Arrested!

The girl drove away in the taxi, but her final expression and words struck Karen right in the mind, overlapping with the scene from his memory before the tram explosion. … "Want a chip too, mister?" "Oh, I just left my mom's house, and now I'm going back to my dad's." "Because you're so handsome, mister, you could easily earn money without having to do bad things." … A coincidence? Yet it couldn't possibly be a coincidence. Could it be someone who knew her, knew what she had gone through, saw him, and deliberately said those words? Yet, stranger still, she seemed to be the exact same person. But if she was the same person, it had only been a few days—how could a little girl suddenly grow up so fast? After the tram explosion, Karen had left her crying alone on the ground while he went looking for Alfred. Afterward, he had gone to the hospital and hadn't returned to search for her. Karen felt no guilt over this. It had been their first time meeting, and pulling her into his arms before the explosion had saved her life without leaving a scratch on her. That was already more than enough. Karen had neither the time nor the inclination to play the good Samaritan all the way through, escorting her home, or perhaps throwing in an in-home psychological counseling session to boot. The taxi was long out of sight, and Karen chose not to pursue it. The other party seemed to have done it deliberately: bumping into him, saying hello, and leaving, with no intention of a deeper conversation. Still, Karen felt no fear. His status with the Church of Order was only shady in the eyes of the Church of Order itself—strictly speaking, only to the upper echelons of the Church. To outsiders, the brand of the "Church of Order" carried tremendous deterrence. Reaching up to rub between his brows, Karen climbed in when a second taxi pulled up before him. "Allen Apartments, Blue Bridge Community." "Right away, sir." … The taxi stopped in front of a pottery studio. Clutching her bag of chips, the girl got out, pushed open the door, and stepped inside. The pottery studio's storefront was small, but it had considerable depth. A middle-aged man with a full beard sat there painting a clay pot. Hearing the door open, he spoke without looking up: "You're back." "Yeah, I'm back. Bro, do you know who I just ran into while window-shopping?" "Who?" "The person who protected me in the explosion last time." "Oh?" The bearded middle-aged man paused his work and looked at the girl. "You saw him?" "Yeah, just a coincidence." "A coincidence? You know which stop he boarded from, so you've been lingering around there shopping lately. You call that a coincidence?" "It was a coincidence! A total coincidence!" the girl shouted at her bearded brother. "Fine, fine, a coincidence." The bearded man picked up a glass beside him and took a sip of wine. "And then? Did you tell him you're the little girl he saved that day?" "No." "No?" The bearded man chuckled. "I thought you'd tell him, 'Handsome big brother, to repay you for saving my life, I chose to grow up right away to be with you.'" "Bro, is that how you tease your own sister?" "When you hadn't run into him, you kept trying to orchestrate an encounter. Now that you met him, you didn't reveal your identity." "When I left in the cab, I said hello to him. I think he should be able to guess." "Guess that you're like a balloon that blew up into an adult in just a few days?" "I think he can figure it out." "All right, all right. Honestly, if you fancy him, you can just go after him. Even if he's married, being a mistress is no big deal. Since it's all to repay a life debt, you can always find an excuse to convince yourself, can't you?" "But he's from the Church of Order, and you, Bro..." The bearded man looked at his sister and said earnestly, "The Church of Order is the Church of Order; the people of the Church of Order are the people of the Church of Order. They're not the same thing. I do have friction with the Church of Order, but that doesn't mean whenever I go somewhere I have to hunt down and kill every local Order member. In short, I don't object to you finding a boyfriend from the Church of Order." "Bro, you should've told me that sooner." "I didn't expect you to actually bump into him either. Fine, go do some more shopping when you have time." "But this body has already left an impression on him. Creating an ordinary chance encounter to get to know him will be very difficult now, so..." "I remember that gentleman was quite young?" "Yeah, he looks about the same age as this body." "Then don't use your third body. That one is a bit mature, unless he likes the mature urban businesswoman type." "Come on, who could refuse that?" the girl countered. "You can't pull off an image of that age. Stick with this body; this is the truly pure you." The bearded man lowered his head and resumed working. "Also, you need to mind your boundaries and distance. Next time you run into him, stop playing hot and cold. I'm afraid he might think he's being harassed and stalked from the outside