13 Mink Street

Chapter 135: Take My Face

The trembling of Mr. Pavaro’s corpse grew more and more obvious. Karon looked down to watch as the chains beneath his feet shifted from black to red. This same had happened when he awakened Earl Rekar. Karon believed there had to be other colors beyond red that corresponded to additional abilities, but this time, the chains stopped after turning red. They did not change any further.

He had already advanced from Divine Servant to Divine Shepherd, yet the chains still would not reveal any further change of color. Was it because his rank was still insufficient, or was there some issue unrelated to rank?

At this moment, Karon sensed the gathering of spirituality within Mr. Pavaro’s corpse. It was like a pot of water where bubbles kept rising when it was about to reach a boil.

To Karon’s vision, a layer of phantom imagery appeared, and the scene misaligned with the bathroom he stood in.

Slowly, he closed his eyes, and the moment he did so, his vision became clear.

When Karon closed his eyes, to the perspective of Pu’er, Kevin, and Alfred in the doorway, Karon’s entire presence changed. A change in presence was understandable. Even a believer with a hint of devotion, or an actor whose performance met a reasonable standard could manage the same.

However, this time it was not only Karon’s presence that changed, but even his posture. He stood there, his body relaxing as his hands rose before him, making shaping motions while he swayed slightly. It looked as if he was listening to music or even as if he was conducting an orchestra.

This had never happened before.

Alfred crouched down, trying as much as possible to blend in with Pu’er and Kevin. He asked in a low voice, “What is Young Master doing?”

Pu’er guessed, “Listening to a song?”

Alfred frowned. “But I can’t hear anything.”

Both he and Pu’er then looked at Kevin, who was still lying on the bath towel. Of the three, even Pu’er had to admit that the stupid dog was the most experienced and knowledgeable, given that it was a heretical god.

Alfred lifted the towel and took the initiative to dry Kevin off a bit better. The dog looked back at Karon in the bathroom and said, “Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof.”

Alfred immediately looked at Pu’er. Given previous conversations, it sounded like Kevin had said quite a lot this time.

Pu’er translated, “He is listening to a song. But in this world, there are more than compositions with scores and lyrics that deserve to be called that, as not only instruments guided by human hands can create harmony. It’s also not confined to natural sounds, such as the wind moving through valleys or the rain falling upon the streets. What Karon hears now surpasses all of that; He is listening to prayer.”

“So that’s how it is.” After hearing this, Alfred suddenly understood, and yet he showed no surprise at all. It was perfectly normal for his young master to listen to prayer, was it not?

Pu’er turned to look at Kevin and asked, “Is it innate?”

If this ability was innate, it meant that Karon was the reincarnation of some great existence from the past. Such cases had appeared before. There were many records of such. Every orthodox great church had basically received a descent of “god.”

Those gods who sat on high, due to their own needs or other reasons, chose to be reborn in the human world. Before they were reborn, they would grant foreknowledge to their church through an oracle or through the reaction of divine artifacts.

Basically, before their birth, in addition to the father, a crowd of high ranking elders of the church would gather outside of the delivery room. As soon as the child was born, they would be taken away. Their biological family would receive enormous compensation, both secular and non secular.

Given the social standards, this was an honorable thing, so the stories basically did not mention the grief or reluctance parents would feel at losing their newborn baby. It was not deliberately erased, but rather a different emotional inclination simply existed.

However, a “descending god” would not usually be a church’s main god, but a subordinate god. Essentially, one of the individuals who might appear behind the church’s main god in their first mural.

As for whether the true god of any of the major churches had ever been reborn, there were no records. Even if it had happened, it would not be recorded, because no church would want outsiders to know their god had descended and been reborn. After all, that would mean that the church’s greatest foundation was temporarily absent, which could easily push the church into a genuine existential crisis.

“Woof,” Kevin answered.

“You’re saying it could also be an imitation?” Pu’er asked in confusion. “Then who is he imitating?”

A smile pulled at the corner of Kevin’s dog mouth. It was hard to tell if he was smiling because he was comfortable with being toweled off by Alfred, or because he truly wanted to smile at this moment.

“Woof.”

“You’re asking who else could it be?” Pu’er turned back to stare at Karon. “Is it possible that he is imitating the God of Order while in this state?”

Karon did not know what his pets and his manservant were discussing at the bathroom doorway. He had entered a very strange state, and felt as if he were floating in the sky, yet also as if he were rooted in the soil. It was an odd shift in perspective. It was smooth and subtle, yet also completely inclusive.

Karon saw, in a small cubicle compartment of Eva’s Pastry Shop, Mr. Pavaro handing a new set of notes to Annie. Then, Mr. Pavaro took forty rels from his pocket and placed the money in front of the woman.

