by Feng Yue
“Don’t keep fighting. Come back to work in the church.”
“No thanks! I really can’t get along with the priest.”
Victor skillfully climbed the wall and waved Ye goodbye. On the wall, he suddenly remembered something, turned, and waved, “One thing, Yezi.”
“What?”
“Eh, happy birthday! I’m poor, so I can’t buy you a gift.”
Ye Qingxuan helplessly shook his head. “Then I’ll wait for a gift from you when you have succeeded and become famous.”
“Then you’ll have to wait a few years.” Victor grinned and jumped over the wall. His voice reached over from afar, “Relax! I won’t keep you waiting for too long.”
-
Silence in the backyard was once again restored; only the birds whispered in the trees.
Ye Qingxuan looked up to the sky and raised his hand. He turned the ring on his index finger towards the sun. It glittered brightly, lighting up the eyes of the young man.
“Little Yezi, happy birthday.”
He laughed softly. Right next to him, an old and ugly yellow dog tapped him with its tail, as if it was beating out the tune for his silent birthday song.
I wish you a happy birthday, although this birthday is not happy.
-
It was Ye Qingxuan’s seventeenth birthday today. It also marked the fifth year since he came to the town.
His Eastern descent was actually quite rare in the entirety of the Anglo Kingdom. His standard Eastern white hair and black eyes attracted people’s attention no matter where he went. Fortunately, in this world, more bizarre and strange hair and eye colors existed.
Having white hair made some people call him an ‘Eastern Orphan,’ but that was all.Some rude people would call him a ‘bastard’. But these were only a few people, especially after Victor went to live outside of the church.
When the retaliation and fights were over, they had to do their jobs.
For example, he was now working in the church as a scribe.
The work for today was to copy the monthly papers in the church sent to the prayer room from the Sacred City. Every month, the Sacred City would collect news and information, then send them to churches in different places through special links that were connected by aether.
These messages were basically as thick as half of a book when compiled together. Among them was information about the rates of gold and national currencies, the progress of the development of relics from the dark ages, the latest disasters, the local outbreak of the results of the war, and the movements of some musicians.
What Ye Qingxuan needed to do was to use the translating codes to translate the monthly news. He also needed to pick out news that could be published, copy it, and post it on the bulletin board.
Today, he was so shocked that he stopped at the first page.
“King of Black — Bach?”
He looked down at the code, “A new record?”
In the monthly reports, the mysterious Mr. Bach had appeared in the southern desert area, and stopped in front of the ‘Catastrophe Bahamut.’
Two months ago, the church predicted that the calamity would once again be reborn from the dark world and would be ready to sweep across the territories of mankind.
But no one thought this duel would come so fast.
The battle lasted for half an hour, then the king of the storm, Bahamut, was once again defeated and returned to the dark world to sleep.
Yet, Mr. Bach left only a short message and disappeared without trace, leaving countless musicians who had rushed to the Death Desert with sighs of regret.
Unfortunately, they had missed the strongest.
-
‘Bach’—this was a holy name from the Dark Age; only the strongest, most recognized contemporary Western musicians could get the glory of this title. They were called the ‘King of Black’ of the three kings.
Between the three kings, the holy name ‘Beethoven, the King of the Red’ could only be inherited among the popes. ‘Mozart, King of the Yellow’ had always been passed down a family. Only ‘Bach, King of Black’ was accessible to the musicians who expected to win the crown.
Only the strongest could earn such a glory.
-
In history, the three kings made their first appearance hundreds of years ago when the Mother of Darkness Crusade was happening. After the war was over, the Mother of the Darkness was expelled to the ice field of the North Sea, far away from the human hinterland.
At that time, ‘Matthaus Passion,”Destiny,’ and ‘Requiem’ mobilized an unprecedented mass of aether, thus dividing the whole plain into three.
On that day, the whole world was able to hear the grandeur of the coming of the angels of God.
The aftermath of the war, half a month after the tsunami went to the East, almost sank Yingzhou Island into the sea, creating a new island along the western border. Later, this was called the Eastern overseas enclave—Yunlou, the Tower of Clouds.
Until now, hundreds of years after the dark age had ended, countless musicians fought forward, but the three kings were still the undisputed human guardians.
-
“Ye, do not be distracted.”
A cold voice came from behind him. The fascinated teenager had awoken from his daydream. Father Bann was standing behind him. “Your work today is not finished yet.”
“Oh, okay.” Ye Qingxuan smiled in embarrassment. He dipped his quill in some ink and began to continue.
The priest looked at him silently and turned away. He began to head out, but paused and looked back at Ye Qingxuan.
“Ye, you should know very well.” His voice was cold and cruel. “You do not have that qualification.”
Ye Qingxuan’s hand shook, causing him to draw a line with a frightened shudder, looking like a scar that had been frozen.
He finally came back to himself after a long time and found that Father Bann had already left. He looked down at his right hand, his thumb rubbing the ring. The ring felt so warm and gentle, as if it were netted by some wire.
“I know,” he whispered, as if he had to deny something, but somewhat depressingly. “I know.”
