Lady Feir looked at her granddaughter and asked, "Why didn't I see anger in your eyes when I mentioned this surname?"

"Because I have always been trying to remove anger from you since I was young."

"Hehe."

Upon hearing this, Lady Feir did not get angry at all. Instead, she waved her hand, signaling her granddaughter to come over and sit down in front of her.

Philomena sat down in front of Lady Feir, and her father, who was lying under the coffee table, moved his head and rubbed his face against his shoes.

"Tell me, how did you lose?"

Philomena recounted everything from the selection in the York City District to the final selection in the Oglethorpe Fortress.

Throughout the narration, she showed no personal emotions, as if she was just an unrelated bystander.

Lady Feir continued to knit while listening, and after Philomena finished speaking, she did not stop her hand movements. She calmly said, "The reason for your failure is not entirely your fault. I think the parents of those young people from the York City District should have guessed that there would be a possibility of teamwork in the final selection.

It's normal for you to not have guessed this since you stayed in York City alone without any elders accompanying you. After all, you have been here since you were young and haven't gone out much.

Even if your father accompanied you, it wouldn't have made a difference, right?"

Philomena remained silent.

"However, you have lost your observation skills. You mentioned a young man named Karun who performed just as well as you in the selection in the York City District. Have you ever thought about why he went to the Academic Building with those few people?

Have you ever thought about why they shared food and water and had intimate interactions after entering the Oglethorpe Fortress?

Have you ever thought about why a young man who is as outstanding as you admitted would be willing to accompany those few people to play?

He is not tired of them, he is not arrogant, he really likes that group of 'children' and enjoys being surrounded by them.

Because there is a purpose, there is patience."

"Yes, now I understand."

"No, you don't understand. Compared to him, you lack not only this patience, but also this..." Lady Feir picked up the knitting needle and tapped her granddaughter's forehead. "He is wiser than you."

"I admit it."

"For treating reality as a dream and showing arrogance, you will eventually have to pay for it yourself. You have lost a good opportunity that should have been easily obtained.

Hehe, there is only a small piece of dessert between you and the Gate of Reincarnation."

Philomena fell silent again.

"Let it go, let it go. You lost, and you didn't investigate him, the one named Karun?"

"No."

"You don't hate him."

"I don't hate him."

Lady Feir nodded and said, "That's good. At least you can lose with dignity."

Philomena remained seated.

After a while, Lady Feir said, "Go rest."

"Yes, grandmother."

Philomena stood up and walked towards the stairs. She saw her father following her.

Lady Feir watched this scene and smiled, "Oh, look, it really likes you."

Philomena walked upstairs alone and entered her own room.

Her bedroom was plain, with only a bed and a wardrobe. There were no other furnishings.

Who would spend too much effort decorating in their dreams?

She took off her clothes in the bedroom, then walked naked to the bathroom. After taking a shower, she walked back to the bedroom and lay naked on the bed.

Looking at the ceiling, her eyes were wide open.

For some people, insomnia has always been a very troublesome problem;

For her, the most troublesome thing was how to "wake up."

The moon outside the window had already risen high, and she finally closed her eyes slowly.

In her dream,

she opened her eyes.

Philomena stood in front of a wooden house, surrounded by a circle of delicate fences, with flowers and vegetables planted inside.

She took a deep breath, and the stiff expression on her face finally relaxed.

The door of the wooden house was pushed open, and her father, wearing an old leather jacket, and her mother, dressed simply and cleanly, walked out hand in hand.

Her mother scolded, "Philomena, you played around again. You didn't come home yesterday!"

Her father quickly comforted her mother, "Alright, alright, our daughter is growing up. She has her own ideas." As he spoke, her father winked at Philomena, "Go inside, your mother and I are going to the market to buy some seeds. There's food prepared for you on the table in the house."

Philomena smiled and turned to look at her parents' figures gradually moving away.

After a while, she walked into the house. On the wooden table, there were smoked meat, bread, milk, and soybean paste.

Philomena sat down and dipped the smoked meat into the soybean paste, then put it in her mouth. The combination of the smoky flavor of the meat and the rich aroma of the soybean paste was just right. This was Philomena's favorite taste.

At this moment, Philomena sensed the pet dog under the table rubbing against her leg and making a "huffing" sound. It was obvious that it was also craving for food.

"Alright, alright, good boy, I'll feed you, I'll feed you."

Philomena picked up another piece of smoked meat, dipped it in the sauce, and placed it under the table.

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"Is it delicious?" Philomena asked.

"Woof!"

Lady Feir under the table vigorously nodded.

...

