13 Mink Street

Chapter 98: Ace Of Spades Meeting

“The memorial is over. They’re leaving.” Pu’er sat on the windowsill in the bedroom, watching the scene play out below.

After paying his respects at Allen Manor’s ancestral cemetery, Duke York’s party had prepared to return to the royal palace. Carefully supported by two servants, the aged Duke York was helped into a car.

“I think the reason Her Majesty the queen kept deliberately delaying her plan until now might be that she also wants to outlast her son; Let him fail first, and have him be the one to swallow the seed.”

No one responded to Pu’er, so she continued on her own, “This time-race between mother and son still hasn’t produced a clear winner, but what ended up defeating Her Majesty the queen was time itself. As she grew older, she lost the will to stubbornly stay in the race. Death is looming closer and closer, and her fear of death has outgrown her nervousness about swallowing that seed.

“I still don’t know what that seed could be,” Pu’er said, lifting her tail to nibble on it. “But if you compare it like this... it’s definitely something terrifying.”

At that moment, Judia also moved to enter the car. She was going to ride in the same one as her grandfather.

However, before getting in, Judia stopped and turned around. She looked up at the third floor of the castle behind her and saw the black cat sitting on the windowsill. For a brief moment, a person and a cat met each other’s gaze.

Then, Judia got into the car.

“Oh my god, such a sweet little darling of Great-Grandma!” Pu’er’s face broke into an intensely fond, auntie-like smile.

She liked this little girl. She might be in the enemy camp, but her stance was firm, and her talent was astonishing. To a certain extent, Pu’er could understand that kind of sense of belonging to a different family. “One day, sooner or later, I’ll bring you out of that filthy Gloria household and return you to the warm embrace of the Allen family!”

Woof! Woof!I The golden retriever walked under the windowsill and barked twice at Pu’er.

Only after the motorcade drove away did Pu’er finally jump down from the sill. She hopped onto her own sofa, and sprawled out. Her expression then immediately shifted, her cat face growing solemn.

Across from her was a small, individual sofa. Kevin the golden retriever sat there.

Alfred sat on a cushion, a small blackboard in front of him, as well as a box of colorful chalk and an eraser.

Opposite Alfred, sitting on the long sofa, was Karon.

He held a cup of ice water and slowly swirled it, as though it were a cup of hot water. From time to time, he took a few small sips.

In front of him sat a small coffee table, holding a pitcher of water and an insulated tumbler filled with ice cubes. There was also an ashtray, exquisitely shaped and looking like an antique, a box of matches, and a deck of cards.

All people in Veyn, from nobles to commoners, while a coffee table could lack an ashtray or a fruit plate, it absolutely had to have a deck of cards.

On the one hand, entertainment was not particularly abundant at this stage, and playing cards were a convenient game to play at home or among friends. On the other hand, Veyn’s gambling industry was extremely developed, and the gambling culture ran deep.

To a certain extent, the social reality of a given era would shape the customs of that era. In other words, current customs were mostly formed under the influence of past social reality.

Woof! The golden retriever barked.

Pu’er said, “He says he’s ready. I’m ready too, meow.”

Alfred nodded. “I’m ready too.”

Karon nodded. “Then let’s begin.”

Woof! Woof! Woof! The golden retriever suddenly barked several times in a row.

Alfred looked at Pu’er and reminded her, “Interpreter?”

The cat drew in a breath. “He says it’s a serious matter that this is our first meeting. We can’t just start like that; It lacks ceremony.”

Alfred thought for a moment. “That does seem right.”

Woof!

“He says that, at the very least, we need to name this meeting. It also can’t be some cliche. It has to feel fresh, and it should also take the geography and commemorative meaning into account.

“For example, naming it after the location. He suggests something like the First Allen Manor Retreat Meeting, or the First Allen Recluse Symposium.

“Usually these kinds of meetings can’t include words like ‘god’ or ‘demon.’ If you name such a thing too grandly, one, it feels tacky, and also, it risks offending taboos.”

“...”

Alfred asked, “Why does it feel like he didn’t say nearly that much?”

Pu’er flicked her tail. “A good interpreter can’t be satisfied with a word-for-word translation. The ability to polish and expand is also vital.”

“You polished way too far. Do we really need to add the sponsor’s name?”

“Isn’t this Allen Manor?” Pu’er reminded him. “Having a sponsor seems reasonable.”

“But today’s topic is how to avoid the destruction of Allen Manor. What kind of sponsor is in such a miserable state? Besides, if we fail to stop the destruction of Allen Manor, then won’t the next meeting we hold feel rather ominous with the word ‘Allen’ in it as a prefix?”

“It’s just a suggestion,” Pu’er shot back. “A suggestion. Suggestion! Also, I feel that you already have a way.”

“Me?” Alfred pointed at himself.

“If you didn’t already have a solution, you wouldn’t be sitting here organizing a meeting. You would be urging Karon and the rest of us to leave as soon as possible and abandon Allen Manor.”

“That...” Alfred was briefly speechless.

