Chapter 79: Leaving Home, Returning Home!

Chapter 79 Leaving Home, Heading Home!

The sea breeze, thick with salty dampness, carried the coal smoke from the passenger liner, wrapping around one's face layer upon layer like charred spring roll wrappers.

Up on the first-class deck, the din of a pounding dance track drowned out the temper of the waves, yet successfully provoked the quiet-loving passengers into a state of irritation.

Down on the second-class deck below, men and women were hitting it off; standing above them, you could hear the stark differences in their accents, yet this did not stop the men's hands from straying, nor did it affect the women's coy, feigned resistance.

Even if they had been strolling the deck with their own husbands or wives just moments before, it did not hinder them from seeking out a fleeting true love in the present.

Karen even noticed two couples positioned north and south on the deck beneath him exchanging a knowing glance; this was true marital equality, where everyone had their fun, and everyone was playing the game.

Turning around,

With his back against the railing,

Karen looked at the seabird perched on the rail ahead of him, its pale blue feathers and haughty neck framed perfectly against the setting sun, creating a beauty reminiscent of an oil painting.

And then,

"Woof!"

The golden retriever lunged forward, scaring the bird away.

"Sigh."

Karen let out a soft sigh and closed his eyes.

The golden retriever squatted before him, tilting its head in bewilderment as it looked up at its master.

Not far away, Pu'er, draped over a lifebuoy hanging on the wall, sighed:

"A dog with a raised IQ still can't comprehend art."

Just then, another seabird landed right in front of Pu'er.

"Meow!"

Pu'er pounced, a single claw stripping a few feathers from the bird, sending it fleeing in terror.

The old maidservant walked over—the very one Alfred had disciplined back in Eunice's courtyard, whom Eunice addressed as Mrs. Daly.

"Young Master, the Madame requests your presence for dinner."

"Mm."

Since boarding, Mrs. Daly's attitude toward Karen had improved considerably, but Karen had no desire to match her with warmth.

The entire third floor was divided into two halls, one of which Madame Jenny had chartered.

Karen entered the room to find Madame Jenny already seated at the dining table, while Eunice stepped forward on her own initiative to help him off with his coat and hang it up.

It was cold outside, but the cabin felt somewhat stifling.

After boarding, Eunice had naturally begun attending to Karen's daily needs, doing essentially everything a wife would do for a husband—save for sleeping together, of course.

In truth, she had no need to act this way;

Because the ship was currently bound for her home, and between a man and a woman, whoever's territory was the destination usually held the greater confidence. She could well afford to be more relaxed now, perhaps even a bit casual, which would be a very natural shift in human emotion, yet she did not do so.

Furthermore,

Karen had actually informed Madame Jenny that Dis had fallen into a deep slumber before they even boarded; not only that, but he had also revealed the consequences and the price of awakening him, holding absolutely nothing back.

This wasn't a lapse in judgment on Karen's part; he had done it intentionally.

For certain matters could likely never be concealed anyway; though the Allen family had fallen from grace, they were no ordinary household. They might not be able to accomplish grand feats anymore, but digging up information was well within their means.

Rather than putting up a front and hiding the truth, it was better to make things perfectly clear from the very beginning;

The underlying implication was that if the Allen family chose to look down on him or neglect him simply because Dis's slumber meant the Inmeles family had fallen from a lineage of the Church of Order to a mere family of commoners...

Then let them show it early, without dragging out the process.

He carried the cushion money given by his uncle and aunt, the mortgage paperwork for buying a house, and Alfred—a self-funded servant who not only refused a salary but actually paid his employer;

Even without the Allen family, it wasn't as if he couldn't survive; he could just buy a small apartment in York City and start over, step by step.

Yet from the looks of it,

Eunice's attitude toward him hadn't shifted in the slightest due to his family's misfortune; instead, she attended to even more small details for him than before;

As for Madame Jenny...

She had indeed changed somewhat, though you couldn't say her chin had tilted up in arrogance. Rather, the slight sense of "deferential" humility she once held toward him had been shed upon learning of Dis's slumber, replaced by a more natural warmth a senior shows a junior.

Karen felt he might be a bit perverse, because he actually found himself slightly disappointed by this.

Perhaps it was because the Inmeles home had truly felt too wonderful, making him rather reluctant to try and integrate with the Allen family;

If you all would just turn out to be snobs a bit sooner, I could pack up my buckets and run away all the faster.

Now, with everyone maintaining this "harmonious atmosphere," he would genuinely have to go report to the Allen family.

"Come, try this sliced fish, caught fresh by the sailors this morning," Madame Jenny motioned for Karen to eat.

Karen tasted a slice, smiling with a nod:

"Very delicious."

