Taking off the mask

"Everyone is like a spider weaving a web through life.

Whether hopeful or fearful, sooner or later, at some utterly unexpected moment, their web will become entangled with someone else's.

These interconnected webs can be vast, so vast they give you the illusion that you can go anywhere you please;

Yet they can also be tiny, so tiny that sometimes a gust of wind can instantly scatter all that you thought was vast."

This was the inscription beneath Mr. Hoffen's gravestone, composed and written by Kallen himself before being engraved.

There were quite a few words, and the sentences were rather long, but fortunately, Mr. Hoffen's grave was large. One grave took up as much space as another family's joint grave for a married couple, so leaving too little written there would have made it look rather empty.

Kallen felt that he and Mr. Hoffen were like two webs that should never have intersected. Their first encounter had not ended well;

But in the end,

It was this old man who had clung to life with extraordinary resolve, determined to help "clear the Immerlis Family of suspicion."

And the sole source of that suspicion had actually been Kallen himself.

Dis was not wearing his priest's clothes today. He simply stood silently before the gravestone, looking at the photograph on it.

Kallen led the mourners through the burial ceremony, then took up a shovel himself and joined the family's employees in filling Mr. Hoffen's grave.

Finally, everyone placed the flowers they held before the gravestone, bringing the ceremony to an end.

Kallen took a cup of water from Mina, drank a long gulp, then walked over to Dis and offered him the cup.

Dis accepted it, held it in his hand, and said,

"I'll stay with Hoffen a little longer. You still have something to do today, don't you?"

"Yes. Mina invited her teacher, Eunice, to the amusement park."

Dis nodded and said, "Don't put things off too long."

Kallen very much wanted to ask Dis why he was "urging" him along like this, now that their advance arrangements had removed all suspicion surrounding the Divine Descent Ritual.

But since Dis was unwilling to explain, he would not ask again.

Kallen gave the gravestone a shallow bow.

"Grandpa Hoffen, I'm off on a date with a pretty young lady. I'll come see you again next time."

Then,

Kallen walked toward the narrow road beside the cemetery. Alfred was already waiting beside the car and opened the door for him.

"Rhine Street."

"Yes, young master."

Alfred started the car.

Kallen had intended to close his eyes and rest for a while. He had put a great deal of thought into Mr. Hoffen's funeral and had even disrupted his usual sleep schedule to get up early that morning. In terms of the care the family put into it, Mr. Hoffen's funeral had received even better treatment than Mr. Modes's, who had chosen Package B.

Of course, this was not a matter of money.

It was like a chef cooking for customers versus cooking for his own family. He might be a little less formal when cooking for family, paying less attention to presentation and such, but only those closest to him would understand the flavor and care that went into it.

Just then, however, Kallen noticed several newspapers laid out in front of him, all folded to the relevant sections.

Kallen opened one. "Mr. Molf critically ill; Molf Consortium facing restructuring?"

Mr. Molf had long since died-or, well, "vanished without a trace." But the Molf Families had clearly chosen to conceal that news rather than make it public, owing to internal disputes over wealth and power.

"Environmental activist girl delivers passionate speech aboard cruise ship!"

There were photographs and illustrations. Aboard the cruise ship returning to Vien, Delis had delivered an environmental speech with a contorted expression, demonstrating perfectly what it meant to try too hard.

Next came the news that actually concerned Rojia City's politics.

"Mayoral candidate Mr. Ford and Councilman Haggett killed after car plunges into reservoir."

"Old Mayor Sickson accused of using illegal means against political rivals; investigation opened. He has announced his resignation as mayor of Rojia City and stated that he will not participate in the next Mayoral Election."

Mr. Oka had not appeared in the papers. His identity had been mysterious to begin with, and he likely had connections in Vien.

Editor-in-chief Humil's disappearance had not made the papers either, because he was not important enough.

"Young master, the Special Department probably intervened. It's a department above the police, specifically responsible for investigating and resolving incidents involving otherworldly demons," Alfred explained.

"So they fabricated the causes of Ford's and Haggett's deaths too?"

"Most likely. To avoid causing public panic, I imagine. We didn't actually cover our tracks that night. The library and the other crime scenes all had very clear traces of otherworldly demons and the power of faith. An investigation was bound to turn up some clues."

The hook-nosed man and the woman in the long gray dress involuntarily came to Kallen's mind.

"Will there be any trouble?" Kallen asked.

"There shouldn't be. Everything we did that night strictly complied with the Order Regulations. As long as the master submits a report afterward, the Order Church will handle communications with the local government and the Secret Police Department.

It's a minor matter."

Alfred gave that last sentence a little extra emphasis.

As long as the Order God Church remained powerful, it represented absolute justice, both in its stance and in its procedures.

"Even if the incident had a considerable impact on society's upper ranks, an ordinary inquisitor who did something like this might face disciplinary action from the regional authority. But the master should have no such concerns. Please don't worry, young master."

Alfred still remembered the conversation from that night.

"Grandpa, are you hurt?"

"It's nothing. A minor side effect of using a forbidden spell."

