13 Mink Street

After waking up around noon once again, Karon lay in bed with his eyes open for a while longer. A bed’s greatest charm usually revealed itself during two moments: when you first laid down, and when you were just about to get up.

When the clock struck twelve, Karon got out of bed. He took a shower and washed up, then went to the study and picked up a notebook from the desk. It contained Alfred’s copied notes on the two Arts, Black Mist Passage and Paper Crow. These two Arts were not especially difficult, and one would naturally learn them after reaching a certain rank, but Karon had always been learning Arts above his rank.

The sun was especially nice today. Veyn’s rainy season had finally ended. Next would be the warmest and most pleasant stretch of the year. The Veynic people were like quilts, seizing the chance to bring themselves out into the sun so they could store up more good memories to ward off the chilly weather that would come with autumn.

Pu’er was sitting on the swing in the yard while Kevin stood behind, pushing her.

From Dora and Dorin’s room came the voice of an unfamiliar woman. It probably belonged to their new tutor, but because Karon had been going out late and returning late the last few days, so he had still not met the woman.

Still, with Alfred handling the affairs of the house, Karon felt perfectly at ease.

When he stepped into the kitchen, Karon found that the ingredients he had asked to have prepared yesterday were already laid out. Recently, since he often woke around noon, Ciri would prepare very rich meals for him each day.

But this was, after all, his breakfast, and even though it had been shifted to lunchtime, after happening too often, it became uncomfortable for him to eat heavy, oily food every time he woke up.

Karon set water to boil in a pot. He picked up a bowl from the side, and added some chopped scallions and coriander, as well as salt and pepper before pouring in a little soy sauce.

He was not very satisfied with the current soy sauce. It tasted like Veyn’s thick bean paste, even though he had asked Ciri to dilute it a bit for him.

In the end, he scooped out a small lump of lard and dropped it into the bowl. He had rendered the lard himself, when he had found some time, though he had not been able to eat it frequently. Even so, the bowl was already half empty.

At that moment, Karon noticed another, similar bowl in the seasoning cabinet. When he lifted the lid, he found that it was also filled with lard, except that this one had turned yellowish.

Pu’er and Kevin ate whatever they were given. There was no way they would come cook for themselves. Ciri and Ms. Lake both had more traditional cooking habits, so the one who would use something like this lard could only be Alfred.

When it came to taste, Alfred had fallen completely in with Karon’s preferences. This was not flattery, but the fact that Alfred genuinely liked Karon’s style of food and had fallen in love with it.

It was just a pity that his own attempt at rendering lard seemed to have failed.

Karon smiled as he scooped up some of the boiling water with a ladle. He poured it into the bowl to blend with the seasonings, and then dropped the noodles into the pot. Since they were thin noodles, after less than half a minute, Karon lifted them back out and placed them in the bowl.

A low-budget version of scallion oil noodles was completed, just like that.

Karon carried the bowl over and sat down at the small kitchen table, then took out some dried chili powder and added two spoonfuls. He liked spicy food, but noodles like this did not match with chili oil. The oil would make the originally clear broth greasy.

After stirring his food a few times, Karon began eating his “breakfast” while flipping through the notebook containing the two Arts.

By the time both noodles and the broth were gone, he still wanted more, but his appetite was not enough to support another bowl.

Reminded of Ophelia’s astonishing appetite, Karon felt that perhaps he should find some way to improve his physical constitution.

What did not match the reservoir-like storage of spirituality within him was the fact that his body’s constitution could only be considered ordinary, and that was even after all the effort he had put into maintaining and nursing it.

Heaven knew what that reclusive Karon had depleted this body into.

When he thought of Eisen, the Expositor who even had difficulties socializing with even his own son, Karon could not help feeling that nephews really did take after their uncles.

“Young Master, there’s a call. It’s Mr. Marlow,” Alfred reported.

“Mm, alright.” Karon stood and went to answer the phone.

