13 Mink Street

“So those Light vermin were waiting for me that day?”

“Yes, and then you thoroughly screwed them over.”

“Are you saying that I should feel regret over that?”

“Do you think that after living this long, I would still be so naive?”

“I’ll make sweet-and-sour fish for you tomorrow.”

“My heavens, really!!!!!!”

“You see?”

“These are two completely different matters, alright? Of course I don’t think that once those Light vermin realized you were the person they were looking for. They would have kneeled and kowtowed to you and acknowledged you as their master.

“Just look at how they treated Piaget and Bede. They would probably have raised you like some kind of auspicious pet and kept you under their control.”

“Most importantly, my identity already can’t be exposed to the light of day. Then on top of that, I would get mixed up with Light.”

“That too. It’s still more promising to keep working your way up within the Church of Order.”

“But Mr. Bede left behind these two paintings; Why not just tell me directly?”

“Didn’t he tell you to come back and see his daughter? If you hadn’t come back, you certainly wouldn’t have seen this. It’s probably the stubbornness a father possesses.”

“To be honest, I’ve never really been able to see through my future father-in-law.”

“That’s why followers of the Wall God Church are called madmen.”

“Alright, it’s time to rest. I still need to head back to the city tomorrow morning. There’s a mission with the squad.”

“So what about my sweet-and-sour fish?”

“Next time.”

“I don’t suffer from excessive sleepiness, so why do I have to wait until next time?”

“So you really were eavesdropping outside that day?”

“Want to guess what else I heard? ‘Louder! I can’t hear you. Even louder!’ Meow!”

“Fine. Then you can forget about ever eating sweet-and-sour fish again in this lifetime.”

“Karon, are you really that petty, meow!”

***

By dawn, Karon already had everything packed up, and Borg had loaded all the luggage into the car.

Karon went to Eunice’s room and gently kissed her forehead. He then walked out and said his farewells to Master Anderson and the others, and got into his car. After the car drove away from Allen Manor, Karon took out the wallet Eunice had given him and opened it. The photograph in it was of him and Eunice leaning against each other atop the horse.

Under the rich moonlight, the white horse and the beauty. It was the sort of scene many men had dreamed about. Just as many girls once fantasized about a prince on a white horse coming to carry them away, many boys had likewise fantasized about riding a white horse to fetch the girl they loved.

“You can turn back right now, you know,” Pu’er said. “I wouldn’t mind.”

“But if I had never left Allen Manor, would the Raphael family have been destroyed by the Church of Order? Would Allen Manor be able to sit there as it is now, leisurely picking and choosing from the workshops the Raphael family left behind?”

Pu’er was momentarily speechless.

“Once Eunice has fully digested the power in her bloodline, I’ll bring her with me.”

Sitting in the passenger seat, Pu’er played with her tail while turning to look at Karon. “Karon, I’ve noticed that the people of the Immers family all seem very devoted. During all those years I spent in the Immers household, from Tiz to your ‘father,’ as well as Mason and Winnie, they were all extremely devoted in matters of feeling. Even Winnie, despite choosing the wrong person at first, she never had any other romantic entanglements after that.”

“It isn’t devotion. It’s because the Immers family places greater importance on family.”

“Sigh. When I was young, I always thought love and romance were so stupid, completely meaningless. I never had even the slightest thought along those lines.”

“May I ask what age bracket you currently belong to?”

“I’ve only just shed my youthful greenness, meow.”

Karon could not help but laugh aloud. Rarely, Pu’er did not get angry and laughed along with him. At that moment, Kevin, sitting in the back seat, also laughed along in a sociable manner.

Pu’er immediately turned her head and glared at him. “What the hell are you laughing at, stupid dog!”

“...” Kevin.

After a long while, during the drive, Pu’er suddenly spoke up, “Karon, if even the Church of Light has received divine guidance, I feel that this world may already have undergone some changes, or perhaps is undergoing them right now.”

