Chapter 616: Admirer

Chapter 616: An Admirer

"Knock... Knock... Knock..."

The sound of tapping came from the private booth next door.

Aisli, who had been sitting on her chair, instantly stood up and positioned herself in front of the wall. As a subordinate in an unknown situation, standing ahead of one's superior was a matter of protocol.

Karen slowly rose from the sofa, adjusted his divine robe, and as he reached the wall, stretched out his hand to grasp Aisli’s shoulder, pulling her back a short distance.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

A crisp scraping sound rang out, and a rectangular section was carved out of the wall from the other side, which then fell toward Karen's side with a heavy thud.

Karen raised his hand, channeling a control spell to gently lower the falling wall while suppressing the dust that would have otherwise billowed up.

Standing on the opposite side was Lady Auggie, who was lifting the hem of her skirt to wipe the fingers she had just used to slice through the wall.

Karen averted his gaze, avoiding looking at her exposed, long, and voluptuous thighs.

For some reason, ever since they met today, Karen felt this Frost Dragon was acting rather strange, giving him the impression of a pastry shop auntie who kept making flirtatious gestures, inviting him inside to sample some freshly baked treats.

In any case, it felt a bit forced, forced enough that Karen instinctively wanted to maintain his distance from her.

Miss Daina walked over, sounding somewhat bewildered, "Hehe, you're actually right next door to me."

Lady Auggie reminded her, "Miss, I believe it might be because Karen shares the same treatment tier as us."

"Oh, really?" Miss Daina looked at Karen, "Your treatment tier is that high?"

Is it that absurd to be on the same tier as you?

You are merely relying on nepotism, whereas I am inheriting a political legacy.

Karen replied with a smile, "I believe it is simply because the conditions here are rudimentary, so they could only arrange for us to be together, overlooking the division of tiers."

"Is it so hard to just admit it generously?" Miss Daina pouted, "Even though you beat me up ruthlessly yesterday, I was the one who made the first move. If you're beaten because your own strength is lacking, you deserve it, and I'm not going to go tattle on you."

"Miss, we were merely sparring."

"Oh, Sister Auggie, you see that, right? That's just how he is. Seriously, from his style of speaking and doing things, anyone who didn't know better would think he's already in his fifties or sixties. It's impossible to find even a single flaw in him. But in reality, he was having a grand old time beating me up yesterday, even using a greatsword to smack me away like a golf ball.

I bet he slept wonderfully last night."

You actually hit the nail on the head.

Lady Auggie did not chime in on this remark. After all, her current perception of Karen was incredibly distorted; the more properly Karen behaved, the more uncomfortable she felt.

If he had reached out to touch her backside while they were on the Earth Dragon earlier, she might actually have felt a bit more at ease.

Because she had altered her own memory, once a mismatch occurred, it would continuously deepen the psychological suggestion within her, telling her that the memory modification was wrong. It was then just like being unable to stop yourself from scratching at a scabbed wound on your arm—one careless tug, and it would bring a piercing, heartbreaking pain.

Of course, this was not Karen's fault; she had simply overestimated her own literary talent. To justify her aversion to Karen, she had clumsily concocted such a cursed memory, and she might as well have asked Master Purr to help her adapt it instead.

At this moment, a knock sounded at the door.

Miss Daina said, "Come in."

She seemed to have forgotten that she was not currently in her own private booth.

The door opened to reveal a waitress dressed in a red gown, beneath which a serpentine tail was hidden—this was a true snake demon.

Behind her stood an elderly man, and beside him stood a youth clad in dark red armor. The youth wore no helmet, revealing a head of flowing blonde hair.

The waitress was clearly surprised by the scene inside, but she still addressed Karen first:

"Lord Karen, two gentlemen from the Great Axe Divine Church wish to pay you a visit."

The elderly man took a step forward and bowed to Karen:

"Praise the God of Might. Minister Karen, my name is Esinla, and I work in war beast domestication within the Great Axe Divine Church."

The Great Axe Divine Church had always believed they inherited the legacy of the God of Might, so their spoken praise was "Praise the God of Might," though the outside world did not recognize this.

Because the God of Might belonged to three eras ago and could be considered a powerful primary god even earlier than the God of Eternity, but he had subsequently fallen.

Coupled with the fact that the Great Axe Divine Church was currently just a medium-sized church, wanting other orthodox divine churches to recognize its ancient lineage was naturally impossible.

"Praise Order. It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Esinla."

