Demon Swamp

Long ago, an ancestor of the Allen family had sought to use the finger of the God of Light to elevate their family faith system into a church faith system. It was an idea so arrogant and mad that it bordered on preposterous. To protect the family's survival, Purr had stolen that finger outright. Diss, on the other hand, had to a certain extent taken the initiative to peel the Inmerlais family away from the church faith system. For the sake of this grandson of his, he had not hesitated to let the family degrade from a church faith system down to a family faith system. Climbing from bottom to top was difficult. Sliding from top to bottom, however, was vastly simpler. This was an obviously losing deal—so terrible that practically no one would ever choose to make it—yet Diss had done just that. When his grandson said he wanted to see the scenery outside, the grandfather had personally crafted for him the most exquisite pair of wings in this world. This was the first awakening of Karen's family faith system. He found himself standing on the third-floor balcony of his home at 13 Mink Street. Instinctively, he walked toward his grandfather's bedroom and opened the door, only to find the bed empty. He exited the bedroom and stepped into the adjacent study. There was no one in the study either. Finally, Karen walked over to the windowsill and stood there. Gradually, he sensed a familiar figure appearing beside him. He turned his head and saw Diss standing there. Diss didn't look at him, nor did he speak. He merely stood in place, gazing out the window. Because Diss had once said that even if he fell into a coma, his gaze would still watch over this home, protecting the family. Karen followed Diss's gaze and looked out the window. The scene suddenly distorted. Karen recalled a scene described in Ms. Molly's letter. In the next instant, someone was standing by the courtyard gate—an elderly man dressed in priest's vestments... Rasma. Ms. Molly walked over, spoke with Rasma, and took the initiative to pull open the courtyard gate. Rasma took a step forward, planting one foot inside the Inmerlais courtyard while leaving the other outside. It looked rather comical; it was hard to imagine that this man was the High Priest of the Church of Order. During this, Karen noticed that Rasma's gaze had once turned toward the spot where he stood. Of course, Rasma hadn't been looking at him, but rather meeting Diss's gaze. In Ms. Molly's description, Rasma had said: Let that interesting fellow send word home that he's safe. It was precisely because of those words that Karen had finally made that phone call home. Yet, in an instant, Karen saw Rasma's image change. His body seemed to split in two. The half leaning into the Inmerlais courtyard still wore a peaceful expression, like a benevolent old man, a true priest. The half remaining outside, however, bore a stern gaze, surrounded by black chains of Order, resembling an emotionless machine of Order. For a moment, it was impossible to tell which one was the real Rasma. Yet right at that moment, Karen suddenly recalled another scene he had witnessed—during his "purification," when the God of Order had walked out of the void, scattering swath upon swath of starlight between his ten fingers, devoid of self-awareness, merely abiding by some dogma and doing what he was supposed to do at that moment. In the research of the Church of Principles, the existence of a god was once compared to a circle and a point. When a god belonged to a circle, he was a god in the purest sense, executing the duties of a deity. When a god belonged to a point, he was more like a human being; he could tease his daughter to make her laugh, and he could choose vengeance and war based on his own likes and dislikes. Was Rasma like this as well? Had he always been like this, or had he become this way only after taking over as the priest of Mink Street once Grandfather fell into a deep slumber? Just then, Grandfather began to fade. The windowsill began to fade. Everything around him began to fade. Karen slowly opened his eyes. He instinctively turned his head to his side and saw that the old man who had been sitting there had already dissolved into motes of light, dispersing. "Are you dissipating?" Karen asked. "No, it is you who are too exhausted and can no longer maintain ideological communion with me. Rest now. Praise the Light." Karen pressed his hands against the chair's armrests, trying to stand up, but failed on his first attempt. In the end, he simply remained leaning back against the chair and closed his eyes once more. He was too exhausted, slipping directly into sleep. *** In the morning, bright sunlight streamed through the window and onto the bed. Sleeping on the bed, Purr first swept her tail aimlessly around her, then reached out a cat paw and patted the air in front of her. Then, she opened her eyes. "Huh?" Purr hopped down from the bed and kicked the golden retriever, who was still snoring away in the dog bed. Jolted awake, the golden retriever immediately scrambled to its feet and looked around. Purr walked out of the bedroom, and the golden retriever followed. Purr stood at the door of the study and gestured for the dog to open it. She could turn doorknobs too, but she had to jump, whereas the golden retriever found it much easier. Just then, the telephone