Because they had left so early, Karon was back in Bluebridge Community by noon. He first dropped Pu’er and Kevin off at home, and then drove to the funeral home. When he arrived, he discovered that the renovation of the back section had already reached the final stages. The efficiency was astonishingly high.

What surprised Karon even more was that Alfred had specially added another room on top of the original two shopfronts. While Pavaro Funeral Home was located at the end of the street and had room to expand, this definitely counted as unauthorized construction.

However, Bluebridge Community was a densely populated area far from the city center, and illegal expansions were extremely common. Not far below the Allen Apartments where Karon lived, an entire small commercial street basically consisted of illegal metal-shed add-ons.

After walking in, Karon saw Alfred directing Dinkom and Pike to install doors and windows. Once those details were finished, all that would remain would be the soft furnishings, which would be much quicker. It looked like it would soon be ready to move into, since there was no need to wait for formaldehyde to dissipate.

It was not that the renovation materials of the era were particularly environmentally friendly, but simply because Karon could use purification Arts on each room to remove any sort of toxins.

Alfred saw Karon and immediately ran downstairs. “Young Master!”

“You’ve worked hard, Alfred.”

“Not at all. I actually found it quite enjoyable.”

Karon noticed that Pike and Dinkom were still working. When they saw that he had arrived, they started working with driven expressions. Before this, they had looked completely like forced laborers.

“Nothing else happened at home these past few days, right?”

“No. Ms. Lake’s matters were settled long ago as well. They are staying at the hotel, and I go visit them each night.”

“Mm, good. Then I’ll head to Sycamore Street first.”

“Very well, Young Master. Go ahead and attend to your business. If there is anything you need, please notify me and I will come over immediately.”

“Mm.” Karon returned to the car and drove to Sycamore Street.

By the time he arrived beneath the Church Affairs Building, it was already two in the afternoon. After parking the car, he walked in. This time, Karon did not pass through the main hall again, but instead went directly to the farthest corner and arrived at the lonely elevator. This should be an internal-use only elevator.

He pressed the button, and before long, the elevator doors opened. The attendant inside smiled at Karon. He took out his plastic ring, and without even checking it, the other party gestured for him to enter the elevator.

She pressed the button for the appropriate floor, and Karon stood quietly, feeling the elevator rise. Before long, the doors opened behind him, and Karon turned around and walked in. This was Nio’s office, except that the man himself was not present.

At that moment, the inner door opened and the female secretary from last time walked out. Upon seeing Karon, she smiled slightly and said, “Please wait a moment. I’ll go notify the captain.”

“Alright.” Karon sat down on the sofa.

After entering the inner room, the woman came back out very quickly and asked, “What would you like to drink?”

“Do you have ice water?”

“Yes.” The woman placed a glass of ice water in front of Karon, and then sat down opposite him and introduced herself. “You can call me Fannie. I’m one of the squad members, though I usually handle the captain’s secretarial work.”

“Hello, Miss Fannie.”

At that moment, the elevator doors opened. Karon turned to look and found that it was not Nio. Instead, a blonde woman wearing a nose ring, a lip ring, and leather clothing walked in. She probably was not yet thirty. From the moment she stepped out of the elevator, she stared at Karon in a brazen appraisal, her gaze bold and completely undisguised.

Karon stood up to greet her, “Hello, I’m Karon, an attached member.”

The woman smiled, then stepped up very close to Karon, wrapping both of her arms around his waist and kissing him right on the mouth.

Karon instinctively raised his hands to block her.

“Oh? You like touching here, do you? Fine, I’ll undo it for you. Fannie, go jam the elevator door. Let the captain and the others get up here a little later while I have a round with my husband first.”

Fannie rubbed her forehead somewhat helplessly. “Paige, stop fooling around.”

“I’m not fooling around. The captain personally told me that this new member was brought in for me, to solve my personal problems.”

“Paige, apart from when he’s assigning missions, can anything the captain says be trusted?”

“Hey, originally I didn’t believe it either, but the moment I saw this one, I did. That’s my most respected captain, after all. How could he possibly lie to me? Come on, young ma- no, darling husband, allow me to serve you properly and send you all the way to heaven.”

