Although Karen had stayed at the manor for quite a few days this time, he had not been recovered long enough to move around normally for very long, so happiness, as always, proved fleeting.
Neo called. According to plan, while Karen's vacation was winding down, they were to explore Compasini's burial ground.
Neo had already drawn up the mission plan and handed it off to Alfred long ago. All Karen needed to do now was follow the steps outlined in the document, right up until... an accident occurred.
Since they were not heading to the York City Church Affairs Building to use the teleportation circle, Karen left Purr and Kevin behind at Allen Manor for now.
When they parted, Eunice did not come out to see him off. Dressed in white pajamas, she stood upstairs before the French window, gently leaning against the sill and smiling at Karen.
Like winter sunlight, it brought a deeply comforting warmth.
Purr scampered straight onto Karen's shoulder and whispered, "Don't you get it? Sometimes when a girl says no, she actually means yes."
"I don't get it, but you do?"
"How could I not!"
"Have you ever been in love?"
"I..."
"Have you ever been married?"
"You..."
"When it comes to romance, you don't even have as much experience as Kevin."
"Heh! Resorting to personal attacks, are we? I was feeling a bit guilty about shredding all your stockings, but now? Not a shred! Serves you right!"
"Oh, so that was your handiwork? Nice tears. Very feral. I liked it a lot."
Purr: "..."
...
Alfred drove the hearse carrying the group away from Allen Manor toward Sangpu City. At a gas station just outside the city, they rendezvoused with Neo, who had been waiting for them.
Karen got out of the hearse and slid into Neo's car. Neo hadn't brought his luxury VIP car, opting instead for an ordinary sports car.
"How was your time off?" Neo asked, starting the engine while gesturing to the hearse behind them to follow.
"Quite good. Very comfortable."
"Give me a smoke."
"No thanks, my soul injury has healed."
"Bah!"
Neo spat his chewing gum out the window and cursed:
"I meant give *me* a cigarette! Didn't you take all those Thunder God Cult special-issue cigarettes I had in my VIP car? You didn't leave me a single pack... no, not even a single stick!"
"Smoking is bad for your health. Using them as medicine is fine, but smoking too much will still get you addicted."
"Speak human."
"My injury healed, so I didn't bring any."
"Damn it!"
Left with no choice, Neo opened the glove compartment and pulled out a small potion vial stamped with a white skull.
With a twist of his fingers, he popped it open, tossed his head back, and downed it in one gulp.
"There's no need to abuse your body like that."
"I can see you're glowing with vitality—the unmistakable look of someone freshly nourished by love. Don't you think offering me comfort right now is a bit cruel?"
"Yeah, a little. But if I weren't cruel to you, how would my happiness stand out?"
"Do try to be decent."
"All right."
"I've got things pretty much sorted for this trip. We take the teleportation circle from Sangpu City straight to Morgan, and from Morgan we take another to Maxinla, which sits right on the edge of the Peste Desert Restricted Area.
"From there, we take a sand skiff straight into the restricted area. It should take about two days to reach our destination—the burial ground of Compasini, according to our current intelligence."
"Mm, very efficient."
"I've even scheduled the accident. There are quite a few shady factions inside the Peste Desert Restricted Area; sand bandits are considered small fry in there. Normally, anyone entering the zone who isn't killed by the bizarre, unpredictable environmental shifts easily falls into the hands of those weird factions.
"So I had Bertha find a reputable guide down there ahead of time. This guide will personally pilot a sand skiff to take us into the restricted area."
"Is this guide reliable?"
"Definitely not. I told Bertha not to haggle; whatever price he named, Bertha accepted on the spot. On top of that, I deliberately had Bertha reveal her identity as a Light remnant.
"You know how it is in this era—to most factions, 'Light remnant' is practically synonymous with 'fool.'
"I looked up the guide's true identity in our church's Whip of Order archives from other regions. He's actually the leader of a faction based inside the restricted area."
Karen understood and nodded. "If we bait him into trying to rob us, our journey will actually be smoother."
"Exactly! That's my thinking. If he wants to strike, he'll definitely take us to our destination first. The excuse I gave him was that we're searching for a lost sacred relic.
"That way, we won't have to deal with any of the other bizarre factions in the zone. We just wipe out his bunch alone—saves time and effort.
"Our goal is still to get in and out quickly so we don't delay returning to serve Order once our leave ends."
"Mm."
"By the way, how is that Memory Compass?"
"It's already been modified and merged seamlessly with Thousand Phantoms inside me. You have great taste, Director."
"I meant the thirty-five thousand point coupons..."
"Let's settle up when we get back. Who carries thirty-five thousand Order coupons on an expedition?"
"Your car is finished with modifications, by the way. It's parked in the headquarters parking lot right now. I didn't drive it over because I was afraid it'd attract too much attention."
Karen reached into his pocket and produced a bearer card from a black-market private bank. "Oh, would you look at that—there actually is a card in my pocket. Guess I missed it the last time I did laundry."
