Chapter Volume 2, Legend of a Hero 5: Publicly, the Hero in Need of an Identity (1/2)
Volume 2, Legend of a Hero Chapter 5: Publicly, the Hero in Need of an Identity
Translator: Raylight
Don’t keep talking about Charles? Oh, okay! Then I’ll talk about the other people at home; they’re all very interesting too!
Dell-gē is the most interesting. He told me a lot of very interesting stories. May-gē likes to do a strange exercise that he said is called “yoga.” Bramble-shū is very serious and has a really fatherly feel!
Right! There’s also Briar. She is Bramble-shū’s daughter and is twelve this year.
She is my future fiancée!
Gēge?! What was that loud noise? Did you fall down? Are you okay?
After dinner, I called Olga to inform her ahead of time, and then both the young master and I stood up to go to X-Killer. Of course, we rode DSII over there.
I definitely have to go and get a driver’s license and buy a motorcycle… For the umpteenth time, this thought went through my mind.
After I got off the motorcycle, I tugged at my pants, a little unused to them. I suspected I would never be able to get used to the decorative designs on the side of the pants that were so revealing. Though I did not like this pair of pants, for the sake of not attracting trouble, I still decided not to wear the old-fashioned suit unless I was appearing in the capacity of a vampire.
“Charles.”
After he stopped the bike, the young master suddenly called out to me.
“Yes.” My attention was instantly diverted from the pants to the young master.
The young master leaned on DSII and hesitated for a moment before he looked at me and said, “No matter whether you believe it or not, that mother and daughter pair was not used to divert attention from the robbery at the jewelry store.”
“If Young Master does not find it too much trouble, may I ask for you to explain in a bit more detail for me?” I asked the young master with a gentle smile.
Smiles had always managed to get the young master to relax. I hoped this would allow him to be able to open his mouth and tell me everything. Though telling me would not make any difference, at least saying it out loud meant he would not have to keep the burden to himself.
“Those criminals’ true motive is to… hunt down heroes.”
Hunt down heroes? I was dazed, and before I could regain my senses, the young master had already continued.
“To hide a robbery from the eyes and ears of a hero is actually very easy. One would only need to control two things – the surveillance cameras and the store employees. By changing the image recorded by the cameras, heroes would not be able to see the robbery happen with their own eyes. By controlling the employees properly, they would ensure that no one would press the police alarm. If they managed to do it like that, even I would not be aware of any robbery. This is something much easier to do than threatening hostages in the streets and blowing things out of proportion.”
The young master paused in his footsteps and looked at me as he said, “After threatening hostages in the middle of the streets, it would be extremely hard to escape afterwards. Get it?”
I nodded my head. Indeed, even if there were an opportunity to escape, if the police and the heroes controlled all the surveillance cameras within the city, it would be very easy to track down where the criminal escaped to.
“Then, what does Young Master mean about hunting down heroes?”
“Charles, you’re really dumb!” DSII suddenly reproached loudly. “Since heroes can hunt down criminals, criminals can also come around and hunt down heroes!”
“DSII, be quiet! You can’t speak out loud on the streets.” The young master patted DSII, and after seeing him calm down he continued his explanation, “Criminals are not people who would obediently accept a beating. In the past, there was even a period of time when criminals had gathered together and formed an organization. This organization didn’t do anything but go around hunting down heroes.”
Though I was a little shocked, it was not out unthinkable. Since they were criminals, they would not just allow people to keep coming and stopping them while they were conducting their activities.
“But later on, such large scale hunts became rare. That was because the criminals themselves knew that the number of heroes who truly proved to be a threat to them was not a lot.”
I gave a smile and asked, “The number that you said is ‘not a lot,’ is it four?”
The young master smiled too. “That’s right! Four. That mother and daughter pair was a tool to kill the four heroes. No matter what, the bombs on their bodies would have exploded. After I had gone up to the rooftop, I did indeed subdue the criminal immediately. However, the detonator wasn’t on his body at all. He was only a scapegoat. The detonator was in another place, in someone else’s hand.”
I was shocked and ended up staring directly at the young master in an extremely disrespectful manner.
