13 Mink Street

When Karon stepped down from the ring, he could clearly sense that the way everyone looked at him, as well as the finer details of how they interacted with him, had changed in an obvious way. After all, real respect had to be earned through one’s own strength.

Marlow was the exception. First, because while he had not personally witnessed what had happened during the last mission, the ritual array he had constructed had given him a very clear sense of things. Second, after going through the notebook on ritual arrays he had received from Karon still occupied Marlow’s thoughts, and he was immersed in a comparatively pure academic atmosphere. “Karon, I have a guess about this ritual array. Could you take a look for me?”

“I’m not very familiar with ritual arrays,” Karon replied with some embarrassment, and that was indeed the truth. A person’s energy would always be limited. Although Mr. Hoffen had left him an extremely rich collection of notes on arrays, Karon had remained at the level of browsing the notes. He had not had much time for any practical work. Alfred, on the other hand, was the one who had been steadily immersing himself in array research.

At present, it appeared that while Mr. Hoffen had left notes for Karon, Alfred was the one who was truly suited to inherit the man’s work.

Still, after the two previous spars, Karon’s candor would now naturally be taken by the listener as a kind of modest virtue.

“I’ll set it up. Help me take a look, alright?” Marlow asked.

With no better option, Karon could only nod. Internally, he thought that although he did not have much practical experience, he had at least found the time to read a great many of Mr. Hoffen’s theoretical notes on ritual arrays. When the time came, he should at least be able to say a few words to Marlow based on the situation.

Anyway, they would all be correct things to say.

“Then let’s go next door.” Marlow enthusiastically led Karon toward a side door.

The factory’s first floor was a combined venue for a fighting club and a shooting club, while half of the basement belonged to Paige and Fannie’s private training space. That area also served as a place for the rest of the squad to practice and spar, which naturally did not require much room.

That meant there was still a smaller section of the basement which had never been renovated or furnished. Marlow led Karon there and began laying out the ritual array on the floor.

Karon stood nearby and asked, “Do you want something to drink?”

Squatting on the ground to draw the array, Marlow looked up and said, “Oh, there’s plenty of alcohol over there.”

“I don’t want alcohol. I want soda.” Karon smiled and shook his head before continuing, “Keep drawing. I’ll go check on the first floor. I remember there’s a small shop up there.”

“Soda? Don’t worry, I’ll go get it,” Marlow offered.

“No need, no need. Just keep drawing the array. I’ll go get it.” Karon went up the nearest staircase. There were two staircases connecting the factory to the basement, but only one was normally used. The other saw almost no traffic.

As Karon went up one, Nio happened to be leading Richard down the other staircase. The moment their captain appeared, the previously noisy crowd immediately quieted down.

Nio said, “The new Church Affairs Building may already be ready, but our office still hasn’t been set up, so we can only hold meetings here. Now then, everyone, get ready.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Everyone began moving chairs around. As usual, the seats were arranged into an oval.

Richard took the initiative to help. He warmly greeted everyone with “Hellos,” but the responses he received were mostly flat and indifferent.

“Captain, should we prepare some food?” Fannie asked.

“No need. We’ll go out to eat afterward. This place is only for meetings.”

“Understood, Captain. Then I’ll go upstairs and bring down some more red wine.”

“I’ll help you.” Richard immediately hurried over.

Fannie gave the young man a pointed look. The captain had not yet formally introduced Richard, but she still had a rough idea of who he was, so she nodded. “Go tell the people upstairs that the boss wants the wine she has stored brought down. They’ll carry it themselves.”

“Alright, I understand.” Eager and fully determined to integrate himself into the squad, Richard immediately ran upstairs and repeated Fannie’s words to one of the supervisors there.

“Yes, understood, I’ll have it sent down right away,” the subordinate replied immediately, then took some people to fetch the wine.

Richard rubbed his face with one hand. Even for someone like him, who was good at socializing, the brief contact with his teammates had felt awkward.

This was a different atmosphere. I need to find it quickly, then learn it, then join it. Richard silently encouraged himself, even making a fist and waving it once.

