NO HERO - Volume 7, 1 The First Step Toward the End: Sin, the Original

Volume 7, The First Step Toward the End: Sin, the Original

Translator: Raylight (proofread by Trespasserby & Minthe; C/E edited by lucathia)

“Hey!”

A black shadow loomed over me with a can. I took the can with a smile, thanking the other, “Thanks, Ezart.”

If Ri Xiang Ye knew that I was currently on an adventure with his best friend, would he immediately charge into the ancient tomb? If he really were to charge in, I guess adventuring together with him wouldn’t be too bad either?

“You have a high opinion of me, right?”

“What do you mean high opinion? Can you not talk as if I’m interested in you? I don’t lean that way!” The other person grumbled uneasily, and then admitted straightforwardly, “There’s a bunch of investors who insist on coming along on the expeditions, but very few of them actually have any combat abilities. Most of them are just a burden. You’re actually pretty strong, not too shabby!”

As expected of a battle manic. Even his standards for judging people are so simple.

“Oh yeah, Ah Shou, what exactly are you looking for?” asked Ezart as he scratched his head. “This ancient tomb looks like there’s nothing in it at all.”

“If I tell you that I actually don’t know either, will you beat me to death?” If I were hit by this person’s full strength, I would definitely be sent flying and splattered on the wall—that was not a speculation, but something that had already happened multiple times.

Ezart raised an eyebrow at that and replied, “What would I beat you up for? Whether you find it or not is none of my business. You’re paying me either way!”

“Do you really care about the money? These kinds of ‘adventures’ are so dangerous that if you slip up, you won’t be alive to spend the money.”

“I still got to make a living somehow!” Ezart snapped back.

I looked at him, with a ghost of a smile on my face.

“… And adventuring seemed interesting.”

“Young Master, welcome home,” I said as I handed over the towel for wiping his sweat.

“Charles, what happened?”

Unexpectedly, the moment he finished wiping his sweat and raised his head, he noticed from my appearance that something was off. His ability to read faces was still absurdly high, but this time, he did not need a reply from me.

“Ah Ye,” Secretary Bai greeted and stood up.

The young master froze and shouted, “Ah Yue-gē, why are you here?”

… Ah Yue… gē?

“I came to have breakfast together with you!” Secretary Bai said with a smile.

The young master’s eyes widened a little, which I believed was his expression of disbelief. However, he did not comment on it, and merely turned to tell me, “Then Charles, go and prepare breakfast first. I’ll shower after breakfast.”

“Understood.”

I first served the appetizers for everyone to enjoy before I went on to prepare the rest of the food.

“What is this?” Secretary Bai stared at the two appetizers without holding back any doubts.

“Jellyfish salad and chilled radish pickled with plum juice.” In the end, I still decided to make both dishes, though I was not sure if our guest liked spicy food, so I decided against the spicy jellyfish.

Seeing that our guest still had doubts about the menu, I introduced each dish in detail: “The jellyfish’s bell is rich in collagen, which has beautifying effects, as well as giving it a chewy texture when eaten. The other dish, radish pickled in plum juice, has a slightly sour taste, which is good for stimulating one’s appetite.”

As per usual, the young master’s eyes immediately sparkled when he saw food he had not tried before. He swiftly picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of the jellyfish, exclaiming, “Ah! This is so chewy, and so delicious!”

The young master appears to like chewy textures. I should make a note to use more of such ingredients in the future.

Secretary Bai tried a piece of the pickled radish and appeared to like it, soon taking another. However, the jellyfish was left completely untouched. Secretary Bai did not eat anymore after two pieces of radish and questioned, “Ah Ye, were you thinking of looking for those escaped criminals?”

The young master, who had been happily enjoying his food, froze in place. Though I was extremely interested in the continuation of this conversation, I had to go back to the kitchen to prepare the rest of the breakfast. Once back in the kitchen, I used x-speed to chop the vegetables, then chopped the beef that was to be the main dish later, and put it into the oven…

Within a minute, I served the second dish, romaine lettuce salad with smoked salmon, together with freshly toasted milk buns.

