Episode 23: Murishi, The Species That Eats Demons (9)
Tightly pressing their robes down, the two entered the shopping district where there were quite a few sizable shops gathered. There were also many people who were wearing robes busy.
“Did all these people also fly in like Mr. Crawford?”
“Most likely something similar. Only the Sharans and nobles can use portals.”
In addition, even if the nobles wanted to open a portal between the territories, they needed Sharan’s permission. While Sharan could open the nobles’ portals at any time, the nobles couldn’t do the same. The justification for Sharan’s strict control over portal usage was to send tracking teams to the Ur whenever necessary, but in reality, it was just a tool to control them.
Ur was always a good excuse…
“Even if you’re an aristocrat, it would take quite a bit of courage to ask the Montier family to open a portal. This place is a publicly illegal market that they know about but can’t dispose of.”
“I see.”
The three guardians had the privilege of using portals without Sharan’s permission, but it was unimaginable for August or Rovelia to be secretly wandering around a black market. August was too upright for that, and Rovelia had a disdainful vanity for such dreary places.
“Do they mainly sell things that use dark magic here?”
The exiled black wizards lived together in the highlands. There seemed to be a reason why this place was so close to the entrance of the plateau.
“All sorts of dangerous things are gathered here, regardless of whether they’re black or white magic. It’s beyond the border, afterall.”
“…”
“And… I’m not going to call you young lady here. The owner despises the nobility. Sometimes, they play nasty tricks on the snobby noble customers.”
“Alright, go ahead.”
Kaiton often called her ‘young lady’ or ‘Muriel’ freely according to his moods, so there was no need to be surprised now.
“Ah… then what should I call you?”
Muriel looked at Kaiton’s mask and asked. There was no one in the kingdom that didn’t know Kai Crawford. Seeing that he was wearing a mask, she thought he wanted to hide his identity. Even though Crawford itself was already a fake identity.
“…Call me whatever you want.”
“…Don’t you want to hide your identity?”
“That’s right.”
“…If I call you Crawford as usual, people might notice.”
“Maybe so.”
“….”
Kaiton spoke as if he was talking about someone else.
So what the hell did he want her to call him?
“Then shall I call you Kai? It’s a relatively common name.”
“If you want to call me that, go ahead.”
Kaiton said with a hint of annoyance. How absurd; Who said she wanted to call him that?! She could see by his expression that he didn’t like something, but she didn’t know what the problem was.
“Then, let’s go.”
“Yes. Let’s go, Kai.”
“…”
After mustering up the courage to call him Kai, she called him, but Kaiton’s expression when he looked back was far from pleased. An expression of great displeasure.
“W-What? Why? You told me to call you that.”
“…I did.”
Kaiton paused for a moment, and Muriel, who was feeling frustrated, spoke sharply.
Kaiton felt bitter. Every time Muriel called him Kai, he felt strange. Even though he had already confirmed that Muriel didn’t remember his real name, he felt like she would call him Kaiton.
Before, and even now.
It felt like if he just waited a little longer, instead of just calling him Kai, she would properly call him Kaiton. How foolish. Muriel had already completely forgotten about him. All by herself.
“Alright then, let’s go.”
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
The place where Kaiton’s footsteps stopped was the deepest part of the black market. The exterior of the shop that apparently only sold dangerous things, regardless of whether they were black or white magic, was surprisingly simple. It was so simple that If someone had followed him here without knowing anything, they would have mistaken it for an ordinary general store.
“Welcome.”
The number 0 was written on a humble wooden sign.
“That’s a unique name.”
“It’s a name that reflects the taste of the owner who likes to destroy and break everything. Do you like the name?”
“…I can’t say that I do.”
Creak.
When they opened the old door and entered, the owner, who was crouched down examining a magic stone, turned around. He wore a lupe on one eye, and because of the magnifying glass, his blue eyes looked like they were popping out of his face.
“Oh, a regular has come after a while.”
The owner, who looked eerie yet cheerful, took off the lupe and welcomed Kaiton. Jumping down from a high chair, he was very short. Muriel had to look down to see him properly.
“Hello.”
Muriel greeted him, glancing at the white, fluffy hair that rose from his head like bubbles. The top of his head flowed freely, and the hair on the sides stood up like horns, swaying like clouds when he nodded his head.
He looked like a poodle…
As Muriel kept looking at his seductively swaying white hair, the owner leaned back and examined Muriel’s face. When he looked up from below, it was of little use that her face was covered by a robe.
Muriel’s blue hair and blueish black eyes were unusual colors in the kingdom, so she was nervous that he might recognize her, but the owner quickly lost interest and turned to Kaiton.
“Oh, this is interesting. Isn’t it the first time you’ve brought someone along?”
“Is that so?”
“It is. You always come and go alone. So, what are you looking for today?”
