Seeing Karen standing at the doorway, Kevin quietly opened his canine jaws, "spat" out the little girl's arm, and then rested his chin aggrievedly against the bedsheet, his tail wagging.
Purr immediately helped explain, "This is just a little game between us. Little Bone asked for it herself."
"She asked for it?"
"That's right, meow."
Purr jumped down from Karen onto the bed, then scurried directly up the little girl and sat on top of her head.
A black cat perched primly atop white hair; the contrast in colors was stark.
Little Bone looked blankly at Karen, appearing completely unbothered.
Purr pointed a paw downward. "She only looks human, but don't project this onto an actual girl her age. In truth, she's a little dragon."
Karen understood somewhat.
Purr continued, "She's just a little pet... a little animal. She needs to play, romp around, and interact. That's the universal way animal cubs get familiar with others. The dumb dog was really just playing with her at her request."
With that, Purr patted the little girl's head with a paw.
"Hey, give us a response, or Karen will think we're bullying you."
The little girl nodded, then said:
"Woof."
Karen: "..."
Kevin: "..."
"Hehe, meow, that was an accident. Actually, she doesn't like human speech. She prefers our shorter vocal signals to communicate. Look, a single 'woof' can convey so many meanings—much more convenient than talking."
Karen walked over to the bed and sat down.
The little girl, who had been sitting cross-legged on the bed, shifted over to the edge and sat down as well.
She was actually very sensitive. Most of the time, she deliberately insisted on maintaining formal equality with Karen.
Yet she was truly dropping the watermelon to pick up sesame seeds, since she had already signed a master-servant contract with Karen.
If Karen were a malicious creep of an uncle, she would have already been swindled into his hands with a candy wrapper.
Karen spoke up: "We still need to teach her how to talk..."
Before Karen could finish, Purr smacked Kevin across the top of his dog head.
"Yes, meow! We must teach her to talk! Otherwise, when you take her out in the future and all she can do is 'woof, woof, woof' or 'meow, meow, meow,' it'll be so humiliating! Not imposing at all! Completely ruins the picture!"
Kevin nodded his dog head vigorously.
Purr, who was a cat yet never considered herself one, and Kevin, who was a dog yet never considered himself one, harbored zero qualms about discriminating against their own species.
The little girl began to frown. She could actually understand their conversation; she had simply been having a wonderful time playing, yet the moment Karen walked in, the pleasant atmosphere was ruined.
She bore no hatred toward anyone; she merely disliked the disruption.
Besides, she truly enjoyed playing with Purr and Kevin. She was willing to take the initiative to interact with them because, in her eyes, there was no distinction between "cat" and "dog." She did not feel that associating with "pets" was unequal in any way, and she could also sense that both of them were extraordinary.
Especially... this dog.
When they first met, she had instinctively resisted the cat coming near her and had let out a low growl.
The dog had immediately placed himself in front of the cat, facing her with a profound gaze, and let out a single "Woof!"
She had felt the deep meaning in the dog's eyes—a threat... a warning.
In the end, it was the cat who smoothed things over and kept chatting with her, easing the wariness and discomfort of their initial contact.
Now, she thoroughly enjoyed this atmosphere, but as soon as Karen entered, she felt compelled to subconsciously "maintain equality," which felt exhausting.
If Karen could stay unconscious forever and never come over, that seemed rather nice too.
A child's way of thinking was simply like this. Their purity stemmed from never thinking too far ahead; the little bone dragon, for instance, never considered whether the cat and dog here could still live so carefree without Karen.
What was more, the moment he stepped in, he demanded that she learn human speech... It truly made her uncomfortable.
Last time, that man with a reddish tint beneath his eyes had even said he would teach her another, more beautiful language.
She did not know what a "more beautiful language" meant, but she could vaguely sense it was bound to be much harder to learn.
From Karen's perspective, the little girl's injuries had completely healed. Food and drink had certainly posed no problem lately; Alfred and Neo would inevitably demand better resources and hospitality from the Church of the Crypt.
Though she remained slender with a pointed chin, her seemingly innate melancholy air paired with her appearance created a fitting harmony.
Setting aside the possibility that she might eat you, she was indeed quite adorable in a dazed, silly way.
Muri, of course, would never think her cute.
The corner of Karen's mouth curled into a smile. He raised a hand and gently pinched her cheek.
The girl's lips twitched as she tried to adjust their curve, finally forcing out a smile. Then she leaned in, raised her hand, grasped Karen's cheek, and gave it a pinch too.
Having done that, she sat back in her spot and let out a sigh, feeling utterly exhausted.
Karen said to Purr, "I leave her in your care."
Karen had always left his backyard affairs in Purr's hands.
The maid, the evil gods—all fell under Purr's discipline.
Purr patted her chest with a paw. "No problem! Leave it to me! I'll raise her well. Once she gets a bit bigger, she can take me flying through the sky! Haha, meow!"
Purr used "take" rather than "carry."
That meant she had long since figured out the little bone dragon's temperament.
"She can fly now," Karen reminded her.