When I walked into the living room, Secretary Bai was in the middle of persuading the young master, “Ah Ye, rather than going on a wild goose chase, why don’t you give me a hand?”

“What do you need my help with?” The young master asked doubtfully.

After putting down the plate of salad, I had to return to the kitchen, and hence prepared the rest of the dishes with x-speed. I assembled the main dish of beef and vegetable skewers, and then put the brick toast for the honey toast into the oven. Once that was done, I came out with the freshly grilled beef skewers and various drinks.

“Act in a movie?” The young master seemed not to comprehend as he inquired, “What does acting have to do with catching criminals?”

Movie? Though I did once hear from Lin Ding that someone wanted to ask the young master to act in their movie, there was no talk of it afterwards. To think that Secretary Bai is the one requesting the young master to act in a movie now.

Thankfully, the brick toast would still take a while longer to finish baking, so I would be able to stay in the living room for a short while.

“Have you heard of Alex Simon?” Secretary Bai abruptly brought up someone unrelated.

The young master nodded as he answered, “He is the representative of Daystar City.”

“I intend to ask him to star in this movie together with you.”

“Oh?” The young master’s curiosity was piqued as he asked, “Who will he be playing?”

“A priest.”

Is Alex’s profession not already that of a priest?

The young master seemed to have thought of that too, as he inquired with a smile, “Then, who am I going to play?”

“A beautiful youth.”

The young master is also a beautiful youth. It seemed as though there was no need to act for the two leads of this movie. Though, speaking of which, a character setting like “beautiful youth” did not seem to require any acting.

“This is the movie project plan. Take a look and see if you are interested in it first!”

Secretary Bai passed the plan over and started eating the milk buns. It seemed as though compared to the cold appetizers and raw salads, “he” preferred food that was piping hot.

After asking him for his choice of beverage, I poured a cup of freshly squeezed apple juice with milk for him. This was a little surprising for me, as I could not have imagined that he would pick the same beverage as the young master. From his behavior up until now, I believed that he would ask for a glass of table wine. It was fortunate that he did not though, for we only had cooking wine at home.

The young master looked at the plan, and then reflexively read it out loud: “The Hunting of a Vampire.”

…

“Pft!” The young master laughed as he asked, “Who named this?”

Secretary Bai shrugged with both hands up, saying, “Isn’t it Ah Yan? Who else could it be?”

Hearing that, the young master’s smile faded. He asked in suspicion, “Could it be that Gēge told you to stop me from doing something dangerous?”

“Aiya! Are you doubting me?” Secretary Bai’s eyes turned wide. He was not expecting the young master to actually nod his head though, so he could only helplessly explain, “The plan to shoot this movie has long been in the works, so we decided to simply make use of it for the sake of the investigation. Under the pretense of borrowing the fame of the city representative contest, we will invite the first and second place winners, Alex and you, to be the lead actors. This way, not only will it appear less suspicious, the movie is also more or less a sure hit. No matter what, it’s a good deal!”

The young master still did not quite believe him. He shook his head as he inquired, “Investigation? What’s there to investigate about a movie filming? Ah Yue-gē, you’re still lying to me to get me to stop pursuing the criminals, right?”

Secretary Bai glared with both eyes, exclaiming, “Ah Ye, am I that unreliable to you? Fine, I understand. Stop nodding your head so fast, like I have no credibility at all! Sigh, to be honest with you, Alex Simon is no ordinary priest.”

Up to this point, it appeared that they were equally matched. Indeed, Secretary Bai had seemed to be trying to divert the young master’s attention to other matters, so that he would not go and hunt down the P29 criminals. Naturally, the young master would not agree to that, and was instead trying to fish out some information from Secretary Bai.

“Within the Sin Elimination Committee of the Church, there is one person whose main job is hunting down E.X. The person in that position is called “Sin Simon.” I strongly suspect that Alex is related to that Sin Simon. Even their surname is the same. Therefore, he most likely will know some information about the criminal that the Church wants.”

Secretary Bai glanced at me and continued, “Ah Ye, you are friends with the Church’s nemesis, E.X, right? If that is the case, the criminal that you want to hunt down the most must be the one that the Church desires. Isn’t that so?”

