[No Hero] 1-6: Stand Up Hero! (part 1)

 Dear Father,

You had once told me that when the master is wrong, discreetly reminding him of this is also a butler’s duty.

However, when even I cannot determine what is right or wrong, what should I do?

“Tell the situation to the young master, then let him choose his own answer.”

I found the answer in the notebooks you left behind. Thank you, my venerable father.

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"In the end he wasn't a true hero……"

Even though I would not rely on heroes, I still considered heroes to be a wonderful existence. Everyone who had watched an old superhero movie would know that heroes would fall, but they would always stand up once more. This was the most captivating point about heroes: they would always stand up again and give the world hope from amidst despair.

However, Dark Sun had fallen--and left despair behind.

"Briar!"

Tencha appeared almost mad, constantly calling out for Briar. I think that that was probably the girl's name. If it weren't for the three bodyguards that had simultaneously grabbed him, perhaps he would have long since jumped down from the building to look for her.

"Captain, please don't be like this. Our brothers have already run down to look."

"Calm down!"

Although this was what a few bodyguards had yelled, their expressions were not the slightest bit calm, only filled with despair. Vale's eyes were even red, and he was only just slightly calmer than Tencha.

Clack! 


I was startled and looked toward the source of the sound. A hand……was holding onto the edge of the building.

Although the sound was very soft, it obviously attracted everyone's attention. Everyone quieted and looked at that hand without averting their gaze……

That was the small ray of light that appeared from the darkness of despair.

Under the gaze of the crowd, the hand exerted strength. A man jumped up, both knees landing on the rooftop with a loud impact, and then he remained unmoving in a half kneeling position. From his appearance, he was after all the Dark Sun that had just been seen in the television.

Dark sun's entire body was in horrible shape, and his right hand was missing a large chunk of flesh. If it weren't for the fact that he had just used that hand to climb up the building, I would really have believed that his hand was already useless. However, the more grievous injury was on his chest. At his chest was a mix of flesh, blood, and clothing; it was completely impossible to determine the size of his injury.

I'm afraid that the plasma gun from just now had pierced through his arm, then wounded his chest……Just now, the girl had been lying on Dark Sun's chest, but now, there was no longer any girl to be seen.

At the end……

"BRIAR!!!"

Tencha let out a heartrending scream. The expression on his face was difficult to describe with words, yet if a person were to paint the current him, the title of the painting could only be "grief".

Dark sun seemed to be shocked by the shout and raised his head slightly. His eyes were hidden by the goggles, but I believe that he was definitely looking at Tencha.

He raised his left hand, which was grasping an arm.

Was it just an arm? Or.......

Then in a single breath, Dark Sun raised an entire person into the crowd's line of sight.

"Daddy!'

The girl was unhurt and was only crying, "Daddy don't hit us! I am Briar! I am Briar!"

Dark sun placed the little girl onto the floor of the rooftop. The girl knees buckled at first, but then she ran unsteadily toward Tencha. However, he was faster than her and when she had only managed to take two steps Tencha had already rushed over, swept her up, and then hugged her tightly. I'm afraid that even if the Solaris Emperor were to give the command personally, Tencha would still not let her go.

The bodyguards moved towards their captain and the little girl while I moved towards Dark sun. His injuries appeared to be extremely serious, and I was worried that in the next second he might just fall backwards and fall down the twenty-five story building.

I walked over to his side, and he looked at me first before looking behind me. I turned to follow his gaze, only to realize that everyone was looking at him, including Tencha and that little girl.

Everyone had an unexpectedly similar look on their face: the familiar expression of a child looking at their favorite hero performing a miracle.

Suddenly everybody's eyes widened and they cried out in surprise.

I hurriedly turned back around--only to realize that Dark Sun had really fell back down the building.

I hurriedly reached for him, but only managed to grab two of his fingers. However, even so I should be able to prevent him from falling any further....So heavy! Why was he so heavy?

My expression changed. My miscalculation of his weight caused Dark Sun's fingers to slip through my hand, but since I was already on the edge of the building, I was unable to take another step forward. At this instant, he fell.

Oh no! I quickly looked down. A black shadow flew up from in front of me, the resulting gust of wind making me take several steps back. After a moment of shock, I looked up towards the sky.

Dark Sun was flapping his wings in place in the skies.

At this time, the girl suddenly shouted up. "Brother Dark Sun, don't forget that you promised me you would take me as your bride when I grow up!"

Tencha widened his eyes his expression filled with surprise and disgust. If I really had to describe it, then his expression was that of a human who had just stepped on a pile of shit.

