13 Mink Street

Karon had told Pu’er about the captain, and had also mentioned Phileas, but Pu’er had shown no reaction at the time.

The cat at home had some small feline schemes of her own, but they remained within tolerable limits. She had never deliberately hidden anything major from Karon.

The captain’s words now offered the explanation: Pu’er truly had not known Phileas.

Pu’er and Genevieve had once been close friends and adventuring companions. After Pu’er became a cat because of the God of Light’s finger and went to the Immers family for shelter, to the outside world, Pu’er had effectively disappeared.

Only after that had Genevieve come to know Phileas and fallen in love with him. Later, through contact with Bernard, the honeymoon period of cooperation between the Light vermin and Darkmoon Island had come into being.

Looking at things now, however, what Bernard had done back then could indeed be called disgusting. It had already gone beyond the scope of a so-called ruthless hero. Using the Light vermin to develop the island, then slaughtering them afterward, was certainly brutal, but from a purely rational perspective, it could be explained. After all, the Light vermin were the one taboo shared by every orthodox church. Never mind Darkmoon Island a century ago, even present-day Darkmoon Island would face destruction if it dared openly admit to cooperating with the Light.

But what did Bernard mean by deliberately creating those statues? He had even created a statue of Pu’er, forcing her to look on as her former best friend was suffocated to death?

Before coming to Darkmoon Island, Karon could still have felt some sympathy for Bernard. Now, he felt nothing toward the man but revulsion. That fellow was a complete psycho.

So far, Pu’er had mentioned several of her old friends, and none had ended well, but Karon did not find that strange. In many people’s eyes, adventuring was no different from an outing, but adventure truly killed people, and killed them easily. Those who reached a peaceful end were genuinely few. Choosing that path meant being prepared to lie down and sleep forever somewhere along it.

If Pu’er had not become a cat, her eventual fate might have been that many years later, some new adventuring squad would discover Lady Poelle’s remains in some dangerous place.

Karon sat down on his bed, looked at the captain, and asked, “What’s the plan?”

“First, you tell me; did today’s meeting go smoothly?”

“Yes. Very smoothly.”

“Then we’ll need to move things slightly forward. Bernard’s grave isn’t in the ancestral cemetery of the successive Darkmoon clan leaders, but in the Palace of Remembrance, a palace Bernard built for Lady Poelle.”

“So the plan is to charge in, find Bernard’s coffin, open it, drag the corpse out and toss it aside, then pick up the pact conch?”

“No, no.” The captain’s expression recovered, and his speech quickened slightly, as though he had returned to himself again. “When I came back, someone followed me.”

“Followed you?”

“Mhmm. But I shook him off. Also, I have sufficient reason to suspect that the Light vermin currently on the island may already have been infiltrated by the Darkmoon clan.”

“And what is this sufficient reason?”

“It’s been more than a hundred years, and their mark system still hasn’t changed. I, the founder, can still read those marks easily. Do they take the Darkmoon clan for idiots?”

“Captain, based only on that, you conclude...”

“That reason is actually enough. Perhaps at other times, the Darkmoon authorities only monitor them, so long as both sides live in peace, that is enough. After all, exterminating Light vermin would only force them to hide even deeper. Better to keep them somewhere visible.

“But this time, it involves Bernard’s grave. That makes it different. The Darkmoon Clan will definitely prepare in advance. This group of Light vermin is bait voluntarily walking into the trap.”

“We wait until they finish delivering themselves, then go?”

“Yes. That’s my plan. The plan I devised for them is to strike tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow night, you can ask Miss Ophelia to take you around that palace. By rights, this should be something you would inevitably do during this trip.”

“Yes. It would be.”

“Then I’ll act at that time.”

“Just you alone?”

“Don’t I have you?”

“Me?”

“Fine, manpower really is insufficient, but I don’t trust that batch of Light vermin. I even suspect that Mr. Sebas, the host himself, may be a spy planted there by the Darkmoon clan.