Karon was shoved back down onto the sofa by Paige. Then she actually started taking off her leather jacket. Underneath, he could see many scars on her skin.

Yet Karon had no thought of appreciating the wild beauty created by all of the scars, because the woman had started to undo her bra.

“Paige, stop fooling around!” Nio’s voice rang out.

Paige stopped what she was doing and put her clothes back on. She turned her head back to look at her captain, who had arrived behind her without anyone knowing when he had appeared. She irritably said, “Captain, you really know how to ruin the mood.”

Nio walked straight to his desk. “Meeting. Now.”

Paige blew Karon a kiss, then went and sat down beside Fannie.

Karon straightened up in his seat. He really had not known how to react just now. Surely he could not directly summon the Sea God’s Armor.

He then noticed the slight curve at the corner of Nio’s mouth. It seemed the man was rather satisfied at how Karon had become unable to continue behaving “properly.”

“Our next mission is a protection assignment. A representative of the Darkmoon family will arrive at the port at two in the afternoon two days from now. Our squad will be responsible for the security detail during the Darkmoon family representative’s talks in York City.”

Another protection assignment? Karon remembered that last time, the squad had been given a protective assignment for the Anavas family.

Huh. Wait a minute... Karon frowned slightly. Why does the name “Darkmoon family” sound so familiar?

All of a sudden, Karon remembered. Didn’t his Darkmoon Blade come from that same family?

“This round of talks is highly valued by the higher-ups. The mission rating is high, and the rewards will also be very generous. In addition, if the talks are successfully concluded, the mission reward can be upgraded by an additional rank.”

Paige asked curiously, “Captain, what rating is the mission?”

“D-rank.”

“A protection mission is already D-rank, so if this gets upgraded, does that mean the reward becomes D+ rank?”

“Yes.”

“Wow! Captain, how did you manage to snatch this mission?”

“The higher-ups place great importance on this woman and this delegation. They value it so highly that even the security squad on our side needed to be personally selected by the Darkmoon family delegation. Of the twenty-two Whip of Order squads in York City, excluding those already on assignment, all of the remaining squads that were either idle or on minor assignments submitted applications.”

“After all, it’s a mission of this level,” Fannie nodded. “And the protection site is in York City, so the difficulty isn’t all that high, while the reward is quite generous. Everyone would definitely be envious.”

“Yes, however, I analyzed the list of representatives from the Darkmoon family beforehand and discovered that the one leading is Ophelia, the acting young master of her generation of the Darkmoon family. This year, she only turns seventeen.

“So, the other squads all put the profile of their strongest member on the first page. Many squads put the captain’s profile on page one...”

“And what about you, Captain?” Paige asked.

Nio looked toward Karon and said, “I put Karon’s profile on the first page!”

“...” Karon.

Nio clapped once. “And sure enough, we were selected!”

“Captain, he’s my husband!” Paige said.

“Miss Paige, I already have a fiancée.” Karon could only stand up and explain.

“I don’t need a title or status,” Paige bluntly replied.

“Focus on the mission,” Nio interjected.

Paige could only sit back down.

“According to the usual protection etiquette, we need to assign a three-member close-protection detail. Considering that the person leading the delegation is female, and for the sake of convenience, the close-protection team will be the two female members of our squad, Paige and Fannie, along with Karon.”

“Yes, Captain!”

“Yes, Captain!” Paige and Fannie both placed their right hands over their chests.

“Yes, Captain.” Karon did the same, though he felt that what the captain had just said while assigning the mission sounded a little strange.

“The rest of the team and I will handle covert perimeter security. Since we have already secured this mission, we must complete it in the most impressive way possible, because many more delegations will still be coming to York City after this. The earl of the Anavas family highly praised the way we handled our last mission, and after returning, he even wrote a letter of thanks to the higher-ups on behalf of our squad.”

