13 Mink Street

Chapter 68: A Heretical God, A Gift?

The two men entered the living room, folded their umbrellas and fastening them shut. They then gripped the handles and flicked the umbrellas diagonally and backward three times in succession.

Swish.

Swish.

Swish.

Grandfather and grandson moved in perfect synchrony.

Tiz went upstairs. Behind him, Karon’s lips moved slightly, but he said nothing. He just watched as Tiz disappeared up the stairs.

Meow... Pu’er’s voice came from the sofa in the parlor.

Karon walked over and sat down. With practiced familiarity, he lifted Pu’er onto his lap. “Let me ask you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“Alfred once said that he fought Tiz to a draw. Of course, he also said that Tiz only used powers beneath the level of an Inquisitor.”

“Oh, that’s normal. It just means Tiz never intended to actually kill that radio demon.”

“So, is it possible that Tiz deliberately suppressed his strength just to play with Alfred, and still managed to injure himself? For example, badly injuring his arm.”

Pu’er widened his eyes and stared at Karon. “What? Karon, would you get your arm slashed open by an ant’s pincers while playing with it? Or, even if the ant really did manage to leave a deep gash on your arm, would you then generously allow that ant to live instead of stepping on it and crushing it?”

“I understand.”

“Why are you asking such a strange question? When Tiz fought that radio demon, he probably had to be extremely careful in controlling his strength, meow, afraid that a single careless move would crush him.”

Karon leaned back against the sofa. This meant that the charred patches of flesh on Tiz’s arm that Karon had helped to treat that day when they had returned from Mr. Hoffen’s hospital in the hearse had not been caused by Alfred.

All along, Karon had simply assumed that Tiz’s injury was related to Alfred.

The reason that assumption had suddenly felt wrong was because, having just realized that the killing intent Tiz had revealed in front of the house that day had not been directed at him, Karon had started to question if some of his other assumptions might also be false.

For example, as Karon’s understanding of Tiz deepened, Alfred’s attitude towards the Inquisitor had continued to change, especially after their visit to Mr. Morf’s home. After that, Alfred had started acting in a completely humble manner around Tiz.

The longer one interacted with him, the more clearly one could sense Tiz’s power.

So...

Karon recalled that day he and Mina stood at the third-floor window, watching as Tiz entered his bedroom, changed clothes, picked up a suitcase, and left.

At that time, Tiz had not gone to 128 Mink Street to see Ms. Molly and Alfred.

In that case, who had Tiz gone to see? Who had he fought? And who possessed the ability to injure him?

“Karon, come upstairs for a moment.” Aunt Mary stood on the second floor and beckoned to him.

“Alright, Aunt.” Karon went up to the second floor, only for Aunt Mary to continue on to the third.

Generally, when family matters were discussed, they were handled in the second-floor dining room. The third floor was rarely used, since it housed Tiz’s study and bedroom.

Even Lent, energetic as he was, deliberately walked more quietly when on the third floor.

“We’ve been waiting for you.” Mason stood at the open door to Tiz’s study.

Karon entered. Tiz was sitting behind his desk, holding a teacup and sipping from it.

Aunt Winnie stood beside the desk, holding a stack of documents. Mason and Aunt Mary stood to either side of Karon.

“Come take a look. Your uncle and aunts have arranged this,” Tiz said.

“Alright.” Karon walked over.

Mason placed both hands on Karon’s shoulders. “Here, sit down and take your time.”

“Oh, okay.” Karon sat. The first thing set down before him was a bankbook. The number printed on it was one hundred thousand rels.

Rels were the currency of Veyn. They circulated not only in Veyn and its colonies, as in the eyes of people in many other countries, they represented a higher status than local currencies.

The exchange rate between rels and rupi was roughly one hundred rels to one hundred and fifty rupi. Since Swillen was effectively a vassal of Veyn, its finances were almost completely dependent on Veyn’s system. As a result, despite the fact that Swillen had lost most of its monetary autonomy, the difference between official exchange rates and black-market rates for rupi and rels was minimal.

This meant that this Veyn National Bank passbook held the equivalent of one hundred and fifty thousand rupi.

