Sea Monster Tavern (Monday, Please Add to Favorites)

"All right."

Helibel, wearing an apron and holding a palette in one hand and a brush in the other, was backing away.

Sifa stepped forward and saw that an oil painting had already been completed on the easel. The painting used large swathes of black, establishing a grim and eerie tone.

At the center of the canvas was an ugly face, covered in wrinkles, with stiff black hair growing over its lips and chin. Helibel had used bright paints to emphasize the shadows on the face, making it look as though it were illuminated by firelight.

It had to be said that Helibel's painting skills were superb. Based solely on Sifa's description, she had made the Monster's face look lifelike, as if she had frozen that scene in time and preserved it forever.

But little sister, I only wanted a sketch-like portrait. Did you really have to make an oil painting? Sifa rubbed his brow, feeling that his sister took things far too seriously.

"How is it? Does it look like it?" Helibel set down her tools and, with the maid Alia's help, removed her apron.

Sifa gave her a thumbs-up. "It looks like it was taken by a camera."

"Things made by Robot have no soul," Helibel said disdainfully.

Sifa laughed and ruffled her golden hair. "Whatever you say."

Helibel's face reddened slightly. She slapped his hand away. "Don't touch my head. I'm not a child anymore!"

"All right, our Belle is already a young lady." Sifa shook the hand his sister had slapped aside and picked up the oil painting. "I'm leaving, then. I still need to give this to Father. Hopefully, he hasn't gone to bed yet."

Since Helibel had painted an oil painting, it had taken far longer than a sketch, and it was already quite late.

Fortunately, Bison had not gone to sleep yet. He was still working in his study, so energetic that he seemed like a Beyonder of some Pathway.

After handing the oil painting to his father, Sifa was finally able to return to his room. After changing clothes, he lay on his bed, recalling the events of the day and savoring the Hunter experience he had heard from Leon.

Before he knew it, Sifa drifted off to sleep.

Outside the window, the crimson moon was nearing fullness. Before long, it would be the night of the full moon.

The next day, after breakfast, Sifa was informed that it was time for "class." Recalling the terror of being ruled by exams in his previous life, he arrived at his mother Enilu's mysterious little cabin.

The moment he pushed open the door, he discovered that the layout inside had been slightly changed. Two desks had been placed there, with notebooks and fountain pens already set on top.

It looked just like a small classroom, but there were actually two desks. Who else was coming to class?

"Don't block the way."

Helibel's mildly complaining voice sounded from behind him. Sifa turned around and found that his mother had come with his sister.

"Belle, you?"

Sifa stared at his sister in surprise, unable to believe that she casually walked past him, entered the room as though she knew it well, and sat down at one of the desks.

Enilu closed the door, her face carrying a warm smile. "Belle has been studying mysticism with me for some time now. By the way, she's a natural Beyonder."

"She inherited part of my Beyonder Characteristic. After training, she's already an experienced Apprentice."

A natural Beyonder? There was such a thing?

All right, not only was Mom a Beyonder, but now even my little sister was one. My position as the eldest son was looking shaky.

Sifa tried asking, "What about Jom?"

Enilu shook her head. "He isn't. Only Belle inherited my Beyonder Characteristic."

"Mom, can we start class? I have something to do today." The young noblewoman sitting at the desk urged impatiently.

Enilu said without the slightest impatience, "Today, I'll teach you Hermesian. You should use this language frequently in the future. Belle has only just begun learning it, so I'll teach you together."

"This is our first class today. Afterward, I'll teach Sifa about Spirit Vision separately."

Sifa rubbed his brow and sat down at the other desk. Enilu had already begun teaching.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

During those three days, Sifa either dealt with Hermesian every day or practiced Spirit Vision. It had to be said that the Hunter Pathway was far less adept at this than the Seer Pathway.

Sifa remembered that in the original story, Klein had understood it instantly, while he had practiced for three days before barely learning how to open and close this special form of mystic vision.

People really were different.

That day, he opened his wardrobe to change clothes and suddenly saw the hidden compartment. He remembered the Sea Monster Tavern flyer.

The original owner seemed to have visited that tavern, but Sifa could not understand why a young nobleman would go there.

How about I take a look tonight?

Once that thought surfaced, Sifa could no longer suppress it.

When night came, he opened the hidden compartment in his wardrobe and changed into the brown high-collared long coat with two rows of buttons.

He also took out the black iron mask and the long-barreled golden revolver.

Sifa put the revolver into his underarm holster, replacing the Serpent-Scale Revolver. Then he put on the mask and stood before the mirror, seeing a completely unfamiliar figure.

As long as I don't speak, even Dad probably won't recognize me.

He rummaged out a felt hat that he had not worn in who knew how long, pressed it onto his head, opened the window, and easily reached the ground with a Hunter's agility before climbing over the wall and leaving home.

Sifa kept his head lowered as he walked through the shadows, hurrying along the quiet, spacious Golden Champagne Avenue, passing the solemn Memorial Square, and arriving at Qingxiang Road.

Though it was already late, pedestrians still came and went here. Under gas streetlamps whose glass shades were misted with moisture, workers in blue uniforms and flat caps, ragged-haired vagrants in patch-covered clothes, children selling fruit with baskets looped over their arms, and drunken men reeking of alcohol and staggering as they walked filled this gravel-paved road.

This was the very symbol of chaos in Enqi Town. It was crowded and filthy, with thugs everywhere and thieves lurking all around. Nobles did not set foot here, and even the police were unwilling to appear in this place.

Sifa kept his head lowered. The slight bulge beneath his arm, along with the black iron mask on his face, made the thugs in the alley do no more than glance at him a few extra times. The thieves hidden among the crowd did not dare approach him at all, allowing him to reach the Sea Monster Tavern without incident.

It was a tavern built with both wooden structures and a small brick building attached to it.

When Sifa pushed open the door and entered, he nearly turned around and ran. The tavern's ventilation was so poor that the air was filled with the strange mixed stench of ginger beer, fried meat, sweat, cheap perfume, and more.

Those smells were magnified several times over by a Hunter's sensitive sense of smell, nearly making Sifa faint.

Behind the bar not far from the entrance, a bartender wiping a glass spotted Sifa. He gave a surprised sound and called out, "Duke, when did you get back?"

Duke? Me?

Sifa nearly pointed at his own nose and asked in return.