CH SS 3 (1/2)

Chapter 3: The Second Child—translated by lucathia (proofread by elisa & Trespa.s.serby)

Nearly ten days had pa.s.sed. Even though Yu Shu was as impatient as the wind, wanting to bring the other guy out right away as well, she didn’t have a single way to accomplish it. The injury on her shoulder was even more serious than she had originally thought. The mere act of raising her hand would cause her to wince and clench her teeth. If she headed inside like this, she would definitely meet her doom.

Yu Shu had no other choice but to recuperate while she wrote her ma.n.u.script. Even though she was unable to type, she was fortunate in that she could dictate and let the butler handle the ma.n.u.script. Using this time, she had completed the ma.n.u.script, so she could turn it in and prevent Ye Luo from coming to her door again.

After she finished drinking the coffee made by the butler, Yu Shu gestured at the wall above the television and said, “Butler, help me bring down that sword.”

The butler did as she asked. Before he handed it over, he looked at it curiously. It was a plain katana, its form quite simple and undecorated. He drew it out to look at the blade, handing the sword over to her with some bewilderment. At the same time, he said cautiously, “It seems that this katana has not been sharpened.”

Yu Shu shrugged and said, “Of course not. If it were sharpened, that would be against the law. I’m such a law-abiding, good citizen. There’s no way I would do something illegal!”

A peculiar feeling seized him, but he didn’t understand what it meant. He only felt that bringing an unsharpened katana didn’t seem to be of much use. Still, when he handed the katana over, he didn’t voice any further concerns.

Picking up a wide belt, Yu Shu fastened the katana to her waist and walked in front of a black cardboard box. Intrigued, the butler approached to watch. Even though he had seen it once before already, at the time, he hadn’t given much thought to his surroundings, while now, he was filled with… curiosity? This feeling should be called curiosity, right?

Yu Shu opened the box in an almost reverent manner, pulling the flaps open to the left and the right. It was as if the box had a set of doors that could swing open. After opening them, what was revealed inside was a stack of books. She caressed the pile of books and began reciting the content from the stories.

“That was a world filled with G.o.ds…”

The G.o.ds fought against each other, religions were built, and the knights guarded the sacred Temple of Light. As the chief knight, he possessed a head of blond hair as resplendent as the sun, a full smile that was always on his face, an affectionate personality, a radiant…

Along with the unhurried narration, the pages of the books suddenly began flipping on their own. Densely packed black spots wiggled on the surfaces. If one looked closely, it would be revealed that those were all words!

Thousands, no, millions of black words flew whirling out from the pages. At this point, the pages of the books were flipped through crazily, as if attacked by a strong wind. With each page turned, more small words were flipped out. Those words increased at an alarming speed. It didn’t take long for the entire cardboard box to be filled with them.

As the box was being filled, the black words actually pushed the box wider and taller. Slowly, a large door that was wide open took shape. The door led to a darkness that could not be seen through, but it wasn’t a pure black either. The darkness inside kept swirling. The surface undulated, as if it were alive and extremely unstable.

Last time, the butler had watched Yu Shu walk into this seemingly sentient darkness. When he thought of that instance, he suddenly had a peculiar feeling again. Apparently, this time, he was going to follow Yu Shu inside.

“Let’s go.” Yu Shu called out, and then she walked into the darkness without further preamble. The darkness seemed as if it couldn’t wait. It scrambled to pounce on and bury her. It looked just like she had been swallowed!

A peculiar feeling arose from within the butler again. He looked for an answer among his “general knowledge.” This feeling might be… disgust? He really was not very willing to walk inside that ma.s.s of darkness.

“Butler?” A call for him came from within the darkness.

Hearing this summon, the butler snapped to his senses and quickly strode forward.

Entering the splendid temple once more, Yu Shu dared not create any people this time. Only she and the butler were in the s.p.a.cious corridor.

“How do you feel?” Yu Shu asked nervously.

The butler was of the vampire race and should be considered a creature of darkness. This was the Temple of Light. Logically speaking, he shouldn’t feel very comfortable walking around here.

However, the entire time the butler had been walking about, he hadn’t looked the least bit uncomfortable. Rather, from time to time, he had even admired the engravings on the pillars and the paintings hanging on the walls.

When he heard Yu Shu’s question, the butler smiled faintly and answered, “This is truly an amazing place.”

