Taking the Stage!

*Screeech—* Tires squealed as the car ground to a halt. Richard opened the door and stepped out. He noticed another car parked just ahead of him. The license plate was familiar, but there was no one inside. Glancing toward the flowerbed beside the drive, he immediately spotted his uncle-in-law sitting among the flowers, smoking a cigarette. Inquisitor Dake... no, Adjudicator Dake now. During the Abyss Angel incident, thanks to his connection with Karen, Inquisitor Dake hadn't needed to share credit with anyone and had earned tremendous merit in full, jumping straight from the lowest-ranked Inquisitor to Adjudicator. As a son-in-law of the Guman family, although the position was still "marrying up," it was vastly better than before. Yet arriving outside his father-in-law's door this time, he had still sat in the flowerbed just like old times to steady his mindset. People sometimes clung to so-called habits not because they couldn't break them, but because they were reluctant to let go of who they used to be. "Uncle?" "Ah, Richard." Dake stood up and patted the dirt off his backside. "Morning." It was the early hours of the morning, so wishing him a good morning wasn't technically wrong, just a bit awkward. "Uncle, do you need something?" "Yeah. I came to see your grandfather to ask him for a favor." "What's so urgent that you had to come at this hour? By the way, is my grandfather home?" "He's back. I saw him outside the Church Affairs Building. He's inside right now—shifts must have rotated, and their meeting over there wrapped up. Are you off duty now too?" "No, I came back to ask Grandfather for something as well." "What is it?" "The volunteer mission. Karen's in charge of picking the roster, and he won't let me sign up unless Grandfather gives the nod." "Er..." Dake scratched his head. "Uncle, are you coming in with me?" "No, no. On second thought, what I came for isn't that important. Forget it, I won't disturb Father's rest. Go on inside; I'm heading out." "Uncle?" "Really, it's fine. I'm going home." "All right, Uncle." Adjudicator Dake got into his car and watched Richard walk into the house. In truth, he had come tonight to pull strings too, hoping to use his father-in-law's connections to get his own name onto that roster. He hadn't discussed it with his wife, Lucie. It had been pure impulse. Sitting in the flowerbed in the biting night wind for so long hadn't managed to cool his head either. Having just earned merit and gotten promoted, a man was prone to riding high, full of enthusiasm across the board. But the moment he heard Richard was here for the exact same reason, Dake knew his chances were gone. Richard was bound to get berated and shut down by his grandparents. If Dake followed him inside with the same request, it would only make them think he was jumping on the bandwagon—or worse, that he had egged Richard on. As for pulling strings, that was completely out of the question now. So it was better to just go home, crawl into bed, and get some sleep. Who knew? Maybe he'd wake up and find he'd been chosen anyway. *** Richard walked through the entryway and saw his grandfather, Delon, sitting on the living room sofa, holding a bowl of tonic soup his grandmother had brewed personally. It was plain to see that Grandfather was utterly exhausted, but upon seeing his eldest grandson return, he spoke up first: "You're back." "Yes, Grandfather, I'm back." "Dear, your grandson is back. Ladle a bowl for him too; he must have worked hard today." "Yes, yes. You people of the Guman family are all so very busy. No one in the world works harder than you. The Church of Order couldn't possibly function without the Guman family, could it?" Madam Tangli grumbled under her breath as she brought out a bowl of soup and handed it to Richard. "Heh heh, thank you, Grandma! I love Grandma's soup the most. Once you taste Grandma's cooking, you never forget it—I missed it so much." "I learned how to make this soup from Karen's maid. Today's my first time cooking it." "Ah, I must have had it at Karen's place, then." "Old man, your grandson wants a favor from you." "Heh, I can tell." Delon set down his soup bowl and gestured with his hand. "Speak up, then. What favor do you want from your grandfather?" "It's like this, Grandfather. You know about the volunteer selection, right?" "I do." "What do you think of it, Grandfather?" "As believers of Order, we should face it calmly and embrace it willingly." "Exactly! That's why I want to be a volunteer." At those words, Delon's eyelid twitched. Madam Tangli, standing behind Richard's sofa, went cold in an instant. Delon said, "The roster will be selected and arranged by the higher-ups. I imagine there are a great many applicants. If you want me to pull strings to get you on it, that's not only against protocol, but also unfair to everyone else who applied." The divine