Pu’er turned her head toward Karon, her cat eyes watery. “Oh, my dear Little Karon, you’ll definitely help this weak, pitiful, helpless Allen family, won’t you?”

She was not trying to morally coerce him. After learning of Judia’s warning, Karon’s calm and Alfred’s excitement were already abnormal. If they had no support, this meeting would never have even begun, nor would it have this tone.

Those two were definitely hiding something from her. Had she already become a cat excluded from the inner circle?

The golden retriever looked at Karon. Woof!

That did not need a translation. Alfred also chimed in. “Young Master, you decide. I have a feeling this is a great beginning.”

Pu’er nodded too. “Mhmm. It needs ceremony. Proper ceremony.”

“A meeting name?” Karon smiled. He reached out, tipped over the already-open box of cards, and spilled the whole deck face down onto the table. He drew one card and flipped it over: the ace of spades.

“Then we’ll call it the First Ace of Spades Meeting.”

“Hmm. It feels very casual, yet I find myself able to accept it,” Pu’er said.

Wooo~ The golden retriever nodded as well.

Alfred immediately wrote “First Ace of Spades Meeting” on the small blackboard.

“The theme of this meeting is the Allen Manor crisis—”

“Wait,” Pu’er interrupted. “Before we enter the main agenda, I think we need an additional item. That is, given what Karon just faced, we need to review how to further ensure Karon’s safety in the future and prevent anything like this from happening again.”

Woof! Woof! Woof! The golden retriever immediately started barking.

Pu’er shot back at once. “In your dreams!”

“What did he say?” Karon asked.

Pu’er translated, “He said that we should find a way to remove his seal, so that he can protect you.”

“Mhmm. In your dreams,” Karon agreed.

The golden retriever flopped down on the sofa, looking wronged.

Alfred spoke up, “Even if Young Master is in the study, I’ll be at his side. Starting today, I will basically not leave Young Master’s side.”

“Mhmm,” Pu’er responded. “The radio demon is the strongest fighter in our Ace of Spades organization at the moment.”

Even though he had drawn the card himself, Karon still felt uncomfortable hearing “Ace of Spades organization.”

Woof! Woof!

“I know. I’ll say it. Also, Karon needs to start learning Divine Servant Arts. If you can learn and master them quickly, you can then try skipping tiers and trying to learn higher ones.”

“I know.”

“Then now, we enter the main agenda.”

Alfred tapped the small blackboard. “Today’s meeting... Today, the theme of the first Ace of Spades organization meeting is: How to resolve the Allen Manor crisis.”

Pu’er asked, “So the question of whether we’ve decided to help the Allen family has already been skipped?”

Karon took a sip of ice water. “Yes.”

“Oh, wonderful!” Pu’er stood up on her sofa and bowed her towards Karon. “Praise the great Ace of Spades.”

As meeting chair, Alfred continued, “There are currently three methods to resolve Allen Manor crisis.

“The first method is early evacuation. All key members of the Allen family leave Allen Manor. They can go to Kerona Island or leave Veyn entirely, abandoning Allen Manor.

“In that case, many ordinary members of the family Allens will remain in the manor, and they might be enough to satisfy the queen’s needs. The queen cannot wait too long, and there is only one seed.”

Hearing this suggestion, Pu’er wanted to say something, but chose to keep quiet.

“The second method is to have Anderson step forward. Allen Manor then postpones Prince Henry’s funeral, and uses every possible method to refuse to lodge the queen here so she has no chance to carry out her plan.

“After all, the Gloria royals are closely watched by the major churches. Unless absolutely forced, the Gloria family cannot bare its fangs outward. The church’s restrictions and vigilance toward royal power are their greatest weakness.”

Woof!

“He says these are methods of surrender,” Pu’er translated.

Karon said, “Pu’er, give your view.”

“Do you really want me to?” Pu’er stood up again. “My position is definitely the Allen family’s side. I even feel that my remarks might affect the rigor and fairness of the first Ace of Spades Meeting.”

“Go ahead,” Karon said. “There are only four of us. We can’t exclude interested parties. Strictly speaking, I also have ties to the Allen family.”

“Alright, then I’ll speak.

“The first method is the safest, but for the Allen family, which has already fallen, abandoning Allen Manor is the same as abandoning their surname. The Allen family will wither away in exile, becoming just another story.

“We... the Ace of Spades organization still needs the Allen family as ‘nurturers’ for now. They provide all kinds of services and necessities: Karon’s further cultivation, the materials Alfred needs to practice ritual arrays, and the preparations for Alfred’s later evolution.

“Also, once Karon’s level rises, we can begin restoring my strength and the stupid dog’s strength. All of this will require a large group of people to support us. If we have to gather resources ourselves, we’ll waste time.”

Hearing that, Karon could not help asking, “I can understand Kevin, but you too?”

If the heretical god was willing to properly remodel the golden retriever’s body and honestly be a heretical god golden retriever, then once Karon’s level rose, they could use the method recorded in Mr. Hoffen’s notes to loosen the heretical god’s seal little by little. By finding the appropriate materials and opportunities, it was possible to restore a bit of the heretical god’s strength.

