"Oh, our little Karen is finally back! According to the Radio Sprite, Mavaglio sent for you? The Order Knight said to be the inheritor of Marchettini, adept at crafting war instruments and researching war arts?"
"Yeah."
"What did he want you for?"
"Psychological counseling. Theisen was his grandfather."
"Oh, then he certainly found the right person. I doubt many people know you used to work as a psychologist just to pay rent. So, did he pay any point coupons?"
"No."
"Did he give any spell scrolls, then?"
"None of those either."
"What a loss, meow!"
"Haha."
Karen reached out and stroked Purr's back. A cat's back felt the best to pet, especially since Purr had gotten a bit chubbier lately, making it feel even better.
This cat was truly something—drifting at sea for so long, yet gaining weight instead of losing it.
Of course, he couldn't say that out loud, or she would fall into a depression for days and throw a tantrum about skipping dinner.
"By the way, the Radio Sprite said we're heading back tomorrow night. Word came from the teleportation array that they can send us straight back to the York City Region."
"That's great. Spares us the trouble of transfers."
"Yes, and our observation delegation came at our own expense, so we would've had to pay for the transfers ourselves. But tomorrow night's teleportation definitely won't cost us any point coupons. A real profit, meow!"
"Since when do you care about point coupons?"
"Of course I care! Otherwise, having my coffee every afternoon makes me feel terribly guilty when the rest of you live so frugally."
"It's not that frugal. I think my living conditions are pretty good."
"I can only enjoy being extravagant with peace of mind if everyone is wasting money together. Otherwise, it just makes me look like the only thoughtless one."
"All right, all right, no one's going to say anything about you. I'm going to take a shower first."
Karen stepped into the bathroom.
Purr immediately moved over to the bedside, staring at Kevin lying there with doubt in her eyes.
*What's different? He doesn't seem to have changed at all?*
Kevin's canine face tightened slightly, then relaxed again as he lay back down.
Seeing this, Purr simply hopped off the bed, trotted over to the bathroom door, and called inside, "Karen, I really want to eat fish with pickled greens!"
"Sure, I'll make it for you when we get back."
"Awesome, meow!"
Purr ran back, looked at Kevin, and did her best to support herself on her hind legs, spreading her front paws in a shrug.
Kevin rolled over.
"You're the only one who overthinks things. Why are you so sensitive? Not that it matters—I only recognize the Karen who cooks pickled-greens fish for me."
Kevin rolled his eyes. He couldn't be bothered to argue, because you can never wake someone who is deliberately pretending to be asleep.
Karen walked out after his shower and sat on the bed. He wasn't sleepy yet, but with no books he felt like reading around, he could only lean against the headboard with his eyes open, reflecting on everything that had happened over this recent period.
Purr rested her head against Karen's arm, her amber cat eyes fixed on him.
"What's the matter with you today?" Karen asked, habitually twirling Purr's tail.
"The Radio Sprite said you've changed a bit lately. Have you?"
"Shouldn't I be asking you that? Have I?"
"I don't know."
"If you can't tell, then there is none."
"What if you're faking it?"
"If one can keep faking it forever, what's the difference between that and the real thing?"
"Too much thinking. I don't care anymore." Purr rolled over onto her side, belly up. "I miss home, Karen."
"Allen Manor?"
"No."
"The funeral parlor?"
"No, Mink Street."
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Karen's lips. "Why bring that up all of a sudden?"
"I don't know. I'm just scared everything will change." Purr sensed her emotions inexplicably slipping out of control, so she quickly turned to face inward. "Fine, no more talking. Sleep."
Looking at Purr's back, Karen shook his head.
Just then, a black crow appeared outside the window.
Karen got out of bed and opened the window. The black crow spoke in an extremely raspy voice: "Whip of Order, mobilize and stand by!"
*What kind of strange order is this?*
Karen was somewhat puzzled, but while putting on his clerical robes, he said to Purr and Kevin, "I'm heading out for a bit. It's safe here, so don't wander off for now."
