Salted Fish Chapter 49.1: Secret Training (Part 1)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

 

Mr. Thales didn’t know his inner thoughts and believed he was happy to have found good, cheap materials. “In the future, you should always pay attention to storing energy in your daily life, whether you are eating, sleeping or walking, you should keep doing this.”

Duan FeiZhou nodded his head. From now on, he was a human-shaped rechargeable battery.

“But won’t this be very draining?” he asked. “Isn’t it just needed every day? Wouldn’t it be better to set aside a fixed time every day to store energy?”

“And what if the metal block runs out of energy before the fixed time is up?” Mr. Thales said in a sagacious tone. “To think like that shows you aren’t used to it yet. When you get accustomed to it, the energy storage will be as natural as breathing. When you walk down the street, you will automatically draw energy from the sun. When you walk into the wind, you will automatically draw energy from the wind. You will become conditioned to do this. Don’t worry, there is no occult practitioner I’ve ever met who can’t do this. Anyone who has a body is able to transform energy perfectly.”

“Why add the definite article ‘but whoever has a body’?” Duan FeiZhou wondered.

“Occult practitioners’ bodies are equivalent to energy converters, and all energy transformation takes place within our bodies. Therefore people who are physically disabled will also be deficient in converting energy.”

Duan FeiZhou’s mouth opened wide. “So Z won’t be able to become an occult practitioner?”

Mr. Thales gave him an affirmative look. “After all, there isn’t much of his body left. He can’t draw energy from the outside world, and he can’t release his own energy.”

Duan FeiZhou stared at the brass block in his hand, his heart bitter as never before.

“If you sympathize with him, that’s not necessary.” Mr. Thales laughed. “He doesn’t like to be pitied. Sometimes sympathy doesn’t make people feel better, it makes them suffer more and become more aware of their weakness.”

Would Z care about his own weakness? Duan FeiZhou suddenly felt that he might not know Z as well as he thought.

“Next you practice constantly storing energy and extracting energy.” Mr. Thales took out a candlestick and put it on the table. “Try to light the candle with energy.”

Duan FeiZhou held the brass block in one hand and pointed the other hand at the candle.

With a “boom!” the whole candlestick caught fire.

Mr. Thales looked at his burning lab table in silence.

“…I’m sorry.” Duan FeiZhou covered his face.

“How should I put it?” The old man stroked his beard. “I think you may not be very suitable to join the Nightmen.”

“Then what am I suitable for?” Duan FeiZhou asked nervously.

“An artillery unit, I guess.”

Next Duan FeiZhou destroyed another candle, a torch, a set of beakers, and Mr. Thales’ beard, before he was finally able to store and extract energy safely. He discovered that he had destroyed so many things because he was releasing energy with too much effort, like using the force of lifting an iron to crack an egg, so it would be strange if he didn’t crack the chicken and the egg.

By the time he was able to light the candles without damaging anything, Mr. Thales was finally relieved. It was getting late, so they left the research room and returned to the surface. As soon as they stepped out of the tunnel, Duan FeiZhou smelled a tantalizing aroma of food.

“They actually made dinner?” Mr. Thales had an incredulous look on his face.

“Didn’t you ask Xenophon and Z to prepare dinner?” Duan FeiZhou asked.

“Well, yes, but I thought they would blow up the kitchen or something.” Mr. Thales looked more surprised than he would by winning the lottery that his kitchen was safe and sound.

When they arrived at the dining room, Xenophon held his head up like a waiter at a fancy restaurant and pulled out the seats for them. “What happened to your beard?”

Mr. Thales stroked his burnt beard. “I suddenly wanted to change my look.”

Xenophon looked at him, “It suits you.”

Mr. Thales, “…”

After he sat down, Xenophon pushed a plate of salad in front of him. A shallow plate piled high with tomatoes, peppers and marinated olives, which he drizzled with olive oil and cheese and sprinkled with a handful of pepper and salt.

Z then brought over a steaming plate of Turkish kebabs. Each slice of meat was sliced to the right thickness and grilled with a crisp, tender interior. After the kebab came the fried cheese balls, which were piled up on a plate and served with a mint leaf, which made his mouth water just by looking at them.

“Time really does exercise one’s temperament!” As he looked at the table full of food, Mr. Thales exclaimed. “You have actually learned to cook!”

Z was silent for a moment, then said, “We didn’t say we did it.”

Mr. Thales, “?”

Xenophon humbly confessed, “We ordered take-out from a nearby restaurant.”