“So that’s how it is. That’s why you’re trying to get me to star in a movie with Father Alex!” The young master then asked without batting an eyelid, “Then, who is the criminal that the Church wants?”

Secretary Bai shrugged, innocently saying that he “didn’t know,” not revealing any useful information.

The young master stared at Secretary Bai, his eyes full of mistrust.

Secretary Bai blinked—to think that even mechanical eyes have eyelids for blinking—as he said, “Didn’t Kyle already give you a list of all the dangerous criminals? Did you manage to guess which one of them it is?”

The young master shook his head.

“If even you can’t tell who it is with your capabilities, Ah Ye, then how am I to know who it is?”

The young master frowned, as though he was not sure whether to believe him or not. However, with his ability to “read faces,” he ought to be able to tell if Secretary Bai is indeed lying, right?

Secretary Bai sighed as he said, “The rest of the criminals are dangerous, sure, but Ah Yan is not to be trifled with either. The adjudication squad is pretty useful in their pursuit and capture, too. The most troublesome one is the one wanted by the Church!”

At this point, he took another beef skewer and elegantly bit off a piece of meat. He seemed very calm and composed in the midst of all these matters as he chewed, and only when he was done did he continue, “With the Church protecting that criminal, we definitely won’t be able to find him! So, we can only work on the assumption that the Church might want to use this criminal to pursue X. However, the Church is extremely thorough in their protection of Sin Simon. It is entirely impossible to find out who he is.”

Following that, he said no more and did not even look at the young master anymore, completely engrossed in eating the beef skewers. Even though he was the only one eating in the entire living room, he was just as content. He appeared not to mind the young master who was deep in thought, not to mention Mr. Bramble and the others. The three of them practically did not dare to touch their breakfast, and even the young master’s words to sit down were of no avail.

I lowered my head and requested, “Young Master, may I interrupt?”

The young master nodded and said, “Speak!”

“Actually, Sin Simon is not a person, but a position: a position that is mainly responsible for capturing X. Regardless of whoever became ‘Sin,’ he would from then on change his name to ‘Sin’ and keep only his original surname.”

Secretary Bai’s eyes widened as he exclaimed, “If that’s true, there’s a possibility that Alex is Sin Simon himself.”

“Indeed, such a possibility exists.”

X had once mentioned to me that it had taken three hundred years before he finally realized that the people hunting him down had already changed several times. When I had heard that, I felt a little sorry for those “Sins.”

It was unclear whether it was due to having lived too long, but X was not mindful of many issues. He often claimed that anyways, those humans and issues were short-lived and would disappear in time, so there was no need to spend the effort to remember them.

“Sins” especially were short-lived. Many were killed, and even if they were not, their lifespans were mysteriously short. Generally, they departed this world at the age range of forty to fifty. Having to hear yet another hunter’s “first meeting spiel” every once in a while made X extremely fed up, and he would even spare Sins’ lives because of it, so as to avoid hearing another new Sin’s declaration.

“If that’s so, then that’s even more reason to investigate!” shouted Secretary Bai.

“That can’t be right!” The young master shook his head and shouted, “If Alex is Sin Simon, then since he has finally gotten his hands on that criminal after a lot of difficulty, of course he would go after X. Why would he agree to star in a movie?”

“That’s why we have to get you there!” Secretary Bai explained as a matter of fact, “You are acquainted with X, and your butler is very close to him. No matter how busy he is, he probably isn’t willing to let go of such a lead.”

Once the young master heard that, he shouted unhappily, “So Ah Yue-gē, you intend to use Charles!”

I quickly cut in, “Young Master, it is my sincere wish to be of help to X.”

The young master then relaxed a little, but still appeared to be largely discontent with Secretary Bai.

Secretary Bai quickly assured, “Aiya, Ah Ye, don’t be nervous. The entire film crew is mine. Nothing will happen!”

“I don’t believe you!” Unexpectedly, the young master responded with no trace of politeness, “You and Kyle-gē are both the same. Both of you would absolutely never betray Gēge! How am I to trust you two?!”

Secretary Bai exclaimed, “Didn’t Kyle give you the information on the criminals? You already trust his information, so why don’t you trust me?”

