How a Reincarnated Warlock Lives – Chapter 144

Chapter 144: Shadow Market (2)

The Shadow Market’s face isn’t very bright.

It’s because the black fog, containing a strange energy, blocks the sunlight and creates a hazy afterimage throughout the space.

But even so, the time when the sun rises is avoided by the merchants and visitors of this place.

“Please come in.”

The merchant opens the door with a very polite tone. It was quite fortunate to encounter a cooperative person in broad daylight like this.

Of course, for both of us.

“No wonder last night’s moon was even redder, to think I would meet such a precious guest─”

I looked at the man who was rambling on with unnecessary words for a moment. This merchant, who introduced himself as Mephestroth, was a demon-blood, whose very existence was irreverent enough to be sent straight to the Church’s stake if he were outside.

Of course, it wasn’t anything special in the Shadow Market.

Well, come to think of it, I might be the most unusual person here. An Inquisitor who visited a place swarming with demons while carrying the Holy Sword.

Of course, the merchant in front of me had a face that didn’t seem to care about such things at all.

It was also because I didn’t reveal it, but in the first place, the merchants of the Shadow Market are those who would trade with the priests of the Church without hesitation as long as it’s profitable.

In a way, it’s not much different from the outside. What matters here is wealth.

“First, have a cup of warm tea.”

Click. I stared at the tea the merchant placed down. A warm teacup with a small teaspoon, steam rising from it.

An ordinary appearance, except for the foul smell emanating from it.

“……”

I silently picked up the teaspoon and stirred the tea.

The thick texture I felt.

It looked like warm snot.

Of course, I knew there was no malice, but I didn’t want to go out of my way to drink it.

Ahem. The merchant coughed slightly and cautiously opened his mouth while watching my expression.

“What is it that you’re looking for……?”

A dim room with a rather unpleasant scent. The merchant’s face, as he asked the question, even held a bit of confidence.

Whatever I was looking for here, the certainty that he could find it for me. It was an attitude that only a merchant who had been in the market for quite a while could show.

Smoothly. I pushed the teacup with the foul smell to the side and said calmly.

“I want to ride a’carriage’.”

“……!”

Carriage.

It was an ordinary word, but the merchant’s expression hardened a little after hearing the strange emphasis.

The carriage I mentioned was none other than the only means to get to the Castle of Wax and Mirrors, the headquarters of the Amadrid Catacomb.

It wouldn’t be widely known here, but Mephestroth seemed to know about it.

“Carriage……”

His face became complex.

The fact that the merchant didn’t immediately refuse or accept meant only one thing.

He was calculating whether this would be beneficial or detrimental to him.

“Could I perhaps take a closer look at that item from earlier?”

As expected. The merchant Mephestroth looked at me and spoke. I knew it.

I put my hand in my pocket and took out the item from earlier. The blood-stained dagger engraved with ominous symbols.

It was one of the things I took from the Catacombs after raiding several places. It was useless to me, but it could be treated quite preciously here.

“Oh……”

Mephestroth carefully received the blood-stained dagger, which was often used in the Catacomb’s sacrificial rituals and couldn’t be seen as having a good purpose, and began to examine it carefully.

If he had a good eye, he would soon realize that it was undoubtedly genuine.

Hmm. A satisfied sigh. After politely handing the dagger back to me, his face was filled with worry.

“You want to ride a carriage……”

His voice trailed off. An expression with a hint of impatience. It seemed like he was weighing the risk he would have to bear.

It was certainly not a common situation for a stranger, who didn’t appear to be a demon or a half-demon, to be looking for a way to the Amadrid Catacomb.

“Hmm……”

His gaze briefly swept over the hilt of my sword.

The purpose of the other party’s actions after the transaction isn’t very important to a merchant.

However.

Whether it’s the Catacombs or the Church, he would only be thinking about any sparks that might fly towards him.

“It’s an attractive offer, but.”

Perhaps he had finished his calculations, as he opened his mouth with a regretful expression.

“I don’t think we can make a deal. The sorcerers there are quite vicious.”

The words of refusal followed. But his face, as he looked over the dagger, still seemed to be filled with lingering desire.

“Is that so.”

I wasn’t too worried.

To persuade a hesitant merchant.

“Then how about including this as well.”

All I had to do was add more weight to this side of the scale.

“……!”

What appeared in my hand next was the Basilisk’s Eye.

An artifact obtained from conquering the Catacombs. The item used to deal with the Birdmen who had attacked the Aerial Garden before.

A rare artifact containing quite powerful magic.

Since I had depleted most of its magic, it was no longer of value to me. But it would be a different story for a merchant who collects and sells rare items.

As expected, Mephestroth’s eyes widened when he saw it.

“Oh my, goodness!”

As I expected, he seemed to be a good merchant with quite a lot of experience. He immediately recognized what appeared before his eyes.