corruption incident was a taboo for Delon and Madam Tangli. Had it been any other dangerous mission, they wouldn't have objected to their grandson going. As an Order priest and a member of the Whip of Order, the nature of Richard's duties dictated that he would routinely face peril—but definitely not this. And so Delon used standard bureaucratic platitudes, intending to brush off his grandson's request. Hearing that, Richard panicked immediately. "Except it's already unfair! Karen is leading the team himself, and he signed up everyone close to him—everyone except me!" "Karen has his own considerations. He didn't sign you up because..." Delon suddenly choked on his words. Madam Tangli's eyes went wide! *What? Karen is leading the team himself?* Richard misinterpreted the silence and continued indignantly, "It's not because I'm weak! He said he's keeping me off the roster out of respect for the two of you! That's favoritism! That's bending the rules! That's playing personal politics! That's—" *Thud!* Before Richard could finish, he blacked out and slumped sideways onto the sofa. Behind him, his kind, loving grandmother slowly withdrew her chopping hand. That strike had landed right on the nape of Richard's neck with pinpoint precision, knocking him out cold. Immediately after, Madam Tangli snapped at the unconscious Richard, "Little bug, if you dare wake him up, I'll dig you out of him and boil you into soup!" Little Jerry didn't dare twitch, feeling deeply wronged. Why was tonight all about either getting stepped on or getting boiled into soup? Yet it knew full well that whether it was Karen earlier or Grandmother now, neither was an existence that it or its host could afford to cross. Delon let out a sigh. "Sigh. I knew it." Madam Tangli said, "He promised me he wouldn't go." Delon closed his eyes. Madam Tangli pressed on, "Call your grandson right now and tell him he's forbidden from going!" Delon waved his hand. "His rank is on par with mine, and we don't even belong to the same branch. I have no authority to order him. Besides, in matters like this, one can only drop hints; there's no way to say it outright." "Old man, are you going to make that call or not?" For once, the whetstone refused the blade's command. He shook his head. "Sigh. I don't have the face to make that call." "Fine. If you won't, I will! I'm going to ask him if he's forgotten how his mother died!" *** "Hello." "Karen, it's me." "Grandmother, did Richard fall asleep?" "He is asleep. Fast asleep." "That's good. He really needs to get some rest." "Karen, are you tired too?" "I took a short nap just now. I'm not sleepy anymore." "This is your home phone." "Yes. I'm getting ready to head to the Church Affairs Building." "If I leave now, I should make it in time to bring you breakfast." "Grandmother, I'm grown up now. I can look after myself. I was just about to cook some noodles." "Have you forgotten what you promised me earlier tonight?" "I haven't." "You said you wouldn't go. A person cannot go back on their word, especially to an elderly grandparent." "Yes, one cannot go back on one's word. When I became a servant, when I received my priest certificate in the Church Affairs Building, I swore an oath to Order. I can't break my word. And the God of Order, above all, is not someone to be deceived." "Don't give me that nonsense! Karen, have you forgotten how your mother died?" "No." "Then how dare you go!" "Because I dare." On the other end of the line, Karen's voice sounded relaxed. "I am your grandmother. I am responsible for your safety. As an elder, sometimes I have to resort to drastic measures. You understand that, don't you?" "Grandmother..." "Go on, speak. I'm listening. You've always been good with words, and I've always loved listening to you talk. Let's see how you intend to persuade me." "I didn't plan on persuading you, Grandmother." "So you have no intention of listening to your grandmother at all?" Madam Tangli stretched out a hand. The freshly whittled rolling pin from the kitchen flew over and slapped into her palm. Sitting on the sofa, old Delon's eyelids twitched at the sight. "Grandmother, I will come back alive." "Bullshit! I already lost your mother to the exact same thing! Do you think words like that still work on me?" "If my grandfather were here..." "If your grandfather were here, he'd be faster than me! He would probably have materialized behind you by now and knocked you cold with a single slap! He wouldn't have to hang up and race against your vehicle like I'm about to! "I lost my daughter, and your grandfather saw the horrors of their final moments with his own eyes! So do you think your grandfather would agree to—" "He would. Because he is Diss." "You..." "I wish so much that I could be like my grandfather—that I could carry light upon me too." "Karen, you are already exceptional enough! In my eyes, you, my grandson, are