“Twenty.”

“No, forty.”

“I’m old. My price isn’t the same as theirs.”

“Skill is the accumulation of years.”

Annie rolled her eyes at Mr. Pavaro. “We’ve already traced things to Bluebridge Community. I think it’s coming soon, your time to die.”

“It’s not that exaggerated. Right now I’m only suspended for review. The next step should be detaining me to await trial. The one judging me will certainly be an Expositor. I’m actually looking forward to that moment.”

“What’s the point of lying to yourself?” Annie asked with a laugh.

“People don’t live for meaning. If you can’t live without meaning, then there wouldn’t be many people left in this world. Meaning is only an ornament of life.”

“Don’t you find it tragic, Pavaro? As an Inquisitor of Order, what you face now is still Order?”

“The moment they turned their backs on Order, they stopped belonging to Order.”

“You saying they don’t count doesn’t matter; It only matters if the God of Order says it. Too bad the god’s ears and eyes don’t seem to work very well.”

“No. I am the god’s ears. I am the god’s eyes.” Mr. Pavaro said with sincerity, “Praise Order.”

At this time, a woman’s teasing voice came from outside, “Big Sis Annie, are you done yet? Mr. Pavaro’s men are already at the door to pick him up.”

“Big Sis has good technique. She finished early, and she even gave me an extra round.” Mr. Pavaro smiled as he pushed open the cubicle’s door and walked out. He lit a cigarette, then stepped out of the pastry shop, spitting on the ground.

“Boss.”

“Boss, we’re here to pick you up.”

Mr. Pavaro cursed, “What are you rushing me for? Not even finished and you’re already rushing me.”

Karon adjusted his perspective and saw a secondhand blue Pons sedan parked behind the hearse. It was Alaia’s car that Karon had borrowed.

Just as Karon was about to take a look at himself, he found his surroundings changing. He saw Mr. Pavaro smoking as he stood beside a secondhand black Pons sedan.

This time, Karon did see himself. He was sitting inside the car, a cigarette also pinched between his fingers, lit for him by Mr. Pavaro.

The man tossed a half smoked cigarette to the ground, spat on it, then stomped ground it out twice, hard, before raising both of his hands up to the two black robed men.

He was handcuffed, and Mr. Pavaro’s body began to tremble and convulse uncontrollably. Even so, he still forced his head up and shouted, “Praise Order!”

The scene shifted again. This time, Karon found his vision was entirely pitch black. He could hear the wind and water, yet could not open his eyes to look.

Then Mr. Pavaro’s voice came from in front of him. “With my absolute loyalty, I recite Your great name. I beseech You at this moment, open Your eyes, let Your gaze descend upon this world. Forbidden Art—Eye of Order.”

Karon felt the darkness before him get partially removed, but what remained was still a viscous darkness that stubbornly blocked his sight. He tried to open his eyes, but still could not.

“Pavaro, you are truly a fool.” It was Annie’s curse.

“I only wanted to hope for a miracle. And to leave no regrets.”

Next, Karon heard Annie chanting. The water sounds on both sides instantly grew violent, but immediately after, the far more terrifying sound of a sword tearing through the air arrived, suppressing all other noise around them.

Thump.

Thump.

The sound of two bodies collapsing to the ground came, followed by the sound of river water falling and washing over the surface of the bridge.

***

“Hah.” Karon opened his eyes. He was standing in the bathroom. He turned his head and glanced toward the doorway, and saw Alfred, Pu’er, and Kevin all staring at him. At this time, Mr. Pavaro’s corpse opened its eyes and looked at Karon. “You’re awake, Mr. Pavaro.”

Mr. Pavaro did not speak. He wanted to crawl up, but could not due to the severe damage that had been done to his corpse and the slickness of the bathroom tiles. All he could do was writhe on the floor.

At this moment, Alfred took the initiative to walk over and reached out to lift up Mr. Pavaro and place him in the bathtub so that Mr. Pavaro could sit by leaning against the side of the tub.

The man first surveyed his surroundings in confusion, then began to examine his own body. Finally, his gaze landed on Annie’s corpse, which still lay motionless on the floor. “This is... awakening?”

“Yes,” Karon answered.

Mr. Pavaro looked back at Karon. “I know you’re not an ordinary person, but I truly didn’t expect that you also have faith in Order. Right, should I be addressing you as... Your Excellency?”

He had arrived at the same misconception as Earl Rekar. Of course, Mr. Pavaro misjudged Karon’s rank to be far lower than Earl Rekar’s, due to the cost and difficulty of awakening him being vastly different from awakening Earl Rekar.

