13 Mink Street

“Alright, everyone, get in.” Eunice stood by the hearse and waved the children over. Mina, Lent, Clarice, and Sara climbed in one by one, Eunice steadying each child with a hand as they stepped up.

“Thank you, Miss Eunice.”

“Thank you, Miss Eunice.”

She climbed in as well and pulled the door shut, latching it. When she turned around to look for a seat, she found one entire bench was already packed with the four children, leaving the opposite bench completely empty for her alone.

“Aren’t you cramped?” she asked.

In unison, they replied, “Miss Eunice, we’re not cramped.”

“Then does someone want to sit with me over here?” she asked, patting the empty seat.

No one spoke. Even Mina, usually the most considerate, suddenly looked bashful.

It was hard to know how to act when your math teacher suddenly became your future in-law. Shyness piled onto shyness, and the bold cheerleader energy Mina typically directed at her cousin was nowhere to be found.

“Alright then,” Eunice said with resignation as she sat on the opposite bench alone. In front of her, in the rear compartment of the hearse, were a grill, charcoal, skewers, vegetables, and meat that had been marinating since the night before.

Karon tot in the driver’s seat. As he started the hearse, he glanced in the rearview mirror. “Mina, go sit with your big sister.”

Mina blinked, and could only smile. “Okay. Miss Eunice, I’m coming over.”

Eunice reached out to help Mina climb over. Once the girl was sitting beside her, Eunice took Mina’s small hand in her own.

Mina wore the kind of smile you might see on a child standing on stage to receive a certificate: proper, composed, and slightly stiff.

Across from them, Lent, Clarice, and Sara looked openly delighted at her misfortune.

“Sit tight and don’t shift around. If you need anything, tell me first. Understood?” Karon said.

“Yes.”

“Understood, Karon.”

The hearse pulled away, heading for a farm in the suburbs.

During Ms. Jenny’s visit to the family home, it seemed that she and Tiz had gotten along quite well. At any rate, when she had emerged from the study, her enthusiasm toward Karon had noticeably intensified. Karon even suspected that if he had held Eunice’s hand that night and suggested, It’s late, it’s raining, why not stay the night? Ms. Jenny might have agreed.

He couldn’t imagine what a “cordial” or “warm” conversation with Tiz might look like, but the results had proven excellent.

More importantly, Karon knew that the day he would leave for Veyn was drawing closer, and the people he would miss most were his family. That was why he’d recently been putting some extra effort into each day’s lunch, making the meals more elaborate, and patiently teaching his aunts Chinese cooking techniques.

As for his cousins who had school during the week, he used the weekend to take them out for barbecue. If they were destined to be apart for a time, then at least they should leave each other with more memories worth cherishing.

Karon didn’t think the separation would last long. Tiz was dealing with something important, and while he expected the aftershocks would be significant, Karon believed Tiz could handle it.

Because he was Tiz.

The old man had offered Karon a choice: remain here and live as an ordinary person, or take the chance to step outside and live freely.

Thus, the family should be able to continue living steadily in Roja City, and once Karon arrived in Veyn, he would finally be able to touch the “taboos” that belonged to his grandfather, the things he was never allowed to approach while at home.

Karon also understood that even if he insisted he was an ordinary person, certain unusual abilities he had displayed were objectively real.

In Pu’er’s words, they were manifestations of a heretical god’s power. Karon firmly believed he had nothing to do with any sort of deity, not one bit. As for his ability that could make the dead sit up, did it mean he had some kind of talent? A talent overflowing from his special experience?

Pu’er had once tossed out a possibility, only to immediately reject it, which was that Karon might be someone who had died and returned to life, thereby becoming capable of “empathizing” with the dead.

In the Church of Order’s early mythology, it had been said that the God of Light had awakened the God of Order. While later revisions to The Light of Order had removed the God of Light entirely, one detail had still been retained: the God of Order had “awakened.”

The God of Order had no childhood. Unlike other true gods, there were no stories of His youth. It was as if He had simply appeared in the world, and the moment He had, He stood at an extraordinary height.

The Church of Order had been founded by the God of Order. After more than an epoch of development, it had certainly been expanded, refined, and embellished, yet the standard, core ability to become an Inquisitor remained to be able to Awaken corpses.

