Chapter 180: Mottled Dark Moon, Seeing the True You

Chapter 180: The Mottled Dark Moon, Seeing the Real You

I... am a descendant of Pur?

Into Karen’s mind immediately flashed the image of that black cat, the one that would curl up and clutch his arm every morning while he scratched its belly.

When a comedian performs before you, your laughter is actually quite restrained, because sitting in the audience, you have already anticipated it.

The real danger lies in those intensely solemn occasions and tense atmospheres, paired with the other party’s earnest and sincere tone.

Suddenly, a sharp poke;

In an instant, the dam bursts.

Thus, after a brief moment of stunned bewilderment, an uncontrollable urge to laugh out loud surged forth.

At this moment, Karen could only cover his face with his hand, his body shaking slightly, unable to contain it.

Expression management had utterly failed him now.

The only thing Karen could do was try his best to keep his laughter from seeming too exaggerated, but in this atmosphere, the rims of his eyes began to redden, and tears had already started to trickle down.

He could not control it; he truly could not control it.

Yet this scene, in Ophelia’s eyes, was one of excitement mixed with self-deprecation, and liberation mingled with fury.

It perfectly fit the injustice and suffering Karen must have endured as a descendant of Miss Pur.

Originally, he should have been the descendant of their ancestor, a direct lineage aristocrat on Dark Moon Island, entitled to a better life and more abundant resources, rather than having to grope his way forward entirely on his own within the Church of Order as he did now.

A misunderstanding is born precisely like this.

Ophelia was a highly emotional person; this could be seen from her behavior when facing Pur’s tombstone and reading those few lines inscribed upon it.

But at the same time, she was an extremely rational person, otherwise it would have been impossible for her to serve as the leader of the Dark Moon Island delegation.

Yet

The long sword emitted a faint red glow, seemingly responding to Ophelia's words.

This was Ophelia stating her own stance to Garen;

but Garen had experienced a similar scene before, and that was when he met Count Recar for the first time, Count Recar had also used his faith in the sea to demand that he must not tell lies.

Therefore, was this action of Ophelia's merely one-sided toward herself, or was it two-sided, including himself at such a close distance in this environment?

Garen pursed his lips; after returning this time, he intended to specifically ask Pu'er and Kevin how to break through when facing such a situation again, because life always required some kind of white lies.

Ophelia spoke up again on her own initiative:

"The family will not demand you to do anything, and not only that, the family will also unconditionally provide you with some support to help you achieve better development within the Church of Order.

Because you have no experience living on the island, you do not know how strictly the major churches guard against our Dark Moon clan.

You can look at this as an investment the family is making for the future.

Of course, this investment will definitely increase along with the elevation of your realm and position.

What I want to know now is your true realm;

this will make it more convenient for me to apply for more resource support for you from the family after I go back."

Garen picked up his glass again and took a sip of water.

"Tomorrow night is the farewell banquet, and the return ship leaves port tomorrow, because the meeting schedule was delayed for more time than I had anticipated, so the return trip is quite rushed.

In other words, it is best for us to finalize the verbal agreement that needs to be reached today."

"Weren't they saying that our squad would escort you back to Dark Moon Island?"

"Oh, that was the news I just learned today, it was originally arranged that way, but this arrangement was canceled."

"Canceled?"

"Yes, I thought it was canceled by your Shen... I thought it was canceled by the upper echelons of the Church of Order, and I even went to lodge a complaint about it, wanting to convey my thoughts and demands to them, but the feedback I received was that the one who canceled the return escort mission was your captain."

"The captain?"

"Perhaps because of the matter the other night, the wounded in your team have not yet recovered properly, or perhaps your captain has a new arrangement and does not want to waste time sailing on the sea, why, you didn't know?"

"I am personal security, under normal circumstances, I do not make contact with the teammates hidden on the periphery."

Even when delivering meals, he would only leave the food at a certain remote location on the floor and then turn around to leave.

Another thing was that Neo would discuss with the team members how to do things, but rarely would he discuss what to do.

"So, I'm very sorry, you won't have the opportunity to go back and see Dark Moon Island for the time being, but I believe you will definitely have the opportunity in the future, I can even go back and apply to have Miss Pu'er's and your elders' graves moved back to Dark Moon Island."

"There is no need for that," Garen said.

"That depends on your wish," Ophelia said with a smile, "now, please let me know your true realm, of course, you can also continue to insist that you are just a servant of god."

Garen looked at Ophelia, then glanced out of the corner of his eye at that long sword, the red light on the blade had not yet dissipated;

immediately afterward, he went over the whole matter in his mind once more, and after confirming there were no loopholes, he placed the glass on the coffee table.

