The Master of the Strange Realm

This neighborhood gathering is held every year, and this time is in its 13th year. At the beginning of the party, everyone held a moment of silence for the tragic death of their neighbor, the widow Margaret, and then began to discuss various matters for the new year.

Apart from the new neighbors moving in, not many changes have taken place on this street during the year. Even though everyone moved out collectively at the end of last year, the peace and tranquility of St. George Street has not changed.

Therefore, the party went quite smoothly. Every time when Attorney Bell announces terms or matters, everyone will vote by a show of hands, and if anyone has any doubts, they can bring them up for discussion.

When it comes to sharing the cost of community management, new neighbors naturally have to express whether they will pay for it. Miss Silver Flute, also known as Mrs. Mistalla Forlant, seems to be staying here for a long time, and decisively stated that she can join the community management plan.

As Mr. Goodman expected, Attorney Bell said very tactfully that Jenkins' house now occupies the space of two households, so he needs to bear double the costs.

"I think there is no problem. But since I paid two gold pounds, should I enjoy double rights?"

he asked.

"Of course, this is equivalent to having two houses on this street, Viscount, and you will naturally enjoy double services."

Lawyer Bell said this, calling Jenkins "Viscount" directly, even though Jenkins had not yet gone to Belduran to receive the title because of the deterioration of the queen's health. But other people had no objections, so the matter was resolved easily.

Apart from the terms and agreements that had lasted for many years, the most important addition to the meeting was the discussion of the installation of street lights on St. George Street.

Since Sage Church stated that it could bear part of the cost of installing street lights and cooperated with the city hall to immediately install street lights on the main roads, other churches finally understood that Sage Church wanted to use this method to spread their faith.

After a preliminary assessment, it was concluded that this would cost less and gain more. Other churches in Nolan also began to inquire with the city hall whether there was still a lack of funds for urban infrastructure construction.

But even so, St. George Street in the west of the city only installed simple street lights at the end of the street and opposite Jenkins' house, which obviously cannot meet the needs of all residents.

Lawyer Bell’s proposal is that everyone pools some money. He has a way to contact the people in the city hall to have a sufficient number of lights installed on St. George Street in advance.

Installing lampposts is not very difficult, and gas pipes with sufficient flow are buried deep under the streets. Just open the valve at the bottom of the lamppost, connect an extra pipe to the underground gas pipe, and you can use it after a little debugging.

The reason why Nolan City Hall has not installed street lights on a large scale is firstly because it is extremely difficult to dig up the road for construction in winter, and secondly there are political considerations. As for what Jenkins is considering, he doesn't know. This is what his father said.

Neighbors are largely unsupportive of Attorney Bell's proposal, unwilling to shell out the extra money, and judging from current trends, St. George Avenue won't be able to see the light of day until this fall at best.

It was quite unwise to spend money to own street lights half a year in advance, so in the end, Attorney Bell could only unfortunately throw the paper with the proposal into the nearby trash can.

Another important thing is the increasingly serious problem of epidemic prevention. After the battle in the Evergreen Forest, there were reports of corpse plague appearing everywhere in Nolan. The church estimates that the peak of the plague will occur at the end of this month or the beginning of next month, and will then slowly disappear due to the city's active disaster prevention response and the loss of the Skeleton Sword as a source of power.

After the news was changed to another version, it was told to the citizens of the whole city through newspapers. Therefore, the current situation of epidemic prevention is still very pessimistic, and in order to prevent this infectious disease from invading St. George Street, neighbors need to be prepared.

For example, there is no need to mention things like washing hands frequently and eating cooked food. Other things such as paying attention to your health at all times and having regular check-ups also need to be emphasized.

Some people even mentioned the issue of pets. After all, there are many stories of small animals spreading plague in the past. Of course, the mention of pets is not directed at Jenkins' cat. Cats can catch mice - although chocolate cannot, and mice are carriers of many terrible diseases, so they are beneficial for epidemic prevention.

The mention of pets refers to Mr. Goodman’s pet chicken.

Someone complained in a vague way that they were often woken up by the crowing of cocks recently, and the residents living near Mr. Goodman’s house also agreed.

Goodman said he was very sorry for the incident and said he would send the chicken away as soon as possible.

"My cousin's family came to the city for vacation and will return to the country next week."

He assured everyone, and no one said anything more.

Chapter 1065 Chapter 1047 Gifts from the Past

It was half past nine when the neighbors' gathering ended, and everyone left Lawyer Bell's house with a new agreement in hand. Jenkins walked toward home with Mistalla Forlant and Mr. Goodman. After bidding farewell to the two of them, he took out the key and opened the fence door.

The cat who heard the sound immediately jumped out from the small door under the door, wagging its tail and looking at Jenkins on the front steps, looking happy.

"You're very good today."

He bent down and patted the cat on the head, then took out the key and opened the door. Chocolate followed the man obediently. It was a little too obedient tonight.

