Pressure

The Demon Hunter seemed to be putting Vivian under tremendous pressure. Although the vampire girl had been trying her best to appear calm and unconcerned, even someone as slow on the uptake as Hao Ren could see her nervousness and worry at a glance.

Vivian had volunteered that if the Demon Hunter really appeared in the city, she would leave immediately to avoid implicating any innocents. To be honest, Hao Ren was quite moved when he heard that. Although the vampires in legend were all sinister and savage, Vivian was clearly different. Hao Ren didn't know what other vampires were like, but at least the one he knew wasn't bad.

Of course, being moved was one thing, but he couldn't really let Vivian just leave like that. He still had three sheets of paper in his pocket that were supposedly divine contracts. If the abnormal creatures at home really left, he would have no way to explain himself to Raven 12345. "Don't put so much pressure on yourself. Just stay here at ease. Even if a Demon Hunter really shows up, you don't need to worry. I'll find a way to deal with it..."

"Where did you get so much confidence?" Vivian looked at Hao Ren strangely. She couldn't understand how this landlord, who had seemed honest and down-to-earth that morning and especially afraid of trouble, had suddenly become so responsible. "If you're just trying to comfort me, then forget it. I don't need it. Don't think too highly of Demon Hunters. They aren't pure humans themselves, and if it comes to a fight, they won't hold back much."

"Actually... something happened to me this afternoon. Optimistically speaking, I probably can't just let you all leave." Hao Ren thought about it and decided there was no need to hide the matter, so he reached into his pocket, pulled out the few sheets of paper, and handed them over. He then told the two monster girls everything about his meeting with Raven 12345 that afternoon.

Lily was an idiot who was always confused no matter what was happening, so there was no need to bother with her. Vivian, however, seriously read through the employment contract in Hao Ren's hands. She listened to him recount his experience while thinking it over, and in the end, she was utterly stunned. "You... are you serious?"

Hao Ren shrugged. "It's absolutely genuine. Why would I lie to you?"

"I've heard of the concept of a multiverse, from you humans." Vivian waved the printed pages in her hand. "I have to admit, your 'science' is quite a fascinating thing. So, you encountered a super-civilization that claims to rule the multiverse, and they have an organization specifically responsible for managing all the worlds called the 'Time-Space Administration Bureau.' Then a strange woman named Raven 12345 claimed to be a god and recruited you as her assistant. In summary, you're now..." Vivian lowered her head and looked at the contract in her hands, reading it word by word. "A probationary examiner, an off-establishment apprentice-level temporary worker awaiting assessment, at the Wangba Tuozi Office of the EN35 Node of the Xiling Empire Time-Space Administration Bureau..."

Hao Ren wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Hearing someone else read it aloud really was even more nerve-racking than reading it himself.

Vivian was stunned for a while before speaking earnestly. "Landlord, I know you're under a lot of pressure..."

"I'm completely serious." Hao Ren smiled bitterly. "Don't just say you—even I needed several hours to reconstruct my worldview. Anyway, regardless of what the Time-Space Administration Bureau actually looks like, that Raven 12345 is definitely someone extraordinary. If you don't believe me, I can take you to meet her next time. That shouldn't violate any rules."

Seeing the seriousness on Hao Ren's face, Vivian realized that this probably wasn't a joke after all. She frowned and pondered. "I've never heard of any such organization. I've been alive for... well, I've lost count. Anyway, it's been a very long time. I've had memories since humans were still using bronze tools, but I've never heard of a Time-Space Administration Bureau. I've heard of plenty of so-called gods, but most of them were humans frightening themselves. And that Raven 12345 you mentioned doesn't sound like a god at all... Strange. Where did they come from?"

"I asked her that too." Hao Ren nodded. "Raven 12345 said that humanity had developed quite well, and she also had other things to deal with, so she'd never paid much attention to Earth. She hadn't even cared when humans began promoting atheism. She only occasionally found an assistant to handle some trivial matters on Earth, so humanity had never known about the empire's existence. Oh, she always habitually uses 'the empire' to refer to the gods. That's another rather strange thing."

