No Hero Volume 1: Vampire Butler
Original novel in Chinese by: 御 我 (Yu Wo)
Diary of a Butler Chapter 7: The Most Dangerous Free-for-all Combat – translated by Raylight
Dear Father,
I have made yet another mistake, and undoubtedly it is a mistake that you would strictly reprimand.
You have often said that as long as an employer requests for a butler, other than a salary and the most basic form of respect, a butler should not request anything else of his employer. That is because a butler serves his employer, but the employer does not serve his butler. Yet I hoped the young master to be a hero, so that I could feel honored that I am serving a hero.
What greed. If you knew about this from the heavens, you would definitely make such a comment!
The entrance to the battle arena was extremely crowded, the queue snaking and coiling. There were even many people who were currently brawling. I looked at the long queue and was just about to suggest to the young master that I would go over and wait in line while he rested, but the young master pulled me to a stop. Then, he ignored the queue and walked directly toward the entrance.
We walked all the way to the ticket booth at the entrance, though such an obvious cutting of the queue clearly made everyone extremely dissatisfied. There were quite a few people who were already rolling up their sleeves, ready for battle, walking towards us…
“VIP.”
After the young master yelled “VIP,” the people in the line showed astonished expressions. Then, he handed over our tickets to the ticket collector. Following that, he took two booklets from the staff. In this time period, none of the people who had been eager for battle came forward to challenge us. Instead, they looked at us with eyes full of disbelief.
Are these VIP seats really that rare?
“Charles, do you dislike this place?”
The young master glanced at me as he handed me a booklet and explained. “If you see something that you dislike, your eyes will squint. The width of your eyes decrease by about 0.07cm! Earlier, when you first saw the set of clothes you are currently wearing, you also had this expression.”
Against the young master’s unfathomable ability, I could only obediently admit, “I am not very fond of this place.”
The young master smiled as he said, “I’m not very fond of this place either, but I don’t have a choice. Ezart1 is fighting here for his single-elimination open tournament.”
“May I inquire as to the relationship between you and Ezart?” I had to know the ident.i.ty of this Ezart first, so that later on, I would be able to use a suitable form of address with him.
“My ex-cla.s.smate.” The young master tugged at my hand. He seemed extremely familiar with this place as he said, “Walk through here, VIPs can go in from the side door.”
I flipped through the free-for-all combat rules in the handbook.
Other than not being allowed to leave the ring for more than five minutes, only stepping out of the five meter boundary from the ring or doing something that endangers the audience or referee would result in disqualification. For the sake of not endangering the two groups stated before, weapons that had an attack range of over five meters were banned from the arena. For example, firearm type weapons. Other than these rules, free-for-all combat could be said to be a contest completely lacking in rules.
As for the so-called VIP seats, they were just chairs that were set up beside the ring. The chairs were not even five meters away from the ring, which meant that they were still within the range of movement of the contestants. In the rules, it is also stated that both contestants are allowed to have up to five VIPs. Moreover, these five VIPS are allowed to move at will, go near the ring, and even attack the contestant…They are practically the contestant’s helpers, right?
So, we are actually here to help the young master’s cla.s.smate fight in the arena?
I felt a little uneasy inside. I was simply not fond of combat, especially in front of so many people. Surveying my surroundings revealed that spectators were continuously crowding into the seats, which were arranged in steps. If all of these seats were filled, the audience would probably number no less than five thousand.
However, it seemed to be a little too late to refuse to help in the battle. At this moment, we were already standing by the side of the ring, and the young master was chatting with the contestant named Ezart.
When we first arrived, the young master had given me a concise introduction. The strong man who was lazily leaning on the ring’s ropes and had a head of orange hair and even a tattoo on the left side of his face was his ex-cla.s.smate. His name was Ezart. Then, the young master just stood by the stage and started conversing with the contestant in the ring.
Ezart leaned lazily on the ropes that were hung around the ring and raised his chin in my direction. He asked, “This your butler?”
“That’s right! He’s called Charles.”
“He’s the vampire you mentioned over the phone?”
