No Hero Volume 7: The End, the Beginning, Part One
Original Novel written by: 御我 (Yu Wo)
Prologue—translated by Ever (C/E edited by lucathia)
I opened the curtains and the fiery sunlight outside shone in. For a vampire, its effect was no less than that of an arrow. Even as a fifth-generation vampire, pain still shot through my skin.
The time was only nearing five, yet the sun had already risen. Even at night, the air was stuffy and hot. This summer was unbelievably hot, the air conditioner nearly always on, or else the temperature inside could rise above thirty-eight degrees Celsius.
It was so hot that everyone’s appetite had gone down. There were even some leftovers these days. It seemed that I should make some more cold dishes, and every meal should have some refreshing appetizers. I wonder if the young master will like cold spicy jellyfish salad or plum-pickled radishes? He will probably like both? I can make them on alternating days…
“Charles.”
“Young Master.” I turned around in surprise to see that the young master was already standing in the living room. The young master’s footsteps have become lighter and lighter these days.
“Can you prepare a bottle of water for me?” The young master had already put on his workout clothes but did not go exercising immediately after saying goodbye like he always did. He scrunched up his brows and said, “While I’m out running, I usually pass by a park with a water fountain, but the fountain was broken yesterday, and the weather was so hot that I got super thirsty later on!”
No wonder the young master gulped down a lot of water when he came home yesterday. I had thought that the weather was simply too hot. My honorable father, my observation skills still need improving. I hope that I can be half as good as the young master in reading people’s “faces” in the future.
“Young Master, please wait for a moment.”
I went into my room and gave the young master a card when I came out.
“You should pass by a convenience store on the way. You can use this to buy water or milk. This would be much more convenient than jogging with a water bottle.”
The young master looked at the image on the card and smiled. It was of Dark Sun with his metal wings, and he was holding the Death Scythe. However, it was not a photograph but a carefully crafted oil painting. Compared to photos that could be found in newspapers, this was much more delicate and unique.
“Is this also from collecting points at the convenience store?” The young master stifled a laugh and said, “There’s milk and toast for breakfast again today, right?”
“Yes,” I confessed embarrassedly and hurriedly explained, “but this is for making honey toast. Plenty of bread is needed to make them.”
The young master asked curiously, “What is honey toast?”
I opened my mouth and was about to explain, but changed my mind shortly and smiled as I said, “This is a ‘secret.’ Please look forward to today’s breakfast.”
The young master’s eyes immediately lit up, and he did not ask any further but stared down at the card. He really did like secrets.
“Bringing a card instead is really much more convenient…” The young master stopped short and suddenly raised his head to ask, “Have you finished collecting all the secret versions?”
“Not yet. There are four secret versions this time, so it is a bit hard. I am still missing a Dragon Peace in leopard shorts.”
Thinking of this, I could not help but sigh. Collecting points at the convenience store has gotten more and more complicated. The secret versions this time were all of the heroes with different weapons, but Dragon Peace does not even have a weapon, so they gave him different shorts. This is stretching it a bit far, but I have collected all the others, and this one is the only one left. It would be a shame to not get it…
The young master laughed. “Then, I’ll go get drinks at the convenience store and help you collect points. We definitely have to get the Dragon Peace in leopard shorts. I’m gonna show it to Aren! Oh! Charles, can you get me a pair of extra large leopard shorts? I’m gonna give it to Aren at the same time!”
I laughed. “Yes.”
“Then, I’ll be off.”
The young master said so and went out happily. This was the first time that he had shown a happy expression these few days. The young master had been investigating the whereabouts of the missing criminals, but it did not seem to be going smoothly, so the young master had been very solemn recently. Looks like I will need to prepare more “secrets” in the future.
“Ah—Ah, I’m starving!”
As usual, Mr. Bramble and the other two walked in at five-thirty, and like always, Dell declared that he was hungry. They did not have to come this early, since the young master was not at home from five to seven, so even if they came, they would just be waiting for the young master to return home.
