13 Mink Street

“I think it’s very likely to be an old love letter he wrote in the past. Most likely, after the people from Darkmoon Island visited your grave, they sent this letter to Allen Manor. Judging their intention, they probably meant to place this before your headstone, as a way of consoling your spirit in the afterlife and easing the pain of longing.”

Pu’er blinked as she stared at Karon. One paw slowly extended forward.

“That matter was already settled. I even made fish for you last time.”

“But it has caused me a second wave of emotional damage!”

“And after eating the fish I made, you continued to reminisce about it.”

Pu’er lifted her head. “Oh, damn it! Why are you always able to immediately counterattack?”

“Can I open it and take a look?” Karon asked.

“Go ahead.”

“You really mean that?”

“Go ahead. If I forbade you from opening it, only to then secretly bite the letter to take it away and hide it, it would be a third wave of emotional damage.”

“All right, then.” Karon opened the outer envelope, only to discover another one inside of it. The inner envelope was yellowed with age, clearly being much older. He opened that one as well and unfolded the letter.

My dearest Poelle, I no longer know when it began, but my life can be split in two because of you: before I knew you and after I knew you, before we parted and after we parted.

Your existence has left a mark upon my life that can never be erased. When I cannot breathe, I think of you, and when I think of you, I find I still cannot breathe.

Karon coughed lightly. “This Mr. Bernard is really fond of rhetorical flourishes.”

Pu’er sprawled across the desk and rolled her eyes at him. Karon could not help reaching out to rub her head. A cat rolling its eyes was undeniably adorable.

The date at the bottom of the letter marked it as being more than a hundred years old, so he had guessed correctly.

“I’m sure this letter must have come with some explanatory note, but Anderson is a filial descendant after all, so he still forwarded this to me.”

“Given his age,” Pu’er shot back. “Anderson should be lying in a cemetery.”

“That’s hardly his fault. All right, I’m going out to the courtyard to read for a while.”

“Ah, my dear Little Karon, have you forgotten that there’s still a second letter waiting to be opened?”

“Oh? Is there?”

“Yes. You just slipped it into the drawer through the crack.”

“It fell by accident.”

“Very well, I believe it fell. But now that it has fallen, the words inside ought to be let out for a bit of air, shouldn’t they?”

Karon took out the letter from Ophelia and opened it.

“Spread it out. Open the paper fully, the way you read mine just now,” Pu’er instantly urged.

Karon unfolded the sheet.

Mr. Karon, since our parting, it has already been...

He read the letter to nearly the end. Most of it consisted of Ophelia recounting her experiences during her voyage back to Darkmoon Island after leaving York Harbor, followed by the opinions of the family elders after she had returned to the island.

Rather than a private letter, it read more like a work report.

Pu’er grew drowsy while looking at it, yet the moment her eyes reached the bottom, she perked back up and began slapping at that section with a paw. “There, there! Do you see it? Do you see it!”

The entire work-report atmosphere shifted with the final sentence of the final paragraph: Karon, I find that I miss you a little. What should I do?

“She says she misses you! She actually took the initiative to say that she misses you!”

Karon folded the letter and slid it back into the envelope, coolly replying, “That’s just a polite closing often used to the atmosphere of a work report.”

“Oh, is that so? Because to me, it looks like she wrote an entire work report just to write that one sentence.”

“You’re overthinking things.”

“Whether I’m overthinking things or not, you understand perfectly well. Karon, you are standing at the edge of making a mistake. This is dangerous.”

“She’s on Darkmoon Island, while I’m in York City. Even if I wanted to make a mistake, I couldn’t reach that far.”

“Your father and mother were far apart from each other too, yet your father still lured your mother back to Mink Street.”

“That comparison is inappropriate.”

“Karon, the moment you’re willing to keep justifying things and arguing with me over such a pointless topic, you’ve already lost.”

“I’ll have Ciri go buy fish.”

“This isn’t about fish, this is about— What dish are you making with the fish?”

