Chapter 157: Business Upgrade |
Bloodfiends are an extremely special group. They develop and passed down legacies in the form of families, while also worshiping their own family progenitors. To a certain extent, they are not really different from families with family faith systems, yet according to the narratives of the orthodox churches, they are still classified as demonkin.
Part of the reason was that Bloodfiends were too proud. They would rather be called “demonkin” than “degraded” into humans.
There were more complicated and deeper historical reasons. During the previous epoch, Bloodfiends had once expanded to the point of controlling several nations of considerable size and population. As they had increased their own numbers at a massive scale, they had gradually come to be regarded by ordinary people as a royal bloodline or even a divine race. That had been the height of the Bloodfiends’ power.
The turning point from prosperity to decline had come from an announcement issued by the Church of Light, which had directly branded Bloodfiends as evil and heretical. Immediately following that, the Church of Order had responded to the Church of Light and taken the lead in launching a war against the Bloodfiends.
As for secular society, other countries had formed a coalition army and launched a punitive expedition against the countries controlled by Bloodfiends.
The outcome had been predetermined. Even if the Bloodfiends had been a single iron plate, it would have been impossible for them to match the Church of Order, not to mention the fact that they had already fractured internally at that time.
Compared to how poorly the royal bloodline had performed, the secular aspect had also ultimately failed, though they had fought several classic victorious battles. Even after the passing of an entire epoch, stories of those victories had continued to circulate as a sort of myth of a land that had once existed.
Even if the human military commanders had been branded as Bloodfiends on the cultural level, it had still failed to cover up a certain charm about them, and artists adored them greatly.
Especially in modern times, with the development of films, such stories had actually been openly brought to the big screen. A commander symbolizing darkness had even been portrayed as a devoted lover.
This situation had not changed at all even after the Church of Light had perished during the current epoch. After all, even if Light had fallen, Order still stood.
Just like how Wall God Rilsaar was still a considered heretical god, and the Wall God Church was still considered a heretical cult, how could later generations possibly give their predecessors’ suppressed enemies a chance?
The saying that vengeance begets vengeance is usually only used when the suppressed side rises again. If you can keep stomping them down, there will never be a time to use that saying.
At the moment, the manner of death for this female Bloodfiend was truly ferocious and terrifying. Pike, being a funeral home employee as well as a Divine Servant, could be considered someone who had seen a bit of the world, yet no matter how strong his mental fortitude was, he was still unable to endure seeing such a scene while letting out a stream.
Finally, Pike managed to steady himself. A moment later, belated shame manifested. He had been frightened so badly by a dead demonkin, and in front of a superior no less. He sprang to his feet, only to realize too late that his trousers were still undone. The zipper caught abruptly.
“Oh!!!!!!!!!!” For a moment, a far more tragic scream than before rang out, and the man started hopping in place.
Dinkom blatantly ignored his partner and asked Karon, “Boss, what do we do?”
“You’re asking me what to do?” Karon retorted. “Why don’t you call the police?”
“Uh…” Dinkom suddenly remembered that the family business was not only a funeral home. Matters involving demonkin were also managed by their Inquisition. How did I forget?
Karon stepped forward and carefully examined the corpse. The silver nail pierced her chest, also nailing her to the wall.
The location the silver nail pierces through seems a bit strange… Karon subconsciously measured it against his own chest, but he still could not pick out any specific abnormality.
Next, he reached out and grabbed the end of the silver nail, preparing to pull it out and take the body down. Dinkom warned him, “Boss, be careful of blood corruption.”
Obviously, the man recognized a Bloodfiend and knew that their blood possessed extremely strong corruption properties. However, Dinkom did not understand Karon’s strength.
With what he had experienced in the basement of the sausage factory, Karon was certain that even if his body had not become immune to all poisons, at least ordinary corruption was basically unable to affect him. All of this still had to be credited to his dog.
He pulled hard, but the nail did not come out.
“Hold me,” Karon ordered.
“Yes, Boss.” Dinkom walked over and grabbed hold of Karon’s waist. Karon braced one leg against the wall and pulled again, harder.
Finally, the silver nail was pulled out. The corpse slid down as well, kneeling in the bathtub with its head down.
“Purify yourself and then carry her back with the gurney.”
“Yes, Boss.”
“Okay, Boss.” Pike had finally recovered from the pain and started chanting together with Dinkom. A faint black glow appeared on both men.
After applying the purification, they lifted the corpse and carried it out of the washroom before placing it on the gurney.
“Clean the washroom, too. Don’t leave any blood behind. Once you’re done cleaning, do another purification for the washroom,” Karon instructed.
“Yes, Boss.”
The cleanup work was completed very quickly, and the two men proceeded to carry the corpse downstairs. They placed it into the hearse, wrapped tightly within a white cloth. They then both sat on the ground, panting. Today, they were truly exhausted, not just physically, but mentally as well.
Karon grabbed three bottles of lemon soda from beneath the driver’s seat and handed one to each man.
“Thanks, Boss.”
