Chapter 17. The Black Market
The owner had clearly given a warning.
Not to touch the pitch-black, round, flying-type golem.
So when Riman imdiately said he would buy it, Ruger couldn't help but be surprised.
Ruger asked.
“Um, but the owner said not to touch that….”
“Then I'll just ask him to wrap it up.”
“Uh….”
It was an item that had to be purchased if it was at all possible.
Because although it possessed a value beyond imagination, it was priced at a level that didn't co close to that value.
If he didn't buy this now, it would beco an item he couldn't buy later even if he was rolling in money.
So, it was only natural that he had to buy it now that he had the money.
On top of that, he happened to have 40 million Credits in cash.
This was the Black Market, a market where only cash was accepted.
He had secured the cash at the perfect ti.
‘If I had tried to withdraw the money from my account to use it, Lancelot would have 100% contacted , asking why I was taking out so much cash.’
After that, there was a high probability that he would have followed him to the Black Market and turned everything upside down.
His strict adherence to principles would never tolerate the Black Market.
An extre purist, the ‘Sword Saint’ Lancelot Powell.
He was a good guy.
He was definitely a good guy, but… honestly, working with him was also quite tiring.
In any case, Lancelot's intervention was now completely blocked.
All he had to do now was to buy the item he was aiming for and leave.
But…
“Um, but Mr. Leman?”
“Hmm?”
“It seems there’s soone else here to buy that golem besides you?”
“……?!”
Riman hurriedly looked in the direction Ruger was pointing.
A pitch-black, round, flying-type golem bound in chains, and a young woman standing in front of it.
Judging by the way her gaze was fixed on the golem, she seed to have taken quite a liking to it.
From Riman's perspective, it wasn't a very good sign.
“Hmm?”
As if sensing Riman's gaze, she turned to look at him.
A beauty with impressive, softly waving brown hair.
Her gaze, however, was sharp and edgy.
She asked.
“Are you interested in this golem too?”
“Well….”
Riman shrugged his shoulders.
For now, he feigned a relaxed attitude.
But his mind was growing more and more complicated.
If that woman were to buy the golem first, all his plans would be ruined.
‘What should I do?’
Just when he thought things were going smoothly, an unexpected obstacle stood in his way.
Moreover, even if, by so one-in-a-million chance, he tried to attack her and take it, it would be impossible.
Because Riman knew who that woman was.
Her na was Eliza Gray.
She was a genius who had never missed the top spot at the Arche Magic Tower and was a prospective magician currently on the verge of graduation.
aning, she was a formidable powerhouse.
If they were to fight, Riman's side would have to accept considerable damage.
‘But why is she at the Black Market?’
Furthermore, the Arche Magic Tower was located in the United States.
So Eliza had co from the United States to Korea and had specifically made her way to this Black Market.
A person who could enter the official markets whenever she wanted.
In any case, he couldn't know the reason.
And there was no way to question soone who was already here.
So for now, Riman just watched what she would do.
Eliza smirked and said.
“Your attire is shabby, but you have a good eye. To recognize the value of this golem.”
“……!”
Riman's internal tension skyrocketed.
Because if Eliza had truly recognized the golem's real value, it would be impossible for Riman to purchase it.
Still, Riman maintained his outward composure and said.
“What value are you referring to?”
“Hmm? Was I mistaken? Didn't you recognize the aesthetic value of this golem?”
“……?”
Aesthetic value.
The mont that word ca out, Riman inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
Eliza, on the other hand, started chattering away excitedly by herself.
“Look, this sphere’s perfect curvature, the ticulous coloring that seems to have intentionally eliminated light and shadow. This is an incredible work of art that perfectly reproduces Kazimir Malevich’s Suprematism in three-dinsional space!”
She excitedly chattered on about her aesthetic knowledge that only she understood.
Her way of speaking, completely disregarding her listener, clearly revealed her personality.
In any case, one thing was certain.
Eliza had no idea about the true value of this golem.
“…So this golem must be owned by soone who properly understands its value.”
‘But it doesn't seem like you do,’
Riman desperately held back the words that were about to co out.
Because the true identity of this golem was a dragon's
egg.
A dragon, a being considered the strongest among all Summoned Beasts.
This was a genuine dragon's egg summoned by so quack summoner in Busan.
The problem was that the summoner had made a minor mistake during the summoning, which caused a large explosion, and the summoned egg was sent flying, passed through the hands of people who knew nothing about magic, and eventually ended up here.
Riman knew that.
Eliza did not.
“So, my apologies. This golem, I'll be taking it.”
Saying so, Eliza carelessly reached her hand towards the golem.
At that mont.
Crunch.
“Aaaaaargh!”
She scread.
The golem had bitten her hand.
Don't touch that golem if you don't want to lose your fingers.
It was the price for completely forgetting the owner's warning.
“Aaargh! Let go! Let go of my hand, you insect-like bastard!!”
The work of art that had achieved a modern reproduction of Suprematist aesthetics was reduced to a re insect bastard in an instant.
And Riman just watched the scene unfold.
Well, it wasn't his finger.
Ruger also just quietly clicked his tongue behind Riman.
“You son of a…!”
Eliza managed to pull her bitten hand away from the golem.
Blood was streaming down, but fortunately, her fingers were intact.
However, her damaged pride seed not to have recovered.
“This golem bastard….”
Muttering so, Eliza took sothing out from her waist.
A tal rod about 40 cm long.
It was a magician's weapon, a wand.
The mont she took it out, Riman guessed her intention.
She was planning to destroy that golem.
And Riman had no intention of just watching that happen.
Whip!
