Chapter 113: The Light Endures

Chapter 113 Light Lingers On

A spoonful of hot oil was splashed in by Karen, releasing a crisp and crackling sizzle.

Alfred, who was standing beside him, closed his eyes, raised his hands, tilted his head back, and sighed with deep emotion:

"Ah, to finally hear this intoxicating sound again. This is art, the true art that accompanies our daily lives! I really feel pity for Mr. Bede; he should have stood here to witness what the true breath of the earth actually means!"

Karen glanced at Alfred and said, "Bring it to the table."

"Yes, Master."

Alfred lifted the basin of fish with pickled mustard greens and carried it toward the dining table.

The woman who had been standing alongside Alfred watching Karen cook earlier now walked over, pointing at the kitchen stove to indicate that she would clean it up.

Her name was Jane, the wife of Alaye, with short blonde hair and a somewhat lean figure; she was deaf and mute.

Karen had learned sign language in his past life. Sign language was not difficult to learn, and although it varied across borders, the general daily expressions remained very similar.

"Let us enjoy dinner first."

"I want to help you clean up the kitchen first."

"At my house, cleaning the kitchen only happens after finishing the meal. Thank you for your kindness, we will trouble you after we dine."

"Alright, I understand."

Karen and Jane came to the dining room, which was not large, but it was still quite spacious for just five people sitting together.

The portions for Purr and the Golden Retriever had already been sent upstairs, so the cat and dog were eating on the upper floor.

"This is truly a feast, thank you for your hospitality, Master Karen." Alaye stood up to express his gratitude to Karen.

Alaye's twelve-year-old son, Hand, also stood up, staring at the enticing dishes on the table while bowing to Karen in unison with his father.

Like Jane, twelve-year-old Hand was also a deaf-mute child.

Karen remembered when he first took Alaye's car to the agency's entrance, Alaye had only waved at his wife and son sitting inside without speaking, because they could not hear.

"You are too polite, Alaye. It is I who should thank you for introducing me to such a wonderful house."

"No, no, no, this is my job, and I received my commission income for it. You really do not need to thank me for this."

"But you agreed to let me move in on the same day, and even had your wife help me purchase bedding and daily necessities. That was not part of your job, was it?"

"That is no great help, it was what I ought to do. Besides, you had Mr. Alfred go with me to finish all the procedures the very next day, so this house already belonged to you. What does it matter if you moved in one night early."

"No, when a person sees something they like, even if they can possess it just one minute earlier, it brings a profound sense of happiness."

Hand was already staring at the dishes on the table, swallowing his saliva from time to time, but without his parents' permission, he did not touch his fork first. Karen signed to Jane:

"You may begin eating, remind the child to watch out for fish bones."

Jane nodded vigorously to Karen, then signaled to her son that he could eat. Hand smiled and picked up his fork, piercing a large piece of braised chicken, bringing it to his plate to start eating.

Karen had prepared pickled mustard green fish, braised chicken, and stewed mutton today. The vegetable options consisted of two cold side dishes, accompanied by a tomato egg drop soup.

After staying at the Allen Manor for a period of time, he now urgently wanted to remind his stomach of its "aesthetic of work" once again.

"Master Karen..."

Alaye continued using the title for Karen that he had learned from Alfred on the first day.

"A portion of my commission exceeded my original expectations because the final transaction price was higher than what the original owner anticipated. The reason is that the original owner did not expect the old furniture and old books to fetch such a high price, so I would like to take out the excess part from my commission and return it to you."

"No need, that is what you deserve. This is truly the first time I have seen an agent proactively return a commission after a successful transaction."

"It is also my first time hearing a client say that my commission is well-deserved. Usually, clients guard against us, terrified that we might scrape one more penny out of their hands."

"Yes, I understand them." Karen picked up a pair of silver chopsticks that Alfred had gifted him back in Loria City and picked up a piece of fish meat, putting it into his mouth. "Because right now, I am not particularly short on money."

Buying the house meant the mortgage contract took effect. Although it was nearly half the price expected, the unused portion of the loan limit could not be cashed out, nor would he do such a thing. Therefore, strictly speaking, Karen had just over one hundred thousand Reals left on him.