From the sky came a clear voice, 'I'll wait for you."

Then, Dark sun paused in midair for a moment. He suddenly dived down, and then disappeared out of sight.

Complete silence…..Then, an explosion of noise!

The bodyguards started cheering loudly, every one of them acting like a lunatic. They rushed to Briar's side then lifted her up and threw her into the sky again and again while jokingly shouting, "Hero's bride!", "Dark sun's wife!", and so forth, even though Tencha was on the sidelines with an expression so foul just like, just like shit.........

Cough! Pardon.

Even so, he could not stop the other bodyguards from cheering, and eventually even Tencha started to laugh, even laughing so loudly that tears were even coming out from his eyes.

Real heroes will carry the hope of the entire world and stand up once more.

I could not help but look to the sky and admire from the bottom of my heart.

"Dark sun, you are a hero".

The rooftop was as noisy as if they were having a party. The bodyguards were so happy they had completely forgotten that the person they had to protect with their lives was still missing. Upon seeing this, I stepped down from the top floor, intending to go back and continue cleaning the house. However, when I opened the door, I noticed that the living room was not in the spotless state I had left it in.

There were footprints of some crimson liquid on the ground, and the pen case on the table was also on the floor.

I bent down, and touched the liquid on the ground. Not surprisingly, it was fresh blood. And it was fresh.

I followed the blood trail to the kitchen and realized that the handle of the cupboard for storing bread was stained with blood. The bread that had been inside was also missing. Next was the refrigerator; originally it had been filled with boxes of milk because the young master simply loved drinking milk too much. However all that was left in the fridge now was two or three toppled over gallons of milk. After casually straightening the crooked milk containers, I continued following the blood trail—this time to the young master's room. The door was not locked, and I walked in directly.

The windows of the room were opened; strong gusts buffeted the curtains wildly. I walked over and closed the window, then I looked down—the window sills were drenched with blood. From here, the blood trail led to the kitchen, then to the living room, and then finally to the wall behind the television, which was also the entrance to the secret compartment.

I walked back to the living room, picked up the TV remote control on the table, and pressed the sun symbol on top of the remote control for three seconds. Originally, the young master had long since set it up so that I could open the studio and conveniently clean inside, but, now, the studio did not open.

The screen displayed the message: “Studio Locked.”

I stared at the wall to the secret compartment, for a moment not sure how to react.

Did the young master lock himself in? The entire floor was covered with blood. Was he injured? Furthermore, the large quantity of fresh blood allowed me to definitively realize that the scent was somewhat strange: it did not seem clean. Just like the scent from before.

Ring……Ring……

The sudden ringing cut off my train of thought. I picked up the phone and said respectfully, "Hello, Mr. Kyle".

Without saying another word, Kyle asked, "Where is the young master?"          

"The young master is not at home.” I considered telling Kyle about the situation in the house. After all, the blood covering the floor mostly likely belonged to the young master; his wounds must also be very serious.

"He must be at home, if not will not turn off the monitor. Immediately confirm the status of the young master." Mr. Kyle commanded sternly.

I was stunned for a moment. The young master switched off the monitor?

"Mr. Kyle, I have checked everywhere but there is no trace of the young master. However, I cannot get into the studio."

No reply came from the phone, but I could faintly hear the voice of someone roaring in the background. I also seemed to have heard Mr. Kyle's voice and the voices of a few strangers.

After a long period of time, I could only hug the phone and wait for a response. It was only after an hour, did I finally get a reply.

Mr. Kyle said tiredly, “The young master is indeed in the studio. Prepare a larger quantity of food than usual and put it in the kitchen, then there is nothing else for you to do. Return to your room, and do not check on the young master’s situation.”

"What if the young master does not come out tomorrow"?

"Then prepare food for him again, apply for a leave from school for him, then go back to your room, and ignore everything else".

"Very well.”

After Kyle hung up, I started making food for the young master. I made his favorites: fried chicken, french fries, a big cup of milk, and three tubs of ice cream. After a moment of consideration, I also placed a first aid kit beside his food.

Although the messy floor made me want to clean up, I could not disobey Mr. Kyle's order and could only leave the food on the table, go back to my room, and ignore everything else. This kind of lifestyle continued for three days. Three days later, when I brought breakfast to the living room, the young master was already there as if waiting for me.

The young master had already changed into clean jeans and t-shirt. Smiling, he said, "Good morning Charles."

"Good morning young master."

I placed the breakfast down and served him, as usual, and the young master also consumed his food at an astonishing pace, as usual.

Although I did not ask about anything, however in my heart I suspected that the young master was Dark sun.

