Preparations

After a few minutes, Ethan finally found his desired food in front of him. Having many things he wished to do later on the day, he decided to rapidly finish the beautiful breakfast.

'Considering that I'm about to completely digest the Beyonder characteristic, I think I should start looking for the main ingredients of the next potion.' Ethan then came to recall the potion formula for an Unwinged Angel.

Sequence 8 - Cold-blooded:

Main Ingredients:

120g of Devil's Bane Root

60g of Infernal Ash

Supplementary Ingredients:

80 milliliters of burnt oil

13 drops of human blood

4 petals of a corrupted orchid

3 tears of the drinker

1 obsidian shard

'These ingredients aren't very difficult to find, I reckon Intis should have them in large quantities, what about Trier. Sigh… Were Charles not to have robbed and killed so many people, he could certainly try and find the ingredients in Trier.'

Feeling a bit poignant about Charles' situation, Ethan finished his breakfast.

After putting the total amount of a pound on his table, he proceeded to leave the cafeteria, and soon the hotel.

'I need to go to a bank, having only pounds is a disgrace, I can't just pay for things that would cost a few soli with an entire pound, can I?'

Getting an expensive carriage to take him to the bank, Ethan was finally able to get some change, he now possessed a total amount of 1709 pounds and 140 soli.

'Now, how should I act as a Criminal? Charles didn't really think of any acting methods, he only committed many crimes such as fraud, murder, theft, among many others, and quickly digested the potion.'

'I don't want to just commit unreasonable crimes like this, it's far too dangerous, even more so when the Church of Steam and Machinery is certainly looking for his lost Beyonder characteristic.' Coming to this conclusion, Ethan had an idea.

'What if I were to steal from a few tycoons that wouldn't really care about their lost money? This way, I could quickly digest the remaining parts of the characteristic.' The only problem was that, as tycoons, they probably had Beyonders around them.

'And if not, they are most likely Beyonders themselves.' Trying to recall good targets for a robbery, Ethan decided to proceed to North Borough, where there were rich tycoons of lower standing than in West Borough.

Observing some ostentatious houses in the district, he finally found a good target. It was a three story house with a big balcony and many decorations at the front. The owner seemed to be a fairly rich man, but still not at the level of West Borough.

After noticing a house that had a rent plaque written on it, just four houses away from the ostentatious one, he decided to use it as a cover to observe the big house owner's patterns for a while.

Getting to the front of the house he was now able to better read the words written on it, 'If you wish to have a tour through this house, please contact the neighbor at the right house just beside this one'.

Directing himself to the house at the right, he still kept most of his attention at the ostentatious house, waiting to see its owner and any servants that might be inside.

Climbing a few steps of stairs to reach the balcony, Ethan knocked on the door and waited for a few seconds before someone opened it.

The person that greeted him was a middle-aged man, with golden hair, a receding hairline, well trimmed beard, green eyes, wearing a brown tweed coat and trousers, and adorned with a masterly folded bow tie.

"Ohh, good afternoon! Who might you be?" The man, with a very refined smile, enthusiastically asked.

"Good afternoon, gentleman. I'm Ethan Edwards, I read the plaque at the house by the side, I would like to have a tour and discuss its rent's price if possible." Ethan, now having the appearance of a true refined gentleman, used the best of etiquette to present his wishes.

"Of course, of course. I'll arrange for you to see it immediately, it's been some time since I received any visits in regards to that house." He left the door for a few moments and got to a nearby drawer, rummaging through it in search of something.

While all of that happened, Ethan noticed a change at the ostentatious house's backyard, a maid, with bronze skin, curly brown hair, and brown eyes, was taking the trash out.

Ethan, possessing the instincts of a true Criminal, quickly thought of different ways he could abuse such a routine.

Observing for some more time, he noticed that the maid had a key with her, after disposing of the trash, she briskly entered the house, probably having more tasks to be done.

'The back doors are constantly locked, the front doors should be in the same state. Sigh… I'll have to observe more.' With the man in front of him seemingly finding what he wished for, he returned, now with a key of silver color in hand.

"Sorry for the delay, haha! I reckon I forgot to present myself, I'm George, George Edwins. Nice to meet you!" He then offered a shake of hands with a polite smile.

"My pleasure." Ethan reciprocated the smile and shook his hand.

