"But seriously..."

Lara looked at Ezra with a faint frown on her face as they stood backstage. Most of the excitement from the Auction had already settled down, and many workers were now busy dismantling equipment or packing documents into storage cases.

"Why would you give up the opportunity to get contracted?"

She still couldn’t understand it.

To her, countless inventors across Britannia dreamed of receiving even a single contract offer from one of the major companies.

Yet Ezra had rejected all of them.

"Yeah, Ezra."

One of the BNC staff members immediately joined in.

"Why did you do that?"

Soon, more members of the planning committee gathered around.

The same question surfaced again and again.

Everyone looked curious.

Everyone wanted an answer.

Ezra simply stared at them with his usual blank eyes.

"I just don’t want to involve myself with any company or industry."

His answer came out as plain as ever.

No hesitation.

No complicated explanation.

Just a straightforward reply.

The BNC staff members looked at each other.

None of them really understood his reasoning.

Still...

After seeing how serious his expression was, they couldn’t help laughing.

"Only you would reject that opportunity so casually. I guess."

One worker shook his head.

"At least you gained a lot of money."

Lara held her stomach as she laughed.

"Honestly, I’m still jealous."

"Guys! We have packing to do!"

A voice suddenly echoed from somewhere deeper backstage.

Immediately, the workers began dispersing.

One after another, they waved goodbye before returning to their duties.

"See you later!"

"Good job today!"

"Congratulations again!"

The crowd gradually thinned.

Then...

"Ezra. Lucy. Lara."

Park approached them with both hands tucked inside his coat pockets.

A warm smile rested on his face.

"You did really well today, Ezra."

"Thank you."

Ezra bowed politely.

Park then turned toward Lara.

"You also did very well."

His smile became softer.

The moment he said those words...

Lara narrowed her eyes.

Without warning, she pulled out her Zphone.

The holographic screen immediately appeared.

"I’m telling your wife you’re flirting with me."

Her voice remained flat.

She had already started typing.

"Wait! Wait!"

Park’s face changed immediately.

"When did I ever do that?"

He hurried forward, waving both hands in panic.

"Mr. Park."

Lucy pointed at him with a serious expression.

"You shouldn’t smile softly at ladies like that."

Park froze.

"No, no, no! That’s not what happened!"

He looked like a man whose life was flashing before his eyes.

"I was appreciating her efforts. That’s all!"

He pointed at Lara.

"She helped prepare Ezra for the presentation."

Then he pointed toward the stage.

"And she hosted the entire event perfectly. I was complimenting her work!"

Park desperately tried defending himself.

Unfortunately...

Lucy and Lara looked completely unconvinced.

Both girls narrowed their eyes at him.

"Does he only act like this around you?"

Lucy lowered her voice and whispered.

Lara nodded immediately.

"He does it all the time."

"Scum."

Lucy shook her head.

"He’s a huge scum."

"I agree."

Lara nodded seriously.

Park looked like he had been struck by lightning.

"Why are you both working together against me?"

He looked around helplessly, then his eyes landed on Ezra.

"Ezra!"

He stretched his hand out.

"Help me!"

Unfortunately for him...

Ezra wasn’t paying attention.

He was already seated on a nearby chair.

His focus was completely occupied by his Starlix 11.

Park’s plea disappeared into the air.

Meanwhile...

Ezra opened Linsta.

The statistics of his first post immediately appeared.

His eyes moved across the numbers.

Thirty-five million views.

Over one hundred million interactions.

His follower count continued increasing every few seconds.

Notifications kept appearing.

His invention was still one of the most discussed topics in Britannia, and the numbers still continued climbing.

His blank eyes followed the statistics silently.

Too bad I won’t be posting anything after this.

He thought quietly.

If this was in my previous-life’s world...

I would probably be on my way to becoming some famous influencer.

He closed the application, then he reached into his Space Bag.

A white and black Finance Card appeared in his hand.

Click.

He placed his thumb against the fingerprint section.

Immediately...

A golden glow spread across the card.

A holographic screen materialized in front of him.