“Yup!” The young master nodded his head vigorously.
“He doesn’t look like one at all.” Ezart sized me up, full of suspicion. He frowned as he looked at the young master, saying, “You’re not bulls.h.i.tting me, right? Oh! Then again, you’re a brat who never lies. Hey! Butler! Are you strong? ”
I hurriedly shook my head and revealed an apologetic expression as I said, “I do not specialize in combat.”
“F***! A vampire who doesn’t specialize in combat?” Ezart showed an impatient expression and then criticized the young master without restraint. “I say, why did you get trash for a butler? Wasn’t the female vampire from before pretty strong?”
Hearing that, the young master became serious. He said in a stern tone, “Ezart, you shouldn’t say that Charles is trash.”
“So what if I say that? Are you looking for a fight?”
How did the young master acquaint himself with such a cla.s.smate? I felt extremely puzzled over this, for the two of them were exact opposites.
“I’m not!” The young master rejected him in one shot. “However, you still can’t call Charles trash, because you’re even trashier than he is!”
I was stunned. These words w-were coming out of the young master’s mouth?
“Brat, what did you say?” Ezart’s lazy att.i.tude was gone, and he growled at the young master.
The young master was not frightened into retreating by his growl in the slightest. Instead, he started explaining as if it were natural, “That’s because Charles is stronger than you! Only the strong can call the weak trash. That’s what you said to me before! Therefore, you can’t call him trash.”
My expression changed. The young master was really messing around too much; he was actually speaking in such a way to a combat contestant? I did not think that people who would compete in a free-for-all tournament would have good tempers and be able to tolerate people humiliating them.
“He’s stronger than me?”
Ezart froze and then looked me up and down in doubt. Contrary to my expectations, he did not look angry. Instead, he seemed very keen and in high spirits as he did so. After that, he turned around to ask the young master, “Compared to you, how strong is he? Who is trashier?”
The young master opened his mouth and was just about to reply when there was an angry roar from the back.
“Ezart! You should f***ing scram off the champion’s seat already!”
We all looked up at the stage. The other contestant had also gotten in the ring. He looked even bigger and stronger than Ezart, and his muscles were so huge they looked like they were about to explode. Both of his arms were modified, but most importantly, five strong men stood behind him. Every one of them looked incomparably strong, and they had all more or less modified their bodies as well.
Once these people appeared, the entire audience instantly started making a racket. Especially after that contestant made his declaration of war, the atmosphere became even more heated. There were quite a few people who had copied him and started cursing Ezart in anger.
“This contest allows their contestants to have modifications?” I was a little shocked.
Ezart turned around and gave me a mocking smile, “Everything goes in free-for-all combat.”
“You do not have any modifications,” I said, a little worried.
Though Ezart looked much stronger than the young master, there was still a large difference between him and the other contestant. Moreover, the opponent had modified both of his arms while Ezart did not have a single trace of modification on his body. Also, the other party had invited five VIPs, but on Ezart’s side, there was no one save the young master and me. And I did not wish to enter the fray.
“So what? Have you modified anything before, Vampire?”
Ezart casually leaned his back against the ropes, and then lifted his chin at Chelanda. He said with disdain, “There are a lot of people stronger than that kind of ugly thing! For example, that fellow beside you.”
I stilled for a moment but then automatically looked to my side. Of course, I only saw the young master beside me.
“It’s going to start soon!” Though Ezart had said that, he was still lazily leaning on the elastic ropes.
I looked towards the ring. The referee had entered the ring, and he was introducing both the contestants and their history in an excited tone. His tone and introduction obviously made the mood even more intense and feverous. Rather than saying he is a referee, he is more like a host, I sincerely thought.
The referee fiercely introduced, “In the blue corner, it is the challenger who has defeated many various experts and has finally achieved the challenger’s spot, Chelanda! As for the red corner, it is the champion who has successively claimed the throne of the champion thrice and has never lost a fight! Known as the undefeated king, he is – Ezart!”
