13 Mink Street

Karon held the cup while looking at the incomparably clear blue liquid it held. Pu’er thought he was struggling to drink it, and so she comforted him, “It’s fine. Just think of it as drinking fish sauce.”

“You could choose not to make a strange comparison,” Karon said.

“Oh, apologies, my dear Little Karon! I was only trying to help, you know.” Pu’er swayed her tail as she continued, “That is true, though. You don’t ever seem to use fish sauce when you cook.”

Alfred said, “Young Master, your servant has thoroughly purified it. There isn’t the slightest trace of impurity inside. It’s very clean.”

Karon shook his head. “It isn’t that I feel disgusted; It’s that I feel no resistance at all, which feels a bit wrong. I’m actually trying to work up a bit of disgust.”

Alfred came to a sudden understanding. “I see.”

After saying this, he subconsciously wanted to take out his booklet from his pocket and record the matter, but managed to control himself. Recording the young master’s words and actions in front of him was disrespectful, as though Alfred were monitoring his young master.

Karon no longer hesitated. He raised the cup and drank the blue liquid in one gulp. After setting the cup down, he leaned back against the chair, folded his hands in front of him, and closed his eyes.

Alfred stood facing the study door. Pu’er stayed silent. Still sitting on Kevin’s back, she carefully watched Karon’s reaction.

Very soon, a faint trace of pain appeared on Karon’s face.

“Hiss...” After drawing in a deep breath, he clenched his chest.

Right now, every beat of his heart felt as though someone was striking it with a hammer, and his body trembled with every blow.

However, Karon also knew that he had to endure this.

The pain continued for roughly ten minutes. His face was already covered with a cold sweat, and his lips were pale.

At this moment, the thumping from his heart began to decline once more. He had reached the turning point in the process. Although the pain only weakened slightly, Karon’s spirits received a tremendous boost.

However, as the thumping declined, his heartbeat also began to slow. He gradually sensed his body as though it had been placed inside a vacuum vessel, and the pressure there was constantly dropping. He was assaulted by a strong sense of suffocation from both the physiological and psychological effects.

Because he was in front of his own people, Karon did not need to conceal anything. Whatever he felt also plainly showed. Therefore, although everyone present could clearly see his suffering, no one was particularly worried, as they understood the limits of his endurance.

Karon clenched both hands. In his imagination, he was rapidly rising up, trying to push his head free of the water so that he could obtain fresh air. He did not know exactly how long passed. Time seemed to temporarily lose the meaning of measurement.

Finally, there was a crisp sound in his chest. Karon felt himself break through the surface of the water. He opened his mouth and began gulping down air.

After completely regaining his calm, he sat upright and placed his palm on his chest. A faint blue light emerged from where his heart sat.

When Karon turned his palm to face upward, the water in the teacup on his desk floated into the air. The fountain pen, the thermos, and other items also drifted up. Karon slowly lowered his hand, and everything returned back into place.

Then, the Sea God’s Armor appeared over his body. This time, the armor that took form possessed patterns and details that were several times more defined than ever before. Previously, the armor had possessed a crude and primitive appearance. Now, it looked to have been exquisitely engraved.

Karon waved his hand, and the Sea God’s Armor vanished. “Success.”

“Congratulations, Young Master!” Alfred placed a hand before his chest and bowed.

Kevin lowered his head and imitated Alfred’s posture, bending his front dog legs.

This also accidentally caused Pu’er to fall off, but she did not scold Kevin. Instead, she smiled. “Darkmoon Eyes and a Heart of Sea God. My dear Little Karon, are you going to enhance every part of your body in the future? What’s next? Hand of Light? Brain of Principle? Elbow of Reincarnation? Whip of Order?”

Karon frowned, and Pu’er immediately realized something. “Oh, right. The Whip of Order isn’t a body part. You don’t have a whip on you either.”

“Heh.”

Karon stood up and announced, “I’m going to have a bath and then rest. The Heart of Sea God needs to replenish energy.”

Seeing Karon leave the study, Pu’er asked with a bit of confusion, “Hm? His reaction seems a little strange. It’s like I said something wrong.”

Alfred analyzed, “I think it may be because of the Whip of Order.”

“What’s wrong with the Whip of Order?” Pu’er asked in confusion.

Kevin turned his head to give Alfred a curious look, because he knew that Alfred not only studied Karon’s words and thoughts in his notes, but based on Karon’s word habits and the special phrases he spoke out of habit, Alfred was also performing deep conjectures and extrapolation. Simply put, Alfred was studying another language, a language only Karon understood.

No, perhaps it is even a language Karon created himself.

