13 Mink Street

Chapter 61: The Ability Of A Heretical God

As Karon steadied the gurney with one hand, Mandira withdrew her hands and obediently laid back down. To some degree, she really was well behaved, as Karon did not even need to speak for her to understand.

The second body was unloaded, and Karon lifted the white sheet to see the magician from the night before. Both were dead, which Karon had already known. Mandira had died long ago, and the magician had drowned last night. The question was why the two had ended up as welfare cases for the Immers family.

Only Roja City’s local residents with verified residency, no family, and no next of kin qualified for welfare processing. These two were clearly outsiders.

Mason walked over, rubbing his hands together and blowing warm breath into them. “Poor couple,” he said. “Chose to jump into the river together in the dead of winter.”

“Together?” Karon asked.

“Yes,” Mason replied. “They drowned and washed up on the riverbank outside the city. When they were found, they were tied together with ropes.”

“So it was immediately ruled a lovers’ suicide?” Karon asked. “No other consideration from the police?”

“The police arrived before we did,” Mason replied. “They found a suicide note on them, confirmed it as a double suicide, and called us to process two welfare cases. The bodies were discovered by an elderly merchant who lives nearby. He found them during his morning walk, and probably didn’t want bad luck sticking to him, so he offered to donate money for their burial. That’s how it became a welfare case.”

“I see,” Karon said. Most likely, the circus had It disposed of the bodies in the simplest way possible, and the police simply had no interest in digging deeper.

Mason pushed Mandira’s gurney, while Ron moved the magician’s. Together, they moved the two guests into the basement.

Karon picked up the phone in the living room, intending to call Alfred, but before he could dial, Alfred was at the gate, pushing it open and walking through.

“Young Master,” Alfred said. “I returned late last night, so I overslept this morning.”

Karon put the phone down. “Coffee, black tea, or ice water?”

“Coffee,” Alfred replied, visibly flattered.

“I’ll have ice water,” Karon said.

“Ah, yes, Young Master.” Alfred went upstairs to make the coffee, and then returned with a glass of ice water for Karon.

On the third floor, Karon was sitting by the window that was Pu’er’s favorite spot. The cat herself was sprawled across his lap, her fur warm from the morning sun and pleasantly hot to the touch, like a hand warmer. She allowed Karon to pet her freely, because he had promised to cook her a new dish.

As soon as fish was involved, the cat seemed to lose almost all resistance. Her pursuit of comfort and refinement seemed to have been imprinted deep in her soul.

“Your water, Young Master,” Alfred said, placing the glass down.

Pu’er stretched out a paw for the coffee cup, but Alfred avoided it.

“Last night, you and Tiz went back,” Karon said. “What was the result?”

“He fled.”

“Fled?”

“Yes.”

“With that many people around?” Karon asked. “He just disappeared?”

“Hm?” Alfred realized they were talking past each other. “Did Sir Tiz not tell you?”

“He went to church early,” Karon said. “So I haven’t spoken to him yet.”

“That explains it,” Alfred said. “Young Master, last night, outside the circus tent, in a Chasset tent, I encountered a powerful individual from the Church of Order. He purposely alerted me through special means, informing me of his presence, which is why I went out to check.”

“Is that when you said you had something to deal with?”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“How strong is he?”

“Extremely.”

Karon changed the question. “How many of you would it take to beat him?”

Alfred did not find it inappropriate that he was being used as a unit of measurement. On the contrary, he found it an honor.

“It’s hard to quantify,” Alfred said. “But in my judgment, he should be closer to the level of Sir Tiz.”

“Then between him and Tiz, who is stronger?”

“He is strong relative to me,” Alfred explained. “But Sir Tiz’s strength seems absolute. No matter how strong someone might be, Sir Tiz always seems to be just a little stronger.

“Last night, that man demanded one of my eyes as a keepsake. When I refused, he used powers of Order to imprison me. Fortunately, I had the credentials provided by Sir Tiz, which made him withdraw. He stated clearly that he could not defeat Sir Tiz.”

“And he fled?” Karon asked again.

“Yes,” Alfred replied. “Even before I returned to the circus tent, he had already left. Also, during that time, I dealt with a corpse. He assisted a Chasset woman in killing her husband for insulting the Church of Order.

