13 Mink Street

Chapter 125: Eva’s Pastry Shop

“Hey,” Karon called out.

Mr. Pavaro did not move, but the two men in black robes turned to look at Karon.

“Is this rehearsal for a show, or some novel new game?”

Mr. Pavaro suddenly laughed. “That just shows you haven’t seen much! This kind of play stopped being rare in pastry shops a long time ago.”

“Tsk, who even goes to places like that? It’s all older women.”

“That’s because you’re still young. Age is the sediment of technique.”

Karon flicked the ash from his cigarette, then deliberately leaned his head out the window to look at the handcuffs on Mr. Pavaro’s wrists.

“Debt collectors? Do loan sharks now use handcuffs?”

One of the black robed men took out police credentials and held them in front of Karon. “We’re the police. Right now, we suspect you know this suspect and have had dealings with him.”

“Uh...” Karon immediately tossed the still burning cigarette butt onto the ground, raised his hands, and pulled back his head. “This has nothing to do with me. Really, I have nothing to do with this. I just thought, your outfits... Officer, sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to obstruct official business.”

Smiling as he apologized, Karon slowly rolled his window back up. The black robed men did not actually intend to investigate Karon, but merely wanted to scare him. After all, priests from a Whip of Order team were not so idle that they needed to investigate a random ordinary passerby.

Mr. Pavaro, still wearing the handcuffs, got into the car, and the sedan drove away.

Inside his own car, the panic on Karon’s face slowly faded.

“Oh, thank you. Luckily you’re someone who smokes.” Did that mean that Mr. Pavaro had learned long ago that Karon was not an ordinary person? Karon was not surprised. Because of his special purification method, he was difficult to probe, but that was limited to passing people on the street. He had interacted with Mr. Pavaro on several occasions, and along the way, the man had even examined Alfred. It was not strange at all for Mr. Pavaro to connect the dots and discover Karon was not ordinary.

What surprised Karon was that Mr. Pavaro had proactively mentioned the pastry shop. Was that a reminder to him? But then why not pass that to his two attendants?

Karon’s gaze shifted to the two Divine Servants who still stood in place, not moving even after their boss had been taken away.

Well, telling them wouldn’t be much use. Neither man looked particularly sharp. Dinkom was a bit better, but only a little.

So Mr. Pavaro had told Karon instead? Karon did owe the man a favor, but there had not been much contact between them. They were not friends. There was a favor owed, yes, but that was all.

A gift of a bit more money or passing along some church credits for Mrs. Pavaro should be the end of that, right? After all, the people Karon most feared dealing with, and most wanted to avoid interacting with, were the Church of Order.

In any case, if he asked his own heart, watching Mr. Pavaro getting taken away did not stir any particularly strong impulse in Karon to gather evidence or clear the man’s name. This was not as simple as helping Alaia’s son with a psychological consultation. That was nothing more than a bit of time and effort, whereas helping Mr. Pavaro, if mishandled, could drag Karon into the mess as well.

Still, since Karon had already arrived, even if Mr. Pavaro had been taken away, it was still necessary to do what he had come for and offer his thanks. Karon got out of the car, took the gifts from the trunk, and walked toward the funeral home.

Partway there, he met Pike and Dinkom. Pike stared at Karon as he approached, momentarily unable to believe his eyes.

Dinkom, on the other hand, proactively reached out to help Karon carry the gifts, and said with great humility, “Sir.”

Seeing Dinkom and Pike’s reactions, Karon realized the two had misunderstood something. He understood immediately the misunderstanding. He really had only happened to arrive at this moment, and there had also only coincidentally been a lighter in the car because Alaia had left it for Karon.

Karon hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not explain. He only nodded to Dinkom.

“Sir, please.” Dinkom led Karon into the funeral home. It was a street front shop, and even though two storefronts had been merged, it still looked rough.

Because the mourning ceremony had only just ended, it was still messy inside. There was even a small raised platform with a “guest” lying on it.