He actually didn't care for raw fish.

"Care to join me for some red wine?" Madame Jenny asked.

"Certainly, Madame."

Eunice rose, pouring the wine for her mother and Karen.

"The food in Wien is truly dreadful, but Wien's wine has always been famous, likely because Wien's history features kings who loved fine wine and fine clothes, but never a king who loved fine food."

"In truth, provided the food is clean, the most important element is habit," Karen replied gently.

"I am from Rhein, you need not hide anything from me; once you truly arrive in Wien, believe me, you will feel the Wienese and their ancestors have forever been indulging in pig swill."

"Haha."

"Come, a toast, to our smooth success tonight."

"Our smooth success tonight?" Karen asked, puzzled.

"Oh?" Madame Jenny covered her mouth with a laugh, "Hehehe, I am sorry, so sorry, did I completely forget to tell you?"

"Yes."

"Then let me tell you now: tonight, we must change ships."

"Change ships?"

"Yes, because this ship will sink tonight, and someone will come to pick us up when the time comes."

"Is it to wash our identities?" Karen inquired.

"The word 'wash' is used with great precision. Yes, that is precisely the purpose. Eunice's identity and mine were fake to begin with, but yours is real; you boarded the ship genuinely as Karen.

Therefore, an accident and a shipwreck will occur, allowing us to meet a mishap in the chaos. The Karen from Rhein will vanish into the sea, and as for when we return to Wien, you won't even need to change your name.

Wien is not particularly large, but it teems with people."

"But..."

"Oh, there is no need to worry about harming the innocent. The ship will only sustain a small breach, and tonight she will sail near Sades Island, where the Royal Vian Navy maintains a military port. Rescue will arrive swiftly.

Of course, some will surely have a run of bad luck and suffer a few bumps and bruises, but those are minor matters, are they not?"

"You speak quite truly, Madam, but I am not worried about harming the innocent. I am merely concerned that my luggage is rather substantial, particularly as I have brought many books with this time, and I should not like them lost or dampened."

"Oh, is that so?"

Madam Jenny took a sip of red wine.

"There is no rush. Once dinner is concluded, you shall have ample time to pack your things. Axelos is an excellent navigator; he will look after our luggage for us. I have also brought a good deal of dried goods, specialties of Logia, which must not be touched by water either."

"Axelos?" Eunice asked with some astonishment. "Is that the portrait hanging in Father's study?"

"It is. You shall see him tonight," Madam Jenny explained to Eunice with a smile. "In truth, Eunice has always been well protected by us. She knows of many things, but she has never truly encountered them."

"In truth, I am much the same," Karen replied.

The greater part of his understanding also derived from the religious volumes in his grandfather's study.

"Would you like Eunice to help you tidy things?" Madam Jenny inquired.

"No, thank you, Madam. I can manage it well enough myself."

"Then I shall have Daly assist you."

"That is also unnecessary."

"Very well, then. I shall have Eunice summon you here an hour beforehand, and we shall board the vessel together."

"Yes, Madam, I understand. Thank you for your painstaking arrangements."

"You need not be so polite with me." A trace of a smile appeared at the corners of Madam Jenny's mouth. "Sometimes I do find it rather curious—how do the members of the Inmoles family manage to possess such fine cultivation?"

"Because... most of the Inmoles family are truly no different from ordinary people."

"Including you?"

"Yes, including me."

"Very well." Madam Jenny pursed her lips. "My dear, ordinary Karen."

Yet I truly am but an ordinary person, compared to the servants around me, and that cat, and that dog.

Karen rose from the dining table, and Eunice also stood to accompany him to the door, helping him into his coat.

"Madam, I shall return to pack my things now."

"Mmh."

Stepping out of the room, as Karen passed the railing, he saw Alfred seated below at the piano, playing. Around him gathered quite a few ladies and young misses—and yes, a few gentlemen as well.

Purr, keeping pace with Karen along the banister toward their cabin, remarked, "That radio sprite has always been exceedingly enchanting."

"Mmh," Karen murmured in response.

"Do you know, Karen, every day I watch you go to Jenny's room for dinner, I hold my breath in suspense."

"Why?"

"I am terribly afraid Jenny will give you the cold shoulder, and equally afraid Eunice will treat you with less regard than before."

"The object of your anxiety is quite amusing."

"I have always felt that the people of my family are currently exceedingly foolish; otherwise, one cannot explain how the family could have decayed to such an extent. For people in a foolish family to do foolish things—is that not entirely normal?

For instance, because of the matter of Diss falling into slumber, and because the Inmoles family has become worthless, they might neglect you, slight you, or even, more extremely, deliberately force you into a position where you cannot stomach the affront and must dissolve the engagement yourself, so they need not play the villain."