4 Musicians
Musician: a sacred title.
As early as the dark ages, where no history could be traced, human beings lived through various natural catastrophes. In the intervals of the disasters, when they dared not to breathe hard or fast, some people discovered the “aether.”
It was a mysterious power that existed in every corner all over the world. It was ubiquitous, but invisible and undetectable. Its power was what eased natural catastrophes, beasts, and evil Gods in this world of rage.
At first someone named it “magic,” “mana,” or “strength.” Then, some sages finally found and mastered the nature of it; they named it “aether.”
It was ranked as the fifth element, outside the four elements of earth, water, fire, and air. It was a mysterious power from The Originator, with incredible variety and properties.
As much as they wished they all had that power to use aether, only a pure and special voice could manipulate and transform it into wind, condense it into water, shape it into clay, and ignite it as fire. They could gather substances and turn them into different beasts. They were omnipotent, they were almighty.
The earliest humans called the syllables that could control the power as ‘curses.’ But soon, human beings discovered that music was more powerful than the curses inherited from the dark ages.
Therefore, they called these manipulators “musicians.”
This discovery effectively declared the end of the Dark Age. Before the darkest dawn, among the human predecessors, emerged countless powerful musicians, one generation after another. By discovering ancient music or creating new classics, they started the golden era, the Renaissance.
For five hundred years, human beings halted natural catastrophes. Slowly, they expanded their territory. Little by little, they marched on, into the distant Dark World.
“Yezi, in the future you will become a musician … one of the best ones.” Someone once said this to Ye Qingxuan. Now, it seemed that it had been just a joke.
Ye Qingxuan kept his head low, copying something silently, and stopped his reminiscing.
He knew that he had no qualifications. Whether you used instruments or simply sang, musicians had to undergo rigorous training and education in order to learn how to control their own breathing and breaths to ensure careful induction and sense of the aether.
Sense…
Ye Qingxuan suddenly chuckled with his husky voice. Before the age of ten, he had surprised all the musicians with his gift. He was considered to have been born with the talent to resonate with aether as if they were one.
But at the age of ten, after running a high fever, he seemed to have lost the ability to sense aether.
Not even once…
Through the passing years, the “genius” that his father had proclaimed had become a wandering bum. The road to become a musician was cut off. What was left were only some unrealistic fantasies.
-
“Fate will guide the way.”
He lowered his head and stared silently at the ciphertext of the monthly newspaper.
After the end of the “Catastrophe Bahamut” crusade, Mr. Bach’s answer for the next destination came from the words of the Holy Bible.
This sentence came from Aeneas, the first-generation Roman king who established the City of Wolves, who later entered the Sacred City as the holy spirit of Jupiter.
Aeneas became a musician at the age of eighteen. He was inspired by The Originator and went to the Dark World alone. Thirty years later, he established the City of Wolves by himself, and was bestowed the title of Holy Spirit after he died. Those were the words he left on his deathbed.
He always believed that what he had simply followed the arrangements of fate.
But did fate really guide the way? If so, how could the City of Wolves be ruined by catastrophe two-hundred years later?
Agonized by these thoughts, Ye Qingxuan bowed his head and started working again.
At the door, the shadow that watched him quietly was already gone, leaving behind a weak sigh.
-
“That’s all for today.” After finishing the manuscript, the priest suddenly said, “Your efficiency is decreasing.”
Ye Qingxuan felt a headache as soon as he saw the stack of paper put aside.
Although Father Bann was old, his eyes were still as sharp as ever. He picked out all the wrong letters and non-conforming parts, and asked Ye Qingxuan to rewrite them the next day.
This was the rule that Father Bann had laid down for him when he was given the position as a copyist. Ye Qingxuan’s salary was often fully deducted because he was not familiar with the format of writing. Things had improved a lot, but it had been a long time since he could remember his salary being deducted because of writing wrong words in his copies.
“Yes, you are quite familiar with the Dorians’ writing style.” After checking his copies, Father Bann nodded. “You are getting used to it quickly, and you are very talented with the words of Runes.”
“It just needs a good memory. I wouldn’t be that familiar with it if I didn’t do it often.”
“I would tell you if you didn’t do a good job. There is no need to be modest. How are you doing with the clerical standard writing I taught you the other day?” the priest asked.
“I practiced often and learned quite a bit.”
“Very good. This writing format and font is the most commonly used one for clerical business letterheads, and it will be very helpful in your future.” Father Bann handed the manuscripts back to him.
“There is a dictionary on the table, you can take it with you. Enough for today. Tomorrow, you can start to copy the ‘Trinity Hadith’.”
With that, the priest beckoned for him to leave. Ye Qingxuan could not help but giving a bitter smile.
“Father, I am only a copyist. Are you going to train me to be a monk?”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.” Father Bann looked at him. “It is not impossible to be assigned to a good parish with your ability and become an assistant bishop before the age of forty.”
“Uh, I have not gotten married yet.”
“Only the Cardinal is required to be free from desires but he can still find a secret lover.” Father Bann paused for a moment, and looked at Ye Qingxuan strangely. “Did I underestimate your ambition?”
