Chương 3: Easy To Kidnap

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Elric's Stat Page/Chat Group Profile (Assembled by a chat room moderator).

SecretlyKind (Rank D)

(Local Access)

-Titles:

SSSU Student.

-Roles:

College Student. Sauce Enthusiast. Villainous.

-Claimed Skills:

Talent Management (C)

Basic Combat (C)

Psychology Expert (A)

Professional Car Driver (A)

-Confirmed Skills:

Basic College Education (B-)

Almost Hit Parked Car (F-)

The Boys (SSS+)

"Ember? You good?"

Elric tapped on the girl's shoulder a few times before she finally realized that he'd stood up.

Her face heated up as she saw how close he was to her.

"Hey, I scheduled a stage for you! That's what you wanted, right? We need to hurry if we want to make it on time!"

Elric hurried back into the family room and started gathering up the stuff Ember had set down there. The girl had dressed up in a fine red dress for her search for an agency, and she already had her guitar with her as well, so Elric figured that they should be able to leave immediately.

"Yo Pops, I'm going to borrow your car for a bit!"

Without waiting for a response, Elric grabbed Ember's guitar and headed for the garage.

"W- wait up! Shouldn't I at least practice first? I've just been running all day, I probably look like a mess too!"

Elric glanced back, taking a quick look at Ember's condition.

"Don't worry about it, you look beautiful. We need to make it there on time, there's no time to sit around!"

After placing the guitar in the back seat, Elric hopped into the driver's seat of his father's car.

The car was a few years old and was middle-of-the-line. Elric knew his father definitely could've afforded something nicer, but he wasn't bothered by his father's habit of saving money wherever he could.

Without his mother, their income was no longer what it had once been. It would be foolish to splurge on expensive things, then be lost and poor later on.

As Ember tentatively pulled herself into the passenger seat, Elric was pulling up directions to the bar where she would be performing.

"Thank you for finding me a place to sing. Just twenty minutes ago, I thought I would have to go back home with nothing to show for my time here… You've really saved me here."

So much had happened rapidly that Ember hardly had a chance to process it.

Elric rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Sorry about the rush. I'll take care of everything in a more professional manner from here on! You can just forget about everything that happened at the house. This is where your success story starts. Now, not five minutes ago!"

Seeing Ember nod her head with an excited expression, Elric let out a sigh of relief.

"So… um, on your bookshelf..."

Elric shook his head, already knowing what she had been looking at. "The Red Light District's Top Attractions" was by far the most suspicious piece of material he had.

"There is a lot of shady stuff in this city, especially involving entertainment. Just like I said before, my father's Agency has never been involved in this stuff, but it's still important for us to know what's going on with it."

"Ok. Sorry, I don't really know much about that stuff… My parents were worried about me coming out here, they said that a lot of people will try to take advantage of you in this industry."

Elric nodded as he turned onto a main road, heading south.

"Yeah, that happens a lot. Performers want to gain fans and popularity but get coerced into losing more important things along the way. This city- this entertainment industry, it ruins way more lives than it makes."

Ember nodded her head, smiling widely.

"Yep, that's why I'm being careful!"

Elric gave her a weird look.

"We've known each other for less than twenty minutes, and you're already happily riding in my car. Hell, I don't think you even know my name yet. How do you call that being careful?"

"...Ah. About that…"

"It's Elric. Even before now, though. You drank that strawberry milk I offered you right away! What if I'd drugged it with something?"

"...huh."

Seeing the contemplative look on Ember's face, Elric wanted to face-palm.

"How exactly have you made it this long? Honestly, you might want to thank that Alha WStar girl for getting you blacklisted from everywhere. If any of the other agencies had accepted you, you'd probably be in someone's basement by now."

"I- I grew up in a smaller town, I never thought about any of this stuff. Is it really that dangerous?"

Elric nodded as he focused on the road. He was entering the inner areas of the city, and the traffic was getting quite bad.

"For anyone, but especially for you. I'll just say it. You are beautiful. Beautiful enough that any random talent manager would probably search for any way to get with you. It is an honest miracle that you're here talking to me."

After a few moments, Ember's face brightened up.

"Well then, I must be really lucky! Hopefully it carries over to my career as a whole!"

Turning to Elric, she continued speaking with an upbeat tone.

"And you are my guardian angel! I'm sure I can rely on you to protect me!"

Elric couldn't help but chuckle a bit as he heard her words.

'Luck? Guardian angel? That's not how the Melov family operates. Anything tagged with 'angel' needs luck. We'll make our own opportunities, without the need for anything random like that.'

As he continued driving through the city, the traffic got continuously worse, and Elric soon had to put all his focus on not running over random J walkers and dodging other cars' incorrect movements.

Somehow, Ember, who'd never ridden through the city center before, seemed completely relaxed. Every so often she'd glance away from the hectic road before them to look at Elric.

Every time she looked over, her face would redden a slight bit, but she would also smile at the same time.

They continued moving through the city at a crawl, and as they finally entered the southern side, Elric continuously glanced down at the time marked on the dash.

4:49.

"The bar is still a good five minutes away, if we hit no red lights. Ember, you're going to have to head straight in and start performing!"

The girl reached into the back seat, pulling her guitar case back up with her.

"I'll drop you off by the entrance, then look for a parking place. Don't get lured off by any random people, and don't drink anything anyone offers you!"

Ember nodded continuously as Elric rapidly fired off a list of rules for her to follow, and a few minutes later, they sped up outside the bar.

"Alright, you've got this, Ember! I'll be inside in a minute or two."

Ember hopped out of the car, thanking him for his help before making her way over to the entrance and pushing through the doors.