“That’s unnecessary. I’m only a Divine Shepherd. If anyone should be polite, then I should be the one addressing you as Your Excellency.”

“...You’re not joking?”

“Why would I deceive a... dead man?”

“Very reasonable.” Mr. Pavaro accepted this explanation. He even immediately set aside the question of Karon’s strength and rank to point at Annie on the floor. “Her, she can’t be awakened?”

“I tried, but the corpse is too damaged, and she was killed by the Sword of Judgment. Her spirituality was basically erased. She can’t be awakened.”

“Then what about me?”

“Maybe it’s because of your faith that the Sword of Judgment did a bit less to you, and that allowed me to awaken you.”

“Alright.” Mr. Pavaro tilted his face slightly. “That’s fine too. I can hold a funeral for her now.”

“That still isn’t possible, because this isn’t over.”

“You’re going to continue investigating, Divine Shepherd?”

“Yes.”

“Are you confident?”

“If I was, I wouldn’t be sneaking your corpses here to awaken you. I’m just relatively good at awakening Arts. In other aspects, I’m only a Divine Shepherd. Also, I finished reading your notes.”

“Annie told me. She said he gave my notes to you because you’re handsome.”

“That’s slander. Ms. Annie was moved by my sense of justice and responsibility.”

“Heh.”

“We’ll go to Mr. Tadel’s textile factory to investigate. He’s the link responsible for recruiting illegal immigrant female workers. I think we can find leads there.”

“And after you find them?” Mr. Pavaro asked. “Do you have a channel to report upward?”

“No. To be frank, my identity is a bit special. The last thing I want to face is people from the Church of Order.”

“Then after you find it, what will you do? What’s your plan?”

“I’m going to find it first. Once we do, then we’ll think of a way.”

Mr. Pavaro pointed at Annie on the floor. “Annie died for this. Well, I’m already dead too. I feel this awakening can only last three days, maybe not even three, so I don’t want you to walk into the same ending we did.”

“Are you trying to discourage me?”

“More or less.”

“I didn’t expect you to say that to me.”

“You just said your identity makes it difficult for you to face the Church of Order, which means you don’t belong to the church, right? So why bother?”

“Then what about Ms. Annie? She had even less of a connection to the Church of Order.”

Mr. Pavaro fell silent.

“Although I don’t belong to the Church of Order’s ranks right now, I have faith in Order.”

Mr. Pavaro gave Karon a rather odd look. He understood the meaning behind those words.

Karon looked at Annie and said, “I’ll clean up her remains. Alfred, does Mr. Hoffen’s notes mention a preservation ritual array?”

“Yes, Young Master. There’s a simple ritual array from the Berai Church that can maintain bodily vitality. Usually the Berai Church’s female believers use it for beauty and upkeep.”

“Help me clean it first,” Mr. Pavaro said.

“Alright.” Karon nodded.

“I’ll just do a brief cleaning and change her into something looser. Leave this bathroom for me and Annie. That’s how I’ll respect Annie.”

“I understand. My family also runs a funeral home. I helped out there often. Alfred, prepare a set of looser clothes.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Pu’er and Kevin also left the bathroom doorway and returned to the bedroom.

“Only three days.” Pu’er said.

“Woof.”

“Not strong enough? Pavaro, or Karon?”

“Woof, woof.”

“Karon. Yeah, I get it too. If Rekar could have followed along the whole way, a lot of things would become much simpler.”

A smile suddenly appeared on Kevin’s face. “Woof.”

“A quail under the wings can never grow up? Fine. I’ll suggest to Karon that he write that into his black notebook.”

Kevin walked to his bed and laid down, wagging his tail as he closed his eyes. He was completely exhausted.

Pu’er jumped onto the bed and lay down.

Outside of the bedroom, within the bathroom, Karon cleaned Mr. Pavaro, who was still sitting in the bathtub. He mainly washed off the bloodstains and mud. Mr. Pavaro looked at the holes all over his body and said helplessly, “This looks strange. If I stand outside and let the wind blow through, will I make sounds like a flute?”

“Probably not, unless we open up a few more holes and make a set of high and low notes.”

“Heh. You said earlier your family runs a funeral home. Is your family part of the church?”

“My grandfather, like you, is an Inquisitor.”

“Is that so? No wonder.”

“Young Master, the clothes.”

“Alright. Put them there.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Karon helped Mr. Pavaro out of the bathtub and onto a nearby chair. He then took a dry towel and wiped the man down. After that, Karon dressed the man.

The whole process felt completely natural. Aunt Mary did the funeral makeup for male guests as well. Karon was essentially doing the same thing.