As the owner rubbed his hands and walked towards a door that seemed to lead to a warehouse, Kaiton whispered to Muriel, covering her with the robe a little more.
“Keep yourself a little more hidden. The owner can mark ingredients that catch his interest.”
Ingredients…?
Muriel quickly tightened her robe upon hearing that she could be used as an ingredient.
“Do you have any Nihil?”
“Nihil, you say? There’s only one left. You’re in luck. It wasn’t easy to find a calamity stone since the star of disaster fell into the sea this time.”
“So you’re saying it’s going to be expensive.”
“I like that you don’t beat around the bush. So, how much are you willing to pay?”
“Show the talisman to the owner.”
Kaiton looked back, but Muriel had pulled together all the money she had instead since she felt uncomfortable selling the gift she’d received from August.
Her stepmother, who was in charge of the estate since her father’s death, wasn’t too happy to give Muriel a large sum of money. But when Muriel subtly mentioned her share of the inheritance that she was holding onto, her stepmother reluctantly ended up giving her quite a considerable sum.
“Will this be enough?”
What Muriel took out of her pocket were three Gold Lamina. Lamina was the only currency recognized by the kingdom, and the ones she had were genuine, with the emblem of Sharan imprinted on them. There were also Gold, silver, bronze lamina, each worth a hundred times more than the regular ones.
“Three Gold Lamina? What are you going to buy with just three? Do you know how much Parsio I’ve spent making this Nihil? Are you saying the breath of God that I have is only worth such little?”
The owner’s cloud-like head swayed as he screamed as if riled up.
From what Muriel knew, three Gold Lamina was by no means a small amount. It was equivalent to the annual salary of a low-ranking knight.
“Well, then, how much is it?”
“Why? Did you bring more money? How much do you have?”
“This is it…”
“Ugh! Then why ask? I won’t sell it, won’t sell it! Get out!”
They say Poodles have a bad temper… The owner yelled angrily, shaking his small body. His face was fierce, but his fluffy hair, swaying like abundant clouds, still looked cute.
“Then how about credit..”
“Muriel.”
Kaiton called out to Muriel, who had turned pale at the thought of returning empty-handed after flying for three hours.
“The two talismans would be more than enough to pay. What Muriel needs right now is not the talismans, but Nihil, is it not?”
“That’s true, but…”
“What? What can you do with just two Talismans?! No, I won’t sell it, so just get lost!”
The owner, in a fit of anger, waved his hands to dismiss them, but when Muriel took out the talismans from her embrace and placed them on the display shelf, his expression quickly changed.
“This… This is!! It’s quite a well-crafted item…!”
Like a Poodle that had discovered a giant bone, he carefully lifted the talismans with a gaping mouth. Wearing his magnifying loupe, he examined the talismans attentively.
“Wow…!”
Incredibly, the person who’d just been fiercely barking at them a moment ago, stomped his feet and let out an exclamation of clear awe.
Does this mean he was going to buy it?
At this point, Muriel wondered just how good the item August had given her was for the owner to be so eager.
“Will it be worth it?”
“Hmm… What should I do… What should I do…”
The owner wiped his drool and rolled his eyes. Even though it was obvious that his eyeballs were rolling due to the magnifying loupe he wore, he stubbornly dragged out his words, determined to squeeze more out of her.
“Isn’t this enough for the price? Just bring the Nihil, why are you stalling?”
Kaiton raised his eyebrow and spoke provocatively.
“I told you it was difficult to find the calamity stone this time… I need to receive more than usual.”
“That’s why we gave you two talismans. Bring it quickly before I kick your butt.”
“Not my butt. You can’t do that.”
“Shall I take them back, then?”
“Fine! I’ll bring it. I’ll bring it. But no bargaining, alright?! You know our store’s only rule is only fair bartering, right? There’s never any change.”
The owner carefully held the two talismans brooches that Muriel had put down, fearing that Kaiton would snatch them back, and entered the warehouse.
“…If we negotiated well, I think even one would have been enough to buy it.”
“That wouldn’t have happened. Didn’t I say he never gives up on something new?”
“…You weren’t planning to give him two right from the start, were you?”
Kaiton must dislike Muriel having something that protected Pacio. She guessed it wasn’t just about the talismans; he was probably praying she would turn into a demon soon by using only the fragment of Ur that he gave her.
“It’s common sense to pay a proper price for good items unless you’re a thief.”
“The owner’s face looked too bright for that matter.”
“…that’s just how he is.”
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
Muriel toured the interior while waiting for the interior. The display was similar to a warehouse. Some items were carefully placed on the shelves, but most of them were randomly piled up and haphazardly reached up to the ceiling.
Armor, weapons, magic stones, potions, magic ingredients, talismans, and more – there was nothing missing.
“There’s something like this here too, huh. Love Potion. It will turn anyone into a slave of your love…?”