But everything was normal at home. Except for the extremely subtle fragrance permeating the air, there was nothing unusual about the home.

"Maybe Chocolate has finally behaved."

Jenkins speculated in his mind, choosing to believe chocolate until he found evidence that it had done something bad.

"Meow~"

The cat gently rubbed Jenkins' hand, and the cat's face with squinted eyes looked full of enjoyment.

The next day was Monday, and there was light rain in the early morning. Jenkins went to get the newspaper without an umbrella, so he came back inside soaked.

He used the flame to evaporate the raindrops on his clothes and newspaper, and felt a little unhappy when he looked at the wrinkled newspaper.

After dinner, I went to my dad’s antique store under an umbrella. I was in a bad mood on the gloomy morning, and my dad announced to Jenkins that he could give him a day off today.

"I'm going to the church to help identify a strange object. It's the altar that Miss Bevanna brought back."

Dad said as he put on his coat. Due to the rain, the temperature this morning was a bit low.

"I'll probably be away all day. Since it's raining, there won't be many customers. So don't look at the store. Go find Mihail or Hesha. I remember you said you would find time to play with them."

"What about tomorrow?"

Jenkins did not reject his father's suggestion. Anyway, his father would not know where he had gone.

"Come here as usual tomorrow, just in time for us to clean up the warehouse together. I'm going to teach you some complicated rituals, which require space. Oh, one more thing, Bevanna needs to take a rest. She asked me to tell you about tonight's fight. Classes will be suspended once, but will continue as normal on Wednesday, don’t forget.”

"Okay daddy."

Jenkins stood at the door, took out the umbrella from the sleeve behind the door and handed it to his father. His father was wearing a black coat, a pair of rain boots, and a black hat on his head. He held an umbrella in one hand and a suitcase in the other.

After Jenkins opened the door, his father walked out, stood under the awning and looked up at the rain. Then he raised the umbrella in his hand and shook it gently in the air. The umbrella bounced open with a "bang~" sound.

"You can throw away the box I labeled in the warehouse, then lock the door and leave. Remember to turn the sign at the door."

Dad ordered, and after getting a response from Jenkins, he stepped into the rain on Fifth Queens Avenue.

"It's nice to have a day off."

Jenkins murmured and closed the store door to keep out the cold wind. The cat has jumped up on the counter and is lying on the soft cushion that belongs to it. Chocolate thinks that today will be a very interesting day.

The small cardboard box that Dad placed in the warehouse was not very heavy. Jenkins opened it out of curiosity and looked at it, and found that there were some torn old documents inside. Judging from the yellowing paper, it must have been old.

I carried the cartons to the alley where the garbage was thrown. Because of the rain that lasted for half a night, the uneven ground in the alley had already accumulated a layer of water. Jenkins looked at his boots, not wanting the foul sewage to splash on them.

He glanced back and made sure that the pedestrians on the street behind him were hiding under umbrellas and walking in a hurry, so he summoned the fire of grace and lit the box directly.

The deliberately controlled flames quickly incinerate the combustible materials in the boxes, even if they are damp due to rain, they can easily ignite.

Along with the box, the pile of paper was quickly burned away, and then Jenkins discovered that it was not just the paper that was licked by the fire. So he immediately withdrew the flame, and then found the sandwich in a half-torn notebook.

In the sandwich is a piece of bark-like material that has certain fire-resistant properties, so Jenkins can see it before it burns. After taking it out, I found two lines of words written on it. Although the corners of the bark were burned off, those words were fortunately not damaged:

[Dad, I knew you could discover the surprise I gave you. Happy Reading Day! This piece of Engus bark is the gift - Stillwell.

Also: I hope you will consider my winter vacation plans. 】

"Stevie?"

Jenkins was stunned, put the bark in his pocket first, and then burned all the remaining waste paper. He walked towards the antique store with an umbrella, thinking about the piece of bark.

Miss Stiver is a former student of my father, and the "Engus Bark" written on the bark is a very precious material. This kind of bark has a better writing feel than modern industrial paper, and it is not easy to perish and can be stored for a long time.

More importantly, Engus bark is an extremely good material for storing spirits. With the ritual imprinted on it, the spirit flows extremely slowly. Therefore, in the modern development of charms, in addition to various metal and gemstone charms, scroll-type "talismans" are also quite popular, and the most excellent scroll material is Engus bark.

Judging from the message on the bark of the tree, this was probably a holiday gift given to Dad by the senior sister during the Reading Festival in the past year, but Dad didn't notice it.

For unknown reasons, the lady did not remind her father of this matter after that, so this thing has been kept until now.

"Um......"

Jenkins instinctively wanted to use this piece of bark to investigate his father, but he immediately felt that doing so was rude and boring.

"Give dad the bark when he comes back...use this to start the conversation, and dad will definitely say something."

With this thought in mind, he held down the cat that came over from the other side of the counter to take a sniff, then put the bark in the notebook and put it back on the counter.

