Chapter 456: Chapter 456

The moon was hidden by clouds that had appeared out of nowhere, making the cat's eyes seem to glow.

It cried out again, but the sound was faint, and the meow of a cat was hardly out of place in the city's night sky.

After its call, Chocolate padded a few steps along the street before stopping at the home of Jenkins's neighbor, the widow Mrs. Margaret.

The pregnant widow had moved out before Jenkins had even left Nolan City, so the house was dark in the dead of night.

Like a shadow, the cat melted into the darkness, slipping through the yard and the front door into the house.

When they first moved in, it had visited this house with Jenkins, though they had only stood on the steps without going inside. But Chocolate was quite familiar with the layout of such houses and found its target without any trouble: the basement.

Unlike Jenkins, who used his basement as a storage room and a laboratory for concocting potions, Mrs. Margaret's was much emptier. In the small, dark space, only Chocolate's amber eyes glowed. To its sight, the basement was completely empty.

After the rattling clatter of chains, the basement's environment transformed completely. In the center was a pile of human bones, burning with green flames. A large black cauldron hung suspended by chains directly above the fire, the flickering flames licking its bottom as brown bubbles burst one by one on the surface of the liquid inside.

Surrounding the cauldron, a circle of glowing runes was inscribed on the flat floor. In the gaps between the runes, tormented skeletons were chained to the ground, occasionally giving a sudden, violent shudder.

"Meow~" Google seaʀᴄh NoveI(F)ire.net

As if climbing invisible steps, Chocolate floated up above the black cauldron, curiously craning its neck toward the pot.

It took a sharp breath and then began to cough violently:

It retreated to the wall in disgust and, just as before, waved its little paw. Everything before it vanished.

Back on the ground floor, it left a few faint paw prints on the wall before climbing the stairs to the second floor. It stood by the bedroom window, glanced at Jenkins's house, and then returned to its own home without a backward look. The man was still sleeping peacefully on the rug, a faint smile on his face.

The cat gently brushed its tail against his face before settling down comfortably on its own soft cushion. It peeked at him through squinted eyes for a few seconds, then closed them and drifted peacefully into sleep.

The world keeps turning, no matter who is gone, and Nolan City was no different. In the time Jenkins had been away, its citizens had carried on with their lives. And the Enchanters living in the city certainly wouldn't find peace just because a certain vortex of trouble had left.

It was Thursday, the 22nd of the month, when he returned to the long-awaited Pops Antique Shop. Time always flew by so quickly.

He threw the door open, a wide grin on his face, and spread his arms, hoping to give the old man a surprise.

Papa Oliver waved a hand at him impatiently, acknowledging his return without even lifting his head.

"Now that you're back, get to work. Tidy up those shelves over there."

Jenkins didn't mind Papa Oliver's coldness; he was clearly busy with something important. Just being back in this familiar place was enough to make Jenkins content.

The fire in the hearth burned just as it had before he left, and the rocking chair in front of it seemed to be in the exact same spot. Only the items on the shelves looked unfamiliar. It seemed the antique shop had made a few big sales in the week he was away.

It wasn't until nearly noon that Papa Oliver finally put down the ancient, crumbling book he was holding, placed it carefully in a box, and began to speak with Jenkins.

"Welcome back, Jenkins. You're my pride and joy!"

His mood was now just as cheerful as Jenkins's had been a few hours earlier. "So, how was the trip? Did everything go smoothly?"

"It went very well. I even made a new friend."

There was no need to tell Papa Oliver about the Cursed Item and the mysterious Mr. Alexander he'd encountered on his way back to the city; he couldn't explain how he had escaped.

Luck? No, no, he'd used that excuse too many times. It wouldn't work forever. After all, fate wouldn't always smile on the same person.

"You remember you're supposed to go to the church this afternoon, right? The bishop has been waiting for a long time. He's been in high spirits lately, not sure what's gotten into him..."

"I remember. Oh, and here's a souvenir for you."

He walked from the shelves to the counter, still holding a small brush, and pushed a package that was sitting next to Chocolate toward Papa Oliver.

Papa Oliver adjusted his glasses, picked up the small package, and weighed it in his hand.

"Let me guess... socks? Or a scarf?"

"Heh, you haven't changed a bit."

In the week he had been away from the city, the most significant event wasn't the conclusion of the incident on the 31st, nor the aftermath of the great plague, but something else that had affected the entire continent.

Papa Oliver was the one who told Jenkins about it. Their conversation started with the streetlights in Bel Diran, shifted to the rumors about gas lamps being installed in their own city, and finally, Papa Oliver brought up the deaths of an Enchanter and a coachman that had occurred the previous night.

When he mentioned that, he slapped his forehead, as if remembering something important.

"That's right, there's something I need to tell you. The news only reached the Nolan diocese from the Holy See this Tuesday afternoon, so you probably haven't heard."

As he spoke, he tossed a silence charm onto the floor nearby.

"You must have heard about the midnight murders that have been happening frequently over the past six months, right?"

He had discussed it with the merchant Suares Rodriguez back in Bel Diran, but there hadn't been any definite conclusions at the time.

"So, you're saying some madman is really trying to perform a sacrificial ritual that spans the entire continent?"

"No, no, it's a bit simpler than that. It involves a Cursed Item."

Chocolate's ears twitched.

"The first to learn of this was actually a Nightwatchman from the Church of the Unlit Moon. He belongs to the Samor Parish in Chadgor County, in the Kingdom of Cheslan. Earlier last week, that lucky fellow and his companions discovered a midnight killer operating in their area. The killer was extremely powerful..."

"What was the Enchanter's level?"

"Hey, don't interrupt your old man when he's talking!"