Chapter 17: Aurax’s Black Market

Thompson’s two legs, walking ahead, were trembling uncontrollably.

“Ahem.”

Looking at him, I did feel a little sorry.

But the thugs were the ones who picked a fight first, and I just used that to my advantage.

Of course, the skill’s effect was so outstanding that it caused a misunderstanding.

“Your Highness, how could you stab someone like that? The blood was just gushing!”

“My only disciple was a cruel and heartless fellow…”

“He’s not dead! It was just a splash of blood!”

When I vehemently protested, the two of them chuckled.

They knew the thug I stabbed was perfectly fine, but they were teasing me.

“That was an interesting skill. But how is something like that possible?”

“Hmm, where did you learn such a skill? Is it really the Prophet Syndrome?”

“I… my inner Black Flame Dragon told me.”

I answered vaguely and nudged Thompson, who was walking ahead.

“Guide me to the black market.”

Thompson flinched, his shoulders trembling, and he glanced back at me slightly.

“The black market is a very dangerous place, My Lord. Are you really sure?”

‘How can every single word this guy says be so perfectly cliché?’

“Thompson, your mouth is confiscated until we reach the black market. Don’t say a word. Understand?”

“Why, why is that, My Lord?”

“Because I’m afraid your clichés will rub off on me!”

“But, but, My Lord!”

“Oh, come on, don’t you know ‘confiscated’? Do you want me to actually confiscate it?”

“Yes…”

That’s better.

It’s true that Aurax’s black market is dangerous.

Both for me and for Thompson, who is just a novice con artist.

‘There, if you don’t act as prescribed, you’ll get stabbed without warning.’

It was that kind of brutal place, and a place where you could acquire valuable items.

Thompson, trembling, was walking towards the black market with his mouth shut tight, just as I ordered.

That was the effect of the event, ‘I’m the Guide of This Area.’

The way to the black market?

I know that much.

The problem was ‘entry qualifications.’

The black market wasn’t called the black market for nothing.

‘Either you’ve used the black market before, or you’ve been invited by someone who has.’

You absolutely had to have one of these two qualifications to enter.

Qualifications that didn’t apply to me at all right now.

So, I decided to use ‘I’m the Guide of This Area.’

[Event] Although not widely known in Auraqus, someone who was active in another region has visited. Gentlemen of the back alleys, who know proper etiquette, are volunteering to host him, so let’s explore the shadowy places of Aurax together.

The trigger conditions for this event seemed simple but were a bit tricky.

‘Subduing novice thugs from the back alleys without killing them and making them submit in a state of fear.’

Novice thugs were quite weak, so for players accustomed to the game, subduing them wasn’t very difficult.

However, it became slightly difficult to beat them up just enough to leave them alive without killing them.

Because if you leave them with health and let them live, their way of acting is to flee immediately after an intense eye exchange, like before.

So, usually, you had to tie them up and beat them or threaten them with words to create a state of fear.

‘Honestly, it’s too much trouble. I was lucky I had a skill to use, so I solved it easily.’

Thanks to that, it wasn’t a widely known element either.

But this event was quite useful.

Using it, you could enjoy the same effect as being invited to the black market.

“We’re here, My Lord.”

After walking through the back alleys for a long time, Thompson stopped.

An ordinary iron gate, heavily rusted.

However, this was the entrance to Aurax’s black market.

Thompson nervously eyed me and bowed obsequiously.

“Um, then, may I return now?”

I didn’t answer him and looked back at Karls and Tirvaen.

“From here on, we need to hide our titles, so just use ‘My Lord’ for everyone.”

There’s no benefit to revealing the status of a prince in this place.

“Understood, My Lord.”

“I’ll call you whatever I want.”

Karls bowed his head immediately, and Tirvaen had no interest in my title.

It doesn’t matter anyway, since she’s just a kid who won’t be calling me “Your Highness.”

Alright, then…

“Open it.”

I looked at Thompson and pointed at the door, and his face turned pale.

“My Lord! You promised to spare my life!”

Yes, I did.

“So you’re alive and well, just as promised, aren’t you?”

“Something terrible will happen if I go in there!”

“No, something small will happen. And I’ll keep you alive in the future, so don’t worry and open it. Hurry.”

Then Thompson sighed deeply and knocked on the iron door with trembling hands.

A response came from inside exactly 5 seconds later.

“Who is it? If you don’t want to die, take your hands off the door and get lost.”

The doorkeeper’s voice was as deep as it was in the original story.

I watched, arms crossed.

“I, I, it’s Thompson. Big brother.”

“…Thompson? Who’s that?”

“You know, the youngest one in the West District. Hehe.”

“Ah, that skinny guy. But you’re not high enough in the ranks to be here, are you? If you don’t want to die, take your hands off the door and back away.”

“Ah, why are you like this? I brought a guest.”

“What? A guest? Hmph. It seems kids these days have no fear, do they?”

With a click of the tongue, the iron door creaked open.

I smiled inwardly.

‘Good, door opened successfully.’

What appeared after opening the rusty iron door was a doorkeeper a head taller than me.

The fierce-looking man glanced over us, then started growling at Thompson.

“This crazy bastard… Who told you that if you pick up a few dog bones, the black market door will just open easily?”

“N-no, it’s not like that.”

“What’s not like that? Should I call for a meeting, all of you under me? Only when your fingers are bent backward will you stop thinking of knocking on the black market door, right?”

Then the terrified Thompson began to hiccup.

He was stuck between me and the doorkeeper, unable to move.

Alright, this is where I step in.

“Hey, mister.”

“?”

