"Welcome to Papa's Antique Shop, sir, may I help you?"
"Hello."
The man held out his hand, shook it with Dad, and then walked through the door to keep the cold wind out.
"It's like this. My boss at the law firm is about to celebrate his birthday. I want to give him an antique vase as a birthday present. He likes this kind of thing. Excuse me, do you have any recommendations?"
As he spoke, he took off his hat and looked around the entire store. When his eyes met Jenkins', the two simply nodded at each other.
"Ordinary people, but there is a black aura on their bodies, which is confirmed to be the source of infection."
Jenkins pinched the pen in his hand, lowered his upper eyelids to cover his eyes, and had already made a judgment in his heart.
"Oh, that's how it is!"
The old man was still acting, and he pretended to be clear: "Since it is a gift, what kind of vase do you need, do you have any specific requirements for size, decoration and price... Oh, please come here. William Mutter! Williammutter! Why are you being lazy again? Go get a pot of tea and collect the bill! I've never seen such a lazy apprentice like you!"
He screamed loudly, reprimanded Jenkins for his behavior, then turned his head and smiled apologetically at the gentleman, leading him to look at the collection in the store.
After both of them turned around, Jenkins quickly hid the written report in the counter, and after preparing the tea, he shouted "I'll collect the bill now", and ran out of the store.
About half an hour later, the old man was still introducing the history of a small porcelain vase to the middle-aged man. The middle-aged man was obviously a little impatient, but he was too embarrassed to interrupt such a professional introduction, so he could only listen patiently.
Seeing that the door was pushed again, the little apprentice who went to collect the bill just now came back with a big package, and quickly waved the hat in his hand and said:
"Please give me another cup of tea, thank you, I'm a little thirsty."
"Williamt, hurry up!"
Dad also urged.
Jenkins nodded in a panic, "Sir, what kind of tea do you need?"
"It will be all right."
The man finally had an excuse to leave Dad, so he walked to the counter.
Suddenly, the bell at the door rang for the second time, and three or four men with vulgar attire squeezed in, one of whom scolded his companion.
"Oliver, Oliver? Come and show me, is this poor man worth the ring to me!?"
He waved his fists and walked towards the counter as well. The moment the two of them brushed shoulders, the men behind rushed up and firmly controlled the middle-aged man.
One of them put his right hand together and slashed at his neck. The middle-aged man passed out before he could even cry out.
Dad walked over quickly and greeted everyone softly. Captain Bincy, the leader, found a member of the team who was the closest in size to a middle-aged man, and he would act as the source of infection and walk out of the store. The others would pass out and be replaced ten minutes later. The man pretending to leave.
There must be no way for anyone else to think that the source of the infection was an arrest or disappearance at Papa's Antiques. It is safest to do so without knowing if there is surveillance.
Now that Jenkins has confirmed that the man is an ordinary person, he will not pose a threat to the old man. After leaving the store, the only thing to worry about was that Dad would contract that horrible germ from spending too much time with that man.
He didn't even go to the carriage, but activated the ability of [Cat's Elegance], taking advantage of the few people in the alley in the morning, he quickly climbed over a series of low walls, and ran to the church in the nearest straight line.
Seeing the people in the store leave one by one, the two of them acted as if nothing had happened, and went on with the day of ordinary shopkeepers and ordinary apprentices, that's how clerical staff are, but maybe it's better to write a report.
"Father, what will happen to that man?"
He was still somewhat curious. Although he knew that the man probably would not survive, he still wanted to know what the church would do next.
"The first is to ask where he has been recently, who he has been in contact with, and then to kill him... There may be some experiments and physical examinations in the middle, but you won't like to hear those things."
The old man glanced at him, saw that Jenkins had no strange expression on his face, and continued to scrub the utensils just now.
Jenkins is not a Madonna, and he knows how terrifying this cogwheeling monstrosity is. The church's actions were completely within his expectations. Although it was cruel to the unlucky man, nothing was perfect.
It has been half a month since A-08-1-9990 was discovered by the Orthodox Church, and in such a long time, the five churches have captured only five sources of infection including this one. On the one hand, this shows that the situation is much better than expected, at least there is no need to worry about causing panic among ordinary citizens, but on the other hand, it also shows the cautiousness of the [Gear Craftsman Association], they are likely to be brewing more terrible plots.
This was just a small episode today, and Jenkins finally finished his report before lunch. There are very few reading tasks assigned to him by his father recently. According to him, Jenkins was promoted to level 2 in less than half a year after joining the job, which is something that hasn't happened in many years.
In response to this situation, Dad changed Jenkins' study plan a bit, and taught some practical methods of ritual arrangement and material handling in advance.
Not all rituals involve drawing a circle and placing some materials. The pre-processing of materials, such as squeezing the petals into thick juice and filtering out certain substances in the body, requires the benefactor to master the method himself. Because in their lives, it is impossible to find reliable helpers every time they deal with materials.
It is also because of this that the importance of Orthodox Church arranging courses such as chemistry and arithmetic for newly recruited benefactors emerges. In other words, a high-level gifter is definitely not illiterate, and an illiterate cannot go very far on the path of a gifter—he can't even read obscure literature.
Jenkins' classes are scheduled to start next month, and Dad will be able to get his schedule soon. Because of the status of Jenkins, the church is very cautious about the choice of teachers, which will delay some time.
After lunch, new customers came to the store. Dad was alone in the front to receive them, while Jenkins was in the warehouse behind, processing a batch of ammunition. Dad asked him to 'sanctify' these bullets, making them especially harmful to weird creatures.
"Sacred? Me?"
PS: 3000 are ordered for celebration, and there will be another chapter at 8 o'clock.