downstairs rang. Purr headed down first, leaped onto the coffee table where the telephone sat, nudged the receiver aside with her paws, and pressed her head against it. "Hello, Mr. Karen?" It was a young woman's voice. Purr spoke up, "Hello, I am Mr. Karen's maid. Mr. Karen is indisposed at the moment." "Oh, alright. Could you please ask Mr. Karen if he could come to the clinic this afternoon for an emergency walk-in appointment? I apologize, but because it is an urgent last-minute request, we couldn't schedule it in advance. It's yesterday's client, but this time it's not for the child—the father booked the appointment." "Alright, I will relay the message to Mr. Karen. He will return your call shortly," Purr replied. "Thank you." The call disconnected. Purr extended both paws, held the receiver, and set it back on the cradle. She then leaped off the coffee table and went up to the second floor, where she found that Kevin had already opened the study door. Kevin was currently propped against the desk, peering at the papers laid out upon it. Karen was still leaning back in the chair, fast asleep. "Damn it, stupid dog, no looking through it alone!" Purr jumped onto the desk as well, but first glanced at the wall clock. It was still morning. Since the emergency appointment was in the afternoon, Karen could sleep a little longer. *Hmm, what in the world was poor little Karen reading in the study last night that absorbed him so much he fell asleep right here?* Immediately after, Purr frowned. *Damn it, has the bed at home lost all its appeal to you?* Purr and Kevin then looked through the contents of the dossier together. About two hours passed. By the time it was eleven in the morning, Purr and Kevin had finished reading everything. "Woof~" The golden retriever let out a soft bark toward Purr. "You don't need to remind me, I saw it—the Raphael family. But the water in this matter runs too deep; it's far beyond what we can handle." Naturally, Purr hoped that the Raphael family—the greatest threat to the Allen family—would be eliminated sooner rather than later. Although Diss had killed their patriarch back then, throwing them into internal chaos, the problem was that the Allen family lacked the power to reclaim the business. That wouldn't be possible unless Judia, Boge, and Eunice grew up, providing the family with several rank-five or rank-six combatants. Still, since Purr had chosen to stay here with Karen, no matter what she said, her actions placed her firmly on Karen's side. Expecting the current Karen to face such deep-seated corruption within the Church of Order was sheer madness. Purr turned to look at Karen. *What's even more absurd is, why did you bring this thing back? You're not seriously planning to keep investigating, are you?* Just then, Karen finally woke up. He opened his eyes, slowly sat up in the chair, and placed a hand on his neck, gently rolling it. "Karen, were you so engrossed in these documents last night that you fell straight asleep?" Purr asked. "Yeah," Karen nodded, then added, "and while I was at it, I completed God's Shepherd." "Oh, no wonder... MEOW!!!!!" "WOOF!!!!!" The cat and dog immediately sprang to their feet, staring fixedly at Karen. Karen rose from the chair, stretched lazily, and said, "By the way, I'll have to trouble you two to find me some spells usable by a God's Shepherd. Or even higher-tier ones—say, spells for an Inquisitor. I'd like to see if I can cast them beyond my current rank." After his experience with the tram explosion, Karen placed immense trust in the breadth of experience and knowledge of his cat and dog teachers. "Karen, don't you think this is a bit too outrageous? You read until you got tired, took a nap in the study, and woke up as a God's Shepherd?" "Woof woof woof!" "It wasn't that big a deal. I feel like water simply flowed into an already prepared channel." Karen frowned slightly. Having just woken up, his head was a bit groggy, leading him to produce such a convoluted sentence. "Karen, you really are a genius," Purr said. "Your cultivation speed is an exact mirror of Diss... No, I'm even starting to suspect Diss wasn't this fast back in the day." "Woof!" "Heh," Karen chuckled. "Maybe it's because we're too familiar with each other, but your compliments don't seem to make me all that thrilled." "Uh..." Purr asked curiously, "which god did you enshrine in your heart?" "I didn't invite any god." "You didn't invite a god? Then what did you place there?" Purr asked in astonishment. "Woof?" "Myself." Purr and Kevin exchanged a glance. "Oh, damn it. I actually find myself not that surprised to hear that answer." "Woof! Woof!" The golden retriever nodded in agreement. "I'm going to wash up." "Wait a minute, Karen. This... this..." Purr tapped the dossier with her paw. "Don't tell me you brought this back to keep investigating it." "Why else?" Karen countered. "Woof!" Kevin barked. Purr translated: "The stupid dog is asking if you've lost your mind, or if you've had some bizarre burst of righteous indignation. This is quite literally the stupidest decision you could make! "If you want to do this, you can easily wait until you become powerful. At that point, upholding justice, purging darkness, or even cleaning up the Church of Order would be vastly simpler. "For instance, if Diss hadn't fallen into a slumber, this matter wouldn't