Volume 7, The Second Step Toward the End: Father, Golden-Haired (2/2)

Indeed, the word “cool” could be used to describe Nitewalker. He had a frosty look on his face and was usually seen wearing black shades that he rarely took off. Though he was not very muscular, he was fairly tall. If I were to give an estimate, I would say he was roughly a hundred and ninety centimeters.

No wonder he had picked being a taxi driver as his profession. If he had chosen a career that required face-to-face customer interaction, eight out of ten customers would probably run away in fear. As a taxi driver, he was always sitting down, which made it difficult to discern his height. Moreover, once a passenger gets on, even if the driver looks a little frightening, they would probably not get out of the car… right?

Though he appeared cool and expressionless, his driving skills were excellent. Also, despite the fact that I had told him he could go and rest, Nitewalker had chosen to stay by the car to await orders instead. His conscientious attitude made him suitable as well.

Once I got on the car, I told Nitewalker about the young master’s request.

“A private chauffeur?” There was a rare trace of shock in Nitewalker’s voice.

“Indeed, my young master is really in need of a chauffeur.” I quickly added on, “The employee benefits can be negotiated.”

“… Really in need of a chauffeur?”

Nitewalker sounded a little shaken by this. It was then that I remembered that nightwalkers were non-humans who had “to be needed” to survive. As a taxi driver, he did not talk much, so it was probably rare for him to hear people say that they “needed him.” Thus, the moment he heard those words, he was immediately shaken.

“Indeed, we are severely in need of one.” I added on, “Especially a chauffeur like you, who is loyal and responsible, with outstanding driving skills. You are absolutely the chauffeur that my young master ‘needs the most!’”

“… I will go back and discuss with my clansmen, before I give you two my answer.”

“Very well.”

The young master looked extremely excited, and even gave me a thumbs-up gesture in secret. Hopefully, Nitewalker would agree to it. Then, the young master would definitely show a smile as radiant as the sun. However, if he did not… I did not wish to see the young master’s expression of disappointment.

It had been some time since we had last been to X-Killer. That was because the amount of clothes the younger master had was enough to fill his entire closet, and many of them still had their tags attached. There was simply no way that he could possibly wear all of them. To think that now, we are bringing back more… Thankfully, the young master’s bedroom still has space for another closet. On that note, I should make a call later to order another closet.

Given that it was morning and a work day, it was the store’s least busy period, but there were still about six or seven customers in the store. They did not appear to have noticed the young master at first, until the young master happily called out “Olga, Luo Lun, Jill, I’m here for the clothes.”

All of them absent-mindedly glanced at him, and then showed various surprised expressions. Afterwards, no one was willing to tear their eyes away from him.

Jill rushed over as she shouted, “Ah Ye, you’re finally here! Can you give me an autograph? I’m asking for a friend.”

The young master nodded, but it was then that Olga walked over with a frown. She seemed displeased as she reminded, “Jill, did you forget what I said to you before?”

Instantly, Jill froze up. She dejectedly lowered her head as she quietly said, “No being handsy with Ah Ye. No asking Ah Ye for signatures. No bullying Ah Ye…”

Bullying the young master?

“Haha, you got scolded!” Luo Lun laughed at her misfortune, and Jill gave him a death glare.

“Go take care of the customers.” Olga told the two. However, I believed that her true intention was for them to go and stop the customers from charging over. After seeing Jill charge over and ask for an autograph, the customers looked like they were getting restless. If it were not for how Olga had reprimanded Jill, they probably would also have rushed over for an autograph as well.

However, it was evidently ineffective. The attention of the customers had already shifted from the clothes, and some of the girls even ignored Jill’s greeting as they started to head over directly instead.

Seeing that, Olga just told the young master, “Ah Ye, come to the back. The photo to hang in the store has already been printed. We’ll put it up after you take a look at it.”

“The photo is done?” The young master’s eyes shone.

Olga looked over at the shop assistants and said, “Luo Lun, come over and help.”

“Got it!” Luo Lun came forward, not forgetting to shoot Jill a provocative look, causing Jill to glare back at him with a pout. The two of them really were a quarrelsome duo.