Alfred made a gesture with his hands while explaining, “A whip is long, so it should be a kind of substitute term. Combined with the fact that substitute terms and extended meanings often appear in Young Master’s self-created language, I think the word ‘whip’ may also represent the private male area in that language.”

“Woof! Woof! Woof!” Kevin barked while raising his paw.

“Thank you.” Alfred bent down and high-fived Kevin. His analysis and research had received Lord Heretical God’s affirmation. No, his astonishment!

Pu’er blinked, then muttered to herself, “Oh. In that case, it’s quite reasonable for him to be upset.”

***

Inside his washroom, Karon had already removed his clothes and was lounging in the tub.

Obtaining the Heart of Sea God was the equivalent to adding another reservoir to his body, in addition to his original reservoir and the one he had obtained with the Darkmoon Eyes. Simultaneously, it was the equivalent to having three outlets.

The effect of this kind of enhancement would never be simply additive or subtractive, but multiplicative.

In short, Karon had lost an accurate basis for measuring his own strength. If he had to make a comparison, he had the confidence at this moment to trade blows with the captain while Nio was using the power of Light.

It was hard to say who would win or lose. Most likely, Nio still stood a greater chance of victory, because although he supposedly had no more secrets he kept from Karon, his combat experience and the number of tools at his disposal did not lose to Karon in any way.

On the other hand, the enhanced Darkmoon Blade and the improved Sea God’s Armor provided Karon with greater offensive and defensive capabilities. With his absurd reserves of spirituality, and the fact that he was using mealtimes each day to diligently study various Arts...

It would be very difficult for the captain to easily defeat Karon.

At this moment, he was likely the most troublesome opponent in the eyes of every foe who did not have an overwhelming advantage in strength over him. Unless someone abruptly used overwhelming power that surpassed his understanding and endurance to instantly crush him, Karon could drag any opponent into an agonizing, grinding battle.

He picked up a towel and wiped his face. Although his realm had not increased recently, his strength had seen a very obvious improvement. He seemed to have stopped moving on his road, no longer moving forward, but he had opened up several more lanes than everyone else.

“Little Karon?” Pu’er’s voice came from outside the washroom door. “Don’t drain the water after you finish bathing. Dora and Dorin need to soak in it.”

“Got it.” Karon stood up, dried himself, and changed into sleepwear. Because he had not soaked for long this time, he casually injected some additional Light power into the bathwater.

After lying down on his bed, Karon was just about to drink some water and go to sleep when Dora and Dorin entered with baskets of bathing supplies and clean clothes. The two girls bowed to him, then went into the washroom.

They were all members of the same household, so there was not much need for avoidance or awkwardness. Karon pulled a blanket over himself, laid down, and went to sleep. He needed to leave in the morning to participate in the final selection, so he needed to hurry and replenish his energy.

After Dora and Dorin were finished soaking and came out in clean clothes, they could not help stopping beside the bed and looking at Karon for a while.

They had very favorable feelings toward him, because it was this older brother’s appearance that had given them their current lifestyle, and which also kept them from torment and suffering. Not only that, this older brother was very handsome. He was even better-looking than the male stars seen in albums. When they interacted with Karon on ordinary days, his behavior and bearing were very comfortable.

However, the two girls’ feelings toward Karon were also very pure. They simply liked him, and had never thought about anything potentially happening between them and Karon.

When they walked out of the bedroom, Ms. Lake, who was standing at the doorway, looked at them in a somewhat helpless manner. Her two daughters also shyly ducked their heads. Seeing this, Ms. Lake could not help smiling again.

She quite enjoyed her current life very much. It was stable and peaceful. The only flaw was that, at night, she sometimes thought of that dead man...

Pu’er was sitting in the kitchen while Ciri prepared afternoon tea just for her. Ciri knew that the coffee she was brewing was apparently not something rels could buy. The last time they had run out of coffee, she had asked Mr. Alfred about the brand. She had planned to use her own salary to buy more as a gift for her employer’s household, but Mr. Alfred had smiled and said that only gold could be exchanged for this kind of coffee. The seller simply did not accept rels.

That was how the maid learned that the entire household’s daily expenses combined did not compare to Miss Cat’s afternoon tea.

Young Master truly dotes on her. He only drinks ice water himself, and never touches this coffee.

Regarding this, Ciri misunderstood Karon. He simply had never acquired a taste for coffee in his previous life, only ever regarding instant coffee as a tool to stay awake. In his current life, although conditions allowed for him to enjoy coffee, he was too lazy to force himself to acquire the taste for it.

“I say, Big Butt.”