pose the slightest difficulty to him, would it? "A wise person doesn't poke their nose into other people's business before they have the strength to back it up." Kevin looked at Purr in shock. "Woof?" Karen replied, "I have no interest in poking my nose into other people's business." "Phew... that's a relief," Purr breathed a sigh of relief. "Except this time, the business sought me out." "Huh? How did we loop back to this again? Karen, look at yourself now—you're already a God's Shepherd! If we push hard, we can aim for Inquisitor this year, and Adjudicator won't be far off either... Oh, I need to contact Boge to have him hurry up and get you the new identity the family arranged for you. Otherwise, once you're an Inquisitor, it'll be hard to blend in." "Honestly, the path I've chosen is very difficult. Diss probably knew that as well," Karen said. "Naturally," Purr chimed in. "Woof!" "It's precisely because I decided to continue investigating that I was able to complete God's Shepherd last night." "..." Purr was speechless. "We can take our time with the investigation. Anyway, now that we know that Demon Swamp is in the Blue Bridge Community, and Mr. Pavaro can no longer search for it, we'll search for it slowly." "And once we find it, what then?" Purr asked. "Find it first, then we'll see," Karen replied. "Uh, and this sheet of paper—you jotted down so many names on it. You aren't planning to emulate Diss and go straight to their doorsteps to assassinate them, are you?" "Those are just clues and names I noted down casually," Karen replied. "I'm not that impulsive." "Heh, yeah, right," Purr said, feeling somewhat reassured at last. Just then, an idea seemed to strike Purr, and she immediately said, "Karen, have you ever considered that there might be another way to resolve this?" "Go on." "Namely, write to Ms. Molly or call her, and have her approach Priest Rasma, who is currently serving as priest on Mink Street. Tell the great High Priest of the Church of Order that right here in York City, the capital of Wien, there's a corrupt case entangling the Church of Order. If it isn't dealt with promptly, it could blow up into a massive scandal for the Church of Order in the future. "Look, wouldn't that solve everything easily? "I'm sure that as long as High Priest Rasma isn't an idiot, he'll definitely take action on this." "We can't do that." "Hmm? Why not?" Purr asked, puzzled. "Because doing so would make Rasma aware of my existence, and even make him realize that from the Inmerlais family—already subjected to Diss's blood sacrifice ritual—there's still someone left who can continue to access church circles." "Didn't he know that long ago? Didn't he proactively tell Ms. Molly to have you send word home that you were safe? I even suspect Rasma was swayed to Diss's side." "Those words were spoken by Rasma when he stepped into the courtyard of the Inmerlais home. Only at that moment could he say them, as Rasma. "Yet once his foot retracted and he stood beyond the perimeter of the Inmerlais residence, he was the High Priest of the Church of Order. "If we have Ms. Molly go directly to him with this matter, we'd simply be walking right into a trap." "That's a bit... complicated. I don't follow," Purr said, perplexed. "Woof?" "Remember the example you once gave me about a god's circle and point? I think Rasma is in that exact state right now. "Back when the God of Order hadn't opened his eyes, we could even invoke the God of Light to summon him out so he could assist in my purification. "Yet if, at the end of that purification, the Eye of Order had finally opened, "what kind of outcome do you think we would have faced?" Even now, recalling that scene sent a shiver down Purr's spine. Beside her, Kevin visibly shuddered. "That is what Rasma is like now. He isn't Diss, nor is he Hoffen, and he never will be." Karen walked out of the study and went to the bathroom to wash up. When he emerged, he saw Purr sitting atop Kevin as they came out of the study. "Kevin and I have decided to conduct an initial investigation first. You know, sometimes cats and dogs have a much easier time investigating things than humans. At the very least, we don't have to worry about attracting the attention of those targeting Mr. Pavaro." "Alright. Thank you for the trouble." "Oh, and one more thing: your clinic called this morning saying there's an emergency appointment—yesterday's child's father." *Mr. Tardel?* "Alright, I'll head over to the clinic." "Okay. Sigh, having to work hard to earn money and support the family while upholding justice—it really isn't easy. So..." Purr raised a paw and patted Kevin on the head. "Rather than washing dishes and doing laundry, let's start investigating! Meow!" "Woof!" "I'll go open the door for you." "No need, we'll take the roof!" With that, Kevin bolted up toward the rooftop terrace with Purr on his back. "Heh." Karen was amused by the sight. He picked up the phone, called the clinic back to confirm the appointment, changed his clothes, grabbed his car keys, and went down the stairs to the parking lot. Just as he drove out of the residential complex gates, he saw Alaye standing by the real estate agency entrance. Spotting Karen's car, Alaye immediately trotted over with a smile. Karen rolled down the window. "Good afternoon, Young Master." Karen knew he was worried that