The squad gathering that had been planned for last night had been canceled because of the incident at the Church Affairs Building. It was not that Mr. Marlow was impatient and wanted to immediately reschedule for today, but since their captain had arranged a formal gathering tonight, Marlow was wondering if everyone should gather earlier in the afternoon instead.

Karon agreed.

After hanging up, he thought to himself, Is the captain’s formal gathering meant to introduce Richard as a new member joining the team?

The moment that thought surfaced, Karon shook his head on his own. That did not seem likely. There was no way the captain would give Karon’s little cousin so much face. Richard was not worthy of that kind of treatment.

The captain might let the young man join the squad as an attached member because of his family background, but Nio would absolutely never put Richard on a pedestal and worship him like an ancestor. Nio, with his rich experience in running his squad, would not make the kind of mistake that might damage team unity.

So... is there another new mission?

Karon felt somewhat troubled. He had not been able to spend many of the credits he had earned during the last mission.

All he could say was that ever since joining Nio’s squad, his income had seen such a sharp increase that he was able to easily cover Dora and Dorin’s expenses, as well as the daily material costs for Pu’er, Kevin, and Alfred.

Karon pursed his lips.

So... should he try buying some special ingredients that could only be purchased with credits and study how to cook them?

The roasted drake meat from the hotel, Karon had felt had been prepared much too roughly. The tender neck meat of a drake was actually very suitable for preparing like Dongpo style pork.

“Forget it, it’s still too extravagant. I’ll wait until I’ve saved up a bit more.” Karon personally strangled the little sprout of excessive spending in his heart before it could grow.

When he stepped outside, Alfred was already standing there with a work case prepared. “Young Master, shall we set out now?”

“Mhmm.” Karon drove the secondhand black Pons while Alfred drove the hearse, and the two of them both drove to Ivy Cemetery.

A hearse entering a cemetery was like red wine with steak; Nothing could be more fitting. After getting out of the vehicle, Alfred opened a case and took out a measuring tape. He walked right up to Saman and began to measure him.

The old man raised his arms and allowed Alfred do as he pleased.

Karon walked over, took a cigarette from the pack, and placed it into Saman’s mouth before bringing up a lighter for him. “I’ve got something to do this afternoon, so I’ll be leaving first. There’s also a meeting tonight.”

Saman irritably replied, “Now that you’ve swooped my refrigerator away, your attitude immediately turns cold. Last time, even if you were being perfunctory, you at least came over and cooked dumpings for me.”

“It was ‘dumplings,’” Alfred corrected Saman’s pronunciation.

“When I come back tonight after the meeting, I’ll come find you for a late-night meal. I’ve already prepared some chopped vegetables and a broth base in the new fridge. Tonight, I’ll have hotpot with you.”

Saman nodded and said, “That’s more like it.”

“If you have any requests for the funeral, tell Alfred. He’ll take notes and make the arrangements.”

“Alright, alright, I know.” Saman urged Karon away, “Go take care of your business.”

“Then see you tonight.” Karon drove away from the cemetery. There was no traffic at noon to slow him, so just twenty minutes later, he arrived at the factory building.

This factory was a shared venue featuring a fighting club and a shooting club. The owners were Paige and Fannie, and two women also happened to be the big sisters of a local gang.

It was a real gangster organization they had formed on the side, just so that they and the team could have an entertainment venue.

Karon was already considered a regular. The doorman did not stop him, and after entering, he went straight down to the basement. When he pushed open the heavy iron door, Karon was a little surprised to see that quite a few people were already present.

There were twelve people in total. Aside from Captain Nio, everyone from the squad was present.

During the last gathering at the barbecue restaurant, some of the members had still been in wheelchairs, but now, all of them were moving freely again. The church hospital’s facilities were really advanced, even if they were never open to ordinary people.

After all, church personnel going to the church hospital enjoyed discounted treatment, and if they were injured during a mission, everything could be fully reimbursed. Outsiders to the church could never enjoy that level of treatment.

One had to know that even a family like the Allen family, which possessed so many secular assets, still desperately craved church credits.