The same hair color and similar body structure; the young master goes missing, and then Dark sun comes out; and when Dark sun was injured, the young master also drenched the entire ground of the house with blood and even locked himself in the studio for three days……

All of these coincidences would make it difficult for anyone not to be suspicious. Perhaps, the young master is Dark Sun?

I could not resist covertly studying the young master's appearance. He was wearing a short sleeve shirt; both of his arms were clearly exposed.

Dark Sun's hand was missing a large chunk of meat. However, the young master's arm was unscathed……I suddenly thought of the twenty centimeter long wound the young master had shown me before. It was actually gone!

If a twenty centimeter long wound gash could disappear within three days, then perhaps a missing piece of flesh could also heal within three days as well?

I looked at the young master. No matter how I looked at him, he only seemed to be a weak teenager. However, the young master was a combat student, and at the very least he was skilled with a gun, able to lose over two hundred bodyguards, could recover from injuries within a short amount of time, and had blood with a very strange scent……

At last, I couldn’t help but finally ask, "Young master, just what kind of person are you?"

The young master was surprised and stopped eating. He raised his head and looked at me for a long time, and then he asked. "Am I not your young master? Who else could I be? Could it be that you expect me to be someone else"?

I was shocked.

Could it be that, unknowingly, I was hoping for the young master to be Dark Sun? If the young master were a hero, then perhaps I would be proud as well……

"To me, Charles is a warm and meticulous butler. Whether or not you are a vampire or a human doesn’t matter!”

I was stunned.  If a butler was warm and meticulous, it didn’t matter whether he were a vampire or a human?

The young master looked at me deeply. He asked worriedly, "Other than my identity as your young master, are my other identities also important"?

“No!”

I bowed extremely deeply and apologized sincerely, “Charles has misspoken. What the young master said is correct: Charles is just a butler, and the young master is the young master. Regardless if you have other identities, you will always still only be my young master."

After I spoke, the young master revealed a very bright smile. This smile made me realize completely how foolish I had been: I wanted young master not to treat me differently due to my race, yet I had hoped for him to be a hero and not a normal person for the sake of my pride……

Venerable father, if you knew of this in heaven, you would most likely admonish me for my greed and foolishness.

While I was still repenting, the master had already resumed his speed eating.

After eating breakfast, the young master had originally wanted to go to school. It was only after I reminded him did he finally realize that it was Saturday, so there were no classes and thus no need to go to campus.

The young master froze for a moment, then tilted his head to the side. With a dazed expression, he said, "So today is already saturday……Ah! Charles, what is today's date?"

I immediately reported the date and year. The young master immediately turned around and looked at the clock on the wall, and then he patted his chest with a relieved look on his face. “Whew……Fortunately it’s still daytime.”

Young master……Could it be that you did not notice that what you ate just now was breakfast? I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.

"Charles, after dinner go out with me for a bit!”

"Yes, young master.” I nodded.

“Mm,” Thinking, the young master cocked his head to the side, then he said. "Then in the afternoon go shopping with me. If you wear clothes that are too proper to that type of place, people will come looking for trouble.”

That kind of place? I was a bit unsure, but at the same time I nodded. “Of course.”

Next, the young master opened the secret studio and began to modify firearms, and I also started to clean up the house. Although it was not my work time during the day, but after seeing the living room and the studio in such a dirty state with dry blood stains all over the floor, there was no way I could let the young master live in this messy environment and go back to my metal pod to rest.

I put on my apron, brought a bucket of water, disinfectant, cleaning agents, cleaning rags and brushes, and a variety of cleaning tools; I was determined to clean off the blood that had already dried for three days from the ground.

The young master turned his head to look at me in curiosity. "Charles aren’t you going to sleep first? We're going shopping in the afternoon!”

"Young master, I would like to clean up first. One day without sleep does not matter."

The young master nodded. After watching me wipe the floor for a long time, he spoke up once again. "Charles, your appearance when you're wearing an apron and kneeling on the ground to wipe the floor is so……”

So……So diligent? So dutiful?

“So funny! Hahaha……Hehe!”

The young master laughed for a long, long time, laughing until he was hugging his stomach and lying on the table, even hitting the table several times. The sound of the impacts were so loud that I was suddenly very worried for the condition of the table.

“This afternoon, I must buy you a lot, a lot of aprons.”

The young master concluded after he finally finished laughing.

"Why.....?”

"Because my brother said that as long as I am happy anything is fine!”

....Young master, couldn’t you cultivate some more normal, more like a typical teenager’s way of being happy?

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TRANSLATION: LIONEL    |    PROOFREADING: ASMODEA