In other words, the foundational of power within the Order faith was something the God of Order himself had established and left behind, and it naturally suited him best.

Karon rejected talk of “chosen one,” “child of destiny,” or “the descent of a heretical god.” He was still an ordinary person, just one who, in certain aspects, happened to resemble the God of Order, and therefore, naturally fit within the Church of Order’s system of faith.

To step onto that path required purification. In Roja City, within the Immers household, he would never have that opportunity. Tiz would never give it to him.

Veyn. Only in Veyn would he truly be able to touch, and enter, the real wonders of this world.

“There’s water in the bag,” Karon reminded everyone. “If anyone gets thirsty, grab one. There’s juice too.”

“Is anyone thirsty?” Eunice asked on his behalf.

The children all shook their heads.

The hearse rolled into the suburbs, and the road condition worsened. Still, the cabin was spacious, and after days of steady rain, the clear weather felt like a gift. The air was fresh, and the world outside looked newly washed, pleasant to gaze up.

“There’s a circus!” Lent shouted. Karon turned to look. A large tent had been set up, with many smaller tents clustered around it, though they likely weren’t part of the same outfit. Circuses drew crowds, and crowds drew vendors, especially small groups of Chasset, who loved following people.

After all, their three main trades—divination, theft, and prostitution—all required dense crowds for them to find the right customers.

“Looks like they’re still setting up,” Karon observed. “Even if there’s a show, it’ll probably be tonight. We can stop by this evening.”

“Yay!” Lent pumped a fist, and Mina and the other girls brightened too. Children had no resistance to circus performances.

The picnic spot Karon had chosen was only five or six kilometers from the circus grounds, and was right beside a small river. Even in winter, the scenery was delicate and clean.

Unlike moving out from the city in other directions where factories had fenced off land for industrial buildings, this region of the suburbs seemed oriented toward future residential expansion. Many of Roja City’s wealthy families had built manors here.

Alfred was there waiting. Strictly speaking, the land was the private property of a baron. It wasn’t developed, but arrangements still needed to be made in advance in order to use it.

To ensure that his young master could enjoy himself in peace, Alfred had arrived early to clear the area.

Karon pulled over at the side of the road and looked up the narrow lane. In the end, he drove a little farther down the slope to leave the road unobstructed.

Beside Alfred stood a middle-aged man who was holding a horse’s reins. He was short, yet he carried himself with an air of arrogance. “Alfred, your friend’s carriage is most impressive! If I’m not mistaken, that’s a hearse, isn’t it?” He laughed loudly. “What, did he bring a bunch of corpses out for a picnic? That’s hilarious!”

Alfred laughed along.

Then he grabbed the man by the hair and shoved his head down, burying the man’s face directly in the fresh horse droppings his chestnut mount had just left behind. “Listen! That is my master, and I don’t intend to ruin my master’s mood today. Otherwise, I’d twist your head off and throw it into this river to feed the fish.

“Don’t forget who paid off your family’s debts. Don’t forget who pulled strings to get a financial fraud like you released from prison. I can dress you up like a gentleman, or I can turn you back into a dog.”

Alfred let go. He walked over to the riverbank, took out a bar of soap, and began washing his hands with painstaking seriousness.

The baron lifted his head, staring at Alfred in terror.

“Get lost.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” the man stammered, scrambling onto his horse and fleeing.

Karon walked over. “What happened?”

“He said that Miss Eunice is very beautiful.”

Karon blinked. “Isn’t that just a fact?”

“It is,” Alfred said, utterly solemn. “But he has no right to say such things in front of me. You and the woman at your side are sacred and great beyond question in my heart; I will not tolerate any blasphemy.”

Karon gave a soft snort, and then turned and waved for Eunice to lead the children over.

The grill was set up and the charcoal prepared. Alfred took over the actual cooking, with Mina, Lent, and the others clustered around him, waiting to eat.

Karon and Eunice sat farther on a slope a short distance away, a place from where they could see the river’s surface glittering.

“Is your estate like this?” Karon asked.

“Yes, it’s just as beautiful.”