***

At noon, Karon made a Sichuan pepper fish for Pu’er. He had thought that she might not enjoy such a flavor, but it was starting to appear that her love of fish had risen into the realm of aesthetics. No matter what style of fish it was, she relished it all with equal delight.

Karon even started to suspect yet again that Pu’er’s love of fish was not solely due to the fact that she had become a cat. If that young master Bernard had arrived within a few dishes of sour pickled fish and sweet-and-sour fish, he might have achieved true love.

With Alfred still occupied with Saman making the coffin, Karon drove himself to Richard’s house at half past two in the afternoon.

Along the way, he stopped at a roadside shop to buy some fruit and pastries, which could be considered a standard set of visitor’s gifts in Veyn.

By the time he reached Richard’s house, it was only half past three.

That was a bit early, so Karon decided to wait in the car for half an hour before going in. He parked at the curb, reclined the seat, and shut his eyes for a brief nap.

It was after four o’clock when Karon sat up, opened the car door, and stepped out with the gifts in hand. As he passed the car parked in front of him, he noticed the driver was also sitting there, his seat reclined. The man then opened the door and stepped out with his own gift boxes in hand.

He was a middle-aged man who looked somewhat haggard. He noticed Karon as well and gave him a smile.

Karon smiled back.

“My watch seems to be running slow. May I ask what time it is now?” the man asked.

“It’s 4:08.”

“Thank you.” Holding gift boxes in both hands, the man began taking deep breaths, as though preparing himself for something.

Judging by his age, he was clearly not on his way to meet his girlfriend’s parents, so Karon asked, “Are you here to visit your father-in-law and mother-in-law?”

“Yes,” the man said. “Is it that obvious?”

“A little.”

He sighed. “I’ve always been afraid of coming here. Marrying her was clearly marrying above my station. I love my wife very much, and our marriage is a happy one, but when it comes to her side of the family...”

“I understand.” Karon smiled gently, though a possibility suddenly occurred to him: could this be Richard’s younger uncle by marriage?

Richard’s family were Expositors. Within the Church of Order, they could absolutely be considered true nobility. The fact that Derron had been entrusted with carrying out such an important task that one night said enough about his own standing in the eyes of the upper levels.

Karon remembered Richard mentioning that his younger aunt was married to an Inquisitor.

Well then, an Inquisitor, unless they were someone like Tiz, but just a normal Inquisitor, would indeed suffer immense pressure when stepping into the house of an Expositor family.

Sometimes pressure comes from other people, sometimes it comes from oneself.

Derron was a severe and imposing man, while Eisen had crippling social anxiety. For a son-in-law, the resulting atmosphere in his wife’s family would be crushing.

So, this man was Karon’s younger uncle by marriage?

“My name is Karon.”

“Ah, yes, Karon. Hello. My name is Derek.” It was clear that the man was a bit uncomfortable with the easy familiarity with which Karon introduced himself so directly.

“Forgive me for asking, but are you also here to visit the Gorman family?”

“Yes. You are too?”

“I am.”

“You are too? Oh, Karon!” Derek’s whole expression changed at once. “I remember now! You’re Richard’s teammate, the one who saved Eisen and Casey, aren’t you?”

“I am.”

“Heavens, it really is you! What a coincidence. Well, those things I was just saying...”

“I understand.”

“Yes, yes. All right then, Mr. Karon, let me lead you in.”

“Thank you.”

Derek stepped in front, with Karon following right behind. When they reached the main door, Derek knocked and called out, “Ha! Just look who I’ve brought with me!”

Standing on the steps, Karon felt that this uncle by marriage might not be especially bright. Anyone with half a brain should have been able to guess exactly who the night’s gathering had been arranged for, and who was only incidental.

Still, Karon understood the man. For Derek, every visit to the Gorman house probably felt like a walk to the execution grounds. Now, with an outsider present to absorb a bit of the attention, he had grown a little too excited.

The door opened. It was Richard’s younger aunt, which meant Karon’s own younger aunt, who answered the door.

“Darling, look who I’ve brought.”

“Mr. Karon?”