“Careful.” Richard turned around and saw Karon standing behind him with a case of soda in his arms. Richard’s fist had nearly swung into the bottles.

“Karon! What are you doing here?” Richard asked.

“I got called over.” Karon shrugged.

“I’ll take that for you.” Richard reached out at once.

Karon unceremoniously handed the entire case of soda over to Richard, and then set a small bucket of ice on top of it. After all, who could resist making their younger cousin do some work?

“Cough...” Richard nearly lost his balance from the weight.

The two went downstairs together. Because his view was blocked by what he was carrying, Richard went slowly, but still asked, “You joined Nio’s squad too?”

“Mhmm. I was recommended.” Recommended by “Mr. Pavaro.”

Richard laughed. “Then you really benefited from my grandfather’s influence, huh?”

“Heh.” It was perfectly normal for Richard to have that thought. At first, he had assumed Karon came from a family like his own, because Karon had treated Richard as an equal right from the beginning, without the slightest hint of fawning.

However, Karon’s behavior in Richard’s home, and when facing his father and grandfather, had made it clear to Richard that Karon did not come from a notable family.

That was because while someone might hide things from Richard, they should not be able to hide them from his father or grandfather. To try to do so would be a serious matter of disrespect, and anyone with a real family background would certainly understand that.

Thus, Richard could only assume that Karon was simply an interesting Divine Servant serving under Inquisitor Pavaro who somehow made him feel close.

For a Divine Servant like that, even joining a Whip of Order squad would already be a stroke of extraordinary luck. As for joining Nio’s squad, that was basically impossible.

That was why the only possible explanation in Richard’s eyes was that either Nio had seen Karon at his house and simply done him a favor by also bringing him in as an attached member, or Richard’s grandfather had mentioned something in passing. After all, when Richard had walked his grandfather out the previous day, the old man had specifically said, “That friend of yours is rather decent. Spend more time with him.”

His grandfather did not usually praise people.

“Are you an attached member too?” Richard asked again.

“Mhmm, yes.”

Good, then my guess is correct. This time, including me, Captain Nio accepted two attached members in total.

“They seem kind of hard to get along with,” Richard said.

“Mm, a little.”

“But it’s great that you’re here too. We can look out for each other. At least when things get awkward and the conversation dies, I know who to talk to and ease the atmosphere with. And when things get tense, I know whose eyes I can look for and share a smile with.”

“Right. Exactly.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll look after you,” Richard said.

Karon nodded. “That’s great. Thank you.”

He could tell that his younger cousin genuinely had no intention of looking down on people, and that he really was glad Karon was here too.

“Oh right, do they know my background?” Richard asked.

“The captain hasn’t formally introduced you yet?”

“No. But the meeting is about to start, so he’ll probably introduce me during it. But I don’t want my family background to be part of that introduction. It’s not that I want to hide my identity, but that I’m worried that if they know, I won’t be able to fit in, and there’ll be distance between us.”

“Mm, you’ve thought it through well.”

“So you’ve got to keep it a secret for me too.”

“I will.”

“Haha, that’s good. Karon, if I’d known earlier that you got pulled in too, I wouldn’t have been so nervous last night that I couldn’t sleep for half of it. You’ve got no idea. While I was driving over today, every time I thought about meeting my teammates, my heart kept pounding from excitement.”

“They’re all actually pretty easy to get along with.”

“No, they’re not. They’re very exclusionary. In their squad, though, you can’t really call it exclusionary. It’s more like a pack of hunting hounds. They judge whether you’re one of their own by your scent. This is a social circle I’ve never dealt with before, and I’m learning how to fit into it too. But I should warn you, you’d better tone down some of your aloofness, like how you acted with me yesterday.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. Though you probably understand it yourself. Look, didn’t they send us upstairs to carry things? We’re the newcomers, and attached members too. Of course errands like this are going to fall to us. We have to be sharp about this stuff, and know how to behave.”