“What kind of buildings?” Karon asked.

“We have a four-story main house, where the family and servants all live. There’s a performance hall to the east, and to the west there’s an old castle, our ancestral residence. No one goes there except during rituals.”

“You even have a performance hall?”

“Yes. Father said that a great-grandaunt from a century ago loved opera but disliked going into the city, so she had a hall built in the family home. Back then, they would invite opera troupes to perform.”

“That’s quite extravagant,” Karon said. He couldn’t help wondering whether that great-grandaunt might have been Pu’er. Even as a cat, she enjoyed eating fish and insisted on pairing it with coffee. She absolutely gave the impression of someone who would do such a thing.

“Yes, but even though it’s still maintained, it’s rarely used anymore, at least not in my memory.”

Karon leaned back slightly, putting his hands back to brace himself as he settled into a more comfortable position. “I’ve never lived in a place that big. I’m actually looking forward to it.”

“In the end, you just sleep in one room,” Eunice remarked. “Whether the house is large or small doesn’t really change that much.

“Later, when you’re tired of it, we can move to York City, back to Swillen, or even live on Mink Street again. We’re young now, but later, we’ll be free to decide for ourselves, won’t we?” Her father and mother’s requirements were simple: she needed to return to Veyn with Karon. That was not something that Eunice could change, and it was something Karon had already accepted.

But Eunice also understood that for a man to live with his wife’s family created a knot in his heart. She couldn’t change the arrangement, which meant that she could only soothe it.

When people fall in love, they should tidy themselves up. Without deceiving anyone, they should present the best parts of themselves, or even put on a slight theatrical polish, like a gorilla grabbing dried leaves and beating its chest while calling out.

Once the relationship grows more established, then it’s time to reveal the real self, little by little.

A love of good food, play, thrift, or spending freely, none of it was wrong. Even lust was not necessarily a flaw.

For instance, after suggesting a barbecue, Karon had elected to drive the hearse. He was taking a number of other people, and any other vehicle would be inconvenient, while the hearse was spacious and could fit everything. He didn’t mind revealing his “hearse obsession” to Eunice. After all, his family ran a funeral home. While such things might not appear elegant in front of true nobles, there was no need to hide it.

He also didn’t mind sharing that he looked forward to living in a manor. It was something he’d never experienced across two lifetimes, and he genuinely wanted to.

The time between confirming a relationship and marriage was a period of adjustment. It was best to show your true self and see if the other person could adapt and endure. That didn’t mean letting yourself go. If you had flaws that the other person couldn’t accept, you could always add, “I’ll change later.”

However, if you constantly hid your true self, maintaining a façade, then any such exposure after marriage, without easing into it, would become a disaster. Even if the “act” could be maintained forever, the marriage would never be comfortable.

Fortunately, Eunice didn’t have the worst spoiled habits of a noble young lady. She was smart, very smart. Even if she was inexperienced in matters of love due to her blank past, she learned quickly.

Sometimes, as a man who considered himself a master of pacing, Karon could clearly sense Eunice consciously matching his rhythm. Their romance felt like a tango beneath a spotlight; A top-tier player and a seasoned manipulator encircling each other, only that neither of them had had the time to develop a scandalous past.

“In life, you have to experience what you’re meant to experience at least once,” Karon said, looking at her. “What do you think about the future?”

“Now?”

“I mean, if I hadn’t appeared. What were your original plans?”

“But you did appear,” Eunice said. She wasn’t giving a line of affection; Karon heard what she meant. Without Karon, there simply would have been someone else. However, saying such a thing openly would ruin the mood.

They were both tools for an alliance, yet both tacitly pretended it was fate.

Eunice’s father was not the eldest son of his generation. He hadn’t been first in line to inherit, which had given him the freedom to pursue romance and marry Ms. Jenny, a woman outside of their family’s circle.

But then something happened: his two older brothers had been left unable to inherit, causing Eunice’s father to become the next patriarch.

By the time Eunice approached an appropriate age, her marriage had never been hers to decide.

“What about other plans?” Karon asked. “Hobbies? Art? Travel, painting?”

“If you’re asking about those kinds of things, I can still do it later, can’t I? I think that if you treat goals too seriously, life becomes tiring.”