“After the first group of Light vermin delivers themselves, the guards will inevitably relax, thinking the matter has ended. Acting then will have better results. You can also receive me from inside the palace. As for other manpower—”

“I don’t want to ask Ophelia out tomorrow night.”

“A moral burden?”

“Yes. Perhaps I’m somewhat pedantic.”

“Don’t worry, I understand. Though I’ve always wanted to destroy Elisa’s family, I never once thought of dragging Elisa into that matter. You can go in your personal capacity. Just let Miss Ophelia wait outside the palace.”

“All right. Thank you, Captain.” Karon naturally understood that if he and Ophelia entered together, the palace guards would likely distance themselves deliberately to give them space. That would create a greater opportunity for a surprise attack.

“No need to thank me. I told you, I understand. Otherwise, what difference would there be between us and Bernard? People, while alive, always need to care about some bottom line. It is not there to restrain us, but to make our lives more refined.”

“Captain, continue with the plan. The manpower...”

“We need to find a way around manpower. I can’t bring my whole squad over. Oh, no, Memphis can be brought. Leaving an Expositor unused would be too wasteful. But what is his character like?”

“Very good.”

“Then that’s troublesome. Sigh. I don’t particularly like dealing with people whose character is too good.”

“But we can explain it to him. For example, we discovered clues that Light and Darkmoon Island once cooperated, and this time we are going to verify them. But because Darkmoon Island and the Church of Order are now in a cooperative relationship, it cannot be exposed openly. We need to issue a warning in secret.”

“Would that work?”

“Mr. Memphis only needs a proper reason, and I think he is rather angry right now and wants to vent.” After all, this was not a suitable place to beat his son. He had to endure until the mission ended and he returned home. Eisen must be suffering quite badly by now.

“That’s true. Then you speak to him, or I do?”

“It would be more suitable for you to speak to him. You can say it was Archbishop Wolfram’s instruction, that we should give Darkmoon Island a small warning and let them understand proportion.”

“Good. I understand.” The captain smiled. “I can tell you’re very good at dealing with people of good character. As for the rest of the manpower, I’ve thought of a solution.”

“What solution?”

“The Church of Reincarnation also brought many priests here, didn’t they? They also have organizations similar to our Whip squads. When the time comes, I’ll lure one of their squads over. I’ll have to see the situation then for the exact method, but trust me, there will be no problem.

“All right. Looking at it this way, the plan is settled.”

“But I still feel it’s somewhat rough...”

“Karon, this isn’t called rough. This is called leaving room and flexibility for the specific circumstances at the time. After all, no plan survives change.”

“All right. I understand.”

“Then there’s nothing else for tonight. Are you going to rest?”

“Richard asked me to go soak in the hot spring.”

“Oh, all right. I won’t go. I’ll rest early and recover some energy.”

“Captain, there’s one more thing.”

“Go on.”

“After we obtain the conch, who will blow it?”

“Me.”

“All right. I understand, Captain.”

The captain yawned and stretched. “You don’t need to worry. Whether I’m Nio or Phileas, I won’t harm you. You don’t have Darkmoon bloodline, you’re in a symbiotic relationship with Lady Poelle, and you can use the power of Light.”

“I know.”

“If I don’t sleep soon, I really am going to fall into derangement. Good night, Karon. When you come back, open the door quietly. Or you can just go next door and borrow a place to sleep with Fannie and Paige. That’s fine too.”

Karon shook his head helplessly and opened the door.

At that moment, he happened to see Fannie and Paige leaving their room. When Paige saw Karon, she immediately said, “Karon, we’re ready. Let’s go.”

“Hmm?”

Paige smiled. “The captain said you called the two of us to go soak in the hot spring with you.”

Karon smiled slightly and nodded. This was a joke by the captain. Paige knew it was a joke by the captain, so there was no need to explain.

“I also asked Richard,” Karon said.

