My Name Is Ye Yan

"Name?"

"Ye Yan."

"Ye... Ye... Yang?"

"No, Ye Yan."

"Right. And your identity and background?"

"Ye Yan, from a distant eastern country. I'm a cousin of Ewan Dalmons, which is why we look so alike. Age... about twenty-five. I'm a translator, and I came to England after my aunt and her family passed away."

After giving the false identity he had prepared, Ye Yan looked at Lestrade expectantly.

"Detective, what do you think? Will this new identity I came up with work?"

"It'll work."

Lestrade nodded.

"Having the same eastern background as your mother will make it easier to explain your mixed heritage and the gaps in your past."

Half a month had passed since the fierce battle in Red Lion Lane.

The Sunset Church had suffered heavy losses and was in no position to make trouble again for a while.

The Sanctuary was devoting all its efforts to studying the remains of this new Abomination, after Pastor Austin had successfully summoned an unprecedented monster through the ritual.

Meanwhile, the Administration's cells were packed with cultists.

As for the Sanctum...

Apart from the Sunset Church, they had suffered the greatest blow in this operation.

Pastor Austin had actually summoned an Abomination through a reversed ritual that blasphemed against God. Judging by the result, this Abomination also seemed to be connected to the Virgin Mary.

This would affect not only the Church of England but also the orthodox churches of several other countries.

Of course, none of that had anything to do with him.

Looking at the young man in the suit before him, Lestrade couldn't help falling silent.

A child's heart was housed in an adult's body.

Only half a month ago, the boy hadn't even come up to his shoulder. Now, because of that Curio's side effect, he had been forced to change his appearance and disguise himself as an adult.

He'd been protected by someone he'd once been responsible for protecting.

The thought made Detective Lestrade feel ashamed. Whenever he met those same sincere eyes, he even felt as if he couldn't sit still.

"But I think you should choose an English name," Lestrade said, setting the record he was holding on his desk. "Your eastern name is... a little hard to pronounce."

"An English name?" Ye Yan rubbed his chin. "Then I'll go by Newman. Newman Easton."

"Newman? It means newcomer. Not a bad name."

Lestrade offered a brief assessment, then sealed the completed documents in a file.

"All right. From now on, you're Newman Easton. Remember your new name, and try not to reveal your identity."

After a moment's thought, he added, "Of course, if you accidentally do reveal it, don't worry. I'll figure out how to sort it out."

If it weren't for Ewan... no, he should be called Newman now.

If Newman hadn't paid with his lifespan to save them, Scotland Yard would have suffered terrible losses this time.

A little trouble was nothing.

Everyone who had taken part in Operation Broken Bridge owed Newman a life. Every last one of them.

"Understood, Detective Lestrade."

At last, he could introduce himself by his real name.

Ye Yan was happy. It felt as if he had taken another big step toward going home.

"Detective?"

At that, Lestrade raised his eyebrows and gave him a meaningful smile. "By the next time we meet, you might have to call me something else."

Call him something else?

Ye Yan was briefly puzzled, then understood.

Right. Detective Lestrade was probably about to be promoted.

In the original story, Lestrade did eventually become Chief Inspector. It seemed the operation against the Sunset Church had moved that point in time forward considerably.

Come to think of it, Lestrade wasn't the only one who had gained a great deal from the crackdown on the Sunset Church. Ye Yan had benefited immensely, too.

After he finished his third diary, the prompt, as usual, granted Ye Yan the right to name a book.

When he got home and recorded all his recent experiences from his own perspective in Travelogue of the Homeless, he unexpectedly obtained the coordinates of two mysterious places.

[Your travelogue contains traces of two supernatural beings. You have obtained Coordinate Marks: [Woodland], [Mansus]]

Neither of those coordinates had anything to do with "home."

But they became two ribbons of color on the Compass, making his Path Home clearer and more expansive.

This also made Ye Yan realize something.

To go home, he would have to find those two places.

But Ye Yan couldn't get to them.

Just like with the Samsara Bookstore, he lacked a catalyst—a way to find the door.

He could take his time studying those problems later. Right now, he was very concerned about something else.

"Detective Lestrade, what about my parents' inheritance?"

This was the start-up money Ye Yan was desperate to get, since he didn't have a steady source of income yet.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that."

"That inheritance was yours to begin with. Now that you..." Lestrade coughed, then changed his wording, mindful of Ye Yan's feelings. "Well... grown up, the inheritance will be converted into an equivalent amount of cash for you."

If they didn't give the inheritance to Newman, were they supposed to hand it over to some wild uncle who had appeared out of nowhere?