"Not the same. She's still too small right now, not imposing enough." Purr flicked her tail against the girl. "Once she grows bigger, if anyone dares mess with me, I'll take her along to settle the score!"
Karen looked at Kevin. Kevin met his gaze with an innocent stare, though inside he was nervous, worried Karen would hold him accountable for using her arm as a chew toy when the door opened.
In truth, even if a hundred golden retrievers bit down on the little girl with all their might, they probably wouldn't break the skin.
Just as Karen had stabbed Lady Augie multiple times with the Sword of Diamans and she still hadn't died, currently remaining hale and hearty.
Karen said, "Help guide her."
Kevin blinked. His current feeling was just like Philomena's when Karen had asked her about official business earlier—a bit flattered by the honor.
Karen stood up. Reaching the doorway, he paused, turned back to look at the little girl still sitting by the bedside, and asked,
"Have you given her a name?"
"Mm, no. Isn't that your privilege?" Purr replied as if it were obvious.
"Then you can help think of one. Name her..."
Purr immediately said, "Kanna Inmeles!"
"That name..."
Purr cut Karen off, calling to the little girl, "Kanna!"
The girl turned her head toward Purr. "Meow."
Purr looked at Karen. "See? She likes the name. And please believe me, she'll talk normally in the future."
"The surname..."
"If she doesn't take your surname, whose will she take? Take mine, 'Allen'? Aiya, although I think raising a dragon in Allen Manor would make quite an impressive picture, and maybe we could even rename it the Allen Family Dragon Manor later, I feel giving her the 'Allen' surname feels like our Allen family doesn't deserve it.
"It's better for her to be named Inmeles. You can just adopt a little granddaughter on Diss's behalf.
"Well, of course, if you plan to adopt a little great-granddaughter on Diss's behalf, that's fine too."
Saying this, Purr tapped the little girl again with a paw.
"Look, you share the same surname with him. That's very equal, isn't it, meow?"
The little girl nodded.
"Kanna it is, then." Karen thought the name sounded quite nice. But a more significant reason was that within the Maklai language family, while many names carried underlying meanings, their permutations were overly monotonous. There was no need to nitpick the wording, though by the same token, the fun of wordplay was lost as well.
Looking at little Kanna, Karen could not help recalling the words from the God of Order he had heard in his dream:
*I do not know whether I like this world, but for now, I do not dislike it very much.*
*Yet what I can clearly sense is that if the deities return one day, it will likely not be the world I favor.*
*If one day this world no longer possesses order and once again degenerates into a playground for gods,*
*when I decide to reshape this world,*
*I hope you will stand by my side.*
Kanna looked up at Karen, their gazes meeting.
Karen smiled and stepped out of the second bedroom.
Viewed this way, it was indeed the God of Order who had awakened the Rebel Dragon God, yet for some reason, that record had been obscured.
As things stood now, he and Kanna resembled a reincarnation of the God of Order and the Rebel Dragon God from the previous era.
However, Karen had debated this question with Alfred and Kevin long ago:
[It is impossible that he is the reincarnation of the God of Order, impossible that he is the return of the God of Order, and even more impossible that his memories had been wiped, causing him to forget he was the God of Order.]
The reason behind so many coincidences was actually simple to understand.
For countless ages, almost no one had walked this flower-scented trail. The last person to pass through was the God of Order;
this time, it was him.
All the resemblances and coincidences were simply because he and the God of Order bore traces of the same floral fragrance. To outsiders, however, that scent was everything.
Philomena brought over food—a heap of raw, cured dishes.
There was also something resembling a rattlesnake, served with a lemon slice resting on its head, presented as a dish.
Karen's Adam's apple bobbed. For the first time, he felt that Wien cuisine was truly a rare delicacy; he even began to miss the taste of bean paste.
"I won't eat. Take it inside for them. I need to make a trip to the task force office. You stay here and look after their safety."
"Yes, Minister."
Karen walked into his bedroom, took a quick shower, and changed into a spare, clean set of clerical robes. When he exited the room, Augie was leaning against the wall in the corridor, looking like a monster that prowled the night eating children.
"Going out?" Augie asked.
Karen ignored her, waving a hand to signal her to step aside.
"I can take you. It'll be faster," Augie offered voluntarily.
Karen gave no reply and stepped into the elevator.
He couldn't afford such a mount.
As the elevator made of giant pythons descended, Karen couldn't help but sigh inwardly. In the past, he had thought that the Whip-Wielder bringing an adult frost dragon to catch ants was a high-profile display of status...
He had misjudged the Whip-Wielder. How could the supreme head of his own department be someone who hadn't risen above vulgar tastes? The real reason was that this dragon only seemed fit for catching ants.
Stepping out of the hotel, Karen waved down a "ladybug."
When Karen gave the name of the hospital where the task force was stationed, the driver operating the ladybug instantly showed a look of agony.
Yet he immediately and obsequiously invited Karen to take a seat, promising to deliver the esteemed sir to his destination at top speed.
Upon arriving at the hospital gates, Karen stepped out and prepared to pay the fare, only to find the driver had already hurried off in his ladybug, looking terrified that someone else might emerge from inside demanding a ride.
