The Black Market's Bloody Resolution
“Ugh...!”
“Hold still. I didn’t just slice it cleanly like the others—I blew the whole thing apart.”
The masked mage had subdued the leader of the black mages in an instant. Now she stood facing off against Coco and the rest of the dark mage group. The sudden turn of events at the final stage of the operation left everyone—including me—on edge, eyes locked on one another in tense silence.
In that charged atmosphere, she pressed her weapon against the groaning leader’s throat and spoke.
“Why were you after Bornis’s artifact? Did you plan to use it to become the new head of some pathetic little faction?”
“S-shut up...!”
Her claim about blowing it apart was no bluff. The leader’s left arm was grotesquely twisted, blood pouring from the wound. Anyone else would have passed out from shock, but he was drenched in cold sweat, gripping the mangled limb with his remaining right hand. Despite his efforts, the bleeding showed no signs of stopping.
“Damn it... Why the hell did it have to be someone like you...!”
“Well, the reason a worm like you would target a warlock’s relic is obvious. You’re only going to hurt people anyway, so just die already.”
Snap—!
Without even using a staff, a simple flick of her fingers produced a sharp whistling sound through the air.
“Urk!”
“Gah...!”
“Kuh!”
Red lines appeared across the necks of the remaining black mages and the traitor Coco. In the next instant, their heads flew off cleanly.
Thud. Thump.
The heavy heads tumbled through the air and rolled across the floor. The victims hadn’t even realized what was happening. Even as their severed heads fell, their eyes—now exposed after the masks slipped away—still held expressions of pure confusion.
Having dispatched the entire ambush party in seconds, the mage kicked the leader’s corpse aside and immediately opened her inventory. She picked up the problematic pendant.
So she was after the pendant too. She didn’t look like a warlock, though. While I was still processing that thought, the mage who had just pocketed the pendant suddenly turned her head and stared straight at the cabinet where I was hiding.
“...How about you come out now? If you stay hidden any longer, I might start thinking you’re with them.”
There was no doubt the words were directed at me. I let out a long sigh and slowly opened the cabinet door.
With a rusty creak, an old mop clattered to the floor. I stepped out with an awkward expression.
“Uh… um… We meet again, huh?”
“Haa...”
The mage let out a deep sigh at the sight of me.
The black mages’ goal wasn’t hard to guess. No matter the organization, a symbol carries immense weight. Items like the previous Archmage’s staff, an ancient dragon’s Dragonheart, or the World Tree’s seed weren’t just powerful—they held deep symbolic meaning for their respective groups.
In that sense, an object that once belonged to the leader of a faction carried significant importance. That was why these warlocks had targeted Bornis’s pendant. They probably planned to use it to head south, rally the surviving black mages and mercenaries, and reclaim their former position.
Though I doubt they would have lasted long anyway…
It felt wrong to say it out loud, but from Elina’s perspective—having watched everything from the very beginning while concealed with invisibility and silence spells near the safe—these warlocks would have been wiped out by the auction house owner if not for the cat-beastman traitor.
At first glance, the owner didn’t seem like a fighter, but the numerous magical tools adorning his massive frame were no joke. While Coco had been the strongest in the group, without the element of surprise, the outcome would have been completely reversed.
Of course, even then, they were no match for Elina herself.
She examined the auction house owner, who had fainted after suffering multiple blade wounds while clutching his severed arm. Seeing that he was still alive, she breathed a sigh of relief and cast a simple healing spell on him.
A pained groan escaped his lips, but he wouldn’t die. He wasn’t an incompetent man to begin with. If any of his many magical tools actually worked properly, he would regain consciousness soon enough.
After confirming the healing magic had taken effect, Elina retrieved the pendant. She stared at the ominous artifact for a moment, sighed, and stored it in her inventory. The item would be sealed behind multiple layers of security magic and placed in the underground archives of the library.
Right, then.
With her tasks complete, Elina lifted her gaze toward one of the cabinets lined up along the corridor.
“...How about you come out now? If you stay hidden any longer, I might start thinking you’re with them.”
The fact that she had been watching from the beginning meant she had seen everything even before the warlocks clashed with the auction house owner. Naturally, she had known someone was hiding inside that cabinet.
Of course, the way the person had hurriedly ducked inside when she first arrived made it difficult to assume they were allies.
Creak—
The old hinges groaned as the cabinet door opened. The person who emerged was the woman she had encountered upon entering the Black Market—the one wearing a dress that clearly didn’t suit her.
Looking thoroughly embarrassed, as if the awkwardness was visible even through the mask, the woman scratched at her mask and spoke.
“Uh… um… We meet again, huh?”
“Haa...”
Elina couldn’t help but sigh at the sight.
The mysterious mage clicked her tongue at me and spoke.
“So… what are you doing here?”
“What else would I be doing at an auction house? I came because I was looking for something.”
She didn’t seem inclined to harm me, so I answered confidently. Though I did feel a slight chill when her masked gaze turned my way. Since it was just her, I figured I could hypnotize her if things went south—but judging by her casting speed, my head might fly off before I could even try.
“...I see. My business here is finished, so I’ll be going.”
“Huh? That’s it? What about these people?”
“Even in this state, he runs the largest operation in the Black Market. He’s resourceful. Support will arrive soon, and he’ll get treatment. It’s not your concern.”
“But still…”
“If you have nothing else to say, I’m leaving.”
She sighed once more, pulled a strangely shaped staff from thin air, tapped the floor a couple of times, and vanished instantly amid a swirl of glowing stars.
I stood there, stunned by how she had handled everything and simply disappeared.
“Wait, she just causes a massive mess and leaves?”
The floor was littered with severed heads and headless bodies still spurting blood. It was a dizzying sight, yet I wasn’t as shocked as I expected. Ever since gaining my hypnosis ability, my physical capabilities had strangely improved, and it felt like my mental resilience had grown as well. Or maybe my brain simply refused to fully process this absurd sea of blood.
As I stood there blankly surveying the scene, I began to feel the floor tremble. It wasn’t an earthquake—reinforcements were clearly rushing in.
“...Over there!”
“Move, move, move!”
The sound of a large group charging down the corridor reached me. Soon, a sizable crowd appeared before my eyes. Just as the mage had said, the arriving support forces were armed with what looked like very expensive gear.
They saw the fallen auction house owner, the brutally murdered Coco who had infiltrated as an employee, and the warlocks whose heads and torsos were separated, still gushing fountains of blood.
Anyone would assume I was the culprit in this situation. The sheer injustice of it left me unable to even sigh.
The gruesome yet overwhelming scene left the reinforcements hesitant to approach me. No matter how hard I thought, no viable solution came to mind.
“S… stop…”
A small voice suddenly came to my rescue.
“B-boss?”
“He’s still alive! Use a healing scroll!”
The armed employees rushed past my stunned figure to their boss. They pulled out neatly bound scrolls from their pockets and tore them open in a hurry. Even then, several of them kept their sharp spear tips pointed at me, swallowing nervously.
A gentle glow rose from the torn scroll and settled over the owner. Panting heavily, he opened his mouth.
“T-that person… saved me. Until I regain consciousness… treat them with care…”
“...! Boss?”
Thump.
The auction house owner collapsed to the floor again, unconscious. The employees looked back and forth between him and me before cautiously approaching.
“Um… would you please come with us?”
“...Haa, sure.”
My sigh made them flinch, but when they saw I was following obediently, they relaxed. They began cleaning up the corridor and gathering the corpses while I walked along under their escort.
Haa, I only came here to buy something…
In a situation that seemed to be going well yet terribly wrong at the same time, I couldn’t help but sigh.