13 Mink Street

The answer was frank, and extremely direct, yet the two did not fall into any long, awkward silence.

“Do you like the climate here?”

“I do. You told me before that it’s like this all year round.”

“That’s right.”

“It must be comfortable living here. When I grow old, I could retire here.”

“You would be returning here to retire. You already belong here.”

“Then I can make use of the opportunity and try harder. Perhaps I can find a sense of belonging here.”

“The Council of Elders wishes to meet you. Naturally, they will send representatives.”

“When?”

“The exact time has not been decided.”

“I see. The island must be very busy lately.”

“That is not the reason. My uncle is about to return. He is not coming back because of the negotiations between the two churches, but specifically to meet you.”

“Your uncle?”

“Tafmann, commander of Darkmoon Island’s navy. He has long been stationed in the outer seas.”

“He’s returning specifically to meet me?”

“Yes.”

“That is my honor.”

Ophelia turned to face Karon. There was a faint fragrance about her, but not the sort produced by perfume. It smelled natural, clean, and fresh.

For some reason, Karon suddenly recalled the first time he had seen her, dressed in the massive suit of armor and holding the Aelius Sword.

“What are you smiling at?”

“I was remembering the first time I saw you.”

“Was it funny?”

“Yes.”

“Our current meeting is nowhere near as memorable as our first one at York Harbor’s docks. This time felt... somewhat plain.”

“That’s normal. If accidents happened every time, it would feel too deliberate.”

Ophelia nodded, then looked at Karon. “You’ve grown thinner.”

“You’ve grown rounder.”

“Hehehe...” Ophelia laughed. “Walk with me.”

Karon glanced around them. Though the living quarters were spread out enough, it was still a hotel with people constantly coming and going.

Ophelia had already started walking along the bank of the river. Karon glanced back at Richard and the others standing in the distance, then chose to follow her.

“Have you been well lately?” Karon asked first.

“Quite well. Everything has gone smoothly. The Church of Order’s war against the Church of Reincarnation shocked even us, from declaration to conclusion. Especially when the surrender document was published before the Church of Order even formally declared war.”

“Yes. I was shocked too.”

Ophelia opened her hand, revealing a dark red gemstone. It emitted a faint crimson glow that wrapped around the two of them.

It was a very fragile isolation barrier. Its purpose lay precisely in that fragility. If anyone attempted to eavesdrop through sorcery, the barrier would break at once and warn them.

“The island now has an entirely new understanding of the Church of Order’s strength. Reading about such things in books and experiencing them in reality are completely different matters. We knew before that the Church of Order was powerful, but we never imagined it was this powerful.

“Most importantly, during the war against Reincarnation, the Church of Order’s First Knight Regiment never even moved.”

“Tactics played a role. No matter what, we had the element of surprise.”

“But it is also true that the Church of Order did not use its full strength. Perhaps only half or a third. The significance of the First Knight Regiment cannot be measured. After so many years of peace, no one can predict how terrifying it has currently become.”

“But the First Knight Regiment is pure accumulated expenditure.”

“Yet who would willingly force it to be expended?”

“That is also true.”

“I believe these talks between Order and Reincarnation are likely Order’s attempt to use this opportunity to reset certain rules for the entire ecclesiastical world.”

“I have no information about any of that for now. My position is still too low.”

“Your position...” She paused. “To be honest, I was surprised when I found your name on the list of those visiting the island this time. York City’s chief representative for these negotiations is Archbishop Wolfram.”

“I was somewhat surprised too.”

“There is someone behind you. No, rather, someone behind your captain.”

“Most likely. My captain is very mysterious.”

“And your relationship with him?”

“Very good.”

“The Council does not expect rapid advancement from you. They only hope that you will build your influence as broadly as possible, that is, your network of connections.”

“I understand.”

“Take things slowly. Do not feel pressured. We regard you as one of our own, but we will not ask you to make sacrifices for the island just because of that. We’re seeking mutual benefit.”

“I understand.”

“If you encounter difficulties, contact me through Allen Manor. We originally intended to set up a communication array there, but it seems difficult to install one.”

“Once I return, I’ll find someone to arrange that.”

“Good. Those are the matters that needed to be addressed. As for the rest, it will wait until my uncle returns in a few days and brings the Council’s representatives to meet you again.”

“Very well.” Karon was cooperative with Darkmoon Island’s arrangements. Allen Manor had already shown him the trade ledgers. Even after substantial profit-sharing, the gains from the Darkmoon Island to York Harbor trade route alone were already considerable.

No matter what, one had to show respect to a patron.

Ophelia stopped walking, and Karon did the same. They stood there quietly for a while.

“This is to make future contact easier. We need a reason for you to come out.”

“To be honest, I’m fairly free. The captain usually grants whatever I ask.”

“But we need to make this look complete.”

“Make it look complete?”

“Yes. Today, right now. Leon and the others are still over there watching. Too many people are looking. We need to end this properly.”