Duan FeiZhou seemed to see tears in the corners of Mr. Thales’ eyes. To cover up his embarrassment, he hurriedly said, “Let’s show the results of our study!”

Xenophon immediately brought two silver candlesticks to the table.

Mr. Thales winked at Duan FeiZhou, who cleared his throat, took a serious stance, and then pointed at the candles. The candle burst into flames with a whirring sound.

Mr. Thales looked around, “Do you see any other fires?”

“No.” Xenophon was bewildered.

“Oh! That means it worked!” The old man was excited.

The crowd in the room applauded. Duan FeiZhou subconsciously looked over at Z and saw a look of relief on his face. He instantly felt that his efforts were worth it.

The takeaway that Xenophon had ordered from the restaurant was really delicious, and Duan FeiZhou, whose daily meals were prepared by Al, could not help but have his fingers tingling now that he had tasted the exotic delicacies. He had to defend his little servant though. Al’s cooking skills were considered the best in the country, but the ceiling of “in the country” was very low, so…

Duan FeiZhou felt that he, as the master, should pay to send Al abroad for further culinary training. Not only for the child’s own future, but also for his own future quality of life!

After he ate and drank, Mr. Thales brought out another bottle of Shiraz wine, which he had long cherished, to serve his guests. After the old man had a few more glasses, the wine got to his head and he started the after-dinner program for the middle-aged and elderly – reminiscing about the past.

“I’ve been away from the Abnormal Case Investigation Unit for so many years now, I still miss the old days!” Mr. Thales lamented as he sipped his wine.

“Then you can go back again.” Xenophon said with a smile. “Mrs. Q is still working at such an old age, isn’t she? Wouldn’t it be good for you to go back and play your part?”

Mr. Thales waved his hand, “I’m no match for her! That old witch…I mean, that noble lady’s energy isn’t comparable to people like me. Let’s leave the work to you young people!”

Z grunted, “You young people?”

Mr. Thales was shocked. “Oh, I forgot, you’re really about my age, so you’re not exactly young.”

Z, “…Mr. Thales, you don’t have to say anything if you can’t speak.”

Mr. Thales didn’t seem to hear his words, and continued to mention the pot, “Hey, when are you going to retire? If you retire, you are welcome to be my neighbor on Lesbos!”

As he drank more, he began to ramble on about his experience in the Abnormal Case Investigation Unit. It had been seven or eight years since he retired, and he felt sorry that he had not caught Jack the Ripper or been in on the Golden Dawn siege.

Duan FeiZhou felt that this was in a sense a blessing. If Mr. Thales had been involved, he might have had to find another mentor.

Mr. Thales was a glutton for punishment and a bad drinker, so he got drunk after a few glasses.

“…Do you guys remember when Z first came to the Abnormal Case Investigation Unit section…” Mr. Thales turned into a big tongue. “When Mrs. Q was so young, burp, so beautiful…”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Xenophon responded perfunctorily while taking him by the arm, and sending him back to his bedroom. “Really. Just now you called her an old witch, and then you praised her beauty…”

Duan FeiZhou couldn’t help but laugh. Mr. Thales and Mrs. Q were the same age. Perhaps they had some mutual affection for each other. But at that age, He was afraid it would be very difficult to be red in the sunset. He looked at the messy table, got up and said, “I’ll go wash the dishes.”

“I’ll help you.” Z said.

“No! I want to try to wash the dishes with magic!”

When he was watching a certain scar-headed wizard series, Duan FeiZhou was very envious of Weasley’s family, with their fully automatic pot-washing and dishwashing magic. Now that he had so easily become an occult practitioner, of course he wanted to try the joy of doing housework without hands!

He held the energy storage brass block, extracted power from it, and then lifted the cups, plates and dishes on the table and let them fly to the kitchen sink. Then he conjured up a rag, unfolded it in the air, and sent it flying toward the dishes…He had to be fully focused when doing this, and if he lost his concentration for just a moment, the plates would break. He had already destroyed a lot of Mr. Thales’ things today and didn’t want to add more victims.

An hour later, Duan FeiZhou crossed his arms and looked contentedly at the cleanly washed dishes in the sink, grinning triumphantly at Z. “Well, I did it! Not a single plate was broken!”

“Well…” Z mused. “That’s good. But don’t you think it’s faster to wash by hand?”

“I’ll get more and more skilled and faster in the future!” Duan FeiZhou was confident.

He felt that he should teach this trick to Al. After all, he wasn’t the one who was responsible for doing the housework at home, but his little servant.

Z was a little helpless. “It’s getting late. Go get some rest.”