every bit as good as Diss in his youth! You just need time..." "Grandmother, I don't have much time left." "What?" "Grandmother, the time left for me, and the time left for my grandfather... really isn't much." "You..." "Please understand, Grandmother." Karen knew he couldn't persuade his grandmother by preaching loyalty to Order. That tactic worked on Delon, but had little effect on her since she didn't belong to the Church. He could only try a roundabout approach. After all, if his grandmother truly went wild, it would be quite a headache. "Karen, even if time is short, that's no excuse to throw yourself away. We can hang up now. I'm coming to find you." "Grandmother, I am not Richard." "In my heart, you and Richard hold equal standing." Hearing this, Delon gave a quiet sniff. *Richard's grandmother, do you truly feel no guilt saying that?* Still, glancing at the unconscious Richard, Delon couldn't deny that ever since learning Karen's true identity, most of his thoughts had been consumed by his grandson Karen—even if Karen wasn't named Guman, but Inmeles. It couldn't be helped. Karen was simply too exceptional, so exceptional that the surname was the most trivial of details. The pride of being his grandfather was simply too overwhelming. "Grandmother, what I mean is... you probably won't be able to put me to sleep in an instant like you did with Richard." "Do you know what you are saying?" "I do." *If you come to drag me back, I will fight back.* "Karen, you have truly made me angry." "I'm sorry, Grandmother, but I have to shoulder the responsibilities that are mine. Your grandson's wings have grown strong." Madam Tangli's stern expression cracked; the remark left her caught between anger and amusement. *Click!* Madam Tangli hung up the phone. Delon asked, "So..." "Didn't you hear him? He said his wings have grown strong. I can't keep him caged, because I could never bring myself to break his wings." Delon sighed and said, "That stubborn, foul temper of his is just like mine." "*Cough...*" Madam Tangli choked on her breath and glared at her husband. Yet this time, she didn't mock him, nor did she bring up Diss to knock him down. After all, the old man really had changed quite a bit recently. "Since we aren't stopping him, let's give him our blessing." Delon rubbed his hair. "I believe in Diss's upbringing, and I believe in my grandson even more. My dear, if he can make it out alive this time, then through this deed..." "What do you mean?" "He will shatter every subjective limitation previously imposed on him." "Meaning?" "If Gaspol is promoted as well, then the next Regional Chief might very well be him. An Order warrior utterly loyal to Order, possessed of true conviction, willing to sacrifice everything... "There will be no more reasons or excuses to block his promotion. He will completely wash away every negative label previously attached to him and become qualified to be groomed by the major factions above as their future successor—perhaps even their... standard-bearer. "Because he will have passed the ultimate test." *** "Is your grandmother going to storm over here?" Neo asked, tossing a bowl of noodles. "Not anymore," Karen said. "Must be nice. Having a family, I mean." "I'm sure Miss Elisa wouldn't mind if you started a new family out of loneliness and a need for care." *Slurp...* Neo chewed his noodles and said placidly, "If anyone else had said that, I would have sewn their mouth shut." "Did you ladle a bowl for me?" "Nope." "So selfish." "Heh, we have different tastes." Just then, the phone rang again. Karen had no choice but to pick it up once more. "Hello, Karen." "Grandfather." "Let Richard go." "What?" "I said, take Richard with you." "Grandfather, is Grandmother beside you?" "She is. She agreed to it, and she's the one who said it first: we can't play favorites." "Can't play favorites?" "Karen, between you and Richard, losing either of you would be unbearable agony." "That's why I had Richard—" "So losing one or losing two makes no difference to us." At that moment, the receiver on the other end seemed to be taken over, and his grandmother's voice came through: "The bond between Alter bloodlines can resonate with each other amidst divine corruption. That is because it is inherently a blessing from the God of Eternity—or rather, the curse of the God of Eternity... Naturally, it can also be called—an eternal corruption." *** In the auditorium of the Church Affairs Building, the conference had been fully arranged. A section in the very center of the front row had been deliberately left empty, while all the other seats were already packed. On the dais sat the figures responsible for handling the incident—the Head Bishop, the Regional Chief, and other dignitaries—all in their assigned seats. Beside them, more than twenty communication arrays were active on the tables, indicating that over twenty