Favors

Neo immediately bent down and picked up the pen. Inside, seeing Neo's move, the chubby director swiftly gathered the rest of the documents and thrust them through the window. Then, without even offering a professional smile, he turned and scurried away, offering not the slightest chance for a second round of negotiation. It had to be said that there was good reason for the fat director to have grown so plump. Neo blinked and looked at Karen, who simply shrugged. Since their bluff had been called, there was no way to push further. The other side had already grasped their bottom line. With the twenty-five percent increase granted, the director was dead certain Karen's side would not tear up all courtesies over the rest. The two had no choice but to stand up and head outside. "That Philomena... her family is definitely not simple," Neo could only sigh in lament. "Sigh, miscalculated after all." "It's already very good, Captain." "Yes, it really is. If divided among a full roster of thirteen members, each would get eight percent. A twenty-five percent increase equals the share of three extra heads. "Actually, that five percent originally given for not setting up an office in the Church Affairs Building wasn't handed out for free. A Whip of Order squad office must maintain three constantly running communication arrays: one connects to the Regional Administrative Office, one connects to the Whip of Order department, and one connects to the garrison—meaning the knight order system. "Under normal circumstances, a five-percent mission reward cut isn't even enough to establish and maintain those three arrays, because you still need someone stationed there on duty. Unless you, the captain, stand guard yourself, you have to pay a stipend to any squad member who takes the shift, right? "Back in our squad, Fanny handled duty. When something came up, she swapped shifts with others, or the various Whip of Order squad offices in the Church Affairs Building could pool their money to hire a joint attendant." "As for arrays, the pets at my house can set them up. Well, my pets can also stand guard." "Right, the pets at your house..." Neo rolled his eyes at Karen. "Fine, having that entity stand guard for you—that level of configuration truly leaves nothing to be said." "Captain, what's next? Which procedure do we still need to run through?" "You don't need to pick up equipment. None of the people under you lack gear, and none of them would look twice at such low-grade stuff anyway. When the time comes, just get someone to claim it and flip it on the black market for some cash." "Got it." "Alright, nothing else then. Head back and set up the three arrays, then report in according to the instructions in this booklet. Once those three sides respond, all the procedures are considered done. "Congratulations, Captain Karen. May you and your squad be like hunting hounds, forever feasting on the fattest, juiciest meat." "Thank you, Squad Commander." "I won't see you back. Hail a cab yourself; I still have some business to attend to." "You're that busy, Captain?" "Yeah, swamped. So busy I don't even have time to sleep. I need to track down Gendy and run him through the procedures too. That way, the three Whip of Order squads under me will be complete." "Alright, Captain, go attend to your business then." Karen walked out of the Church Affairs Building and hailed a taxi by the roadside. He suspected that the Church of Order always placed buildings like the Church Affairs Building right beside public roads without any barriers simply to save on travel allowances for the priests. After all, if you put it in some remote spot outside the city, visiting would be a hassle, requiring dedicated bus routes and chartered cabs. It was far cheaper to let everyone arrange their own transport like this. Instead of giving the driver the funeral parlor's address, Karen gave the location of Richard's home. The grave-robbing mission was in no rush. Neo still needed to draft a detailed plan, and that could not be hurried. Since Neo wasn't going personally and Karen would lead the team, nagging him until he grew annoyed and did a half-hearted job would only bring trouble upon Karen's own head. Besides, he had to wait for the ten squad members to assemble. Many were still in other regions and needed to take teleportation arrays to gather in York City. For now, it seemed the missions concerning the Compasini burial grounds and the Rax copper coin could only be launched once the squad was formally established and entered a stable phase. Thus, Karen found himself with another brief break. By habit, he needed to make the rounds visiting relatives first. Today, he would go to Richard's house to check on two of his squad members—well, mainly to visit his grandmother, Madame Tangli. Tomorrow, he would head back to Allen Manor to see Count Rekar and Old Saman lying in their coffins—well, mainly to visit Eunice. If he didn't take advantage of this lull to handle these personal matters, he wouldn't have time once things got busy again. Arriving before the Guman villa, Karen stepped out of the taxi with his briefcase and couldn't help smiling. He spotted an old acquaintance again: his uncle-in-law, Inquisitor Dake. Every time Inquisitor Dake appeared here, he looked deeply conflicted and melancholic. Swap his gender, and he would look just like an aggrieved daughter-in-law bracing herself to face her husband's parents. This time, however, seemed a bit different. Inquisitor Dake's face bore unmistakable distress. Karen walked over and greeted him. "Mr. Dake." "Oh? Karen." Inquisitor Dake immediately scrambled to his feet. "What a coincidence, running into you again, Karen." "Is something weighing on your mind, Mr. Dake?" "Yeah. There's been a problem with my work. Due to an operational blunder on my part, an aberrant demon ran amok and ate three people." "Has the matter