Neo reached out and took the card. "Is there thirty-five thousand on it?"
"More, certainly not less."
Neo nodded, feigning complete trust. "Then it's exactly thirty-five thousand."
As the car rolled into downtown Sangpu City and neared the Church Affairs Building, Neo asked out of curiosity, "Do you have a blacksmith around you?"
"I think 'runemaster' describes them better."
"That dog?"
"And the cat at home."
"Then you've hit the jackpot," Neo said enviously. "They're literally a fortune dog and a fortune cat!"
"Depends on their mood. I won't force them."
"Cutting off my requests before I can even make them?"
"Not at all."
"Doesn't matter. Some other day I'll buy some coffee and track down a few posters of the Goddess Mills, then pay your pets a visit."
"Isn't that a bit ridiculous?"
"What's ridiculous about it? I don't have many hobbies, but I've got a good heart. I love pets."
In truth, Purr and Kevin had previously been limited by their suppressed power, unable to utilize many of their skills and techniques—just as even the most skilled homemaker couldn't brew fine Wien bean paste without soybeans.
Now, with another layer of Kevin's seal undone by Karen, the two working together could indeed accomplish things that had previously been out of reach.
Just as Neo said, if the household cat and dog could moonlight as runemasters and take on private commissions now and then... if nothing else, Purr could drink expensive coffee until her belly burst.
They arrived at the Church Affairs Building. After parking, Neo popped the trunk, pulled out masks, and handed them to everyone stepping out of the hearse:
"Put them on. Conceal your identities."
Led by Neo, the group entered the Church Affairs Building. Ordinarily, using a church teleportation circle required real-name registration, but Neo produced a document that allowed them to bypass the entire registration process.
The teleportation circle tickets had been reserved well in advance. After collecting their tickets, they stepped into the formation circle and waited for it to activate.
"We didn't register?" Ventura asked, only just realizing it.
Neo rolled his wrists and said, "I issued myself an official dispatch letter for a covert operation. In other words, I assigned myself to execute a secret mission, so no registration needed.
"That includes our teleportation tickets for this trip—I can slip them into future missions and get them reimbursed later. Heh."
Using public resources for private enterprise.
Karen smiled. "When it comes to abusing authority for personal gain, you've really done your homework, Director."
"Heh, I'm testing the law on myself to thoroughly understand the loopholes. That way, when I get promoted further in the future, I'll know how to plug them."
"That makes total sense."
The teleportation circle activated, enfolding everyone in bright white light.
...
After transferring through Morgan, the group took another teleportation circle to Maxinla.
Stepping outside the teleportation circle hall, they spotted the guide who had come to meet them.
He was an old man with white hair and a white beard, slightly hunched, accompanied by a little girl who looked about eight years old, seemingly innocent and adorable.
As they walked over, Neo whispered to Karen, "That little girl is at least thirty. She's a dwarf."
"How can you tell?"
"I can sense the vitality in her blood—definitely not the fresh vigor of a child. Don't get me wrong, I've never drunk a child's blood! Actually, outside of combat, I don't make a habit of drinking blood at all."
"Last time, sweeping the streets..."
"That was an accident! Blame Bernie!"
"Honored guests from afar, I am Malri, and this is my granddaughter, Nailing."
"We give thanks to the great... *cough*, thanks to fate for granting us your assistance. I believe that on the journey ahead, we will receive the clearest guidance."
"Of course! By the God of the Desert, we shall surely have a delightful journey!"
The group piled into Malri's vehicle. After driving out of town into the desert expanse, Malri gestured for everyone to disembark. Waving a staff toward the open sands, he caused a sand skiff to surface from beneath the dunes.
It truly resembled a boat, though it had no sails; its propulsion was powered by magic crystals.
Neo remarked, "Oh, this thing is practically a point-coupon incinerator."
The interior of the sand skiff was much like a bus. Once everyone had boarded, the skiff took off at great speed. Splashing yellow sand completely covered the windows, but fortunately Nailing lit an oil lamp to keep the cabin illuminated.
"Please bear with us, everyone. To conserve energy, we have to make do with a kerosene lamp for now."
Karen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. They were burning magic crystals for propulsion, so what harm would it do to hook up one extra electric light or activate a small illumination circle? Did they really need to pinch pennies while spending a fortune?
Soon, however, Karen noticed something amiss. As he breathed, he felt a subtle rejection and disgust, indicating that a substance akin to pollution was drifting through the air.
"Would anyone care for a bite to eat? I brought plenty of our local delicacies—please, feel free to try some."
"No need," Neo refused flatly. "We brought our own. You can save yours."
Apart from Karen, everyone present—Neo, Philomena, Alfred, Ventura, and Muri—opened their backpacks and began taking out food.
Karen reminded them, "The climate is dry here. Drink plenty of water."
As they ate, each of them cracked open a bottle of purification potion and drank it down.