To a certain extent, this brought about an even greater “equality for all.” No matter how much secular wealth one might have, if they did not have credits, they could not obtain life-extending treatment from the church.

Everyone was present, and Karon greeted them one by one. He then directly tossed the notebook with several ritual arrays over to Marlow. The man wanted to offer credits as compensation, but Karon refused.

On the ring platform, two people had just finished sparring: Zema and Cutler.

Wynn took the initiative to walk over to Karon and said with a smile, “I’d like to see your exchange with Gray.”

Gray, who was standing to the side, gave a small frown, though he relaxed again right away. He really did not want to spar with Karon again. After confirming that the young man had already mastered close combat techniques, Gray had told Karon that the rest of the experience he needed to gain could only be found in real combat. The older man had very decisively ended the week-long period of training.

Apart from Fannie and Paige, no one knew what kind of week Gray had gone through. Every day, he had been forced to drag himself home completely exhausted. After showering, even walking from the bathroom to the bedroom had felt like climbing a mountain.

But so long as it was only a brief spar with one or two exchanges, Gray felt that was manageable.

This time, everyone was present, sparring and sharing their own experiences. There was no way Karon could drag Gray into another three-hour battle.

“Alright,” Karon immediately agreed. He had been looking forward to this as well.

While killing Adjudicator Luke, Karon had advanced to become an Inquisitor, cashing in his previous accumulations and talent. However, the actual process of killing of had not allowed much room for maneuvering.

After returning home, he had proceeded to form the symbiotic pact with Pu’er, which meant that there were effectively two faith systems operating within him; one of Order and one of Light. He had also received a share of Progenitor Allen’s bloodline through Pu’er, and both the Sea God’s Armor and the Darkmoon Blade had been further developed and enhanced.

If one used Captain Nio’s style of speech to describe all that had happened, it would probably be worded like this: Karon was almost red-eyed, carrying a water gun through the streets and wanting to spray everyone he saw, then lure them into the woods.

Because Karon was no longer simply showing off a new toy. He genuinely wanted to know what his new toy actually was. In other words, Karon had lost any true benchmark for understanding his own true strength.

Karon and Gray each chose their weapons. Karon still used a longsword, while Gray used his usual spear. The rest of the squad members immediately gathered around below to watch.

“He was just promoted to second rank by the captain?” Cutler asked Zema.

“Yeah.” Zema nodded. “Didn’t Fannie announce that?”

“I still want to see the specifics,” Cutler said. That matched with most of the squad members’ thoughts as well. They did not particularly care about the advantages second rank received during loot distribution, nor did they question that their captain might be favoring someone close to him. What they cared about was how they should coordinate during future missions.

The captain was the lead hound, and second rank meant the most powerful people who were beneath only their captain. The rest had their own divisions of work, but the final aim was still to coordinate with each other. If they did not know the true strength of their frontline fighters, it would be difficult for them to support and assist properly.

Kensey reached out and nudged Marlow’s arm. “Quick, it’s starting.”

Marlow was bent over the notebook, already engrossed in it. He lifted his head, glanced at the ring, and said, “I heard from Fannie that Gray has been teaching Karon for a long time.”

Wynn stood in the closest spot with his arms folded.

Paige stuck a straw into the brandy bottle and took a large sip before passing it to Fannie’s mouth, who also took a large sip.

“You’re watching this so seriously. Haven’t you seen enough already?” Paige asked.

“You weren’t on that last mission. There were some changes you don’t know about.”

“Heh. What kind of change could alter a person so much?”

“That may be true for ordinary people, but what about a real genius?” Fannie shot back.

Paige froze for a moment, then drank another huge mouthful of brandy as if it were soda. “I take back what I just said.”

Gray raised his spear. “I agree with the captain moving you into second rank. I also heard from Wynn some about what happened on the last mission. So this time, I want to begin more directly.”

Karon smiled slightly. “Alright, let’s get started right away, then.”

A black aura began to emanate from Gray’s body, and even the spear in his hands became shrouded in blackness.