high-ranking Order officials of even greater status were observing the meeting remotely. The most conspicuous were two communication arrays in the dead center. One projected Jon Schmidt, an executive committee member of the Whip of Order. Within the Whip of Order system, he ranked in the top ten—effectively a second-tier authority figure beneath only Whip-Wielder Foden himself. The adjacent array displayed the projection of a woman: Ingelman Downey, a secretary from the High Priest's Office. The current High Priest was a diligent administrator, so the secretarial office's influence had been greatly diminished during his tenure, yet her presence as an observer signified the High Priest's personal "attention" to the matter. Moreover, today's gathering was not meant to debate measures; the specifics had already been finalized the day before. For all practical purposes, it was a mobilization assembly. The stars of the event were the twenty-four chosen volunteers (including four experts). The Church needed them to sacrifice themselves to retrieve the divine artifacts and quell the spread of the corruption source. Right now, what mattered most to them—and what would bolster their resolve—was public honor and recognition. As for compensation for their families, there was naturally no need to worry. The volunteers began filing in, taking their seats in the center of the front row. Vic's appearance caused several dignitaries in the communication arrays to frown slightly. Karen was the last to enter. He stopped before Marina and Quito, who were flanked by a man and a woman—the two experts from the Church of Principles. Quito looked at Karen in confusion, while Marina muttered, "What are you doing?" To onlookers, Karen appeared to be leading the volunteers in to offer final words of reassurance. Heseth glanced at Bern beside him and asked, "What is he doing?" Head Bishop Bern replied in a low voice, "Putting on a show." "Hmph." Heseth sneered. His impression of Karen was abysmal, as the young man had genuinely intended to make a move on him in the office yesterday. "Young people really do tend to suffer from this sort of affliction." "Indeed. He arranged for quite a few of his own loyal subordinates to be on the volunteer roster. Look at them—office directors, secretaries, his direct underlings." "Heh." Heseth shook his head in disdain, oblivious to the fact that he had also dispatched his own student. In his palm, Bern gripped the newly received roster. As of now, his copy was the only one in existence. He looked down at the very first name on the page: Karen Silva. "Move aside," Karen told Quito and Marina. At that moment, Vic, Alfred, and the others stood up. Seeing this, the other selected volunteers stood up as well. Karen intended to take the seat dead in the center—not to show off, but because for this expedition into the karst cave, he had naturally assigned himself the role of "captain." He would not permit command in such a perilous place to be handed to anyone else. This was not a petty struggle for appearances; it concerned the life and death of everyone present, and he intended to shoulder that responsibility himself. Starting right now, through this assembly, he would cement his position as leader of the team, including command over the four experts. To everyone else, however, the scene looked as though Director Karen, having overseen the selection of volunteers, was taking this final opportunity to offer them earnest words of guidance. In their eyes, it seemed far too staged and attention-seeking. "*Ahem...*" Lord Kumte, the official dispatched from the Dinge Region to oversee the handling of this incident, let out a slightly displeased cough. At this point, Heseth rose from his seat and said in a deliberate, carrying voice, "Director Karen, please return to your proper place now. We understand that you know all about selflessness and sacrifice, having placed your own subordinates onto the volunteer squad. However, there are no friends from the press at today's conference. No matter how long you stand there or how many postures you strike, it won't do you any good." The remark was intentionally spiteful. Piro, who was also seated on the dais, glared at Heseth in annoyance, inwardly cursing the man for being as petty as humanly possible. The entire hall heard Heseth's words, and Karen heard them as well. He turned around, looking toward the dais—at the many dignitaries seated there, at the figures in the communication arrays, and finally fixing his gaze upon Bern. The roster had been submitted on time, but the Head Bishop had used his authority to withhold it. Just then, Head Bishop Bern of the Yorktown Region rose to his feet. Casting an amplification spell, he addressed the entire assembly: "The head of our region's Whip of Order Law Enforcement Department, Karen, will personally lead the team on this mission."