“Thanks… Boss…”
They used their teeth to bite off the bottle caps, while Karon wedged the cap of his bottle against a raised edge of the hearse and yanked it down. The cap was pried off, but another chunk of paint flaked off the already weathered modified hearse.
Not only did the funeral home’s name need changing, it was also time to replace the hearse. Mason had once said that only men with a nouveau riche mindset would compete over flashy luxury cars. The only thing that could truly bear the weight of life was a hearse.
Karon just did not know if Ms. Lake had enough rels. Most likely, she did not. If she did, then the funeral home would not have rushed over so quickly after the tram explosion, eager for a job.
As for Karon, he did not seem to have any either, and he could not possibly take church credits to the black market to trade for rels. People would treat him like an idiot.
“My head is spinning,” Pike said, and Dinkom nodded.
Karon looked at them. So Divine Servants were this weak?
Likely because he had used himself as a reference point for so long, he had inevitably gained a rather distorted view from reality. When he had been a Divine Servant, he had been able to use multiple Arts in unison, whereas these two men had only maintained a basic purification for a bit longer than normal, yet were already showing signs of spiritual exhaustion.
However, Dinkom still stood up. “Boss, should I investigate the owner of this apartment?”
Karon shook his head. “No need. If they dared to call us directly and have us collect the body, they aren’t worried we’ll be able to learn anything through investigating that apartment. Don’t waste the effort. After we finish our sodas, we’ll head back.”
Once everyone was done with their sodas, while Pike was still exhausted, he still struggled to stand up and collect all three empty bottles.
As before, Karon drove while Pike and Dinkom sat in the back, one on each side, facing the corpse covered with a white cloth.
“I heard that if you get bitten by a Bloodfiend, you can live forever?” Pike asked cautiously.
Dinkom nodded. “I think that really is what they say.”
Then the two of them turned to look at Karon, who was driving. He said, “That’s only if a high level Bloodfiend is willing to give you the first embrace. Only then can your bloodline be converted and, to a certain extent, you can gain the ability to remain youthful. However, the increase in actual life expectancy is not that large, and it could even be reduced because of conversion. Even so, the number of first embraces a high level Bloodfiend can perform throughout their lifetime is very small and fixed.
“And if you get bitten by an ordinary Bloodfiend, you only gain a certain probability of being corrupted. What the consequences of such corruption are, I think you both know.”
Hearing this explanation, Pike and Dinkom subconsciously pulled their necks back.
All of this had been learned by reading Mr. Hoffen’s notes. The old man had also shared his own insights and beliefs, stating that he believed an important reason that the Bloodfiend families could not be truly classified as family faith systems was that other families needed bloodline reproduction to gain new members, while Bloodfiends could increase their numbers through blood assimilation or corruption. That alone was enough to ensure that they would forever be ostracized by the orthodox churches.
However, now that this thing has been loaded into the car and we’re taking it back, what should be done next? While driving and thinking, Karon finally arrived at the most suitable method: douse it in gasoline and burn it.
There was actually an official channel for such handovers. According to Mr. Pavaro’s work notes, if an Inquisitor turned in the corpse of a demonkin to the church, the church would give a reward, because the corpses of demonkin and priests were themselves a kind of material.
The problem was that Karon had seen something included among the work notes:
The weather was nice today. I drove the hearse and turned in a demonkin corpse I just found to the receiving station. The registration was completed, and next month’s stipend will increase by 50 Order credit.
50 Order credits? Were they trying to dismiss a beggar? Karon felt that there was a big problem with the Church of Order’s grassroots system. A Divine Servant received a monthly stipend of just 100 Order credits, while a seventh-class Inquisitor received 1,000.
Oh, since he had been promoted to a fifth-class Inquisitor, his salary had consequently been increased to 1,200 Order credits per month. On top of that, he was also a Divine Servant himself, and could withdraw an extra stipend on that side, which added a Divine Servant stipend of 100 credits.
Still, that meant that his monthly Order credit income from “working” for the Church of Order was only 1,300 credits.
His cat and dog were playing with scrolls, and each one cost 1,000 Order credits. Karon finally understood why Pu’er had once said that it was absolutely necessary to use the Allen family as a supporting. It was because their income and expenses truly did not match.
Because of this, Karon felt that for a reward of 50 Order credits, handing this female Bloodfiend corpse over was simply not worthwhile. Since someone had called and wanted their funeral home to collect the body, they definitely understood the real identity of the funeral home. Offending the person hiding behind the scenes for 50 Order credits would be a loss, no matter how Karon ran the calculations.
So, since you called the funeral home, then I will pick up the body for you. Then I will burn the body, put the ashes in a box, and that will settle everything.
After all, Karon had just listed his short-term plans earlier in the afternoon, his choices were quite clear to him.
The hearse drove back to the funeral home, and the corpse was unloaded. Ms. Lake was already standing there, waiting to receive it, but Karon reached out and quickly pushed her back. “This corpse is abnormal. You can’t touch it.”