Alfred thought it was fortunate that, when he had fought the master, the master had used only arts available to someone at the inquisitor level. Otherwise, he doubted he would still exist.

"Alfred."

"Yes, young master?"

"Grandpa seems to want me to go to Vien."

"Vien? It's a fine place. A great country, great cities, a grand stage. Compared with it, Rojia City is like a quiet little village at the foot of a mountain."

"What I mean is, Grandpa may have run into some trouble."

"The attendants of great beings always encounter trouble, but they resolve it successfully. Even if they cannot resolve it for a time, once the great being truly awakens, he will choose to resurrect them in repayment for protecting him during the early stages of his awakening."

Kallen frowned slightly.

Alfred hurriedly explained, "Many of the stories depicted in murals go like that."

Kallen could not be bothered to respond.

"Young master, are you going to Rhine Street to pick up Teacher Eunice?"

"Yes. Mina invited her teacher to the amusement park."

"Hm?" Alfred glanced back. "I forgot to let Miss Mina get in."

Kallen waved a hand.

"Mina has an upset stomach. She can't go."

The guests had long since left. Only Dis remained before the gravestone.

Dis silently sat down, leaning against it.

"I really wish I could use the Awakening Art to call you up and chat a little longer."

Of course, that was merely something to say.

The Order God Church's "awakening" could indeed revive a corpse, but that revival lasted only a very, very short time. Once the last trace of spirituality within the body dissipated, it became nothing more than "rotting flesh."

Thus, from the Order God Church's perspective, there really was "peace" in resting in peace.

Dis opened the cup again and drank some water, then placed the open cup before the gravestone.

"It's precisely because the God of Order asked for nothing that I feel so uneasy.

Free things are often the most expensive.

The most ridiculous part is,

I removed the seals on myself ahead of time for the sacrifice, leaving me unable to suppress my level at all.

Before long,

The Order Temple will sense my existence.

They'll send me an invitation and bestow what they consider the highest honor upon me, allowing me to enter the temple as one of its elders and serve the God of Order in the Unseen.

But I don't want to go;

For everyone else in the Order God Church-no, for most of today's so-called orthodox churches-the temple has always been the holiest place in a believer's heart.

Every person who enters the temple and becomes a temple elder can receive a blessing from the true god for his family. Even those without a family of their own can designate a family close to them to inherit that blessing.

And for several generations afterward, that family will continue to serve as a pillar of the church, receiving greater blessings from the power of faith.

But I don't want to serve a so-called true god I no longer believe in.

Still less do I want my family, my descendants, to sink any deeper into this church's mire.

Yet,

They won't allow me to refuse;

It's not merely that their faith won't permit my apostasy. More importantly, they cannot allow my body to leave the faith.

In this era when true gods do not manifest,

I even suspect,

What sustains a true god is no longer divine radiance, but a form of support the temple provides by converting the faith of believers.

Everything you possess was bestowed by god;

Therefore, god is naturally entitled to take back what belongs to him.

Old Hoffen,

Do you know?

The closer I get to that height,

The more I feel,

That the faith we believe in so unquestioningly, our devotion to god, all that we protect, nurture, and hold steadfast to...

May be nothing more than a seed.

God,

Gave us the seed, and that is god's grace;

Once the seed bears fruit,

God comes back to take the fruit, and we must still be eternally grateful.

We,

Are nothing but fertilizer for god."

Dis's gaze gradually grew profound.

"Perhaps my thinking is wrong, and my understanding is extreme. Perhaps I've misunderstood god, and I've long since fallen, becoming a heretic who has strayed from the faith.

But each of us really lives only in the world 'as we see it.'

I cannot allow myself to become fertilizer, especially when all I get in return is for my descendants to become better fertilizer.

Hoffen,

I will not allow myself to make such a choice in 'the world as I see it.'"

Dis turned to glance at the photograph on the gravestone.

He picked up the cup and stood.

"It's almost time to take off the mask."

Alfred stopped the car on Rhine Street, deliberately avoiding pulling up directly outside the teacher's home.

"Young master, I'll get out here and take a taxi home."

Kallen asked,

"Alfred, tell me, would taking a hearse on a date make a better impression?"

Alfred blinked at the question,

Then said,

"Well, I wouldn't know about that. But I do know one thing. If Mr. Mason had driven a hearse to take Mrs. Mary out for a candlelit dinner back then, Mina and Lunt probably wouldn't exist today."

"You make a very good point."

"Everyone has different tastes and preferences. Young master, you've probably grown attached to hearses lately, or often let your thoughts wander while riding in one, so naturally you've developed a few hearse-related notions. But ordinary people probably wouldn't have such notions.

Still, it might actually have an unexpectedly good effect. After all, Miss Eunice grew up in an aristocratic family with strict rules. Something unconventional might leave a deeper impression on her.

It's like how quite a few schoolgirls fall for street punks. Their not-yet-fully-developed brains and immature worldviews mistake that thuggishness for an expression of masculinity. Although they'll think they were foolish once they mature, that doesn't diminish their fascination with that feeling at that age."

