Acting

"You misunderstand your father here. Although the Church of Pamires isn't a major church, becoming its Hierophant isn't that simple either. The mandatory process before becoming Hierophant is entering the Church of Pamires's 'Messenger Space' to undergo the baptism of its legacy, having the insights and memories of past Hierophants instilled into you. If you truly went through that process, Derius, would you still be you?" "Are you doubting my loyalty to the God of Order?" "I am not doubting your loyalty to the God of Order. It's just that by then, you wouldn't be Derius anymore. In fact, you could hardly even be considered human." "So, Father, should I thank you? Thank you for rescuing me in the nick of time, while I was still myself?" "You are my son, and a faithful believer of the church. Whether as a father or as a bishop of the church, I will protect you to the utmost of my ability." "Heh..." Derius released his grip on Bishop Bern's collar, walked back to the sofa, and sat down. Bishop Bern continued, "The negotiations will proceed as normal. You still need to treat yourself as the true Holy Child of the Church of Pamires and fight for as much autonomy and benefit for the Church of Pamires in this integration as possible. Once the terms of the treaty are recognized by those old fogies in the Church of Pamires, and the 'Messenger Space' is opened to our church's Temple of Order, your sacred mission will truly be complete. "Your name, your contributions, your silhouette—all will be etched into the church's history." "You don't need to tell me that. I know what to do." "Yes. I have always had confidence in your abilities." Bishop Bern looked toward Karen and said, "I should be taking my leave." "Right away, my Lord." Karen opened the door for Bishop Bern and accompanied him to the elevator. While waiting, Karen had expected Bishop Bern to specifically instruct him on something, such as keeping secrets, but the bishop did nothing of the sort. The elevator doors opened, revealing Richard. Bishop Bern stepped inside, and the doors slid shut. When Karen walked back to the suite door, he saw Peige standing there. "So sorry, Karen, but you'll have to make another trip. The food and drinks are on their way up." "Is this what team leaders are responsible for?" Karen asked. "Yep, standard procedure. Don't worry, though—the captain and the others already inspected the food and drinks beforehand. You just need to receive them. Fanny did it last time, but this time, you're the team leader." Karen nodded and walked back to the elevator. The doors opened, and Richard wheeled out a dining cart, handing it over to Karen with great solemnity, as if transferring a divine artifact. "Keep a sharp eye on the situation. Don't slack off," Karen added to the act. "Sir, understood!" Richard stepped back into the elevator with resolute strides, turned around with a sharp snap, and stood at attention. Karen pushed the dining cart into Derius's room and saw Derius sitting on the sofa, lost in thought. It seemed he didn't have much of an appetite. If this Holy Child truly said so, Karen wouldn't hesitate to push the cart back to his own room. "Your meal has arrived. Please enjoy." Derius stood up, walked to the cart, picked up a bottle of red wine from the bottom tier, uncorked it himself, and sat back down on the sofa. "Have a drink with me. I'm not used to drinking with women." "My apologies. While on duty, it isn't appropriate for me to drink alcohol, but I can substitute another beverage." Derius nodded. "Fine." Karen took two glasses from the room's cabinet. He placed one in front of Derius for him to pour the wine, and into the other, Karen added ice cubes and poured water. Derius took a sip of wine, swirled his glass, glanced at Karen, and said, "I really envy you." "Envy that I can praise Order out in the open?" "Yes." Derius sighed. "For nearly twenty years, this is a dream I've had constantly. In public, before a crowd, crossing my hands over my chest and shouting at the top of my lungs: 'Praise Order!'" With that, Derius flicked the wine glass with his fingertip, producing a crisp ring. "Do you think that's laughable?" "Not at all. What we take for granted may very well be what others dream of day and night. Such things are quite common, in fact." "Indeed. Many people envy my identity as the Holy Child as well. Speaking of which, do you envy me?" Karen took a serious tone. "Are you doubting my loyalty to the God of Order?" "No, not at all." Derius rested a hand on his forehead. In truth, he had only taken a single sip, yet he looked as if he were drunk. "I apologize. I shouldn't have answered you that way," Karen said. "The truth is, I admire you deeply—admire your dedication and sacrifice." "Is that so?" "Yes. I believe the great God of Order sees your sacrifices, for His gaze is everywhere." "Mm." Derius let out a sigh and set the glass on the coffee table. "I'm tired." *Tired already? Didn't you want to drink and chat? And now it's over just like that? My responses should have been perfectly fine.