Chapter 233: Hi, Newbie!

Chapter 233 Hi, Newcomer!

Tick... tick... tick...

A faint, fragmented sound drifted past his ears, accompanied by the scent of lavender brushing against the tip of his nose. Aunt Mary loved using this particular incense to scent the family’s clothes and bedding.

Karen knew he was dreaming.

He rarely dreamt anymore, especially after completing his divine revelation, yet tonight the dreams had returned.

Opening his eyes, Karen found himself lying in his own bed within his room at the Inmeles residence. Turning his head, he saw a younger version of himself lying by his side, face turned upward, eyes completely numb.

Upon the ceiling, light and shadow intertwined, gradually weaving together a blurred tableau: an old man stood there, clutching a sword, with two corpses splayed at his feet.

He simply watched, continuing to watch, as though this very scene had already been "witnessed" by him countless times before.

When he had first seen the drawing sketched by the original "Karen," he had harbored doubts. With Dis's formidable strength, how could he possibly allow his grandson to peek from the side while he killed his own son and daughter-in-law?

Now, the answer lay bare. "Karen" had not been peeking at all, yet he had truly seen it.

Had this child been enduring such torment since he was so very young?

A torment that could not be spoken of, could not be confided to anyone, and could not be resolved.

Mr. Eisen was at least an adult, a high-ranking priest, but this was merely a child.

Karen turned his head back and slowly closed his eyes, letting out a heavy sigh:

"Sigh..."

...

The morning light fell mottled into the bedroom through the partition window. Karen turned his head to check the time—seven o'clock.

After showering, washing up, and dressing, Karen stepped out of the bedroom and made his way to the kitchen.

"Young Master, I made mushroom and lean pork porridge today. Would you like a taste?" Xili looked at Karen, her eyes brimming with anticipation.

"Alright."

Xili served Karen a bowl of porridge, pairing it with two boiled eggs and two small plates of pickled vegetables.

Karen took a spoonful of the porridge and nodded. "Not bad."

"Hehehe." Xili smiled happily. She then picked up the basket of spinach that had been sitting on the counter, placed it on the floor, and squatted down with her back turned toward her young master.

Just then, Mrs. Lake walked to the doorway. Seeing this scene, the corners of her mouth curled slightly. As someone who had been through it all, how could she fail to see the young girl's affection?

"Karen, Teacher Daishan is taking Dora and Dorin to the suburbs to sketch today," Mrs. Lake said as she approached Karen.

"That is a good thing. Dora and Dorin ought to go out more for some fresh air. I will have Alfred accompany you."

"Splendid, splendid." In truth, Mrs. Lake had come precisely to ask for this. She had seen with her own eyes just how reliable and responsible Alfred was in managing affairs.

Then, as if to express her gratitude to Karen, Mrs. Lake also squatted down, helping Xili pluck the spinach.

After breakfast, Karen first called Fannie. He needed to contact the captain and learned that the captain was at the new administrative building today to claim his new office. The new building was located in the northern suburbs, far removed from the city center this time.

Karen asked Fannie to help him contact the captain for a meeting at the pottery workshop in the afternoon. As for which pottery workshop, Fannie did not ask, knowing full well that the captain would surely know.

After hanging up, Karen gave Alfred instructions regarding taking Dora and Dorin out to sketch. Then, he drove to King’s Avenue on his own. After parking the car in front of the pottery workshop, Karen sat inside for a moment longer.

The sunlight today was excellent, feeling comfortable upon the skin. The morning sun, in particular, carried a quality that easily put people at ease.

"Brother Karen!"

Serena’s voice rang out from beside the car window. Karen did not see her at first, but upon opening the car door, he discovered that Serena was a little girl today.

"Oh!"

Serena seemed to realize something. She immediately wanted to turn around and run back into the shop. She had simply been too excited upon seeing Karen’s car, forgetting what she looked like today.

Though she had never studied psychology, she knew that if she continued to deepen Brother Karen’s impression of her as a little girl, her already slim chances would grow even slimmer. After all, her Brother Karen was no beast.

Karen, however, rather liked Serena’s little girl form; it was very cute. Perhaps it was because she had been in this form the very first time he met her.

Before she could even reach the shop door, Serena was scooped up by Karen. Yet, there was not a trace of bliss on her face, because she was being held in the manner of a small child.

Karen pushed open the shop door. Lemar was currently holding a glass of red wine, savoring it. Sensing the movement, he turned his head to look, only to see his sister being carried back in by Karen just like that...