The next moment, the aura of Divine Revelation emanated out;

immediately following was the aura of Divine Pastor;

finally,

a faint layer of a Church of Order Inquisitor's divine robe materialized upon his body.

Just as it half manifested, Garen picked up the water glass again, while quite impatiently dispersing the aura on his body.

"Inquisitor."

Ophelia nodded,

"I understand, I am very satisfied, and I believe the family will be very satisfied too."

Garen did not speak;

not only was it unsuited to speak much at this time, but on the other hand, when negotiating business, the party that spoke less often stood to gain more benefits.

"Now, what needs to be discussed is in what manner we should give you the funding for you, unfortunately, the family does not have any other connections within the Church of Order, of course, even if we did it would be impossible to use them for you, because that would instead expose you."

"Through business with the Allen family."

"The Allen family?" The image of Garen accompanying her to the Allen Manor surfaced in Ophelia's mind, "You are very familiar with the Allen Manor, but the people of the Allen Manor do not seem to know you."

That was because they were good actors.

"The line of Miss Pu'er's descendants did not merge with the main family of the Allen Manor, did they?"

"Yes, because of guilt."

For a long time, Pu'er had always felt guilt toward her own family in her heart.

"I understand." Ophelia was thoughtful, and then asked, "If we go by way of the Allen family, it can indeed avoid suspicion, because with a poignant love story to cover it up, everything can appear to be perfectly natural.

But I am very curious, can you control the Allen Manor?

To put it another way, can you stably obtain benefits from the hands of the Allen Manor?"

"I can."

"Can you tell me the source of your confidence?"

"My girlfriend is the daughter of the current patriarch of the Allen family."

"..." Ophelia.

The two sides of the coffee table fell into a brief silence.

Ophelia was digesting this piece of news, she would not think it was any big deal for Miss Pu'er's descendant to be together with a lady surnamed Allen, in this era even cousins frequently wound up together, and on Garen's side, they had already been separated by who knows how many generations.

It was nothing more than sharing the same surname.

What she was curious about was another point:

"Why?" Ophelia asked.

"This was the ancestor's wish, I obeyed the arrangements the ancestor made before their eternal sleep."

"So, your line has been protecting the Allen Manor in secret all along?"

"Yes, that's right, I have always done so, this was also Pu'er's intention, it is like a murmur ringing in my ear every day when I wake up."

Inquisitor, Allen Manor...

Although the Allen Manor was currently in decline, it could still serve as an extremely precious structure for Dark Moon Island in the outside world, which was much more useful than reconstructing a new force from scratch.

Most importantly, the Allen Manor had its own system, and its current decline happened to be an excellent opportunity for a branch line to take over, if resources were appropriate, the possibility of rising again would also be very grand.

"Alright, we have finished talking about official business, after I return, I will immediately report and apply for your support resources, to support you through the Allen Manor at the fastest speed."

"Thank you."

"Can I ask a few more personal questions?"

"You may."

Garen picked up ice cubes into his glass again, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the sword was still faintly glowing red.

"Do you hate Dark Moon?"

Hearing the question, Karen instinctively looked at Ophelia and asked, "Do you want to hear the truth?"

"Of course, this is a candid conversation."

"I don't hate it."

"You don't hate it..."

"Not only do I not hate it, I actually harbor some goodwill toward it in my heart."

The goodwill stemmed from Miss Ophelia, who quite solemnly regarded him as a clansman, and the precious food she had gifted him;

most importantly, who could bear resentment toward their own benefactor?

"One last question."

"Ask away."

"Karen, in your heart, is the God of Order the one and only?"

Karen smiled;

he answered this question without the slightest psychological burden, after all, in the Inmeles household, greeting the great God of Order was practically a daily family leisure activity.

"No."

Ophelia nodded and said, "Alright, a very pleasant conversation, wasn't it?"

Karen stood up, and just as he was about to leave, he paused; there was no reason to only allow her to polygraph him.

"Miss Ophelia, will you enter into a political marriage with Mr. Leon?"

"Because of your appearance, the necessity of the alliance has decreased," Ophelia replied.

"Because I have already become a worthy object for investment?"

"Of course."

"Then, Miss Ophelia, is there anyone you like?"

"Hehe, no."

The red glow of the longsword grew chaotic at that exact moment.

"..." Ophelia.

"Rest early, Miss."

Karen bowed his head slightly to Ophelia in greeting, then walked out of the room.

Ophelia, meanwhile, lifted the longsword,

murmuring with some confusion:

"I have someone I like?"