Clearly, because there were many people watching this time, he did not want to lose face.

The Sea God’s Armor appeared on Karon’s body, but now, the armor no longer consisted solely of flowing water. There were also snowflakes drifting around as well, and the overall color had grown darker.

Immediately after that, Karon raised his longsword and summoned the Darkmoon Blade. The sword became sheathed in something that looked like a flame effect, but this flame was also far darker than before.

The two Arts had fused with Progenitor Allen’s bloodline inside Karon, and had been changed by that fusion. On top of that, Karon’s mastery of his own power had increased tremendously. He was now even able to disguise what the two Arts were, meaning that he no longer had to worry about outsiders seeing anything suspicious.

Gray took the initiative to attack, his spear whistling through the air with a tearing sound.

You say direct, but you still held back? Why else would it feel like your movements are slower? Karon felt a hint of doubt in his heart. He still had not realized that it was merely his own perception of everything around him that had risen an entire level, and that was why Gray’s movements appeared to be happening in slow motion.

Karon then focused and brought his longsword down, wanting first to knock away Gray’s spear.

But... Karon swung through empty air.

“...” Karon.

“...” Gray.

The reason was that Karon’s sword had been swung too fast, faster than what he himself had even believed to be possible. This caused his blade to never actually make contact with the spear.

Gray was also rather dazed. His opening spear strike had been like a break shot in billiards; just a warm-up move to begin things. He had never imagined that Karon would fail to block it, yet the fact remained that Karon had not blocked the thrust, and that caused his defenses to be thrown wide open.

Buzz!

The tip of Gray’s spear struck the armor on Karon’s chest. Just as the older man was about to drop the power of his thrust to avoid seriously injuring Karon, he was astonished to discover that the bit of armor covering Karon’s chest was already frozen to form black ice, and the tip of Gray’s spear had failed to pierce it at all.

Karon lifted his sword.

Bang!

Gray felt a terrifying heat travel to his palms, accompanied by an immense shock. Beneath that impact, he had no choice but to let go, and his spear was sent flying.

Out of habitual training reflex, Karon’s sword came to rest against Gray’s shoulder.

The exchange was over. Karon was dazed. Gray was dazed too. And their teammates watching from down below were all collectively dazed as well.

Kensey said in astonishment, “Is that what Fannie meant when she said that Gray’s been teaching Karon for a long time?”

Marlow licked his lips and finally closed the notebook. He asked in confusion, “Yeah, so how exactly did Gray manage to keep an exchange going for an entire week?”

Cutler let out a long breath. “My God.”

Zema rolled his neck. “Damn!”

Paige took another huge swig of brandy. “Fannie, am I drunk?”

Fannie shook her head. “I suddenly feel that not forcing him to sleep with you when you first met may well become the greatest regret of your life.”

Paige placed a hand over her chest. “Stop talking! My heart is already aching!”

Karon withdrew the sword resting on Gray’s shoulder. The older man smiled, and raised both hands. “We can’t spar anymore.”

“You taught me well,” Karon said.

“How thick-skinned would I have to be to answer that I’m very gratified?”

“Actually, if we sparred again, it wouldn’t go like that,” Karon said.

That was because Gray was basically the same as an assassin. By taking the initiative to get into close range and directly contest brute force with Karon, the man had first underestimated the current defensive power of Karon’s Sea God’s Armor, so his attack had failed to put any real pressure on Karon. Second, Gray had failed to anticipate that the fire-attribute power within the young man could conduct itself along weapons and heat his spear to become red-hot.

If Gray had been using his real weapon, the fight would probably not have gone the same way.

Not only that, if Gray had anticipated the new complications in advance and adjusted his approach, such as instead choosing to circle around and wear Karon down, Gray could have held out for a long time. At the very least, he would not have been disarmed so readily.

“If this had been an initial exchange in a life-and-death fight, I’d already be dead. I’m really looking forward to seeing you spar against the captain.” Gray then turned to look down below at Wynn, who was silently retreating from the front row to back deeper into the crowd. Gray shouted, “Wynn! Your turn! Come up and spar!”