I was very shocked. I did not know Ezart was actually the champion, and that he had even held onto his t.i.tle three times in succession. He simply did not look like that strong of a person. Though he was healthy and robust, it did not seem to the point of ridiculousness. After matching it with his height, his figure could even be said to lean towards skinny. No matter how I looked at it, he did not look like a champion of free-for-all combat.
Once the referee finished his introductions, the voices cursing Ezart were immediately drowned out by tremendous cheer. The entire place was shouting, “Ezart.” In face of all this earth-trembling noise, Ezart still lazily hung on the elastic ropes. Without even looking back, he yelled, “Hey! Ah Ye, buy me a cola.”
“Oh, okay,” replied the young master blankly.
“Young Master, are you leaving? The match is about to start.” I was a little nervous. The young master would not want me to help Ezart fight on my own, right?
The young master answered back naturally, “Yup! Ezart told me to buy one, so I’m going to buy it. Charles, you should go to your seat and watch the match!”
I was confused and after much pondering, I decided that it would be better to clarify matters with the young master. “Young Master, should I help?”
“Help?” The young master tilted his head to one side and seemed puzzled as he replied, “I said that I’m going to buy it by myself!”
I immediately tried to explain, “Young Master, you are mistaken. What I meant was, should I help in the battle?”
“Why do you have to help in the battle?” The young master’s eyes widened, and he exclaimed in shock, “You’re a butler, not a hitman. I have always kept that in mind!”
So the young master has always kept that in mind. I felt extremely gratified.
I glanced at the five strong men on the opposing side and said in worry, “But the other party has five VIPs helping him.”
Hearing that, the young master gave an “oh” and lifted his head to look at the person in the ring. He asked, “Ezart, do you want me to help?”
Ezart replied back snappily, “Help? Like for real, go buy me my cola!”
The young master gave another “oh” and told me, “I’m going to buy cola. Charles, just sit and watch the match. Even if Ezart is beaten up until he’s lying flat on the ground, you are absolutely not allowed to help him!”
“You brat, what nonsense are you spouting!” Ezart whipped his head around and gave the young master a vicious glare. He roared in rage, “Who did you say would be beaten until lying flat on the ground?”
“The person replying!”
The young master stuck out his tongue in my direction, and while hearing the sound of Ezart snarling, he ran away laughing.
It seemed that the young master truly did not wish for me to help in the battle. Since that was the case, I had no need to step in. I did not care whether the match ended in victory or defeat, and though the free-for-all combat is a contest where anything goes, it should not result in the loss of human lives. Thus, I was extremely relaxed as I walked to my seat to sit down.
When I had just sat down, I saw that four of the opponent’s five VIPs had suddenly left the ring. Moreover, the place that they were headed to was the front door, which was the place that the young master had just exited.
In my heart flit a trace of unease, and I quickly got up to chase after the young master…
“Hmph!” After Ezart gave a snort, he coldly said, “Sit down, Butler.”
I was stunned and momentarily froze on the spot, not knowing what to do next.
Ezart icily asked the opponent on the ring, “What is the meaning of this?”
Chelanda gave a wicked laugh, and with a sinister expression, growled, “What’s the meaning? Isn’t this free-for-all combat, which means there are no rules! Including using hostages!”
“It’s true that there are no rules, but the audience is the rule.” Lazily, Ezart retorted, “If you make the audience unhappy, don’t even think about fighting on stage in the future!”
“This is precisely what the audience wants to see. You have been sitting on the champion’s seat for far too long!” Chelanda gave a loud yell. “There are tons of people who want to see you receive a beating! Who cares what kind of method is used? As long as they can see you lying on the ground, everyone will be happy!”
When Chelanda shouted this exclamation, the surrounding audience really started to get hyped. The people who were cheering for Ezart just now seemed to have vanished completely, leaving only the sounds of “Bash him up,” “Bash him up” echoing unanimously.
This contest and this audience are simply both too messed up! I have to go save the young master…
“I said sit down, didn’t you understand, Butler?” Ezart turned around to reprimand me.