“Hello, madam,” Karon said. He addressed her respectfully, though he did not go so far as to bow. That would have been excessive.

“You may call me Lucy. We’ve all been waiting for you. Welcome.” As the lifesaver of her brother and sister-in-law, Expositor Lucy showed Karon tremendous courtesy.

“It’s my honor to be invited by the Gorman family.” Karon stepped inside and set his gifts down in the entryway.

“Oh ho, Karon.” Derron approached from a sofa in the parlor and warmly extended his hand of his own accord.

Karon shook it. The last time they met, he had only been a casual friend Richard had brought home, which made this their first formal meeting.

Yes, the first formal meeting between grandfather and grandson was sealed with a handshake.

“Please forgive my coldness during your last visit to our house,” Derron said, apologizing to Karon.

“You are much too polite. When we met last time, you were already very kind.”

“No, no, no, it was different. I was still discourteous.”

“Please don’t say such things.”

“Father,” Lucy reminded him. “Shouldn’t you invite our guest to sit down first?”

“Yes, yes, quite right. Mr. Karon, please sit.”

“Of course.” Karon sat on a sofa in the parlor, and then he noticed Derron’s attitude toward Derek.

The man merely spoke one flat sentence, “So, you’ve come.”

“Yes. Are you in good health?”

“Mm.”

And with that, the exchange between father-in-law and son-in-law was over.

It was easy to sense that Derron was not particularly satisfied with his son-in-law. This dissatisfaction seemed to have less to do with Derek’s status than with his temperament and the way that he dealt with other people, which simply did not please the old man.

“Mr. Karon, your tea.” A young girl in a black dress with short hair placed a cup of tea on the coffee table before Karon.

“Thank you.”

She then turned to serve tea to Derek next, addressing him as father. That should make her Lucy’s daughter, which meant that she was Karon’s cousin.

“Oh, Karon, you’re here!” Richard came running down the stairs, and behind him, Eisen was helping Casey down as well. Her injuries had recovered quite well, though a full recovery was impossible in such a short amount of time. Still, as long as the issue was not corruption, anything else was not a major problem.

Karon rose to his feet, and Richard walked straight over and gave him an enormous hug. He then turned to his family and declared, “I told you long ago that Karon is amazing, didn’t I? Hahaha! In our squad, aside from our captain, he’s the strongest one. Hahaha!”

“Richard, you should be more serious. Look at Mr. Karon, then look at yourself. You’re about the same age, aren’t you? Look how steady and composed he is,” Casey chided her son.

“Mother, I can’t compare to Karon. I’m not his equal.”

Casey shot her son a helpless glare, then approached Karon to thank him. He quickly reached out to steady her, because as soon as her husband, Eisen, had completed his task of helping his wife down the stairs, he had immediately bolted into one of the other rooms on the first floor.

“Mr. Karon, thank you for saving my life.”

“It was merely what I ought to do. Richard and I are very close, like cousins, which makes you my elder.”

Casey paused for a moment, but then smiled. “Yes, from now on we’re family. Your affairs are my affairs.”

Derron quickly added, “The affairs of the Gorman family!”

Only then did Karon realize that they misunderstood him. He had not intended to use this opportunity to seek the family’s protection by throwing himself under the Gorman family’s wing.

Everyone took their seats again. Karon had already noticed that his grandmother had still not made an appearance, though even from the parlor, it was possible to smell the aroma drifting from the kitchen.

“Should I go and ask Mother to come out?” Lucy asked Derron.

Derron immediately waved her concerns away. “You know your mother’s temperament well enough. To her, a carefully simmered pot of soup is the truest form of respect to show an honored guest. She won’t leave her kitchen right now.”

“Yes, Mother is indeed like that.”

At that moment, Derron lifted a hand and pointed at his granddaughter Lucia with a smile. “Lucia, what do you think of Karon?”

Her face immediately flushed red. “Grandfather, what are you saying?”

“Mm, I’m only reminding you that there are moments in life when you cannot hesitate at all. Just look at how your father pursued your mother; Before I even had time to react, the two of them were already together!”