"All right, meow."
"Woof!"
Karen stepped out of the room and saw his squad members all emerging in their robes as well, including Vick.
None of them actually knew what was going on or who had sent the black crow, but Vick spoke up right away:
"Let me guess. The one summoning us should be the Whip-Wielder. The High Priest has already departed, and the Whip-Wielder stayed behind to deal with the two pirate families. They're probably making their move tonight."
"And what does that have to do with us?" Muri asked.
Vick looked at Muri with an expression of disbelief. "Are you really a son of the Benda family? The Whip-Wielder came with the High Priest, so his personal guard certainly didn't come along—after all, before the High Priest, who else has the right to put on airs?
"But now, the Whip-Wielder definitely needs an honor guard at his side, right? Otherwise, wouldn't it be too plain?
"Right now, ours is the only Whip of Order unit on Fire Island. If not us, who else would he pick? Draft people from other departments? How improper would that be."
Ashley shrugged. "So, we're really going to act as an honor guard?"
Karen said, "Everyone straighten your attire first. Let's go meet whoever issued the mission. If it really is honor guard duty, make sure to keep your formations natural, just like our security missions in the past."
"Yes, Captain."
Karen led the group downstairs into the courtyard of the detached villa. Standing there was a veiled woman: "By order of the Whip-Wielder, your squad is hereby reassigned as the Whip-Wielder's escort squad."
With that, the veiled woman presented a command token to Karen.
Karen reached out and took the token. It was a flat black stone engraved with the design of a whip. It was cold to the touch and radiated a dense majesty of Order—not merely an impression, but a palpable sensation.
*So generous? A command token could pass as an expensive souvenir; reselling it on the black market would fetch quite a few point coupons.*
Holding the token, Karen saluted: "Squad Karen accepts the mission."
The veiled woman looked at Karen, and Karen looked back at her.
"Where is the Whip-Wielder?" Karen asked. "Are we heading over now?"
The veiled woman took a deep breath and held out her open palm to Karen. "The token."
*Oh, is this like an imperial tally, not an official document given to keep?*
For a moment, the atmosphere turned a bit awkward.
Karen placed the token back into her hand. The woman couldn't help but chuckle. "First time seeing the Whip-Wielder's command token in person?"
"Yes, first time."
"May you see it often in the future."
Her words weren't sarcasm, but a blessing. Only by climbing high enough within the Whip of Order hierarchy would one frequently see the Whip-Wielder's token firsthand.
"Thank you."
The veiled woman led Karen and the others outside. Near the cliff's edge, Whip-Wielder Foden sat on the ground. Holding a bamboo skewer in one hand and an aromatic candle in the other, he was prodding at a small hole in the ground.
Everyone waited nearby for a long time. Finally, a red Fire Island ant was poked out by Foden.
"Marlene, bring my specimen bottle over."
"Yes, Lord Whip-Wielder." The veiled woman produced a small bottle from her robes, crouched beside Foden, and carefully uncorked it.
Foden placed the ant on his palm first, then carefully transferred it into the bottle. He tossed in an object that looked like a sugar cube, then instructed the veiled woman: "It's a queen ant. Nurture it well."
"Yes, Lord Whip-Wielder."
Karen thought to himself: *It seems the Whip-Wielder's hobbies are quite unique.*
Foden stood up, casually tossed the skewer aside, dusted off his clerical robe, and without even glancing at Karen and the others, walked straight toward the cliff.
Ashley licked her lips. If the Whip-Wielder liked this sort of thing, she felt they shared common ground; after all, both she and her parents were researchers in related fields. Still, she didn't dare show off right now and silently remained in formation.
Marlene glanced at Karen, signaling that the mission had officially begun.
With Karen leading the way, his subordinates followed their captain's pace, falling into a semi-arc formation behind the Whip-Wielder. Although Vick hadn't drilled with the group before, he blended in seamlessly; clearly, he knew how these things worked.
At the edge of the cliff, Foden rubbed his neck, then stepped forward into empty air.