The morning sun always gracefully and calmly caressed everything from top to bottom.Karun picked up a Hawthorn with his right hand and put it in his mouth. With his left hand, he flipped through Mr. Hofin's formation notes. The magic cube floating in front of him was spinning rapidly.

"Ah~"

Karun looked at the time. He had been reading for three hours. He stopped reading and put away the magic cube.

Having learned a lesson from the last time he almost fainted while studying, Karun was now very careful about controlling his attention while studying.

Stretching lazily, Karun stood up and walked out of the study. Dora and Dolly were sitting in the yard drawing, and Teacher Daisan was standing beside them.

Alfred, who was meticulous and delicate, had cultivated many kinds of flowers in several flower beds while renovating the yard. Now was the time for them to flourish.

Karun walked lightly and sat down on the bench behind. He wanted to bask in the sun here.

Coincidentally, Pick passed by and immediately turned back when he saw Karun. He then handed several newspapers to Karun.

On top was the "Order Weekly". The headline on the front page was an explanation and introduction of the new reform measures by the Holy See. The second page was his own photo, occupying almost one-third of the page.

When he touched the photo with his fingertips, the photo started moving on its own, restoring the scene at that time.

The reporter named Meiliye reported in great detail, but Karun did not carefully read the report about himself. Instead, he closed the "Order Weekly" and put it aside.

He needed to let his brain rest for a while, so he picked up the nearby "Vien Daily".

The headline on the front page was about a lawsuit: a person who grew up in a colony and later came to Vien for development, starting from the lowest position as a laborer and eventually becoming the owner of a mineral company, sued the Vien Royal Army Command.

The reason was that when he was very young, the Vien Army invaded his original country and came to the village where he lived. They not only looted the villagers' property but also gathered the women in the village for humiliation.

His mother was among them.

Now, he sued the Vien Royal Army Command for admitting and compensating for the atrocities committed in his village back then.

This news has received great attention recently, but Karun has been busy with the selection, so he did not know about it. Of course, another reason was that his social circle had to some extent already separated from the ordinary people's social sphere.

Karun admired this boss very much. He had struggled hard to climb to his current position and risked his wealth and influence to push forward this lawsuit.

The lower part of the front page also had a photo. The background of the photo should be a courtroom, and there were three young people crying bitterly in it.

They were young people from that colony village who had recently obtained Vien citizenship.

However, they were not there to testify for the boss, but to testify for the Vien Army Command.

They pounded their chests and cried out in the courtroom, "Their grandmothers and the boss's mother were prostitutes back then, and they willingly served the Vien Army soldiers! They did it voluntarily!"

"In fact, I find it hard to understand their behavior," Teacher Daisan appeared behind Karun and looked at the newspaper, saying.

Karun asked, "Hard to understand?"

"Do you think they appeared in court as witnesses just to obtain citizenship?

Actually, no. They obtained citizenship after accumulating work experience by coming to Vien for education and obtaining a graduation certificate. It was not because they used their citizenship to make deals in this case. And my journalist friend told me that they did not receive bribes or threats. Gu Lu."

The Imperial Ministry of Finance was preparing to cut the army's budget, which allowed this lawsuit to be held. The Army Command was caught off guard, and these three young people came forward voluntarily to be witnesses.

So, do you understand what I mean? They genuinely think and believe in this way, and they tearfully tell the story. They believe that their grandmothers willingly served the Vien Army soldiers."

"I understand."

Teacher Daisan spoke, "But what is the reality? I believe that anyone with normal logical thinking can figure it out. But I can't understand the actions of these three."

Karun put down the newspaper and said, "This can only mean one thing."

"What?"

"The Vien Empire has done an excellent job of spiritually castrating the colonies."

"Spiritual castration?"

"Like neutering a pet, in fact, a person's spirit, no, the spirit of a group can also undergo similar operations. Through economics, culture, politics, and especially culture, using various cultural channels and media to manipulate and guide the spirit, first erasing their identity recognition as subjects, and then reshaping the new recognition that Vien wants them to have, thus completing a collective spiritual castration of a group.

You wonder why they would sincerely say such absurd things, but they really think and believe in it. This kind of psychology and behavior that you can't understand is called 'objective independent thinking' in their eyes."

"Mr. Karun has done a lot of research in this area?"

"No, I've just seen a lot. Teacher Daisan is not from Vien?"

"I am from Vien, but I have half-Semi-Saint Antis blood."

"Oh, hehe." Karun smiled and intended to end this topic.

"Mr. Karun, I am very interested in this kind of racial spiritual castration you just mentioned. I wonder if you have any relevant books to recommend to me?"

"Sorry, I don't have any here."