"Don't worry about all that for now. In short, that Raven wants you to take responsibility for looking after the 'supernatural beings' at home, right?" Vivian returned the pages to Hao Ren. "That means she definitely isn't on the same side as the Demon Hunters, which is good news for me. It would be even better if she was willing to help when the Demon Hunter appeared."

"That probably isn't very likely." Hao Ren shook his head. "According to what she said, the empire almost never directly interferes in anything on Earth. Unless humanity does something suicidal and tries to wipe itself out, they won't care about anything. But she'll definitely contact me again. I'll ask her about it then. I left in such a hurry this afternoon that I didn't have time to ask about much."

In the end, Hao Ren let out an awkward, self-mocking chuckle. "Heh, you know, my brain still feels like a bowl of mush."

"It's fine." Vivian pointed at Lily, who was sitting beside them in a daze. "She's like a bowl of mush every day, and she's still alive, isn't she? You have to be brave and optimistic to live better..."

Lily let out a howl and leaped onto the table. "Say that again, you—!?"

Vivian could hardly be bothered to pay attention to the Werewolf. As if she had made some sort of decision, she nodded at Hao Ren. "In any case, I have to find a chance to meet that Raven 12345... Her appearance was rather inexplicable, and she seems to know a great deal about the relationship between supernatural beings and humans. I have to ask her." Vivian then showed a slightly awkward expression. "Actually, we haven't been living very well in this world. With the Demon Hunters' frequent activities, as well as ordinary humans becoming more and more difficult to deal with over the past few centuries, the supernatural beings, who once stood at the top of the food chain, have long since become marginalized creatures. We don't even have our own historical heritage, and we're severely isolated from one another. As a result, we have to find many things about our own races in human records. Take this Werewolf, for example—she had never even met one of her own kind in her entire life. She only discovered that she was a Werewolf through human stories. I don't want to become as ignorant as her."

Hao Ren knew that Vivian wanted to ask Raven 12345 about the whereabouts of other members of her race. Considering Raven 12345's ability to ramble on while still keeping her mouth shut, he thought Vivian's chances of success were slim. In the end, however, he said nothing.

At that moment, Lily finally recovered from her daze, and the first thing she thought of was, "Hey, Landlord, should we eat?"

Hao Ren: "..."

He suddenly felt a little envious of this canine's unusually simple and straightforward lifestyle and way of thinking.

Vivian also gave Lily a disdainful look before standing up with a smile. "I'll cook today. Since I'm technically freeloading right now, how about I handle the cooking and cleaning until I find a job and pay you back?"

Hao Ren hurriedly waved his hands to show how magnanimous he was. "No, no, there's no need to be so polite..."

Vivian's expression was extremely solemn. "This is the dignity of a member of the Bloodkin. I can't live under someone else's roof and freeload every day."

Lily spoke without thinking. "If you're this poor, can you stop showing off? The dignity of being Bloodkin is working as someone's maid in exchange for food money?"

Hao Ren quickly grabbed a biscuit from the side and stuffed it into Lily's hand to distract the wolf girl. She's an idiot, she's dense, and she never thinks before speaking. But you can't just poke someone's wounds like that!

A dignified vampire went into the kitchen to cook for him, while a Werewolf sat nearby to guard his home. Hao Ren felt more self-important than ever. Ever since Roll had come to his house and reduced him to the household's second-in-command, he hadn't felt this comfortable in a long time. So he temporarily put his worries aside, brewed himself a pot of hot tea, turned on the air conditioner, and read the newspaper while waiting for dinner, all the while pretending that he was actually a very impressive person. Lily, meanwhile, turned on the television beside him and kept flicking through the channels. (Canines really do get familiar with people quickly.) As she changed channels, she shouted excitedly, "Hey, Landlord, the television has a signal!"

Hao Ren immediately remembered the incident with half a brick embedded in the television tower, and his mood plummeted again. He realized that, when all was said and done, he was just a high-level babysitter—and one with a combat power of five...

After Vivian brought dinner to the table, Hao Ren's outlook on life was refreshed once again.