"This is daddy's, not mine. You can't eat it casually."

he said to his cat, and was surprised to see his cat actually give up the struggle.

"Is Chocolate sick?"

He thought in horror, and immediately took out the bark from the counter.

"Want to eat?"

He stretched the bark towards his cat, and Chocolate shrugged its small nose, and then showed a look of disgust on his face. It had eaten something better last night.

"Are you sick? Are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?"

He asked uncertainly, and the cat meowed softly, sounding healthy.

"If you feel unwell, you must tell me."

He frowned and said worriedly, and wanted to reach out and touch Chocolate's belly to confirm whether there was a lump, but the cat's paw pushed it away.

PS: If you can, try not to gain weight (cover your face), the recent ordering has dropped dramatically.

Chapter 1066 Chapter 1048 Old Elf

After closing the store door according to his father's instructions, Jenkins neither chose to go home nor go to the girls. Instead, he went to find the original owner of the fruit plate based on the information he got at the beach grocery store last week.

It was an old man who lived alone. The thief stole his things from his home and changed hands several times before Jenkins got them. In fact, Jenkins had given up hope of obtaining the secret of the fruit plate. Even its original owner was unlikely to know its secret.

The old man lived in a rental apartment in the south of the city. When Jenkins held an umbrella and looked at the apartment across the street, the rain was getting heavier. He pushed back the cat that poked its head out of the buttonhole on his chest, then turned around and walked into the alley, changing his appearance.

Thinking about the reason for the visit, he waited until the carriage passed before crossing the street to the downstairs of the apartment. He took a breath and knocked on the door a few times. The rain-soaked door suddenly made his fingers wet, and the rust on the door also stuck to his fingers.

Thirty seconds later, I heard footsteps inside the door. The person who opened the door was a mean-looking woman in her thirties. She was wearing a red sweater, holding a teacup in her left hand, and looking at the door with a critical look. The shabbily dressed man.

"Are you a friend of old Bruce?"

she asked.

"Um?"

Jenkins didn't know Bruce Sr., and she may have mistaken him.

"Clean the water from the soles on the mats before coming in. Old Bruce is in the second room on the third floor."

She warned, as if Jenkins were a foul-smelling beggar, just shy of saying, "You're not welcome here."

"I see."

I wanted to explain my identity clearly, but room 2 on the third floor was Jenkins’ target. It sounds like the elderly person who lives alone is at home, and this would be a good time to visit.

Judging from the living environment, the old man's financial situation should not be very good. Jenkins believed that his gold pounds could compensate for his rudeness in visiting rashly.

"But what if it's a gifter? No, it shouldn't be a gifter, otherwise the fruit plate wouldn't be stolen so easily."

Jenkins thought like this as he stepped onto the third floor. There are three bedrooms on the third floor, all of which are closed at this time.

Although he thought it could not be the Giver, Jenkins still looked at it with the Eye of Truth, and then saw a humanoid blue aura lying down.

"..."

He turned around and wanted to go downstairs, but an old and tired voice came from the room:

"Is it Harama? Please come in. I didn't close the door. I heard Mrs. Rubik opening the door for you just now."

"Oh, damn!"

Jenkins complained in his heart, put his left hand into his coat and found the pistol, then turned back to the door of the room, reached out and pushed the door open.

There was a fresh smell unique to the morning forest in the room. The space inside was not large. When Jenkins opened the door and came in, the old man in the bedroom spoke again:

"I have already written the will, and I think it will be ready after proofreading it this time. Oh, Willy, you lucky guy, you can finally get my cane, cough~"

The owner of the room sounded very ill. Jenkins stood in the bedroom and hesitated for a few seconds before slowly walking in.

"Halama, look at this..."

The old man, who was sitting on the bed in his pajamas and covered with a quilt, finally realized that the person who entered the door was not a friend at all. He shrank nervously towards the foot of the bed, with a look of panic on his old face.

"Is he a robber? Get out of here, there is nothing you want here."

The voice was stern but a little fright could be heard. He seemed to want to scare Jenkins away with such threats, but this was impossible. Jenkins blocked the door of the bedroom and looked at him. After a while, he opened his right hand and showed him the charm:

"This is a soundproofing charm. I think you should know it. So stop shouting. The woman downstairs can't hear you."

Seeing the charm in Jenkins' hand, Old Bruce immediately understood that he was the benefactor. Although he didn't understand what happened, he believed that the stranger who broke in rashly was probably a bad person. The arms that he immediately stretched forward seemed to be trying to use some means, but he coughed violently, and even the spirit that had finally gathered in his body was coughed away.

The old man's life is probably coming to an end. Even long-lived alien creatures will eventually have such a day. He coughed for a long time before stopping. Jenkins handed him the towel at the head of the bed. The old man thanked him softly with the sound squeezed out of his lungs.

He pulled a chair from the desk and sat by the bed. Because the room was stuffy, he unbuttoned his coat one by one. The cat jumped onto his knees and lay down. Jenkins put his coat on the back of the chair.