Derek’s face showed a trace of embarrassment, while Lucy took the initiative to ask Karon, “Mr. Karon, are you currently single?”

Karon still remembered the first time Lucy had seen him. It had been beside the collapsed Church Affairs Building. At that time, she had done nothing more than coldly ask who he was.

Yet at this moment, she seemed practically ready to play matchmaker for her daughter with him.

Such a shift in attitude did not stem merely from the fact that Karon had saved Lucy’s brother and sister-in-law; More importantly, it came from an understanding of his own strength, which she had gathered from Richard’s accounts and from what her brother and sister-in-law had shared.

The world was always this pragmatic. It was not merely strangers, even between relatives, attitudes were determined by strength.

Karon immediately answered, “I’m already engaged.”

“I see.” A trace of regret appeared on Lucy’s face, yet his words caused Lucia to simply look at Karon again with perfect openness. She even smiled at him.

After that, everyone began chatting, mostly about local customs, odd anecdotes, and aspects of daily life. No one touched on church affairs or work.

It was obvious that the members of this family were not especially good conversationalists. At first, they all forced topics into the open simply to avoid any awkward silence. Fortunately, Karon was good at talking, and he gradually took control of the flow. What should have been the Gorman family entertaining Karon slowly turned into him entertaining them.

“Karon, have you made any plans for your future work?”

Karon noticed that Derron changed to address him directly by name. This meant that the old man was speaking as the head of the Gorman family. Already, Derron was beginning to arrange the career of a newly attached “vassal.”

“I’m very satisfied with my current work and way of life. For the moment, I haven’t considered anything else.”

“You must consider it. Planning needs to be done, even when you’re still young. When a person steps onto the right road while still young, their future development is bound to be better. It determines the upper limit of your life.” As he said this, Derron cast a glance at his son-in-law Derek, as though the man were a textbook example of what not to become. “The most important thing is that your ability is excellent. There is a tradition within the church; If you can distinguish yourself as a member of the Whip of Order, then when it comes time to choose a future path or pursue advancement, you will receive a great many invisible advantages.”

“I understand. I’ll continue working hard.”

“Yes. If you ever have ideas in the future, come speak to me. I’ll keep an eye on things for you as well. Also, your next goal ought to be securing a position as a squad captain in the Whip. I believe you have the ability for it.”

The other night, Karon had descended from the sky and slain the chief guard of the Church of Reincarnation with a single sword strike. Clearly, Derron had already heard of that matter from his son and daughter-in-law.

There were two ways to become a captain within the Whip of Order. One was succession, provided that Nio was either promoted or died. The other was to step out and establish a new Whip of Order squad of Karon’s own.

The first route was more dependent on one’s ability. After all, within a squad, only strength capable of commanding the respect of the other members would win one an internal vote.

The second route also required strength, but more than strength, it required connections.

“I don’t think that there’s any rush at the moment. I’d like to stay beside my captain for a while longer to learn more from him.”

It was a very proper answer, and Derron nodded. “For someone so young to possess such a steady temperament is very good.”

“Dinner is ready!” The shout came from the dining room, and the voice belonged to an old woman.

“Karon, just wait until you taste my grandmother’s cooking,” Richard said eagerly.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Everyone rose and moved from the parlor to the dining room. There, Karon saw a kindly old woman with white hair arranging the dishes. Lucy, Lucia, and Casey all immediately stepped forward to help, and Casey complained, “Mother, didn’t we agree that while none of us would go into the kitchen, carrying the dishes out would be left to us?”

Clearly, the old woman regarded the kitchen as her private territory. So long as she was preparing food, no one else was allowed inside. “My body is perfectly fine. You needn’t fuss over me so much.”

The old woman’s gaze swept across the room. Karon noticed that when her eyes fell upon him, she suddenly trembled. The old woman then clenched her daughter-in-law’s hand, tears suddenly spilling down her face. Looking at Casey, the old woman choked out, “My child, you’ve suffered.”