“Sir, this way.” Dinkom led Karon to the back. There, Karon found a living area and a work area. For example, Karon only needed to glance out of the corner of his eye at an unlocked door to know it led to a room similar to Aunt Mary’s work space.

The living room was not large, and connected to the dining area. Karon sat down, and Dinkom poured a cup of black tea, placing it before Karon.

He picked up the cup and held it under his nose to smell, though for a moment, he did not dare drink. Even if he felt that the chances of Dinkom poisoning the tea to avenge his boss were close to impossible, why bet his life on it?

At that moment, Karon noticed another detail. There was another room in front of him, and the door was covered in very girlish stickers. It should not belong to Mrs. Pavaro. Even if Mr. and Mrs. Pavaro liked to play such games, they would not set the scene outside of their door.

Karon set his cup back down and stood to walk to that door. A lock hung from it, sealing the room from the outside. It was not fully latched, but was still enough to keep whoever was inside from getting out.

When Pike saw where Karon was headed, he instinctively wanted to step over and stop him, but Dinkom instantly grabbed Pike’s wrist to hold him back.

Karon removed the lock and pushed the door open. He was struck in the face by the thick stench of mold. It was like a room full of pickled vegetables that had long since spoiled.

Karon blinked hard. The stench was so strong his eyes were watering.

However, this was not a storeroom, but a bedroom. The furnishings were simple: there was a very large bed in the depths of the room, and in the middle sat a bathtub.

On the bed were two girls who appeared to be the same age, possibly twins. They both looked to be about thirteen or fourteen.

One lay there reading, while the other sat up and was playing with sticker cutouts.

Karon had seen Mina play with such things before. There was a plastic board that had four female models at the top, and below were a row of dresses, pants, and headpieces. It functioned similar to double sided tape, and allowed for dressing the models.

The girls were startled by the sound of the door opening. They both looked up to see Karon standing in the doorway.

The girl reading had half of her face covered with rotten sores, and they could also be seen on the back of her hand.

The girl playing with the stickers had a clean face, but the skin below her neck was black.

There was a sheet of plastic beneath them, covering the bed and protecting it from the pus that periodically dripped down from their sores. The plastic sheet was much easier to clean.

The stench of mold that filled the room was coming from the two girls.

Karon frowned slightly. Ever since becoming a Divine Seeker, his perception of the world had grown clearer. While it was certainly not as accurate as a true probing Art, he could at least sense shallow phenomena.

He could see a black mist swirling around the two girls. They were not simply sick, they were corrupted.

Karon silently backed out, closed the door, and asked, “Who are they?”

Dinkom replied, “Sir, they are the boss’s daughters.”

Mr. Pavaro’s daughters?

“Corrupted?” Karon asked.

“Yes, my lord. Six years ago, on the way home from school, a demonkin being pursued retaliated against them.”

“Their corruption can’t be purified?”

“Sir, that demonkin wasn’t strong, but it was a mental type. Their abnormality wasn’t discovered immediately; The boss was busy with his pursuit. By the time the demonkin was finally captured and the boss returned home, he found that his two daughters had already suffered psychic corruption. The sores on the skin are only the surface.”

Psychic corruption could also be understood as soul corruption. At that level, it was hard to treat the root, because soul corruption was not like a problem in the arms or legs where, if it could not be treated, amputation remained an option.

A soul was like a cup of clear water. If even a single drop of ink fell into it, you could not simply scoop all of the ink back out with a spoon.

“Six years...” Karon muttered.

“The two young ladies must soak in a Bloodspirit bath at regular intervals to ease and suppress the pain they suffer in their souls and bodies, but as time has passed, especially in the last two years, I can clearly feel the interval between soaks has shortened, and the amount of Bloodspirit Powder needed each time has increased.”

“Bloodspirit Powder?” Karon remembered it.