Karon smiled. “You really do take things casually.”

“And you, Karon,” Eunice asked, smiling. “What did you want to do? Before you met me.”

Karon fell into thought.

In his previous life, from the time he had become an adult, he had studied relentlessly, only to then struggle to build a career after graduation. His life had been like a cog, forced to turn without end. He had been exhausted, truly, but it had never felt bitter. In that state, there had been a certain pleasure in treating himself as a cog.

But in this life...

“I planned to go to university, choose a major, graduate, find a respectable job with decent income, save up, do some investing, and achieve the kind of financial freedom that fits my needs.”

“And then?”

“And then... I hadn’t thought that far.”

“Shouldn’t it be finding a girlfriend you like and building a happy family?” Eunice asked.

Karon hesitated, then shook his head.

“You never thought about that?” Eunice looked at him with open curiosity. “When my two brothers were in school, their favorite topic to discuss at home was what kind of sister-in-law they’d find for me.”

“I really didn’t. Maybe I just wasn’t at the age your brothers were.”

Eunice propped her cheek on her hand and muttered, “Or maybe it’s because you’re mentally too old.”

Karon quickly changed the subject. “Do you also enjoy psychology?”

“I’ve read a few books, but I wouldn’t say I’ve studied it. I just think observing people and analyzing people is interesting. Like observing you.”

“Observing me? Any conclusions?”

“My conclusion is that you seemed to have seen through me a long time ago.” They both laughed.

Mina stood up with a handful of skewers and started walking toward them.

As Karon laughed, he casually reached out to stroke Eunice’s hair. She easily rested her head against his lap.

Mina turned right back around and walked away.

They held that posture, motionless, for a long time.

At dusk, the hearse arrived at the edge of the circus grounds. There was a crowd of people. The area was open, and there was plenty of parking.

After getting out, Karon led everyone towards the main tent. Vendors lined the way, hawking their goods.

Alfred walked at the back, making sure the children didn’t get separated in the crowd.

Outside a small Chasset tent, a husband was selling divination tools. The sign claimed they were holy relics blessed by a priest of some church. Business was poor, so his eyes kept sweeping over the crowd, looking for someone with their guard lowered enough that he could slip their wallet.

Unfortunately, perhaps because his people had been too ruthless at similar events in recent years, the circusgoers remained alert, despite the smiles on their faces.

Even so, his wife had already taken a customer inside their tent.

There, the customer told her, “Stand still. I’m going to lie down for a bit, and that will be all.”

“Of course. You’re so kind,” the woman said, smiling while holding the rupi. “Are you looking for the feeling of home?”

“I’m looking for the feeling of childhood,” Rasma replied.

“That’s the feeling of home,” the woman insisted.

Rasma nodded. “Yes, you’re right.”

He then smiled. “My mother did the same work you do. It’s how she raised me when I was young.”

The woman quietly returned one of the bills, setting beside Rasma’s head.

“What are you doing?” Rasma asked.

“A customer returning home deserves a discount,” she said softly. “Shh, don’t let my husband know. It doesn’t matter anyway; You already paid too much, so he won’t notice.”

“It’s because I didn’t have a father,” Rasma said. If his father hadn’t died of illness while he had still been in swaddling clothes, his mother wouldn’t have needed to struggle so hard to raise him.

The woman licked her lips, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, “Honestly, I wish I didn’t have a husband either.”

Rasma chuckled. “Is that a prayer?”

She shrugged, smiling. “Do you think the gods hear them?”

“They do.” He closed his eyes, resting both of his hands on his lower abdomen.

The woman shifted away to not disturb the man as he rested.

Rasma’s world turned gray-white again. “Hm... Tsk. There’s a little demonkin with a Succubus Eye. His eyes would make a delicate trinket if you dug them out.

“Oh? There’s more than one.”

Heh.

“And the circus owner is actually a Beguiler.”

“Why is this taking so long? Not done yet? If you go overtime, it costs extra,” the husband called out as he lifted the flap and stepped into the tent.

Rasma slowly sat up and smiled. “Done.”

The husband collapsed to the ground.

Dead.