“Oh, and Young Master,” Alfred added. “Last night, in the audience, you spoke a phrase to the stage. It was a language I did not recognize.”

“Hm?”

“I must advise restraint,” Alfred said carefully. “Unless absolutely necessary, please be cautious when in public. If that man had not left earlier, he might have sensed your abnormality, and your true identity might have been exposed.”

“I understand,” Karon said. He did not bother explaining that he had only spoken those words solely due to an emotional resonance. He gained Mandira’s perspective, felt her emotions, and spoken with hatred for the magician. Once the magician had drowned, Karon had immediately regained clarity of mind and had chosen not to investigate the circus any further. Instead, he had taken Eunice and the children home.

“As for the circus,” Alfred continued. “When Sir Tiz and I returned, it had already fled.”

“Fled?” Karon asked.

“Yes. Only hired locals remained, and they were all packing up. The ringmaster and core members left earlier by carriage, and in great haste. I believe Mandira’s sudden loss of control frightened them. To be safe, they chose to disappear. There were likely demonkin among them. Please rest assured that I will investigate this matter.”

“Mm,” Karon replied.

At that moment, Pu’er spoke. “Are you two done talking?”

No one answered her.

Pu’er rolled onto her back in Karon’s lap and beckoned with a paw. “So, Heretical God Young Master, can we go scale that fish now?”

“There’s something else I need to ask you,” Karon said.

“Ask away,” Pu’er replied. “After all this petting, my sunk cost has grown to extreme proportions.”

Karon also looked at Alfred. “Due to certain coincidences, Mandira and the magician she drowned are now lying in our basement.”

Pu’er tilted her head. “My heretical god Young Master, since you already said it was a coincidence, what question might you have?”

“This time something’s different.” Karon picked Pu’er up and headed downstairs, Alfred following.

Aunt Mary was out in the yard, arguing loudly with Mrs. Mark from next door. That meant that the basement was empty.

In the basement workshop, the two bodies lay on steel tables, the sheets already removed.

Pu’er looked at Mandira’s perfect, preserved smile. “This lady’s smile makes cats uncomfortable.”

“I can make her sit up,” Karon said.

Pu’er and Alfred exchanged glances, then looked back at him.

“Of course you can,” Alfred agreed.

“Yes,” Pu’er added. “We’ve known that for a while.”

“But this time is different.” Karon stepped closer to Mandira. The image of the water tank returned to his mind. The feelings of despair and fury rose, but this time, the dizziness was weaker. With Pu’er and Alfred present, Karom managed to remain steady. Some unseen bridge seemed to connect again.

“Get up,” Karon said.

Mandira sat up.

“Wow,” Pu’er said politely. “Impressive.”

“A miracle,” Alfred breathed.

Mandira then moved off of the table. She began jumping in place, her arms swinging outward as she performed jumping jacks.

...Meow.

Alfred’s eyes grew red as he used his Succubus Eye. “Young Master, there are dense runes across her body. She has been refined.”

“That’s an array,” Pu’er stated. “It enhances flexibility and controllability, like training a dog. Even if the owner changes, the commands will still work.”

Mandira swept the floor, collected the dust, put everything away, and then laid back down.

Karon blinked hard, finally fully returning to himself. He had been the one controlling Mandira without words. He had shared her perspective and had directed her actions.

“She really was used for performances,” Pu’er said.

“Underwater Survival,” Karon clarified. “Because she was already dead, she couldn’t drown again.”

“This is unknown to me,” Alfred admitted. “My abilities are mental, while Ms. Molly deals in devouring and stitching.”

“Of course you don’t understand,” Pu’er said. “You’re not a Beguiler. This has a Beguiler’s power all over it. Likely instinctive, like how a spider weaves its web without knowing geometry.

“The issue is this.” Pu’er jumped onto Mandira’s chest. “Oh. It’s rock hard.”

Karon inhaled sharply.

“Don’t rush me. I was just trying to lighten the mood,” Pu’er said, still looking at Mandira. “The real issue is that a Beguiler had to perform a ritual to leave these array markings behind. You can think of it as saliva soaking into the corpse. That’s how it obtained authority over her to control her.”

She paused, then continued, “But you, my heretical god Young Master. Did you kill that Beguiler and seize control from it?”

Pu’er’s gaze shifted over to Alfred. If anyone had killed a demonkin, it would have been him.