But Pu’er...

Karon was puzzled. If there was also a method for Pu’er to recover her strength, why had Tiz never helped her to do so?

After all, no matter what, Tiz had been extremely powerful. To a certain extent, he had been almost omnipotent.

Pu’er explained, “I need an existence within the faith system of the God of Light to help me break my restraints.”

“But even if the Church of Light has been destroyed, there must still be stragglers. Couldn’t Tiz have found them?”

“He could have,” Pu’er agreed. “But there’s a second condition. Right now, rather than a person, or even a cat, I’m more like a holy relic. So elevating and nourishing a holy relic requires... the recognition of a master.”

“Recognition of a master?”

“That is, forming a symbiotic relationship. For a long time, I had no interest in that.”

Alfred added, “Yes. Compared to this kind of symbiotic relationship, even marriage cannot compare.”

Karon leaned back in his sofa, his brow furrowing slightly.

“So you now... no, after this, you plan to find a remnant of the Church of Light to recognize as your master and form a symbiosis?”

“Yes,” Pu’er said. “Why?”

“Nothing,” Karon replied.

“I’ll pick you,” Pu’er said.

“Me?” Karon sat up, his back leaving the sofa. He pointed at his face. “I follow the Church of Order system.”

“You forgot that during your purification, you were touched by the God of Light’s finger,” Pu’er clarified. “You must have the God of Light’s light attribute still within you. In theory, you can use Arts belonging to the Church of Light, even if you can’t study and walk the Church of Light faith system.”

“Is that so...”

“But you will have to wait until you reach at least Inquisitor rank. That is the point at which your Church of Order system will be fully established as the main trunk. Then, after you form a symbiotic link with me, the light power inside of you will be stimulated, but it shouldn’t affect your main trunk.

“Right now, it would be easy for the balance inside you to break and turn chaotic.

“Additionally, because of the link with me, you will be able to gain some abilities from the Allen bloodline, but that’s the same. My original family faith system level was too high, so forming the link with you too early will interfere with and impact your original main path.

“Inquisitor rank is the basic condition.

“At the same time, you also need to reach that level before you have the spare capacity, or the ability, to loosen this stupid dog’s seal a little. Then the stupid dog and I can look for ways to restore some of our original power.

“And all of this requires a family’s support. Tiz is actually quite typical, for an Inquisitor, given that there are not many people under him.

“That’s why the Allen family needs to exist. It would definitely be hard to find another errand family like this that you know inside and out. Most importantly, they’re obedient.

“Of course, the Allen family also receives your protection. Each takes what they need.”

“I see,” Karon said, nodding.

Pu’er continued, “As for the second method, I think that would only buy a little time. The queen only has a little life left. Even if Allen Manor postpones Prince Henry’s funeral, and even if the queen cannot come to the funeral, she will still find a new way to come. She might even simply ignore the churches’ warnings, break the rules, and accept punishment later.

“Back at the palace, the whole royal family can stick their butts up and take a beating, then admit fault.”

Alfred agreed. “You can’t keep stealing forever, and you can’t stay on guard forever either.”

Pu’er turned her head and glanced at the radio demon. That line sounded strange, so... if nothing unexpected had happened, the radio demon probably just repeated someone else’s words.

As expected, the first Ace of Spades Meeting is already under control. And look at the stupid dog, excited as if it were truly participating seriously. How stupid.

Pu’er did not feel the slightest displeasure. If anything, she was looking forward to hearing what the third method was.

“Alfred is right,” Karon said, setting his cup down on the table. “Avoidance and hiding are not always the best methods. If we have spare capacity, it is better to choose direct defense, and while defending, look for opportunity and counterattack.”

Pu’er feigned confusion. “But the Allen family’s defensive capabilities are already barely holding on, unless we bring Rudd and all his men back from Kerona Island.

“And as for counterattack... what do we counterattack with?”

Alfred took out a sheet of paper and pinned it to the small blackboard. On it was a drawing of Earl Rekar, except the queen beside him had been erased.

“Oh, radio demon, your drawing is terrible,” Pu’er said. “In this picture, Earl Rekar looks like a sloppy piece of trash.”

“This is the Young Master’s work.”

Pu’er immediately lifted her head. “Oh, it’s vivid. Because to me, Earl Rekar is a major piece of trash.”

After a pause, Pu’er asked with curiosity, “I know this mess traces back to his unpaid indulgences and his rotten crotch, but do we really need to waste meeting time dissecting him?”

Karon answered, “I intend to design Prince Henry’s funeral personally.”

WOOF!

“And I will have Anderson take the initiative to invite Her Majesty the queen to attend the funeral.”

MEOW!

“And I will arrange for her to stay here at Allen Manor.”

“Praise the Young Master!”

Karon raised both arms and spread his hands. His voice hardened. “Then, that night, I will awaken Earl Rekar, and have him personally take responsibility for his romantic debts from back then.”