* In that case... "Please rest well." Karen stood up and added, "For the sake of your health, please have something to eat." "I have no appetite. I just want to rest." "Then I will wheel it out for you, so the smell doesn't disrupt your sleep." Derius nodded. Karen wheeled the dining cart out. "Aha!" Peige looked at Karen pushing the cart out. "You really haven't lost that tradition of yours." Fanny walked over, glanced at the food on the cart, and said, "The meal budget is quite high." The budget had definitely been tailored to the guest's status. Since Bishop Bern hadn't specifically instructed him to keep it a secret, Karen directly told Fanny and Peige what he had seen and heard earlier. "How surprising. The Holy Child of the Church of Pamires is actually one of our own," Peige marveled. "That's probably what makes our church so terrifying," Fanny said. Karen noticed Fanny had used the adjective "terrifying." Normally, one would use a laudatory word like "powerful." Still, that was normal. The atmosphere of Neo's squad had never been orthodox anyway. "What puzzles me even more is that the bishop didn't tell me to keep it confidential," Karen voiced his confusion. "Because there's no need. This Holy Child definitely won't be leaving the hotel. Even if he requested to go out, he'd be refused. And before the negotiations conclude successfully, it's impossible for us to leave the Ankara Hotel either. "Besides, our squad's communication with the outside world has definitely been cut off." Just then, Peige reached up and touched the blue seashell hanging beside her ear. "The captain issued a squad radio silence order." That explained it. In essence, their squad, just like Derius, was basically serving prison time for the duration of the negotiations, and would only be released once they concluded. That was why Bishop Bern hadn't felt the need to demand secrecy. Everyone who knew was stuck inside this hotel anyway. When the negotiations finished... the Messenger Space would open to the Temple of Order, which would thoroughly control the core of the Church of Pamires, removing any worry of the Church of Pamires reneging on the deal. "Then this mission will be quite relaxing," Karen said with a smile. "That's why security details are so popular among Whip of Order squads," Fanny said. "Clients like Miss Ophelia, who insisted on going out mid-mission, are rare after all." Karen took a shower in the bathroom, changed into hotel pajamas, and lay down in bed. Peige and Fanny were sitting opposite each other before the floor-to-ceiling window, drinking juice... but Karen smelled a strong scent of alcohol. The two women had poured liquor into juice bottles—did that make it not a violation of security protocols? Then again, it made sense... Since an outing was out of the question, their squad was under radio silence, and the captain and the rest were guarding the floors above and below, their personal security team really had nothing to do. Having a bit of alcohol was hardly an issue. If they were to encounter danger at all, it would take an all-out assault on the entire Ankara Hotel by attackers. Karen closed his eyes. Even though he had spent most of the day sleeping, he still felt drowsy. When he woke, Karen glanced at the wall clock. He had slept for only three hours, and dawn was still some time away, but his energy was as replenished as it could be; falling back asleep was impossible. As he sat up, his hand pushed down on something soft. Looking down, sure enough, it had pressed into the buttocks of Peige, who was sleeping beside him. Karen withdrew his hand, pulled the quilt over her, and climbed out of bed. Fanny, who was keeping night watch, was sitting on the sofa reading a newspaper. Seeing Karen awake, she smiled. "You don't need to take watch, my dear team leader." "I just can't sleep anymore." Karen sat down on the sofa. "Then can I go to sleep?" "Mm, go ahead." Fanny set down the newspaper, walked over to Karen, leaned down, and lightly brushed her nose against his cheek. "You know, the last time we stayed here, Peige and I teased you like a little colt." "And now?" "Now, it's like gingerly flirting with a wild wolf. The feeling is completely different. Last time was playful; this time is thrilling." With that, Fanny unclipped the blue seashell from her ear and fastened it onto Karen's. Karen smiled, picked up the water glass from the coffee table, took a sip, and then picked up the newspaper Fanny had set down, casually asking, "By the way, why is the dining cart still here?" "The captain said they didn't need an extra meal tonight," Fanny said as she climbed into bed. About two hours passed. Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, the sky remained dark, though dawn was already brewing. Karen stood up and walked over to the dining cart to grab a bite, but then he heard a chime. It was Derius calling from the room across the hall. Was he awake as well? Karen opened the door and walked across to Derius's suite. He knocked first, then opened the door. But the moment his foot crossed the threshold, an ominous premonition suddenly surged in his chest, even though nothing appeared out of place in the room. Yet compared to the apparent normalcy before his eyes, Karen trusted his intuition far more. Without even stepping into the foyer, he immediately took two steps back out of the room, pulling the door shut with his right hand while raising his left to the blue seashell at his ear, preparing to alert the captain. Yet before the door could latch, a hand shot through the gap and grabbed Karen by the collar. Immediately after, Derius's face appeared in the crack of the door, his eyes fixed on Karen. "I need you... to do me a favor." "Please release your grip first, my Lord." Derius let go. Inside the gap, Karen noticed that Derius's face had turned an ashen gray, and his golden hair looked as if it had just been plastered with a thick layer of cement dust. "Heh-heh." An eerie laugh rattled from Derius's throat as he released his hold. Karen pretended to adjust his collar and took two more steps backward. Just then, the door was pushed wide open from inside. Karen saw Derius behind the door—he wasn't standing, but rather propped up between the two walls of the entryway with both hands, poised in a bizarre posture with his face down and legs raised upward. "You can go ahead and notify your people first, but please make it quick. I need your help with something." Karen channeled a sliver of spiritual energy into the seashell and rapidly tapped it three times with his finger. The blue seashell magical tool was only capable of one-way transmission. The captain could issue orders to his squad members through it, but members could not reply with voice, only relaying simple signals via light tapping vibrations. "Are you done?" Derius asked. "Get in here!" "I'm on my way," the captain's voice sounded through the shell. Karen gave Derius a nod. Derius spun around at once and crawled along the wall like a spider into the room. Karen stepped inside as well and saw a small blue tray on the coffee table. A sheen of light covered the tray like a miniature barrier, within which a dozen black pellets floated. "Take one out and give it to me! Quick!" Derius urged. The barrier wasn't strong; in fact, it was quite weak, seemingly designed by a God's Servant, except for a faint aura of Order flowing over its outer layer. Karen blended his own aura of Order into it and quickly gained control of the formation. With a wave, Karen dispelled the barrier. *Hum!* Derius swept past like a gust of wind, pinched a black pellet in his hand, and tossed it into his mouth. "Ahhh..." It wasn't a cry of pain, but rather a long sigh of relief and bliss. Derius gripped the wall with both hands and feet, arched with his face and hips raised, his expression brimming with pure ecstasy. In broad daylight, Karen could never have imagined that the Holy Child of the Church of Pamires would have a side like this. *Thud!* Like a gecko that had suddenly lost its grip on a wall, Derius fell from the wall onto the sofa, yet his hands and feet remained frozen in the same posture, making him look like a turtle flipped onto its back. Neo's figure materialized beside Karen right then, a silver mask concealing the captain's face. "Captain, what's wrong with him?" Karen asked. "Poisoned," Neo replied. "Poisoned?" Neo reached out and placed his hand on Derius's abdomen. Derius's eyes snapped open, glaring at Neo. "I'll help you suppress its reaction," Neo said. A flicker of doubt showed in Derius's eyes, but he closed them again. Black light surged from Neo's palm, pressing into Derius's body. Derius's limbs tensed again as his whole body tried to curl inward, but he fought to restrain the urge as best he could. Standing beside them, Karen clearly saw a bulge in Derius's abdomen, moving like a living organism. The black luster in Neo's palm began to circulate, driving