When Pu’er had first addressed her this way, Ciri had been frightened that the cat could actually talk.

Gradually, she had grown embarrassed, because the cat actually described her in such a crass manner, sometimes even in front of the young master.

Slowly after that, she had grown used to it, because she knew the young master liked looking at her butt, so she even thoughtfully chose good angles for him in the mornings.

It was just that he only ever looked and never touched, which made the maid, who had recently received another raise, very uneasy. She had a friend who had grown up with her in the slums, and who also worked as a maid for a household. That friend had become the master’s secret lover, yet ultimately, her monthly salary was still less than one-third of Ciri’s, and that was without counting Ciri’s various bonuses and subsidies.

Because of this, Ciri was always very grateful, feeling happy to be so fortunate. She had completely forgotten how, for the sake of such a high salary, she had repeatedly endured so many frights and stubbornly remained working in this household.

Now, she was used to many formerly strange things. For example, she could calmly reply to this elegant black cat, “What are your instructions, Miss Pu’er?”

“Under my training, your skill at making refreshments has already become quite good.”

“Thank you for your praise, Miss.”

“Mhmm.” Pu’er took a sip of coffee. Yes, although she was a cat, she never lapped coffee. She always sipped her coffee.

***

Alfred’s room included his own private study alcove. Although it was not as large as the young master’s office, it was sufficient.

It contained three desks; a small desk that held accounting books, which recorded the household’s income and expenses, and even social exchanges.

For every holiday, Alfred prepared gifts that were sent to anyone with close interactions with his young master, such as Allen Manor, Lemar Pottery Studio, and the Gorman family. Karon himself was unaware of these gifts, as Alfred felt that his young master did not need to to be informed of such minor matters.

The medium-sized desk held the notes Mr. Hoffen had left behind, as well as Arts manuals Alfred had copied and collected.

As for the largest desk, its surface, underside, and drawers were all stuffed full with Alfred’s excerpts, reflections, quotations, analyses, and other materials.

At this moment, Kevin was lying on the large desk, a pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose as he read Alfred’s analysis of Karon’s unique language.

Alfred turned on the radio. A song he had personally recorded began playing. It was the divine song in his heart.

~There has never been any savior, nor do we rely on gods, immortals, or emperors...

Kevin turned his head and looked at Alfred in confusion, but he had both hands pillowing the back of his head as he leaned back, tilting the legs of his chair as he adopted a relaxed posture.

“Woof?”

“Mr. Hoffen once taught me that the greatest use of my eyes is to learn. I have gradually understood the deeper meaning within Mr. Hoffen’s words.”

“Woof?”

“What I am studying is a great civilization.”

***

Karon slept until four in the morning, waking up full of energy.

When he got up, he saw Pu’er was still lying on the nightstand, reading a romance novel. He could not help reaching out and rubbing the soft fur beneath her neck.

Pu’er had already grown used to Karon occasionally treating her like a real pet. After all, he did love making fish for her.

Seeing that Karon was awake, Pu’er pressed the bedside bell.

Karon got up, washed, changed into the priest’s robe that was one size too large for him, and left the bedroom to prepare for breakfast. When he entered the kitchen, Ciri was already busy inside. A bowl of hot soup had just been brought over.

Karon picked up a spoon, took a sip, and asked, “Who sent this?”

“Young Master, the old madam of the Gorman family personally delivered it last night. Mr. Alfred has already confirmed that the soup is safe for you to drink.”

“Mm. It tastes quite good.” Ms. Tansley had actually made a point to deliver the soup herself. That was probably because Richard’s legs were broken and he was unable to help her run errands.

Karon had a genuinely favorable impression of the old woman, because he could sense that her feelings for him did not carry many impurities. Since he had left Swillen, she allowed him to once again feel the same kind of familial warmth that he had enjoyed with Mason, Aunt Mary, and the others.

Breakfast was quite lavish, with rice as the primary staple. After all, this would be his last meal before participating in the final selection, so he needed to keep up his energy.

After finishing the meal, Karon went to take a walk and breathe in the rare clarity of the morning air. Only at this time did the air of York City not leave people feeling irritable.

When he walked to the entrance, he saw someone getting out of a taxi. It was Vintral.

The young man walked over with a bag and smiled. “My grandmother made some pastries for us.”

“Have you had breakfast?” Karon asked.

“Yes.”

“Then bring them with us. We can eat them on the way later.”

“Alright.”

A luxury car drove over. Santos was driving, and Ashley got out of the car with her mother, Celina.

In truth, Karon had not made plans to go to the exam with the other finalists from his district, yet they were arriving at his home early to do so.

