Midnight Prince: Empire of Sin

Adam was currently busy walking the street alongside Makoto at a leisurely pace. After their last stunt in the airport, they didn't fly fast or high, simply elevating themselves high enough so that they would be able to observe the environment and make themselves look as flashy as possible before getting down on the ground once more.

Adam had heard many things about Paris in his life, however short it may be. The city of romance, the city of fashion and boutiques among many, many others. The vision foreign people had of the illustrious City of Paris was often heavily romanticized and even Adam had to admit to himself that he did have dreams of visiting such a romantic and fashionable city in his life.

Now though he was forced to realize that… Paris was normal. Plain and utterly normal.

It was indeed a beautiful city, there was no way one would be able to deny that statement. The identical and heavily compact building structures had a certain aura about them that made them quite different from the high-rise buildings in Los Angeles. Watching the traditional architecture of the Parisian folks, one could easily feel their traditionalism and the amount of effort they must have put into creating these well-organized and compact structures.

But in the end, with all of its beauty and glory, Paris was still a normal place. Just like any other place in the world.

It wasn't a city filled with ethereal light. People were not somehow better or different from the ones he had seen back in his home. They weren't any less rude or any more gentle than anyone else in the world.

Like any other city in the world, there were good parts, the boring and mundane parts, and also the bad parts of the city of love.

Like everywhere else in the world, the poor and the rich shared the same compact world and yet managed to be far more distant than anything else one could ever hope to witness. Some districts were filled with clearly privileged people while others districts were filled with crimes and dangers.

Some were clean. Some were dirty. Some were attractive. Yet some repulsive.

Paris was just… normal, and Adam understood the fact faster than he was willing to admit. He could now also understand the phenomena called Paris Syndrome a lot more than when he merely heard the term and its explanation. [1] This was indeed quite shocking to him.

"So… What do you think?"

Adam asked as they entered one particular shop. It was a shop with an oriental vibe going on for it, a meticulous choice of the shopkeeper he presumed. It was a mixture and a kind of middle ground between Japanese and Chinese culture that were mixed to bring out something new. He could appreciate the thought, but they seemed to have more pressing matters upon them.

"We are being followed."

"I know. Forget them, they are of no importance. What I am asking is, what do you think of those things?"

Adam waved his hand dismissively. The ones following them were just poor agents of the FPD. They were of no importance, neither were they any form of threats to the two of them.

Clearly, they had been very much visible and this was what Adam wanted. In a few minutes, they would ditch them not to make it too obvious that this was a trap. He had no interest in harming people who were just doing their jobs and were fighting to protect innocents from harm.

What interested Adam now wasn't the thought of insignificant beings but rather the beautiful ceramic that was before him on the display.

This was a clear tourist bait but it was still quite beautiful.

"I need to bring something for Mom and the others."

If he wanted and focused, he could take the gift now, fly to America, and come back, and by flying he meant fly by himself, using his powers. Not just using the plane or anything. It would take anywhere between twenty to thirty hours for the round trip but it wasn't like he lacked the necessary energy to accomplish such task.

"It's real."

"Miss, it seems to me that have an excellent eye for art. This is an authentic ceramic vase from Japan made with the highest quality. The craftsmanship is beautiful, wouldn't you say so?"

"Oh. It is. Very beautiful. So beautiful one might wonder what such things are doing here rather than in their rightful place."

The one who spoke earlier was an adult man who seemed to be in his forties. He was wearing a simple but rather stylish three-piece suit and had a certain grace in his every movement that visibly showcased his extraordinary origins.

"Well. Let's just say that I have my ways."

His English was impeccable even with a slight accent. Adam was sure that for some women, this accent would only be a plus.

If Adam had to describe the man in question, he would say that he was facing some kind of Dandy.

"Your ways, huh…"

Adam caught the vase and toyed around with it, causing the man's lips to twitch ever so slightly, "Kind sir, if you are not interested in buying why not just put it down? It is quite a bit expensive, to say the least, and acquiring the item had not been easy."

"Oh. I am sure they weren't easy to acquire. Not everyone can live hundreds of years after all."

Adam grinned before tightening his grip and chugging the vase at the man. The vase was moving at such a high speed that anyone else in its way would have simply been killed in one hit. This was simply impossible for a normal human to catch or react to.

But… The man facing Adam was no human.

Whoosh~!

Soft energy formed on the palm of the man as he stopped the flight of the vase in such a way that it did not instantly break apart. This was such a display of skill that even Adam whistled and clapped his hands in admiration but the man only frowned.

"It seems like you were not taught good manners, young man."

"Oh, I was. My mother did a good job, you know? It's just I don't have to use manners when speaking to criminals who are weaker than me."

Adam grinned.

In normal times, he would not act like this. But since they needed to be high profile, Adam was willing to play the role of a prodigal young master.

"Oh…"

"Now you have ten minutes to tell me everything you know about the Dark Louvre."

"Or?"

"Or this young master is going to beat you up so much that even your mother wouldn't recognize you.."

Adam grinned, he could feel it, he was about to have a whole lotta fun.

[1]: Paris Syndrome is common among Asians, generally Japanese, who were fed a romanticized version of Paris through the Media and finally have to wake up to reality when they visit Paris. Just to be fair, this kind of Syndrome is common in most countries. I am sure many people who are into anime and stuff and went to live in Japan might also face this. Or how People in foreign countries who hear about the so-called <<American Dream>> go there with high hopes and inspirations, only to be utterly destroyed and devastated by reality. The pasture always seems greener on the other side until you actually go live there and realize it's the same shit just presented in a different light. Every shit's the same at the end of the day.