13 Mink Street

After a full, satisfying sleep, Karon sat up in bed. It was rare for him to have nothing to do for a day. He planned to wash up, then get back in bed and sit there reading for a while, enjoying this rare bit of idleness.

Ever since moving into the funeral home, he seemed to have been busy from morning to night without pause. Neither his position in the church nor his work at the funeral home required him to clock in, yet that only meant he enjoyed even less true leisure.

When he came out of the washroom after cleaning up, there was a knock at the bedroom door. ”Young Master, Richard has come to see you.”

”Mhmm.” Karon changed into a fresh set of clothes and opened the bedroom door.

”Young Master, Richard is waiting in the front hall.” Alfred pointed to his own face.

”I understand.” Karon walked to the front hall, which was also the mourning hall of the funeral home, and saw Richard sitting on a small stool.

”Karon, Karon, Karon, mm~” The moment he saw Karon, Richard rose with great grievance written all over him and approached like a younger brother who had been scolded by his parents and had run to cry to his elder brother.

Well, not like one, because Karon actually was his cousin.

Karon took a step back to avoid Richard, and asked, ”Who are you?”

”I’m Richard.”

”Were you sleeping in a pigpen last night?”

”Uh...” Richard’s face was swollen into the shape of an actual pig’s head. Karon had once thought that description to be an exaggerated rhetoric, but today he finally understood it was a plain, honest description.

”My dad beat me. Sigh. Last night when I got home and saw him, I offered him the pastries my mother made with her own hands and asked, ’Dad, a pastry?’ Guess what he did next.”

”No need to guess. I’m looking at it.”

”My dad’s condition has gotten worse. Karon, do you know how badly he beat me last night? He slapped himself once, then slapped me once. He punched himself once, then punched me once. At the end, he took off his belt and whipped me back and forth. At that moment, I really thought, if my dad got too into it, he might just beat me to death.”

”Don’t worry, he wouldn’t. And this is actually a very good sign. It means your father is starting to release his emotions outward on his own.”

”A good sign?”

“Yes. If you take a few more beatings, his condition should improve dramatically.”

“What is this, some new form of treatment?”

“Mhmm. A very effective one. The only side effect is that it’s rather hard on the son.”

”I can’t take more of that! I tried to run and he wouldn’t even let me. He used an Art to catch me and bind me.”

”That’s going overboard.”

”Exactly.”

”Look, head out from here and go a few kilometers north. There is an inner street there with a clinic inside. A lot of gang members go there for treatment when they get injured. That doctor has a great deal of experience with wounds like yours.”

”I already put some ointment. Mother gave it to me. But swelling takes time to go down. No, why are you telling me to go to a clinic right now? I came here to see you. Right now you should be asking whether I’ve had breakfast.”

”Sometimes, deliberately not taking a hint is itself a polite refusal.”

”Karon, are we brothers or not?”

That was not an easy question for Karon to deny, even though he knew Richard meant it figuratively.

”Fine. I haven’t had breakfast either. Come into the kitchen with me.”

”What, you’re making it yourself?”

”Mhmm.” Karon led Richard into the kitchen and made two bowls of plain noodles.

Seeing Karon pick up chopsticks, Richard curiously picked up a pair as well. He wound a mouthful of noodles around them, sent it into his mouth, and chewed as he said, ”Not bad. Got any bean paste?”

”No.”

”It’s a little bland.”

”There is chili powder.”

”Good. Give me some.”

While they were eating, Richard had originally intended to continue pouring out the miserable tale of what had happened to him last night. But to his surprise, Karon took out a notebook about Arts and began reading it as he ate.

”My grandfather taught me that whenever you study any Art, you must focus completely, devote yourself fully, and allow no distractions at all.”

”That is what your grandfather told you.”

”What difference does that make? Isn’t the principle the same?”

”Everyone’s talent is different.”

”Are you saying I’m stupid?”

”I didn’t say you’re stupid. Only that compared to me, you are not quite as intelligent.”

”Fine, I can see it now. Are you actually happy to see me beaten into this state?”

”Congratulations. You finally noticed.”

”Hmph! You really aren’t much of a friend. No empathy at all.”

