Chapter Volume 4, The Lost Files of the Ancient Castle 5: N/H, the Farce of Rejecting Humans yet Acting Human (1/2)

Volume 4, The Lost Files of the Ancient Castle Chapter 5: N/H, the Farce of Rejecting Humans yet Acting Human

Translator: clrfction (proofread by Arcedemius & Lala Su; C/E edited by lucathia)

An Xiang Ye is weird himself, so of course the people around him are weirdos, too!

What kind of souvenir is a bug?

Well, I’ll let that one slide. Ah Ye seems like the type to be excited even if he receives a cockroach.

I was dead beat and had thought that I only had to go get the bug before I could go back home to sleep. Except, when we got to the lab, we were told that the bug had been stolen, and the people who had stolen it were likely from an enemy lab who wanted to use it to develop bioweapons. Now we had a mission—to find the bug from the enemy lab and bring it back, or destroy it on the spot… That sounds like a third-rate movie’s plot no matter how you spin it!

The three of us, plus a little girl, ended up being forced to start the mission. When we were about halfway through, that Ezart had the nerve to say an adventurer team asked him to join them on a tomb raid that was leaving soon, so he needed to leave.

And then he really left! What about the bug? The mission? Didn’t the lab say that the enemy would destroy the world if we don’t destroy the bug?

How can you say “I’m busy, gotta go!” halfway through saving the world? Even third-rate movies don’t play out like that!

I want to sleep! I want to leave, too! Ah Ye, let go of me!

Just as the whirlpool was about to swallow me, I heard my name.

“Charles… ah!”

That voice… I turned to look and saw the young master. He stood in the doorway, but was hit by stray drops of water from the whirlpool. He lost his balance and fell backwards, and behind him was a long stretch of stairs…

I cried out in shock, “Young Master!”

Then, I remembered that the young master was Dark Sun, so he would be fine. That thought slowed me from rushing to save the young master, but someone else rushed over more quickly than I did.

The water demon grabbed the falling young master but did not pull him up. Instead, he continued holding the young master by the waist and stared at his face dreamily. The two of them looked like a couple frozen in the finishing stance of a dance, with the woman being dipped by the man, gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes.

I looked around. The magnificent whirlpool just now had disappeared without a trace. Even all the water had returned to the plumbing on the ceiling. Although all the pipes were still broken, no water leaked out.

“My waist is getting tired. Can I get up?” The young master broke the silence.

The water demon started, as if waking from a trance. He pulled the young master up and asked hurriedly, “Are you okay? Were you injured from the fall?”

The young master blinked in confusion and replied, “No, I didn’t fall at all! Who are you, though?”

The water demon smiled seductively, “Call me Poseidin, dear Angel.”

“Are you a girl? I thought you were a boy…” The young master found me at that point and waved, “Charles!”

I hesitated briefly, but still withdrew all the blood ability. Just as I was about to walk over, the young master ran over to me. He asked angrily, “How, how could you run off without saying anything? You didn’t pick up your phone either. I thought you decided to quit being my butler and ran away secretly! I was looking for you everywhere!”

For some reason, Poseidin joined in too. “Hear! Hear! How could you run off without saying anything? Is that what servants do? Such impudence! You should fire this lousy butler!”

Did I not run off because you were holding Yue Gang captive?

“Who are you?” The young master suddenly turned to ask Poseidin.

“Angel, did you forget? I just told you, I am…”

The young master interrupted him quite bluntly, “I don’t care who you are. You can’t tell my butler off!”

Poseidin froze for a second, but then stared at the young master dreamily again, even though the young master did not pay him any more attention. He turned back to look at me, and he still looked very angry.

The young master is angry at me?

Even though leaving without permission during work hours does tend to anger employers, this was not the first time I had done so. Back when I had just begun to work as the young master’s butler, I had left when I thought he had been kidnapped, but he had not gotten angry at all then… The young master has rarely… no, has never gotten angry at me before.

