Feelings arise from contrast.
Looking at these young team members under his command, Karen felt a sense of displacement and uncertainty.
He felt a sense of loss over the gulf between himself and them, and hesitated over whether he had truly matured or merely grown pedantic and worldly.
Karen knew very well that he envied them.
Yet Karen knew even better that he could never become like them.
Hm?
Karen noticed that Mr. Memphis was actually chiming in as well, looking quite excited. And he wasn't faking it—at this moment, he was Memphis, not Aisen Guman.
This sight suddenly restored Karen's confidence. There was no reason a psychiatric patient could strive so tenaciously to embrace passion in life while he himself fell prematurely into disillusionment.
On the steps, Kevin lay with his paws crossed and his dog head resting upon them, watching the lively scene of young people before him.
He thought back to that conversation he had once had with Augurev.
In the mythological narrative of the Light of Order, Augurev was one of the four great retainers under the God of Order, the embodiment of wisdom and experience. Rumors said that even before becoming a retainer, he had already been a deity in his own right.
The venue for Karen's final selection trial had been Augurev Fortress within the void.
Kevin remembered how that bald man had once lost his composure in front of him, sighing with emotion:
He had said that once upon a time, when they sat together with the God of Order, they could laugh without restraint, argue at the top of their lungs, and revel in boisterous chaos.
Every time, the God of Order would just sit there, watching their antics.
In the God's eyes, he had seemed to see envy.
Kevin turned his head to look at Karen sitting there, then quickly looked away. He did not believe Karen was that great existence who had once sat before him and made him tremble in terror, but he felt that if Karen did not die prematurely along the way, he would ultimately draw closer and closer to that figure.
Would he become him?
Kevin recalled the last time Karen suffered a relapse of his mental addiction, locking himself alone in the bathroom and letting out muffled, agonizing wails.
He was fighting,
while I...
resigned myself long ago.
Sigh.
The golden retriever sighed.
Kevin felt that he truly had grown old.
...
With the quick meal finished, everyone began packing up their things one last time, preparing to set off.
While Purr enjoyed buying clothes for herself, she also bought backpacks for Kevin, picking them out with great care. She claimed that Kevin was family, so she had to put in the effort.
Though in Karen's eyes, Purr looked more like she was choosing a "dog saddle" for herself.
Since they were traveling far, Purr made Kevin carry a large-capacity pack this time, with two large pockets on either flank and numerous small pouches attached.
To match the color scheme of everyone's clerical robes, Kevin's backpack was black, making him look somewhat like a police dog.
Whenever conditions permitted, however, Purr preferred perching on Karen's shoulder, as it allowed her to sit higher, see farther, and, under the respectful gazes of Karen's team members, relive the feeling of having been an adventure team captain in the past.
Once everyone was ready, Pike drove the hearse and Dincomb drove the used Ponce, ferrying the group to the front of the Church Affairs Building.
After getting out, Karen glanced back at the team members who had fallen into a neat line of their own accord, and suddenly felt as if this were an impromptu, spur-of-the-moment trip.
The teleportation array was in the basement levels of the Church Affairs Building. Even at night, the Church Affairs Hall was bustling, but Karen and his group drew little attention when they entered. People had long grown accustomed to seeing squads deploying and traveling together like this.
Taking the elevator down to the second basement level, they found the "ticket window" for the teleportation arrays.
Tickets were divided into tiers. The cheapest not only offered the most grueling transit experience, but also required pooling a certain number of passengers before activating.
The expensive ones could teleport passengers immediately upon arrival.
Thus, if you bought a ticket for a premium teleportation array, you could still hold your chin high with pride as you passed through "economy class."
Even if riels were swapped for point coupons, the hierarchy brought about by money remained entirely unchanged.
In many of his previous teleports, Karen had taken premium arrays because they were mostly official business and could be expensed.
"Hey, over here!"
Neo stood waving, tickets in hand.
"Let's go over."
Karen led his people over. He had been quite worried Neo might buy the cheapest tickets, seeing as the man had just gone bankrupt.
Yet upon receiving the tickets and realizing they were for the premium teleportation array, Karen grew even more concerned. Was the squadron leader simply smashing the pot because it was cracked—abandoning all restraint?