After the delayed greetings, both of them proceeded to the house at the left.

It was a good house overall, two-stories, three bedrooms, all with a private bathroom, one kitchen, one living room, one common bathroom, a small courtyard with some flowers at the back, completely furnished and installed with gas pipes.

While taking the tour, Ethan covertly kept some of his attention on the ostentatious house, finally seeing its owner.

The man had an imposing figure, standing at an impressive 6 feet 4 inches tall, he had broad shoulders and a confident posture. His hair was neatly groomed, a salt-and-pepper mix of dark brown and silver. He had a strong jawline accentuated by a well maintained beard, dressed in a tailored velvet suit and trousers of navy blue color, a light-gray vest, with a golden chain extending from his pocket.

He seemed to just be leaving the house, entering a possibly rented carriage and departing from this neighborhood.

'He seemed very well dressed, his valet was carrying something in a small suitcase. Might be going to some social event? Now it's my chance.'

"Mr. Edwins, I am very satisfied with the tour. I'll certainly get in contact with you later on." During the tour, Ethan asked how much was the house rent, the answer he got was 89 pounds per year, which seemed like a good price for the house.

"Marvelous, come anytime you wish, it was a pleasure to make your acquaintance." George Edwins, still wearing a polite, but very enthusiastic smile, replied.

After giving his farewell to Edwins, Ethan directly left the area through the opposite way of the ostentatious house.

He took good care to make George see him leaving, just so as to not arouse any suspicions in the event of being caught during the robbery.

After circling the neighborhood, trying not to be seen, Ethan went to a nearby store, bought a black suitcase for 8 pounds, and went back to the hotel.

After picking another set of clothes, another tweed suit and trousers, this time of black color, a black shirt, red tie, black vest, black social shoes, and raven black felt top hat, he left the hotel.

Going back to the outskirts of that neighborhood once again, Ethan entered a nearby cafe and ordered some delicacies to eat.

He would wait here until the dawn of the night and see if the owner of the ostentatious house would return.

After a few hours, it was 9:00pm, and Ethan finally decided to take action.

Commonly, at this hour, most servants would've finished their chores and proceed to rest, which meant that this was the perfect time for a break in.

After leaving the cafe, he found a secluded spot and took off his bright clothes, changing them for the outfit he got at the hotel before. He was now wearing a black shirt, trousers, and black social shoes.

Using a white handkerchief from the last bright set of clothes to tie his hair and a black one from the current set to hide his face, he put on the black top hat and completely hid all his hair inside of it.

Ethan was now ready to conduct his first true crime.

Getting to the back of the house, where there were some trash bins, he used his strong physical features to tumble one of them, creating a huge sound.

After doing so, Ethan directly hid behind the tall trees in the house's back garden, waiting for something.

Passed a minute or two, the same young lady he saw before appeared in his concealed camp of vision.

She was wearing sleeping garments and appeared to be quite irritated.

The reason Ethan tumbled the big trash bin was very simple. While sitting in the cafe, he decided to read the recent newspapers, and he saw a certain headline.

'Stray dogs going amok on North Borough, the sanitary department advises caution on the disposing of trash'.

Such a headline made him recall the actions of the maid from before, she disposed of the trash in a very big and seemingly incredibly secure trash bin.

Which meant that this house's residents probably experienced some problems with stray dogs rummaging through their trash before.

Thinking to this point, Ethan's idea was very simple: he would tumble off one of the trash bins, making it seem like the stray dogs problem was once again occurring, and use this to attract one of the awake, or sleeping servants attention, he would then proceed to immobilize the person that came, take their key, and enter the house.

After the maid saw what happened to the trash bin, her face went from irritation to confusion. After all, stray dogs couldn't tumble a big trash bin like this one with such ease, it's improbable even a regular human could do so.

Before the maid could truly understand what was happening, Ethan briskly and soundlessly approached her.

*PAH

Using the side of his palm to hit the back side of her neck, he directly struck the vagus nerve, rendering the maid unconscious.

Holding her body, he gently carried her to the side of a tree, using the trimmed bushes to hide her figure.

After taking her key, he used the shadows as cover to sneakily walk towards the back door.

With his eyes on the door's keyhole, he observed the environment inside.

There was a hallway with a few paintings on the walls, a lazy, sleeping guard leaning on a side table, and stairs that went upwards and downwards.