“This is the agreement.” Aunt Winnie pulled out some documents from underneath to show them to Karon. “We applied for a bank loan in the name of the Immers Funeral Home. It’s already gone through. When you arrive in Veyn and choose a house you like, you can contact the staff of the local Veyn National Bank to finalize the loan.

“The maximum amount for a loan is three million rupi, which means that when you’re house-hunting, once you factor in prices and fees, it would be best not to exceed two hundred thousand rels.”

Aunt Mary added, “The one hundred thousand rels in this passbook are for you to keep as a reserve fund. Don’t consider that towards the payment of a house or add them in. It’s for emergencies.

“As for the loan, we’ll handle the repayments from here. Your monthly dividend from the family business will also be deposited into this account each month.

“The only issue is that the property will be registered under the name of the Immers Funeral Home until the mortgage is fully paid off. Only after that can it be transferred into your name.”

Karon understood. His uncle and aunts were planning to buy him a house in Veyn.

He also knew that after the recent acquisition of the crematorium and the purchase of a new hearse, the business accounts were undoubtedly a bit lean. His uncle and aunts had all invested a significant amount of their personal funds into the business.

This three-million-rupi loan had almost certainly been secured using the funeral home, or perhaps even the Immers family villa itself, as collateral.

“Thank you, Uncle Mason, Aunt Mary, and Aunt Winnie, but I don’t think I—”

“Think of this as the family investing in property in Veyn,” Mason cut him off. “Leaving it empty would be a waste, so you can just live there first.”

At that moment, Tiz set down his teacup and spoke, “Mmm. Let’s handle this that way.”

With Tiz having spoken, Karon stopped trying to refuse, but even when he moved to stand and thank them properly, Mason pressed him firmly back down by the shoulders. “We’re family. No need to stand on ceremony.”

Aunt Mary smiled. “Mina and Clarice both have excellent grades, and will likely attend university in Veyn in the future. When that time comes, they can live there, too. Having your own place is always better than renting.”

“Alright, keep the passbook and the loan agreement safe.” Aunt Winnie placed them into a leather satchel that she handed to Karon.

“Okay. I understand.”

“Since everything’s already settled, you can all go rest. I still have something to say to Karon,” Tiz said.

Mason, Aunt Mary, and Aunt Winnie left the study, closing the door behind them.

“I’m not worried about your adaptability at all.”

“Please rest assured, Grandpa. No matter where I am, I’ll make sure to live well.”

“Good.” Tiz smiled. “I didn’t have much advice prepared to begin with, and your single word, ‘well,’ already covers everything I meant to say.”

“You can still say it. I like listening.”

“No need.”

“Grandpa, there is something...”

Tiz raised his head and looked at him. “What is it?”

“Grandpa, that day when we returned from Mr. Hoffen’s hospital in the hearse, outside the house... was there something behind us?”

As per Immers family tradition, doubts were not left overnight.

Tiz’s gaze tightened slightly as he looked at Karon.

“Was it someone from the Church of Order, sent by the Temple?” Karon guessed.

Tiz shook his head. “Not them.”

“Then it was...”

“I still have no intention of hiding things from you, but in this matter, knowing would be of no use to you at all. In fact, it’s better for you not to know, so this is an exception. I won’t tell you. Even if it’s troublesome, I can handle it. That I will promise.”

“Troublesome?” Karon rubbed his fingers against the leather satchel. “More troublesome than the Church?”

“The Church, and even the Temple, isn’t troublesome,” Tiz explained. “Relatively speaking, I’m the one giving them a headache right now.”

“Then what about this thing?”

“I still won’t tell you, but its trouble will end.”

“In two days?”

“Yes. In two days, all trouble will be brought to an end, and everything will be set right. On your trip to Veyn, you can stand on the business-class deck of a cruise ship beside Miss Eunice, drinking wine and enjoying the view of the sea. I will not allow my grandson to leave on a journey in a state that resembles a flight from disaster.”

“You really can’t tell me, Grandpa?”

“That’s the third time you’ve asked, and this is my third answer: I won’t tell you.”

“Alright, Grandpa.” Karon stood up with the leather satchel, preparing to return to his room.

“Sit down,” Tiz said.

“Hm?” Karon sat back down.

Tiz took a candle out from beneath the desk. The candle was a black cube. The old man struck a match and lit the candle. The flame had a normal orange color.