Once, Master Anderson had brought Bede and Mike to show Karon the list of the Allen family’s assets. Compared to their impressive secular wealth, their church credits had shrunk to a pitiful level.

At their peak, the Allen family had overseen twelve workshops that had provided basic materials for eight of the orthodox churches. Now, the Allen family had only three workshops remaining. Of the nine they had lost, one had been the workshop that produced Bloodspirit Powder.

If Karon remembered correctly, that workshop had fallen into the hands of the Raphael family.

Dinkom pursed his lips before continuing, “Although the boss receives Order credits every month from the regional administration, those monthly credits now can’t even cover the cost of the Bloodspirit Powder the two young ladies need. While it’s possible to buy a little with rels, it’s not only very expensive, the quantity is also very scarce. That’s why the boss often voluntarily accepts additional tasks issued by the Regional Administration to earn extra Order credits. He even, anonymously, accepts tasks from other churches to obtain rewards.”

The Allen family was extremely wealthy, yet still faced the threat of seeing their family decline, all because within the true circles of this world’s power, the most valuable currency was credits. Special base materials like Bloodspirit Powder were supplied directly from workshops to churches and circulated almost entirely within that circle. If you wanted it, you had to buy it with credits.

No wonder Mrs. Pavaro had specifically asked on the way to the hospital if Karon had credits to use as payment; Her two daughters needed those credits to buy medicine.

“So this is why Inquisitor Pavaro broke the law?” Karon asked.

Dinkom fell silent, but Pike gathered his courage and blurted, “Boss isn’t that kind of person!”

“Pike, don’t be rude to Sir!” Dinkom scolded his companion.

Just then, Mrs. Pavaro walked in and shouted, “It’s so busy outside, and you two dare slack off in here! Also, where is your boss? Where did he run off to this time? Why can’t I find him anywhere? Did he sneak off to the pastry shop street again?

“Eh? You are... you’re from that day. Why are you here?”

Pike wailed at the woman, “Ms. Lake, the boss was arrested by the Whip of Order and placed in custody.”

“What!” Ms. Lake froze, then shouted, “Is there any reason? What’s the reason? Suspension with no credit salary is one thing, but how can they even take him away!”

Her eyes flushed red. It looked like she wanted to cry, but given her explosive temper, which had accompanied her for a long time, she had become unaccustomed to shedding tears.

At this moment, the red-eyed woman turned to look at Karon again and asked, “Why are you here?”

Dinkom said nothing. Pike bluntly said, “He’s a higher up from the Whip of Order.”

“It’s you?” Ms. Lake stared at Karon in disbelief. “You’re the one who brought people to take my husband? You;re the one who took my husband?”

Karon could not answer.

Ms. Lake shifted as if she was about to rush over and claw at Karon. Dinkom and Pike both immediately reached out to restrain her. They could not let her have physical contact with this person of authority, as that would be a grave insult.

“You’re from the Whip of Order? So that day you were pretending? You were acting the whole time? Hahahaha, are the people from the Whip of Order people all such good actors! Why don’t you go perform in the grand theater!!!”

“Madam, madam, you can’t say that! You can’t say that,” Dinkom hurriedly reminded his boss’s wife.

“What do I have to fear saying anything now? Let go! Let go of me!”

Unable to break free of the two attendants’ grip, Ms. Lake simply crumpled to the floor. She flailed her arms wildly while kicking her legs, forcing Dinkom and Pike to back off and give her some space.

Ms. Lake looked back up at Karon, a clearly mocking smile appearing. “So this is Order? This is the Whip of Order? You took my husband. Is he still charged with dereliction of duty?”

Karon did not answer.

“Heh heh heh... I kept urging him to ignore his duty! I cursed him for being rigid, for being thick headed. For these last two years, the amount of Bloodspirit Powder we need each month has kept rising! I scolded him almost every night! I shouted at him for not seeing that because we couldn’t keep up with the soakings our daughters need, their skin started ulcerating again. I scolded him for not noticing that every time our daughters saw us, they were in unbearable pain, but kept gritting their teeth and pretending they were fine. I screamed at him for not hearing them crying in the middle of the night, muffled into their pillows.

