Black Market was bigger than Aren expected. Much bigger. He thought that it was just going to be so marketplace and not an entire city!
A city sprawled, carved from shadow and stone, a place where black buildings rose like jagged teeth.
Their walls were of volcanic rock and soot-darkened brick, and many of them were leaning in unsettling ways.
So of the buildings tilted together so closely that their crooked eaves nearly touched.
The streets were narrow, uneven cobblestone polished by centuries of footsteps. Between blackened structures, rchants squeezed their stalls into any available alcove, their goods displayed under patched canopies and flickering lanterns.
The market slled like spiced smoke, damp stone, and exotic perfus from distant lands.
Above, suspended high above the black buildings, an intricate network of swing bridges crisscrossed the open air. They creaked and swayed as figures crossed them, their ropes creaking.
It wasn't all that dark, as one expected. The ceiling of the underground city had light lanterns, dangling from chains, with never-stopping light.
Lamp Wardens, taking care of the city's street lamps, made sure that they never went out.
'…This place is bigger than Dark Jewel's Corner.'
Aren took a walk, joined the narrow alleyways, and a feeling of claustrophobia ca over him as the narrow streets tightened around him and other pedestrians.
"We have boys and girls, young and old, available for a price!"
On a balcony of one of the tilting buildings, a man shouted. It was a brothel. It was one shout among many others.
"New patch of poppy blossoms, fresh from the fields! Get yours now before they are gone!"
"Apothecary pills right here! Have you ever wondered how it felt to have a body immune to pain? An experintal batch has just arrived!"
"Slaves! Slaves right here! Get them while they last!"
Huddled under a canopy, raggedly clothed slaves hunched together while the slaver kept shouting for custors.
A small crowd gathered around him, looking at the new batch, and a few got sold within the first minute.
Aren pushed the brim of his hat down, then ran down the cobblestone hill and arrived in so dark and narrow alley.
In that mont, he saw a straight building. Like a tree. Very narrow building, just in the corner of the alleyway.
[Fantastico rchantio]
'…rchant store?'
Aren stepped inside the rchant store, and there were shelves on his left and right sides. A very narrow walkway and a counter at the end.
This building was about the size of the hallway over in the School of Divinity and Mysticism, but not as long.
The sll of incense and herbs swirled together, filling the air with a calming scent.
"Welco to Fantastico rchantio!"
The rchant shop owner greeted him with a smile, rubbing his hands together like a fly.
"What are you selling?"
Aren asked.
"I am selling a lot—herbs, spices, so clothes of the deceased, and other trinkets, but I can tell that you're not interested in those.
"I have so Bottled Shadows, Blood Ink, Hex Talismans, Soul Candles… Caged Wisps, Serpent Eggs, Homunculus Jars, and Poisoned Needles, and then I do have so potion ingredients."
The rchant said with a smile.
"…Do you sell Transforrs?"
Aren asked curiously.
"Transforrs? Depends on what kind. You want to transform your face? Your skin color? Your hair color? Maybe you want to transform your gender altogether?"
The rchant asked curiously.
"Mind Transforr."
Aren said.
"…Ah, I apologize, I do not have one, and I don't know anyone that does. That product is not only rare but also definitely expensive."
The rchant said.
"…Hmm, ok."
He turned around to leave the shop, but while taking off his hat and tidying his hair, he saw sothing in the corner of the shelf.
"What…?"
Aren quickly picked it up, and his fake middle-aged face was reflected in a smooth crystal.
It was mory Crystal.
"What is this?"
Aren asked.
He wasn't sure whether this mory Crystal was Lord of the Realm Between's or soone else's, but if it was cheap, he might still purchase it.
It could have so extrely important knowledge even if it didn't belong to the Lord of the Realm Between.
"Oh, that? It's just so light crystal that has been piling dust here."
The rchant said, rubbed his chin, and looked at Aren to see whether he was feeling interested in the item.
If he were, then he would increase the price by a significant amount, and there might be so secrets to the crystal that he wasn't aware of.
'…Calm yourself down, and don't look interested.'
Aren reset his expression. The facial control of an Outlaw. And then he put the crystal back on the shelf.
"I am willing to pay you five Iris coins for this crystal."
He said casually.
"Five? But, sir, that is not nearly enough. That crystal is a treasure of faraway lands, and its value far exceeds a re five coins."
The rchant said seriously.
'…Hah, and now it is a treasure of faraway lands? Didn't you just say that it was so light crystal that is just piling so dust? Shaless one.'
Aren shrugged his shoulders and then said.
"I thought it was worthless, so I thought about buying it for a decoration piece. I don't have enough need for treasure crystal."
He headed to the room, and the rchant visibly panicked.
"Ah, young sir… I don't really need the crystal, and since I don't think I will be getting another custor for it, I am willing to sell it to you for… ten Iris coins!"
"…Ten? What about seven?"
Aren approached the counter and asked.
"Sold!"
The rchant smiled, and as Aren gave him the coins, he picked up the mory Crystal from the shelf and stepped out of the rchant shop.
He found himself a place a few corners away and then leaned his back against the soot-stained brick wall.
'Is this really mory Crystal, or did that rchant just not know what it was? Are mory Crystals just really that rare for rchants to not know about them? Society of Knowers knew.'
Aren wondered, and then he pressed the crystal against his forehead, and it lted as soon as it touched his forehead.
A flood of new mories entered his mind. The pounding headache returned. However, he managed to resist the pain.
"Ah…"
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