“They win in numbers, and they are armed with weapons. The young master…” I glanced at the seat of the young master. On top of it was his messenger bag full of hidden weapons. The young master had not brought it with him.
“So what?” Ezart seemed not to care in the least as he said, “Your young master isn’t so lousy that he needs his butler to go save him. Sit down!”
Seeing Ezart’s reaction, Chelanda’s face twitched once, and he coldly said, “Hmph, I didn’t think that you would be so cruel even to your own mistress!”
Hearing that, both Ezart and I were stunned. Ezart had an even stranger expression on his face as he asked, “Who did you say was my mistress?”
“Who else could it be? Isn’t it the little missus from just now!” Chelanda had a lecherous expression as he said, “Tch, tch! His waist is really fine, no wonder you’re so captivated by him.”
I looked at Ezart, and he currently had on an expression that was filled with disgust and nausea… Enough to express that he had no interest whatsoever in the young master’s waist, let alone as his “mistress.”
“Right!” Ezart seemed to suddenly remember something, and turned around. He asked me in puzzlement, “Is there something wrong with him today? What the h.e.l.l was he dressed in? If his brother saw, he would definitely go crazy on the spot.”
I fully approved of what he said. The young master is much better suited to wearing dress shirts and jeans.
“But the young master has said that the master, meaning the young master’s brother, only cares if he is happy or not. He would not forbid the young master from wearing clothes that are relatively trendy.” Trendy and exposed, I secretly added in my heart.
“That’s right, I guess!” Ezart scratched his face and without the slightest doubt, commented, “His brother would probably tell him as long as he likes it, he’s okay with it, but behind his back he would slaughter all of the people in his younger brother’s surroundings who wear this kind of clothing. Afterward, Ah Ye will see that no one is wearing those kinds of clothing, so he won’t follow the trend and wear them anymore.”
Oh… I gained a deeper understanding of the master once again.
“Ezart, how do you still have the f***ing time to flirt with someone else? Did you not take me seriously, and really think I wouldn’t touch your mistress?” Chelanda shouted in anger. He was so angry that both of his eyes seemed about to start spitting fire.
Flirt with someone else? I was dazed for a moment. Could it be that the person he was referring to was…”me?” Alas! What exactly do humans nowadays think about?
Ezart instead mocked him, “I have never taken people who don’t dare to fight me fair and square and even have to resort to capturing hostages seriously!”
Hearing that, Chelanda was strangely not angry. Instead, he laughed. As he said “good” thrice, he gestured to the big TV screen on one side of the stadium and roared, “Look! Let’s see if you can be continue being so arrogant!”
I turned around to look at the screen, suddenly feeling a sense of déjà vu… Yesterday night, I had just seen Dark Sun on the TV screen, but tonight, it was the young master. However, yesterday night I could keep my calm while tonight I could somewhat understand Mr. Bramble’s anxiousness. I did not wish for the young master to be hurt.
Until now, I had never had an employer who has truly treated me as a butler. Even if I were to judge him most critically, the young master is still a very good employer. In the past, I had only ever protected my employers under forced circ.u.mstances. However, the current me would definitely do so willingly. Since Mr. Kyle is both a secretary and a butler, I do not mind being a butler-slash-bodyguard either.
However, right now, Ezart was stopping me from doing so. This made me feel a little confused. He is the young master’s friend and should not wish harm to the young master. Could it be that the young master really can defeat those people?
At this time, I lifted my head to look at the large TV screen. On it, the young master was currently carrying a tray with a can of cola and a cup of milk. He looked confused and doubtfully asked the four muscular men facing him, “You want to use me to threaten Ezart?”
The four robust men firmly blocked his path back. One of them laughed maliciously as he said, “That’s right, so just be obedient and yell nice and loud. Make your paramour’s heart ache, and we will hit you a little softer. At most, we will cripple you, but we definitely won’t kill you!”
All four of them laughed.
“My paramour?” The young master continued to look extremely confused. He asked very politely, “May I ask, what is a paramour?”