"I apologize for disturbing you. It is mainly because I know a few things about you, which gave me a special curiosity. Most importantly, it is this child; he is my student, and he insisted that I bring him to meet you. Robo, come and greet Minister Karen."

The youth in the dark red armor stepped before Karen. He did not use the etiquette shared between church clergy, but instead proactively extended his hand to Karen.

Karen reached out to shake his hand, and no underhanded test of strength occurred between them.

"Minister Karen, I used to admire you greatly because I noticed your recent work in the newspapers. To be honest, I often lay in bed holding the newspaper, reading reports about you until I laughed out loud."

"Ahem..." The elderly Esinla could not help but cough to offer a reminder.

"Haha, it's just pure admiration. You know, it's the nature of young people; we just can't stand the sight of those old fogies sitting up high, but you actually managed to kick them down one by one."

Karen smiled and said, "I merely act in accordance with the Regulations of Order."

"But after meeting you, I find I don't admire you anymore because you are far too young. The impression from the newspaper photographs wasn't this strong, but in reality, you are even younger. I am twenty-one years old this year, what about you?"

"Seventeen."

"Are you truly seventeen? I thought the age on the investigation report was an error, but it turns out to be true. So, right now, toward you..."

"To put it in the vernacular of Wien, it probably means our temperaments are of the exact same color, perfectly suited to be put into the very same paste jar."

...

"Meow." (He actually used a Wien paste jar as a metaphor.)

"Woof." (He loathes Wien paste the most.)

"Meow." (But he seems to be even better at using paste jars to coin proverbs than the people of Wien. I bet he made this one up on the spot.)

"Woof." (Alfred has plenty more over there; they have an exclusive, independent, and highly mature language system of their own.)

"Meow." (Fair enough, but this blonde kid seems to be a rebellious fan of Karen's.)

"Woof." (Yes, you are right.)

...

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean! I, Robo Moreshisen, am willing to recognize you as a friend, and I want to bring a barrel of wine to knock on your door tonight and invite you to drink together!"

"It would be my honor."

Robo laughed and stepped forward, opening his arms. Karen did not decline either, taking half a step forward to complete a rather rugged embrace typical between warriors.

"Of course, if possible, I hope we have the chance in the future to have a fight after we finish drinking—just a pure, simple fight."

"Hmph." Miss Daina let out a cold snort.

Robo noticed her, but he did not know Miss Daina's identity, so he assumed this girl was likely Karen's attendant.

This feeling of being ignored made Miss Daina very uncomfortable. She desperately wanted to loudly tell this youth who she was, and then... her brow furrowed as she realized she held no official title, and if she were to state whose adopted daughter she was here... she would find it deeply shameful.

Any person with dignity would not gleefully shout at the top of their lungs that they were a piece of trash who relied on connections and backdoors to enjoy high privileges.

Robo said to Esinla, "Let's go, Teacher."

"Very well. Minister Karen, we shall stop disturbing you then."

"I look forward to our next meeting," Karen replied.

Steping out of the private booth, Luo Bo gestured a drinking motion to Karen, who responded with a nod.

The gorgon attendant closed the door.

Aisli smiled and said, "It turns out our Section Chief is quite famous now."

Traveling abroad, members of other sects took the initiative to come over and say hello, and bluntly spoke the word "admiration," which was truly a matter of great prestige.

Aisli's excitement probably lay in the fact that the idol she followed had finally broken out of their inner circle and gone viral.

The truth was indeed so; if the Vico case had given the young Karen a relatively large renown within his own church, then the recent "Case of the Six Bishops" had utterly spread his fame beyond the bounds of his own faith.

Those "bloodthirsty" journalists were definitely not useless slackers, and the circulation and influence of church newspapers in this era were truly terrifying.

Lady Ogi spoke up: "The armor on that Luo Bo is extraordinary; it should be Heroic Spirit Armor."

The reason the Great Axe Cult was a medium-sized church was largely because its number of believers and scope of coverage were relatively narrow; although the God of the Great Axe was the deity enshrined by the Great Axe Cult, this deity claimed to have accepted the inheritance of the God of Strength, and therefore, from the very beginning of its creation, this sect was deformed.

It was somewhat similar to a destroyed church reconstructing a new organization upon its ashes.

The record of the Great Axe Cult in the notes Mr. Hoffen gave to Karen was: it is a church built upon a legion phalanx.

Because its predecessor was a band of mercenaries, but this band of mercenaries had faith, was organized, and was very powerful; most importantly, their cohesion was much stronger than that of the Crypt Cult.