Wynn, who had been planning to slip out of this round, showed a faint smile. He leaped up onto the ring. Looking at Gray, who had already flipped down and left the platform, Wynn could not help muttering, “It wasn’t easy for you, holding back for so long while secretly learning from him here.”

“...” Gray. He very much wanted to explain, but had no idea how to go about that. Even he himself found the whole thing absurd, so he could not expect anyone else to believe him, either. How could he possibly claim that the first time he had sparred with Karon, the young man had not even known the correct way to hold a sword?

Wynn gave Karon a slight bow, which Karon returned.

Immediately afterward, Wynn’s figure turned into gray mist and began moving swiftly around the ring. This was his usual fighting style, using overwhelming speed to harass his opponents. Also, with Gray’s example having just been seen, Wynn did not dare casually rush into close range with Karon.

Seeing that, Karon did not use the Art he had casually learned at noon while eating noodles to respond. The ring was only so large, was it not?

He began to chant, “Order—Protective Wall!”

Buzz!

An enormous Protective Wall appeared in the ring, but Wynn immediately moved around it.

“What’s he trying to do?” Kensey asked in confusion.

Gray, who had just come down and was now standing here, saw what was happening and said, “The ring is only so big, so Karon wants to use Protective Walls to seal off the area Wynn can move about.”

“Is that even possible? How many walls would that take? Does he have enough spirituality for that?” Kensey asked.

Hearing that last question, Gray’s mouth twitched involuntarily. You’re asking if he has enough spirituality?

Gray genuinely had no answer to that question, because apart from the first day, every other spar had ended with him eventually being ground into helplessness and despair by Karon’s overwhelming advantage in spirituality. The feeling was far too vivid.

At first, Wynn also had no idea what Karon intended to do.

Not until the second wall, the third, the fourth, the fifth... Finally, when the twelfth Protective Wall appeared, Wynn realized that something was wrong.

He tried using his own strength to break through the walls, but the basic Art, one that even Divine Servants could learn and use, was somehow so sturdy that Wynn felt almost desperate. His dagger scraped against the wall again and again, but he simply could not force open so much as a crack.

If Wynn had known that not long ago, an Adjudicator had used two summoned skeletons wielding scythes to hack at these same walls without being able to break through, he would probably feel a little better.

The twelve Protective Walls separated sections of the sparring ring, sealing off the space. Then Karon raised his sword, preparing to start herding the fish.

Seeing this, Wynn did not choose to step out of the ring and admit defeat in a stylish, dignified way. Instead, he materialized on the spot, raised both hands, and said in the bluntest possible way, “My loss.”

Immediately after, he added, “You’re bullying people.”

Karon waved his hand and dispelled all the Protective Walls. Their exchange ended in a very peaceful way.

Karon smiled. “This isn’t real combat. In real combat, I wouldn’t be able to catch you.”

Wynn did not care about that bit of face and answered directly, “But I also wouldn’t dare get close to you.”

He then turned to face their squadmates standing down below and shouted, “You can start cheering now, because our squad has become even stronger with Karon joining us!”

At first, everyone had merely been shocked, but no one felt any sort of jealousy. The ones who lost admitted defeat cleanly and directly, showing not even the slightest trace of resentment. This was because everyone present understood clearly that the stronger the hounds leading at the front became, the more opportunities there would be for the Hunting Hounds following behind to eat more meat and gain more resources.

They would only be happy about that. They would only be excited by it. Who would not want to be part of a more competitive small group? Only an idiot would be unhappy!

So everyone below raised both hands and erupted into enthusiastic cheers.

***

A car parked outside of the factory. Richard was driving.

Nio, seated in the passenger seat, pointed at the building and said, “Get out. I’ll take you in to meet your teammates.”

Richard nodded frantically, his face flush with excitement. “Alright, Captain. I... I... I’ve been looking forward to this moment more than anything!”