The young master quietly said, “In the underworld, the hunting of the four heroes has never stopped. As long as someone is able to kill one of them, they would be able to become the underworld crime boss of Sunset City. So when First Wind heard my voice, he did not hesitate at all to pull Dragon Peace away without any regard for the mother and daughter’s safety. That is because…”
The young master paused for a moment, and then gave me a weighted stare. He said, “That is because we all know that the first person that the criminal wishes to kill is never the hostage, but the hero. Therefore, the first person that we have to protect is ourselves.”
The first person that heroes must protect is themselves. This sounds a bit strange. The main responsibility of a hero should be protecting civilians, right? However, after giving it some more thought, it seems to make sense. If the heroes themselves died, then what can they protect?
It was just that one could not help but feel a little disappointed. If even heroes gave up just like normal people, then for the mother and daughter who had been suspended on the rooftop, and the broken-hearted man who had been grieving below, what exactly could they pray for?
“Charles, do you know what the first thing a hero needs to learn is?”
“Is it… saving people?” I tried to make a guess.
The young master gave a smile and replied, “It is failing to save people.” He paused for a moment before he continued to speak. “So, you guys don’t have to worry so much about me. This is not the first time I have failed. I am only feeling a bit upset, but… It’s okay!
“Alright, let’s go! Olga and the others must have been waiting for a long time already.”
After saying that, the young master headed toward X-Killer. However, I could not help but open my mouth to ask, “Have all four of the heroes failed before?”
The young master stopped in his tracks, and then turned around to say, “Yeah, they have all failed before. However, they still continue to be heroes. It is because of that, that I can have a mutual understanding with the three of them. The other heroes are not taken into consideration by us.”
To have never failed before… means to not be considered a hero? This was a viewpoint that I had never thought about before. The heroes in the movies rarely failed, and even if they had failed temporarily, the person who was injured as a result of that was usually the hero himself. However, in reality, the price of failure was actually someone else’s life?
It sounds very trivial, but at the same time… morbidly heavy.
I caught up to the young master, temporarily putting all hero-related matters aside. We walked into X-Killer together.
Once we stepped in, we saw Jill and Luo Lun. Within the store there were five or six customers, and Olga, Jill, and Luo Lun were all busy attending to them.
At that moment, a customer turned around and upon seeing the young master, let out a scream of surprise. Then, her eyes glued themselves onto the young master. Once the other customers heard the scream, they all turned around one by one. The moment they saw the young master, their eyes all lit up.
Within the store, there were three photos of the young master hung up, each of them larger than the actual person.
Olga told us, “Feel free to take a look around.”
The young master nodded his head excitedly, and then immediately headed to the front of one of the photos and started sizing up the photo curiously. At our side, there was also another person looking at the photos. However, he did not seem like a customer, and there was even a rather professional camera hanging around his neck.
“Gē! Help me attend to Ah Ye for a moment.” Luo Lun shouted loudly, “Ah Ye, the one at your side is my brother.”
The young master immediately turned his attention to the person at his side. Remembering his manners, he gave his greeting first, “Nice to meet you. I am An Xiang Ye.”
The man turned around. He looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old and had an extremely handsome appearance. However, his aura was very gentle and refined, giving people a favorable impression of him. He too replied back courteously, “Nice to meet you. An Xiang Ye, is it? I am Ji Luo Chu, Luo Lun’s elder brother.”
“Luo Chu–gē, you can just call me Ah Ye. This is Charles. He is… He is my butler.” The young master hesitated for a moment, but still introduced me as his butler. This was something that could not be helped. After all, when we came over previously, Luo Lun and the others had already heard me addressing him as “Young Master.”
“Ah Ye, is it?” Ji Luo Chu smiled as he commented, “Your hair color is really special. I rarely see this kind of silvery white hair, but it’s very pretty!”
“Thank you.” The young master showed a radiant smile.
“Moreover, it’s also very photogenic.” Ji Luo Chu turned around to look at the photos, and in a tone of exclamation, he said, “Nowadays, one can rarely see a youngster like you with this kind of aura. What is even rarer is that you can actually act the part of ‘Angel and Devil’ so well. Perhaps you are a natural actor!”