As she spoke, she patted the blade with her hand,

"Has the spellcraft become distorted?"

Then, facing the longsword, she said:

"I don't like anyone."

The red glow on the longsword became even more chaotic.

Ophelia supported her forehead with her hand,

saying:

"Oh dear, this sword has turned into a defective product."

…

Returning to the room.

Karen asked, "Is there anything left to eat?"

Hearing this, Fanni teased, "Miss Ophelia didn't feed you full?"

Then, Fanni walked over to Paige, who was lying on the bed preparing to sleep, reached out, and slapped her buttocks once more, sending a sudden wave of flesh rolling:

"Come, Paige, feed him full."

"I am truly hungry; she didn't prepare any food over there," Karen said.

"Oh, luckily, I set some aside as a midnight snack, I'll go get it for you."

Fanni retrieved the food from the refrigerator, and Karen sat on the sofa, picking up a fork to begin eating.

Paige turned on her side at this moment, looking at Karen and Fanni, and said, "By the way, the captain just sent news; we won't be escorting Miss Ophelia back to Dark Moon Island anymore."

"And the reason?" Karen asked.

Paige said, "That I don't know, the captain didn't say."

Fanni laughed, "What is there to guess about that? It's the habit of a hound; since he gave up a bone in the distance, it inevitably means there is meat right before his eyes to eat."

Paige nodded and said, "True, according to tradition, we always have a group dinner after every mission ends. I think the captain should announce the next plan during the dinner."

Fanni then remarked, "I am only worried about one thing right now."

Paige asked, "Worried about what?"

"I just don't know if our Miss Ophelia has actually gotten pregnant or not."

…

The following evening, the banquet commenced.

First, it was to celebrate the complete success of the talks between the Church of Order and Dark Moon Island, and second, it was to see off the Dark Moon Island delegation.

Karen was visibly more experienced than last time, because he could now actively seek out the tender meat of the roasted lizard-dragon neck, and he even brought the entire plate over to share with Paige and Fanni.

During the banquet, Leon appeared once again and invited Ophelia to dance, but Ophelia declined; Leon seemed very gentlemanly, showing no anger at all, and instead sat beside Ophelia to chat with her for a long time.

After the banquet concluded,

Neo's squad escorted Ophelia to the pier.

The people of the delegation had already departed ahead of time, and were currently on board waiting.

"We're here, Miss," Fanni said, "Wishing you a safe journey back."

Ophelia then produced a gift box and handed it to Fanni, who accepted it.

"Thank you all for your care and protection during this time; this is a small souvenir."

Fanni gave a light flick with her fingertip against the bottom of the box; being skilled with guns, her perception in this regard was excellent, and there should be nearly thirty thousand points-vouchers inside.

Although it wouldn't be a great amount for each person if divided among the entire squad, purely as a "souvenir," it was undoubtedly very generous.

Karen opened the car door first, and according to etiquette, offered the back of his hand to support Ophelia as she stepped down, with Panmir and the maid also exiting the vehicle.

When Fanni got out from the back, she noticed that the longsword placed beneath the seat had not been taken along, but she did not voice a reminder.

As Paige turned off the ignition, her back leaned slightly against the seat, and through the vibration of her perception, she realized a heavy object that shouldn't be there had been left behind. As she stepped out of the driver's cabin, she glanced toward the back seat and spotted the longsword;

then, she pretended not to see it.

Caren, Peggy, and Vanny maintained their posture, standing with their hands clasped in front of them.

Only this time, whereas Vanny had stood at the forefront before, both she and Peggy now stood positioned behind Caren.

Caren noticed this shift as well, but stepping back now would have seemed entirely too deliberate.

Ophelia did not rush to board the ship; instead, she walked up to Caren and asked:

"I am leaving."

"Safe travels."

Ophelia shook her head, looking up at the moon in the night sky, and said, "Nothing else to say?"

"What else needs to be said?"

"Say something worthy of how we met, so I can feel this trip to Wien was complete and without regret."

"Is it necessary to say?"

"Of course, I want to hear it."

"But I don't really want to say it."

Ophelia leaned her body slightly toward Caren, whispering, "Then I might just remember that my Sword of Alius was left behind in the carriage, you know?"

Caren cleared his throat softly.

Ophelia took a half-step back, adjusted her dress, and stood elegantly, saying:

"I am ready."

Caren spoke:

"The crimson rim outlines the steps of your arrival, and shall bear the sails of your departure."

Ophelia nodded,

and smiled:

"It is the mottled shade beneath the fading dark moon that allowed me to see the true you."