His financial information appeared.

***

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════╗

║ ASHENLOCKE SYSTEM PANEL ║

╚══════════════════════════════════════════════╝

[IDENTITY]

Name: Ezra Ashenlocke

Gender: Male

Age: 13

Noble Rank: Lowline Noble

House: Ashenlocke

Profession: Alchemist

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[FINANCIAL OVERVIEW]

Current Balance:

⟡ 100,843,000 Gold Coins

Monthly Income:

⟡ 100,000,000 Gold Coins

Monthly Expenditure:

⟡ 0 Gold Coins

Net Profit:

⟡ +100,000,000 Gold Coins

Wealth Status: 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

⟡ High-Ember Noble Low-Class

Credit Rating:

⟡ Fairly-Exceptional

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[RECENT TRANSACTIONS]

#001

Source: Phantom Rolls Auction Bid

Type: Income

Amount: +100,000,000 Gold Coins

Status: Completed

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[ACCOUNT SUMMARY]

Total Income:

⟡ 100,000,000 Gold Coins

Total Expenditure:

⟡ 0 Gold Coins

Total Transactions:

⟡ 1

Current Liquid Assets:

⟡ 100,843,000 Gold Coins

Largest Recorded Income:

⟡ Phantom Rolls Auction Bid

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[ASHENLOCKE BANKING NETWORK]

Account Holder: Ezra Ashenlocke

Account Tier: Noble Privilege

Security Level: Grade III

Account Status: Active

***

I guess I’m one of the richest young nobles in this Kingdom who isn’t part of a Mainline in a Noble Family.

Ezra thought to himself while staring at the figures displayed on the holographic screen projected from his Finance Card.

The glowing numbers reflected faintly in his dark eyes.

One hundred million Gold Coins.

Just looking at the amount made him realize how much potential truly existed in the world of invention.

The Phantom Rolls had only been the beginning.

If a single invention could generate this much wealth, then what would happen when I finally established his own company?

And with the money, I would be able to get better materials for bringing the guns from my past-life memories to life.

The image briefly formed in Ezra’s mind.

Factories.

Workshops.

Research facilities.

New technologies.

New Guns creation.

Then the image disappeared as quickly as it came.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"It’s still a long goal to achieve."

He muttered quietly.

His voice was low enough that only he could hear it.

"So, what do you guys plan to do now?"

Park walked over while adjusting his coat.

He looked exhausted.

The combined attacks from Lara and Lucy earlier had clearly left a deep wound on his soul.

"We plan to spend a week enjoying what Northwick has to offer."

Ezra replied in his usual flat tone.

Before Park could say anything...

Lucy suddenly appeared beside Ezra.

"I can’t wait to climb the third tallest mountain in Britannia!"

Her eyes sparkled, with the excitement bursting out of her.

She raised both hands enthusiastically.

"Also! I want to visit the famous Glass Museum in Yorkmere."

She moved her hands up and down while speaking.

The excitement on her face was impossible to hide.

It almost felt like she was a child who had just been handed a list of her favorite places.

"Haha... Haha..."

Lara laughed lightly.

"If someone saw you acting like this, they would think you came from some tiny countryside town."

She smiled while looking at Lucy.

"Well..."

Lucy scratched the back of her head.

"I actually did."

She laughed awkwardly.

"Wait, really?"

Both Park and Lara looked genuinely surprised.

The two of them unconsciously examined Lucy again.

Her appearance.

Her posture.

Her smooth skin.

Her refined manners.

The way she carried herself.

Everything about her made her look like a young lady who had grown up under noble care.

"No way."

Lara immediately waved her hand.

"I don’t believe it."

Park nodded.

"I don’t believe it either."

"She really is."

Ezra stood up from his chair and casually confirmed it.

The moment he spoke...

Both Park and Lara blinked.

"You’re serious?"

"Yes."

Lucy nodded.

A slightly nervous expression appeared on her face.

She wasn’t ashamed of where she came from, but she knew most people never expected that answer from her.

"Wow..."

Lara slowly placed a hand on Lucy’s shoulder.