At that moment, a staff member came over to verify and register everyone's identity information.
Neo pulled Karen aside and whispered, "I had the registrar list our travel purpose as 'harvesting.'"
"Understood."
They couldn't just produce official letters stating they were an observation delegation bound for the Church of the Moon God. After all, everyone in church circles now knew the Church of the Moon God had declared war on Samsara; registering with such paperwork would instantly trigger an escalation up the chain of command.
As for "harvesting," it was essentially a euphemism for taking freelance side jobs, something nobody found unusual.
"First we teleport to the Rodan Region, then to the Phyllis Region, tracing a wide arc. From Phyllis, we teleport down to Niagara Island within its jurisdiction. There's a smuggling outpost on that island with a privately built teleportation array. From there, we can take an array to reach the Mipos Archipelago. That falls under the Church of the Moon God's sphere of influence—in fact, it's considered one of their holy grounds."
"The Mipos Archipelago?" Karen seemed to have some impression of it. "Isn't that not too far from Dark Moon Island?"
"'Not too far' really depends on how you define it, because the actual physical distance is enormous. But measured purely by teleportation hops, yeah, it counts as close.
That holy ground in the Mipos Archipelago served as the outpost during the last skirmish between the Church of the Moon God and the Church of Samsara. You could think of it as right on the front lines of the war."
"That aggressive?" Karen asked.
"It's the quickest and most impactful way to make an impression." Neo licked his lips. "If we teleported to the rear of the Moon God's territory, the effect would be severely diminished.
Besides, I already bought the tickets, and once sold, they're completely non-refundable."
"All right," Karen nodded. Since the tickets were already bought, there was nothing more to say.
"My lords, you may enter the teleportation array."
Karen and the others stepped into the array, which was slowly activating.
Taking this opportunity, Neo glanced at Karen's team members and said, "You all probably know who I am. My apologies for never having a proper conversation with everyone before, but this is an excellent opportunity.
Remember, we are..." Neo mouthed the words "observation delegation," then continued, "So from now on, you may address me as Head, and your captain as Vice... actually, just keep calling him Captain. It rolls off the tongue better anyway."
The array activated. Shrouded in brilliant white light, everyone vanished.
Upon arriving in the Rodan Region, they immediately teleported to the Phyllis Region, and from Phyllis, they teleported to Niagara Island.
The distance traversed was immense, but the journey was quite convenient—though the price of that convenience was rather steep.
In Karen's eyes, this was true extravagance, equivalent to continuously chartering private flights for transfers.
The climate on Niagara Island was warm and humid—more precisely, uncomfortably sweltering. Stepping out of the teleportation hall, a wave of heat struck them full in the face. Even the temperature-regulating clerical robes they wore failed to offer much relief.
Perched on Karen's shoulder, Purr remarked, "This area is rich in monster beasts. Back in my day, it was an adventurer's paradise. Looking at it now, it seems to have been developed quite well."
Monster beasts were themselves an important strategic resource, which was precisely why the Church of Order had established an administrative parish here.
To Karen's surprise, a dilapidated bus was parked across the street. As the group walked out, the bus honked its horn several times.
Stepping straight out of premium teleportation arrays only to be greeted by such a rustic touting scene made for quite a jarring contrast.
Karen soon realized he was mistaken, however, when the female driver leaned out, waving and greeting Neo warmly: "Neo, you son of a bitch!"
Only then did Karen understand: this was an intimate acquaintance of the squadron leader's, contacted in advance to pick them up.
The group boarded. Compared to the battered exterior, the interior furnishings were noticeably upscale, and the cabin clearly possessed reinforced paneling, indicating the presence of numerous defensive arrays.
It was a modified spellcraft bus.
Neo said, "Seqi, you should really see my VIP car. That's a truly fine vehicle."
Seqi snorted. "Fine. If I ever visit Wien, you can take it out and let me see for myself."
Karen replied, "He can't. It's been mortgaged."
"Hahaha!" Seqi burst into laughter. "So, that compensation you promised me won't be paid this time either, will it?"
"Naturally. I believe our past camaraderie as comrades-in-arms is priceless." Neo walked over to the front passenger seat and sat down.