“Sit here and watch this. When it burns out, you may leave.”

“Alright, Grandpa.” He might not understand why, but since it was Tiz’s instructions, Karon complied.

Tiz stood and left the study. There was a click as the door closed, and Karon saw the orange flame turn blue.

The atmosphere in the study immediately grew oppressive.

Gradually, Karon sensed that two pairs of eyes seemed to be watching and examining him from somewhere within the room. Swallowing involuntarily, he straightened his back. He did not look around, choosing to simply keep his eyes locked on the blue flame.

***

After leaving the study, Tiz went straight down to the first floor. In a corner slept the large golden retriever.

Hearing footsteps, the dog opened its eyes, but with just one glance, closed them again.

Tiz walked over and picked up the leash. The golden retriever rose and shook itself twice. It was confused, but was instinctively unwilling to resist Tiz as it was led out of the parlor and into the yard.

It was still raining.

At the entrance of the house stood a refined man in a burgundy suit. As soon as Tiz emerged, the man extended an umbrella.

The umbrella was purposely not large, and was simply adequate. It fully covered Tiz, but ensured that one side of the man’s shoulder would get wet.

A limited-edition Santelan was parked on the street outside.

Escorting Tiz to the gate, Alfred opened the car door. Once Tiz was inside, Alfred folded the umbrella and got in the driver’s seat.

“East District’s Oak Cemetery.”

“Yes, sir.”

The car started. Before long, they arrived.

Oak Cemetery had a cooperative agreement with the Immers family. If clients handled by the Immers Funeral Home opted for a burial, they were generally interred here.

Upon arrival, Alfred exited the car first, opening the umbrella before opening the door for Tiz.

When Tiz stepped out, Alfred handed him the umbrella.

“Come in with me,” Tiz said.

“Is that appropriate, sir?”

“In a few days, I’ll need you to tell him what you saw and heard tonight.”

“Understood, sir.”

“Insisting that you conceal tonight’s trip was already difficult for you. As his grandfather, I’m also not pleased about you hiding things from him, even when it’s for my sake.

“Tell him it was my decision, and he’ll understand. As long as there’s no next time, this won’t affect your chances of ending up on the mural.”

“...” Is my desire to be on the mural really so obvious?

Tiz walked into the cemetery. Alfred followed with the umbrella. Eventually, Tiz stopped before Mr. Hoffen’s gravestone.

Alfred glanced at it in confusion. Late at night with the rain, was Sir Tiz missing an old friend?

Tiz waved a hand behind him.

Alfred understood and stepped back a few paces.

Deprived of the umbrella’s shelter, rain still did not fall on Tiz. It curved away from him. Black patterns spread outward from beneath Tiz’s feet, then collectively sank into the ground before Mr. Hoffen’s gravestone.

“In the name of Order, I grant you awakening.”

Watching from behind, Alfred did not feel shocked, only amused. Others were only able to remember their deceased friends by gazing at objects, whereas Sir Tiz could simply call them back up.

A cracking sound came from beneath the soil. The earth loosened, bulged, then split apart, sliding away under the rain.

Mr. Hoffen’s head emerged from the ground. He looked around, then noticed the mud caked on his face and complained, “Tiz, couldn’t you have woken me on a clear night?”

Alfred dropped the umbrella and stepped forward, helping dig Mr. Hoffen out. The old man stretched his body. “After dying, this body really can’t move naturally. It’s so stiff and unfamiliar.”

He touched his face. “My god, how much wax did Mary put on my face? Not even the rain and mud can wash it off.”

He looked down at his clothes. “Mason did well. These clothes must be expensive. I rarely bought anything like this while still alive.”

He staggered two steps, moving to stand in front of Alfred with his back facing the demonkin.

“Hey, help me remove the staples in my head. No wonder my mouth won’t close properly when I speak; Mary fastened the back of my head with staples.”

“Alright.” Alfred removed them, and Mr. Hoffen’s face immediately sagged.

“I regret having you remove them. Taut skin is very important for the elderly, especially for those of us who are already dead.” He twisted his neck. “But I suppose it doesn’t matter; I’m already dead. I still feel like me, but the truth is that I’m not me anymore. I’m just something that retains most of my memories and mistakenly believes it’s me.”