The other party froze and then started explaining by reflex, “A paramour is…”
“Why are you making small talk with him?” One of the others rolled his eyes at the person trying to explain and yelled angrily, “Just catch and beat him up.”
Seeing these four strong men closing in on him with malicious intents, the young master still seemed to have a puzzled look on his face. He was even muttering to himself, “I really don’t understand why you would want to do this. If you want to hold me hostage, then you have to defeat me first, right? If you can defeat me, then why don’t you go fight Ezart directly? You would definitely be able to win against him.”
“What did you say?” The four of them were stunned and froze in their steps.
While the young master was mumbling, he put the tray he was holding onto the floor. He straightened his back, and with an expression close to innocence, told his enemies, “That’s because, Ezart has never beaten me before!”
(“This d.a.m.n fellow… Tch!” Off the screen, Ezart gave a cold snort, but he did not say anything to refute it.)
After hearing the young master’s words, the other party was stunned. In anger, they roared, “What nonsense are you saying?” and sent a fist flying towards the young master… The young master’s left hand easily grabbed hold of that person’s wrist. He was extremely calm and polite as he asked, “So, you still intend to fight?”
“d.a.m.n sissy, let go…”
The person whose right hand had been caught switched to his left hand and attempted another punch, but the young master pulled the person’s hand towards his chest. That person had no leisure to pay any attention to his punch and was instead falling forward. Then, the young master lifted his right knee and jammed it into the other person’s stomach. From a frontwards falling position, his opponent switched to clutching his stomach as he fell backwards.
By this time, the young master’s right leg had also landed on the ground and his left leg immediately moved into a roundhouse kick. The robust man who was a head taller than him was sent flying and smashed into the wall. He did not even utter a single sound before falling to the ground motionlessly.
Both within the screen and off screen was a sea of silence.
I too was so shocked that I could barely form words. Though I knew that the young master majors in combat and that his marksmanship is very good, to witness him using punches and kicks to send someone who is more than twice as muscular as him flying into a wall is still astonishing. The young master’s figure simply did not look like one with such great strength.
A sound of gunfire broke the silence.
The bullet did not actually hit the young master. He turned around and saw the man who was holding the gun. Strangely, he did not have a single trace of fear, only straightforwardly stating, “You fired.”
“T-That’s right… T-Therefore, you’re dead meat!”
The remaining three men had obviously panicked due to his calmness. They were shouting loudly, as though they were trying to increase their courage by roaring.
The young master tilted his head to one side, then shrugged as he said, “Oh, then let me tell you. After guns come into play, it’s not playtime anymore! I’m going to get serious now!”
(Just now, you kicked someone into the wall and he lost consciousness because of it. Was that not being serious enough… I could practically read this thought from the audience’s twitching faces.)
The sound of gunshots erupted, and the young master made his move too. On the screen, his figure was so fast that he was like a black shadow. At the same time, he was completely disregarding laws of gravity as he occasionally ran along the walls, sometimes grabbing hold of the flagpole on the wall to change direction and maneuver, and sometimes even landing on the enemy.
His motions were smooth, fast, and nimble. He dodged all of the bullets, and with a big leap, he landed on the back of the person who had fired the first gunshot.
That muscular guy’s entire body froze, and his expression filled with alarm and realization, as though he had realized what the consequences would be…
I got up.
After seeing the young master beat down a second person, about to make a move against the third, I began to walk to the corridor outside of the battle arena. It did not take me long before I saw the young master.
The young master currently had one foot on the walls of the corridor as he dodged the bullet his opponent had just fired. Then, kicking off the wall with one leg, he rushed like a bullet at the only person left standing. Suddenly, the muzzle of the gun that the robust man was holding was already at the side of the young master’s face. He only had the time to look at the young master in shock before the young master lashed numerous punches at him… In the end, the young master trod on the man’s stomach with one foot, then sent him flying into the wall with a kick. The person dropped to the floor.
At this moment, I was only five steps away from the young master. The young master lifted his head up and looked at me with curiosity. With a perfect, butler’s smile, I said, “Young Master, your shoe has gotten dirty.”