Karen stopped his stride and cast a glance at Purr. Purr looked back at him.

Then, Karen continued walking toward his room.

Purr froze on the spot, but after a few seconds immediately caught up, scolding:

"Damn it, Karen, is that precisely what you are thinking in your heart!

That is why you deliberately told them about Diss, told them about the Inmoles family;

In your heart, you hope they will neglect you, slight you, give you the cold shoulder, and leave you embarrassed;

And then,

You can say goodbye to the Allen family with a clear conscience?

Most importantly, your separation from Eunice would not be due to any fault of yours, because you would have a justifiable reason. You could occupy the moral high ground and escape the lashes of your own conscience?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

Karen produced his key, unlocked his room door, and stepped inside. Purr followed closely on his heels, continuing to rail:

"It is deliberately using the cold shoulder, deliberately refusing to give the lady a way out, deliberately creating opportunities for her to lose her temper, and deliberately making her the one to utter the word 'breakup';

And then you immediately seize the momentum to agree, followed by a remark that she was the one to propose it first, so you are entirely free of moral guilt, am I right!

The hearts of you men are truly filthy!"

As Karen sorted the books upon his small writing desk, he said with bewilderment:

"What on earth are you saying? I do not understand, and the fact remains that I have simply been conducting myself properly."

"Setting the facts aside, have you truly never thought this way, not even a little?"

"No."

"No, you certainly have!" Purr leaped onto the small desk. "My young master Karen, have you already begun to look down upon the Allen family?"

"No."

"You have. You view the Allen family as a burden, and you wish to walk your path freely and unburdened!"

Karen ceased his packing of the books, looked at Purr, and inquired with curiosity:

"I recall that you did not wish for me to return to the Allen family with you, because you were concerned I might be an evil god and would bring calamity upon them."

"But you are not an evil god; now the evil god is a dog!"

"Woof!"

"Scram, meow! This is no place for you to speak!" Purr shouted at the golden retriever.

The golden retriever was clearly still somewhat fearful of Purr. It immediately closed its mouth and lay down by the doorway. After all, when it first arrived in this household, it had submitted beneath Purr's gaze; even though it had grown much cleverer now, the psychological shadow could not be erased.

"I am merely listening to your counsel," Karen said.

Purr extended a paw and gently scratched the back of Karen's hand.

"But I remember at the very beginning, I told you to hurry and carry Eunice into the bedroom, so she could bear you many, many descendants."

"She is your junior, after all."

"The circumstances are different now."

"Different again?"

"Indeed. First of all, you are not an evil god now, though... I know not what manner of entity you truly are;

Regardless, matters that have exceeded the boundaries of my comprehension no longer bring me any sense of crisis.

But what I do know is that Diss utilized a blood sacrifice ritual, forcibly severing the spirituality of all future descendants of the Inmoles family."

"What happened next?"

"Then you weren't blocked. Now that Dis is asleep, it is highly likely that everything that was meant to be will fall upon you."

"You certainly have a wild imagination."

"I have a theoretical basis. The Church of Principles once conducted research into this."

"The Church of Principles actually researched that?"

"Yes, they even help royal families design mausoleums."

"I thought the Church of Principles only studied theory or the essence of things."

"That is what people like Hoffen like to do. Many religions drift off course as they develop, especially in this era. With the gods absent, no one can truly realign them, so they are just left to evolve on their own."

"Alright. By the way, Purr, what exactly is Aceros?"

The reason Karen asked what it was, rather than who, was because he could clearly sense from Lady Jenny's words that this Aceros did not seem to be a person.

"Aceros?" Purr froze instantly.

"What is it?"

"Aceros... is it still alive?" Purr suddenly grew much more solemn. "Did Jenny tell you about it?"

"Yes, she said Aceros would come to pick us up tonight so we could switch ships. You still haven't answered me, what is Aceros?"

"It is a sea monster, a sea monster as large as a whale."

"A sea monster, and as large as a whale?" Karen was somewhat surprised.

"In history, the Allen family was a notorious pirate family. They merely came ashore and settled down later on, but it is quite normal for them to have left behind some companions and connections on the great sea."

"In other words, the current Allen family can still summon this sea monster?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Wasn't it said that the Allen family has fallen from grace?"

"That is fallen relative to the Allen family of the past, but the Allen family is by no means an ordinary family. Besides, is it really that strange to summon a sea monster to help with a task?"

"I find it quite strange, yes, it surprises me a lot."

"Your grandfather can manifest three fragments of a godhead. Oh, I understand, Dis's low profile must have always caused you to misunderstand exactly what kind of status the Inmerals family, possessing Dis, holds within the church circles.

