"So it suddenly became active tonight?" Jenkins asked, holding his cat.
The Scribes who had gathered under the holy emblem had mostly departed, so no one was around to overhear their conversation. In truth, Jenkins suspected most of them were as clueless as he was about what had just happened, and the Church wasn't about to offer any explanations.
"Around midnight, a Keeper of Secrets noticed an unusual sound coming from behind the Gate of All Things. Upon inspection, they discovered it had suddenly come to life. Thankfully, we caught it early, and you were still in the church tonight. Otherwise, we really wouldn't have known how to suppress it. That sudden eruption of hatred, malice, and necromantic energy was truly terrifying."
The Sage Church had yet to figure out why A-06-1-4408 had gone haywire, but the next day, Jenkins received even worse news from Papa Oliver. Not every church was as fortunate as the Sage Church, with a Saint on hand to help with the sealing. The A-06-1-4408 specimen that had become active last night wasn't the only one.
The Nolan diocese was responsible for seven specimens of A-06-1-4408 in total. The two held by the Church of Ocean and Exploration had been destroyed by force.
But the consequences were severe: the curse had leaked out, and the lingering resentment had grown even stronger. The Church of Ocean and Exploration remained closed to its followers all Wednesday. The official excuse was renovations, but in reality, they were dealing with a stubborn curse that had infested a small area.
The skeleton held by the Church of the Unlit Moon, fortunately, was successfully sealed. The followers of the Unlit Moon receive an extra measure of luck in the darkness, which may have been one of the reasons for their success.
The Church of the Myriad Phenomena of the Starry Sky wasn't so lucky. Due to a lack of preparation, their active A-06-1-4408 nearly escaped from the dungeon beneath their astrology tower. It took the cost of two lives before the astrologers managed to seal it again.
The Church of Death and End, which housed two of the skeletons, had considerable experience dealing with undead creatures. But by the time they realized something was wrong with their A-06-1-4408 specimens, it was too late. The two skeletons, displaying a surprising level of intelligence, worked together and caused the Gravediggers a great deal of trouble.
"Wait, Papa Oliver, what did you say? An A-06-1-4408 has escaped the Church's containment?"
"Yes, and the Gravediggers have completely lost its trail. You should know that no one dares perform divination on a Cursed Item, and conventional search methods are of little use."
Papa Oliver said with a sigh, continuing to polish the vase in his hands.
"So, you must be extremely careful when you go out now. We don't know if this newly animated A-06-1-4408 has any special abilities. In all previous tests, it only ever passively spread its terrible curse."
"The Church of Death and End will keep searching for it, won't they?" Jenkins asked, his voice filled with concern.
"Of course, they won't give up. The Gravediggers are swamped right now. Remember the incident at the city cemetery? The undead reanimating, the innocent people who died? They still haven't found a single lead. The reanimated dead just vanished into thin air, leaving no trace. If you ask me, a powerful Enchanter specializing in necromancy must have come to Nolan. There's no other explanation."
Jenkins didn't know if Papa Oliver's guess was right, but he knew one thing for certain: whoever was casually toying with corpses, whoever had caused the deaths of the entire Gelert family, was no righteous person.
He was still furious about what he had witnessed in the cemetery and swore to himself that he would make the culprit pay for their crimes.
Jenkins spent the rest of the morning peacefully chatting with Papa Oliver. Around noon, seeing the sky grow overcast, he moved all the cardboard boxes from the courtyard into the back warehouse for storage.
In the afternoon, he went out to collect debts as usual. The new year was already approaching its second month, but last year's accounts still hadn't been fully settled.
His destination was the Guzmaner shopping street along the Rona River. The owner of shop number 19 had bought an expensive oil painting from the antique shop last autumn. Lacking sufficient cash on hand, he'd signed a contract to pay off the debt in five monthly installments, with interest, to be cleared by this January.
But the unfortunate owner had been caught up in last year's vampire incident and lost his life. His family was likely unaware of the outstanding debt, and the final month's payment was never made. That was why Jenkins had to make the trip.
Papa Oliver had given him plenty of time, so he chose to walk instead of taking a carriage. Halfway there, snowflakes began to drift down from the sky, but the flurries were light and didn't impede his progress.
It was now the tail end of winter. Having survived the coldest days of December and January, making it through the rest of the season was no longer a difficult feat. He could see people begging along the streets, but most of them lingered at the mouths of alleys, not daring to step onto the main thoroughfare.
To maintain a respectable appearance, Nolan's city council forbade beggars and vagrants from appearing on the main roads during the day. The ordinance had little effect, however, as the city's labyrinth of interconnected alleys provided more than enough space to accommodate the unfortunate and homeless.
He walked with his hands in his pockets, keeping close to the walls lining the street. At the entrance to one alley, he saw a stooped, grimy-faced woman with disheveled hair holding a small bowl. He reached into his pocket to find some spare change.
Jenkins quickly found a few copper coins, likely left over from buying food for Chocolate. He extended his hand to drop them into the woman's bowl, but she suddenly grabbed his wrist.
"Young man! I saw it, yes, I saw it! You are extraordinary!"
She spoke manically, trying to pull Jenkins into the alley behind her. But Jenkins pulled back sharply, keeping himself from being dragged forward. Thɪs chapter is updated by novel✶fire.net
"I'm sorry, but if you don't let go of my hand, I'm afraid I'll have to do something unpleasant."
It wasn't that he was worried about the woman's hands soiling his clothes; he was simply unaccustomed to such close contact with strangers.
"Young man, you are destined for great things! Yes, let me see, quickly, give me your hand! Let me see!"
She tried again to read his palm, but he wrenched his hand free. A sharp glint seemed to flash in Jenkins's eyes—a sign that his Eye of Reality was operating at full power.