“There’s something I only realized recently. It’s not in my notes.”

“Go on.”

“If this is only about the profits from Bloodspirit Powder, it couldn’t involve an Expositor, and not even an Adjudicator like Luke would likely care. I think that place might be for satisfying some sort of more special needs.”

“What do you think that is?”

“Keeping a large number of women confined, letting them suffer some kind of torment... I think it might be for absorbing or refining something. Menstrual blood and Bloodspirit Powder might have been something added by the people below for their own benefit.”

“The Expositor?”

“I think this goes beyond the Expositor.”

“That instantly changes the nature of this.”

“Yes. It’s more serious than we thought,” Mr. Pavaro agreed. “This is no longer a simple profit chain built on credits. Are you still going to keep investigating?”

“I will.” Karon smiled. “If a cold wind can freeze me to death, what room do I have to worry about an avalanche?”

“Will you join the Church of Order?” Mr. Pavaro suddenly asked.

“Probably, though I’ll enter under a different identity. I can’t enter as myself.”

“I have a suggestion.”

“Go on.”

“If this ends smoothly, I’ll give you my position.”

“Are you joking?”

“I’m serious. I feel that you not joining the Church of Order would be a loss for the church. I don’t know what happened to you that makes your identity sensitive and unacceptable to the church, but I believe you should walk the path of Order. I’ll be completely dead in two or three days anyway, so my position might as well be left to you.”

“Even setting aside feasibility, are you sure I’m a good person?”

“Yes,” Mr. Pavaro replied. “When you awakened me, I could feel it. That is more useful than any explanation or polishing with words.”

“I haven’t experienced it, so I don’t know,” Karon said.

“As for feasibility, that’s there. You can cut off the skin of my face and make it into a mask.”

Karon laughed. “Sorry! I’m not trying to laugh, but I really can’t help it.”

“You walk the path of Order as well. Put on my face skin and take my position. Other than my family, no one will notice. As for the outside, I don’t really have friends. Not many people are willing to be friends with me.

“Also, I have selfish motives. You should know I have two daughters with very serious conditions. I’m doing this for them too, because I’ve always felt guilty toward them.”

“I know.” Karon finished dressing Mr. Pavaro. “Shall I support you to the study and let you sit for a while?”

“I’m not joking with you. Of course, to do a perfect disguise, it won’t be as simple as a face skin mask, but in York City, there’s someone who is very skilled at this. The face skins he makes are good enough to pass for the real thing, and even a person’s aura can be imitated properly.

“I only met him once because of an incident. No, you can’t call it meeting him, as we only made contact. His temper is strange, and he seems to strongly dislikes Order. Most importantly, helping an outsider to create an Inquisitor’s mask, if this gets exposed, the consequences are unthinkable. It means taking an enormous risk.

“You can try meeting him. If he’s willing to help you, you can assume my identity, and you won’t have to take other routes and slowly work your way in.”

“No.” Karon looked at Mr. Pavaro, curious. “You seem to be treating me too well.”

This was showing too much trust, to the point that Karon found it difficult to understand.

“When you awakened me, did you see something?” Mr. Pavaro asked.

Karon nodded.

“I also... saw some things. I saw scenes from when you became a Divine Seeker, as well as saw scenes from when you became a Divine Shepherd.”

Karon’s expression grew serious. If Mr. Pavaro had not volunteered this information, Karon would likely never have known that during the process of awakening, those awakened could also see some things in his heart. That meant that in the future, he would have to use awakening far more cautiously, because some of his matters, if placed on the table, would be regarded as utterly unforgivable, and even more heretical than a heretical god.

Mr. Pavaro continued, “Some of your thoughts, I cannot agree with, but I do acknowledge your sincerity and respect toward Order. Compared to those people from the Church of Order I ran into last night, you are more suited to shout ‘Praise Order.’”

“Thank you,” Karon said.

“It’s me who should thank you.” Mr. Pavaro smiled. “Just as Annie said before she died, you let us see hope again. Consider this a gift between friends.

“We should be glad I didn’t end up like Annie, with a hole stabbed through my face too. Heh heh. The skin of my face is preserved intact, so it can still be used.”

“You said they probably won’t be willing to help.”

“If you don’t try, how will you know?” Mr. Pavaro asked. “It’s just like that day when I was cuffed after lighting your cigarette. I shouted those words at you, and didn’t you go find Annie?”

“You’re right.”

“You should now ask me where to find that person.”

“Alright. Where can I find that person?”

“He’s in the city center, on Second Street off King’s Avenue. He runs a pottery studio, Lemar Pottery Studio.”