It seemed the frequency with which the "esteemed lords" of the Church of Order requisitioned public cabs lately had indeed been exceptionally high.
Entering the hospital, the once spacious flowerbeds were now crammed with cages large and small, packed with various races, not excluding priests clad in Crypt clerical robes.
Many bore injuries on their bodies, evidently having just undergone torture.
Several priests in Order robes walked back and forth brandishing whips to maintain order, keeping the area deathly quiet. There was no commotion, not even groans of pain.
This was the most profound illustration of the relationship between a suzerain church and a vassal church. It was not merely extraterritorial privilege; when the former arrived in the latter's territory, they were true "kings."
A task force formed by a subordinate region of the Church of Order, armed with a single official missive, could arrive in the main city of the Church of the Crypt and, under the pretext of investigating a case, kick up a monumental storm.
"My Lord."
"My Lord."
The Order priests bowed to Karen one after another. Karen nodded to them and entered the hospital.
He found nothing, however, as neither Alfred nor Neo was here.
The two of them were very busy right now. In Philomena's words, they were occupied with arresting and releasing people—though between every arrest and release, a layer of skin had to be peeled off.
Vic brought a glass of ice water over to Karen. "Minister, has your body recovered?"
"Mm." Karen nodded.
Before Karen could ask, Vic took the initiative to say,
"Minister, our preliminary take from this run is estimated to be no less than this figure."
Vic held up an open palm to Karen.
Karen hesitated for a moment, deciding not to ask whether he meant five hundred thousand Order coupons or five million Order coupons.
Five hundred thousand Order coupons was no small sum. In the past, taking missions to earn extra cash almost never yielded such high returns. Yet compared to such a massive operation right now, a mere five hundred thousand Order coupons would be looking down far too much on the priestly lords of the Church of the Crypt's main city.
Five million Order coupons... that truly was an astronomical figure. Considering a servant's basic stipend in the Church of Order was only 100 Order coupons, corruption and extortion really were the fastest ways to rake in coupons.
But there would be allocations. The relevant subordinate departments and personnel taking part in this task force, even the guide priests on the Church of the Crypt's side, would all receive a share; everyone got a piece of the pie.
Still, since this was only preliminary, it meant there would be more income down the line. Moreover, Karen felt that with Vic's status as an "outsider" among his inner circle, Neo and Alfred probably hadn't told him the true total, certainly withholding some figures.
In any case, no matter what, with such a massive influx of revenue, his plan to take in the Dark Moon warriors could finally be realized.
The biggest issue with that group was that while they nominally fell under the jurisdiction of the Church of Order, in practice, they enjoyed none of the Church's stipends. All daily and operational expenses had to be borne by themselves, as did funeral and pension costs.
It sounded rather incredible. As a dog of the Church of Order, not only did Order refuse to throw Dark Moon Island a bone, but the dog even had to provide its own rations.
Yet this was how Order kept its dogs.
For Karen, however, if he wanted to truly assimilate this force into his private army, he had to provide their food, drink, and equipment.
He needed to take Head Bishop Bern as his role model—someone whose garrison would charge the headquarters of the Whip of Order without hesitation if ordered.
After sitting in the task force office for a while and conducting a brief inspection—merely showing his face—Karen departed.
He did not return to the hotel, heading instead to the guesthouse where Commander Daan was staying.
The guesthouse had also been cleared... Dense lines of lizardman guards stood at the entrance, but Karen wore clerical robes of Order, and no lizard stepped forward to check him as he walked in.
When Karen entered the courtyard, he saw Commander Daan bare-chested, sparring against three dark shadows.
Karen did not step forward to help, and Commander Daan took the opportunity to put away his three sparring puppets.
"Recovered from your wounds?"
"Just minor injuries."
"Heh." Commander Daan chuckled, picking up a damp towel to wipe down his bronzed, scar-covered muscles. "You struck first and snatched the prize this time."
Karen knew the commander was referring to the little bone dragon. The report had already been submitted, appended with Augie's assessment. With the master-servant contract signed, Miss Dena could officially be declared out of the running for the little bone dragon.
"I like her."
"As long as you like her. She wouldn't be as useful in her hands as in yours. You have a knack for leading people. You were unconscious all these days, but I went to inspect the task force's work, and it's proceeding very smoothly."
"I'm relieved it didn't delay the work schedule. I was worried my personal matters might..."
"No need to be modest. It was only after entering the Knights that I came to understand the art of command. Being strong on your own doesn't amount to much; what truly matters is who can lead an outstanding team."
"You are right, sir."
"Do you still need to rest?"
When a superior asks you that, never imagine he is genuinely concerned for your health.
"I'm ready to work."
Daan did not toss the towel to Karen, bending down instead to rinse and wring it in the basin.
"In a little while, a legion of the Knights will arrive to trim the Dragon and Sage factions down to size. Before they get here..."
Having wrung the towel dry, Daan spread it over his face again.
After a long silence,
he pulled the towel away, let out a long breath, and said casually:
"Kill her."
Chapter 635