Finally, after finishing his awakening warm-up, Mr. Hoffen looked at Tiz, who was still standing in the rain without getting wet. “Oh, Tiz. You really have some nerve.”

Mr. Hoffen stepped closer, and the rain no longer touched him either. “My spiritual awareness won’t last long, will it?”

“Correct. You took the academic path within the Church of Truth, so you never retained much spirituality to begin with,” Tiz explained. “Even with my support, it can last three days at most. After that, your memory will begin to deteriorate, and you’ll gradually lose even the ability to think.

“Refining the body and applying arrays could delay the degradation, but it will still be no more than sand slipping through fingers.”

It was no different from the girl in the funeral home earlier; She had been able to retain minimal fragments of her original memories.

“That’s too miserable. I don’t want that. I think dying cleanly is better. Cremate me next time.”

“Alright.”

“You know, Tiz, when I died, I already suspected you’d call me back. While dying in that hospital room, I tried very hard to build a tragic atmosphere, but every time I thought about how you might wake me up later, I just couldn’t get into character.

“By the way, what do you need?”

“Help me set up an array.”

“What kind of array?”

“Sealing.”

“Sealing who? Can’t you handle ordinary sealing arrays yourself?”

“Sealing a heretical god.”

“You’re finally going to act against Karon?” Mr. Hoffen jumped. “How can you bring yourself to do that?”

“You were the one shouting for me to kill him before you died.”

“But I’m dead now; Do I still need to care about peace? Once you’re dead, there’s no moral burden. It’s quite relaxing. Besides, he even called me Grandpa.”

“I’m not sealing Karon.”

“Not sealing Karon, but sealing a heretical god? Good heavens, have heretical gods become cabbages by the road since I died?”

“There is only one heretical god.”

“Only one?”

“Karon is Karon. The heretical god is the heretical god. There is only one heretical god.”

Mr. Hoffen’s eyes bulged. “You’re saying Karon isn’t the heretical god, but that the divine descent ritual I conducted with you actually did bring down a real heretical god?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Mr. Hoffen roared.

“Because Karon hadn’t chosen yet. Now he has. That heretical god is very weak. For reasons unknown, although it was able to successfully modify Karon’s body, it failed to enter, and when my grandson awakened, it was shut out.

“It is almost impossible to detect. A newly descended heretical god that is already adept at concealment, while one that descends without a body is even harder to find. In fact, if it hadn’t revealed resentment and hostility while watching Karon from the shadows on several occasions, I might not have noticed it myself.

“I tried to deal with it. It is weak, but its means of existence is peculiar. I summoned soulfire with my bare hands, but it is not a pure soul form. I injured it, but could not erase it.

“This is why I need your help, to settle this once and for all.”

“Settle?” Mr. Hoffen seized upon that word. Tiz had not said erase.

Tiz nodded.

Mr. Hoffen’s gaze fell on Alfred, who stood there in stunned silence.

So... so... so... the Great One really is not a heretical god? But wait, that strange language, that soul-trembling hymn, that curse trigger?

“Are you disappointed?” Tiz asked Alfred.

Alfred shook his head violently, his expression warping into something close to manic excitement.

“No. No. No, sir. I’m not disappointed at all. I firmly believe that the Young Master is a great existence. Look, just as you said, even a heretical god failed to contend with the Young Master. That can only be proof that the Young Master is stronger than a heretical god.”

Murals came in many kinds. Murals of ordinary deities and murals of true gods were completely different, even if both were referred to as murals.

Many small churches with surviving lineages worshipped deities that were actually fragments split off from the Church of Light’s mythological narratives. To put it crudely, figures who had stood in the corner of the Church of Light’s murals might be true gods of minor religions.

My Heavens! Alfred wanted nothing more than to rush back to his broadcasting studio and sing loudly into every radio across Roja City.

“So, Tiz, what is the purpose of ‘settling’ it?” Mr. Hoffen pressed.

Tiz replied, “Since my grandson has decided to walk this path and insists on seeing the world beyond, then as family, all we can do is support him. His uncle and aunts have given him money and a house, as his grandfather, I would be embarrassed to give him nothing.

“So, I’ll give him a heretical god to keep at his side.”