"What exactly... are you saying?"

  Ethan's breathing turned uneven, and even getting the words out felt difficult.

  Ivy answered, "Exactly what it sounds like. One letter should be enough to get you transferred into the Bureau's intelligence division. As far as I know, it isn't that hard to get into."

  That was the day Ethan personally witnessed the darkness of the Capital.

  In his own plan, he would have needed another three years just to save enough money to rent a place in Gearford. By then, he would also have built up five years of work experience. If he got lucky, the Guildmaster's recommendation letter might help a little. Even if he did get hired by the Bureau of Containment, he would still have to start from the bottom. New hires were usually assigned to frontier towns first. Then, if they performed well and caught the eye of a superior, they might eventually get transferred back to headquarters.

  That would take another five or six years.

  And all of that was under the best possible circumstances.

  In reality, even work as a low-level intelligence officer was not especially safe. They still had to deal with cursed objects on a regular basis. And if a major incident broke out in whatever town they were stationed in, they would still be sent straight to the front line of the anomaly scene.

  Ten years of struggle.

  And the kind of luck that made your ancestors seem blessed by heaven.

  For Ivy, all of that weighed no more than a single letter.

  Too dark.

  Honestly, it was darker than the cultists of the Old Gods.

  Ethan had often felt that he was not dark enough for this world, which was probably why, in his previous life, he had always understood why people liked to say things like I don't even want to try anymore.

  He looked at Ivy with deep feeling.

  Clearly, she had inherited all the finest qualities of noble blood. She was young, beautiful, probably the prettiest woman in Willowbrook, well-built, and most importantly, kindhearted.

  "Lady Ivy, we've worked together for a while now."

  To show his sincerity, he raised the bowl and drained the broth in one go.

  Truth be told, he had always felt he had the potential to become a Dark Archmage. He had just never been given the right opportunity.

  "Look, I didn't run off with your gun. That proves I'm brave. And I'm smarter than most people in town."

  Those had been Ivy's exact words.

  "If you're going to talk, then talk. Why are you rubbing your hands together like that?"

  Ivy frowned.

  The moment Ethan put down the bowl, he looked like he was plotting something. Combined with the fact that he was still half-naked, the whole sight was honestly a little hard to look at.

  "You want me to write you a recommendation letter?"

  "I've always believed I'm no worse than the others. I've just never had the right platform."

  "And what exactly do I get out of that?"

  "If I go on to make something of myself in the Bureau, everyone will know you had the eye to discover talent in some forgotten frontier town."

  Stolen story; please report.

  Ethan felt that this was probably one of those life-changing opportunities people talked about.

  Unfortunately, he was not especially optimistic about the result.

  The reason was simple.

  Just like Ivy had said, at present he could not offer any real value to her or to the Margaret family. So the only strategy left to him was painting a grand picture of the future.

  "Think of it as... an investment in the future."

  He genuinely believed he could make something of himself in the Bureau's intelligence division.

  That was not blind confidence.

  It was just that too many people in departments like that did absolutely nothing. Anyone who showed up to work on time could end up looking like an outstanding, deeply dedicated employee.

  "Then prove it."

  "How?"

  "While you were asleep, Bureau agents already took the cursed object away. They also learned that Riverbend had been destroyed, and they mentioned that unusual cases have been happening more and more often lately. Headquarters is considering setting up intelligence outposts in frontier cities."

  Ivy paused.

  "Since you don't want to be my assistant, then be my colleague instead."

  She said, "From today on, I'm the station chief. You're an investigator."

  "Is this station of yours actually legitimate?"

  Ethan was skeptical.

  The way Ivy said it all sounded suspiciously easy, almost like she was bluffing.

  After all, this was not just quietly slipping someone into some back-office department. This was establishing an actual outpost on the front line. Even if headquarters really was planning something like that, they would hardly hand it over to some well-connected noble child who just wanted a title without doing any real work.

  "Of course it's legitimate."

  "Will I have official status? Not some intern or temporary assignment? Will headquarters recognize it?"

  "Yes."

  Ivy's expression did not change.

  At the moment, no. But in her world, there was very little that one letter could not solve.

  "You'll get an official investigator's identification card, a full performance evaluation system, and eligibility for quarterly commendations. I'll be staying in Willowbrook for a while. If your work is satisfactory during that time, I'll write the recommendation letter and transfer you to headquarters."

  Ethan thought about it.

  Earlier, Ivy had handed him her sidearm. Even knowing he might run, she had still chosen to trust him.

  If they worked together, she would probably make a pretty good superior.

  "Deal. I mean... I'll work hard."

  Good bosses were hard to find these days.

  And this one happened to know the current director of the Bureau of Containment.

  Not getting everything in one step was a little disappointing. Not dark enough, really.

  Still, this would save Ethan several years of grinding and remove the luck factor from the equation. He had never been especially lucky. After all, what kind of lucky person got transmigrated into a world this dangerous?

  As the saying went, comparison was the thief of joy.

  His previous life had not been easy either, but at least he had not needed to worry that stepping out the door might get him kidnapped or assassinated.

  Assuming, of course, that Ivy was not lying to him.

  Ethan thought about it.

  A noble lady of her status probably would not bother deceiving some poor man like him... right?

  Margaret.

  He repeated Ivy's surname silently in his mind.

  For some reason, it sounded familiar.

  When he got to the sixth repetition, he suddenly jolted, then smacked his own thigh so hard that the blond tuft on top of Ivy's head jumped in alarm and silently cursed him out.

  A name had surfaced in his memory.

  Queen Diana Margaret.

  "May I ask... Queen Diana is..."

  Ivy did not answer.

  She just said coldly, "Don't mention my surname outside."

  "Understood, boss."

  That was what Ethan said out loud.

  Internally, though, he was already thinking something else.

  Had this noble girl secretly run away from home?

  "And don't call me boss either. Once we start working, use codenames. Mine hasn't been assigned yet."

  Ethan immediately understood.

  He had done his homework early on. Every official Bureau employee was given a codename. It was part of security protocol. Because of the nature of their work, the Bureau tried to make sure family members could not be easily targeted. In recent years, though, the growing number of Bureau employees had led to codenames becoming stranger and stranger.

  "No problem, Agent Unassigned."

  The codename was a little long, Ethan thought, but trimming it down made it much easier to say.

  Ivy sucked in a sharp breath.

  At last, some actual emotion appeared on her otherwise flat face. Ethan noticed her right hand twitch several times, fingers curling into something alarmingly close to a claw strike. Only noble upbringing kept her from planting that vicious grip directly onto his forehead.

  For the first time, Ethan heard Ivy speak in a voice that sounded like she was grinding her teeth into powder.

  "I meant our identification cards haven't arrived yet, so we don't have codenames yet."

  Her chest rose and fell sharply.

  It took a full minute for her to suppress the urge to slap Ethan to death.

  Ivy felt like her teeth were about to crack.

  "I'd say you're well enough by now. You can start work this afternoon."

  A new outpost meant basic infrastructure had to be arranged first.

  "Go get dressed. We're heading to Hearthbay in a bit."