Chapter 334: Youth

Karon did not sleep in just because he had to leave for Teygan Region that night. At seven in the morning, he emerged from his bedroom. Breakfast was simple: two sandwiches and a cup of hot milk.

Jotto’s funeral would begin at nine in the morning. Ciri and Ms. Lake were busy washing and preparing ingredients. After Karon finished breakfast, he moved over and began overseeing the preparation of the funeral’s refreshments.

Food would be served buffet-style, so the dishes did not need to be complicated.

Karon’s menu included four cold dishes: spicy boneless chicken feet, dressed pig ears, dressed shredded jellyfish, and Veynic sauced beans. Of these, the Veynic sauced beans were a cold dish that never failed to appear at every Veynic banquet.

There were six hot dishes: braised pork ribs, chicken with edamame, eggplant cakes, spring rolls, candied sweet potato, and lion’s head meatballs. The staples were flatbread and fried noodles, with snow fungus soup served as dessert afterward.

This was not the first funeral Karon had organized at Pavaro Funeral Home, but it was the first time he was preparing food. For the previous few events, either they had not expected any guests at all, or had known very clearly that there would be no guests.

Alfred oversaw Pike and Dinkom to the front, and they got busy with checking the final details, while Karon led Ciri and Ms. Lake in the kitchen, preparing the food. At this moment, a young face appeared at the door to the kitchen. It was Ashley. Even if gathering at Karon’s place before going to the Church Affairs Building as a group had almost become a default rule for their squad, she had still arrived a bit too early.

When she had passed through the front hall, Alfred had been guiding Pike and Dinkom through the final arrangements, so he had allowed Ashley to go in by herself without announcing her. As for what could be skipped and what could not, Alfred knew perfectly well.

Ashley looked at Karon wearing an apron and cooking, his movements clearly practiced. She felt it looked rather surreal. Women tended to have a favorable impression of men who knew how to cook. Of course, the prerequisite was that cooking was not the only thing they knew how to do.

Karon glanced at the doorway and directly told her, “Help with the work.”

“Oh, all right, Captain!” Ashley did not resist in the slightest and entered the kitchen, ready to help. However, she had never cooked before, so she knew nothing at all about kitchen work. Ms. Lake thoughtfully set the girl to washing vegetables.

After a while, Bart arrived as well. While entering, he felt a little embarrassed, wondering if he had come too early and seemed too anxious and rushed, but upon seeing Ashley squatting to wash vegetables, he relaxed. Oh, someone actually arrived earlier than me.

“Captain!”

“Knead the dough.”

“Got it!” Bart was assigned to pastry work. With Ciri directing him, all he had to do was knead the dough within an inch of its life.

The last to arrive was Vintral. He again carried a plastic bag, containing his grandmother’s homemade pastries.

“Ashley, Bart,” Vintral greeted them one by one, then finally called out, “Captain!”

“Share the pastries with everyone, then help out.”

“All right, Captain.” Vintral carried the bag around to deliver pastries to each person working. Pu’er was sitting on Kevin’s back as he strolled about, sunning herself in the courtyard. She saw Vintral carrying the bag of pastries past them. However, when he went back through the courtyard, he fed one to Kevin. When he tried to feed Pu’er, she did not eat it, because she had a set time for her snacks each day.

However, she held the gift with her paws and offered Vintral a somewhat cute expression. After he left, Pu’er called out, “Stupid dog!”

Kevin turned his head and opened his mouth. The cat released her paw, so that the bit of pastry fell into Kevin’s mouth. He chewed the big bite. He was not picky.

After distributing the pastries, Vintral rolled up his sleeves and entered the kitchen to help. First glance at his behavior made it obvious that he often cooked at home. While he found Karon’s dishes to be very novel, he was able to help with much more than the other two.

Once the food was more or less ready, Karon glanced up at the wall clock. Nine-thirty. He went to the sink to wash his hands, then turned to the three. “You all brought your suitcases, right? Go change into your robes in my bedroom. The funeral today is for a member of our Church of Order.”