Then, why does he look so angry right now? I tried to explain, “Young Master, they captured Yue Gang, so I had to come save him.”

“I know. I watched the surveillance camera footage of the room and heard Yue Gang’s call.”

If that is the case, why is the young master so angry? I was even more confused, but I could only apologize. “I am very sorry. I should not have left without permission, and angering you is my…”

“Not that!” He interrupted me, and continued heatedly, “Why didn’t you tell Bramble and the others? They could’ve contacted me. Why didn’t you ask me for help? Because we are only master and servant, so the servant must not ask the master for help?”

“That is not the case, Young Master. This was a trap designed for me. How could I trouble you…?”

I stopped, because I suddenly realized that this was exactly what the young master had just been talking about. Because we are only master and servant, how could the servant bother the master? When the young master had said so, I wanted to refute him, but in truth, I had truly been thinking that way.

At that point, I did not know how to continue. Change my stance? But the young master already heard me.

The young master suddenly spoke. “It’s so dark. Why is it so dark in here? I hate darkness… Lights!”

The lights still did not turn on, but the next second, Poseidin also shouted, “Lights!”

The lights turned on immediately, and in that instance, my eyes met the young master’s. I saw that he was both angry and sad. What does he see on my face? The next second, he turned to face Poseidin quickly.

I noticed that there were many non-humans around us, but I also saw something unexpected. Although the walls around us were made of glass, there were supporting pillars that were not transparent. These pillars were covered with posters of the young master.

“Let Yue Gang go,” the young master said brusquely to Poseidin.

Considering the number of posters on the walls, which seemed like every single advertisement the young master had done, I expected Poseidin to agree. He really seemed to be infatuated with the young master, which surprised me greatly. I never thought even non-humans would like the young master’s Angel appearance.

“That wouldn’t do!” Poseidin was all smiles, but refused him anyway. “I am N/H’s owner after all. If an outsider takes the non-humans of Sunset City lightly, I can’t just sit and watch. How can I stop without a reason, especially since I have made a move already? Don’t you agree, Angel?”

The young master looked at Poseidin, as if he were observing his mood. Just as I was getting worried that the young master would decide to fight no matter what, he smiled and said sweetly, “Then, Poseidin, can you let Charles and Yue Gang go for me? Please?”

My worries were extraneous. The young master has always been the most rational when dealing with serious matters.

Poseidin kept smiling and looked like he would not acquiesce. The young master stopped smiling and gradually began to look more and more disappointed. His lips pressed together and his eyes began to water… No human has been able to resist the young master’s disappointed face, but I did not know if non-humans could.

“Oh! Angel, you’re really… Fine! But I have a condition!”

Poseidin moved a few steps closer to the young master and whispered, “I want your name. Your real name. And a kiss, in exchange for those two.”

My face fell, and I hurried to say, “Young Master, you do not need to…”

“Quiet!” The young master whipped around and retorted, “Servants have no right to tell the master what to do, right?”

True. I had no comeback. Looks like the young master is at peak anger, so anything I say would probably lead to the opposite effect. But no matter what, I must not let the young master kiss a stranger for my sake.

I was debating between who would make a better argument, the master or Briar, when the young master took two steps forward and held Poseidin’s face between his hands. Then, he kissed him…

Not on the cheek or forehead, but straight on the lips. He did not pull away immediately, either. I was frozen in shock for quite a few seconds, and the young master was still kissing him.

Obviously, Poseidin did not expect the young master to be so frank, either. His eyes widened, and he looked much more flustered than the young master did.

The young master continued the kiss for at least twenty seconds before pulling away. He let go of Poseidin, and spoke with no sign of discomfort to the person he had just kissed, “My name is Ri Xiang Ye. You can call me Ah Ye.”

Young Master, you even gave your real last name… Is it because Poseidin asked for your “real name?”