Karen might not be home in the evening when he brought his son over for a consultation. "The clinic has an emergency appointment. I'm going to see the patient and should be back before dinner." "Very well, Young Master. I'll have Jane prepare dinner then." "Alright," Karen did not decline. "By the way, Alaye, there's something I need your help with." "Young Master, please instruct me as you wish." "You work in real estate agency. Do you ever have contact with labor employment agencies?" Alaye smiled bitterly. "Truly none at all." "Oh?" "Young Master, you might not know, but many employment agencies take kickbacks from both ends or outright swindle people seeking work who aren't familiar with the area. That money burns the hands. "With my son in the condition he's in, I wouldn't dare earn that kind of money." This world also had concepts like "retribution" and "karma," just phrased in different ways. "I understand. Still, I'd like you to help me look into which agencies have recruited large numbers of female workers in recent years, especially young female workers." "Certainly, Young Master, leave it to me." "See you this evening." "See you this evening, Young Master." Karen drove off and arrived below the office building around one in the afternoon. With good luck, he found an empty roadside parking space. After parking, Karen entered the building and took the elevator up to the twenty-first floor. Miss Bertha was currently at the reception desk speaking to two receptionists. Seeing Karen approach, she immediately came forward to greet him. "Where is Mr. Tardel?" Karen glanced around the waiting lounge, seeing no sign of Mr. Tardel. "Was he shown into my office?" "He hasn't arrived yet," Miss Bertha replied. "Hasn't arrived yet?" Karen was somewhat surprised. "Last time, they arrived quite early." "Every parent is naturally most cautious when it comes to their child. But this time it's for Mr. Tardel's own consultation, so he might be a bit more leisurely and less anxious. I believe Mr. Tardel must have recognized your ability from the clear results of your treatment on his son yesterday, which is why he scheduled an appointment for himself." "And that's still called an emergency appointment?" "Perhaps he simply doesn't care about the price of an emergency appointment." "Fair enough. I'll wait for him in my office, then." "Alright. Once Mr. Tardel arrives, I will bring him directly into your office." "Okay." Karen entered his office and sat down behind the desk. The folder from last time was still sitting there. Opening it, he found the profile sheets for Little John and his father, Mr. Tardel. Conducting psychological therapy naturally required information about the patient's family background and working environment. In the case of treating a child, most of the family background section recorded the parents' details. Hence, a basic tenet of professional ethics for a psychologist was to keep client information strictly confidential. Furthermore, the clinic would inevitably conduct more thorough background checks on its wealthy clients. This had little to do with whether it was a psychological clinic or not; any business would seek ways to better understand its major clients. On the profile sheet, under Mr. Tardel's occupation, it read: "Entrepreneur." Karen remembered Little John proudly telling him that his family owned textile mills and was very wealthy. When Little John had compared himself to a pig in a pigsty, Karen had even joked that his family seemed to have invested in a pig farm in addition to running textile mills. The residential address listed Golden Bay District, and judging from the house number, it was likely a villa. However, in the specific occupational details section, the addresses of several textile mills were all filled in as "Blue Bridge Community." *Such a coincidence? Mr. Tardel's textile mills are in the Blue Bridge Community.* Karen couldn't help recalling the scene from the first time he had ridden in Alaye's car to the Blue Bridge Community. Back then, seeing groups of male and female workers in uniform walking along the sides of the street, he had asked Alaye whether there were factories here. Alaye had replied that there were several textile mills, though they produced no smokestack pollution. Textile mills... female workers... Karen licked his lips. Once Mr. Tardel arrived later, he could ask him about the situation on that front. Setting down the folder, Karen leaned back in his chair. He found himself wishing that Alfred was by his side rather than hospitalized right now; with Alfred's firsthand experience as an aberrant demon, he could have effortlessly helped investigate the cause of Little John's pollution. Karen simply sat in his office, waiting and waiting. The clock ticked past one in the afternoon, all the way past three. Karen had waited here for over two hours; more than half of the appointment window had elapsed. Karen stood up. Since Mr. Tardel had stood him up, there was no point in waiting any longer. After all, he still had to conduct a consultation for Hand tonight. Just as Karen was packing up his belongings, the office door was pushed open, and Bertha walked in. "Has Mr. Tardel arrived?" Karen asked. Miss Bertha shook her head. She said, "We just received word. Mr. Tardel got into a car accident on his way here. He's already dead."