“Kyle-gē was willing to give me the criminals’ data because he knew that if he didn’t give it to me, I would be able to find it myself. I have the highest access rights possible in the Sun Alliance and can get into any database. That’s why he just tidied things up and passed it to me, so that I wouldn’t rampage through the whole database looking for it.”

The young master asserted, “So Gēge must have asked you to stop me from hunting down those criminals, and the movie is just a pretense!”

However, Secretary Bai burst into laughter, as he said, “Do you think that Ah Yan is not willing to let you go hunt down criminals, but is willing to let you go confront the Church? Those are the strongest people of the Church, people who are hunting down a thousand-year-old vampire. Would they be easier to deal with than the criminals?”

The young master froze, his brows furrowed, deep in thought.

Secretary Bai softly spoke, “Ah Ye, what I was thinking was that rather than letting you run around recklessly till we can’t find you, which will make Ah Yan worry till his heart and stomach hurts, I might as well give you a mission. Not only can we make use of your strength, we can also keep you under our eye. That really would be more reassuring!

“Sigh, but I know that persuading you is just as hard as persuading Ah Yan. You two brothers sure are similar. What a pain!”

The young master’s face flushed red. It was not the first time that he was told that he was very similar to the Sun Emperor, but it just so happened that the person who was the most headache-inducing for the young master was also the master. Thus, this fact would always make him feel a little awkward.

“Thus, I decided that I might as well as get you to investigate Alex. This is a genuine, huge lead, not one made up to deceive you!” At this point, Secretary Bai noticed the young master’s hesitant expression and immediately raised his offer, “Other than this mission, if I find out that there are criminals nearby, I will inform you and let you sneak out to capture them in the free time when we are not filming. Is this okay?”

The young master looked rather tempted by his offer, but still questioned skeptically, “You promise you won’t tell Gēge?”

Secretary Bai lifted his fingers and swore, “I swear to the heavens that I absolutely will not tell Ah Yan!”

The young master nodded. Suddenly, he lifted his head and looked over, hesitantly calling, “Charles…”

“What is it, Young Master?”

The young master must be inviting me to go to the movie filming location with him, right? The young master always did seem a little uneasy when it came to things he had not done before, so he would want to find someone to go with him—

“I smell something burning.”

… The honey toast!

“Though it was a pity that I didn’t get to eat the honey toast, it’s been a long time since I have seen you make that expression like the sky is falling down, Charles! How interesting! Hahaha!”

The young master was full of joyous laughter, which made me feel less guilty about my mistake of burning the food. However, a different issue troubled me, and I asked anxiously, “Young Master, did I really show an expression as if the sky is falling down?”

“Not at all!” Dell muttered loudly at one side, “The butler only has that one expression, a faint smile! He doesn’t have any other expressions. Just now, he just froze up a little, and his smile disappeared a little. In what way did that look like the sky was falling down?”

To think that even Dell could spot the difference in my expression and body movement, the sky certainly was falling down!

Burning the toast because I was too engrossed in listening in on the conversation, and then showing an inappropriate expression as if the sky were falling… My honorable father, I really ought to punish myself by going back to the family and training for another hundred years!

“Charles, don’t blame yourself for it. It’s just burnt toast!” comforted the young master, who was always so magnanimous. “Just make another honey toast later!”

“Understood, Young Master.” I will absolutely make the most delicious honey toast ever to make up for this mistake!

“Charles, accompany me to the movie filming location?”

As expected, the young master asked this of me. Even though he was almost twenty-four, he still seemed afraid to try new things on his own.

However, even up to now, I felt that it might be better if the young master did not correct this habit. That was because the young master was too good at enduring painful matters. No matter how painful it might be, he would always endure it silently on his own, making others’ hearts ache in their helplessness. A small weakness like this was instead a good thing.

“Since I have already promised Ah Yue-gē to film, then I have to let the Church come to Sunset City. In the event that Alex really is Sin Simon, then you could be in danger. We might run into Alex at the filming location, but both Melody and I will be there so it will be safer for you. I think it’s best if I bring you along with me.”

