Miss Miller gazed out the window, her voice trailing away.
She abruptly withdrew the silencing charm and shouted to the driver.
Without even grabbing an umbrella, she leaped from the carriage into the snow and took off running.
Jenkins, taken aback, pulled a one-shilling note from his pocket, asked the driver to wait, and then grabbed an umbrella to chase after her.
Thanks to her footprints, he found her easily. She hadn't gone far, just to an intersection on the other side of an alley.
At the three-way intersection, parked amidst the boarded-up fruit stalls and shuttered shops, was a jet-black carriage.
A middle-aged man with a severely burned face sat on the driver's seat, holding an oil lamp. The gaping, dark maw of the carriage door faced Jenkins and Miss Miller.
Snow continued to drift down, dusting the driver's sallow hair with a layer of frost. He paid it no mind, his gaze fixed on the two of them.
His voice was steady and calm, but his eyes, showing only the whites, were deeply unsettling.
Jenkins, holding the umbrella over Miss Miller, glanced at her. She was clearly hesitating, but her expression quickly firmed with resolve.
"Can you wait? I'll be taking the carriage, but I need to go back and get my luggage."
The driver answered almost without hesitation.
Although Jenkins had known of Miss Miller's travel plans, her sudden departure after offering him so much help still left him with a sense of unease.
He went back to his house with Miss Miller, helped her carry her suitcase to the waiting carriage, and then they returned to the intersection.
"Could you do me a favor? I'm sorry to trouble you again."
He took out a package intended for his pen pal and handed it to Miller.
"My pen pal lives in Ruen, so since you're heading there, could you deliver this for me?" Dıscover more novels at NoveI(F)ire.net
He forced a smile, the sudden departure making him feel melancholy. He hadn't made many friends since arriving in this world, and with each one who left, the number dwindled.
'Wait, what kind of thought is that?' he chastised himself. 'It's not like Miss Miller is dying!'
He corrected his thinking and, remembering the ritual he'd spent nearly all his savings to restore, took out the spiritual lodestone engraved with his true name.
"Take this as well. It will allow us to communicate over long distances."
Miss Miller accepted it and, in turn, left the damnable letters from the councilmen with him. It was pointless for her to take them, so it was better that Jenkins held onto them.
Once they were done, she gave Jenkins a gently reproachful look and admonished him.
"Don't wear such an expression, Jenkins. It only makes you seem more like a child, and you already look young enough as it is!"
As he helped move the luggage into the pitch-black carriage, Jenkins drew closer and caught the thick, coppery scent of blood wafting from within.
"Are you sure you can avoid the driver's 'fare'?"
With the driver standing right beside them, Jenkins didn't dare speak too plainly.
"Don't worry, I'm privy to some very secret knowledge..."
She paused to consider, and then, as if having come to a decision, she stood before the carriage and offered a faint smile.
"Some Cursed Items are unique. These special types often possess their own intelligence and can be communicated with. Others are mindless, like A-02-4-3868, the haunted pay toilet I encountered three years ago.
A special kind of currency is recognized by them, which can be exchanged for their help. I'm referring to the seventeen types of Sin Coins, designated A-01-0-5001 through A-01-0-5017."
As she spoke, she drew two exquisite pink coins from her pocket. After letting Jenkins see them, she handed them to the driver.
The driver silently extended a withered, bandaged arm, closed his hand around the coins, and slipped them into his pocket.
"They are Lust Gems, discovered three years ago in a 13th Epoch tomb. Since you're an Enchanter with the Church of Knowledge and Books, you should be able to find references to them in the library. However, Sin Coins are exceedingly rare, and no one has ever discovered how to make them, which is a true shame."
This was the answer to a two-hundred-thousand-gold-pound question, and Jenkins had just received it for free.
He had long speculated about the purpose of Sin Coins, but he had never imagined this.
'Wait a minute,' he thought. 'Does this mean that if I'd had Sin Coins when I met the Young Flower Seller, A-01-2-0198, I could have...'
Miss Miller had already climbed into the carriage, and the driver was raising his whip, ready to set off.
"Then I suppose we'll part ways here. Please give my apologies to Audrey; I don't have time to see her before I go."
She waved the spiritual lodestone. "This stone is fascinating. I should reach Ruen by tomorrow, so... I'll see you tomorrow night!"
"See you tomorrow! Have a safe trip!"
Putting all other thoughts from his mind, he stood on his toes to give Miss Miller a quick hug through the carriage window, then stood in the snow waving as she departed.
The wheels began to turn, slowly and silently, leaving no tracks in the snow. Miss Miller leaned out the window one last time.
"I'm on my way to Ruen to visit a Mr. J.W., the man who made such significant contributions to 'A Brief Introduction to Higher Mathematics' and 'Principles of Probability and Statistics.' I believe he's the greatest mathematician of our era. Though, I have a feeling this gentleman's understanding of mathematics might not surpass your own. I'll be back in Nolan after my visit, and we can continue our fascinating discussions then. Goodbye, Jenkins!"
This was the first time he had heard her reason for traveling to Ruen, and the familiar initials left him utterly stunned.
Seeing the expression on his face, Miss Miller, who was still leaning out the window, froze. "What's wrong? Wait a moment... J.W. It can't be..."
The carriage glided silently into the void, her voice echoing down the deserted street. Jenkins was left standing there, his hand still raised, an expression of pure astonishment on his face as he stared out at the empty, snow-covered road and the darkened scenery.
"Why didn't you say so sooner?"
He asked the empty air, pausing after each word.
He returned home in a daze. After a quick dinner for himself and Chocolate, he had intended to review the documents he'd recovered from the winery basement, but Miss Audrey rang the doorbell, punctual as ever.
"Miss Miller has left."
He let her into the foyer, helped her with her umbrella, placing it on the stand by the door, and then announced bluntly.