"You really grew up on the lucky side of life."

Lucy looked toward Ezra.

Then she looked back at Lara.

A bright smile appeared on her face.

One that carried genuine gratitude.

"Yeah."

She nodded softly.

"I’m really lucky."

She wasn’t referring to her hometown.

She wasn’t referring to her circumstances.

She was referring to the person standing beside her.

The person who had taken her in.

"Oh right."

Park suddenly remembered something.

"Ezra, Lucy."

The two looked at him.

"Since you both said you’ll be staying in Northwick for another week, even though I won’t be able to join you..."

He took out his Zphone.

"We at BNC Broadcasting Group have decided to sponsor your entire vacation."

Lucy froze.

"What?"

Park smiled proudly.

"Anywhere you want to visit. All expenses covered, and also your hotel stay will also remain fully paid until your week is over."

Lucy immediately turned toward Ezra.

Her eyes widened.

"Really?"

Her excitement doubled.

"I do like free experiences."

Ezra casually replied.

The answer came so naturally that the others immediately burst into laughter.

"Hahaha!"

Lara nearly bent over.

"I didn’t know that."

Park wiped an imaginary tear from his eye.

"It’s a gift from the executives and the Boss."

He gave Ezra a thumbs-up.

"You two deserve it."

The success of the Auction had exceeded expectations.

Compared to the profits BNC would gain from broadcasting rights, publicity, and future events...

This was a small reward.

"I guess this is goodbye for now, huh?"

Lara looked between Ezra and Lucy.

"You could spend the vacation with us."

Lucy reached out and gently held Lara’s hands.

Her voice sounded sincere.

Lara smiled.

For a moment, she actually looked tempted.

"I wish I could."

She sighed.

"But I have to head to Stonefall."

Her expression became more professional.

"Something about a discovery involving an entire village of Kalians."

She spoke casually.

As though traveling across the Kingdom at a moment’s notice had become a normal part of her life.

Which, for one of BNC’s top broadcasters, it probably had.

Well...

She is one of BNC’s main news casters.

"Kalians?"

Ezra looked at her with slight curiosity.

"Well, I don’t know the full details yet."

Lara shrugged.

"It’s still only a preliminary report."

She smirked.

"So, I’ll be heading there with the investigation team. Once we understand the situation, we’ll broadcast it across Britannia. like we always do."

Lucy slowly released her hand.

"I wish you luck."

"Yeah... Yeah..."

Lara waved casually.

"I’ll probably see you both again."

She glanced over her shoulder.

"Maybe during the Royal Academy’s Grand First-Year Combat Festival."

She smiled.

Then she left the backstage area.

Park was also prepared to leave.

"The driver assigned to you should already be waiting."

He waved goodbye.

"Take care."

"You too."

Lucy waved back.

"Let’s go."

Ezra looked toward the exit.

Lucy nodded.

Like that...

The two left Glasco Palace and returned to their hotel.

The following morning arrived quickly.

The first thing they did during breakfast was plan out their entire vacation.

Maps were spread across the table.

Tourist guides were stacked beside Lucy.

Several locations had already been marked.

Lucy was surprisingly serious whenever it came to planning activities.

After finishing breakfast, the two traveled to the BNC Broadcasting Headquarters.

As promised...

Park handed them the Finance Card.

Which was a black card.

One specifically prepared for their vacation.

Lucy carefully accepted it.

Then she looked at the holographic information displayed on the card.

Her eyes widened.

Inside it...

Was one billion Gold Coins.

For several seconds, she simply stared.

Not because she planned to spend it all.

But because she had never seen that amount allocated solely for leisure before.

"BNC really has money."

She muttered.

"Obviously."

Ezra replied.

After collecting the card, the two boarded the carriage arranged for them.

The driver closed the carriage door behind them.

The steam engine rumbled to life.

Warm steam escaped from the exhaust pipes.

The carriage slowly rolled onto the streets of Camford.

Their vacation had officially begun.

And their first destination...

Camford’s Domestic and Wild Bird Farm.