So he was worrying for my safety. The young master has truly matured a lot, unlike me. Not only have I failed to become a more responsible butler after serving the young master for this long, I even keep making mistakes one after another. Even in a simple task like cooking, I could burn the food again and again…

“Hmm, this expression of Charles’s is so hard to read. At first it kind of looks like gratitude, then like self-reproach.”

I am grateful to you and reproaching myself.

“Young Master!” Dell suddenly interrupted, “That Bai Lian Yue, is he really a guy? His face looks completely female! I initially thought he was the Sun Emperor’s mistress—”

Before he could finish, Mr. Bramble roared at him, “Dell, what nonsense are you spouting? Shut your filthy mouth! Have you forgotten who the other person is?”

Hearing that, Dell scratched his head and muttered a few sentences along the lines of “I’m just saying.” However, he did not dare to speak up again. In comparison to Secretary Bai, Dell was more respectful to Mr. Kyle, for he would not dare to say anything bad about him even behind his back. It was highly likely that Secretary Bai’s delicate looks made it difficult for others to respect him.

“Ah Yue-gē originally didn’t look like that.” The young master smiled as he said, “That was done by Bàba!”

Mr. An Te Qi? What is the relation between Secretary Bai’s appearance and Mr. An Te Qi? Perhaps his eyes were modified by Mr. An Te Qi, but the topic in question now seems to be Secretary Bai’s rather feminine appearance.

The young master answered in a tone as though it was just a matter of fact, “Also, saying that Ah Yue-gē is Gēge’s mistress might be right?”

“…”

“I thought that the Sun Emperor likes women!” Dell’s eyes turned wide, and he started yelling as though he had just heard the biggest gossip of the century, “The number of women rumored to have been with the Sun Emperor before is enough to form a mountain. How can it be possible that he likes guys?”

The young master frowned as he said, “I don’t know whether Gēge likes girls or guys. He’s never brought a girlfriend or boyfriend home. But Ah Yue-gē frequently comes over to my house to work, so eventually he simply stayed at our place. In the morning, he would head to work with my brother… If Gēge was willing to go to work.”

“The Sun Emperor refusing to go to work?” Now was May’s turn to question, as he asked in confusion, “I had once heard that he was a workaholic.”

The young master laughed as he explained, “That was a long time ago! I heard from Kyle-gē that in that time period when Gēge was still looking for me, he really was a big workaholic! He frequently slept only two hours a day, and had even done stuff like not sleeping for five days straight when he was busy. Kyle-gē would always advise Gēge to take care of himself and not to overwork, but since Kyle-gē is also a workaholic, Gēge ignored him.”

When one workaholic tells another workaholic to take care of themselves and not to overwork, that is indeed not convincing in the least bit, especially if the first mentioned workaholic is Mr. Kyle.

“Afterwards, Gēge found me, and then became a bit lazier. Though he’s still pretty serious about his work, at least he’s not a workaholic anymore!”

It was a rare moment in which the young master was willing to divulge so much about himself, so everyone listened to him in silence. Even Dell was unwilling to interrupt the moment.

“This continued until I graduated high school and spent more time at home. At that time, Gēge became even lazier and often didn’t want to go to work. Kyle-gē was steaming mad! Therefore, Kyle-gē simply decided to send Ah Yue-gē to stay at our house. That way, he could drag Gēge to work every day.”

The young master gave an ironic laugh as he continued, “But the moment Gēge shows a sorrowful expression, Ah Yue-gē completely gives in to him. Kyle-gē was so furious, he said that he was going to stab both of them to death!”

From what the young master was saying, it felt like the Sun Emperor was very close to his two secretaries, which was largely different from the “heartless Sun Emperor” of the rumors.

“In the end, Kyle-gē noticed that I was really bored and didn’t know what to do, so he asked me to be Gēge’s bodyguard and drag him to work every day.”

After he graduated high school, he worked as the Sun Emperor’s bodyguard for a period of time. I quietly committed all of the young master’s words to memory.

“Young Master, at this time, all I need to ask is this!” Dell placed both hands on the young master’s shoulders and sternly asked, “Does that Bai Lian Yue share the same room as the Sun Emperor?”