Alfred shook his head, signaling that it had nothing to do with him.

Karon answered, “While watching the performance, I heard her calling out to me. She told me her name and that she was cold. At one point, my consciousness even seemed to enter her body, and I could feel her emotions. Then, I realized that I seemed to have gained the ability to command her.”

Hearing this, Pu’er started pacing back and forth with light, deliberate steps. After a long moment, she stopped. “Karon, you really should go to Veyn.”

“Are you trying to liven things up again?” Karon asked.

Pu’er shook her head. “Even if your existence brings disaster to my family, or even if certain members of my family have brains that are full of rotten herring and one day decide to crawl into a toilet and flush themselves away, I still think you should go to Veyn.”

She looked directly at him. “I know Tiz gave you two choices. One is to remain here forever and allow the Immers family to sever itself from the Church, according to Tiz’s will. The other is to go to Veyn, leaving Tiz’s sight to obtain your own freedom.”

Her voice hardened. “You should go, Karon. No, you must go.”

Pu’er leapt into the air, and Karon reached out and caught her. Her paws dangled against his chest, her face moving close to his.

“The faith system is like solving problems,” she said. “The smarter a person is, the faster they can solve the problems. That is how geniuses work. For example, Tiz. I watched him grow up, and by the time I realized how far he had gone, he was already at that level.”

She stared at Karon. “And then there’s you.”

Alfred spoke up reverently. “A great existence naturally must be a great geniu—”

“Shut up!” Pu’er snapped, cutting him off without hesitation.

She turned back to Karon, her tone growing solemn. “And then there’s you, Karon. You are not a genius. You aren’t. You are not a genius. You have nothing to do with genius. Not worth half a rupi.”

“I can accept that I’m not a genius,” Karon said. “But you do not need to be this solemn just to tell me that.”

“Hehehe. Meow, meow, meow,” Pu’er laughed, and then literally broke into making cat sounds. “What kind of genius are you supposed to be? Geniuses solve problems quickly, but you, you don’t even know how to solve the problems, because you’ve never undergone purification! That means you never learned! Even so, the problems that others need to rack their brains over, all you need to do is pick up the exam paper, look at the question, and say, ‘Hello.’

“You don’t even need to bring a cheat sheet with you or to copy anything down, all because the question will politely write the answer out for you by itself.”

Alfred listened in rapture. “So this is what greatness truly means,” he murmured. “I have always understood too shallowly.”

Pu’er gently patted Karon’s chin with her paw. In what she clearly believed to be a seductive tone, she said, “That is why you must complete your purification ritual in the most perfect manner possible. Not a single regret can be allowed to remain behind. Not even the slightest flaw can be permitted. To do so would be to desecrate your talent.”

“Oh. All right,” Karon replied.

He already knew that purification required the assistance of a holy relic, and that undergoing purification caused one to become a Divine Servant and officially step onto the path.

“Then do you know where the finest holy relic in all of Swillen is?” he asked.

“I do not,” Pu’er replied. She then grinned and lifted a paw to tap her own neck. “It is actually right in front of you. It’s me!”

“You’re a holy relic?” Karon asked.

“Why else do you think I’ve lived for so long? I’m a cat, and cats don’t live that long. I’m not a turtle.”

“And you’re willing to help me undergo purification?” Karon asked.

“That will have to wait until we arrive in Veyn, because Tiz has made it very clear that if I dare to help you purify yourself in Swillen, he will purify me instead.”[1]

“Why?” Karon asked. “I don’t think this is just because you want to eat more fish.”

“I have always cherished geniuses,” Pu’er replied. “Tiz only became so outstanding because I nurtured him.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“Hmph. Then it’s because I hope that you can someday help me turn back into a human.”

“Can Tiz not do that?” Karon asked.

“He can do half of it,” Pu’er said. “He can turn me into a corpse, but I would rather stay a cat eating cat food than become a corpse. Do you agree?”

“Is there any other reason?” Karon asked.

Pu’er jumped onto his shoulder, adjusted her position, and sat up as straight and elegantly as she could manage. She tilted her head. “So... cats can be painted onto murals too, can’t they?”

1. “Purification” is deliberately used twice here. In the Church of Order, it refers both to a sacred rite of elevation and to the institutional removal of threats or heretics. The irony is intentional. ☜