“Ah Ye, Ah Ye…” Poseidin muttered under his breath before raising his head and staring tenderly at the young master. “You are even more charming than I imagined. I thought I would lose my infatuation upon actually meeting you, but I think I like you even more now! Really, what should I do now?”

“Where is Yue Gang?” The young master asked flatly. He did not care whether Poseidin’s infatuation persisted or not.

“If you are so straightforward, I suppose I must be like that too,” Poseidin said with a smile. He clapped, and two waiters carried out from behind the bar an unconscious human. It was Yue Gang.

Even though he was unconscious, he snored loudly and seemed to be sleeping comfortably. He did not look injured. The worst was probably getting a little blood drawn for me. I really should have drunk that glass of blood from earlier, to prevent it from going to waste.

The young master looked at Yue Gang, then turned to ask me, “Charles, do you know where Yue Gang lives?”

I paused, and replied, “No.”

“Ok, then you go carry him. Let’s take him to our place.”

I nodded and stepped forward to take Yue Gang. I was still worried that Poseidin did not really mean to let us go, so I kept alert. But he did not make any moves. He only gazed at the young master lovingly.

The young master turned to leave, and I hurried to catch up. Just as we reached the door, Poseidin called out from behind, “Wait a minute!”

The young master stopped walking but did not turn to look. I stood behind him, so I could not see his expression, but I did see him clench his fists. I was worried. The young master seems to be in a very bad mood today.

The young master still did not turn. He simply asked, “Is there anything else you need?”

Poseidin scurried over and stuffed something into the young master’s hand, then said. “This is an N/H membership card. You’re welcome to come by any time!”

The young master froze and looked down at the membership card in his hand. The card’s surface was a matte black, and the front had a glossy “N/H” inscribed. Since the letters had no color, they only showed up when there was light shining on them.

The young master turned violently, and shouted as if it were a declaration, “I’m a human!”

“No.”

Snap! The young master actually snapped the card.

Poseidin obviously heard that, but he smiled and said, “You’re an angel!”

The young master froze again.

“Sorry for making you mad,” Poseidin said as he took the snapped card from the young master’s hand and replaced it with a new one. “Even though you are very cute when you’re angry too, you really are no different from an angel when you aren’t mad! Here, smile!”

The young master looked at the card thoughtfully, and the anger left him. He put the card away as well and said a little embarrassedly, “I’m not an angel. That’s just an advertisement.” He finished, then paused, and glanced at Poseidin a few times before finally asking, “Poseidin, does your name end with ‘-in’ or ‘-ynne?’”

I think the young master means to ask for Poseidin’s gender.

“You can treat me as either gender.” Poseidin shrugged. “Our kind is hermaphroditic.”

I was very surprised. Hermaphroditic. That is rare even among non-humans.

“Oh! So that’s why! No wonder I couldn’t tell if you were a boy or a girl.” The young master nodded and did not look shocked at all.

In contrast, Poseidin was more surprised. “You don’t find that weird? Everyone in this world is either male or female, but I am both. Doesn’t that weird you out?”

“It’s weirder to see you control water,” the young master replied truthfully. “How do you do that? It’s fascinating!”

Poseidin laughed out loud. “What’s weird about that? Your butler can even control blood, so why can’t I control water? I am a merperson!”

The young master stared wide-eyed, but countered quickly, “Liar! You don’t have a tail.”

“Your vampire butler doesn’t have fangs either right now. If your butler can conceal his fangs, then of course I can conceal my tail too… You really don’t believe me?” Perhaps the disbelief in the young master’s eyes was too obvious. Poseidin smiled and said, “How about this: if you come visit N/H again, I’ll show you.”

“Really?” The young master’s eyes lit up, and he hurried to continue as if he were afraid Poseidin would change his mind, “We have a deal then! The next time I come over, you’ll show me!”

This time, Poseidin thought a bit and added a new condition. “If you wear the angel outfit you wore in that ad, I’ll show you.”

“No problem!” The young master agreed at once, then turned to speak to me, “Charles, let’s go.”

“As you wish.”