We walked to the back of the store, where X-Killer’s warehouse was. There was a small table in the center for the workers to eat at.

The moment we stepped in, we could see the photo. There was no need for Olga to point it out, for the photo was astoundingly large, about the size of the entire wall. On it, the young master was wearing a long, red and white mottled print vest. On the bottom, he was wearing knee-length shorts, matched with a thick, metallic grey belt, and long army boots. The entire outfit gave the young master a very youthful look.

Olga turned to ask, “Do you like it?”

The young master nodded his head vigorously, and even said, “There’s a press conference today, I’ll wear that over!”

“Got it, I will bring you the clothes.”

The young master appears to like this combination of clothes, and since it was coordinated by Olga, it should be fashionable. I inwardly noted the combination of clothes, so that I would be able to pull it out in the future when picking out clothes for the young master.

After changing, the young master looked identical to how he looked in the photo, which was a strange and amazing sight.

“The photo is really big!” The young master asked in puzzlement, “But is there any space in the shop to display it?”

Olga explained, “We will be putting it on the wall behind the counter. There are only a few low cabinets next to the counter, so most of the poster will be visible. At most, some of the background will be obstructed, but you will definitely not be covered.”

The young master nodded. As he examined the huge photograph, he laughed and exclaimed, “Seeing such a large version of myself feels really weird!”

Olga raised an eyebrow, and asked back, “Aren’t the advertisement billboards and television screens on the streets even bigger?”

“But those are really far away!” The young master shrugged, and then continued, “Not like this one that’s just right in front of me. The eyeballs are the size of my fist!”

Olga nodded. Seemingly noticing my gaze on a box at the side, she explained to me, “That is the catalogue that we will mail to our members. There are also many of Ah Ye’s photos inside. There’s a copy for you too, already put together with the clothes that we are passing over to Ah Ye.”

I nodded at her. That would be extremely helpful with regards to coordinating clothes.

“Ah, that’s right!” The young master suddenly exclaimed and anxiously asked, “Olga, could you pick some clothes for Charles that are unlike a vampire’s?”

“Clothes that are unlike a vampire’s?” Olga seemed bewildered, as was I.

The young master nodded his head vigorously. “Clothes that are the least similar to a vampire’s!”

Olga didn’t ask any further. After giving it some thought, she replied, “Is that so? Then, I’ve got it. Just wait here for me, I’ll go and get the clothes.”

I suddenly had a very bad feeling. Exactly what kind of clothes are unlike a vampire’s? I had no idea what this kind of description meant. The only thing I was absolutely sure of, was that it would not be in line with my usual way of dressing.

“Please do not have it show too much skin,” I requested helplessly.

Olga glanced at me, nodded, and then went out for the clothes.

I was a little puzzled as I asked, “Young Master, we already brought a large amount of clothing home last time. Why do we need to buy more?”

Truly, there was already plenty of clothing in my closet. Though it could not be compared to the amount the young master had, I did not wear casual clothing often, so it was highly likely that most of the clothing tags would not need be to removed anytime in the near future.

“Because we’re going to be interacting with people from the Church after this! No matter what, it’s better to dress like you are not a vampire, right?”

The young master made a fairly interesting point. However, I did not think the clothes would make much of a difference, for the people of the Church did not rely on one’s clothing to identify vampires. Of course, one would arouse suspicion more easily if they were fully clothed in a vampire outfit, but I rarely wore that full set now. However, the most important point was—all of Sunset City knew that the young master had a vampire butler.

“As you wish, Young Master.” However, it would not do me any harm to try it. Perhaps dressing in a manner that was less like a vampire could let the people of the Church pay less attention to me.

Olga walked in. “Here’s one outfit first. Check and see if this style works; if it does, then I’ll get a few more sets for you.”

“Charles, hurry and go change!”

“As you wish.” I took the clothes from her and walked into the only toilet that one could change in. As I changed, I inspected the clothing.

The top had a high collar with short sleeves, with the hem reaching the knees, and it was black in color. The pants were western style dress pants, similarly black in color. It truly did not look like what a vampire would wear but looked a little traditionalist. Only the arms were exposed in this outfit. Indeed, it fit the criteria from both me and the young master.