”Your father beat you, not someone else. What, because we’re friends, I’m supposed to take a sword and go home with you to help you cut down your dad?”

”That isn’t necessary. He’s still my dad. Besides, he beat himself pretty badly too.”

”After breakfast, what are you planning to do?”

”I came here as a guest. What, am I not welcome?”

”Where’s the gift?”

”Uh... I came too early. The shops weren’t even open yet, so I didn’t buy one.”

”That’s fine. Leaving behind some credits works too.”

”Oh, Karon, how can you be like this!”

”Alright. I’m going to the study to read. You can sit in the yard and bask in the sun. Actually, let’s reverse that: you sit in the study, and I’ll read in the yard. I don’t want to leave you outside to frighten people.”

”I want to talk with you about yesterday’s mission, Karon. How did you realize the captain wasn’t real?”

”If you pay a little more attention to details, that will do.”

”It was that simple?”

”Yes, just that simple.”

”Can you stop brushing me off like that?”

Karon stood up and walked into the study. He stood before the bookshelves and started choosing a book. In the end, he pulled one out. Its title was The Father’s Abandonment.

Richard came in a moment later and picked out another from the shelf, one called The Frog Frightened to Death.

Just as Karon was about to leave the study and head for the yard, Richard hurriedly stopped him. ”Hey, hey, hey, together, together. Let’s just stay in the study, alright? I won’t disturb you, I absolutely won’t disturb you.”

”Then you have to wear a mask.”

”Don’t be so excessive, Karon! Last night my father caused me bodily damage, and today, you’re causing me emotional damage.”

In the end, Karon did not go out to the yard after all. He sat down behind the desk, while Richard, fully satisfied, sat in another chair.

Alfred came in and set out pastries and tea. After that, Karon entered a state of reading, and Richard did the same. His temperament looked lively and cheerful, but when necessary, he could settle himself down as well.

They read for nearly four hours.

The book was not thick, and Karon was almost at the end. It told the story of a father living in isolation deep in the mountains with his three children. The father had originally felt intense disgust toward everything in the city, believing all of it poisoned the human soul. In order to preserve the purity of his three children, he chose to take them into mountain seclusion, living a life nearly like that of wild men. There was a faint echo of Robinson Crusoe in the story.

After many years in the mountains, the father grew increasingly lost and increasingly miserable. Watching his three children gradually grow up, the guilt in his heart deepened as well. The pure life he believed in held no real presence in the eyes of his children, because they had already forgotten the filth of the city. And without knowing filth, purity itself became meaningless.

At the end, the father brought his three children to a lumber camp and begged them to take the children in.

He himself chose to leap from a cliff and kill himself. Before he died, he said, ”Go back to the city and live there. In time, you will come to understand the purity I once gave you.”

After finishing the book, Karon frowned slightly. He did not really understand what the author wanted to express. It was somewhat muddled. Still, the author’s description of life in the wild was very strong and deeply immersive.

As for how one was supposed to judge or inhabit the role of the father, Karon could not be bothered to analyze it. He had lunch to make, after all. This was Richard’s first time visiting.

Lunch consisted of three dishes and a soup. Karon made the flavors stronger, and Richard ate with great relish.

”I thought your family liked bland food,” Karon commented with a smile as he watched Richard wolf it down.

”That’s what Grandma likes. Whatever she likes, we all have to like too, or at least look as though we like it.”

”So your family is very afraid of your grandmother?”

”More or less. My generation is a little better off, but the one most afraid of Grandmother is probably my grandfather.”

”Heh.”

Once lunch was over, Karon had expected Richard to leave, but the young man showed no intention of going anywhere at all. One moment, he commented that he had not finished the book yet, and the next he asked what there would be for dinner.

”Did you tell your family you were coming here?”

”No.”

”Then I suggest you call home now. I’m afraid your family will worry that after being beaten up last night, you might do something stupid today.”

”That is impossible. My family would never think I’d do something stupid. But I still think I’ll make the call.”

Karon picked up an orange and peeled it, leaning against the door as he watched Richard make the call.

”Yes, it’s me, Father.” Richard’s expression immediately collapsed. The one who had answered was actually his father. He had not expected that at all, because at home, his father almost never answered the telephone.

