Lord of The Mysterious Realms Chapter 676

By the time Jenkins stepped through the stately manor gates with the ghoul's corpse, it was already Saturday, the fourth day of their vacation. In the midst of his reflections, he remembered their two lost companions. But that was no longer a pressing issue, for Hathaway had returned.

Beyond her music-based abilities, she also possessed a tracking skill. Combined with what she had gained in the Mysterious Realm, finding Miss Rick and Mr. Garcia would be simple. That was, of course, assuming they were still alive and hadn't wandered too far from the manor.

Hathaway's ability was nearly useless in a densely populated city, but out in the wilderness, devoid of human life, searching for two people was as easy as finding the moon in a cloudless night sky.

"But there's still a problem."

Jenkins whispered to Hathaway, his arms crossed. They stood together, watching the butler announce the recent events to the manor's servants. The entire account, of course, was a fabrication spun by Jenkins.

"First, we can't come up with an excuse to go out searching. It's the middle of the night, and there's a blizzard raging. The people at the manor won't allow us to leave. Second, one of us has to stay behind to guard the doctor. He might be low-level, but he's still an Enchanter. It's hard to predict what he'll do when he wakes up. But I don't know where Miss Rick and Mr. Garcia are..."

"So I'll go out and bring them back."

Hathaway replied matter-of-factly, her gaze drifting to Miss Mikhail, who was sitting in a nearby chair. Briny hadn't noticed the two of them whispering in the corner.

"That's out of the question. You can't go out there. It's the dead of night, and a blizzard is raging. It's far too dangerous."

If any other man had said that, the atmosphere might have turned rather intimate. But this was Jenkins, and he paid no mind to such things.

After a moment of deep thought, he proposed a new plan:

"Alright, here's the plan. When everyone goes back to their rooms to rest, I'll slip out through the window. You mark their location on a map as precisely as you can—the butler should have one. Oh, and mark the location of that cabin, too. I'll grab the important items while I'm there. If I manage to find our friends, I'll just leave them at the manor gate. After all, Miss Mikhail showed up mysteriously as well. If I can't find them, then we'll leave it to fate. I'll come back, kill the doctor, and then we can both go out."

It was the best plan they had. Although Hathaway didn't want Jenkins venturing out into a midwinter blizzard, she knew she couldn't stop him.

With the map drawn up as planned, the butler ushered everyone back to their respective rooms for the night. During that time, Jenkins found some rope and bound the doctor like a mummy. Under the pretext of 'safety,' he had the cook—who had some knowledge of anatomy—sever the tendons in the doctor's hands and feet. Only after arranging for armed servants to stand guard in shifts did he finally return to his room, his mind at ease.

Miss Lawrence and Miss Mikhail, thoroughly frightened, both moved into Hathaway's room. They even suggested Jenkins move a bed in there to stay with them, but because he needed to sneak out, he decisively rejected the offer.

The young women also suggested he leave his cat behind, as the brave little feline had left a deep impression on them. Jenkins was about to agree when Chocolate suddenly flew into a frenzy, furiously clawing at the comforter to express its displeasure.

Jenkins had no choice but to take the cat with him as he left the young women's room.

Soon, tranquility settled over the manor once more. The lights in the rooms went out one by one, and the day's exhausted residents quickly drifted off into a deep, sweet sleep.

In his room, Jenkins bundled himself up tightly against the cold, then opened the window and leaped out. He didn't even need to use his Cat's Grace; the thick blanket of snow on the ground below guaranteed he wouldn't be injured from the second-story fall.

The visibility was so poor that he had no fear of anyone spotting his departure from a window. Glancing back at the manor, shrouded in darkness, Jenkins was struck by a sudden, inexplicable sense of dread. It was as if the building were a grotesque beast, slumbering in the endless night.

He chalked the feeling up to exhaustion and took a couple of deep breaths before summoning his unicorn. Updates are released by NovelHub(.)net

The small, snow-white creature had spent its life in a warm forest and had never experienced a blizzard of this magnitude, even during snowy winters. It stood in the driving wind and snow, giving Jenkins a pitiful look, as if scolding him for summoning it in such dreadful weather.

He gently stroked his mount's forehead with a gloved hand.

Such a pure creature was blessed by nature and wasn't truly affected by extreme weather. It was likely just trying to win his sympathy, much like a certain cat he knew.

They flew low and unsteadily, skimming just above the treetops to minimize the wind's resistance. Jenkins peered at the map through his monocle, adjusting their course. Thankfully, it was made of parchment; anything less sturdy would have been torn to shreds by the wind.

Perhaps summoning his skeletal warhorse with the bone whistle would have been more suitable for the occasion, but ever since acquiring the unicorn, Jenkins had a habit of conveniently forgetting about it.

Whether it was their luck or his, Jenkins found Rick and Garcia with surprising ease. They were huddled together under a large tree, where they had constructed a makeshift shelter from scavenged branches and animal hides to block the wind.

When Jenkins found them, they were slumped against each other, unconscious. The cold and hunger had taken a serious toll on their health, but at least they were both still alive.

After administering some basic healing, he tied them up with a rope, slung them beneath the unicorn, and located the cabin in the woods. An overwhelming stench of decay billowed from inside, so foul that the cat squirmed out of Jenkins's arms and leaped through the snow onto the back of the waiting unicorn.

Hathaway had already retrieved some of the documents. Jenkins scanned the interior but found no items emitting a spiritual aura, so he gathered most of the remaining papers, bundled them in his coat, and left.

They returned to the manor by the same route. Jenkins slipped back through his window first to stash the documents. He left Chocolate in the room before creating an illusion of himself.

He then placed Garcia and Rick on the steps before the main entrance and waved farewell to the unicorn.

He hammered his fist against the tightly shut main doors, then swiftly used Real Illusion to return to his room.

He changed out of his clothes and slipped under the covers. Moments later, he heard footsteps echoing from the hallway, followed by the butler's voice.

"Mr. Williams, someone was just pounding on the manor's main gate!"