“I knew he could get more credits without risking his life taking tasks outside, and our daughters’ Bloodspirit Powder could be supplied without any sort of shortage, but even if I pinched his back until there wasn’t a single patch of good skin left, he still refused.

“Fine, if he’d truly neglected his duties, our daughters could have gained even half a year or a year of comfort. In that case, I would accept it even if you took him away! But now? Why, why, why!”

“I will investigate this matter thoroughly.” Karon could only speak those words, and then leave immediately.

Ms. Lake, still sitting on the floor, gritted her teeth. Her bloodshot eyes glared at Karon’s back.

Finally, when she looked over at the door covered with girlish stickers, she could only tilt her head back and let the tears fall down her cheeks.

Pike squatted down to comfort Ms. Lake while Dinkom followed Karon out. Karon walked to his car and opened the door.

Dinkom stood there, looking awkward. Karon looked at him. “The investigation into Mr. Pavaro’s matter will continue. Your task at this time is to maintain the funeral home and take good care of Ms. Lake.”

“Yes sir. I understand.”

“Mhmm.” Karon got into the car and started it. After driving one street away, Karon pulled over to the side and stopped.

He had not anticipated anything similar to Mr. Pavaro’s home situation. He had only thought that Pavaro Funeral Home was poorly managed.

Especially those two girls on the bed, with the sores on their bodies.

Karon was reminded of something Tiz had once said: “Your parents. I killed them with my bare hands.”

Because they were corrupted...

Karon unconsciously reached for the pack of cigarettes that sat beside the handbrake. He opened it and drew one, holding it between his lips as he lit it.

He took one drag, then held the cigarette outside the car window. His other hand supported his forehead. His eyes remained closed as he focused on taking deep breaths. Hu... hu... hu...

When the heat of the burning cigarette reached his fingers, Karon let go, dropping the butt.

Then, as if speaking to himself, or as if addressing someone in front of him who needed an explanation, he said, “With my current level of strength, I’m not qualified to get involved in this kind of thing. I think I can find a way to gather some credits or get some Bloodspirit Powder to send to the family.

“Yes, that’s how it is.” Karon felt he had convinced himself as he started the car back up, yet when he stopped again, he found that he was parked on a street. Across it from where he sat was Eva’s Pastry Shop.

Somehow, he had driven to it.

He turned and stared at the sign for a long time. Finally, he decided to get out and walk over to the shop’s door.

The counter held several trays of pastries, and the two sofas in the room were occupied by seven women.

“Come, come in,” one of them warmly greeted Karon.

He stepped in. The women, who were wearing quite a bit of clothing, immediately started to remove the outer layers that were worn for warmth to reveal cooler outfits.

One of them looked at Karon and showed a slightly surprised smile.

People needed to eat every day, but if given a choice, why would they not eat something with color, aroma, and taste all together? These women needed to welcome customers every day. If they had a choice, why not choose a young handsome one?

All of the women were in their thirties, or possibly a bit into their forties, but heavy makeup and the right mood lighting made their exact ages impossible to discern.

At that moment, another woman stepped out from the back, carrying a dustpan. She looked to have just finished sweeping. She glanced at Karon standing in the center of the room, and a smile touched the corners of her lips. “A fresh fish came in, and look how hungry you all are.”

She then calmly walked around Karon to dump the trash from the dustpan into a bin outside of the shop. She was over fifty, and was not tall. She also did not wear much makeup, which made the marks of time obvious on her face. She clearly had no intention of competing for this customer.

However, when she finished dumping the trash and returned inside with the dustpan, Karon lifted his hand and pointed at her. “You... how much?”

The woman froze. She turned her head to look and confirm that Karon was pointing at her. She smiled. “Really?”