“What are you barking about in the wrong place when I said a guest is here? Aren’t you open for business?”

“I…”

When I interjected, the doorkeeper just frowned and started glaring at me.

It was an annoyed gaze, as if even spewing insults was a waste.

‘If I had worn something expensive, there would have been some reaction here.’

Currently, I was in ordinary attire provided by Marquis Reith, and thanks to that, I was being completely ignored.

In this situation, a player has three options.

‘Turn back. Fight. Bribe.’

If I turned back now, I’d just be losing an opportunity.

If I fought the doorkeeper, I’d win thanks to Karls, but I’d also have to fight other guys who’d pop out from inside the black market, and consequently, I wouldn’t gain anything.

So the answer was ‘bribe.’

‘And to go all-in with it.’

I took out all the gold coins I had from my inventory and thrust them towards the doorkeeper.

“30 gold coins. Is this enough for an entrance fee?”

I saw the doorkeeper’s eyes widen slightly as he took the heavy pouch.

30 gold coins wasn’t an incredibly large sum, but it was too much for an entrance fee.

I was bluffing by betting my entire fortune, but since they couldn’t possibly know that, they would think I was very wealthy.

“…Hmm, so you were a guest after all.”

The doorkeeper, his expression softening a little, took out a few gold coins and examined them carefully.

Then he nodded, and to my surprise, returned the entire pouch of gold coins to me.

As expected.

But I pretended to know nothing, looking at the doorkeeper with a very innocent face.

The doorkeeper explained simply to me.

“Our black market does not charge an entrance fee. We merely verify if the guest is someone worth doing business with.”

“Oh, really? Saved some money then.”

I casually tossed the gold coins into my inventory and subtly glanced at the darkness unfolding behind the doorkeeper.

“Then I can go in, right?”

“Of course, guest.”

The doorkeeper smiled broadly, a smile that didn’t suit him at all, and opened the way.

It wasn’t a business smile, but a genuinely joyful expression.

Knowing his true intentions, I let out a chuckle.

‘He probably thinks he’s got a pushover.’

He’s undoubtedly beaming, thinking he’s going to clean me out down to my underwear in there.

But for me, it was the opposite.

Who am I to get fleeced here?

‘If anything, I’ll be doing the fleecing.’

I hid my expression and gestured to Thompson.

“What are you doing? Lead the way again.”

“Huh? Am I going in too?”

Thompson, who had been standing blankly, looked back and forth between me and the doorkeeper with a bewildered expression.

He looked as if he wasn’t sure if it was okay for him to keep following me.

But surprisingly, the doorkeeper smiled gently.

“By all means, guide the guest well, Thompson! Don’t get lost. Don’t make any mistakes.”

‘He’s spouting such meaningful nonsense.’

“Ah, understood, Big Brother. I’ll do my best.”

Novice con artist Thompson seemed completely oblivious as to why the doorkeeper’s attitude had suddenly changed.

That was, of course, because of the 30 gold coins I had shown.

‘The more gold coins a player shows as an entrance fee, the friendlier the black market doorkeeper becomes.’

Thanks to that, Thompson was able to continue with me.

“?”

He himself, however, seemed to have no idea why he was continuing to accompany us.

“Did you get gum on your foot? Let’s go quickly.”

That guy will be useful in that murky labyrinth.

‘Aurax’s black market was dark and complex, like an ant’s nest.

It was a continuous series of narrow corridors that twisted and turned and branched out as they delved underground.

With Thompson leading the way, I walked slowly, recalling information about this place.

‘Most of the rooms are either empty or traps, and only a few are used for transactions. You have to investigate properly before entering.’

This structure was designed to safely evacuate guests and goods even if the city guards raided.

In other words, if you opened the wrong door and entered, you could be considered the same as the guards and end up riddled with holes.

Thompson seemed to vaguely know this, looking back at me with uneasy eyes.

“Um, My Lord, I really don’t know this place well. I’m not qualified yet.”

Yes, I guess so.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything.”

“Huh? This is our black market, My Lord. What do you mean you’ll take care of it?”

‘Another cliché question.’

“Your mouth is confiscated again. It’s confiscated until I say you can speak again. Understand?”

“…”

“Aren’t you going to answer?”

“You just confiscated it, didn’t you?”

“Yes, you idiot. I confiscated it, so why are you answering?”

“…”

With Thompson, who had become mute like a honey-fed dummy, leading the way, I turned my head and instructed Karls and Tirvaen as follows:

“From now on, we’re going to find a room where there’s no sound at all. Understood?”

Places where voices are heard or presences are felt are traps.

Only rooms with complete silence.

That was where the real black market, where illicit dealings took place, was located.

And Karls found that room in an instant.

“Here it is.”

It was thanks to his extremely developed five senses, befitting an elite knight.

“Yes, there’s definitely no presence to be felt.”

Tirvaen, who had cast a detection spell, confirmed it.

I gestured to Thompson.

“Open it.”

Here, I planned to obtain three items in total.

The first was a bow named ‘Swift Kill.’

The second was a magic accessory called ‘Forest Rosary.’

The third was the ‘Shield of Balance.’

These were all highly expensive items that my 30 gold coins couldn’t even dream of covering.

But I was confident.

‘Because this is that black market.’

Came to be taken for a fool!

And I’ll take them for a fool!

Humming joyfully, I stepped into the room.

But the next moment.

“Hmm?”

“Eh?”

I couldn’t help but be flustered by the familiar sight of a large figure.

The guy who was sitting across from the trader also seemed surprised to recognize me.

“What? What are you doing here?”

“I… that’s what I should be asking, Irgal.”

Why is this guy here?