The young master answered with no hesitation, “They use different rooms.”

Dell looked like a deflated balloon, as he listlessly moaned, “Oh, I thought that there was going to be major gossip!”

“Gossip? Which part of it was gossip?” The young master looked utterly confused.

Young Master, every sentence you spoke just now was gossip. If there had been any reporters in the apartment, they would have been over the moon hearing about the Sun Emperor’s secrets. In fact, it was highly likely that they would have been even more ecstatic than if they were receiving the Pulitzer Prize.

“Dell, May, let’s go. It’s time to work.” Usually, Mr. Bramble would head to the rooftop to work exactly at eight, but because of Secretary Bai’s visit today, they were a little late.

I saw the three people to the door and as per usual said, “Please take your time. I will go up and deliver some tea later.” Then, I shut the door, and upon looking back I saw the young master drinking his apple milk through his straw, his expression a little distressed.

Only when he finished the entire glass of milk did he sigh. “Seriously, that Ah Yue-gē, even if it’s for a mission, if I’m asked to go act in a movie out of the blue like that, I don’t know if I can act well!”

I immediately followed up, saying, “Young Master, you will definitely be able to do it! That’s because you have to play both the role of a weak model and a strong hero every day, so how could your acting skills be bad?”

The young master helplessly said, “Charles, I graduated in a combat major, so even when I’m modeling, I’m not exactly weak right?”

Ah….

“No need to explain.” The young master smiled as he shook his head, saying in understanding, “I know that everyone thinks that I’m very weak right now. That’s probably because of the last incident when I was dressed as an angel and got captured by werewolves!”

Indeed so, it has completely slipped my mind that the young master graduated with a combat degree.

“Speaking of the mission, Charles, have you notified X about the Church and the criminals?”

“I have done as such, Young Master, but X merely said that he would be cautious.” After I said that, I explained further, “After all, he has already been pursued for over a thousand years, so he treats the matter of being hunted down lightly.”

The young master nodded. He paused for a moment and then inquired, “How does it feel to have lived over a thousand years?” He looked at me, a little hesitant in his words, as though he was a little afraid to ask.

However, I did not mind the young master asking about such matters. Or rather, I hoped that he would ask more, for the young master was someone who would experience it in the future, and it would be good to have some mental preparation.

“It is inevitable that one would experience loneliness of unimaginable depths in a thousand years. I have merely lived a hundred and fifty, yet the loneliness creeps up on me from time to time.”

“E-Even now, are you lonely?” The young master looked a little flustered.

I could not resist a smile as I answered, “Presently, I am not, Young Master.”

The young master’s eyes widened as he exclaimed, “It’s so rare to see Charles smile so brightly!”

My “bright smile” froze on my face. I wavered a little as I pondered. If the young master prefers a smile like this, would it be better to give a bright smile instead of a faint smile in the future?

“Young Master, I’m so sleepy…” The door opened and Melody walked in listlessly. When she looked over at me, she was shocked awake in an instant. “Oh my goodness! What’s with that expression? Butler, is your face cramping?”

I let my bright smile drop and went back to a faint smile.

“C-Cramping?” The young master laughed to the point that he nearly cramped up before he stopped. He asked, “Melody, did you play at a nightclub all night again?”

“No way! This time, I went for a beach sprawl.” Melody lay on the sofa, her posture appearing as though she was sunbathing on the beach.

“Sunset City has no beaches!” The young master seemed bewildered as he asked, “Did you go out of the city?”

“Of course not! The beach sprawl was just a swimsuit party!” Melody bounced back up in an instant and exclaimed, “Young Master, I do love to party, but I will never forget my job. As long as you are in Sunset City, I will absolutely not leave this place!”

“That was my mistake. I’m sorry!” apologized the young master, with a guilt-ridden expression. He quietly murmured, “I’m really sorry.”

Immediately, Melody hugged the young master tight, pressing his head to her bosom. She even rubbed her face against the top of his head, as she shouted, “I forgive you. You’re forgiven! Young Master, how can you be this cuteeeee!”