Karen naturally wasn't worried that the Whip-Wielder would fall to his death, but after stepping out, the Whip-Wielder remained standing ahead, though now only his upper body was visible.
*Is there a platform below?*
Marlene stepped forward as well.
Karen and the others approached the edge. When they reached the actual brink, everyone froze in shock. Below the cliff lay the head of a black dragon.
This colossal beast had been resting silently against the cliff all this time, keeping the Whip-Wielder company while he caught ants.
A thin layer of white frost was congealed across its body. In daylight, it might have given the impression of a white dragon, but its scales and skin were definitely black.
Karen and the others leaped down, landing on the dragon's head.
When Karen read and studied mythological accounts of various churches or combed through Mr. Hoffen's notes, he had often paid subconscious attention to "dragons." Judging from illustrations, dragons here didn't match the image of a "dragon" in his mind; they looked more like giant lizards with wings.
However, when a genuine frost dragon appeared before your eyes at such close range, you had no mind left to mock its appearance. You could only marvel in your heart that such a massive and powerful creature truly existed in this world.
Even Giragon, who had rampaged across Fire Island earlier, seemed juvenile before it.
Moreover, though this frost dragon was right here, it had completely masked its presence—something almost unimaginable.
"Let's move, Augie."
The dragon's head pulled away from the cliffside. Only then did Karen notice a small hole in the rock face, which had been directly aligned with the dragon's nostrils. White frost and vapor were still drifting out of it.
*So, while the Whip-Wielder was catching ants earlier, this dragon was down here using its breath to drive the ant upward?*
Ashley swallowed hard. She felt that neither she nor her parents had any common ground with the Whip-Wielder after all.
White mist began rising from both sides. The surrounding temperature didn't drop much, but amidst this, the frost dragon took flight.
Its massive body appeared remarkably nimble in the sky, stretching out with supreme grace—one could even call it breathtakingly elegant.
Before long, Fire Island lay diagonally below them. The frost dragon continued flying toward the open sea.
Soon, the dragon slowed its speed and began circling above a certain area. Below was a small island, far smaller than Fire Island. It had a harbor, outside of which numerous pirate vessels gathered—likely the fleet of the Millis or Watson family.
Standing at the very front with his back to everyone, Foden raised a hand.
Marlene looked at Karen. Karen stepped forward and said respectfully, "Lord Whip-Wielder."
Without turning around, Foden said directly, "Pick one of your subordinates and have them go down now to tell the two families on the island that if they choose to surrender, I will grant them exemption from soul torture after death."
*Is this an offer of surrender...? Not sparing the subordinates while executing the leaders, but granting soul clemency after they surrender and die?*
The two pirate families on the island—no, probably not even ordinary pirates—would ever accept such terms, would they?
And the person sent down to deliver the terms...
Karen spoke up, "Yes, Lord Whip-Wielder. I will go down personally."
Hearing this, Foden curled two fingers and said, "However, if anything happens to you, I'd feel like I lost face."
"This subordinate believes that the most dangerous place should be handled by the captain personally," Karen said.
"I wouldn't want that cup of tea of mine to have been splashed for nothing." Foden waved his hand. "Forget it. No need to go down and offer surrender."
Karen said nothing, standing quietly to the side. Earlier, beside the High Priest, the Whip-Wielder's personal aura had been overshadowed. Now, facing him alone, Karen could clearly perceive the overwhelming dread befitting the head of the Church of Order's disciplinary apparatus.
His previous order seemed to have been meant solely to indulge some personal amusement or quirk—or perhaps as a test for Karen?
Whatever. No point dwelling on it. A figure of his stature might have acted without any hidden motive, leaving others to overanalyze in vain.
"Sigh."
Foden yawned, stomped his foot lightly, and said, "Augie, in a moment, you can gorge yourself to your heart's content. These souls have violated Order and must have all traces of their existence erased. You may feast without worry."
"Roar!"