“Really.”

“I’m cheap.”

“Alright.”

“Then come with me.” The woman set down the dustpan, took Karon’s hand, and led him deeper inside the shop.

Inside were small, partitioned cubicles. The space inside each one was cramped, containing only enough space for a narrow bed board and a stool.

Of course, these spaces were not for living, only for sleeping, and even that “sleeping” was just lying down to rest for the time it took to finish a few cigarettes before getting back up.

“Here.” The woman led Karon into a cubicle. He sat down on the bed board. “We only go halfway here, but I can still give you service.”

As she spoke, the woman used a rubber band to tie up her hair.

Karon asked, “Do you know Mr. Pavaro?”

Her hands froze mid motion.

While smoking, Mr. Pavaro had mentioned that age was the sediment of technique, that was why Karon had chosen this woman.

“Heh.” She laughed once and sat down on the stool. She took out a case of cigarettes, withdrew one, but did not offer Karon any. She simply lit her own. “I knew it. A young handsome kid like you, how would you be here to play? There are plenty of young, clean girls outside. There’s no need for you to even spend money. I thought you just had a mother fixation.”

“I’m here because of Mr. Pavaro’s matter,” Karon explained.

“Where is he?”

“He’s been formally taken into custody.”

The woman exhaled a smoke ring, then licked her lips. Hearing that news, she became tense, no, fearful. She whispered, “Praise Mios.”

Sometimes, people used words of praise such as “Oh my god,” “My heavens,” or “Thank goodness.” For believers, such phrases were like habitual interjections.

A believer of the Church of Mios? Karon knew of that church. The church followed a goddess believed in by prostitutes who did business in island brothels during the pirate era. It was said she was the Sea God’s lover and would shelter such women.

The last time Karon had encountered a believer of the Church of Mios had been in Mr. Morf’s study. The image of that woman crawling out from beneath Morf’s desk had left a deep impression on Karon.

So this woman in front of him, who was already quite old, was also a member of that church.

She was someone in the same line of work, so it did not feel strange. It might even be a kind of cultivation, similar to how the Church of Order’s Inquisitors frequently ran local funeral homes.

It took the woman a long time to steady her emotions. Karon sat quietly beside her and waited.

He saw a cup of water sitting on the stool. Under it was a sheet of paper, the kind of rough toilet paper used in bathrooms, rather than a facial tissue normally placed in a tissue box on a coffee table. Any normal man, seeing that red rough toilet paper, would likely instinctively feel a scraping pain.

At last, the woman spoke again, “I already warned Pavaro not to keep investigating, because whoever can organize something on this large a scale has to have a background that absolutely isn’t ordinary.

“Besides, the Raphael family also sent someone. They were willing to provide Pavaro with free Bloodspirit Powder every month, enough for his two pitiful daughters. Yet he remained so stubborn. He kept reporting upwards, again and again. In truth, after his first two reports received no formal acknowledgment, it should already have told him something. That was the first warning, but he ignored and kept submitting his reports while personally investigating things.

“I never understood what he was doing it for. Every month, just to scrape together enough credits, he would accept more and more dangerous tasks again and again. All the while, he could have just sat there and done nothing while simply accepting hush money. Those payments would have been enough for his two daughters’ monthly baths, and even for them all to live something similar to a normal life.

“Could it really all be just for that one line, Praise Order? Everyone just shouts it. Why is he the only one who takes it seriously?

“Two months ago, he was suspended. When he told me, we both knew it was the final ultimatum from above, and now he’s truly been placed in custody.”

The woman silently lit another cigarette and continued, “Why do Inquisitors of the Church of Order have high status? It’s because the Church of Order stands behind them, and the Church of Order has the hardest fist.

“But once the church behind you no longer stands behind you, an Inquisitor is only an Inquisitor.

“Oh, that cup of water is for service, but you can drink it. If you’re thirsty, help yourself.”