and report straight to his superiors in the Church of Order. The misunderstanding would be huge then." "He's just a God's Servant. Who could he even report to?" the girl said dismissively. "Heh. Would someone who cast several God's Servant spells in a single breath really be just a simple God's Servant?" The bearded man waved his hand, seemingly tired of his sister's chatter. "Do your best, then. Try to seduce him and bring him back so your big brother can meet him and see just how handsome he is to charm my little sister so thoroughly." "It's a life debt! A life debt!" "Then why didn't you use your child body to stage a chance encounter?" "Because this body has long legs! Long legs!" "All right, all right, I'm your brother, don't I know you?" The bearded man turned the clay pot before him and chuckled. "A life debt, huh? Heh. When the savior is ugly, it's 'I'll repay you in the next life'; when the savior is handsome, it's 'I'll grow up right away.'" … The taxi pulled up in front of Allen Apartments. Karen paid the fare, stepped out, and crossed the street to the entrance of Alaye's agency. The door was open, and Jane was inside. Karen initially intended to knock, but after a brief pause, he simply pushed the door open and walked in. Jane seemed to sense something. Turning her head and seeing it was Karen, she immediately smiled. Karen communicated with her in sign language: "Where's Alaye?" "He went to buy a car for you. He isn't back yet, but he should be soon." "All right, sorry for putting him through the trouble." "Not at all, it's his duty." Since Alaye had not returned yet, Karen planned to head home first. But as he turned around, he saw Hand sitting behind the counter. Even though Karen had walked in, the boy had remained seated there without any reaction whatsoever. Normally, this child was very sensible and polite; he shouldn't be acting like this. Karen walked over and leaned in close to Hand. Hand glanced at him without speaking. Jane grew upset. Stepping behind her son, she pulled him up and gestured for him to greet Karen. Hand was pulled up from the chair just like that, still silent. It wasn't a vacant stare, but a clear, chilling numbness. This was Karen's first time seeing Hand since Alaye had taken his wife and son to the hospital in Sangpu City for treatment. The boy truly seemed like a completely different person. Karen signed to him: "Are you feeling unwell?" Hand watched the signs and signed back: "No, I'm fine." "If you feel unwell anywhere, you can tell me." Hand shook his head and signed: "No, I'm fine." Pausing, Hand continued signing: "If I'm unwell, I'll be..." Hand's fingers fluttered rapidly on both hands. Karen didn't know what this gesture meant. Jane signed to Karen: "I'm very sorry, sir. The boy has been in a bad mood lately." Karen shook his head, gently pushed past Jane, and stood directly before Hand. "Did something happen to you?" Hand shook his head. "If you don't tell me, in a few days you'll go again to be..." Karen mimicked the fluttering ten-finger gesture Hand had just made. A look of sheer terror instantly washed over Hand's face. Clasping his head with both hands, he opened his mouth: "Ah! Ah! Ah!" Jane rushed over at once, cradled her son's head, and began weeping along with him. With this deaf-mute mother and son, further communication was impossible for now. Yet out of professional instinct, Karen could tell that something had left Hand with severe psychological trauma. For deaf-mutes, perceiving and communicating with the world was already far harder than for ordinary people, and their inner worlds were often more prone to shutting down. If they suffered psychological trauma that went unaddressed or continued to worsen, the consequences would be even more dire. What a wonderful child he was. Karen still remembered how skillfully he used chopsticks the very first time he tried them. In the end, Karen walked out of the agency and returned to his home in the community. Opening the door, he found Kevin sweeping the floor with a broom gripped between his front paws, while a mess of shattered plates lay on the ground. Purr squatted nearby, batting the larger shards into a dustpan with a cat paw. "Oh goodness, Karen, why are you back so early!" "I finished my work, so I came home. What happened here?" "Well... er... I just wanted to wash the dishes." Karen scooped Purr up and placed her on the sofa, then took the broom from Kevin's dog paws and swept everything clean with the dustpan. "By the way, how did the inspection go?" "Mmh, didn't find anything," Purr said. "Woof!" Kevin nodded too. "So we suspect the previous owner might have left behind something non-physical, which resonated with you for some special reason. You used a defensive spell in your sleep last night, and I think that might be why." "Something non-physical? Divinity?" "Woof!" Kevin shook his head. "Woof!" "Not something that high-level. It could also be... an ideological presence." "An ideological presence?" Karen mulled over the answer. "I think I understand a bit." "Oh? You