The only thing was that these clothes really did not seem like X-Killer’s style. They looked fairly normal, but I could feel that something was not right…

I walked out of the changing room, feeling rather puzzled. Once the young master saw me, his eyes widened, and he looked me up and down continuously. Evidently, he was shocked by the style of the clothes. Is it really that strange? Or perhaps it is due to the fact that I have not worn clothing of this style before?

Even Luo Lun and Jill have come over. Is it really fine to have nobody attending to the store?

The young master gasped in admiration, “Charles, you look like a priest!”

… As I thought, something was not right!

Both the young master and I looked to Olga. She shrugged and answered, “You all were the ones who asked for clothes that aren’t like a vampire’s. Coincidentally, Father Alex was recently voted the champion of the city representative contest, which led to a popularity boom in priest garbs. I believe that these are the clothes that are the least like a vampire’s, and they don’t expose much. It fits both of your requests very well.”

The young master tilted his head to the side, and then walked up to me and pulled out the cross necklace. Taking a step back, he said while clapping, “Now it’s perfect!”

“…”

Jill, Luo Lun, and even Olga burst out into laughter.

Luo Lun said while laughing, “A-Aren’t you a vampire? Why are you wearing a cross necklace?”

“It was the result of several unavoidable factors and circumstances.”

“What the heck!” Jill was laughing to the point of tears.

The young master seemed extremely delighted, and asked Olga, “Do you have many priest designs?”

“We do,” Olga replied with a smile. “The shop just received a large stock of similar styles.”

“Then, bring Charles a few more!”

Young Master, could you truly not develop ways to be happy that are more like an ordinary young adult’s?

The moment I stepped out of the shop with many bags in hand, Nitewalker came over to help, putting his mobile phone in his pocket on the way. It appeared that he had been on the phone just now. He took all of the bags from me in a single movement. Though I was planning to help carry some, seeing that he still seemed to have more than enough strength, I decided to leave it at that.

As he helped load the bags into the rear compartment of the car, he inquired, “Is it possible to let me be on probation?”

“On probation?” I was a little surprised at that.

Nitewalker nodded and answered, “I just asked my clansmen. They have no problems with it. I wish to be a probationary chauffeur for a period of time, to try it out and see if it works.”

The young master immediately replied, “No problem! You can be on probation for as long as you want!”

Thus, I looked at the newly-appointed probationary chauffeur and said with a smile, “Then, we will be in your care for the next few days, Mr. Chauffeur.”

“I look forward to working with you.” Nitewalker replied concisely. As he opened the car door, he hesitated for a moment, then said, “Young Master, please enter the car.”

The young master smiled. But just as he had put one foot into the car, he was interrupted by the sound of hurried footsteps and terrified screaming.

“Wait! Xiang Ye, Xiang Ye… My son! Don’t go!”

I froze for a moment. There were many who would call out to the young master on the streets, but never had there been anyone who would call him “son.” Even Mr. An Te Qi would not call the young master as such, though he truly did treat the young master like a son.

This form of address alone left me rather stunned, but in the next second, I saw something even more shocking. The young master lifted his head, and on his face was a terrifying expression that I had never seen before… Young Master?

The young master glared at the person running over. The man seemed to be about fifty years of age. Even though his face looked closer to forty, there were many streaks of white in his golden hair, making him appear more aged.

Though he had called the young master “son,” he did not resemble the young master in terms of appearance. Rather, the person he resembled was—the master!

He could virtually pass as an older version of the master. If the person whom he was calling “son” was the master, I would probably have immediately believed his words. However, the one he was calling for was instead the young master.

After running up to a distance about three steps away from us, he stood there gasping for breath, momentarily unable to speak.

Now that the distance was shorter, I felt he looked even more like the master.

After panting for a while, the other party finally had the strength to talk. In a tone as though he was returning home with mixed feelings, he stammered, “Xiang Ye, I-I’m your father. You look exactly like your mother—”

“I killed you!” The young master interrupted him, looking as if he was about to fall apart as he screamed, “Then, Gēge killed you again. We killed you twice! Why do you ‘revive’ again and again? How many times do we have to kill you before you will die for real?”