“Angel and Devil?” The young master tilted his head to one side and asked, “Are you talking about the black photos and the white photos?”
Among the photos hung in the store, two were from the white series. Another one was instead from the black series that was initially seen in the catalog. It was one of the photos where the young master resembled Dark Sun remarkably.
Perhaps I should discuss with Olga to tear down all of the photos from the black series. Otherwise, sooner or later, someone would suspect that the young master was Dark Sun.
“I have heard from Luo Lun that you are still a student? I am a photographer, and have formed a studio with my friends. Ever since Luo Lun took your photos and showed them to me, I have been wanting to ask you if you have any interest to also be my model?”
Hearing that, the young master paused for a moment. He turned around to look at me. I hurriedly moved forward, helping to spare the young master from answering. “Is it possible to give it a trial period first?”
“Of course, of course.” Ji Luo Chu looked at me, and then smiled as he said, “I didn’t think that Luo Lun was right! Even Mr. Butler is a pretty good model candidate. Do you want to try together?”
Once he finished speaking, I saw both of the young master’s eyes light up. I quickly rejected him, “No, no! I am a butler. I have no intention of working in another position.”
If I were to be photographed and there was no trace of me on the photo at all, it would definitely lead to an uproar.
“What a pity.” Ji Luo Chu gave a smile and did not really seem to mind me refusing him. He turned around to look at the young master and inquired, “Ah Ye, could you help me take down the pair of pants that is in the topmost section of the left shelf?”
“Sure!”
The young master looked for the pants that were at the very top, and then walked over. He stood on his tiptoes and started to reach for the item on the shelf. Though I wanted to do the work for him, Ji Luo Chu had instead picked up the camera hanging on his neck to start to photograph the young master vigorously.
The young master froze for a moment and turned his head, looking at Ji Luo Chu with a puzzled expression.
“Ah Ye, look here!”
Luo Lun suddenly shouted from the side, and when both the young master and I looked at him… He was in the middle of contorting his facial features and making all sorts of strange faces.
The young master laughed and scolded him jokingly, “Luo Lun, what are you doing?”
Luo Lun gave no reply but only continued to do various kinds of funny faces, causing the young master to laugh nonstop. At the same time, Ji Luo Chu diligently abused the shutter button.
After a good long while, Ji Luo Chu finally stopped photographing. With a satisfied tone, he said, “Very good, you’re very used to the camera. Many people will freeze as long as they know there is someone filming them. No matter what ways others use to distract their attention, they wouldn’t be of any use at all, and they would still be very stiff. However, you simply don’t have that problem at all. It is as though you aren’t being photographed.”
Hearing that, I felt a shock in my heart. This is probably because the young master has faced countless cameras before when he is out being a hero. On top of that, he had mentioned the young master’s hair color from the very beginning, the same silvery-white hair as Dark Sun… This man, Ji Luo Chu, could it be that he has already started to suspect something?
After he finished taking the photographs, he started casually discussing the photos with the young master.
The customers left in twos and threes. Once the last customer in the shop had left, Jill immediately dashed over and screeched, “Ah Ye! Did you see? Even the customers were asking about you nonstop! The female customer just now really wanted to get your autograph, but Olga wouldn’t allow it.”
“Gē!” Luo Lun also ran over and excitedly spoke to Ji Luo Chu, “How was it? Wasn’t I right? I told you, right? You would definitely be satisfied with Ah Ye and Charles!”
“Yes, yes! What you said was completely right.” Ji Luo Chu smiled as he said that, and then he looked at the young master and asked, “Next time, why don’t you come to my studio to try and take some pictures? If you don’t have any issues with it, you can also treat it as an official shoot. Our studio is lacking in models.”
The young master did not look at me this time. He only tilted his head to one side and pondered for a short moment before he nodded his head and agreed, “Okay! Since school is about to end soon, I was originally going to look for a job anyways.”
“Oh?” Ji Luo Chu joyously said, “That’s just perfect! There are more photo shoot opportunities during the vacation period. Once the boss of my studio sees you, he will definitely be ecstatic!”