However, Mr. Bramble did not seem to think so. He felt that when the young master wakes up, then it was time for them to start working. If not because they did not want to make the young master go out of his way to greet them, they would have probably come at five o’clock.
I made a pot of tea for them and smiled. “Then, I will go prepare breakfast.”
Mr. Bramble had already buried his head inside the newspaper, May nodded, and Dell grumbled loudly, “Hurry up, go cook!”
I smiled and started toward the kitchen. To be honest, the ingredients have all been prepared, so that makes the cooking quite fast, but we still need to wait until seven when the young master comes back and wait another twenty minutes for him to shower…
Ding dong.
The doorbell rang when I had just walked to the end of the living room. I turned around to tell the others, “I will get it.”
From the front door security camera, I could see that a stranger I had never seen before was standing outside. Her heart-shaped face looked very fine, her features elegant. The slightly uplifted edge of her phoenix eyes gave off a classy aura, and she was also wearing classic clothing. Since the clothing was very fitting, I could see that her figure was a bit unlike a woman’s.
Is this a “her” with a flat figure, or a “he” with a pretty face? I really could not tell.
But these problems did not draw as much attention as the person’s right eye. It was a mechanical eye, and though mechanical body parts were plentiful in this age, pairing it with such a classically beautiful face was a shame.
“May I ask who this is?” I avoided saying mister or mistress.
“I’m Bai Lian Yue,” the person said lazily, “the Sun Emperor’s left hand. Understand?”
Upon hearing this answer, I was a bit surprised. Although Secretary Kyle had been here quite a few times, even more often than the master, I had only heard of Secretary Bai and had never met. Rumors say that Secretary Bai oversaw things that “could not be made public,” which did not have much to do with the young master, and thus never had a need to come over.
But what surprised me more was that this person’s voice was very unisex and could belong to a man or woman, and thus I still could not tell what the person’s gender was. I will use “her” for now.
“Is there any way to verify your identity?”
“The phone that Kyle gave you has my contact info, right? There should be a picture of me in there.” She covered her mouth and yawned lightly. Her actions were very graceful, which led me to guess that she should be a woman.
I took out the phone, and there was indeed contact information on Secretary Bai and a photo. Though I had been curious about Secretary Bai before, the young master had never needed to contact her, so I had never opened it before, or else I would have been surprised by how young Secretary Bai was. She looked only about twenty-five.
“Hello, Secretary Bai, nice to meet you,” I greeted as I opened the door to let her in.
Secretary Bai stepped in with gentle footsteps and glanced around the room. As soon as Mr. Bramble and the others heard that it was “the Sun Emperor’s left hand,” they had stood up immediately and turned into professional bodyguards on standby, including Dell who was originally slouched on the sofa.
But it seemed that Secretary Bai did not even intend to greet them, turning around directly and asking me, “Where’s Ah Ye?”
“The young master is out exercising,” I said in some surprise. Even Secretary Kyle did not address the young master as “Ah Ye” but used “young master,” along with me, Mr. Bramble, and the others.
“Oh, right, he goes exercising early every morning. Ah Ye hasn’t been living at home for such a long time that I’ve forgotten that.” Secretary Bai said with a slight frown, “Then, I’ll wait here! I heard that your cooking is good. Remember to prepare my breakfast.”
Living at home? Does this secretary also live at “home” with the master and Mr. An Te Qi… Stop thinking, no matter what the answer is, it is the master’s privacy. I should not have even wondered, not to mention think about it!
Dear father, though I am already over a hundred and fifty years old and have had much more learning time than others, I am still going against your teachings. If you were still here, you would definitely scold me relentlessly!
“Understood, please take a seat Secretary Bai. I will go prepare breakfast right now. How many servings would you like to have?”
Secretary Bai paused and raised an eyebrow. “One, of course. Do I look like two to you?”
