward the bank.

The number of gold pounds in his account had climbed to a startling figure. So far, at least, his plan was proceeding very smoothly.

Perhaps a little too smoothly.

Jenkins made a point of visiting the bank almost every day. As of today, he had not only recouped his entire initial investment but had seen that money grow thirtyfold...

"Are people really this naive these days?"

He had only made one of the promised payouts from the letters he'd sent, yet the explosive growth in his account seemed to have started right after that day. The records showed that deposits were coming not just from the Aediran District, but also from scattered individuals in the city's surrounding areas.

Although the individual contributions were small, they added up to a considerable sum.

She wanted to ask what was troubling the handsome man, but he left before she could work up the nerve.

He took a turn about the city with his cat. The foul air reduced visibility to a minimum, a fact even his carriage driver complained about.

After paying a generous tip, he got out at the mouth of the alley where the Pig's Head Bar was located. He greeted the bartender and descended into the black market.

The middleman, a man known as the Joker, seemed not to have moved an inch since their last meeting, a candle burning quietly at his feet.

The temperature in the empty, filthy sewers was even lower than above ground. It seemed to have put a damper on business; Jenkins had never seen the black market so deserted. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs novel•fire.net

"Is the Huntress back?"

He purchased a few cheap materials before approaching the Joker, who simply nodded in silence.

"It's not easy to get a meeting with you. If I recall correctly, our appointment was for this past Monday."

Jenkins's words were sharp as he addressed the woman sitting across from him.

"That's how things are. A life that's always smooth sailing is an illusion. But at least I've completed your commission. To be honest, I probably undercharged you for this one."

"You ran into trouble?"

"Yes, big trouble. The details are in the report. I hope you have no intention of provoking those followers of the Eternal Blazing Sun. It'll just cause problems for everyone."

"I'm well aware of that," he said with a sneer.

He pushed the final payment across the table to the Huntress while picking up the bound report with his other hand.

"So, the followers of that great being are still in Nolan?" he asked nonchalantly as he began to read.

He was actually more curious about what kind of trouble the Huntress had encountered to make her miss their appointment, but he also knew the woman opposite him would never pass up an opportunity to squeeze more gold pounds out of him.

"Yes. That damned suit of armor has left Nolan, but there are at least five members of the Church of Justice still in the city. One of them is a level seven, and I was nearly discovered by him."

"That's just a sign of your own incompetence. Perhaps you shouldn't take on such complex commissions in the future. It wouldn't do to delay someone else's business," Jenkins advised "helpfully."

For some reason, the woman across from him didn't offer a retort.

He had to admit, the Huntress had completed her commission with remarkable diligence. The investigative report detailed the recent movements of the Church of Justice's knights, and the wealth of detail made Jenkins momentarily suspect it was a fabrication.

It's worth noting that, from what Jenkins understood, among the Twelve Orthodox Churches, the Church of All Things and Nature, the Church of Sun and Justice, and the Church of Earth and Harvest were widely recognized as the most ancient faiths.

They had all endured from the most distant epochs and were even suspected to have existed since the world's creation. Because of this, some referred to the Spirit of All Things, the Eternal Blazing Sun, and the Earth Mother as the three Primordial Gods, signifying their special status.

The history of the Church of Sun and Justice was closely intertwined with the history of the nobility. The church's Enchanters were called "Knights," a title carried over from a bygone era.

It was said that several epochs ago, the title of "Knight" was exclusive to Enchanter believers of noble birth. But the power of time had changed everything. Like the other eleven churches, it had persistently worked to eliminate secular influence within its ranks, and with great success.

Because the followers of the Spirit of All Things and the Earth Mother were chosen through very specific criteria, the Church of Sun and Justice actually had the largest number of followers in the human world.

As for why a city as important as Nolan had no Church of Justice, that was not a question Jenkins needed to concern himself with.

According to the Huntress's report, these knights of justice were temporarily staying with the Church of the Unlit Moon. They left punctually at eight every morning and returned in the evening.

They seemed to wander the city aimlessly, sometimes taking strolls in the suburbs. The Huntress had marked their frequent haunts on a map, but the locations showed no discernible pattern.

Her investigation was certainly worth the price of fifty gold pounds. The daily tracking alone must have been a immense hassle.

He quickly flipped to the last page of the report, still unable to deduce what these people were looking for.

"Could it be that drop of divinity?"

The thought made him anxious. If he didn't get to the bottom of this, he would worry about being followed every time he stepped outside.

"Anything else of note? Anything at all," he asked, unwilling to give up.

"That's everything. If they weren't staying in a church, I might have been able to infiltrate their residence. Of course, if you're willing to raise the commission to 100,000 pounds, I could consider organizing a team to attack the Church of the Unlit Moon when their power is at its weakest, to help you find what you need to know. Naturally, you'd have to pay the full amount whether we succeed or not, and cover a portion of the compensation for any casualties."

She actually managed to make Jenkins laugh.