Seqi said coldly, "I don't care to reminisce about my past with you."
"You could phrase that differently so my subordinates don't get the wrong idea. There's nothing improper between us."
Seqi turned her head and shouted to everyone sitting in the back, "I worked with your boss for a while. Then my husband and younger brother both died during a mission, and I quit.
I hate your boss. He was the one who pulled me out alive. I'd rather have died with them! After he saved me alone, I lacked the guts to kill myself, the bastard!"
Neo picked up a pair of nail clippers from the dashboard and began trimming his nails, completely ignoring the woman's tirade.
Seqi turned back to driving and asked, "Satisfied? No misunderstandings left, right? They won't go running to Elisa."
Hearing this, Neo blew on his fingernails and said,
"Elisa is gone."
Seqi looked at Neo in great surprise. "What happened?"
"She was lost."
"Damn it!" Seqi cursed under her breath. Realizing she shouldn't vent any further, she steadied her tone. "For Elisa's sake, I won't charge you any point coupons for this pickup."
"I'll thank you on Elisa's behalf." Neo grinned. "Besides, Elisa never would've suspected anything between us. She knew I don't like flat chests."
Whoosh!
Seqi drew a deep breath.
"Are you trying to make me put a bullet through you right now?!"
"Whatever. Just a hole; it won't kill me."
"Neo, you've really changed a lot."
"That's your illusion." Neo tilted his head, resting it against the window. "I'm taking a nap. Wake us when we get there."
...
The island covered a vast area, divided into inhabited and uninhabited zones. In the uninhabited zones, there were no proper roads, yet the dilapidated bus drove along smoothly.
Calls of monster beasts echoed from the surroundings from time to time, giving Karen the feeling of riding a safari bus through a wildlife park.
Purr remained perched on the window sill, gazing at the scenery outside and occasionally pointing out this or that monster beast to Karen.
Karen didn't look at all, merely keeping his head down and eyes half-closed to rest, offering noncommittal hums and nods to placate her.
Finally, as dusk was falling, the bus came to a halt.
"We're here."
Neo called out, "Take off your Order clerical robes and change into civilian clothes."
Everyone began disembarking. Karen held Purr, who had grown drowsy and was ready to sleep.
Ahead lay a town of considerable size.
Bart asked curiously, "Doesn't the smuggling hub have concealment arrays around its perimeter?"
Seqi glanced back at Bart and replied, "Is it possible that your Church of Order condones this smuggling just to cut costs? When the church decides the time is ripe, they can take it back whenever they want anyway."
Bart looked at Seqi and asked, "You're not from our church?"
Seqi rolled her eyes at Bart. "I took retirement."
"Then why say 'your'..."
"With an early retirement pension of fifty point coupons a month, you expect me to say 'our'?"
"Uh..."
"Do you need to rest here?" Seqi asked Neo.
"If possible, I'd like to head straight to the teleportation array. I need to go to the Mipos Archipelago."
"Didn't you tell me you came here to purchase monster beast materials? You lied to me?"
"Yes. You said it yourself: your pension is only fifty point coupons a month. You tell me—should I have lied to you?"
"Heh, though you don't look like you're on the run, either."
"Either way, our movements can't see the light of day."
"Will it drag me into trouble?"
"Not at all, not at all."
"War is about to break out in the Mipos Archipelago. What are you going there for? To experience and observe life?"
"This time I'm really not lying—you guessed right."
"Then I'm sorry to say that due to a recent volcanic eruption nearby, the energy currents here have been unstable. For safety reasons, the teleportation array operates only during the day. If you want to teleport out, you'll have to stay the night."
Neo nodded. "Then we'll rest. Thank you for arranging our lodging."
"Bullshit. My job ends right here. I can recommend an inn for you—the Makachi Inn down the road. The conditions and prices are acceptable."
With that, Seqi started up the bus, turned around, and drove off.
Neo called out to the group, "All right, we'll rest here for the night. Make sure you clean and iron your Order clerical robes tonight. When we arrive at the Mipos Archipelago tomorrow, we must look impeccably sharp, projecting supreme arrogance and disdain. Understood? Karen, repeat it."