For the middle class, this amount of savings was still very precarious, but having just emerged from the Allen Manor, Karen still needed some time to calibrate and return to his own perspective on money.

But in any case, using the generosity of the wealthy to mock ordinary people's stinginess over their hard-earned money was inherently a ridiculous thing to do.

Alaye immediately shifted his words: "Yes, what you say is correct, Master."

"Come, eat."

Karen pointed at the dishes on the table with his chopsticks.

"Alright, alright."

Halfway through the meal, Hand seemed to notice the chopsticks Karen was using and began making gestures to Karen.

Karen smiled, gesturing for Alfred to fetch another pair and hand them to Hand. To everyone's surprise, Hand's fingers were very flexible, and he picked up the food with the chopsticks almost immediately.

After dinner, Jane proactively stood up to clear the plates and take them to the kitchen to wash.

Alaye pulled out a box of cigarettes and looked at Karen, who shook his head, having quit; Alaye then looked at Alfred, and Alfred also shook his head, having quit along with him.

Alaye put the cigarette box away again:

"Master, if you need anything in the future, you can just have Mr. Alfred come find me. I will certainly help you with whatever I can achieve."

"Yes, alright."

Once Jane had finished tidying up the kitchen, Alaye stood up to take his family leave and head home.

Alfred walked into the kitchen, wrapped that pair of silver chopsticks in paper, handed them to Karen, and Karen then passed them to Hand.

Hand did not reach out to take them, but instead looked at his parents.

"Master, we cannot accept this."

"So, when I ask you for help in the future, will you decline me in the same manner?"

"..." Alaye.

Ultimately, Hand accepted the silver chopsticks. His mother bowed along with him to Karen to express their gratitude. After Alaye's family left, Karen stretched and took a glass of ice water from Alfred's hand.

"Master, by hosting Alaye's family, are you laying down a piece for some upcoming matters?"

"No, I just felt that when moving into a new home, one ought to invite people over to celebrate and enjoy some lively company.

Oh, right, tomorrow you should mail the photos of the new house taken today along with my letter back to Mink Street."

"Understood, Master. Tomorrow the telephone bureau will come to install the new telephone line."

"A telephone is a telephone, a letter is a letter. Oh, right, when mailing the letter, remember to still use the postal route of the Church of Principle."

"Yes, Master, I know that is more secure and less likely to lose packages."

"No, it is because that way is free."

Karen carried his water glass upstairs. There was a bathroom on each floor. Karen took a shower first, changed into his pajamas, walked into the bedroom, and lay down on the bed.

At this moment, Purr was lying on the bedroom windowsill, where there was a cat cushion bought specially for it.

Of course, the Golden Retriever also had a larger dog cushion in the corner of the wall.

There was no underfloor heating in the house, but there was a heating system in the new apartment. However, because the property transfer procedures had just been finalized, many other formalities had not yet been handed over in time, so the gas could not be turned on yet.

Frustratingly, the neighbors next door had not turned on their heating either, so there was no way to leech off them.

Sitting under the covers, Karen suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to bring up the newspaper, but he did not want to get out of bed, so he spread his hand open.

The golden retriever sat up from his bed, leaped forward to open the bedroom door, and ran out, returning a short while later with three newspapers clamped in his jaws.

Karen took them from him, picking up a copy of the Wien Daily, while temporarily placing the other two, the Wien Finance and Wien Story Collection, on the nightstand.

Having delivered the papers, the golden retriever climbed onto the cabinet, extended a paw, pressed the power switch on the radio, and then began cautiously tuning the channel, finally settling on Wien News Broadcast, which was currently airing the evening news.

"Good job, Kevin."

Receiving the praise, the golden retriever lay back down in his dog bed with deep satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Pur, who had been lying on the windowsill, leapt down at that moment, made her way to the bed, and walked silently across Karen's quilt, casting a sidelong glance at the golden retriever as she moved.

"Karen, I am cold."

With that, Pur burrowed straight into Karen's quilt.

Karen did not pull her back out, because the room was indeed cold; by conventional wisdom, dogs have thick skin and heavy fur, while cats are rather delicate.

Newspapers and radio were the two primary mediums of this era, and Karen lay in bed, reading the paper while listening to the broadcast.