"Then, how do you think this phenomenon will develop in the future?"

"With the advancement of information transmission technology, this phenomenon will only become more serious."

"Mr. Karun...""Alright, Miss Daishan, you have too many questions. I need to take a break, sorry."

Miss Daishan smiled awkwardly and said, "I'm sorry for disturbing you."

"It's alright."

"I have a small request. I heard from Dora and Doreen that you have a lot of books in your study. I was wondering..."

"You can borrow the books freely, but you need to inform Alfred and remember to return them in a timely manner."

"Okay, of course. Thank you for your generosity."

Actually, "returning them in a timely manner" was a redundant statement, but Karun had to say it because the spirit of the old man of light was still imprinted in his study. If too many books were lost, Karun worried that the old man would cease to exist.

Miss Daishan was recommended by Alfred, so Alfred must have done a background check before. It was time for Alfred to do another one and see if she had been in contact with anything recently.

There was still some time before lunch, so Karun returned to his study with the newspaper. At that moment, the telephone rang.

Karun picked up the phone.

"Hello, I'm looking for Karun."

"Captain."

"Haha, our mission is complete. We're returning to York City tomorrow. I know you passed the final selection, but I think you must be tired of hearing 'congratulations.' Besides, it was inevitable that you would pass the selection in my opinion, so we don't need to be polite."

"Captain, do you need something?"

"I just wanted to set the stage, it's not good to be too direct. Let's skip the explanation of the policy and go straight to the result, okay? After all, long-distance calls are more expensive than local ones."

"Alright, Captain."

"You young people who participated in the final selection are likely to be assigned to the Order Whip team for a period of training. So I wanted to ask, did you make any friends during the trial?"

"No."

"Ah... that's a pity."

"I made friends with several team members."

"Damn!"

There was a pause on the other end of the phone, then the captain continued, "So, you've been wanting to leave my team and work independently?"

"Captain, we don't need to be polite."

"Alright, I guess it means that once your team is established, you will have a high degree of autonomy. After all, your position is special and you will be a key focus of the Church's future development."

"So what?"

"So, if you form your own Order Whip team, you have the authority to choose whether to affiliate with a squadron leader and which one specifically."

"Oh, I understand, Mr. Squadron Leader."

"Alright, Mr. Captain."

The phone hung up.

Karun looked at the receiver and couldn't help but shake his head and smile. The captain had called specifically to make this promise.

But...

He could form his own Order Whip team?

Didn't that mean he could legitimately recruit Wentiela, Aisley, Bart, Mas, and Blanche into his team as subordinates?

What a high-quality Order Whip team that would be!

Karun was already looking forward to it.

In the storeroom, Puerh sat on a coffin, extending two claws and slowly rubbing them together in the air, creating a fireball.

Kevin immediately ducked his head when he saw the fireball, clearly traumatized.

Puerh threw the fireball onto the ground, and it dispersed, turning into a red starlight, revealing a red sword hilt.

This was a summoning ritual from the ancestral Allen faith system, summoning one of the two weapons once used by the ancestral Allen.

"The medicine that family sent really had a noticeable effect. I feel that the spiritual power I can use in my body has become much richer."

"Woof!"

Kevin barked excitedly, happy for Puerh, and wagged his tail.

"It seems like the medicine for treating your head didn't have much effect."

"Woof..." Kevin shrunk back again.

"Sorry, stupid dog, I didn't expect to make you permanently bald. But actually, you look good bald. Isn't there a saying that a bald and handsome young man is truly handsome?"

Kevin nodded, reluctantly accepting Puerh's consolation.

Puerh looked at the red sword, which was almost several times taller than itself, and furrowed its cat brows. "I didn't realize this sword was so big before. How am I supposed to hold it now that it's so big?"

"Woof!"

"Alright, I'll give it a try and modify the summoning ritual."

The red starlight and the red sword disappeared, and Puerh conjured a smaller fireball with its cat paw, throwing it onto the ground. A smaller red starlight appeared, followed by the hilt of a smaller red sword.

"Hehe, meow."

Puerh extended its cat paw and grabbed the hilt of the sword, clasping it with a "click." Then, it pulled back, and a small red sword was drawn out.

Excitedly, Puerh swung the sword, leaving behind a trail of afterimages.

"Success!"

"Woof!"

Kevin excitedly dug its paws into the ground and then approached Puerh, bending its knees.

Puerh jumped onto Kevin's back, continuing to wave the small red sword and shouted, "Stupid dog, charge!"

"Woof woof woof!"Sorry, there is no original text provided for translation. Please provide the Chinese text that you want to be translated into English.