“I’m not thirsty.”

“Heh.”

“This matter involves Bloodspirit Powder?”

“He didn’t even tell you that, but sent you to come find me?” the woman asked, a little confused.

Before Karon could come up with an excuse, she nodded to herself. “Yes. This matter, unless it’s absolutely necessary, you can’t drag one more person down.”

She picked up the cup, took a sip, set it down, and resumed her story, “In recent years, the output of Bloodspirit Powder has been abnormally high. Pavaro didn’t have enough credits, so he thought about buying some raw materials and seeing if he could prepare some himself, even if just a small quantity. He wouldn’t sell it outside, but simply needed some to ease the pressure of what his two daughters need.

“Because of that, he inadvertently discovered that the monthly inflow of raw materials into York City’s region and the output of Bloodspirit Powder are completely mismatched. You could even say it’s unbalanced. That means there is a huge quantity of Bloodspirit Powder that doesn’t come from raw material production circulating in the ‘market.’

“Bloodspirit Powder, aside from being made from raw materials, can be produced using another method. You can use women’s menstrual blood as a substitute for raw materials, which saves a lot of work. The material effect is a bit lower, but it’s a basic material, so there isn’t much of an impact.

“Still, obtaining something like that isn’t as easy as going to public toilets to collect feces. You also never hear of any company that specifically buys that. Most importantly, the extra output creating this imbalance is supplied steadily, which has to indicate a large scale and extremely efficient collection method. For example...”

Karon finished, “Imprisoning people.”

The woman nodded. “You also have to feed them special medicine, which turns their once a month into once every two or three days, or even shorter.”

At those words, Karon gulped and picked up the cup the woman had just drunk from, also taking a sip of water.

Seeing his reaction, she smiled again. She pulled out two cigarettes, held both in her lips to light them together. She then grabbed one and offered it to Karon.

He reached out to take it, and inhaled deeply.

“Do you know how many illegal migrants smuggle into Veyn every year?” the woman asked.

Karon shook his head.

“Heh heh. You’re not the only one; Even the government doesn’t know, because the numbers are too high. There are so many people, and many of them women. Nobody cares where they end up after they come ashore, or where they finally disappear. A notice recruiting female workers can trick girls who want to earn a little more money and lighten the burden for their families into going away.

“There are deep interests involved in this, you could even say it’s a stain on the orthodox churches.”

The woman looked at Karon and asked, “I have a copy that records all of Mr. Pavaro’s progress in his investigation. If you intend to continue his work, I can turn it all over to you.”

“I... haven’t decided yet.”

The woman did not seem disappointed, nor did she reveal any hint of contempt. She reached out and placed a hand on Karon’s back, gently stroking him like an elder. “You’re very real.”

“No, I’m very hypocritical.”

“Are you close with Mr. Pavaro?”

“No. I’ve only met him three times. The last time was when he was taken.”

“And yet you still came.”

“I just happened to drive here.”

“And then you just happened to walk into this shop, too.” The woman covered her mouth as she laughed. “Are you going to tell me that if you hadn’t happened to choose me, you would be lying here right now receiving service? You know, language and writing often lie, but actions are the most honest.”

“And what about you?” Karon asked. “Why did you help Mr. Pavaro with his investigation? You clearly know the danger involved, and you can’t be getting any benefit from this.”

After all, Mr. Pavaro himself was in such dire straits that it was hard to imagine him producing anything that could move this woman to join his investigation and take risks together.

The woman asked, “Do you know the Goddess Mios?”

“I do.”

“She was a prostitute. In her era, pirates would often freely toy with women they abducted, and even casually kill them. The prostitutes on the islands had a status worse than cargo. So Mios chose to walk into the sea and become the Sea God’s lover, in exchange for the god warning the pirates. From then on, a phrase began to circulate among pirates: No matter how great the wind and waves, you must not withhold hard earned money from prostitutes.”