That’s not what I was asking about…But it seems like there are no problems. Yu Shu scratched her face. It seems that the rules of different barrier dimensions might not be carried over. This relieved her a lot. When it came to creatures of darkness, there probably wasn’t anyone stronger at dealing with them than the golden-haired man. If the butler were to be destroyed by him, then she would really cry to death.

“Are we continuing forward?” The butler inquired.

“Yeah, let’s check his room. He should be there.”

After leaving the corridor, the two of them pa.s.sed through two more small halls before they finally arrived at the room Yu Shu mentioned. However, the place didn’t just consist of one room. It was a long hallway, just like the others, with more than ten rooms.

The butler asked in puzzlement, “This place seems to be much larger than where I used to reside.”

“That’s because his world is much larger than yours. You’re a butler. You’re only responsible for a single home, whereas he is the chief knight of an entire church.”

Knight? The butler didn’t ask this out loud and instead searched his memory, easily finding an answer. It was a battle profession from the Middle Ages that wore armor. “I recall that the place I lived in was a city much, much larger than this.”

Yu Shu rolled her eyes dramatically and snapped, “If you want to make comparisons like that, there’s a city outside of this area, too. All I’m trying to do is to bring the two of you out. I have no plans to create a new city.”

When he heard that, the butler had a new question. “In order to bring us out, is it necessary to create our residence? My ‘general knowledge’ does not include an explanation to this question.”

Yu Shu’s eyes were s.h.i.+ning. This child, the butler, had more and more questions. It was a really good sign! Although she would be troubled by having to answer all these various questions, especially since there were some questions she really couldn’t answer, having questions meant that he was becoming more and more like a real person!

“You have no way of learning the method of your birth. Just like your name. Even if you flip through the books I’ve written a hundred times, you won’t be able to see your name clearly. It will appear obscured.”

Yu Shu pointed this out purposely. In these past ten days, even though she hadn’t personally seen the butler flip through any of her books, she often noticed the butler’s attention being drawn to the books on the bookcases. He must have secretly flipped through them before, just having done so carefully, so that she had not discovered him.

“I understand.”

When she heard those words, even though the butler’s expression was unperturbed, Yu Shu grew uneasy. She knew very well just how much he wanted his name. A mere name had been enough to lure him out. Didn’t that signify how important it was to him?

“You aren’t angry, are you?” Yu Shu laughed drily, but she didn’t know how to a.s.suage his fears. Even though, in recent years, she had pretty much read through everything she could of other people’s experiences with raising illusions—the Internet actually had specialized forums for it—no one had previously raised any illusions while treating them like their children as she was doing!

“I am not angry.” The butler asked with a smile, “Is it this room? I will knock on the door.” They had stopped in front of one of the doors halfway down the hallway.

Eh, it’s not strange that he isn’t angry. This fellow’s personality is exactly like that. He has never been someone who grows angry easily. Even if he does become angry, he would cover it up very well. He would look calm and unruffled. But what is going on? Why does he appear as if he is in a very good mood?

“Birth,” not “creation.” The butler didn’t need to go out of his way to search his “general knowledge” to know that the strange feeling he currently felt was called delight.

He politely knocked on the door. Not unexpectedly, they received no response.

“Kick the door open!” Yu Shu firmly commanded.

The butler blinked. He reached a hand out to turn the doork.n.o.b. Then, he easily pushed the door open.

“…Let’s go!”

The room wasn’t large. A mere half turn was enough for them to see the room in its entirety. There wasn’t a single person there.

The butler felt his heart sink. He felt a little disappointed. Only then did he realize that he had actually somewhat looked forward to meeting “the other child.” He turned his head to look at Yu Shu, wis.h.i.+ng to know where they should search next.

Yu Shu handed the katana over to the butler to hold. Then, she kneeled down by the floor, moving about slowly. Suddenly, after a delighted exclamation, she actually lifted a piece of carpet, revealing a hidden door below it.

The butler was a little surprised, but his expression remained calm.

Yu Shu lifted the hidden door. At the same time, she spoke in a serious manner, “Give me the katana.”

The butler pa.s.sed the katana over. In that moment—even he didn’t know why—he intentionally jumped down before Yu Shu could.

Yu Shu froze for a moment. She yelled, “Wait, that guy is very dangerous—”

Just as she said that, she heard an alarmed cry of “creature of darkness” from below, and then a violent flash of light exploded from beneath the hidden door. It nearly blinded Yu Shu. She was dazed for several seconds before she managed to return to her senses.

The moment her sight recovered, Yu Shu hurriedly jumped down with her katana. She landed nimbly and was about to straighten up and draw her sword when she discovered that the battle before her did not seem like one she could partic.i.p.ate in.