“Definitely not.” But the young master does not look like six either.
“Are there any foods that you do not eat or foods that you prefer?”
After thinking for a moment, Secretary Bai said, “Then, get me some caviar cookies.”
“… My apologies, we have not prepared those ingredients in the house.”
“Oh, right. I forgot again that Ah Ye hates caviar. Then it’s fine, just avoid fried foods. I’m getting old. It’s hard to maintain my figure.”
Getting old… Wait, the young master hates caviar? I have never heard of that. I should note this down properly.
“Understood.”
Gandire Alea
Artificial youth??
Thanks for the release
Kamui
Well, Ah Ye and me both. Unless masago counts as caviar, I am not fond of that supposed delicacy. Though, I do wonder if there is a reason why he dislikes caviar.
Thanks pr people!
15B
I don’t know… But overall, Ah Ye seems to greatly prefer home cooked food to fancy restaurant stuff, so maybe he dislikes caviar because it’s usually considered high cuisine and not something someone would actually use in home cooking?
Tsuki
Oh Charles, don’t be fooled! That Yue is an old man lol well at least the same age as your master…
Em
I’m wondering where would Charles place his collections. It must be somewhere visible for Ah Ye to be able to admire it but also hidden for the living room to not ruin its theme.
Blub the Blub
I’m excited to see their interactions with Secretary Bai! He lives with the Ah Ye’s brother now? I’m super curious to see what he’ll reveal about life prior to moving out, like how Ah Ye hates caviar.
Thanks PR!
Andi
Thanks for the chapter!
Wow, surprised to see Yue-er show up here. Beautiful as always >.>;;
Also, I wonder what the odds are of those leopard print pants showing up on Dragon Peace in the future? XD
Dragontongue
Oh, a new character. Hello, Secretary Bai! So they’re the Emperor’s right hand, are they? Coool. Though liking fish egg cookies is more than just a little weird. And they look twenty-five, but say they’re getting old… are they like Poseidynne, maybe?
Thanks for the new chapter!
Fate
Reading your comment leads me to believe that you must have not read Eclipse Hunter yet. I recommend reading it if you wish to know more about Ah Ye’s past and background. Secretary Bai is also in there. If you read it, it might help you to better understand Ah Ye’s family circumstances.
Ran
Thank you for the chapter!!!!
Jasae Bushae
Oh wow. I confess if there was one character from Eclipse Hunter that I never expected to see again…..
15B
Huh…? Did Charles really not make honey toast back in V4 when I bought all that bread and milk?
“I am still missing a Dragon Peace in leopard shorts.”
Who would do such a thing to Aren?!
“Wait, the young master hates caviar? I have never heard of that. I should note this down properly.”
W-Wait… Why did Charles and I just think almost the exact same thing?
Blub the Blub
Oh no, you probably caught the same disease that 90% of the characters in this series have. It’s extremely contagious. What phase are you at?
Phase 1 is still safe since you’ll only see him as a precious angel.
Phase 2 is when you’ll want to do small things to make him happy and avoid making him sad. There may be a slight feeling of heartache if the young master cries.
Phase 3 is when you have an urge to protecc him even though you know he don’t need it, you just want him to depend on you.
Phase 4 is when you start taking any measure possible to ensure the young master’s peace and happiness.
Phase 5 is the when you’ll happily ready a bunch of nukes on the young master’s command if he ever wants to destroy the world.
Are there other symptoms like wanting the young master to be happy and forgiving the young master for anything he does as long as he’s happy? It might be too late for you.
[PR]Trespasserby
I’m somewhere between stage 4 and 5 of the disease progression. While I don’t want to put any potential applicants off… It may be a possible hazard of working with PR! Please take all necessary precautions when dealing with infected individuals.
Halmista
Oh yes, my favorite gay finally had a cameo. And it seems like the little tantrum he threw after Ah Yan forgot whatever date or gift was resolved nicely. :D