"Pfft."

The red wine in his mouth was sprayed straight out.

"Drinking this early?" Karen asked.

"It has become a habit. If I do not drink a little in the morning, I lack energy the entire day. Is something the matter?"

"Yes, I would like to ask you to help make a mask for a friend of mine to use."

"Alright, no problem. Is it urgent?"

"Somewhat."

"Then I shall make it now. Did you bring the skin?"

"No. Do you have any stock here?"

How could a master specializing in the creation of masks lack stock in his storeroom?

Most importantly, when Karen and Neo had come in last time, they had both seen the faces displayed in the showcase.

"I have stock, though I did not obtain them by killing. Faces laden with resentment cannot produce masks of proper quality. These were all acquired by me using Reals. Some were from people on the verge of death, others from those planning suicide, looking to leave some money for their families."

"I trust your character, Mr. Lemar. You do not need to explain so much to me."

"Very well. Tell me your requirements, and let us see if there is a match in my inventory."

"A middle-aged male, preferably. No other specific requirements."

"That is easy to manage. What of the quality requirement? Should it be crafted like the mask I made for you last time?"

"No need. This is a regular transaction involving nothing else. He paid me in Order Vouchers. Give me a price."

"Very well, a friendship price: six thousand Order Vouchers."

"Alright, no problem. Put it on my tab for now. In a while, I shall come to you to order two puppet dolls, and we can settle everything together then."

"Understood. Then I shall head off to begin the crafting." With that, Lemar gave his sister a wink.

Mr. Lemar went off to his workshop, directly leaving his "young" sister with another man. He was quite at ease, for he knew very well that Karen harbored no such thoughts toward his sister.

"Brother Karen, have you had breakfast yet?"

"I have. By the way, were you planning on heading out just now?"

"Yes, I was planning to go to Mother’s house. Mother and her second husband have divorced again, due to domestic violence."

"Oh, then your mother is truly pitiable."

"It was Mother who committed the domestic violence against him. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance for emergency resuscitation. Fortunately, he pulled through."

"Uh... I see."

"Now that she is divorced, Mother wants to remarry Father again and is currently planning to break up Father’s current marriage. I had originally intended to go comfort Mother today."

"Then have I delayed you?"

"Oh, it is nothing, it does not matter. I have long since grown accustomed to the love and hatred of Father and Mother. They always manage to stir up a great deal of trouble."

Karen nodded in deep agreement. Who could have imagined that the father and mother Selena spoke of were actually two puppets created for her by her brother?

Perhaps Lemar's purpose in making this pair of "parent" puppets was to give his younger sister a complete childhood, though who could have known these two puppets would end up divorcing due to marital discord.

Yet Selena’s childhood was indeed rendered more complete because of it, offering a much richer experience.

"Brother Karen, are you still having iced water?"

"Yes, please."

"Alright then, I'll go pour it for you."

Karen found a chair and sat down. Once Selena brought over the iced water, Karen took two sips, then rested his hand on the table, pillowed his profile against his arm, and closed his eyes just like that.

Selena did not disturb Karen; instead, she sat beside him, resting her chin on both hands, gazing at Karen with absolute earnestness as the sunlight spilled across Brother Karen's face, making him look utterly charming.

Karen had not originally intended to sleep. Though he had experienced a dream last night, his quality of sleep had not been poor, yet for some reason, he had merely wanted to rest in the sunlight and ended up falling asleep very quickly.

The sheer speed with which he drifted into sleep caught Karen somewhat off guard, and in his daze, it made him feel as though he were not currently in the Lemar Pottery Gallery, but rather in that VIP carriage reserved only for conducting missions.

"Brother Karen."

Karen was shaken awake by Selena. Checking the time first, he discovered it was already half past two in the afternoon; he had actually slept for half the day.

"Are you hungry, Selena?"

Mr. Lemar was in the studio creating a mask for him, so he certainly could not let the man's younger sister go without food.

"Mm, no, look over there."

Karen turned his head toward the shop entrance and discovered a black crow perched upon the handle. As Karen walked over and opened the door, the crow vanished directly into thin air, and not far away, Karen caught sight of Captain Neo's figure.

"Selena, I am going out for a moment, you stay in the shop."

"Alright, Brother Karen."

Karen walked up opposite Neo: "Captain."

"I saw you sleeping quite soundly just now, did you not rest well last night?"