After traveling for a while, old Malri, who was piloting the skiff, called out with a chuckle, "Folks, we're about to enter the Peste Desert Restricted Area! Just ahead, still on the perimeter, is a small tribe of sand snake-people. Would you like to check it out?"
"Forget it, let's skip it. Better to save time and reach our destination early," Neo declined, then grinned at those beside him. "Besides, that Richard kid isn't here anyway."
Hearing this, Philomena asked, "What kind of place is a sand snake-person tribe?"
Karen explained, "Something like a tourist attraction that preserves distinctive folk culture."
Judging by her gaze, she didn't believe him, but she nodded anyway.
Karen wasn't entirely lying either, since regional specialty 'pastry shops' were, after all, part of local folk culture.
The main reason Neo brought up Richard was that there had been a period when Richard was obsessed with treating people to pastry shops.
After that came straight traveling. Once they entered the Peste Desert Restricted Area, the weather turned bizarre: one moment clear skies stretching for miles, the next a violent thunderstorm; at times mirages shimmered, while at others utterly baffling extreme weather manifested.
Fortunately, Malri was an experienced guide capable of handling these conditions adeptly.
Along the way, Nailing read aloud some of the essays and poems Peste had left behind about this region.
Peste had been a wandering bard from over two thousand years ago. Some said he belonged to a family-based faith system, while others claimed he had been a priest of a certain cult.
He had traveled through many lands and left behind numerous poems; even today, many place names were derived from the imagery in his verse.
The reason this desert restricted area bore Peste's name was that it had been his final resting place—the endpoint of his life's journey.
Reclining or sitting, resting while listening to a thirty-something woman pretend to be a little girl, telling stories in a childish voice, passed the time well enough.
Finally, after Neo and Malri cross-referenced their map markings together, their destination was in sight. At their current speed, less than a quarter of an hour remained.
Neo put away the map, sat down beside Karen, and rubbed his shoulder. "My body's practically rusting from sitting so long. I'll need to stretch properly in a bit."
Saying so, Neo reached up with both hands, grabbing the crown of his head with one and his chin with the other, twisting several times without managing to crack anything.
"Want me to help?" Karen offered.
Neo declined, "Forget it. I'm afraid you don't know your own strength. Not safe."
Nailing took out an anthology of Peste's poetry on her own initiative and said to Neo, "Mister, I'd like to give this to you as a souvenir."
Neo and Karen exchanged a glance and smiled.
Weren't they supposed to make a return trip? Giving souvenirs now as a farewell?
Naturally, in Nailing's eyes, their smiles looked like the fond, knowing grin adults wear when amused by a child's innocent charm.
"All right, thank you, sweet little Nailing."
Neo stood up, walked over to Nailing, and accepted the book of poetry.
"Mister, I have another poetry book here. Could you sign it for me?"
Neo teased, "Why not ask that big brother over there to sign it? Look how handsome he is."
"I'm... I'm too shy..."
"Hahaha! All right, all right, I'll sign it for you."
"I'll get a pen for you."
Just then, Malri turned his head and called out, "Say, could one of you take a look? Should we keep going or stop right here?"
Karen stood up and walked over to the helm, leaning forward. "We can go a little farther. There's still some distance."
"Is that so? Exactly how much farther?"
"Keep going for another..."
*SCREEECH!*
At that exact moment, Malri slammed on the brakes. The sand skiff screeched to a sudden halt, sending everyone inside pitching off balance.
With a flick of Nailing's fingertip, the cap popped off the pen to reveal a razor-sharp dagger glinting with black light, which sliced cleanly across Neo's neck.
*Snikt!*
In an instant, a gaping gash ripped open across Neo's throat. His head tumbled backward, dangling by nothing more than a thin strip of flesh tethering it to his torso.
Malri seized Karen's arm with his left hand, while his right held a pulsing red fruit resembling a beating heart right before Karen's face. He bellowed:
"This is a Cursed Fruit from the restricted area! The moment I crush it, everyone in this enclosed space will be splattered with corruption! So none of you move a muscle—be good and obey!"
The sand skiff sat stranded atop a dune. Over twenty figures emerged from the sand—Malri's men, now closing in on the skiff.
Malri shouted toward the passengers, "Don't resist! We're only taking what we want. We have no interest in needless killing. In fact, we'll take you back and guarantee your safety—after all, we care deeply about our reputation!"
Seeing that everyone remained quiet, offering neither resistance nor protest, Malri felt thoroughly pleased. This job was in the bag.
Right then, a scene unfolded that left Malri dumbfounded beyond belief.
Held hostage, Karen opened his mouth, craned his neck forward, bit the Cursed Fruit hovering before his face straight into his jaws, and began chewing.
Malri: "..."
*Crack... crunch... snap...*
Neo reached up with his left hand, seized his own head, hoisted it upright, and shoved it back onto his neck. To lock it in place, he even twisted it a few times, producing a dense flurry of bone-cracking snaps:
"Ahhh, that's the stuff..."
Chapter 549