“Then I’ll go call him.” Paige walked toward the room where Richard and Memphis were staying. Inside, the two were eating dinner. “Richard.”

“Miss Paige.” Richard immediately put down his cutlery and stood, preparing to open the door, but Paige only spoke to Richard through the open window.

“Take Memphis to soak in the hot spring. Karon is coming with us first.”

“This...”

Memphis, who was eating, said, “All right.”

Paige came back and said to Karon, “Richard and Memphis are still eating. He said he’ll go with Memphis later and told us to go first.”

“All right.” Karon nodded. Since they wanted father and son to soak together, Karon had no reason to split them apart.

The hotel had two hot spring areas, one large and one smaller, one in the east and one in the west. If the Church of Reincarnation’s people wanted to soak, they would be using the smaller area.

Darkmoon Island certainly did not want priests from both sides to start fighting directly in the pool while soaking in hot springs.

After receiving hand tags at the front desk, Karon entered a changing room, changed into a bathrobe, and came out. Fannie and Paige had also changed into bathrobes. They were all relatively conservative, with little difference from ordinary outerwear.

An attendant led the three of them toward the hot spring area. As they passed the public hot spring area, Karon saw that quite a number of people were already inside.

Most of them were probably priests from the Church of Order, but Karon truly did not recognize many.

That did not stop people from waving at Karon and even whistling. Some pressed one arm downward toward him, a gesture resembling worship, or perhaps admiration. At first, Karon did not know why. As they continued farther in, he understood. Paige and Fannie had chosen a private hot spring pool.

Normal accommodation and hot spring costs were fully covered by Darkmoon Island, but opening a private hot spring pool required additional Order credits, and the price was not cheap. It was not that Darkmoon Island wanted to make money, but that a distinction had to exist. For example, if important figures such as the bishops came to soak, they would certainly be arranged into private pools, and a price system was necessary to reserve them in advance.

There were far fewer people in the private hot spring area. Almost no one could be seen. Hidden among stretches of green vegetation, small hot spring pools were tucked away one by one.

“My lords, this is the place. If you need anything, you may ring this bell. There is wine and pastries in the cabinet over there. Everything was replaced fresh tonight.”

After the attendant left, Paige and Fannie removed their bathrobes, revealing the close-fitting garments beneath, and sat by the pool.

Karon asked, “How many Order credits?”

“Three thousand,” Fannie answered.

“Put it on my tab,” Karon said.

“Heh, good.”

Paige scooped up a handful of water and laughed. “I knew it. Even if Karon looks down on us, he still wouldn’t want other men seeing our bodies. He would definitely be willing to spend those credits.”

“Yes, yes.” Karon did not refute her. After removing his bathrobe, he walked straight into the center of the hot spring pool and sat down.

He often soaked at home, and extravagantly used Light-attributed power to maintain the water temperature, so even though the pool was very hot, he did not need to acclimate at all.

However, he still had to deliberately control his habits and prevent the Light power within him from leaking out. Otherwise Paige and Fannie would definitely notice.

“You’re not afraid of the heat?” Paige asked.

Karon shook his head.

“All right. You actually chose the deepest, hottest area.” Paige removed all the clothes on her body and stood by the pool. Against the surrounding greenery and the Darkmoon above, she possessed a beauty that combined wildness and nature.

She then slowly entered the water, but could only remain at the very edge.

Fannie also shed all her clothing. Her full figure looked as though it had been coated in a sheen by Darkmoon’s radiance, becoming exceptionally soft and beautiful.

After entering the water, she also stayed near the edge. The temperature of the private hot spring pool was indeed much higher than that of the public pools.

The three of them had long since grown used to this mode of interaction. During their previous missions, when they had shared suites, the two women had often appeared naked or in very revealing clothing before him. They took pleasure in it.

That pleasure was similar to the way middle-aged men enjoyed telling dirty jokes to newly hired female staff. Only once the genders were reversed, it became less unpleasant.