“A willingness to pay was itself a form of respect.

“It’s likely that there were those among Mr. Pavaro’s superiors, and even their superiors, who are involved in this matter. They also often uttered ‘Praise Order’ in their daily life, but is their praise the same as Mr. Pavaro’s praise?

“Just the same, among us believers of the Church of Mios, there are many believers who only want to learn techniques to please men, to gain greater wealth, better status, and more pleasure. They also ‘praise’ Mios, but are they praising the true Goddess Mios? Goddess Mios symbolizes fearlessness, universal love, and devotion. Her birth might have been lowly. Her work might have been lowly. Even her ending and choice might be lowly. She does not have the spotless record of other lofty goddesses, but in my heart, someone like her, who walked through the storm barefoot, letting the wild wind howl past her and let the mud slap against her body, yet was still able to sing a moving song, that is a truly great and sacred existence.”

The woman hesitated, stopped smoking, and looked at Karon. “What about you? What is it that you praise?”

Me? I walk the purification of Order, and I use the Arts of Order...

But because of how Pu’er had just recently mentioned how Karon had profaned the words “Praise Order,” Karon found it hard to answer.

In front of Miss Bertha, he could casually “praise” Nature.

In front of Dinkom, he could calmly “praise” the Whip of Order.

Yet in front of this woman, he could not speak such words aloud.

The woman bent down, reached under the bed and pulled out a pouch of documents that she then placed in front of Karon. “I’m very sorry to tell you, sir, but your time is up. You can choose to extend your service, or you can stand up and leave. Of course, when you leave, you can choose to take this with you, or leave it. After all, in many people’s eyes, things in pastry shops, like people, are dirty.”

“How much is the service fee?” Karon asked.

“They... are forty rels. I am only twenty rels," the woman said. “You can see it as well: I’m old.”

Karon took out a hundred rel note and handed it over.

“Oh? You don’t have change?” the woman said, sounding a little troubled.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t.”

“Alright. I’ll go get change for you.” The woman took out an antique style woman’s wallet from somewhere. She pulled out a fifty and three tens, which she handed to Karon.

He took the money, but put two tens back. “You may be old, but your technique is better than theirs. It’s worth it.”

The woman laughed very heartily. “Hahahaha...”

The bastard known as Pavaro appeared in her mind. Every time he had stopped by to share the latest progress in his investigation, he had paid her a service fee, and every time, it had been forty rels. Every time, he had said, “You’re old, but your technique is good.”

Karon stood up and walked out of the cubicle. He did not take the document pouch.

Seeing the pouch still resting on her legs, the woman smiled and moved to put it away, but at that moment, Karon walked back in with a smile. “Sorry. It’s my first time coming to eat pastries, so I was too nervous. I just walked out feeling guilty and rushed, so I actually left something behind.”

As he spoke, Karon took the document pouch from her legs and tucked it under his arm. The woman braced both of her hands on the bed, spread her legs, and leaned back as she watched Karon.

She wore a skirt, so her posture exposed every secret.

However, there was nothing profane in Karon’s eyes. This was not because the woman was old, but because, in Karon’s eyes, she was somewhat sacred.

“Can you ask me that question again?” he asked.

The woman nodded and asked, “What about you? What is it that you praise?”

Karon took a deep breath. “I don’t think I’m qualified to answer your question just yet, but I hope that the next time I see you, I can give you a natural answer.”

The woman shook her head. “No need to be so extreme about it. If you have a need, you can come anytime. The reason Pavaro came often is because we can also help to gather information and investigate certain things.”

“So that’s how it is. Alright, thank you. I understand.”

“In any case, we will welcome you. Of course, the premise is that you don’t mind this place being dirty, and that you don’t mind us being dirty.”

“How could I? A venerable elder I respect the most once said a line like this to me.”

“Oh? What did that elder say?”

“He said, ‘Even the supreme God of Order was raised by a whore.’”