After they changed, Karon led them to the mourning hall. At this moment, seven or eight people were already present, all members of Jotto’s squad. Karon arranged for Vintral and Ashley to follow Pike, serving tea and water, while Bart went to the entrance with Dinkom to receive the guests. Karon himself walked over to the mortuary platform and looked at Jotto, who lay within a solemn black coffin. There, he silently recited the mythological narrative portion of the Light of Order.

In the eyes of true believers, to fall into eternal sleep while listening to the deeds of their god was an enormous blessing. Pictures hung on all four walls of the mourning hall. They portrayed scenes from Jotto’s life. When he had first started believing in Order, when he had joined the Church of Order, when he joined the Whip of Order squad, what merits he had rendered, what commendations he had received… These paintings had been prepared by Alfred, along with Dora and Dorin. The mourners could use the paintings to recall the deceased’s life.

Actually, from Karon’s perspective, Jotto’s life had not contained many thrilling events, and the bright points he had achieved that were worthy of Karon’s attention were practically nonexistent. However, this was an accurate portrayal of most people’s lives. As more and more mourners arrived, it proved at least one thing: Jotto had been a decent person in both work and life. Especially when Karon saw Nio himself enter in Order robes to mourn, it was almost possible to judge Jotto’s character. That was because the captain and Karon were the same kind of people; They were selfish and greedy, disliked being bound by rules, yet still respected those with genuinely noble character.

After Nio viewed Jotto’s remains, he stood beside Karon and put on the appearance of reciting the Light of Order together while commenting, “These new subordinates of yours are very obedient. Looks like you trained them pretty well. I won’t need to worry about your squad’s combat strength in the future.”

“I learned it all from you, Captain.”

“Although I know that’s a lie, I’m still happy to hear it.” Nio looked back at Jotto lying in the coffin before them.

“Jotto, look at this kid’s subordinates. If we had been able to take in elite subordinates like that, we’d probably wake up from our dreams laughing.”

In terms of both strength and background, Bart and the others were hardly the sort who would start out as ordinary Whip of Order members. Only with the recent reforms the church was implementing had it become possible to form an elite Whip squad like Karon was doing.

“Captain, did you know Mr. Jotto?”

“You could say I did. We weren’t familiar with each other. There was once a time when there could have been spoils to divide, but he refused. He angered me so much that I almost wanted to dig a pit for his squad and report it as combat losses.

“I ate some food over there earlier. You made it?”

“Mhmm.”

“It’s very good. I saved room, so I’ll eat my fill before I leave. You’ll be bringing out more, right? I saw people going after the dishes over there pretty fiercely.”

“We will.”

“That’s a relief.”

Nio took out an envelope of condolence money from his pocket. Jotto had no children, so the condolence money would basically be used to pay for his funeral expenses. The day’s envelopes were all quite thin, as they contained credits.

“This funeral is arranged well. It’s innovative and very detailed. Most of the mourners who came are Whip colleagues, and their mortality rate is high. You won’t lack business in the future.” Karon felt that his captain was always able to find some absurd yet strangely reasonable angle to any situation.

“After you go to the Teygan Region, be careful and cautious. There are many important figures there, especially in that other squad. Their parents, or grandparents, basically all hold posts in the Central Church.”

“I’ll keep a low profile.”

“A reasonably low profile is enough. In any case, you can evaluate the balance yourself. I feel that after you go to Teygan Region, you probably won’t return to York City, but will instead go directly from the Teygan Region to the Reincarnation Valley.

“I wish you success. I’ll wait for you to return and help me get promoted to deputy commander.”

“All right, I understand.”

“Oh, right. I also brought you a small gift. I had Fannie prepare it. It’s over by the gift boxes. Have someone open it later.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

“Stay busy. I’ll go help you walk the dog in the backyard.”

“Sorry to trouble you, Captain.”

“No trouble. It’s only right.”