Of course, the main reason was that Karon’s strength had improved rapidly, and he was now publicly acknowledged as the strongest member of the squad after the captain. They did not dare go too far.

At that moment, Paige said, “Karon, what do you think Her Highness Ophelia would think if she knew you were here soaking in a private pool with the two of us?”

Karon ignored her.

Fannie said, “What else could she think? She’d join us.”

Paige laughed. “Hahaha, good. I wouldn’t mind.”

Fannie agreed , “I wouldn’t mind either.”

Karon silently turned his neck, still offering no response.

At that moment, footsteps sounded outside, along with the friction of armor. The sound was approaching directly.

Paige and Fannie’s gazes immediately sharpened.

They did not mind showing Karon their bodies, but that did not mean they were willing to be seen naked by outsiders. Besides, the other party was wearing armor. Who entered a hot spring area in armor?

Karon, who had been soaking with his eyes closed, opened them. He had also heard the sound of armor. It couldn’t be...

The result was that the armored figure pushed open the gate of the private pool and walked in. The expressions on Paige and Fannie’s faces eased slightly, because they could see that this suit of armor was fitted for a woman, which meant its wearer was female.

Karon, meanwhile, silently sighed. He recognized this armor. That morning, he had even shared a carriage with it on the way back to the hotel.

Ophelia removed her helmet, revealing her face.

“Your Highness.”

“Your Highness.”

Fannie and Paige both greeted Ophelia.

Ophelia nodded to them in turn and said, “Good evening, ladies.”

Paige and Fannie looked at each other. Of course they understood why the princess of Darkmoon Island was giving them this much face.

“Karon, I’m done soaking.”

“Yes, it’s too hot. I’ll get out and take some air.”

“Right. We’ll go walk around.”

“Your Highness, could we trouble you to hand us our bathrobes...”

With only the three of them before, it had not mattered how much of their bodies were shown, but with one more person present, it became somewhat inappropriate.

“Of course. One moment.” Ophelia lifted her sword, instinctively intending to hook the bathrobes over with the scabbard. However, she put the sword down, and instead reached out and grabbed the robes to hand them over to the two women.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“Your Highness, we’ll be leaving first.”

Paige and Fannie immediately put on their bathrobes and left. Only Karon and Ophelia remained in the private pool.

She went to the cabinet beside them, opened it, and took out two cups. A small metal bucket beside it held ice. After placing ice into the cups, she added water. Ophelia placed one cup by the edge of the pool, signaling for Karon to come drink.

Karon shook his head, indicating that he was not thirsty right now.

Ophelia drank a large mouthful herself and set the cup aside. However, She did not remove her armor and enter the hot spring. Instead, she sat down on the ground, her left hand propped against her sword. The evening breeze moved gently through her hair. Her armor and Darkmoon shared the same color, making her look like a finely crafted work of art.

After a long while, “Today’s negotiations went smoothly.”

Ophelia seemed to be trying hard to find a topic, and the one she found was frigidly formal.

Karon immediately answered, “Yes. The main reason was that the Church of Reincarnation discovered that our Church of Order showed great sincerity in the negotiations.”

Ophelia blinked, sensing that something was wrong.

“Of course, we must also thank Darkmoon Island for its strong support and meticulous arrangements for this meeting.”

Ophelia smiled. She slapped the surface of the pool with one hand, sending water splashing up. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to say at a time like this, and you’re deliberately pretending not to understand too?”

“Hehehe.” Seeing her lose her temper, Karon could not help laughing. He shook his head. “No. This is the finest stage of it. Once you learn how, all the charm fades.”

“You always speak like this. Sometimes even my father doesn’t speak as if he has...”

Suddenly, Ophelia’s gaze froze. She placed one hand over her chest and spat out a mouthful of black blood, saying in shock, “There’s poison in the ice!”

Seeing this, Karon immediately rose and moved quickly toward Ophelia.

Despite being poisoned, she still did not forget to warn him, “Careful. This poison was meant for you!”

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