Karon found himself very curious about exactly what his younger cousin’s brain had put together. He had been born into an Expositor family, from a powerful and prestigious background, and yet he still had such a clear awareness of all kinds of social realities. It seemed that all the social ability Karon’s uncle had lost really had been gifted straight to his son.

The moment they reached the bottom of the stairs, they saw Fannie standing there.

“The meeting’s about to start, hurry up,” Fannie said in a tone that was light and intimate.

“Alright, alright. They said the wine will be brought down right away.”

Because the soda bottles and ice bucket blocked his view, Richard could not clearly see who Fannie had actually been speaking to. After they went in, Karon discovered that everyone else had already taken their seats. Although this meeting space had only been put together hastily, there was still a strong attention to detail.

For example, Nio sat at the head of the arrangement. On Nio’s left side at an angle, one seat had been left empty. Next came Gray, and across from Gray sat Wynn. Everyone else was seated further down from them in order.

Karon set down the ice bucket. Richard placed the case of soda down too, then enthusiastically called out toward the others, “Who wants soda? There’s ice too!”

No one answered him.

Nio had lowered his head and closed his eyes to rest, which was something he always did. When the captain was in the mood to talk, he could talk endlessly. When he was silent, he could also be extremely silent.

As for everyone else... they simply could not be bothered to respond to the newcomer.

Karon suddenly recalled the first time he had formally met all of them, back in the suite at the Ankara Hotel. At that time, he had thought the team was very warm and welcoming.

Oh. It seems I was mistaken. The reason everyone had been so enthusiastic back then was because he had just “confessed” to Ophelia, creating the first confession-style security detail in the history of the Church of Order. If not that misunderstanding, Karon might very well have faced the same kind of social ostracism Richard was now experiencing.

“No one drinks soda?” Richard asked, confused.

“I do,” Karon said. “They all drink alcohol.”

Every one of these people, one by one, were basically drunks and chain smokers. It probably had a lot to do with their way of life. They were already used to using alcohol and nicotine to fill the emptiness of their minds outside missions. Especially Fannie and Paige. Those two women drank brandy practically like it was boba.

“You brought down a whole case just for yourself?” Richard asked.

“You’re here too, aren’t you?” Karon still remembered that when his younger cousin had gone to the Church Affairs Building, he had deliberately brought a thermos filled with iced soda.

“I want to fit in a little better. I should drink red wine too,” Richard said. “You should drink red wine too.”

“I don’t like drinking.”

Just then, one of the upstairs supervisors came down with two subordinates carrying the red wine, along with wine glasses that had just been washed clean, though he did not dare bring anything inside.

Richard took the initiative to carry everything over, and then poured wine for everyone one by one.

Meanwhile, Karon silently took out four bottles of soda. He carved four grooves into the ice in the bucket, and nestled the bottles in to chill.

Marlow happened to return from the next door space at that moment to join the meeting. Upon seeing Karon, he crouched down to chat with him for a while.

“Want some soda?” Karon asked.

“I want alcohol,” Marlow replied honestly.

“Alright then.” Karon nodded and lifted the bucket holding the soda bottles.

Efficient as always, Richard had already poured everyone’s wine. When he put the bottle down, he looked at the empty seats. Two were still vacant: one beside the captain, and one at the far end.

Richard had intended to sit at the far end, but Marlow sat there first.

That left only the seat beside the captain. Richard nervously wiped his hands on his clothes. Although everyone looks rather cold, deep down they must actually think highly of me.

He then walked over to the empty seat beside Nio and sat down a bit stiffly.

However, when he looked up and glanced around at everyone else seated around him, he found that every single person in the room turned to stare at him at the same time, and every person’s eyes and expression held some degree of puzzlement.

Richard immediately stood up again and bowed to everyone. “Hello, everyone. I’m the new attached member. My name is Richard. I’ve always admired the captain and longed to be part of this squad. Today is the day my life’s dream comes true! I can finally join this group. I feel proud today. I feel honored today!”

After saying that, Richard bowed once more.

Then, wearing a perfectly measured expression of bashful excitement, he sat back down. His expression was not fake, nor was it an act. It was exactly what he genuinely felt inside.