do?" Purr asked curiously. "It's just like touring a celebrity's former residence. What's on display is merely a house and the furnishings inside—there's nothing special to look at, really. But it mainly relies on visitors themselves imagining the famous figure's deeds and spirit." "Putting it that way, I think I get it too." "I feel the Church of Light is better at this sort of ideological stuff." Karen looked at Purr curiously. "Logically speaking, it should be easier for you to resonate with it." Because on Purr's tail was the finger of the God of Light. Sitting on the sofa, Purr caught her own tail with a paw and said, "It's precisely because I don't believe in the Church of Light that I dare to seal it like this. Once I feel the slightest sense of belonging or identification toward the Church of Light and its doctrines, then... my end will be tragic." "You would completely degenerate into a sacred relic?" "You could understand it that way." "Oh. Then be careful." "Relax, relax. I'm this old—I'm not so easily fooled." "I'll take a shower and change first. It's still early, and I plan to visit the Pavaro Funeral Parlor this afternoon. Oh, right, when I came out after visiting Alfred at the hospital today, I ran into their hearse and two workers again. One of the workers, named Dinkum, suspected my identity because he remembered Alfred addressing me as 'Young Master' the first time we met." "And then?" Purr asked. "I praised the Whip of Order right in front of him." "Oh, what a brilliant response! Karen, you've truly mastered the art of 'praising.'" "It really is quite handy," Karen laughed. "Because in your heart, you have no reverence for gods. Other people, especially other priests, wouldn't dare play around like that." "Praising..." was somewhat equivalent to "I swear... or may lightning strike me down," which Karen was familiar with from his previous life. An ordinary priest walked the path step-by-step from God's Servant to God's Revelation to God's Shepherd. Deep down, the god was already a supreme existence—who would dare casually blaspheme? After all, gods were real in this world. But Karen was different. He harbored no awe toward gods to begin with. Without that layer of mystical religious sentiment, tossing out phrases like "Praise..." carried no more mental burden than remarking that the moon was round tonight. Besides, he had proven with practical actions that criticizing god, verifying god, and dialectically analyzing god could still lead to a successful God's Revelation. After showering and changing into fresh clothes, Karen pointed at the dirty laundry and said to Purr and Kevin, "You don't need to wash the clothes; I'll wash them myself when I get back." Purr nodded, and the golden retriever nodded too. Just then, a knock sounded at the door. "That should be Alaye." Karen picked up his briefcase, walked over, and opened the door. Standing outside was indeed Alaye. "Young Master, I bought the car back. Please come have a look." "All right." Karen and Alaye headed down to the parking lot downstairs. It was a used black Ponce. "Young Master, I inspected and test-drove it. The performance is completely fine. Please get in and feel it out." Alaye took the initiative to open the driver's door. "Mm." Karen sat inside. It felt quite good. He asked, "How much?" "Young Master, here is the receipt." Alaye handed Karen a receipt showing an amount of 12,000 riels. The price was very reasonable. Moreover, the interior trim and accessories were complete; in the compartment beside the handbrake, there was even a pack of cigarettes and a new lighter. Karen pulled out the envelope and handed it directly to Alaye: "Count out fifteen thousand yourself." Alaye counted the money quickly, counted twelve thousand, put the rest back into the envelope, and handed it back to Karen. "It's twelve thousand." "There are processing fees, plus your errand fee," Karen said. "Just as you said last time, Young Master, if I took an errand fee for helping you, I'd be too ashamed to do anything for you in the future." Seeing that Alaye adamantly refused to take more, Karen didn't force it, asking instead, "Which hospital in Sangpu did Hand go to last time?" "Young Master, is something wrong?" "I stopped by your shop after work. Hand's condition is very bad. What kind of treatment did you actually take him for?" "I... well... it's a private hospital. They said they could stimulate human potential to treat certain stubborn ailments. They used... electroshock therapy." Karen turned his head to look at Alaye, who shrank back, not daring to meet Karen's gaze. "I understand your eagerness for the child to hear and speak, but I must warn you: Hand may be an imperfect child right now, but he was sunny, he was happy. Do you want to strip even that away from him?" "No... of course not..." Karen retrieved a business card from his briefcase—printed for him by the clinic—and handed it to Alaye. "I am a psychiatrist. Your son is already exhibiting severe psychological trauma. If you don't take it seriously, it