After walking down stairs that were longer than expected with the one-eyed Troll and Amir, a bizarrely shaped small town appeared before Histori.
This place was originally supposed to be a small limestone cavern, but most of the stalactites above had been artificially cut away.
Only a few magic lamps hanging on the surrounding walls served as light sources, emitting a sickly green glow that stretched everyone’s shadows long and eerie.
The narrow streets were crowded with sparse stalls on both sides.
The items for sale were quite peculiar; some looked like cheap handicrafts of cursed wood carvings, while others were alchemy materials slowly wriggling inside bottles.
There were even small stalls selling the same fruit Histori had just eaten…
‘Right, even those who hang around the Black Market every day have to eat in the end, don’t they?’
However, unlike the noisy world above, the people here in the Black Market were unusually quiet.
Whether it was the guests wrapped in black robes or the stall owners with their sinister gazes, they rarely communicated with each other.
They merely completed transactions in a hurry using gestures and eye contact, then quickly disappeared into deeper shadows.
Before Histori could look around curiously for long, the one-eyed Troll leading the way stopped in front of an unremarkable tent hanging with a black curtain.
He turned around and flashed a simple, honest smile at Amir and Histori.
Then, he knocked on the wooden sign by the entrance, which featured a painted mask, and shouted at the top of his lungs—
“Old Lady Naqiqi, I’ve brought you some business! Two big-spending bosses!”
“Shut up! You brainless Troll!”
A raspy voice that sounded like fingernails scraping a blackboard came from inside the tent.
“The person who wants to change their face can just walk in! Also, keep it down next time. I told you this is a secret business!”
The Troll gave a sheepish grin and scratched the back of his head.
He then tactfully stepped aside, made a “please” gesture to Amir and Histori, and headed back the way they came without looking back—as if staying near Amir for even one more second would shorten his life.
“…”
Standing at the entrance of the tent and looking at the black curtain fluttering in the wind, Histori felt as though a giant, gaping mouth was waiting to devour her.
“Go in, and make it quick.”
Amir placed her palm on Histori’s back, speaking as if it were a trivial matter.
“…O-Okay.”
Under the watch of that shadow-like gaze behind her, Histori swallowed hard.
Steeling herself, she lifted the curtain and ducked inside.
…Eh?
Unexpectedly, the scene inside the tent was not as dark or terrifying as Histori had imagined.
There were no bloody human-skin masks hanging around, and there was no foul smell.
On the contrary, the tent was kept quite tidy, and the air was filled with a faint scent of herbs.
As for the Face-Changer sitting behind the table, whom the Troll had called “Old Lady Naqiqi,” she was not a hideous old hag.
She looked fairly young—pretty even.
If there hadn’t been only one person in the tent, Histori might have thought she was the Face-Changer’s daughter.
The Face-Changer was wearing a voluminous purple robe.
With fingertips painted with black nail polish, she was nonchalantly fiddling with a vial.
Even though Histori had already walked up to her, she only looked up slightly and gave Histori a teasing smile.
“…Hee-hee, so it’s just a little girl. Why are you still wearing a cloak after coming here? What kind of shameful thing did you do?”
“…”
Histori did not answer.
Instead, she cautiously eyed the operating table beside the woman.
“Not talking? That’s for the best.”
The woman did not mind Histori’s silence.
She simply stretched and stood up from her chair, circling Histori like a slippery snake.
“Don’t worry. I, Grandma Naqiqi, only care about taking the money and doing the work. I never ask about where a guest came from or where they are going. No matter what you did in the past—whether you killed someone or committed arson—as long as you walk out of here, you can start a brand-new life.”
As she walked, she stopped in front of Histori and rubbed her fingers together.
“However, before we start, do you want to keep a memento of your current look? For just two extra silver coins, I can help you record a magic image. You can take it out and look at it later if you miss your original face.”
“…What exactly does this face-changing process involve?”
“That depends on your needs and budget. It can be as small as cutting flesh and adjusting bones to fix your features, or as large as changing your skin and reshaping your entire body. As long as the money is right, I can even help you turn into another race.”
‘So, it really does involve a knife in the end?’
Just as Histori’s face turned pale, a cold voice drifted in from outside the tent.
“There is no need for such trouble. Just change her hair and eye color.”
“…Tch.”
Hearing this, Naqiqi curled her lip, and most of the enthusiasm on her face vanished instantly.
“You came to a Face-Changer for such a small thing? Couldn’t you two just go to the street and buy a wig?”
She grumbled and complained for a while, then looked back suspiciously, scrutinizing the gap in the tent flap.
“Strange. There’s no gap here. How can she hear us even when we speak so softly?”
‘Duh… She is the Hero who could kick her way through the Demon King’s Castle. If she wants to listen, what could this crappy tent do to stop her?’
However, after hearing that she only needed her hair dyed and her eye color changed, Histori finally felt the weight lift off her heart.
‘You should have said so earlier! It’s just a hair and beauty appointment. Why make it so terrifying!’
‘And calling yourself a “Face-Changer”… it really makes people panic.’
Histori stifled a yawn and then relaxed, lying down on the operating table in the center of the tent.
“In that case, help me dye it… uh, blonde. Not too dark.”
“Fine, fine. But before that, you need to take off your cloak first, don’t you?”
Naqiqi shook her head helplessly.
She slowly took a vial from a nearby shelf, walked to Histori’s side, and grabbed the hood of the cloak.
In an instant, long hair as white as snow cascaded down from the top of Histori’s head, and her exquisite face was exposed to the air once again.
With her eyes closed against the dim light above, Histori rubbed her chin with her finger and said hesitantly, “Also, for the eye color, I think blue would be better, but I’ve heard green matches blonde hair well too. Help me check them both later…”
*Clatter.*
For some reason, Histori heard a strange sound of metal hitting the floor.
She opened her eyes and saw Naqiqi, who had been about to start with scissors and colored potions.
Now, the woman’s lazy eyes were wide with shock, staring intently at Histori’s face.
“…W-What is it? Is there a problem?”
“…”
Naqiqi did not answer immediately.
Her hand trembled as she reached up to rub her eyes vigorously.
Then, an unbelievable, dry sound squeezed out of her throat.
“…Are you Lady Histori?”