The merchant’s face was filled with even deeper agony than before. He seriously tapped the horns on his head.

“……”

I silently waited for his answer. The tide had already turned. Mephestroth seemed to be worried about the burden he might have to bear until the very end.

“Ummm……”

But the eye of a giant creature, personally raised by the deceased High Priest of the Catacombs, was the kind of item worth taking a big risk as a merchant.

“Well, forget it if it’s too burdensome. I heard that this place……”

As his hesitation lengthened, I made a slight gesture as if I was about to get up.

“Oh, no, not that fat Drogzen!”

Mephestroth jumped up and said.

Worried that if he took too long, I might withdraw the offer and go to another merchant, he panicked and mentioned the name of another competing merchant without even being asked. Then, he closed his eyes tightly and shouted.

“I’d rather die holding this than see it go to that guy. Alright!”

The merchant’s words were spoken boldly.

He spat on his palm and held it out to me. A kind of oath to make a deal without deception under the name of the devil.

There was no actual magical effect in it, but it was a common practice here.

“A wise choice.”

I smiled slightly and clasped his slimy hand. A satisfactory deal created by the diligence of a merchant who wasn’t a morning person.

As always, good fortune comes to those who are diligent.

🔹🔹🔹

The Shadow Market, with the fog cleared and the moon risen, was spectacular. In some ways, it was even brighter than during the day.

The giggling laughter of witches and ominous shimmering lights. The corpses of various monsters that were hard to find outside and the hybrids trapped in cages.

Rattling skeletal waiters and half-demons constantly gulping down liquids with suspicious bubbles rising.

The market was filled with an ominous and attractive vitality that a first-time visitor could never imagine.

“It’s too expensive. Can’t you lower the price a bit?”

“It’s fresh blood, just extracted after slaughtering. This much is only natural.”

“The color is murky for that. Are you trying to deceive me now?”

“Get out if you’re not buying!”

Bang. The merchant instantly transforms into a rooster and flaps his wings, and the old witch giggles at the sight.

But the other people passing through the market just stop to watch the interesting scene for a moment, and no one takes it too seriously.

“This way. The path is complicated from here, so follow me─”

The merchant Mephestroth also smoothly pushed through the crowd and moved forward. I looked at him and said calmly.

“I already know the way. What I needed was the coin to pay for the carriage.”

“As expected, you’re an extraordinary person. Perhaps……”

His gaze briefly turned towards me, but then he must have thought it wasn’t a good merchant’s attitude to try and pry into the identity of a customer, as he started walking again.

It didn’t take long to arrive at the place to take the carriage.

After guiding me to the designated location, he took the Basilisk’s Eye from me and left with a cheerful expression.

“Thank you, then have a pleasant trip!”

Of course, he didn’t forget to bow and offer a polite farewell.

🔹🔹🔹

The place I arrived at was a forest path a little away from the market.

While I was killing time listening to the cry of a large creature that seemed to be a kind of bird.

Clatter.

A black something approached quickly from afar, accompanied by a small friction sound.

Soon, it stopped right in front of me, and its identity was revealed to be a black carriage. Even though it had passed through the dark and bumpy forest path, it didn’t have even a small lantern lit.

Creak.

The door slowly opened. A coachman sitting in the driver’s seat slowly turned his head towards me.

He was a man with an extremely pale face, who didn’t blink his eyes at all because he had no hair, eyebrows, or even eyelids.

Smoothly. A hand was extended towards me.

I took out one of the two coins I had received from the merchant Mephestroth earlier.

At first glance, it was a smooth coin with no patterns or markings. But the coachman, after receiving it, nodded and slowly said.

“Welcome.”

A voice with no inflection. I got into the black carriage without saying anything.

There was no need to open my mouth. This carriage had only one destination.

Clatter.

The door closed, and the interior was completely engulfed in darkness. At the same time, the carriage began to move slowly.

The speed gradually increased. But there was no characteristic shaking from passing through the rough forest path.

It wasn’t something that could happen simply because the coachman’s skills were excellent.

“……”

I looked at the thick fog visible outside the small window. The dense fog settling on the ground. It felt like I was riding on a road made of soft velvet.

Clatter.

Then, a small vibration shook the carriage for a moment. It felt like it had gotten caught on a tree root or something.

Of course, it was a little different in reality.

I leaned out the window and was able to quickly find the cause of the impact. The tallest building in the Shadow Market. It seemed like the bottom of the carriage had briefly gotten caught on the bell tower shaped like a demon.

Clatter. The carriage, having escaped the obstacle, began to move quickly and smoothly through the low-lying clouds again.

How long had we been riding like that? A huge castle with a whitish color came into view in the distance.

The headquarters of the Amadrid Catacomb, the Castle of Wax and Mirrors.

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