“Oh, alright.” Ms. Lake obediently stepped back.
“Pike, find some gasoline and burn the corpse right away. Dinkom, go to the crematorium and buy a good quality urn. Don’t purchase a cheap one.”
“There are urns here at home,” Ms. Lake stated. “Two of them, and both good quality.”
Karon froze for a moment. Previously, there had been two decent coffins stored in the funeral home, and now there were also two decent urns in storage. So the coffins and urns were both prepared for their two daughters.
Considering the girls’ corruption issue, burying them in coffins might have allowed the corruption to leak, so urns had also been prepared.
“They won’t need them,” Karon comforted the woman.
“Mhmm, I know.” Ms. Lake even smiled. “I’m not at all reluctant. In fact, I hope they get used quicker.”
The gurney and the corpse were placed on the mortuary table. Karon walked into the back. If they burned the body in the funeral home, would it rouse the nearby residents suspicions?
There was a small boiler in the funeral home, but if he burned the corpse in it, would anyone dare to use that boiler again in the future?
Just then, the phone in the funeral home rang. Dinkom, carrying an urn in his arms, walked over to answer the call. Just as he was about to grab the receiver, Karon stopped the man with a look. Dinkom immediately nodded and stepped back.
Karon walked over and picked up the receiver. “Hello, Pavaro Funeral Home.”
“May I ask, are you Inquisitor Pavaro?”
“I… am.”
“My wife’s remains, have you already brought them back?”
“Yes, we have.”
“Inquisitor, sir, may I ask you to help my wife with a decent funeral?”
“I will put the urn in a place, and you can go take it yourself then.”
“But you run a funeral home, not a crematorium. What I want is a decent funeral.”
“I’m sorry, but I think you also understand your wife’s real identity. It’s difficult for me to do that.”
“My wife was lost.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“She sensed that after she was lost, she would not be able to resist killing people and drinking blood, so she used a silver nail to nail herself to the wall.”
“Your wife was a good person.” Karon recalled how something about the position of the silver nail had seemed strange to him. So this was the reason for that oddity.
“I owe her a lot. I hope when she leaves, she can be more at peace. Mr. Pavaro, I know you are an upright person, and also a kind person. I’ve heard some things about you, which is why I called you.
“Please, help me…”
An upright person, a kind person? Who told him that? There were not many people who knew that about Mr. Pavaro. The group beneath Expositor Zeric had already been dealt with, and the credit for this matter had been claimed by Vicolay. Throughout the entire report, Mr. Pavaro only served as Vicolay’s ornament.
That narrowed the circle even further. In fact, there were only three people who knew the full truth: Vicolay would definitely not spread the truth anywhere, and neither would Deputy Director Mion.
So… There’s only one person left. Karon said, “Sigh, the captain is causing trouble for me.”
“I’m sorry. I begged the captain for a long time before he told me that Bluebridge Community Inquisition funeral home might be willing to help my wife and hold a funeral for her, because Inquisitor Pavaro, you are a good person.”
It really was Nio! Karon suddenly found himself in a difficult position, because he could not choose according to his own wishes. He needed to step into Mr. Pavaro’s position.
If Mr. Pavaro encountered this situation, what would he do? A demonkin who sensed she was about to lose herself and, to prevent herself from committing slaughter after becoming lost, had committed suicide.
“I will pay you for the funeral expenses, Inquisitor sir. Please, Inquisitor sir.” The person on the other end of the line kept pleading.
Funeral expenses? Karon’s gaze tightened slightly, and he immediately spoke into the receiver with a heavy, earnest tone, “This isn’t about funeral expenses. I don’t lack rels—”
“I know! I know! How could Inquisitor sir lack rels?”
Actually, I lack rels badly. The funeral home needs renovations to meet my standards. The back of the workshop needs to be rebuilt. A proper study is needed. I can’t keep using a converted bedroom. There’s also no money for a new hearse.
“I only have some Abyss credits, and not many, but this is the only way I can express my sincerity…”
So you really do have credits.
“This also isn’t about credits. Such activities simply aren’t allowed. I need to bear a lot of responsibility for it.”
“I know! I know, that’s why I came to beg you. The other funeral homes could never hold a funeral for my wife. Please…”
“Sigh.” Karon let out a sigh. “I respect your wife very much. She truly is someone worthy of respect. I think someone like that deserves a decent funeral.”
“You… you agreed?”
“Mhmm, I agreed.”
“Thank you! Thank you so much! Truly, thank you very much.”
“Now, tell me what style of funeral your wife would like, so I can prepare. Red?”
“No. She preferred white. She believed white stood for purity.”
“Very well. Your wife’s funeral will be arranged for the day after tomorrow. In the evening.”
“Thank you. Thank you again, Inquisitor.”
“That will be all. Goodbye.” Karon ended the call. He let out a heavy breath. So, now I’m arranging funerals for demonkin.
The next time he called Mason, perhaps Karon could tell him with a certain level of pride: Your nephew has made something of himself.
He had expanded the family business.