While saying this, Karon noticed that Nio’s expression did not change in the slightest. He was someone able to separate public matters and personal feelings with perfect clarity.

“So if our squad can also complete this protection mission for the Darkmoon family delegation perfectly, from that point on, it is very likely that we will be implicitly assigned all of the remaining security missions as well. The rewards are generous, they don’t take much time, and the risk factor is low. I trust that the more missions like this we get, the better all of you will like it.”

“Of course, Captain,” Paige said with a smile.

“Fannie, take the mission documents after this and go to the management office to collect a set of equipment for Karon.”

“Understood, Captain.”

“What use is that equipment? Who cares about it?” Paige looked at Karon with a grin. “Stay with me and this big sister here will give you a much better set.”

Fannie smiled. “I heard from Marlow. Our new team member is the sort of person who even carries and uses an ordinary handgun.”

Karon could only offer a polite smile while thinking to himself: Is this black mark on my history really never going away?

“Zema also told me, Karon, that your girlfriend’s family situation is very poor, right?” Paige patted her chest. “Dump her. This big sister will keep you.”

“Alright, the mission allocation ends here. The detailed assignment sheet and itinerary will be distributed tomorrow. Fannie, keep an eye on it.”

“Understood, Captain.”

“In addition: Paige, mission first! During this time, you are not allowed to harass Karon anymore, because you are part of the close-protection detail.”

“I understand, Captain.” Paige finally quieted down.

Nio then looked back at Karon. “If you find her annoying, you may shoot at her and then take her into the woods.”

“Hoo... I’m really looking forward to it! So my husband likes that kind of mood?” Paige laughed. “Though the weather is a little cold right now, and when it’s cold, the blood circulation slows down.”

What Karon heard was “if you find her annoying, you can beat her up. Once you beat her up, she won’t dare to get too bold with you anymore.”

So the internal atmosphere of this squad was really this harmonious? As the captain, he actually encouraged private fights among his subordinates?

“Alright, meeting adjourned.”

After the meeting ended, Fannie called out to Karon and gestured for him to come with her. In the end, Karon, Fannie, and Paige all entered the elevator together. However, it seemed that Nio’s earlier mission warning had worked, because Paige did not target him again.

“I’m leaving first. See you when the mission assembles.”

“Mm.” Fannie nodded.

“Goodbye, darling. Remember to think of me, hahaha.” Paige laughed as she walked out of the elevator.

Karon and Fannie remained inside, waiting for the elevator to continue descending. “If you dislike her, you can show it directly. In our squad, we don’t care about courtesy and politeness.”

“I think she’s fine. Things haven’t reached that point.”

“So you’re willing, then?”

“No.”

“Heh.”

Fannie led Karon to the ninth floor. Karon followed behind and watched her handle the paperwork. Eventually, they arrived at a black iron door. In the middle of the door was a small window, through which a form was pushed out. She helped him fill it in, then said, “Sign here.”

Karon signed his name: Karon Silva. After the form was pushed back inside, a hiking bag was quickly tossed out. Karon caught it with one hand. It was not very heavy.

“It’s all the basic equipment. You can pick out the things you want to keep and use. Anything you don’t like, just take it to the black market and sell it.”

“Alright, I understand.”

At that moment, a bald, middle-aged head poked out through the little window in the iron door and grumpily said, “Can you consider the feelings of me, the administrative staff, and at least go a bit farther away to teach the newcomer?”

“Oh, sorry.” Fannie smiled and waved to him, then asked Karon, “Do you have anything else?”

“No.”

“Then go back. Mission assembly time is six o’clock the morning after tomorrow, in the captain’s office.”

“Got it.” Karon carried the equipment bag out of the building, opened the car door, and sat inside. He placed the bag on the passenger seat.

During this period, it seemed that many families and outside forces were in talks with the Church of Order and reaching cooperative agreements. It gave the feeling that preparations were being made to deal with something.

As he started the car, Karon suddenly remembered what Pu’er had said in the car that morning: “This world may be undergoing changes...”

What kind of changes would they be?