“All right.”

Ophelia leaned forward and planted her forehead against Karon’s chest. He knew this princess did not really understand how to show intimacy to a man, but she had certainly used a bit of force.

His chest actually hurt from the impact.

Slowly, Karon raised his hands and rested them on both of her shoulders. It was not a particularly intimate posture, but the meaning should have been transmitted.

After a long moment, Ophelia straightened up. Without saying a word, she turned around and walked away, only waving a hand in farewell.

Her carriage and guards immediately followed after her, but Karon remained where he was, watching until she climbed in the carriage, and only then turned back.

Richard already had his mask off. The exaggerated grin on his face radiated such warmth that Karon felt the urge to remind Richard’s father to spend more time with his son.

Leon stood there with his arms folded. When Karon returned, the young man merely smiled at him, but that smile carried a hint of disdain, just enough to express a small and proper amount of resentment. Then, Leon also turned away, sighing as he walked back through the courtyard gate.

Richard immediately came over. “Karon, why don’t you just stay on Darkmoon Island? She’s the princess.”

“You stay.”

“I’d gladly stay, if she wanted me. Darkmoon Island is actually quite good. Look at it, bigger than expected, more people than expected. If someone could live here with their princess, that would be a comfortable life.”

“She and I...” Karon had intended, out of habit, to say there was nothing between them. But saying that now felt somewhat pointless. “We’re not at that stage.”

“Incredible!” Richard gave him a thumbs-up. “So what you mean is, you want to marry the princess and bring her back to Veyn?”

“Could you pay more attention to your work?”

“The problem is, we don’t have much actual work. I asked the captain, and normally, only half of us only need to stay in the courtyard on standby. Even once the formal talks begin the day after tomorrow, we only need to escort the Archbishop’s carriage to the venue. Two people will follow the bishop and his secretary inside, while the rest of us will be free to move about.

“If lunch is handled inside the venue, most of us only need to send the Archbishop there in the morning, then line up to receive him again at night. The whole day in between, there’s no work at all.”

“Really? Then we are rather idle.”

“Exactly.”

“You could take Mr. Memphis to the mermaid theater to broaden his horizons. You know how introverted he is. Take him out a little. When we return to York City, he’ll surely be grateful.”

“That was exactly my thought. I just can’t bear seeing someone too shy.”

“Heh.”

Not long after they returned to the courtyard, hotel staff arrived to deliver food. The dishes were not especially elaborate, but the portions were generous. One could also choose and order meals in advance. The food arrived in five antique-looking ceramic jars, with tableware stored beneath the serving cart for self-service. At set times each day, the staff would return to collect and clean everything.

This was mostly because everyone’s rooms were spread too far apart, which made gathering everyone for meals would waste too much time for the walks.

Karon carried two trays back to his room, delivering one to the captain. The two sat facing each other on the bed and ate.

“I think she came to see you today.”

“Mhmm,” Karon agreed.

“Oh?” the captain said, somewhat surprised. “Your tone’s changed.”

“I already have a fiancée. You know that, Captain.”

“So you feel moral guilt?”

Karon shook his head. “Morality is a standard used to restrain oneself.”

“It doesn’t matter. Darkmoon Island doesn’t practice monogamy. Do you know why Bernard is so famous here? The hotel we’re staying in is named after him.

“It’s because, even as the clan chief, he married only one wife throughout his entire life.”

“Captain, can we change the subject?”

“Yes, yes, let’s change the subject. What shall we change it to? Once we finish eating and it is fully dark, come out with me.”

“Where are we going?”

“To steal something.”

“To steal something?”

“That’s right. Why else do you think I arranged for us to share a room? It makes it convenient for the two of us to act together.”

“Is it something important?” Karon asked with some reluctance. “There’s a hot spring valley here. I had planned to soak there tonight.”

The hot spring was not in the courtyard itself, but elsewhere within the hotel grounds.

“I don’t know what it is,” the captain replied. “But that thing in my head has a location here in its memories. Like the photography studio from last time, I can trigger some memory connected to a place, but only after getting there can I recall that thing’s memory.”

“That person once came to Darkmoon Island?”

“He did. Definitely. He probably even left some property here, though I doubt it’s still empty now.

“Darkmoon Island once rejected churches, yes, but if someone entered quietly under another identity, never preaching or making noise, there was no problem. Maritime trade here has always been busy.”

“Could it be another small teleportation array?”

“It shouldn’t be. Teleporting from downtown York City to the outskirts of the city makes sense, but teleporting from Darkmoon Island to Darkmoon Island? Wouldn’t that mean the owner was mentally unsound?”

“Only you can answer that question, Captain.”

“I asked the attendants and inquired about the area. They told me that those who live there are the island’s elite. So if we’re going there to steal something, two people are ideal. One of us needs to keep watch.”

“Captain, we just arrived on the first day as part of the delegation, and tonight we’re already going out to steal things?”