The mont she was about to swing the wand in the air.
“Stop.”
Fwoooosh!
Riman unleashed the high-density mana he had drawn into his body, unfiltered.
It wasn't sothing like magic.
There was no image or will contained within it.
Just a pure eruption of power.
Rumble, rumble, rumble-
The surrounding objects began to tremble slightly.
The golem also twitched and moved.
At the sa ti, Eliza felt it.
A certain foreignness, an unknown enigma, an endless darkness.
It was sothing that far surpassed the scope of her knowledge.
Cold sweat trickled down her temples.
She wasn't overwheld by the amount of mana Riman had deployed.
She could have easily deployed that amount of mana herself.
What she felt was the feeling of ‘not knowing’.
It was the first ti in her life she had ever felt mana like this.
An extre sense of foreignness that frustrated even the attempt at interpretation.
Eliza asked with a trembling voice.
“…What are you?”
“No reason to tell you.”
“What the hell are you!!”
Shouting, she aid her wand at Riman.
Because she didn't know, she was afraid, and because she was afraid, she wanted to destroy.
A rush of emotions from fear to hostility.
The only thing that could stop this fierce flow was even greater violence.
“Both of you, that’s enough.”
Click-clack.
The sound of a rifle being loaded.
Riman and Eliza looked in the sa direction.
There stood the owner, aiming a rifle at them.
“Both of you, withdraw your mana if you don't want a hole in your head.”
Eliza responded to his words with a sneer.
“You think you can catch a magician with a re gun?”
“Depends on what’s loaded in the chamber.”
“……!”
This was a shop that handled magical tools.
An item imbued with mana, a magical tool.
The history of magical tools was longer than the history of magic, so even magicians did not
fully know the entire scope of magical tools.
Therefore, it wouldn't be strange if a magic bullet capable of turning a great magician into a chunk of at was loaded in the owner's rifle.
A few seconds of suffocating silence passed.
And a mont later.
Eliza lowered her wand and withdrew her mana.
“…I apologize for causing a disturbance.”
“Good. Anything else you want to buy?”
“I don't think so, for now.”
“Alright. See you again next ti, custor. Get lost.”
Eliza bit her lower lip hard and went down to the 1st floor.
The owner's rifle was now aid at Riman.
“And you? Still plan on shopping?”
“Yes.”
Riman turned his gaze to the black golem and said.
“I want to buy this.”
“Even after seeing what that woman just went through with that golem?”
“It’s possible to purchase it, isn't it?”
“That's right. But have you thought about how you're going to handle it?”
“As for that…”
Riman knew.
How to make that ferocious golem obey.
The thod itself was simple.
Feed it purely refined mana for several months, or up to a year if it takes longer.
It required a long investnt of ti, but that golem was well worth it.
The owner lowered his rifle and said.
“I'll go get a box from downstairs.”
“A box?”
“Won't you need a cage to lock it up if you're going to take it?”
“Ah, you're right.”
After the owner briefly went down to the 1st floor.
Riman shifted his gaze back to the golem.
A pitch-black, round, flying-type golem.
Its size was larger than a baseball but smaller than a handball.
But its true identity was a dragon's egg.
Riman stared at it intently.
But just then.
Clank.
The golem started moving again.
Even though he hadn't touched it.
Clank, clatter!
It began to struggle violently.
At the sa ti, the chains binding it also shook wildly.
Ruger, watching from behind, was flustered.
“Mr. Leman, why is it doing that…?”
“I know, right…?”
Clatter, clatter, clatter!
Its struggling grew even more fierce.
Riman couldn't understand why it was suddenly going crazy.
It was a phenonon he had never seen in the ga.
‘It’s fierce, but it’s not the type to attack soone who hasn't even touched it…?’
The mont all sorts of questions were flashing through his mind.
Crack-
A link in the chain that was binding it broke.
The restraints were released.
It spread its folded wings and charged at Riman.
‘What?!’
Riman quickly tried to deploy his [Protection] magic.
But at that mont.
A hard-to-explain intuition suddenly flashed through his mind.
He couldn't explain why, but he sohow felt that it wasn't going to attack him.
After a mont of hesitation, Riman decided to follow his intuition.
Flick-
Riman extinguished the magic he was casting.
Now he was completely defenseless.
And the golem that was flying towards Riman…
Thap-
Stuck right onto Riman's cheek.
“……?”
“……??”
Then it started rubbing itself against Riman's cheek.
Question marks appeared in Riman's and Ruger's eyes.
“What's with this thing…?”
“How would I know…?”
Soon, it flew up with a whoosh and started circling around Riman.
It was reminiscent of a puppy that couldn't contain its excitent after eting its owner after a long ti.
Riman, Ruger, and the owner all thought the sa thing.
“I guess you won't be needing a cage.”
The owner, who had co up to the 2nd floor at so point, said while shaking the cage he had brought.
“I think I can just take it with .”
“The price is 30 million Credits, custor.”
“That's a reasonable price.”
Riman imdiately took out a bundle of bills from his bag and paid the price.
And he said to the golem.
“Want to get in the bag?”
The golem, as if it understood, shook its head from side to side.
Then it landed gently on Riman's shoulder.
The owner said, as if it was strange.
“That thing has bitten off more than ten fingers, this is strange.”
“…I find it strange too.”
This thing is a dragon's egg.
It's a creature that takes at least several months to ta its foul temper.
But it was acting all cute towards Riman.
As far as Riman knew, this creature was never supposed to have this kind of personality.
‘Sothing is happening differently from the ga's content again.’
It felt good, but his mind was complicated.
And so, his journey with the golem, no, the dragon, began.
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