To make an inappropriate analogy, Order had twelve knight legions; if one day the Church of Order were destroyed, the members of one of those legions would re-establish a new church organization in another place.

Thus, while the Great Axe Cult did not possess vast territory, its power... could not be ignored.

As for the Heroic Spirit Armor, it was inherited from the armor of a certain brave warrior in the history of the sect, and it was extremely precious and rare.

Karen believed Lady Ogi's vision, and at the same time, from Luo Bo's prior attitude toward his mentor Ecsinra, it was evident which of the two was truly the dominant one.

At this moment, the door was knocked upon once more.

Miss Dana forgot yet again that she was not the master of this private booth and called out, "Come in."

It was still that snake-woman attendant who opened the door, behind whom stood an old woman and a young woman.

The old woman wore a set of grey divine robes covered in bells, while the young woman dressed very lightly, truly wrapped in a three-piece style to cover her vital areas, with a few short cloth strips added as embellishment.

However, she was very thin, with a very sharp jaw, and upon the large areas of exposed skin, there were many totem-like drawings.

Aisli also had many similar patterns on her arms, so this woman was a summoner.

The old woman bowed her head to Karen in greeting: "Praise the God of Spiritualism. Section Chief Karen, I apologize for disturbing you. I am a wanderer of the First Path of the Spiritualism Cult. The summoner I serve, Aimei, has always admired you greatly and wished to pay you a visit."

"Praise Order. Hello," Karen replied, then looked toward Aimei, "Hello."

Aimei seemed to summon her courage, walking up to Karen with her hands crossed and lowered, wanting to say something but unable to find the words; in the end, she could only speak at an extremely rapid pace:

"I am so glad to meet you here, Section Chief Karen. I have always followed your news, starting from the very first time I saw you riding in a hearse to the Selection Trial at the Gate of Samsara; as long as there is a report about you in the 'Order Weekly', I will clip and save your photos. In short, I like you very much, please forgive my presumption!"

...

"Meow." (This is definitely a face fan.)

"Woof." (You are right.)

"Meow." (This is exactly why I want to follow him; he is really popular with girls, and he himself knows perfectly well that he is popular with girls.)

"Woof." (What about this Miss Dana?)

"Meow." (This one is even more exaggerated; she originally hated him, but after being beaten up by him, her attitude clearly turned for the better.)

"Woof?" (Hard to understand.)

"Meow." (You don't need to understand, because the two of you are at two extremes.)

...

"Miss Aimei, to be appreciated by you is my honor. I am very glad to hear these words from you, truly."

"Thank you, thank you, Section Chief Karen. So, could I have a hug with you, just for a moment, a gentle one."

"Alright, of course."

Karen opened his arms, lightly pressing his slightly clenched hands against her back.

Just as Karen prepared to end the polite hug, Miss Aimei suddenly took the initiative to hold Karen tightly, like a sloth hanging on a tree, even wrapping her legs around him.

Then, she leaped backward, landing on the ground, took a deep breath, and bowed to Karen: "Thank you, I am satisfied."

"Hehe, you are truly cute."

"In addition, this is a gift I am giving to you."

Aimei took out a crystal pendant and presented it to Karen with both hands.

"Please accept it, Karen, thank you."

"Alright, thank you." Karen accepted the pendant, then subconsciously reached his hand into his own pocket, but his pockets had always been extremely clean.

He did not carry useless items, and those he carried on his person could not be given away; he could hardly pull out a stack of Order coupons as a return gift, could he?

At this time, Aisli proactively stepped behind him and slipped one of her own bracelets into Karen's hand.

Karen smoothly extended it toward Aimei, saying, "This is my return gift."

"Thank you, I will certainly treasure it well. In addition, thank you for the reply you gave me last time, and thank you for your encouragement during my practice."

"Yes, please believe in yourself firmly no matter what the time."

"Exactly, you are quite right. Thank you again, I will not disturb you further. I am so thrilled, today, truly, very thrilled, thank you!"

...

"Meow?" (Karen even replied to her letter?)

"Woof." (Alfred probably replied on his behalf; the office has received quite a few letters lately.)

"Meow." (Oh, this is truly an Angel-brand radio.)

...

After Aimei left, Miss Dana spread her hands, thoroughly displeased: "So, Sister Ogi, why did we dig through this wall?"

Lady Ogi replied, "It was your command, Miss, I only followed it."