“That is exactly why tonight is best. No one will suspect us on the first day. And even if they do, they won’t dare investigate our people. It’s settled. We leave after dark. Eat quickly and try to sleep a bit more first. Restore your energy.”

“I already slept this afternoon.”

“You slept? You really went there to sleep?”

“Yes. I took a nap.”

“Heh. You went to that kind of place with them and actually managed to sleep?”

“I did.”

“No service?”

“None.”

“That’s somewhat antisocial. I’ve heard Darkmoon Island’s mermaid service is one of its specialties. The place Larry took you to wasn’t cheap, was it?”

“No idea. Someone else paid for it.”

“Who? Larry? Leon? Or Richard?”

“Miss Ophelia paid for me.”

“...Tsk.” For a moment, Nio did not know how to consider that. In the end, he could only shake his head and laugh. “No wonder all you could do was take a nap.”

***

Inside the carriage, Panmir watched Ophelia sitting there in silence and asked with concern, “Your Highness, what is wrong?”

“I’m fine.”

“But your complexion...”

“Panmir, have I gained weight lately?”

“No, I haven’t noticed at all. Did Mr. Karon say so?”

“Yes. He said I have grown rounder.”

“Perhaps Mr. Karon meant another area,” Panmir boldly stated, attempting to make a joke. She had seen the gesture the princess had made earlier. The two had nearly embraced.

“He has a fiancée. He told me from the beginning that he had one.”

“Is that what troubles Your Highness?” Panmir did not believe Mr. Karon’s fiancée could compare with her own princess. More importantly, Darkmoon Island was not monogamous. Having grown up there, she naturally accepted such customs.

“He would not even touch a mermaid. Why would he be willing to touch me?”

“Your Highness, how can you compare yourself to a mermaid? That is not appropriate.”

“Do you know? If he had been willing to touch that mermaid today, I might actually have been happier. It would have meant that everything is still possible. It would have meant I still have a chance.”

“But if Mr. Karon had truly accepted that mermaid’s service, he would no longer be the Mr. Karon you admire, would he, Your Highness?”

“I asked him just now where he had gone this afternoon. He told me he ate seafood first. When I asked what he did after that, do you know what he answered?”

“What did Mr. Karon say, Your Highness?”

“He told me he went to a brothel.”

“I wonder if perhaps Mr. Karon may have already guessed that it was Your Highness who paid for his order. When he came downstairs, he could have asked the others and learned it quickly enough.”

“He likely did. It should have remained an unspoken understanding. Yet he chose the most direct answer. That was not honesty. It means that in his heart, he does not place me in that position.”

“So... that is what it meant.”

“Panmir, have you ever liked someone?”

“No, Your Highness.”

“Then do you know what liking someone feels like?”

“I... do not.”

“Neither do I. Before seeing him again, there were times his proper smile would appear in my mind, and I would smile without realizing it, but after seeing him today, and seeing that same proper smile on his face, I nearly couldn’t stop myself from beating him. At the time, I truly wanted to beat him and throw him into the river.”

Ophelia pursed her lips, then continued, “Ancestor Bernard wrote it very accurately in his notes: When you truly like someone, you cannot help becoming humble before them.

“It seems I should put my feelings in order. There is no need to keep making myself awkward and humble. Ancestor Bernard also proved that even without love, one may still become a great person.”

Once she finished speaking, every other emotion vanished from Ophelia’s eyes. Only the purest light remained.

Just then, a voice reported from outside the carriage, “Your Highness, General Tafmann has returned to the island. He sent word inviting you to dine with him tonight.”

“Where is Uncle? He did not return to the palace?”

“No. The General is staying at Ginkgo Villa on the heights of the lower slope.”

“Very well. I’ll go at once.”

***

Night fell, and Karon and Nio stepped out of their room. At this hour, there was no one in the courtyard.

Neither of them transformed into drifting black mist. They simply walked out openly.

As they passed the room where Richard and Memphis were staying, the half-open window let sound spill out. Inside, Richard was vividly boasting to Memphis about his wondrous encounter with mermaids that afternoon, describing it so passionately that one could almost visualize the scene.

The more passionately he describes it now, the more passionately he will likely be beaten once he returns home.

After leaving the courtyard and then the hotel gates, Nio waved down a commercial carriage waiting outside, much like a taxi waiting outside a city hotel. He first gave the driver the name of a café, and the carriage took them there. During the ride, the two removed their priest’s robes and changed into ordinary clothes.

After getting out, they did not enter the café, but instead walked in another direction. Their true destination was likely nearby.

“Captain, do you still remember exactly where it is?”

“Not clearly,” Nio said, pointing toward a residential district perched high against the mountain slope ahead. “It should be over there.”

“Then we’ll search slowly.”

“It shouldn’t be too troublesome. Once I pass the entrance, I should remember. I recall it was a fairly large villa with quite a few ginkgo trees planted inside.”