Following the passing of Gloria IX, the new king, Prince York, had finally ascended the throne; this crown prince of over sixty years had at long last achieved official status.

Yet on this page, the top half featured the news of Prince York's coronation, accompanied by a photograph of his ascension, where his decrepit, senile appearance seemed to symbolize the precarious state of the Wien Empire.

The bottom half detailed a massive demonstration demanding national independence that had erupted in the Wien Empire's largest overseas colony.

It was hard to say that this layout was not a deliberate choice by the daily newspaper's editor-in-chief.

As Karen continued to flip through the newspaper, he murmured to himself:

"I need to find a job."

Although there were only two people, a cat, and a dog in the household, everyone's standard of living was quite high.

Pur turned around inside the quilt; she was certainly not foolish enough to say: Call the Allen family and demand money!

Instead, she said, "Next time you do not need to buy me coffee, we can save a little."

Karen shook his head and said, "It is impossible to just stay at home and sunbathe forever."

At that moment, Karen flipped to the next news item in the paper, which reported that the Minister of Energy and Industrial Development of the Kingdom of Ruilan was leading a team of experts on a visit to Wien to discuss deepening cooperation between the two governments in the industrial sector.

Was this not Piaget's father?

Karen noted that the minister's surname was indeed Adams.

Continuing to flip through the paper, he reached the advertisement section, which contained recruitment information in the margins, but Karen had no intention of looking for a job there; after all, he only possessed a high school diploma from Ruilan, and it was an incomplete high school education at that!

However, one advertisement caught Karen's attention because it occupied half of the ad page.

"The Adams Psychological Treatment Center, Relieving the Troubles of Your Soul."

The first half of the ad copy educated the reader on the dangers of psychological illnesses, dragging romantic disappointments, family discord, career setbacks, and even infertility into the scope of "psychological illness."

The second half detailed how someone or other had cured their psychological problems, subsequently thriving in romance, finding happiness in family, achieving success in their career, and their wife had even miraculously conceived a baby...

This advertisement copy was written with a symmetry that felt remarkably insincere.

Right in the center was a group photo taken in front of the treatment center, with the sign directly above, and standing below was a group of doctors dressed in white coats; standing right in the center position was a familiar face—Piaget Adams.

Piaget and his wife, Linda, had met while studying abroad in Wien; after Linda passed away, it was quite natural for Piaget to choose to return to the place where their love began to start anew, especially since Ruilan was originally a vassal state of Wien, and in the eyes of Ruilan's elites, developing a career in Wien was entirely a matter of course.

Karen picked up his water glass, took a sip of water, and thought, well, it seemed he had found a job.

Finding a job and integrating into life to make observations was only the first step; next, there was actually a more important matter, which was to change his identity and re-enter the Church of the Order.

But this could wait until he reached the "Divine Shepherd" stage before starting; there was no rush for the time being.

The Allen family would also deliver his new identity before long.

In Pur's words, those who maintain order are also standing on the absolute front line of corruption; everything has loopholes that can be exploited.

Karen put down the newspaper, having no desire to look through the remaining two papers, and lay down.

Kevin crawled out of his dog bed, first turned off the radio, and then leaped up to press the switch, turning off the bedroom light.

In winter, possessing an evil dog was truly a blissful thing; after all, who would willingly leave their warm quilt in such a freezing season?

The house fell into silence.

About two hours later, when the night had deepened completely, a black shadow suddenly flashed outside the window.

Pur opened her eyes at that moment, silently crawled out of the quilt, and looked out the window; that shadow was still gently fluttering, the sound so faint it was nearly imperceptible, but the slight changes in light and shadow it caused still caught the sensitive cat's attention.

Jumping down from the bed, Pur first came to the dog bed and delivered a feline swipe to the golden retriever, who was actually snoring; the golden retriever woke up instantly, and his attention was immediately drawn outside the window.

Pur nodded to him with a serious expression.

The golden retriever widened his canine eyes, finding the cat's eyes remarkably eerie in the dark night; he did not understand Pur's meaning at all, but he followed suit and nodded his canine head anyway.