After saying that, I walked right in front of the young master and smoothly knelt on the floor. The young master did not look surprised in the slightest, and naturally placed his foot on my right thigh. Even so, I barely felt the young master’s weight, for he had placed his foot lightly.
I took out a piece of cloth from my possessions, carefully and thoroughly wiping the shoe clean of the blood and dust that had gotten on it.
I politely said, “It is clean, Young Master.”
As the young master put his foot down, he told me, “Thank you.”
“Do not mention it, Young Master.”
I stood up, my usual smile on my face. However, within my heart I was incomparably moved. I was so filled with pride that I could speak of it endlessly. I knew that this was improper, for whether the employer is strong or weak, I should not hold any kind of expectations. However…
My honorable father, even if I were to be scolded by you, I still cannot help but feel honored because of this. To have such a valiant employer who never brags, I feel extremely proud.
The young master looked me up and down with his head c.o.c.ked to one side. He muttered, “Hmm, your smile went up by five degrees, your eyes are squinting into an arc shape, and their width decreased by 0.07 cm. This is a new expression! But, what does this expression mean? Oh! It’s a bit hard to guess.”
Young Master… Then please do not guess anymore!
“Ah! It became a helpless expression again.”
“…”
When we walked back to the arena, Ezart was in the middle of roaring with laughter. Then, with a heavy blow, he kicked Chelanda out of the ring.
After he saw us return to our seats, his laughter became even wilder, seemingly never ending. He clutched his stomach and hung onto the elastic ropes as he yelled loudly, “Oh my G.o.d, you didn’t see when your butler was wiping your shoes, t-their expressions just now… Hahaha! Cla.s.sic, super cla.s.sic! Ah Ye, this butler of yours is really d.a.m.n interesting.”
The young master was extremely happy as he chimed in to say, “See, I’ve said before that Charles is very interesting, and that you should definitely meet him! Right, Ezart, let’s go eat barbeque later…”
“Young Master!”
I gave a shocked yell, and in that instance, the sound of gunfire sounded. Chelanda had actually hidden an energy gun under the stage and had seized the opportunity to fire at the young master.
The young master tilted his head in the nick of time, and the energy beam shot past his face. His cheek immediately dripped blood.
Seeing that, a burst of anger invaded the depths of my heart. Not only has this human tried to use numbers to outnumber and bully others from the start, and under that kind of advantage, intended to use the young master as a hostage, he had even secretly hidden firearms and nearly killed the young master. The rules clearly stated that one cannot use firearms in the ring, and moreover, the young master was not even a contestant.
“Shameless!”
With a step of my foot, I reached Chelanda in a flash. My right hand grabbed the barrel of his energy gun and bent the whole barrel with one burst of strength. In my left hand, I grabbed hold of the back of his head and fiercely banged it on the side of the stage. A tremendous sound rang out, and the wooden boards on the side of the stage snapped. However, I did not stop there, and continued shoving him in, until his entire upper body was shoved below the elevated stage.
This kind of sc.u.m, it is better for him to be out of sight, out of mind. I patted off the dirt on my hands, turned around, and took out a handkerchief from the bag that I carried with me. As I did that, I walked over to the young master and used the handkerchief to wipe away the blood on his face. Following that, I took out an ointment to cleanse the wound. Last of all, I stuck on a bandage.
“Thank you.” The young master was always extremely polite.
“Do not mention it, Young Master,” was my respectful reply. At the same time, I placed all the first-aid items I had just used back into the bag.
Once again, the entire audience was a sea of silence. Only Ezart’s laughter came from above, “Hahaha! I like this fellow, he’s too amusing. Ah Ye, where did you find such a gem? Oh my G.o.d! This is killing me.”
The young master looked at Ezart extremely happily, and then, as though he was showing off a treasure, he said, “When I went out to buy a late night snack, I found him in an alley!”
