"Hahhhh!?" Ronan instantly sneered under his mask. "Do you even know who you're talking to?!"
Ronan's attitude seemed to startle the massive guards.
"Sir, I–"
"Do you know who I am, you damn oafs? I am a guest of Madam Butterfly herself, god damn it! And you dare ask me for something as petty as an invitation!?"
At the mention of Madam Butterfly, the two guards instantly paled. The average visitor of this private club didn't know what it really was, let alone its secret leader.
"S-sir, we're sorry, we didn't know–"
"Huh!? And now you dare talk back?! Perhaps I should report this disrespect straight to Madam Butterfly and have you two executed!"
"S-sir, please–"
"But… perhaps we can make a deal. Hand me that in your hands, and let me in without any fuss."
He pointed to the drug in their hands. It was a powerful hallucinogen called halfling powder. It came from the halfling flower. When one infused mana into the halfling flower and crushed it into dust, it created halfling powder, a rare drug produced and monopolized in the criminal underworld by Madam Butterfly.
But the guard on the left narrowed his eyes and raised a hand.
"Stop. You claim you are a guest of Madam Butterfly?"
"Hah?! Are you deaf or something? Isn't that what I just said?!"
However, the guard on the left didn't falter.
"If so, then tell me who Madam's second in command is. I'm sure a guest of the Madam would know something as simple as that."
That was a trick question.
Ronan sneered.
"You dare question my intelligence?! Madam Butterfly has no second in command!"
The left guard's brows furrowed at the correct answer.
"B-brother. I think we should just let him pass. He clearly knows what he is talking about."
The guard on the right stammered.
"You! I will remember you! Don't think Madam Butterfly will let this go!"
The guards gave in and handed Ronan the powder in their hands and allowed him entry.
But Ronan didn't miss the look of suspicion still present on the left guard's face.
He had to move fast.
Ronan instantly made haste.
Ronan wasn't sure if Madam Butterfly was here or not. There was a low chance she was present, but if she was, and she was informed that there was someone pretending to be a personal guest of hers, he'd be executed on the spot after being tortured for information.
His eyes darted around the club. People were dancing, their pupils dilated as if they weren't even present. Usually, to enter, one needed a referral from a trusted member, and they had to take a dose of the halfling powder.
Ronan had avoided that.
Green top hat, green top hat.
It wasn't a specific person he was looking for, but what that green top hat symbolized.
Then, finally, he saw it. A tall, scraggly man with a green top hat, sitting while sipping on some whiskey. He was sober.
Ronan walked up to him.
Before the man could speak, Ronan spoke a certain string of words.
"Does this house deal in unbound contracts?"
The man replied without missing a beat.
"The chain is only as strong as the–"
Ronan finished his sentence.
"–silence that binds it."
The man continued.
"Where is your banner?"
"I carry no banner."
The man smiled and removed a card from his back pocket.
"Then you may enter the unseen."
Ronan took the card in a hurry, but it was too late.
"Stop him! Stop that man, he is impersonating a guest of Madam Butterfly."
Ronan glanced at the man in the green tophat – who didn't look like he was going to do anything – and quickly darted towards the exit.
Ronan didn't look back.
His body twisted and weaved through the crowd, chairs falling and glasses shattering behind him.
"Stop him!"
"Block the exit!"
The guards were fast, likely tier one magicians with a specialization in body augmentation.
Ronan knew he couldn't outrun them. He had to use his head start and get to the exit first before looking for a way out.
Ronan raised his hand, and for the first time since he came to this world, he activated a skill.
Fireball, he willed in his mind.
A tiny sun materialized in Ronan's palm before it went flying towards one of the guards' faces.
It exploded right in the guard's face, causing the civilians nearby to cry out in pain from the heat.
But Ronan paid that no mind. He grabbed a lady who was dancing and kicked her towards the feet of the guard closer to him, causing him to stumble slightly while Ronan darted towards the door.
Ronan contemplated throwing the drug powder in the air, but he instantly realized that wouldn't work. From his memory it took a while to kick in.
His heart raced as he hurriedly tried to open the door.
But the doorknob was rusty.
Fuck, Ronan cursed as he roughly turned the doorknob.
Both guards had regained their footing now, and they were running towards him at full speed.
"Fuck it!" Ronan yelled as he raised his hand toward the flimsy, rusted door.
"Fireball!"
The door exploded.
He had one more fireball in him, which he could have shot at the guards, but he saved it. He needed the mana for later.
Ronan instantly darted to the right and deeper into the alley. There were two turns. Ronan took the right.
"He went right! Chase him!"
They saw. That was fine.
Ronan instantly activated the skill he had chosen to save his mana for instead of that final fireball.
Stealth.
Ronan quickly hid behind cover.
His body looked slightly see through from the usage of the skill.
Please work, he thought.
Footsteps grew closer.
Sounds of running.
Step. Step. Step.
And the two guards ran right past him.
After they were a good distance away, Ronan finally came out behind the cover and breathed a sigh of relief.
To think that guard was going to be that sharp, Ronan thought to himself.
That was far closer than it had to be.
But he had to focus; this was just the first step.
Ronan started walking out of the alley and took a look at his card.
The card had a symbol of an eye between five different animals.
His card had a chicken, a horse, an owl, a dog, and a cat.
It symbolized which slave market he was allowed to enter.
Ronan didn't waste any time as he walked down the red light district.
All types of women seductively called out to him, but he paid them no mind as he continued down the path.
Ronan's eyes scanned the streets carefully.
Left, right, counting turns.
He didn't hesitate; he trusted his knowledge.
Then…
He stopped.
In front of a narrow building wedged between two larger ones, Ronan stood.
Unlike every other building in this place, this one had no sign. No lights. No indication it was even open.
Ronan stepped forward and creaked the door open.
Inside was an empty room. It looked abandoned and unremarkable. However, Ronan knew better.
He took out the card from his back pocket and placed it on the table gently.
Without warning, a light shone from the table, and a magic circle appeared under him.
An eye flashed.
And he disappeared.