whatever was inside Derius's belly to move against its will. Along with this process, the grayish pallor on Derius's face and hair began to recede, and his hands and feet finally relaxed and settled down. At last, he let out a long breath. The bulge in his stomach subsided with it. Neo pulled back his hand and stood up. "Captain, what was that thing?" "A worm. He's raising a worm inside his own body." Derius sat up, though cold sweat still poured down his body. Neo picked up the small blue tray—which was actually a medicine bottle with an internal barrier that could be opened when needed. "Inside are blood essence pellets from the Black Soul Shark. They must be feed used to nourish the worm in his body. When the worm gets hungry, it awakens, and once it stirs, the host suffers immense agony. "The problem was this bottle. Ordinarily, this minor barrier wouldn't be an issue, but the Ankara Hotel itself sits within a massive guardian barrier that instinctively wraps around and probes any internal barriers. "Because of this added influence from the aura of Order, you couldn't open it normally. If you had forced it open, the barrier might have shattered, destroying the pellets inside along with it." Derius spoke up, "You certainly know a lot. Yes, exactly. When it starts acting up, I can't mobilize any of the spiritual energy in my body. Any power I try to summon gets swallowed by it before it can even leave my flesh." "Why didn't you take them ahead of time?" Neo asked. "Did the worm inside you get stimulated by the array here?" "No. It was because my own emotions fluctuated violently today, causing it to suddenly wake." "Which means you haven't brought it under control yet—you haven't built a mental bridge of communication. Otherwise, you could calm it through mental pacification." "Not yet, because I can't do it for now." Derius looked at Neo. "Can you guess what worm this is?" "A Spatial Worm—Semis." "Yes, that's right." "You shouldn't have swallowed it. You can fool everyone in the Church of Pamires, but you can't fool something that has entered your body. It seems it isn't that you can't build a mental bridge, but that you don't dare. You're afraid that the true faith in the depths of your soul will be perceived by it." "However, to become the Holy Child, one must swallow this worm first. So I can only rely on feed to pacify it at regular intervals." Neo remarked, "Whether taking Black Soul Shark blood essence or enduring its periodic awakenings, both bring agony unbearable to ordinary men." Derius smiled. "No matter how great the agony, I will never compromise with it. If I must alter my inner faith and accept Pamires, I'd rather die." Karen found the words somewhat familiar, reminding him of old Saman at Ivy Cemetery. "Rest well for now. We will guard you," Neo said. Derius nodded. "Thank you." Neo walked out of the room, and Karen followed, closing the door behind them. Each room was effectively an independent boundary. Once the door closed, it became relatively isolated, making it impossible to sense any commotion outside. Neo spoke, "Tonight, the food and drinks on the dining cart were drugged." "Drugged?!!!" "The drug is harmless to humans, but it stimulates the Spatial Worm. All right, go back to resting. I need to report to higher-ups now that he hasn't formed a mental bridge with the Spatial Worm inside him." Karen stopped in his tracks. Neo took a few steps forward, then glanced back at Karen. "I'm not blaming you for wheeling the cart out. After all, if the food and drink had any real issues, I would have notified you in advance." "Yet, since the captain knew it was harmless to humans, why didn't you want any of the food on tonight's cart?" "Well, how should I put it? Not knowing is one thing, but knowing—even if you understand the drug is harmless—still spoils the appetite. What, do you suspect there's a worm inside me too?" "Not at all, Captain. How could that be?" *How could a hunting hound remain completely indifferent to harmless food?* *This was a captain who gave out plastic rings and habitually took advantage of every possible perk.* "Get some rest. It's rare to get such an easy mission; treat it like a vacation." With that, Neo turned and continued walking toward the elevator. "Captain..." Karen called out to stop him. Neo halted again, looked back at Karen, and asked, "Anything else?" "Today, Derius might have mistaken me for the captain of this Whip of Order squad." "And?" "He specifically asked me to have a drink and chat, and took a sip of red wine right in front of me. Thinking back now, it felt rather deliberate. "So, I suspect... Derius knew all along that the food was drugged."