While buried in Melody’s chest, the young master guiltily shot a look at me from the corner of his eye. I did my best to remain expressionless, but I had never managed to hide my expression from the young master. Knowing that I had already discovered that he was acting, the young master immediately turned red.

Young Master, you can definitely become a good actor.

After a while of hugging the young master in her arms and rubbing him, Melody was finally willing to release him. She then moved onto official business. “This afternoon was originally scheduled for shooting a print advertisement, but the higher-ups just called to say that since Young Master has accepted an acting role, it has been changed to a press conference to announce that you are starring in that movie.”

“A press conference this soon?” I was a little shocked.

“I know!” Melody said a little weakly, “The higher-ups said that they were planning to make use of the young master’s press conference to try and entice Father Alex into agreeing to act in the movie. Thus, they are rushing it, to avoid Alex’s schedule getting booked by others first. Though speaking of which, that priest’s looks are really something, and he has a rarely-seen gentlemanly aura to boot! He has the potential to hit the big time, but too bad he’s a priest!”

“Afternoon, is it?” The young master thought about it and continued, “Then, I’ll head over to the church now. Melody, you don’t have to follow me today. Just give the details of the time and location to Charles.” He turned to me and asked, “Charles, today you will be following me. Is that okay?”

“Very well, Young Master. As it turns out, I do have some business with Father Yue.”

“Oh?” The young master looked doubtful, but he did not ask any further. It was highly likely that he understood that he would be able to find out when we got there, so he decided not to pry.

“Hurrah, I can go sleep then!” shouted Melody, and then she coyly said, “But Young Master, if there’s any future plans that we can meet Alex, you have to bring me along!”

The young master feigned seriousness as he asked, “Melody, he’s a priest. Isn’t it bad if you go and see him? Moreover, don’t you really hate priests?”

Melody gave an “ah” as she spoke in embarrassment, “I just want to take a look!”

The young master laughed and comforted, “Okay then! Don’t worry, the filming is definitely going to take a while. I still need you to help take care of Charles, so you will definitely be able to see Father Alex.”

“Take care of the butler?” Melody had an interesting expression on her face, and she rolled her eyes at me and said, “I’ve never heard of a fifth-generation vampire needing an eighth-generation’s care! Can you be any less disappointing?”

The young master quickly stepped in to explain, “Charles is a butler. He’s not responsible for fighting, so it’s fine even if he’s not very strong!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I already know that the young master dotes on Charles the most.”

“Do I not treat you well?” The young master asked as though he had been wronged.

Melody smiled as she replied, “Of course you treat me well! It’s just that I slightly lose to the butler in that respect, but that’s okay. The butler is ‘weak and delicate,’ so he’s a bit more ‘lovable!’ It’s only normal to lose to him. Even that policeman wants to protect Mr. Butler from day to night!”

Suddenly, I felt like I could understand the young master’s feelings of being mistaken as weak.

After Melody left, the young master said, “Charles, help me pick some clothes! I want to go to the church sooner, and then if there’s still time, I can head over to X-Killer too. Olga told me to come over and pick up the newly released clothes from the store when I’m free.”

“As you wish, Young Master.”

Walking into the young master’s bedroom, I opened the closet that now boasted a large variety of trendy clothes as opposed to how lackluster it was before. I took out a loose shirt in red, one of the young master’s favorite colors; matched it with a pair of dark blue jeans; and finally topped it with a pair of black boots. Abruptly, I realized that this color combination looked too similar to Dark Sun and quickly changed the top to a white one.

I took the clothes to the changing room, where the young master was already waiting with his top off. I lifted the clothes in my hands for him to see, as I asked, “Young Master, is this combination suitable?”

The young master nodded. He commented, “Actually, I don’t really know either. Last time, it was Aren who helped me pick my clothes. He said that my sense of matching clothes was simply so bad that I could actually make X-Killer’s clothes look tacky. He was super impressed by that.”

Hearing that, I felt a little concerned. I did not feel that the young master’s appearance was tacky, so that would mean that my own fashion sense was behind the times. I decided to read more magazines and research the current fashion trends, in order to avoid the young master being called unfashionable. That would be a crime that even a thousand deaths would not make up for.