been resolved?" "The aberrant demon? It's been handled." "What happened?" "Originally, the aberrant demon had already been captured. I took part in the apprehension alongside a Whip of Order squad, but on the escort back, it broke free of its restraints and escaped again. "Not only did three ordinary people meet with misfortune, but the captain of that Whip of Order squad was also severely injured." "Was the root cause really on you?" Karen asked. Logically, when a Whip of Order squad carried out a mission, local inquisitors only provided support, intelligence, or an extra hand. "If we're strictly talking responsibility, I don't believe it was mine. At the time, I suggested executing the aberrant demon on the spot and bringing back its corpse, but their idea was that capturing it alive would yield a higher reward. "Of course, I'm not saying this to shirk responsibility. I accompanied the transport, and the demon escaped right under my nose." Karen understood and asked, "So when accountability is assigned after the fact, because that captain was injured, the blame will fall on your head?" "Yes. In the past, being reprimanded for a slip-up at work would just be routine. But right now, Lucie is pulling strings to transfer me into her department. Most of the groundwork was already done, and if this reprimand comes down, all of Lucie's prior efforts might go to waste." So that was where the problem lay. Lucie wanted to pull her husband into her department. While he wouldn't be doing array work like her, every department needed staff for other administrative duties. For a local inquisitor, even a lateral transfer counted as a promotion. Ordinary inquisitors had truly bleak prospects, both in compensation and career trajectory; Inquisitor Pavaro in the past had been a prime example. "Sigh, I'm truly useless," Inquisitor Dake said with a bitter smile. "Originally, I was completely against Lucie pulling strings for me. I'm grateful she chose me back then, but I really didn't want to ride on my wife's family's coattails. This time, it's because of an internal church policy: if both parents work in Lucie's system, their children receive guaranteed admission to the church's higher academies. "If it were just me, it wouldn't matter at all. But Lucia's future... I really can't bear to hold her back." "Ask the old gentleman for help. If he speaks up, the issue will be easily resolved." "Ah!" Dake clutched his head, practically sinking into a squat. "Mr. Karen, do you know? As I squatted here just now, I've been running through scenarios in my mind of bringing this up to the old gentleman. I feel so hopeless, so miserable." "Still, there's no way around it." "I know, I know." Mr. Dake patted his pockets, then gazed silently at Karen. Karen glanced at the cigarette butts on the ground, realized he had run out, and pulled a pack from his own pocket to hand him one. Dake glanced at the cigarette pack. Even in his low spirits, he instinctively murmured, "Good smoke." Ventura had helped Karen grab plenty of tobacco and liquor from the hotel. Most had been sold on the black market for point coupons, but a little had been kept for Karen to bring home. "Mr. Karen, you go on in first. I won't go in with you. The old gentleman has today off. Once you go in, his and the old lady's moods will improve a lot. I'll go deliver him his frown later." "All right, I'll head in first then." *** "Listen to you. Fine if you don't care about your son-in-law, but when it involves your granddaughter's future, how can you just sit there and do nothing?" Holding a cup of black tea, Madame Tangli looked out at Dake sitting by the curb, grumbling at her husband. Elder Delon, who had the day off, sat in a chair reading a copy of *Order Weekly*. He replied: "I'm waiting for him to come beg me." "As if you didn't know the boy cares so much about saving face." "Heh. Either you have the ability to earn face through your own merit, or you throw face on the ground and stomp on it yourself first. Having no ability yet caring about face only makes you a laughingstock." "Can this matter be smoothed over?" "I've looked into it. It's no big deal. Lucie quietly handled almost everything, and Inquisitor Dake's past performance evaluations have always been decent. This reprimand is really just a formality. The fault doesn't lie with Dake; it was that Whip of Order captain whose greed made him lose his sense of propriety. As long as an explanation is included in the transfer report, nothing will come of it." "Yet you refuse to write it?" "Lucia is my granddaughter, but she's his daughter. If he's not in a rush, what's my hurry?" "You stubborn old thing, I've noticed you really treat granddaughters and grandsons completely differently. Does the 'Guman' surname mean that much in your eyes?" Elder Delon did not dispute it. "Heh. If something happened to Aisen, for the sake of Richard's future, I don't believe you'd sit here waiting for Aisen to beg you." "It's different. Aisen isn't cut out for this line of work. Besides, setting aside his temperament... his ability is entirely flawless." "Oh, Karen is here! Haha, my little Karen has come to see me." Elder Delon chuckled. "Look how thrilled you are. Anyone who didn't know better would think Karen was your grandson." Madame Tangli retorted, "Wouldn't you want a grandson like that?" "Couldn't afford him. If Richard were even half as outstanding as Karen, I'd have to pinch my thigh several times a night to see if I was dreaming. "He probably returned yesterday. The Gate of Samsara trial is over, so next he'll be forming his Whip of Order squad. The high council's reform signals are crystal clear: for young people right now, the Whip of Order offers the greatest prospects for future advancement. "Sigh, he's carved out his own path. He's very young right now, lacking sufficient merit and seniority. But the thing is, as one of