Pur walked to the door, and after the golden retriever stood up and used his front paws to open the bedroom door, Pur stepped out of the bedroom and went straight up to the rooftop garden, with the golden retriever following closely behind.

Treading softly, Pur leaped onto the roof of the sunroom, cautiously moving downward along it; the golden retriever's body was too large, so he walked along the perimeter wall, both the cat's and the dog's heads peering down toward the window of the master bedroom below.

They saw a black crow fluttering its wings outside the window, with a letter tied beneath its feet.

At this moment, a human-like expression appeared on the crow's face, as if it were trying to discern the identity of the person lying on the bed inside the room; it let out a few more soft cries, as if delivering a reminder and a secret signal, but failed to receive any response from within.

The crow began to circle, appearing as though it were preparing to leave.

Crouching at the top of the sunroom roof, Pur began to use "sign language" to the golden retriever crouching below.

Pur extended one of her cat paws, upward, and hooked it.

Then she extended her other cat paw, downward, and hooked it.

Finally, she brought both cat paws together.

The golden retriever's eyes went completely round, but he truly could not comprehend Pur's meaning, so he could only offer an awkward smile.

Seeing the golden retriever smile, Pur assumed he understood her meaning.

It seemed that the sign language exchange between Karen and that Madam Jane during dinner tonight wasn't that difficult after all; I have learned it too.

Pur knew that this was a messenger crow; it was not a "living entity" in the strict sense, but rather resembled a messenger puppet possessing the most fundamental consciousness, capable of discerning the recipient of the message while also identifying dangers around it.

Once it discovered that the recipient was incorrect, it would end the delivery and return to report; if it encountered danger itself, it would immediately activate the formation within its body to incinerate this husk along with the letter it carried.

However, during its creation, the primary materials used were still a crow's feathers and a few bones, so inevitably, it retained some animal habits; meaning its defensiveness toward humans would be very high, but toward animals... it would instead relax.

"Meow~ Meow~ Meow~ Meow~"

Pur lay on the sunroom roof, emitting soft cries; while other wild cats caterwauled like crying children, Pur's cries carried a rhythm that inspired flights of fancy.

In Pur's previous plan with the golden retriever, she was responsible for luring the messenger crow over, and then the golden retriever would strike and capture it!

Yet, what made Pur feel somewhat hurt was that the crow seemed to hear her cries, but showed absolutely no reaction to them, beginning a wide circle as it prepared to leave this original delivery point.

Meanwhile, the still bewildered golden retriever below, upon hearing Pur's cries, thought he finally understood the plan; he, who was supposed to act as the "muscle," now also revealed a coquettish look and began to call out with a tremolo:

"Woof~ Woo~ Woof~ Woo~"

Pur looked at the passionately calling golden retriever below, then looked back at the crow below that was just about to leave, and discovered that the crow, as if stimulated by something, began to soar upward toward the rooftop terrace.

Pur felt that the feathers and bones of this messenger must have been made from a female crow; it absolutely had to be!

The crow flew right in front of the golden retriever, beginning to spin its body to display its charms to him.

From this, it was evident that the great Evil God, even when turned into a dog, still possessed an inexplicable allure toward females of different species.

And at this moment, the roles of the cat and dog reversed; Puer, who had initially acted as the bait, transformed into the interceptor, leaping into the air in a flash with cat claws extended.

Puer did not know how to fight, and Diss had even once remarked, who on earth would raise such a weak aberration?

Yet what Puer displayed now were the inherent capabilities of a cat, and the opponent happened to be a crow.

The black cat and the black crow collided in midair; with a single swipe, Puer severed the leg to which the letter was bound, while the attacked crow automatically triggered a self-immolating array, a blue flame surging from its body to reduce it instantly to ashes, though that single leg was left behind.

Upon landing, Puer spun around immediately and approached the crow's leg resting on the rooftop, using cat paws to meticulously untie the red string on the letter, while the golden retriever leaned its head in to look along.

Finally, the red string was unraveled, and the letter was spread open:

"Meeting Hall 3, Curtis Building, 2:00 PM, the 25th."

This was the location and date of the gathering,

but the signature at the very bottom of the parchment,

caused Puer and the golden retriever to exchange a subconscious glance:

"May the Light Endure."

———

More to come tonight.