Karon continued standing in place, continuing to recite the deeds of the God of Order for Jotto. In this situation, the God of Order did not represent some supreme existence, but music, wine, a bed, a quilt, and a pillow.

However, just as the captain had said, throughout the funeral, people kept coming forward to speak with Karon while handing him business cards. Among them, there was certainly the intention of knowing his identity and wanting to chat a little, but their main objective was to “register” with him in advance. Because those who gave him business cards were basically the captains of various Whip of Order squads. After they finished speaking with Karon, almost all of them ended with a sigh. “This really is a fine funeral.”

The careful arrangements, the nostalgic theme built around remembrance, and the delicious refreshments made them hope that if anything ever happened to them or their squad members in the future, they could also be sent off in this way.

Pavaro Funeral Home was not especially large, and even after the renovations, there was still some gap between it and Immers Funeral Home in scale and standing. However, Order priests were never very concerned with things that could be measured in rels. What they wanted was this sense of warmth.

Ashley, Vintral, and Bart helped attentively the entire time, maintaining the operation of the entire mourning ceremony without the slightest delay. The funeral lasted until three in the afternoon. The guests who had come to mourn all left. Pike and Dinkom were responsible for sending Jotto’s remains to the cemetery for burial. Karon did not go with them, and instead ate a belated lunch together with Vintral and the other two.

A funeral was a remembrance of the dead, but also a cleansing for the living. Afterward, the sense of being alive became sharper, and it showed in their appetites. Everyone ate a great deal.

Following Karon’s instructions, Alfred opened the gift box the captain had left behind. Inside were thirteen silver masks. They were very different from the silver masks of the Hunting Hounds squad. This set looked far more sinister, no longer resembling human faces so much as malicious ghosts.

Karon gestured for Alfred to take this set of masks over for everyone to look at. In the end, Bart, Vintral, and Ashley each picked one up, saying they liked them very much. This made things a little difficult for Karon for a moment. His original intention had been for everyone to feel that these masks were ugly, after which he would instruct Alfred to go find Lemar and prepare a customized set while he was gone. It was very obvious that everyone had misunderstood his meaning. Especially Ashley. The girl exaggeratedly held the ugly and sinister mask and gave the evaluation, “So cute!”

Forget it, they can stay like this for now. Treat them as small commemorative gifts. However, only a fool would wear masks so ugly and conspicuous.

After eating, Karon returned to his bedroom to rest. He rubbed Kevin’s bald head, then placed Pu’er on his lap and rubbed her neck.

“When I come back this time, life will be different. We’ll start getting busy.”

“I know. Our Little Karon is about to welcome a new starting point in his career. You work hard outside, and I’ll also work hard eating supplements at home. And stupid dog, you also have to work hard eating hair-growth medicine.”

“Woof, woof, woof!” If Kevin had only barked once, that would have been one thing, but the fact that he barked several times in a row meant he had something to say.

“Stupid dog says that during this period, he wants to dismantle half of this refrigerator and study it again, to see if he can treat it as the central point of a teleportation array, then arrange a slightly larger array on this basis to spread the effect.”

Karon had been reading books on arrays in recent days, so his understanding of them was no longer as shallow as before. He immediately asked, “What is the specific desired effect? To increase its teleportation efficiency?”

“Woof, woof, woof, woof!”

“The stupid dog says his idea is to set up another teleportation guiding array in Allen Manor’s performance hall, then use this refrigerator as the base to create an expanded reception array in the storeroom in our back garden. If this design can actually be implemented, Karon, you’ll be able to use that little bead to summon things other than the Aelius Sword.

“For example, in battle, you could summon Earl Rekar and old Saman and have them help you fight.”

Karon said, “I haven’t solved the problem of continuously maintaining their duration yet.”

“Woof!”

“The stupid dog says that, given the current conditions, his plan is still very far from becoming reality.”

Karon smiled. “I won’t deny that the thought of it is very exciting.”

If all the conditions truly came to fruition and the design was made reality, others would summon illusory figures to assist them in battle, while he would pull people straight out of their coffins.