”I’m at Karon’s place.

”I’ve already had lunch.

”Alright, Father. I understand.” Richard hung up, took a deep breath, then said to Karon, ”Save me! My dad told me to come home and that I shouldn’t disturb your rest here.”

”Your father is right.”

”Save me Karon! I’m afraid if I go back, I’ll get beaten again.”

”Look, your father even answered the phone himself. Doesn’t that prove yesterday’s beating was effective?”

”Uh... when you put it like that, now I feel conflicted.”

”Go back. Your father needs you very much right now.”

Richard raised a middle finger at Karon, who did not care at all. He popped a segment wedge of orange into his mouth and watched Richard leave.

Karon stretched lazily. At last, he could finally enjoy his holiday. He decided to start with an afternoon nap.

When he entered his bedroom, he saw Pu’er interrogating Kevin. Kevin was curled up in a corner, while Pu’er radiated menace. Karon’s arrival interrupted the proceedings. Kevin looked at him for help, but the Karon who had admired the moon with him last night gave no response at all today.

Pu’er turned to look at Karon and asked, ”Has your cousin gone back?”

”Mhmm, he has. I’m going to take a bath and then have an afternoon nap.”

”Then shall I move somewhere else to continue interrogating the stupid dog?”

”No need. Interrogate him here.”

”It won’t affect your rest?”

”I just want to lie down. Whether I actually fall asleep or not doesn’t matter.”

Karon walked into the washroom, let the bathtub fill, and sat down inside it. From the doorway, Pu’er called out, ”Want me to call Big Butt in to scrub your back for you?”

”Alright. Call her in.”

”Hmph, dream on.” Pu’er stuck out her tongue from the washroom door, then turned to glance at Kevin, who was trying to sneak out of the bedroom. She immediately shouted, ”Stupid dog, stop right there. Where do you think you’re going!”

Karon had intended to soak for a while, then go back to his bed and lie down, but Pu’er’s interrogation of Kevin was still going strong in the bedroom, and Karon could not be bothered to interrupt it. So he closed his eyes and fell asleep right there in the bathtub.

It was a very light sleep, but an extremely comfortable one. It was not sleep for the purpose of restoring energy, but simply the enjoyment of rest itself.

Without realizing it, he soaked in the bathtub for nearly two hours. When Karon finally woke, it was exactly as expected. Though the faucet had long since been turned off, the water in the tub was still warm. He got out of the bathtub, dried himself, changed clothes, and stood before the mirror. Karon could clearly feel that he was brimming with energy.

This could not help but remind him of the life he had once lived at Allen Manor. For a stretch of time there, all he had done each day was play a little ball, soak in a bath, and then sleep in a warm, spacious bedroom. If not for having to ride horses with Eunice every afternoon, he could have gone an entire day without leaving the bedroom at all. Food and drink could be brought in by servants.

But just as the book he had read that morning had recorded, without knowing dirtiness, one could never understand what purity truly meant. And without the premise of a full and busy life, one could not understand what true rest was either.

When he came out of the washroom and entered the bedroom, Karon saw the maid, Ciri, crouched in front of him, arranging afternoon tea for Pu’er. Hearing footsteps behind her, Ciri did not turn around. She merely tilted her head slightly and asked, ”Young Master, would you like some afternoon tea?”

”No.”

”Then fruit, perhaps? Young Master, would you like some?”

”No.”

Pu’er chipped in, ”He wants to bite into a big peach.”

Ciri’s face flushed red one moment and went stiff the next. Even the hand holding the coffee began to tremble.

”Is this your first day hearing me talk? Act normal. Don’t spill the coffee. Do you know how expensive this coffee is? Do you know how hard our Karon works to earn money and support this household?”

”Yes, yes, it’s my fault, my fault,” Ciri immediately apologized to Pu’er.

Karon lay down on the bed, and Ciri steadied herself, still crouching down as she continued to arrange pastries and fruit for Pu’er.

The cat took a sip of coffee, ate a grape, spat out the seed, and then said to Ciri, ”He’s watching. Raise it higher. Higher.”

For a moment, Ciri did not know whether she ought to stand or remain crouched.

