Gentleman (Thanks to Kalia Chief for the Alliance Leader)

Fireplace Bay, I'd heard so much about it.

Over the past two years, Ethan had heard of this place more than once—sometimes from guild Hunters bragging, sometimes from scraps of gossip brought back by traveling merchants. The one thing they all had in common was that anyone who mentioned Fireplace Bay spoke of it with limitless fascination.

As long as you could pay the price, you could buy anything in Fireplace Bay—even the key to opening the door to the extraordinary path.

Its other name was the black market. Unfortunately, Ethan had never been to Fireplace Bay even once.

The reason was simple—there had been no ship that could carry him there.

The black market required an invitation, and a small fry from a border town like him would hardly be taken seriously. But things were different now. He was no longer the same person; he had become an Imperial civil servant.

A white shirt, a gray tie, and an oversized black trench coat made him look like a gentleman from high society.

Ethan was no stranger to the identity of a gentleman. Back when he had been in college in his previous life, he had earned that title at school. No one understood better than him what a true gentleman ought to do.

Step one: download a ZIP file named Gentleman MOD from a website.

Step two: leave a comment saying, "Thanks to the uploader for sharing. May good people live peaceful lives."

Step three: share the downloaded file with his roommates.

Those three steps were not to be underestimated. They demonstrated a gentleman's ability to gather intelligence, his spirit of kindness toward others, and his willingness to share. Not only had they made him a gentleman in everyone's eyes, they had also made him play the role of his roommates' father for a long time.

It was not until just before graduation, when his roommates discovered that the final 30-plus-gigabyte archive he shared contained the complete collection of Society and Law, that he was stripped of both the titles "gentleman" and "father."

But Ethan believed that this was precisely what truly reflected the weightiness of being a father.

After graduation, everyone would go their separate ways and enter the workforce.

People in society all had different motives. Never trust others too easily, even if they often respectfully called you Father.

This was... the final lesson!

Ethan stood before the mirror and carefully adjusted his tie. This was the first time in two years since transmigrating that he had seriously examined himself. As the saying went, clothes made the man. His old clothes had been too shabby; even Yan Zu's charm would have been greatly diminished in a commoner's outfit.

"Mm, not bad."

Ivy's reflection stood with her arms crossed as she assessed him. "You almost look human."

"If you don't want to compliment someone, you don't have to."

Ivy's solemn expression made it difficult for Ethan to imagine what image she had held of him before. He figured that was Ivy's own problem. Born into a wealthy family and raised in a place like the Imperial Capital, she had probably seen countless handsome men and beautiful women, so it was only natural that her standards were sky-high. He was quite satisfied with his civil servant skin, at least. In a small place like Brookwood Town, it was more than competitive.

"Put this on. Remember, once we get to Fireplace Bay, don't let anyone know your name."

Ivy handed him a masquerade mask and urged Ethan to put it on. She had prepared a fully concealing mask for herself, revealing only her eyes. After tying up her golden, medium-short hair and stuffing it beneath a top hat, she draped herself in a black trench coat clearly several sizes too large, making herself look like a genuine Containment Bureau investigator.

Ethan guessed the oversized coat was meant to conceal her gender, but overall, the result was less than ideal. Even the most battle-hardened Kingdom Army soldier would have found it hard to train their chest muscles to Ivy's scale.

"We'll talk as we walk."

Ivy took the lead toward the door. "Here are the things you need to know about Fireplace Bay. The person we're meeting today is called Mugram, a black-market merchant who often deals with the Containment Bureau. But don't lower your guard just because of that, and don't be fooled by his appearance. Every merchant in Fireplace Bay will smile as they squeeze every last bit of value out of you."

Ethan nodded.

A shady merchant, huh? There was no shortage of those these days.

"And don't casually strike up conversations with strangers there. One careless mistake could land you in a situation beyond redemption."

?

That was a little excessive. Ethan had to confirm it with Ivy again. "Let me ask first—we're going there to buy something, right?"

He found it hard to imagine what sort of place would cause buyers themselves to disappear.

"That's right."

"The... public safety isn't very good there?"

"Fireplace Bay is Lofik Consortium territory. No one causes trouble there. I mean you need to keep your desires in check, or you'll pay the price for them."

"You can rest absolutely assured."

Ethan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought Fireplace Bay was full of kidnappers. As for desires, those were far too easy to restrain. "Haven't you heard the saying? Poverty makes people free of worldly desires."

Ivy's expression became vivid again.

It was the look one gave a fledgling bird, full of provocation. Even through the mask, he could picture her expression at that moment. It was so damn... in need of discipline!

"Ah, as expected, here it comes."

Ethan strongly suspected that the mask had let Ivy completely cut loose. Her voice had actually turned into that of a bratty little girl. "People like you are the easiest to swindle. In Fireplace Bay, money isn't the only bargaining chip. Your eyes, your blood, your limbs, your internal organs—even your entire body—can all be used as currency. And there will even be people who lend you money. They can easily fulfill the deepest desires of your Inner Heart."

"I understand all that, but what's going on with your voice?"

Ethan had a different opinion. Compared with himself, Ivy was clearly the truly dangerous one.

That deliberately affected voice of hers was what most easily stirred up others' Inner Heart desires. If she spoke to people in Fireplace Bay in that tone, things would develop in an unpredictable direction.

"It's the mask's disguise."

Ethan wanted to say more, but the sights along the way left him stunned for quite a while.

Ivy led him through several twists and turns in the streets until they arrived at a familiar place. The town was still shrouded in the Witch's domain, and the residents had returned home early. They had not encountered a single pedestrian along the way.

He had been here before.

In a dream.

At the time, he had been across the street, watching Zhao Cai stride elegantly toward the depths of an alley before disappearing around the next corner, out of his Line of Sight.

"Turn left."

Ivy reminded him.

This was the corner where Zhao Cai had vanished. When he had followed her here, he had witnessed something strange.

He had seen Zhao Cai leap down from the wall and turn into a White-haired Girl, vanishing before the mailbox in the blink of an eye.

"This is?"

"Fireplace Bay's magical node in Brookwood Town."

Ivy walked to the mailbox and placed her gloved left hand inside. "Watch carefully. I'll only demonstrate this once."

She took out a sheet of parchment, pressed her index finger to its upper-right corner, and slowly traced toward the center. Her finger drew a faint outline across the paper. At first glance, it looked like the outline of a coastline. Text resembling place names appeared along its edge, and when Ivy's finger reached the center of the parchment, an old-fashioned sailing ship emerged.

Yet Ethan found it difficult to remain focused because he noticed something strange emerging from the parchment.

Yellow specks of light, each the size of a fingernail.

Ivy seemed completely unaware of them, and the yellow lights appeared equally uninterested in her. Like fireflies, they drifted straight toward Ethan, forcing him to take his eyes off the parchment and look at the speck resting on his nose.

It was cool like a droplet of water, and it tickled terribly where it clung to his nose.

"You must concentrate completely and ensure the route is accurate. If you stray from the path and get teleported somewhere strange, I won't be able to save you. Remember, Mugram's shop is located at—"

"Achoo!"

The fully focused Ivy jumped at the sudden sneeze, and the hand pressing against the parchment jerked violently.

"You motherf—!"

Her voice abruptly cut off. Ethan watched Ivy's body twist into a lump before being sucked into the mailbox's tiny space.

Ethan scratched his nose. Along with that earthshaking sneeze, the yellow specks of light vanished as well.

Clearly, Ivy's teleportation spell had taken effect.

But...

Had that Young Lady just cursed at him when she was teleported away?