Young Master, if you say it that way, you make me sound like a kitten you picked up in an alley…
In the end, Chelanda’s violation of the rules made the organizer of the free-for-all combat compet.i.tion fly into a rage and decide to expel him from the world of free-for-all combat forever. Naturally, Ezart became the champion for the fourth successive time and received a giant trophy on stage. In my opinion though, he seemed more interested in the award check than the trophy.
However, he seemed not to be a greedy person in terms of money. That is because once he received the check, he told the young master, “Let’s get a late night snack! My treat.”
Thus, the three of us sat in the barbeque shop. This time, I took out the blood pack myself and poured it into a disposable cup that the barbeque shop provided.
“Tch! Free-for-all combat is getting more and more boring. That kind of trash with no actual strength somehow managed to climb the ranks to reach me, tch, tch! Since I have the reward money for my living expenses for now, I might as well not fight for a while.”
While eating his late night snack, Ezart used his check to fan himself as he complained.
Hearing that, the young master lifted his head up and asked in doubt, “But, Ezart, don’t you still owe El-gē2 money?”
Ezart froze for a moment, and then shrugged, asking, “Do I?”
“You do!” The young master said insistently, “Last time, you told me El-gē had bought a car and was now out of money. He even warned you that if you keep refusing to return his money, he would definitely drag you down to accompany him in the grave before he starved to death.”
“Oh!” Ezart scratched his head and replied, “I think there was something like that? But even if I don’t return the money, it shouldn’t make much of a difference? Anyways, El wouldn’t starve to death. At least, he can borrow money from you!”
“El-gē has already come to my school to borrow some money from me. He even said that he would kill you sooner or later…”
At this moment, a cell phone started ringing. I hurriedly apologized.
Ezart shrugged, and the young master did not mind as he said, “It’s okay, take the call!”
I took out the cell phone and looked at the name displayed on the screen before I answered it. I politely inquired, “Mr. Bramble, may I ask what the matter is?”
The other asked immediately, “Is the young master beside you?”
I thought that they had lost track of the young master again and began to tell them where we were. “Yes, we are at-”
However, Mr. Bramble interrupted my words, saying, “Where you are doesn’t matter! Just tell the young master that I, Bramble, owe him my life.”
Owe him his life… Ah! Could it be that, like me, he had thought the young master to be Dark Sun? Indeed, if I had not seen the young master and Dark Sun appear at the same time, I would likely believe the young master to be Dark Sun as well. Even if the young master did not admit it, I would still have continued to believe so without any doubt!
I hurriedly clarified, “You are mistaken. The young master is not Dark Sun.”
The person on the line fell silent, and then he indifferently said, “If that’s what you say, so be it! No matter what, I wanted to tell you, the life that I owe the young master can be given to him, but the same doesn’t go for the rest of my brothers. Don’t let him play around with his life to the point of overdoing it. Remember! On him, he is carrying the lives of more than three hundred men.”
After saying that, he ended the call.
It seems like Bramble still believes the young master to be Dark Sun. After I gave a sigh, I lifted my head and saw the young master and Ezart looking at me.
“Who is Bramble?” Ezart asked, puzzled.
“I’m not Dark Sun? Charles, what are you talking about?” The young master asked in confusion.
I gave a forced smile and recalled Bramble’s repeated request to help him warn the young master. Regardless of the young master’s ident.i.ty, in the very least, letting the young master know that there are many dangerous places in this world is not a bad thing.
Therefore, I respectfully said, “Young Master, there is something I wish to tell you. Mr. Ezart, please listen too!”
Both the young master and Ezart stilled for a moment, and then one shrugged his shoulders while the other nodded.
I then began narrating, “It is a matter regarding the rooftops. The rooftops, also known as the non-human’s Dark Realm…”
Footnotes1 Ezart: Ezart’s name is officially given as “Ezart” by Yu Wo, based on the p.r.o.nunciation of his name 伊薩特 (pinyin: yīsàtè). He has a much larger role in Eclipse Hunter.
2 El: El (艾爾) is short for Elian, (艾爾利安, pinyin: àiěrlìān) a friend of Ezart and Ah Ye. Ah Ye usually calls him El-gē (艾爾哥).