"Have you hosted relationship talk shows?" Kallen asked.

"Rojia Story Hour does all kinds of programs. In fact, relationship analysis gets higher ratings than horror stories. After all, you have to consider the audience who still have the leisure to listen to the radio at that hour of the night."

"I see."

"Have a lovely weekend, young master."

Alfred reached to open the door and get out, but stopped again and asked,

"Young master, do you need me to take her home too?"

A black cat slowly poked her head out from the back seat.

Kallen truly had not noticed that Puer had secretly stayed in the car all this time. But although Puer could hide from him, she could not escape Alfred's eyes.

"Kallen, I think I have a duty to watch from the sidelines. It's my responsibility as an elder."

Kallen laughed and said, "I've never seen other elders secretly follow their juniors on dates."

"You think they don't want to? They just don't have the advantages I do. If they were cats, ask them again whether they'd like to come along."

"I'm sorry, but I don't like the idea."

"I'm only a cat. You could let Eunice hold me during your date. Imagine that scene: a lovely young lady holding an adorable cat with sleek, glossy fur. How beautiful."

"Except that cat is her great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother."

"I think it would be more accurate if you added... 'sister' at the end."

"It would make me feel strange. Sorry."

"Strange?" Puer stretched out a paw. "Wouldn't it be more exciting?"

"Alfred, take her home. Your task today is to stay home and keep an eye on her."

"Yes, young master."

Alfred forcibly carried Puer out of the car. Kallen moved into the driver's seat and drove on.

"I'm so sad," Puer said. "Watching a man with ulterior motives reel in one of my own descendants right before my eyes... it really hurts a cat."

"Don't be sad. If your descendant seizes this opportunity, she could end up on a mural someday."

"Is getting onto a mural your goal in life? I've noticed you're rather obsessed with murals."

Alfred shook his head. "My goal in life isn't to get onto a mural. But if I achieve my goal, ending up on one will be inevitable."

"Maybe it's because I've spent too many years as a cat, but I'm not very interested in those grand ambitions. I only focus on what's right in front of me, like fish with pickled mustard greens or Squirrel-Shaped Mandarin Fish.

"Oh, and Dis is truly shameless. That Evil God grandson of his is just as shameless.

"Just how shameless do those two have to be to decide to go after an innocent nineteen-year-old girl?

"If I were human right now, trust me, I'd drag Kallen up to the Crematorium Society's Crematorium Furnace, hold his hair close enough to touch the sparks, and ask him, 'Would you dare do it again? Would you dare!'"

Alfred laughed.

"What are you laughing at? Do you think I'll never turn human again? You little thing, don't think much of yourself just because you look so refined now. Back when I was human, I wouldn't even have bothered to glance at you."

"Then do hurry up and transform."

As he drove past Piaget's and Mrs. Seymour's homes, Kallen deliberately sped up a little and turned his face away.

Fortunately, no one recognized him and called out to stop him.

After all, neither Piaget nor Mrs. Seymour would stand idly outside their homes, staring at the road with nothing to do but wait for him to drive past in the Santeland.

At last, Kallen parked outside Eunice's house.

At the entrance, a woman dressed like a society lady really was standing there watching the road outside her home, as though she truly had nothing else to do but wait for him to appear in the Santeland.

Her features bore some resemblance to Eunice's. And though her clothes and bearing marked her as a society lady, she was not stout.

Kallen got out of the car and walked to the courtyard gate.

The woman lit a cigarette, looked at Kallen, and said:

"Are you here to see my daughter?"

"Yes. Is Miss Eunice here?"

Kallen gave her a warm, sunny smile.

The woman smiled. Keeping her cigarette in one hand as she smoked, she secretly slipped the other behind her and pinched her own backside hard. She needed the pain to keep her composed in the face of that damned charming smile. She absolutely could not let herself look like a mother-in-law growing fonder of her son-in-law with every glance.

Still, even if a son-in-law like this did nothing at all and merely sat around the house looking decorative, seeing him every day would be quite a pleasure.

For the first time, she felt some of her resistance to the "blind date" her father-in-law had arranged fade.

Of course, she couldn't choose a son-in-law on looks alone. Otherwise, there would surely be all sorts of problems and plenty of anger after the wedding... but who could guarantee a marriage without problems, arguments, or anger?

So why not choose a face that would be easier on the eyes when she was angry?

"Oh, so you're Mina? My daughter said she had arranged to go to the amusement park with one of her female students today."

"Mina is my cousin, ma'am."

"Oh, then your cousin Mina must unfortunately be feeling unwell today, perhaps with a stomachache or something, and can't make it. Is that right?"

"Yes, ma'am. Is fortune-telling a hobby of yours? Your prediction is spot-on."

"No, I'm simply a mother who's had three children."

"You've kept your figure so well. I thought Eunice was your only daughter."

"Oh, ho ho ho..."

Hold it in!

"Heh, young man, you certainly have a way with words. I bet you could talk the dead back to life."

"Haha, you must be joking, ma'am. How could that possibly happen?"