What the h.e.l.l? I was only dazed for a few seconds, yet the two of you are already fighting so intensely. You have only just met for the first time. Is it that other people fall in love at first sight, while the two of you fell into a deep grudge at first sight?

The butler’s race was that of a vampire. He usually appeared like a normal human, but once engaged in a fight, his movements were not quite so ordinary. It was as if there were wheels under his feet as he glided forward. Also, his speed was so fast that the in-between movements could not be seen. His figure could only be seen during the instances he changed direction. It was like he was teleporting nonstop.

Although the golden-haired man was a knight, he did not have such great agility that he was unable to be seen. However, ten or so orbs of light hovered by his body. The orbs of light revolved around him unceasingly, protecting him.

The butler seemed to be rather afraid of these orbs of light. He did not dare to touch them. However, the orbs of light were firmly protecting the golden-haired man, so the butler had no choice but to keep moving and look for an opportunity to attack.

Seeing this kind of battle that was past human limits, Yu Shu couldn’t help muttering, “Even though you two can use your true powers in this barrier dimension, is there a need to show off so much?”

This great battle between vampire and holy knight was making Yu Shu feel rather powerless. Even though she had drawn her katana, she didn’t know if she should intervene. She didn’t have the means to interfere with a battle on that kind of level. In addition, if she activated her only power, the two across from her would probably both immediately get flattened.

Seeing that they seemed to be momentarily at a stalemate, Yu Shu decided to give up her responsibility and just watch the commotion at the side. She even treated it as research, thinking she could write it into her books.

The butler’s speed seemed to daze the golden-haired man. Other than using the orbs of light to protect himself, he wasn’t able to do much else. Even though there were times when he’d wanted to attack the other person with the orbs of light, he wasn’t able to succeed even once. This was, of course, inevitable. The other person couldn’t even be seen clearly. How could he be hit?

Unable to retaliate despite being attacked from all sides, the golden-haired man grew increasingly vexed. He growled, “As an undead creature, you actually dared to trespa.s.s the Temple of Light, and are even audacious enough to attack me… Bah! I’m going to cut to the chase. Basically, you better die a thorough death!”

After his shout, the same kind of intense light as before exploded from the golden-haired man’s body, causing him to be as bright as the sun.

The intense light from earlier had pa.s.sed in a moment’s time. This time, it did not dissipate for a much longer duration. Even though the light only made Yu Shu feel blinded— it was so bright that she couldn’t clearly see what was happening before her eyes—it made the butler scream out in pain.

Although she couldn’t see what was happening, the cries from the butler caused Yu Shu to jump up and shout, “b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you actually dared to hit my son!”

When he heard her, the golden-haired man tilted his head. After muttering to himself for a bit, he smiled and said, “He is your son? Then, if his life is used as the bargaining chip, would you be willing to stay?”

…I really shouldn’t have written him to be so despicable. But come to think of it, did I really write him to be shameless to the point that he would even use someone’s son to threaten the mother?

I think, this illusion has deviated severely. Should I start over and try again…

Yu Shu clenched her teeth and said, “You’re my son as well! In fact, you are brothers. Hurry and dispel the light. You’re not allowed to hurt your older brother!”

“Brothers?”

The golden-haired man hesitated for a moment. The word gave him a sense of familiarity. He couldn’t help but dim the brightness, wis.h.i.+ng to see the other person’s appearance in more detail.

When this person had entered earlier, he had immediately felt that he was filled with darkness. His intuition screamed “undead creature,” even though he actually didn’t really understand what an undead creature was. However, he knew that he should attack, and so they began fighting for an incomprehensible reason. In actuality, he hadn’t even had enough time to clearly see the other person’s appearance.

At this time, the butler half knelt on the floor, both hands covering his face. As much as possible, he needed to lessen the light s.h.i.+ning on his face. Because of that, the golden-haired man could not see his full appearance. All that he saw was a head of black hair. However, that was enough to greatly sway his heart. In his memories, it seemed…

“Black hair. It’s black?” The golden-haired man mumbled, his face full of doubt.

When she saw this, Yu Shu grew even more worried. Theoretically, this illusion should not possess knowledge of precise “plot points,” but he seemed to vaguely remember that there was a character in the book with black hair. Something is definitely wrong!

Struck with familiarity, the golden-haired man dispelled the remaining light. He slowly walked up to the butler. His steps were very slow, his heart filled with emotions akin to homesickness.