Karen said, "Just act naturally tomorrow."
"Yes, Captain!"
The group began walking into the town. Walking at the head, Neo said to Karen, "'Act naturally.' Amusing. Seems I'm still not used to commanding spoiled young masters and ladies like this."
"Is delaying for one night going to be an issue?"
"It actually gives me time to get in touch with... No, this smuggling hub is bound to have the Church of the Moon God's official smuggling ring. I'll find them and notify them directly so they can prepare a proper reception for tomorrow. Going at night wouldn't be ideal anyway; doing it in broad daylight makes much more of an impact.
Oh, there's the inn ahead. Go get the rooms; I'll head off to make contact."
"Understood, Squadron Leader."
"Call me Head."
"Understood, Head."
The owner of the Makachi Inn was a middle-aged man with a full beard. At the moment, he was sitting behind the front desk holding a heavily made-up woman. When Karen and the others entered requesting rooms, the owner's hand remained inside the woman's skirt, and he bared a mouthful of yellow teeth, grinning even wider.
Karen frowned slightly. If this was what Seqi considered "acceptable," how low was the overall standard of inns in this town?
"All right, all the rooms on the third floor are yours." The owner collected the point coupons and tossed over a single key with one hand.
"Just one key?" Karen asked.
The owner answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world: "All eight rooms on the third floor use the exact same lock. And between you and me, the second and fourth floors are the same, hahaha!"
"I also need food."
"No problem, that's included in the room rate. But do you folks need women or men? Oh, we've even got merfolk here, heh-heh. If you want, I can arrange it, but that'll cost extra coupons."
"No need."
"Oh, right, you brought your own, heh-heh. Though it's mostly men and few women—hardly enough to go around. Or does someone among you have great stamina?"
The owner's lecherous gaze swept back and forth across Ashley, Blanche, and Philomena.
"Heh," Karen chuckled.
"Hahaha!" The owner laughed along.
Karen looked at Philomena and asked, "What are you waiting for?"
Philomena blinked. "Going upstairs?"
"No. Aren't you angry?"
"I am."
"Then what are you waiting for?"
"Oh. All right."
Philomena's figure vanished from where she stood and reappeared behind the owner.
The owner froze. The prostitute on his lap underwent an instant change in expression; her hands elongated as she clawed toward Philomena. With a single backhand slap, Philomena sent the Church of Mills devotee flying.
The owner drew a blade from beneath the counter, its blade glowing with blue light. But Philomena kicked out, driving the blade deep into the floor tiles. The owner tugged with all his might, yet failed to dislodge it.
Immediately after, Philomena seized the owner by the throat and slammed him down onto the reception desk.
Crash!
The desk shattered in two, the owner's upper body riddled with wood splinters.
Philomena raised her boot and kicked the owner once more, sending him hurtling across the room until he slammed into a pillar and tumbled down. His body writhed on the floor; many bones were broken, but he was still breathing.
"Can I kill him?" Philomena asked.
Lying nearby on the floor, the owner scrambled to lift his head, desperately shaking it as he pleaded, "I was wrong... I was wrong... I was wrong..."
Karen replied, "If the midnight snack tonight is unsatisfactory, you can kill him tomorrow morning on our way out."
"All right."
Having thoroughly terrified the owner, Karen led everyone upstairs. When rooms were assigned, Karen took a private room for himself.
The room was reasonably clean. Karen laid the sleeping Purr onto the bed, while Kevin fetched a blanket with his jaws and curled up beside the bed to rest.
Karen retrieved his black notebook from his pack, flipped to the latest page, and wrote:
"I know tomorrow marks the start of the gamble, yet no apprehension remains in my heart.
I don't believe this calm stems from inner strength; rather, I know that true red-eyed gamblers, before stepping up to the table, would sooner believe the sun rises in the west than that they could lose.
The harder someone is about to lose, the more certain they usually feel of victory."
After writing those words, Karen put away the notebook, walked into the bathroom, and washed his face. Raising his head, he gazed at himself in the mirror.
Damp hair, calm eyes.
In the next moment, the Eye of the Dark Moon activated, turning his pupils crimson in an instant.
Well...
Just to suit the mood.
Chapter 446