Seeing that the young master had given his agreement, Luo Lun and Jill were even more excited than Ji Luo Chu. The two of them started a debate – Luo Lun insisted that only the devil outfit was cool enough, but Jill liked the angelic disposition of the young master… Which reminds me.
“Mr. Ji, when you are taking the photos, please use the image of the white series.”
After I finished saying this in a very determined tone, I saw the startled looks on the others’ faces. I could only quickly add on, “T-That is because the master probably would not like the young master wearing clothes that are too- too… too much like a youngster’s!”
Actually, I had been thinking to use the term “strange,” but once I reached my words mid-way, I remembered that these strange clothes were from X-Killer, and moreover it was specially hand-picked by the storeowner Olga. To say that these clothes were very strange would obviously be very disrespectful; hence, I could only forcefully switch to another description.
I sneaked a look at the young master. Though his expression seemed a little puzzled, like he did not seem to understand why I had said that, he still nodded his head at me.
Seeing the young master nod his head, I became even firmer with my request. “Therefore, please take down all of the black series photographs, is that all right? Including those in the catalog. That is because if the master of the house were to see it, he might not allow the young master to be a model, and might even request for you to take down all the photos.”
Olga outspokenly and straightforwardly said, “No problem. It goes without saying that we need to get your consent before we can use these photos. I will delete all the black series photos from the catalog and replace the one on the wall with one from the white series. Like that, there won’t be any problems, right?”
“It’s a bit of a pity, since the model opportunities will be narrowed by half like this.” Though Ji Luo Chu had said so with a bit of a disappointed air, he still nodded his head as he said, “But it’s still fine, it’s better than not being able to use the white series. Right now, there are too many people who can act cool. On the other hand, those who have an angelic disposition are harder to find.”
Luo Lun cut in, saying, “Gē, then can I go to see your photo shoot?”
“I want to go too!” Jill immediately cut in.
Ji Luo Chu looked at the two with a faint smile. He said, “Okay! Olga can come along too…”
Ah!
Everyone fell silent and looked at each other.
“Is someone screaming?” Jill asked in a small voice.
“It shouldn’t be anything big, right?” Luo Lun sounded a little uncertain as he said, “It’s only someone screaming. There are often people screaming on the streets…”
“No, this scream sounds like something has happened.” Ji Luo Chu frowned and said, “I’ll go out and take a look.”
After saying that, he started heading out. The young master shouted, “I’ll go with you,” and naturally I too followed. Following that, Luo Lun also came along.
Once we stepped out of the shop front, we saw a few people gathering at the entrance to the alleyway at the side of the building. To describe things in a bit more detail, a girl had fallen down at the entrance of the alleyway. The rest of the youngsters were standing at her side with varied distance. However, all of their gazes were directed toward that alley.
Ji Luo Chu walked to the front and then helped the girl stand on her feet. However, once she had stood up, she actually flung away Ji Luo Chu’s hand with a shocked and scared expression. She then ran away, staggering the entire way.
Once the rest of the youngsters saw the girl run off, they too started to disperse. As for the others on the streets, they seemed like they did not understand what had just happened either, and only looked on from the sidelines. Once the girl ran off, they too continued doing their own business.
So what exactly happened inside the alley? I felt a little bewildered. Judging from that girl’s and the others’ outfits… They seemed to be rambunctious children who were used to running around town, so a small matter should not be able to give them a scare.
Ji Luo Chu headed into the dark alley, and the young master and Luo Lun followed. I took a glance in the direction of X-Killer, and realized that Olga and Jill had not followed along. Then, I too headed into the alley.
“Don’t look!”
Ji Luo Chu suddenly gave a loud roar and then turned around. He hugged the young master’s head and yelled to Luo Lun who was farther away from him, “Ji Luo Lun, turn around and face away! If I see you peeking, you’re dead meat! Also, call the police.”
Luo Lun immediately did so. He turned, faced toward me, and then nervously took out his cell phone from his pocket.
I walked past him, and the thick smell of blood immediately welcomed me. At the same time, I managed to get a clear look of the situation.