About an hour later.
Inside the carriage owned by Victor Vast Lehatot, Jack was alone while looking at a seemingly ordinary ring.
This thing took half of the instability I had... No! I wanted it to be out of my body so that it won't trouble me any longer. If I keep going to Salvation's Camp for their sedative, I might end up changing my religion and become an addicted fanatic!
"..." —Jack
Jack looked at the ring he made with Victor and remembered what he was told by him.
'When you are in the carriage on your way back, try to throw the ring out the window and you will see the magic happen.'
Well, it's not like I won't be meeting Victor again. He did say he will send the carriage over every day at the church.
Jack opened the window and threw the ring out about four meters.
On its way out, one of the people that were sent by Count Lut to escort Victor in an inconspicuous manner rode by on a horse towards the mansion Victor stayed at, only to be hit by the ring in the forehead.
"Ouch!" —The Horseman
The ring bounced right back through the window into Jack's lap.
"..." —Jack
HOW!?
...
Half an hour later, in front of the Church of Mardrago.
"Good sir! You forgot your ring inside!" —Coachman
The coachman that drove the carriage had checked the carriage and found the ring Jack 'accidentally' left inside. Immediately, he handed it back to the flabbergasted Jack.
This is insane... If this ring had any harmful effects, it could be considered a curse!
On his way back, Jack repeatedly threw the ring out of the carriage, as far as he could even, only for the ring to seemingly return through the power of coincidences back into his presence.
Whether it was a bird picking the ring back up and then resting on the window frame, a second horseman, the ring hitting a rock just right to bounce right back, or the final attempt to leave it in the carriage only for the coachman to get the desire to check the carriage despite him rarely doing so.
Jack just stood there staring blankly at the ring. Not only had he underestimated the power of instability, he felt that if he had made the slightest mistake back during that night, he might have not just lost the feeling of tiredness.
Hmm... I think I get the idea behind the ring, but I need to ask Victor later to confirm it.
It should have an area of influence of about three or four meters, and it nudges events so as to return to me.
Makes me wonder if I am to sell this ring, will it return to me so I could sell it again?
"Jack!" —Aldric
It's Aldric. Jack couldn't help but let out a slight smile; that was all he could muster due to the relaxation the sedative brought on him.
"What happened? Why did you return by that carriage?" —Aldric
Right... I should have stopped the carriage down the street and not in front of the Church.
"My problem got fixed." —Jack
"That's... good!" —Aldric
Aldric was confused as to which of the two problems that Jack faced got resolved.
"We are about to have supper. Tell us about it while we eat." —Aldric
"Sure thing." —Jack
Jack stopped on his way as another quote flashed in his head: 'But what I'm about to teach, you will not be allowed to teach to another.'
Right... I better keep out most of the details.
Soon after, Jack, Aldric, and the rest of the church's people sat down at a long table inside a dining hall. There were many people inside apart from them.
There were also people like Jack in there, who may have had a bad day and lost their homes and livelihood.
Jack began to explain how he met with Victor and the Bishopess Reinette and fabricated a few parts as to get them to think that they contacted Victor to see if they could help Jack.
Lucius, who sat on the other side of the table, remembered the fellow that was dressed in purple and had the same description as when he saw him.
"Isn't Victor the same man that helped you with Randam?" —Lucius
But before Jack could answer, Priest Aldwin spoke softly.
"Reinette..." —Aldwin
"..." The rest of the people at the table watched Aldwin ponder.
"Excuse me, I just remembered the embarrassing past before I met Reinette." —Aldwin
You make it sound like some love story.
"Back then, I made the gravest mistake a Priest could make and judged them in anger without knowing." —Aldwin
"Priest Aldwin, you're only human. Everybody makes mistakes!" —Lucius, attempting to console Aldwin
"They are truly trying to help the people..." —Aldwin
After Jack left with Randam, Aldric left as well and convinced Aldwin to meet with the Bishopess, where he got to know her, as well as the politics which he was blind to before he was told about them.
He learned that while it was true that they attempted to spread to the Kingdom of Troc, who held economic dominance over the continent long before the disease even started, they truly wanted to enter and treat the sick without any hope of getting something out of it.
This might have saved the Faithful Street where Jack lived, but the Church of Mardrago put up a political resistance that ended a little while before the street got wiped. This whole matter was held as secret as much as possible until the day Jack woke up in this world.
Of course, their actions speak louder than the words of the Bishopess. While it's true that they are helping, they are also converting people at an alarming rate.
But Aldwin was lacking in desire to compete due to the fact that his own religion put politics over the lives of the people. He felt guilty, especially with Jack, who was a victim of this, sitting at the same table.