The frost dragon let out an excited roar, and snowflakes actually began drifting through the surrounding sky.
Below, faint points of light flickered across the pirate ships on the sea, but like cigarette embers, they flared briefly and died out. The pirates below had clearly spotted the dragon soaring in the sky, but none dared fire their magic crystal cannons first.
In normal combat, this would mean the enemy's morale had already collapsed; after all, the might of the Church of Order was enough to crush the courage that most pirates prided themselves on.
However, the High Priest's order—or more precisely, the disciplinary judgment handed down in accordance with Lord Theisen's wishes—was to erase all traces. Survival through surrender was never an option.
Foden sat down and raised two fingers. Marlene retrieved a cigar case from her robes and pulled out a cigar. Karen noticed a book tucked beneath the cigar case.
Marlene looked at Karen, gesturing for him to help hand the book to the Whip-Wielder first.
Karen nodded, took out a cigar, picked up the cigar cutter, and with a snip, cleanly clipped it.
Marlene blinked, though she wasn't surprised. For an ordinary member of the Whip of Order, seizing any opportunity to get close to the Whip-Wielder was only natural.
In truth, Marlene had misread him. Karen wasn't Alfred; he wasn't accustomed to serving people, so he had simply assumed he should prepare the cigar, completely missing the hint about the book.
Having clipped the cigar, Karen saw no blowtorch. Marlene directed his gaze toward a black stone inside the cigar case.
Karen reached out and picked up the stone. Channeling a trace of spirituality into it, the stone immediately released a fierce, scorching flame. Subconsciously, Karen enveloped his palm in the Fire of Order, insulating himself from the heat.
He then held the tip of the cigar to the flame to light it.
Marlene didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Holding a fire spirit stone directly in his bare hand to light a cigar—was he trying that hard?
Noticing something, Foden turned his head. Seeing how Karen was lighting it, he couldn't help but chuckle.
"You're quite creative."
Karen handed the lit cigar to Foden. Foden took it and shook his head. "Actually, I don't care much for these, but the High Priest likes this flavor."
Marlene handed the book to Foden, who took it.
"The High Priest likes this book. He even had someone 'sponsor' the author, providing a fixed monthly allowance so he could focus on writing.
"Still, I can't get into it. It's dreadfully boring."
At that moment, violent space-formation fluctuations rippled across both the eastern and western horizons of the sea below.
"Forget it, keep it. Consider it a gift for an opportunist like you."
Karen took the book and replied, "Thank you, Lord Whip-Wielder."
Foden stood up and stretched. On both sides, formation ships appeared first, establishing teleportation arrays. Soon, two fleets of modest size emerged in this sea area, though at this distance, their flags were impossible to discern.
Foden asked, "Care to guess whose fleets have arrived?"
At a moment like this, the most instinctive answer would be fleets from the Church of Order, but Karen immediately dismissed that thought.
After a brief pause, Karen answered, "The fleets of the Moon God Church and the Church of Samsara?"
Foden smiled, turned to Karen, and said, "Don't take being called an opportunist as criticism. The mediocre don't even have the qualifications to seize opportunities."
"Yes, I will keep your teachings in mind."
"You're right. Still, I did this to save some costs for our church.
"Aren't those two currently fighting tooth and nail across several nearby sea regions? So I had each of them dispatch a small fleet here to join forces and wipe out these pirates first before heading back to continue their own brawl.
"Do you know what gives a master the greatest sense of accomplishment?"
The question was again directed at Karen.
Foden raised a finger, traced a circle in front of Karen, and continued, "If you can answer this question correctly, I'll give you this cigar to smoke."
Karen recalled all of Foden's previous actions, using those details to deduce the man's inner mindset and trace his line of thought toward the answer.
Parting his lips, Karen replied:
"It is when you ring the bell, and the dog at home runs to you as fast as it can."
A smile surfaced on Foden's face. Without confirming whether Karen was right or wrong, he reached out and gently patted Karen's shoulder.
"Once you're back in Yorktown, do your job well."
Chapter 492