Yet after sitting back down and looking around at everyone again, he found that the puzzlement had not disappeared from their faces.

Was my self-introduction not detailed enough? Richard began reflecting on himself.

At that moment, Karon walked over with the bucket of ice. Seeing that there were no seats left, he set the bucket down and turned to go fetch another chair.

“Karon, your seat’s over there,” Paige said, pointing at where Richard was currently sitting.

Fannie looked at Richard and said, “We forgot to get the newcomer a chair. Go get one yourself, alright?”

“Huh?” Richard stood up in confusion and moved aside.

Gray reached out and patted the chair Richard had just been sitting in. “Karon, sit here.”

Within a pack of hounds, status was earned with strength, and the seating order reflected that.

After easily defeating Gray and Wynn, Karon’s position had immediately been shifted to being above both of them, making him second only to the captain. When everyone had been arranging the seats, they had clearly all defaulted to that understanding.

Karon glanced at his little cousin, but did not refuse. He carried the ice bucket over and sat down.

Richard felt a bit awkward, but even more confused. Still, his ability to take things in stride really was impressive. He immediately ran out, carried in another chair, and sat at the very end.

Karon picked up two bottles of soda, opened them, and offered one of them to his cousin, who was sitting furthest from Karon.

Starting with Gray, people casually began passing the soda from hand to hand, one after another, until it finally reached Richard.

He stared at the soda bottle in his hand, and then looked back over at Karon who was sitting directly beside the captain. Richard finally realized that apparently everything he had understood about Karon before had been wrong. Karon had become a member of this squad long ago, and his position was very high.

Good God, and I actually said earlier that Karon only got in because of my family background! After suddenly realizing the truth, Richard did not get the least bit angry. On the contrary, he felt that this was even better. Compared to the two of them being newcomers huddling together for warmth, learning that Karon was an experienced hunting hound seemed like a much greater help to him. Being protected was obviously much better than huddling together and shivering in fear.

That was probably just the difference made by a first impression. When you like someone, all the changes that followed could be interpreted in a positive way.

Nio opened his mouth and said, “Now, the meeting officially begins.”

Everyone sat up a little straighter. Richard, in particular, straightened his back completely.

Nio pointed at Richard at the very end. “First, let me introduce the newcomer.”

Richard had no choice but to stand up again. “Hello every—”

“Alright. Since you already introduced yourself, let’s move directly to the main topic.”

“...” Richard.

“By relying on the newcomer’s family connections, I just secured us a security mission. The process will be the same as last time with the protection of the Darkmoon Island delegation, but the rewards are much higher, far more than double before. Additionally, there will be material rewards besides credits.”

Excitement immediately appeared on everyone’s faces. Security missions were easy, were typically very low risk, and allowed for them to eat and drink for free during the missions. Most importantly, the rewards were high. What squad would not like that kind of mission?

Fannie asked, “Captain, who is the target of protection this time?”

Nio answered, “The Church of Pamireth.”

Hearing that answer, Karon was taken aback for a moment.

Clearly, many of the people present knew the Church of Order’s current attitude regarding the Church of Pamireth, including the incident at the Church Affairs Building, which was already being interpreted by some as retaliation from the Church of Pamireth.

It seemed that everyone in ecclesiastical circles believed the Church of Pamireth was only a single divine decree away from being wiped out by the Church of Order, and that the decree was likely already in motion. That was because the Church of Order needed an opportunity to establish authority and restore its hegemonic image.

Paige spoke up. “But I heard that the Pamireth delegation has already been expelled from the Ankara Hotel by the church.”

“The Divine Progeny of the Church of Pamireth will arrive at York Harbor tomorrow evening. He’ll represent the church’s true core in talks with us. If the talks succeed, then the Pamireth God will be incorporated into our Church of Order’s Mythic Overview as an offshoot deity.”

A smile appeared at the corner of Nio’s mouth as his gaze swept across everyone present. He then continued, “The Church of Pamireth... will be absorbed into our Church of Order!”