Although there were only two to choose from at the moment, he would not forget that he still had ten empty coffins.

If twelve coffins were one day filled, and Pu’er, as his symbiotic companion, also recovered, then whenever Karon found himself in a fight, he truly could just stand off to the side and drink coffee.

Karon placed the back of his hand in front of them. Kevin placed his dog paw on top of it, and Pu’er also placed her cat paw on top. “Let’s work hard together!”

“Meow!”

“Woof!”

***

Pike and Dinkom returned with the hearse, which meant it was time to set out. Everyone loaded their suitcases onto the hearse, one after another. As before, Alfred was the driver. Karon felt that perhaps in the future, taking the hearse out on missions would become a tradition for his squad.

In that case, should he follow the captain’s example and have an Art-modified hearse?

That sounded rather expensive. Even the captain had only managed to put together that luxury car by gritting his teeth.

Forget it. Once Karon became a captain and could start accepting missions, he could slowly skim funds.

When they arrived at the Church Affairs Building, it was close to seven. After leaving the hearse and reporting their identities, someone arrived to guide them, and they went directly to the underground floors. Following directions, Karon learned that their teleportation array was in area F-3. Outside of the teleportation array, Karon saw two familiar people: Leon and Larry.

This time, the two men approached on their own to greet Karon, and both offered especially warm greetings.

Karon offered a polite smile in return, acting reserved and restrained.

He did not ask why they were here. They explained on their own. “We happen to be headed to Teygan Region today to deliver some documents for our department, so we’re catching a ride on your teleportation array.”

“You need to catch a ride?”

“It’s different,” Larry explained. “Some places allow a bit of special treatment, but certain kinds of special treatment are off-limits.”

In the past, treatment on official business trips varied by rank. This was especially true for long-distance teleportation, where high-level and low-level teleportation arrays differed enormously in both travel time and comfort.

During the district selections, everyone had used a high-level teleportation array. The district could hardly allow its own candidates to arrive at the selection in poor condition because of the trip itself.

When the time came, the array activated. White light swallowed their vision, and after a slight tremor passed through their bodies, Karon and the others appeared inside the teleportation hall of Teygan Region. The distance was great enough to create a time difference. It was night in York City, but morning in Teygan Region.

Larry said, “We need a few days here in Teygan Region to process some documents. Let’s have a meal together when we have time.”

Karon agreed, “All right, if there’s time.”

“Captain!”

“Captain!”

The two young masters had just left when Karon saw Mars and Blanche dragging their suitcases as they ran over. Vintral took two sinister-looking silver masks out of his backpack and handed one to each of them. They both reached out and accepted them.

Bart and Ashley, standing behind the others, assumed Vintral’s actions were at Karon’s instruction, so they each took out their own mask and put it on.

Vintral froze for a moment. He had only been helping to hand the masks out to the teammates who had just rejoined them. Wait, are we supposed to wear them?

In that case, he would wear his too.

Mars and Blanche, after all, were not from York City. Compared with the York City members, they felt, psychologically, as though there was still a bit of distance between themselves and Karon.

This made them rather anxious. They both had Knight Regiment backgrounds, and their families had also told them about the coming reforms, so they felt an even stronger need to actively integrate and become part of this squad.

Therefore, neither of the two hesitated at all, and they both immediately put on their masks.

The entire squad, aside from Karon, were wearing their masks. This immediately drew a large number of gazes within the extremely busy teleportation array hall, where people were constantly coming and going. Some observed the squad, some were curious, and some laughed at the masks. Karon looked at his squad members. They were already wearing their masks and standing in a row behind him.

After hesitating for a moment, Karon said to himself, All right, I’m the fool.

He then took out his own mask and put it on as well.

Six young people wearing demon masks strode forward with extreme confidence. They pushed open the hall doors, and bright sunlight spilled down, accompanied by life and vitality.

Karon could not help sighing. “Ah, youth…”