Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam-Chapter 785 - 133: How Nobles Are Made (2)

Upon hearing this, Little Dark straightened up, tilting her head to carefully observe Lindong, who was lounging on Ethan's shoulder and napping with half-closed eyes.

"I see, I finally understand."

"Understand what?"

"The secret of becoming a noble."

The black cat suddenly realized this and thought carefully. In fact, Ethan had already demonstrated to her how nobles were made back in Dark Furnace City.

True to form, Ethan, who had never been a noble for even a day and did not even buy the mansion in the Imperial Capital with his own money, managed to perfectly grasp the essence of nobility.

The black cat straightened up, awkwardly raised a cat paw to give him a thumbs up. It seemed there were many things she needed to learn from Ethan.

"So tell me."

Confidently, Little Dark's words gave Ethan a bad premonition. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"The essence of becoming a noble is to look down on everyone except themselves, which is the source of their perceived arrogance and elegance!"

She remembered that Ethan dealt with the ghouls she bred with Magic Power in Dark Furnace City in the same way, calling them stinky outsiders, so that those usually fierce ghouls couldn't lift their heads in front of Ethan at all.

And she figured out why Lindong always managed to maintain an appearance of arrogance and elegance in the eyes of outsiders.

Because this person has an antisocial personality!

The nobles of the Silver Radiance Empire only look down on commoners, while Lindong equally despises everyone except Ethan. Thinking back, Lindong hardly ever voluntarily spoke to anyone other than Ethan throughout their travels.

I see, she's got it completely!

Becoming an antisocial personality is the secret to arrogance and elegance!

"Little Dark, did you misunderstand something?"

"Got it."

"What do you mean 'got it'?"

"I understand what you mean."

Obviously, Little Dark didn't understand what he meant at all, but the conversation just now successfully calmed Little Dark down. She shook her body to smooth her mood, and then—

Little Dark, antisocial personality, activate!

Stinky outsiders, stay away from me, desuwa!

Her lively heterochromatic eyes began to emit an unfriendly aura towards the outside world.

Ethan sighed deeply, but he didn't correct Little Dark again, because this kind of Little Dark was undoubtedly preferable to her usual mischief at banquets, which often brought them a lot of trouble.

When he returned to the deck, the atmosphere of the banquet had already reached its peak. The nobles of Gear City, having been repressed for several days, became more talkative after a few drinks, which was also the reason Ethan decided to attend the banquet—this was a perfect opportunity to gather information.

Being the capital of the Silver Radiance Empire, the Imperial Capital was bound to have a complex web of relationships. From the glimpse they caught in Gear City, it seemed quite possible that a version of Julius existed there too.

Ethan was no longer that clerk from Ximu Town who had seen little of the world. Due to Ave, he had attended several banquets hosted by the Henry Royal Family during his stay in the Imperial Capital.

How to mingle with a high-footed goblet among unknown nobles became a necessary skill. At those banquets, he not only had to beware of malicious nobles but also had to guard against people spiking his drink.

Whenever the Royal Family hosted banquets, Lindong would recall her identity as an Alchemist and start mixing a bunch of mysterious Magic Potions on a whim.

Misuse of the Magic Potion often led to unimaginable consequences—he was serious. Ethan had to remind everyone to beware of your household's cat spiking your drink.

The contrasting black and white cats soon made Ethan one of the focal points of the banquet. The Silver Radiance Empire didn't have a trend of keeping pets, and in people's general perception, only Summoners dealt with magical creatures, and they typically sought large, destructive magical creatures. None of them had seen someone like Ethan, accompanied by two small, cute cats.

As soon as Ethan picked up a goblet, he was surrounded by a circle of people, mostly women.

Without needing to speak, the two cats confirmed his noble status.

After all, in their view, the lower-class commoners living in Gear City struggled even to feed themselves. Their clothes were always patched, and they exuded a strong smell of sweat when close, so how could they possibly have time to take such good care of pet cats?

Seeing that these two cats were clean and exuded a certain fruity aroma, their eyes focused straight ahead, not scared by the bustling people at the banquet, indicated that they were long accustomed to such occasions.

And Ethan, this young man, was young and handsome. The nobles speculated that he was probably an illegitimate son of some Count or even a Duke from the Imperial Capital. Such things were all too common in the empire.

Such connections were often more valuable than their own titles, just like Baron Fulin, who only had the title of Baron but nobody dared to provoke him in all of Gear City, except for...

The followers of the Demon King mixed into his Firearms Team.

Only the Demon King and its followers dared to confront the empire's great nobles.

"Speaking of Baron Fulin, Duke Ash certainly won't let it go."

After a brief chat, Ethan smoothly shifted the topic to Baron Fulin and Duke Ash—as soon as he returned to the deck, the nobles attending the banquet were discussing this matter. Just a circle around the deck would reveal the relationship between Baron Fulin and Duke Ash.

Duke Ash was one of Henry VI's most valued ministers, and it was no exaggeration to describe him as having immense power.

Ethan silently noted this name in his mind.

The first suspect of "Julius" has appeared.

"You probably heard the news too, which is why you left Gear City overnight?"

A noblewoman whispered.

Gossiping behind the scenes was a pastime to spice up their boring lives, and they dared to assert that no one on the deck of this airship would dare to provoke Duke Ash. The more they understood Duke Ash's character, the more they feared being implicated.

Everyone knew Duke Ash kept a pack of mad dogs under his command.

In the days when Transcendents were generally unwelcome in the Silver Radiance Empire, Duke Ash extended them the olive branch, not only providing for them but also allowing them legal protection for using violence.

"The news?"

Ethan pricked up his ears.

"The 'Flayer' is probably already on the way."

At the mention of this title, the noblewomen all involuntarily showed expressions of shared concern, and the joy the cute cats brought them was replaced by anxiety.

The Flayer was a name given to the madman by the Imperial People, and in reality, no one knew the person's real name. Only a few had even seen their appearance, and there was no consensus on whether it's a man or a woman even now.

But everyone knew what the madman had done in recent years—hidden under a cloak, he masked his face and dragged a civilian who publicly opposed Duke Ash to Imperial City Square, and in front of everyone, peeled the skin off that poor wretch. It was said that the screams continued until the gruesome execution ended.

To intimidate potential opponents, the press even published the execution process in newspapers, allowing them to see the tragic scene of the execution, even as far as border cities like Gear City.

The biggest difference between those mad dogs and the empire's enforcers is that they delight in brutal killings, so they would not hesitate to involve innocents.

Therefore, as soon as they learned of Baron Fulin's murder, they immediately purchased tickets for a ship heading to the Imperial Capital.

"It'll probably only take a few days for the results to appear in the newspapers."

The noblewoman shook her head, "I heard the servants of Baron Fulin's residence survived, but the Flayer certainly wouldn't let them go, as for Detective Blake, it's likely he's also doomed."

A few days before Baron Fulin was murdered, he had hosted a banquet in Gear City, and they, as participants of the banquet, feared Duke Ash's wrath might fall upon them.

"By the way."

The noblewoman suddenly remembered something and seriously advised, "Although it might be none of my business, it's best not to let your cats out of your sight once you reach the Imperial Capital."

"Thanks for the reminder."

Ethan nodded, "I'll be careful."