Karon picked up the copy of Order Weekly on the bedside table and said while reading, ”Don’t take it to heart. That cat’s gone into heat lately.”

”It’s alright, Young Master.” Ciri immediately replied with a smile. Once everything for afternoon tea had been arranged, she gathered up the tray, stood, opened the door, and walked out of the bedroom. Only then did she let out a long breath.

Karon turned a page of the newspaper while telling Pu’er, ”Stop bullying her all the time.”

”What? Does your heart ache for her?”

”She is only an ordinary person. Her psychological tolerance is limited.”

”Then give her a raise. Her psychological tolerance is directly linked to her salary.”

”Then it will come out of your meal allowance.”

”Oh, you wouldn’t do that! How much can one little cat eat in a day?”

”The cost of feeding you alone matches the cost of feeding everyone else in this household put together. Weren’t your coffee beans bought with credits?”

”Mm...” Pu’er hesitated. ”The radio demon approved it. Those coffee beans were actually not that expensive. When we stayed up late helping you research the refrigerator last time, the radio demon specially approved them to keep me and the stupid dog alert.

”Besides, when the household pets eat well, that only proves the family is living well. It is a good omen. Right, stupid dog?”

Kevin, who was eating fried meatballs, lifted his head. ”Woof!”

Karon continued reading the newspaper. What surprised him a little was that, even now, Order Weekly was still running continued coverage on two ordinary people. One was the mayor of Mallor City, John Rotini. In the photo, he was sitting in a convertible, constantly waving to his supporters.

The other was Mr. Luder, who was still continuing to organize his rights movement for the purple-haired. In the photo, he had a fist raised as he delivered a passionate speech.

Karon remembered that Order Weekly had been covering the two of them for quite some time now. How could there be so much room for two ordinary people in news regarding the ecclesiastical world?

For the moment, he still could not discern what the purpose of this attention was. If the goal had merely been to support a new political figure or push forward a rights movement, then with the power of the Church of Order, either of those things could have been done very easily. There would have been no need to be so circuitous.

By then, Pu’er had finished her afternoon tea and leaped onto the bed. ”Karon, if you mastered the power of time, what would you want to do?”

”Nothing in particular.”

”Your life has no regrets?”

”I wouldn’t call it regret, exactly, but Tiz could probably make use of it.”

”That makes sense.”

”What about you? If you mastered the power of time, what would you do?”

”As for me, I haven’t decided yet. Though I’ve been a cat for so long, if I think about it carefully, the days I spent living with the Immers family do not really count as a regret either.”

At that moment, there was a knock at the bedroom door. ”Young Master, your captain is on the telephone.”

Karon remembered that the captain had said yesterday that, if he had time today, he would come see Karon, and that he would call in advance to let him know.

Karon got out of bed and went to the study to answer the phone. ”Hello, Captain. It’s me.”

”I beat up that deputy director. Even though I know he was innocent, because he was only responsible for passing the mission down and had no idea what the mission really was.”

”Good. At least it made you feel better.”

”Mhmm, you’re right. After beating him up, I felt much better.

”But that deputy director I just beat also told me a piece of good news: we are about to receive a new mission, and the reward for this one will be more generous than any previous reward.”

”What’s the mission?”

”Our church is going to hold postwar reparations talks with the Church of Reincarnation on Darkmoon Island. The Archbishop of the York City district is going to Darkmoon Island as one of the local church representatives to join the delegation.

”The entire York City district gets a quota of just one security team. This is a genuine high-reward mission, far better than the rewards from our previous two security missions, and we’ll get to see the true upper ranks of the Church. After all, the Archbishop we’re escorting will only be sitting in the very last row of that delegation.

”Normally, a mission this good would never have gone to us, and it wasn’t assigned to us at first either, but all of a sudden, the squad that was originally set to take it was pulled off, and we were specifically named to fill in. Before this, I had absolutely no hope that this mission would fall to us. I hadn’t even made any moves for it.”

”Was it luck?”

”No, no, no, not luck. Because according to that deputy director I just beat up, the situation he understands iss this: some bigshot above us personally spoke up for our squad, and even praised us.”

”...” Karon.