Miss Dana shrugged her shoulders: "We acted as an audience for once. Alas, let us go back; I worry that more people are going to come next."

Though she said so, Miss Dana seemed to have no intention of leaving, instead asking curiously, "Is he really that popular?"

Karen answered, "Because the Church of Order is the number one church, any news that happens in the Church of Order easily attracts the attention of the entire clerical circle."

"You are quite right. If you said this to my adoptive father, he would probably be very happy."

"Hehe."

Karen handed the pendant to Aisli, who took a step back, indicating she could not accept it.

"Keep it for me for a moment, hand it to Alfred after we return. In addition, that bracelet..."

"It does not possess any precious significance, so it could be given away."

"Go to Alfred to claim the expense."

"Alright, Section Chief."

At this moment, the sound of knocking on the door rose once again.

Miss Dana scratched her hair. "Again?"

Karen spoke up. "Come in."

The snake woman opened the box door, this time with no one following behind her. Smiling, she handed over two sets of picture albums.

"These are the albums and information for this partner selection. Please take a look, my lords."

"Alright, thank you."

As Karen took them, he asked, "Which set is mine?"

"Both sets are the same."

"Alright, understood."

The snake woman backed out of the box.

Karen handed one set to Dana. Without so much as a glance, Dana tossed it onto the sofa.

Purr, however, pounced over and began flipping it open with her paws to look.

Lord Augie now took the initiative to walk over to the sofa, bending down to stare at this black cat. On this journey, this black cat had groped her own backside quite a few times.

Immediately afterward, Lord Augie looked toward Kevin again.

Kevin was licking his canine paws, putting on a thoroughly doggish display.

Having lost the memories of that night, Lord Augie stood up and said to Karen, who was seriously browsing the album, "These two pets of yours are very unusual."

To be able to maintain a cat-like and dog-like demeanor in front of a dragon meant they were anything but ordinary.

Karen gave Lord Augie a faint smile, then lowered his head to continue reading the album.

Lord Augie seemed to realize something as well, retreating behind Miss Dana and falling silent, because she too understood that continuing to chat about pets would only lead to her own injury.

Yet this young man before her had realized it even before she did.

Damn it...

Lord Augie was now beginning to doubt whether, that night at the Chief Bishop's manor, it was the other party forcing her or if she had actively seduced him!

Just then, a voice rang out from the circular stage below.

"The first partner, the Lizard Race Legion Commander, Mumba!"

No opening remarks, no prelude; the selection grand assembly simply commenced directly in this manner.

Karen and Dana walked to the box railing together and looked down. Standing on the circular stage was a burly lizardman, entirely white as if suffering from albinism.

This was clearly not an object Karen and Dana needed to consider. After a cursory glance, Karen returned to the album. Upon flipping to the final page, he still had not seen the portrait of the bone dragon.

Miss Dana saw it too, saying, "Naturally it wouldn't be in the album. That is the final under-the-table procedure."

Karen said, "Judging by the foreshadowing upon entry, I feel some unexpected things might happen."

...

"Woof?" (Seems like the clichés are about to start?)

"Meow." (Yes, it's started. Guess how things will develop next?)

"Woof." (How will they develop?)

"Meow." (This silly girl will beg him to vie for the bone dragon.)

...

"The Crypt Church wouldn't dare. This is a gift I pre-ordered." Miss Dana was extremely confident in this. "Unless the Crypt Church truly dares to tear all face with our Order."

It was true she had used connections to come here, but her connection happened to be that particular individual. Therefore, she did not believe the Crypt Church would dare to deny that personage face.

Karen continued to lay the groundwork, saying, "They might not do it openly, but perhaps they will choose a compromise solution."

"A compromise solution? For example?"

"For example, finding an excuse, setting up a threshold, and after washing their own hands clean of the matter, letting this bone dragon serve as a prize for competition, allowing the people who came here this time to compete for it together. You've seen it as well; among the other churches present this time, they are basically all elites, the focal points of cultivation for their respective churches."

Miss Dana pondered for a moment, then said, "If it truly turns out that way, Karen."

"Hmm?"

"You must also do your utmost to strive for it."

Karen feigned difficulty. "Me, competing for something against you? My apologies, I cannot bring myself to do such a thing."

"This isn't competing against me. If that bone dragon is allowed to fall into the hands of other churches, that would be the true disgrace, a disgrace to the face of our Order. Therefore, if it really comes to that situation, you must strive for it."

Karen hesitated a moment, then assumed a solemn expression and nodded,

saying:

"You are right. I understand."