“No, no, not that.” Ye Qingxuan found it difficult to organize his wording. “You see, I am an Easterner.”
“You have Western descent, do you not?”
“There is nothing left in the kitchen. I will go buy some food. What would you prefer to have for supper?” Ye Qingxuan just wanted to sneak away as soon as possible.
“Everything as usual.” Father Bann finally bid him, “Remember to clean up the reception room at night. There will be guests.”
-
When Ye Qingxuan finished shopping and was ready to go back to the church with his basket, it was already evening.
From afar, he could see Old Phil wandering around the church, excitedly and proudly scaring kids that passed by.
As a high-end dog, Old Phil had never been fed by humans. If it could not grab enough food from Ye Qingxuan, it would go foraging itself. If it was in a good mood, it would even bring him back some food: some dead mice, rabbits, snakes, or some stranger things alike. Then, it would look at Ye Qingxuan with the expression, Do you think you are worthy of me if you don’t eat it?
Thinking of that, Ye Qingxuan felt helpless.
With that still in mind, he heard of a muffled sound and felt a sudden dizziness.
Bang!
As if something had hit the back of his head, his footsteps began to stagger. He almost fell to the ground, but then, he felt a hand pulling him up by his hair.
“Hey, Eastern bastard, you are really late today.”
A fat and smiling face appeared in front of him. It belonged to the youngest of the three Thomas brothers he saw that morning. This was truly a bad situation—very bad.
Martin, the youngest brother of the three, pulled his hair and dragged him into the alley, pressing his face against the wall. “I can’t find Victor, the little bastard. But it’s good that I can find you, you bastard.”
Two other guys, already waiting at the corner, blocked the road to prevent him from running away. It seemed that they had been waiting for a long time.
“Uh, Martin, Paul, Ray, listen to me!” Ye Qingxuan, enduring the pain, raised his voice.
“Want to call for help?” The eldest brother Paul ridiculed, “There’s no use. We’re far from the church. The priest cannot hear anything from here.”
“Do not talk to him too much. Let’s first teach him a lesson.” Martin’s face twisted in perverse pleasure. “Let the bastard know who’s a real son of a b*tch! At least he should learn to be grateful!”
Without their permission, without the town of Lute’s mercy and blessings in accepting the beggar, this bastard would have died in the drains! But this bastard never knew how to pay his debt with gratitude. Not only did he shamelessly become the apprentice of the priest, he was even after the precious chance to receive training!
“You did a good job last night!”
Martin punched Ye Qingxuan’s face hard. The victim fell to his knees. Martin’s foot stomped on his head, his facial expression twisting.
“You son of a b*tch! How dare you, how dare you do this to me!” Martin yelled, “You can never beat me, understand? The chance to go to the Sacred City is mine! It’s only me who can become a musician! You’re only a son of a b*tch who’ll rot in the drains!”
Martin kicked his face hard, but the d*mned bastard was just holding his head, curled up on the ground, and did not speak a word.
The silent resistance made Martin act even more ferociously.
“Oh, aren’t you a tough one?” He spat at Ye
Qingxuan’s body and told his brothers, “Hold him, I want to make him pay the price.”
Paul and Ray laughed, pressing Ye Qingxuan’s hands, and held his body against the wall. Then, Martin pulled out a dagger.
“Beg me! Say you are a son of a bitch and ask me to forgive you.”
Martin pulled his hair up and let Ye Qingxuan look up at him. He put the dagger on the eyes of Ye Qingxuan. “Otherwise, I will write ‘b*tch’ on your face.”
Feeling the dagger pressed coldly on his face, Ye Qingxuan froze. He wanted to struggle, but was held tightly. He stared into Martin’s eyes.
In the end, he finally understood what had to happen. He bowed his head, feeling humiliated.
“I…” Ye Qingxuan whispered, his voice getting weaker, “I …I …”
“Bitch, speak louder, I can’t hear you!” Martin leaned close, putting the dagger back on his face. “Speak clearly. Let my brothers also hear!”
“I said…” Ye Qingxuan took a deep breath, watching Martin, who stood so close to him, and suddenly laughed, “You are all d*mn bastards!”
Martin was shocked for a moment. He saw Ye Qingxuan’s head raised high, as if he wanted to see the stars in the dark sky, his black eyes seemed to be burning with fire.
Then, he suddenly threw himself forward.
Bang!
5 Martin Had a Good Father
Their heads collided, and at that moment, the crisp sound of the collision stunned everyone. It was like getting whacked with an iron bar!
As their foreheads cracked, the spread of the pain made Ye Qingxuan’s body spasm. He suddenly raised his feet, making every effort to step on Martin’s face.
Martin couldn’t finish his sentence. His mouth was sealed by Ye Qingxuan’s violent kicks. He staggered back from the heavy blow, and fell into a ditch.
Paul and Ray were stunned. In shock, they turned around and saw the young man with rage in his eyes. Blood dripped from his forehead, nearly tinting his black eyes red.
They felt him stomping hard like a hammer being banged on their toes. Due to the extreme pain, they released their grip, and Ye Qingxuan broke free.