Santos unloaded three large Arts cabinets from the car. They contained the first batch of supplements for Pu’er and Kevin.

Karon thanked the couple. They did not linger, but immediately got back into their car. However, before the car was even out of sight, a shadow appeared in the sky, and a hawk started gliding down to a lower altitude. Someone jumped down from that hawk, and landed stably on the ground. It was Bart.

According to the church’s regulations for the Knight Regiments, without orders, members of the Knight Regiments were not permitted to set foot in areas outside the military camp. The hawk had never landed, so this was not a direct violation. Of course, this “private use of public transport” was already quite obvious.

The Santos couple waved goodbye to their daughter, and Ashley also said goodbye to them.

Bart was somewhat surprised to see that her parents had actually personally escorted Ashley over. This very likely meant that Karon’s identity was even more impressive than his own parents had judged.

At this point, four of the York City district’s five candidates had gathered. As for the sleepy girl who was the final candidate, Philomena had long since been excluded from the small group, because she did not fit in.

“Let’s make something clear in advance: if the final selection is something that allows for teamwork, we will gather together. Our only requirement is very simple; You don’t need to sacrifice your own interests for anyone else’s, but please don’t actively trample on the interests of the other three of us. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

“Agreed.”

“Agreed.”

Alfred stood to the side the entire time. He heard his young master share a very general verbal agreement. He also knew more clearly that the reason Karon was willing to take on this trouble was that if the final selection succeeded, or even if it did not, he would still have obtained connections with Santos and the Knight Regiments.

As for Vintral, well, he was someone the young master was already saving a place for on his future squad.

After this selection ended, no, after the training in the Reincarnation Gate ended, the young master would begin forming his own squad and creating a force that belonged just to him.

“It’s about time. Let’s set out for the examination venue.” Karon looked at Alfred. “Drive us there.”

“Yes, Young Master.” Alfred walked toward the used Pons sedan.

“That car is too cramped,” Karon said. “Choose something more spacious.”

“Something more spacious?” Alfred froze for a moment. “Young Master, you mean you want me to drive...”

***

Archbishop Wolfram stood before the entrance of the Church Affairs Building in front of a group of bishops and high-ranking priests. They were prepared to welcome the five candidates representing their district. The archbishop had even prepared an inspiring speech for this occasion, hoping these young people would advance bravely and win honor for their district.

Although his grandson Leon had failed to pass the selection, Wolfram had long since adjusted his mood and understood his responsibilities.

It was just that the candidates seemed to be arriving a little late. For such an important event, how could they arrive at the last minute?

Young people may not know better, but do their elders not understand the weight of this matter either? Wolfram sighed slightly in his heart. This meant that he would have to shorten his speech somewhat.

“They’re here!” someone reported.

An Expositor responsible for etiquette waved his hand. “Music!”

The band began playing an impassioned melody. Reporters also raised their cameras, ready to take photographs. These photographs would be published in Order Weekly.

Then, under the watchful gazes of the bishops and high-ranking priests, a hearse drove over.

***

“Why is there a ceremony?” Karon felt very surprised. He had only thought that since there were so many of them, riding in the hearse would give them more space and be more comfortable. He had never intended to make a spectacle of himself.

The hearse stopped before the Church Affairs Building. The band stopped playing, because against the backdrop of the hearse, any musical piece at this moment would feel discongruent with the atmosphere.

The entire venue fell silent as Karon and the other three got out of the hearse.

He clearly saw Archbishop Wolfram standing before them, the old man’s face looking as stiff as old elm bark.

Vintral retreated slightly to stand at the very back of the group. He did not even dare play with his stones anymore. He had always been rather shy.

Ashley wanted to laugh, but forced herself to restrain herself. She had an overly cheerful personality, and at right this moment, she was relishing in schadenfreude, even though she was also part of the misfortune.

Bart looked over at the growing morning light. When Karon had first said they would take a hearse, Bart had silently rejected it, but had not dared to voice any objection. Now look. We’ve made fools of ourselves.

The one who broke the quiet and awkward atmosphere was a reporter. She took the initiative to walk forward with her work ID and asked Karon, who stood at the very front, “Hello, I am Meriel, the York City correspondent for Order Weekly. May I ask why you chose to ride in a hearse today to the final selection? Is it because the York City district failed to provide sufficient logistical support for you candidates?”

Hearing this question, Archbishop Wolfram frowned.

Karon answered, “It’s because this has a special meaning; it’s meant to express our resolve.”

“Your resolve? Could you elaborate?” Meriel pressed.

“Either we are victorious in the final selection, or we lie in coffins to be brought back in a hearse.”