"No, I also find it somewhat inexplicable; I came over this morning having slept well, yet I fell asleep again."

"This might be a form of intuition."

"Intuition?"

"Just as certain animals can foresee the coming of natural disasters, humans can actually do it too, it is simply that they haven't had time to realize it themselves."

"Captain, is there a mission?"

"Yes, there is a purging mission in the early hours of tonight. Illegal behavior by aberrant demons has appeared at a coastal manor, and a total of three squads will join forces to clear out that manor."

"Understood, Captain, I see."

"As things stand now, I need to reassess the difficulty of this mission, because you are actually catching up on sleep in advance for it."

"Captain, I

The maid knocked on the door, and upon hearing the response to enter, she relayed the message to the master of the house sitting in the study, whereupon Mr. Eisen immediately stepped out of the study to the coffee table in the living room and picked up the telephone.

Watching her husband move with such uncharacteristic speed, Kathy bit her lip; initially intending to head to the washroom, she passed by her son's room and saw Richard sitting on the floor, cradling an exquisite box in his arms which contained quite a few point coupons.

"What is the matter, son?" Kathy asked.

"Father actually took the initiative to ask me for point coupons just now, and he took half of them!"

From you, his own son, he took half?

However, Richard was not angry because his father had taken half of his little private treasury; on the contrary, he spoke to his mother with great excitement:

"I can hardly believe it, Mother. Father actually asked for money on his own accord. Don't you think this is a massive change for him? After being counseled by Karen, Father has changed!"

Richard's previous daze had not been a sign of a breaking heart, but rather a profound disbelief at the transformation in his father.

Kathy offered a smile and said, "Yes, Karen's treatment has indeed proven effective."

"Mother, do you know? From the very first moment I laid eyes on Karen, I felt an inexplicable sense of closeness to him. Sometimes, I truly feel as if he were an older brother to me."

"Just like your brother..."

"Richard, answer the phone."

"Coming, Father!"

Watching her son run downstairs to answer the call, Kathy walked back to the top of the stairs and saw her husband retreating into his study once more, only for him to emerge a moment later, having changed into a coat instead of his clerical robes.

Mr. Eisen turned and looked toward Kathy, hesitant to speak.

Kathy took a deep breath, maintained her smile, and asked, "Are you going out?"

"Yes."

"Where are you going?"

"I cannot tell you."

"..." Kathy.

Mr. Eisen walked out of the house, and Kathy had no intention of trailing her husband; not only had her wounds not yet fully healed, but even if she were completely recovered, she was no match for her husband in many respects.

"Oh yeah!"

Putting down the receiver, Richard let out a squeal, then dashed to the foot of the stairs, shouting up to his mother standing above:

"My dearest mother, your son shall wield the whip for Order once again tonight. Praise the God of Order!"

...

Late at night, Platform 3 of the East District Railway Station.

Richard stood clad in his clerical robes, a mask tucked beneath his arm and a bag slung over his back containing ritual supplies, shivering uncontrollably in the frigid night wind.

Just then, Zema and Kunxi approached shoulder to shoulder, and upon seeing Richard shivering there in the cold, Kunxi teased:

"You really stood out here waiting so early, eh? Hey, we arrived early too, but we waited inside the pastry shop."

Generally speaking, pastry shops were particularly abundant near railway stations.

Zema laughed and added, "Hahaha, the newcomer probably has never been to a pastry shop before. Don't worry, we will take you along next time."

Being at the very bottom of the team's hierarchy, Richard could only offer an accommodating smile and accept the teasing from the veteran members.

At that moment, Richard spotted Karen approaching alongside an unfamiliar middle-aged man.

"Karen, who is he?"

"A newcomer."

Karen knew Richard possessed the ability to sense bloodlines, so he did not introduce the man beside him in too much detail.

"I have some business to attend to. I will head up front to find the captain first."

With that, Karen walked ahead, leaving the newcomer standing there.

Hey, a newcomer has arrived!

Richard felt a surge of joy; he was finally no longer the lowest man on the totem pole, for there was now a new tail behind him.

Seeing that the newcomer merely stood there stiffly without moving a muscle, Richard, as the senior member, proactively leaned in to help ease the awkwardness of a fresh recruit joining the squad. He nudged the newcomer with his shoulder,

smiling as he said:

"The newcomer probably has never been to a pastry shop before. Don't worry, I will take you along next time."