the most prominent, exceptional figures of the younger generation on the surface, he won't lack opportunities to earn merit and seniority. "From here on out, all he needs to do is take steady steps forward, and he'll be steadily climbing upward." Hearing this, Madame Tangli broke into a broad smile and pressed, "It's really that easy?" Elder Delon snapped testily, "He fought for this with his own talent and his very life. As long as you're willing to endure hardship early on, everything that follows becomes easy." "Yes, the child truly suffered plenty. I'll go simmer some broth for him to drink. I'll just use the tonics you brought back this month." "Fine, fine, whatever you want. Just save a bowl for me." "Heh, shameless old thing, competing with the children for food." "I..." "I'm going to the kitchen. Aren't you going down to greet him?" "Tell Richard to go. It's good for them to bond more. I'll stay here and keep an eye on Dake. I'm afraid that after sitting there for half a day, he'll just drive off in the end." "Keep being stubborn then. Even Felscher was willing to swallow her pride to plead for her granddaughter's future." "Felscher? That crazy woman went out? She came looking for you? Are you alright?" "She went to see the Chief Bishop, on behalf of her granddaughter, a girl named Philomena." "Blood of the Felscher family, huh? Don't pay any attention to them." "Heh, I know that. I don't need you lecturing me." *** Karen rang the doorbell, and Mr. Aisen answered. "You're here." "Hello, Mr. Aisen." "I read about it in the newspaper." "I've finished running through the procedures." "Your experience this time must have been thrilling, wasn't it?" "I'll notify the squad to assemble soon." "Richard is upstairs." "All right, thank you." Mr. Aisen led Karen into the entryway. Karen asked, "Have you been feeling better lately?" "A while ago, I felt some tightness in my chest, terribly suffocating, so I went for a stroll down that street." "Which street? Oh, I understand." "I went to ask around about my name. After returning, I had a heart-to-heart talk with Richard, and my mood relaxed quite a bit." "Keep it up. Don't interrupt the treatment course." "I understand. Still, I'd like to ask: can this illness of mine ever be cured at the root?" "The palliative treatment only provides temporary relief. To eradicate it at the root, we'll need to find a new method." What tormented Mr. Aisen was the bloodline curse of the Arte family. What kind of method could strip away the bloodline's influence on oneself? Unless... A possibility suddenly occurred to Karen. He couldn't help his captain undergo Order-ization because, besides the Light and Bloodthirsty Aberrant Demon bloodlines, no Order remained in the captain's body; the result of Order-ization would be the captain's total erasure. Mr. Aisen, however, was a believer in Order. Could Karen resolve his bloodline issue the same way he had handled Muri's? Yet this raised several serious questions. Whether Mr. Aisen himself was willing was secondary; if this were done, could it be hidden from Elder Delon? Muri had been recruited by Karen only after falling into complete despair with both the church and his family. The Guman family, on the other hand, had always remained loyal to the Church of Order. With the precedent of how the Benda family treated Muri, Karen was now extremely sensitive about such matters. In any case, a palliative course of treatment was available for now, so there was no rush. Karen first visited the kitchen to check on Madame Tangli. Smiling, she shooed him out, saying she didn't need his help. Afterward, Karen walked up the stairs to Richard's bedroom door, finding it empty. There were sounds coming from an adjacent room. Karen walked over and discovered it was a newly arranged study. Richard was sitting on a sofa, engrossed in a book, with a wheelchair placed nearby. "Oh, Karen, you're here!" Richard put down his book and spread his arms. Two white silk threads shot out, sticking to the study walls. Using them for leverage, he suspended himself in midair, swung across, and landed steadily in the wheelchair. It seemed Richard had almost completely assimilated the bug's abilities, largely thanks to the tempering of profound paternal love. "Nice wheelchair. Very sleek. Got a new one?" "Yeah, bought it from the point coupon shop. Five hundred Order coupons! Want one? I'll gift you one another day; it's quite comfortable to sit in." "No need for me. Keep it as a spare. You'll probably be spending the rest of your life glued to them." "Oh, good heavens, is it really nice to curse me like that the moment we meet, Karen?" "You started it." "You brought up how nice my wheelchair looked first!" "If I didn't praise the wheelchair, was I supposed to say you look handsome sitting in it?" "Fine, let's drop it. I heard that even a god appeared in Samsara Valley this time. Did you see it?" "I did." "Sigh, I really envy you. If only I could see a god." "Plenty of people saw it in Samsara Valley, and then they died. For several days after the battle, they hadn't even finished clearing the corpses from the battlefield." "Now that is true divine might." "Are you out of your mind? Projecting yourself into a god's perspective—where do you even get that kind of empathy?" "Would projecting into a Church of Samsara priest crushed to death by a god make me any happier?" "Richard, Karen, we have a guest!" Madame Tangli's voice drifted up from downstairs. "Hmm, calling me down for a guest is one thing, but why call you too?" Richard pushed his wheelchair out of the study with immense curiosity, and Karen stepped out behind him. Standing beside Madame Tangli in the first-floor living room was a girl holding a fruit basket, looking up at the two of them on the second floor: Philomena Felscher. Richard smacked his lips, covered his mouth with a hand, and sighed: "What rotten luck."