The two of them ascended the stairs. The two guest rooms were located on the second floor. While Duan FeiZhou and Mr. Thales were in the basement practicing occult arts, Z moved their luggage into the guest rooms.

Z pointed to one of them, “This is yours.”

Duan FeiZhou looked at the other room. “You live with Xenophon?”

“What? Not satisfied?” When he said this, the corner of Z’s mouth had a faint smile to it.

“…There’s nothing unsatisfactory about it.” Duan FeiZhou averted his eyes, and grunted.

Z pretended to be serious and said, “Your guest room is specially prepared for you. The walls are painted with spells to contain occult spells, similar to the kind of spells in the Scotland Yard dungeon. It’s to prevent you from unconsciously casting spells in your sleep. So you can’t just change rooms.” 

“…All right.” Duan FeiZhou pushed open the door of the room. “Good night.”

“Good night.” Z said.

Upon entering the door Duan FeiZhou was startled, and thought he had broken into some kind of murder scene. The ceiling and four walls of the room were painted with blood-red paint in a huge array. At first glance, he thought it was splashed with blood, because the lines were so bold.

…And the bed placed in the center of the room looked like a spiritual bed in a shrine.

Was it really okay to live in this kind of place?! Wouldn’t he have nightmares at night?!

Duan FeiZhou held back the roar in his heart, tried not to care about the bloodstain spell, opened his suitcase and took out his pajamas.

The only thing that the bedroom had going for it was the spacious balcony with a view. Since Mr. Thales’ house was on high ground, when he stood on the balcony, he could overlook half of the city of Mytilene, as well as the port and the sprawling Mediterranean Sea.

Duan FeiZhou put down his luggage, and went to the balcony to look out over the railing. The starlight and the lights of the port were reflected in the ocean at night, as if millions of diamonds were scattered in the sea.

No wonder Mr. Thales came all the way to this Mediterranean island after his retirement to spend the rest of his life here. If Duan FeiZhou had to choose, he would have been like Mr. Thales.

The door of the balcony next to him opened. Duan FeiZhou looked towards the sound, and saw Z on the balcony as well. His long silver-white hair flew in the evening breeze like smooth silk. It suddenly occurred to Duan FeiZhou that Z could neither see the beauty nor taste it. At dinner, everyone else was full of wine and food, but Z tasted nothing.

This place was a wonderful vacation paradise for others, but for Z, it was probably just a peaceful and boring place, right?

“Why don’t you go to bed?” Duan FeiZhou leaned on the railing and asked.

“Ventilation.” Z said carelessly. “Xenophon drank too much and smells like alcohol.”

The sound of Xenophon’s regular snoring came from his bedroom.

Z suddenly leapt across the gap between the two balconies and landed beside Duan FeiZhou.

“This is my bedroom.” Duan FeiZhou struggled to tense his face.

“The inside is the bedroom. Outside is the balcony.” Z drilled holes in the argument.

Duan FeiZhou was helpless. He held onto the railing, he looked out at the sea under the moon, and wasn’t sure what to talk about for a while.

The two of them stood speechless for a while, until Z broke the silence, “What did you learn with Mr. Thales today?”

“Some basics, transferring energy and stuff.” Duan FeiZhou took out his brass block. “I also found the most suitable energy storage material for myself. It’s brass, the same material as your prosthesis.”

“Is that so?” Z lowered his head and tugged at his gloves.

“Speaking of which, I’ve always had a question.” Duan FeiZhou stared at Z’s hand. “If your prosthesis is metal, do you have a sense of touch?”

In the past, he would never have had the guts to ask such a private question. How could he dare to be so reckless with Z? But today…Maybe it was because of that hug in the Scotland Yard dungeon, or maybe it was because he’d had too much Shiraz, he suddenly got the courage to ask for once.

“Yes.” Z nodded. “It’s not a normal prosthetic. There are occult runes attached to the inside. But the senses other than touch are dull.”

Mr. Thales once said not to pity Z, that may instead hurt his self-esteem. Z took off his gloves to reveal his brass-colored prosthetic hand. When he pressed the railing again, he also pressed against Duan FeiZhou’s hand.

Duan FeiZhou moved to the side, and tried to pull back his hand. However,  Z held his five fingers, and wouldn’t let go. The cold prosthetic limb gradually became warm as it was tinged with Duan FeiZhou’s body heat.

Then, without warning, Z let go of his hand.

“I’m going to rest.” After saying that, the white-haired Nightmen leapt back to the balcony of his guest room, and went inside to close the door. Duan FeiZhou looked at the next balcony, frozen like a chicken.

That guy…was he messing with him?