will only get worse. You and Jane had better watch him closely, check his body, and keep an eye out for any self-harming behavior." "Young Master... could the consequences really be that terrifying?" "Would I deliberately scare you just so you'd pay me to treat your son?" "No, no, of course you wouldn't, Young Master." "So take this seriously first. I don't have time today, but check your schedule tomorrow. When I'm home, you can bring Hand over, and I'll give him some psychological counseling. Electroshock therapy... what were you thinking?" "I just wanted Hand... I wanted Hand to have hope of becoming like a normal child. Do you know how hard it is in this society for a disabled person to live—to live with dignity? No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Young Master, I'm not questioning you." "I understand how you feel, but I must remind you of one thing." "Please speak, Young Master." "You can ask yourself honestly: do you love Hand, or do you love the version of yourself who wants to be the father of a healthy, able-bodied son?" Hearing these words, Alaye parted his lips, momentarily at a complete loss for words. "Is the car fueled up?" Karen asked. "Oh, yes, completely full." Alaye finally snapped out of his daze. "All right then. Tomorrow evening, bring Hand over. I have business to attend to somewhere right now." "Oh, okay, will do." Alaye immediately stepped out of the car. After shutting the door, he bowed repeatedly to Karen. "Thank you, Young Master. Thank you, Young Master." Karen started the car, turned around, and drove out of the apartment complex. Along the way, he stopped at a shop to buy some gifts. By the time he drove up to the entrance of Pavaro Funeral Parlor, he found a funeral was in progress inside. At this hour, however, the funeral had reached its conclusion; Mrs. Pavaro was accompanying the deceased's relatives in seeing off the mourning friends and family. Karen parked his car behind an executive sedan and saw Mr. Pavaro walking toward it. Had he spotted Karen? Unlikely. Karen had just bought this used car and was driving it for the very first time; Mr. Pavaro couldn't possibly recognize his "car." Both doors of the executive sedan ahead swung open, and two men dressed in black robes stepped out. Mr. Pavaro stood before them. Karen quietly rolled down his window. "Inquisitor Pavaro, we have obtained evidence of your dereliction of duty and misconduct. In accordance with the 'Code of Order—Whip of Order Prerogative Laws,' we hereby officially initiate the detention process against you. This is the official letter of detention. May I ask: will you comply with the procedure?" "Can you let me smoke one more cigarette?" Pavaro asked. "Once I'm locked up and lose my freedom, smoking won't taste the same anyway." The two black-robed men exchanged a glance and answered, "You may." "All right." Mr. Pavaro took a cigarette from his pocket, but couldn't find a lighter. He looked at the two black-robed men, who remained silent. "I'll go borrow a light." Pavaro pointed to the car behind them. The two black-robed men turned with him and walked over together. "Hello, sir. Could I borrow your lighter?" Pavaro asked, gesturing at the cigarette dangling from his lips. Mr. Pavaro saw Karen, but acted as if he didn't know him. Karen turned his head and handed the new lighter beside the handbrake to Pavaro. "Oh, thank you. Good thing you're a smoker." Mr. Pavaro took the lighter. Instead of lighting up right away, he pulled another cigarette from his pack and offered it to Karen. He chuckled. "Cigarettes are best shared between two people. If there are too many around, it hurts the heart to pull them out." Karen reached out and accepted the cigarette. Pavaro lit his own, then lit Karen's for him. "Thanks for the lighter. Here you go, thank you, sir." Pavaro handed the lighter back to Karen, then turned around, took a long, heavy drag, and slowly blew the smoke out through his nose. Karen saw that although his facial expression was calm, the fingers holding the cigarette were trembling slightly. At the same time, his gaze remained fixed on his funeral parlor in the distance, watching his wife who was still seeing off guests. His two God's Servant assistants, Pike and Dinkum, seemed to have noticed what was happening and walked over, yet both stopped a short distance away, not daring to come any closer. Dinkum in particular saw the two black robes, saw his boss standing next to the black sedan, and saw Karen sitting inside the car, leisurely smoking a cigarette. Finally, Pavaro tossed the half-finished cigarette onto the ground, spat on it, and crushed it fiercely beneath his foot. Facing the two black-robed men before him, he raised both hands toward them. One of the black-robed men produced a pair of black manacles and cuffed Mr. Pavaro. The moment the manacles clicked shut, a jolt of black electrical current surged into Pavaro's body, sealing him. This sent a violent spasm and tremor through Mr. Pavaro's body. After a long silence, he spoke: "Praise Order!"