One uncle was a bloodsucking parasite who preyed on his family.

The other uncle had been a damn gambler himself.

Even though Jules had joined the Administration after awakening his abilities and vowed to pay off his debts, Lestrade didn't believe for a second that a bastard would mend his ways so easily.

A leopard couldn't change its spots.

It probably wouldn't be long before he reverted to his old ways.

"Newman, take this as a bit of advice. I don't think you should live with that uncle of yours."

Lestrade sincerely doubted that a bastard who'd been sent aboard a ship by his own family for refusing to repay his debts, then got involved with cultists, had anything trustworthy about him.

"I can help you find somewhere with cheap rent."

He added.

Ye Yan shook his head gently.

"Thank you, Detective Lestrade."

He thanked him first, then continued, "Given my situation, it wouldn't be easy to find a suitable roommate anyway. I can save some money by sharing a place with my uncle."

Although all three major organizations had extended invitations to him, he had always been somewhat reluctant to join organizations of that kind.

The root of it was the Shell-Opening Blade.

Not to mention the Shell-Opening Blade's ability to "open doors," its Sharpness alone was far greater than that of the enchanted weapons made by the Administration.

If the Shell-Opening Blade hadn't already been bound to Jules, Ye Yan would even have worried that the people at the top might find an excuse to confiscate it by force.

It didn't matter whether he could use it or how severe its side effects were.

Possessing the Shell-Opening Blade was like having a key to a portal that could cross space. He didn't dare use it casually, but in a life-or-death situation, it could be his last means of saving himself.

Fortunately, it seemed that not everyone could use the Shell-Opening Blade to open doors.

If they could, the people at the top wouldn't have returned it to them so readily.

Ye Yan understood exactly what the people in charge were thinking.

Who knew? Maybe one day they'd ask him to spend his lifespan opening a door to save some important figure.

He didn't need to think hard to know the answer.

Naturally, he wouldn't agree.

After all, he wasn't some self-sacrificing saint. He'd saved people earlier purely for his own benefit.

But some things weren't a matter of whether he wanted to or not.

If Ye Yan took advantage of the conveniences and resources they provided, then in the future, he might not even be able to bring himself to refuse.

Trying to measure the value of something priceless as a bargaining chip between two parties was a losing proposition from the start.

Things were good as they were now.

Because he had spent his lifespan opening a door to save people, the three major organizations owed him a huge favor. As long as he didn't do anything reckless, he could practically do as he pleased in London.

If he had to choose one, he'd rather join the Research Institute.

Although his abilities suited the Administration's work better, he really didn't want to be sent out on frequent field assignments to take part in investigations of dangerous supernatural events.

Lestrade had no idea what Ye Yan was thinking.

Ever since Ye Yan had spent his lifespan to cross space and come to their aid from the ship, Lestrade had been convinced that he was a righteous gentleman with the spirit of a knight.

"Newman, if you run into any trouble, you can always come to me. Keep your identity hidden, look after yourself, and don't let those mad cultists pick up your trail."

Ye Yan nodded and said goodbye to Lestrade.

After leaving the police station, he planned to stop by the market to buy ingredients for lunch, deliberately avoiding the carriage stand.

As he turned into Drake Lane, a sudden sense of unease stirred in Ye Yan's heart.

Is someone following me?

He didn't know how to shake a tail. It was only his instincts warning him that he seemed to have become someone's target.

I'm right in the middle of the street. Who would dare follow me? Aren't they afraid they won't get away?

Ye Yan kept walking, his peripheral vision sweeping over the reflections in shop windows. At midday, the commercial street was bustling with people. Newsboys were hawking The Times, and women in petticoats were choosing ribbons. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

With that in mind, Ye Yan slowly lowered his arm, ready to take out the Shell-Opening Blade and open a door to escape at any moment.

Just then, a four-wheeled carriage pulled up beside him.

The two chestnut horses pulling it snorted. Under Ye Yan's wary gaze, a middle-aged man in a gray suit—looking as if he'd just left a nobleman's banquet—lifted the curtain and tipped his hat to him.

"Good afternoon, young sir."

Ye Yan's gaze paused on the man's gray eyes for a moment. Then, as his eyes passed over the shadows inside the carriage, he abruptly stopped.

Sitting there was a familiar man with slicked-back hair.

Smith?

Then who was the man greeting him?

"I'm Mycroft Holmes, the new head of the Supernatural Administration Bureau. If you don't mind, would Mr. Easton, newly arrived in London, care to get in and have a chat with me?"