That day, Dis resolved the matter through negotiation. If he and those three elders of the Church of Order had truly fought, more than half of Luoja City could have easily been turned to ruins, and that is under the prerequisite that neither side used highly polluting forbidden spells.

If Dis were still around, or if he entered the Temple of Order, you, Karen, would be a bona fide little crown prince."

"Little crown prince? Ha, what a strange title."

"Blame it on Dis for never taking you out to really see the world, giving you the feeling of a country bumpkin entering the city."

"This is also quite nice, understanding and exploring this world step by step. The joy of pioneering is something you cannot imagine."

"What pioneering? Are we going to Wien to buy a farm and till the land?" Alfred walked in. "My savings are barely enough."

...

Eunice came to knock on the door in the evening. With Purr sitting on his shoulder and holding the golden retriever by its leash, Karen stood waiting outside Lady Jenny's room alongside Alfred, who was carrying the luggage and books.

Lady Jenny had also packed her belongings and stood on the deck of the third floor.

Checking her pocket watch,

Lady Jenny said,

"It is here."

In front of the cruise ship, a thick gray mist suddenly appeared, causing visibility to drop drastically in an instant. At the same time, a sound of impact came from the bottom of the ship. Everyone standing on the third floor had prepared themselves early on, so no one fell.

Immediately following that,

Amidst the dense fog,

A massive black figure slowly emerged. It truly resembled a whale, yet its skin bore distinct scales.

"Thank you for your trouble, great Aceros."

Lady Jenny bowed toward the colossal figure.

Aceros opened its mouth and extended its tongue, which stretched across like a ladder.

"Everyone, board the ship," Lady Jenny said.

She stepped onto the tongue first. Eunice glanced at Karen, and Karen smiled at her, signaling for her to go ahead. Once Eunice went up, Ms. Daly followed, carrying the luggage of the lady and the young miss.

"Radio goblin, go on up!" Purr ordered from Karen's shoulder.

Alfred carried the luggage and walked up.

"Stupid dog, up you go!"

Karen released the leash, and the golden retriever leaped up with great excitement.

Everyone followed the tongue and entered the mouth of Aceros.

Just as Karen was about to step up, Purr suddenly leapt onto the railing and spoke,

"You are not Aceros."

At this moment,

A cat stood upon the railing, facing a sea monster whose body was even larger than the cruise ship.

Upon hearing these words, the massive eyes of Aceros began to look down. Previously, it had not truly cast a direct gaze upon the people it had come to receive.

"I am Aceros," a muffled, slow voice resonated.

"No, you are not. It is impossible for Aceros not to recognize me," Purr said, tilting its feline head high. "Purr Allen!"

Aceros fell silent.

After a brief moment,

Its voice came once more,

"What you speak of, perhaps, is my father."

"Your father, where is it now?" Purr asked.

"Father has already returned to the embrace of the deep sea underworld."

"Aceros, it is dead." Purr lowered its cat head, murmuring to itself in deep sorrow. "Yes, after so many years, how could Aceros have lived until now."

"My father spoke to me many times about the past, including a most noble young lady of the Allen family.

Father said that the time spent roaming the sea with that young lady was the happiest and most proud period of its life.

Father said that when the noble young lady left home to go ashore, she said that after a while, she would call it forth to carry her back home.

Father waited for a very, very long time, yet never managed to receive that young lady's summons."

"I am sorry... Aceros," Purr murmured.

"Before falling into the deep sea underworld, Father instructed me to continue waiting in its stead. It said the young lady was out there, and there would come a day when she grew tired of playing. On that day, the young lady would come home.

Therefore,

"Are you the honorable Miss Purr Allen?"

"Yes, my name is Purr Allen. Thank you for coming to meet me."

"I hope to take you home in the manner that my father once described to me—the way it and that noble young lady loved best. Would that be acceptable?"

...

The first light of dawn began to break,

And upon the sea, the great mass of a colossal leviathan remained mostly submerged, leaving only half its head visible above the surface.

Karen stood there, holding Purr in his arms.

"Woo woo woo woo..."

From its gills, Azeroth spouted streams of water that caught the morning light, weaving into a brilliant, reflecting tapestry of colored mist. It was a beautiful sight, the very scene that noble lady had once loved most, and the favorite game she and his father used to play while roaming the vast ocean.

Karen looked down at Purr, cradled in his embrace.

The cat was curled against him now, feeling remarkably soft, or perhaps the truer word was... fragile.

This was the first time Karen had ever seen Purr look so vulnerable.

Purr lifted her head, casting a glance at Karen,

And said:

"Karen, I am home."