119. Office Workers Have No Summer Vacation (3)
119. Office Workers Have No Summer Vacation (3)
"What? The black market? I'm coming too!"
"We're not going there to play. And don't you have homework? Did you finish all your homework?"
"Uh..."
Karina assigned homework every day, so Millia was bound to have some left. At my question, Millia glanced nervously at Karina and opened the notebook she'd set aside. Was she trying to rush through it now? I chuckled as I watched her pen race across the page.
She was cute.
"I'll finish fast, so wait for me!"
"I'll scold you if you rush through it, you know."
"I-I'll do it properly!"
No matter how I looked at it, she seemed to be scribbling as fast as possible. Curious, I moved closer to see what she was writing and found unfamiliar formulas. Then again, was this really a matter of not remembering? I had been a born-and-bred humanities student, so I'd long since forgotten all my mathematics. At this point, I remembered almost nothing beyond basic arithmetic.
This world used Arabic numerals too.
Thinking about it, that wasn't strange at all. This world had borrowed more than a few things from reality. For one thing, it casually used the metric system everywhere. That'd actually made adapting much easier.
If it had been yards and pounds, I'd have gritted my teeth and spread the metric system across this entire world by force!
"The black market opens at night, so don't rush too much."
"The black market... won't it be dangerous?"
"Don't worry too much. I'll be right beside you."
"Even so..."
Karina gazed at Millia with worried eyes, apparently concerned that the reckless girl might cause trouble there. The sight filled me with a strange nostalgia. I must have been worried over like that when I was young too, though I could barely remember it.
Perhaps that was unavoidable when the gap was at least ten years, even by the shortest estimate. Still, it felt strangely bitter. As I turned over the hazy past I could barely remember, Karina's gaze shifted to my face.
"Something to say?"
"You looked troubled. Are you feeling unwell?"
"No. I was just thinking that I can barely remember my past."
"Old memories?"
"At this point, I barely remember them anymore."
It was something I'd worried about for a long time. The person I'd been before transmigrating, whom I remembered strangely little about. And yet the game knowledge that came back with unnatural clarity. What was going on?
I couldn't shake the suspicion that something had tampered with my memories—or maybe with my head itself. I had no evidence, so it was nothing more than a gut feeling, but...
"I don't know the reason, but my memories from before the transm— no, before I washed up here, they don't come back well. Thinking back, I think it's been that way ever since I first opened my eyes on that uninhabited island."
"Hmm... could it be amnesia?"
"Could be."
"If anything comes back to you, please tell me. I'll help you find your past, Yohan!"
"Thank you."
"Me too! I'll help too!"
Millia quietly raised her hand and inserted herself into the conversation. She looked like a puppy demanding to be included instead of letting the two of us speak alone, making both Karina and me chuckle.
"Fine. First, finish your homework."
"Okaaay..."
[Ugh, that's so sappy it gives me goosebumps...]
What was her problem now?
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"A kitty!"
"I have a name, and it's Sif!"
"Can I pet your ears?"
"No!"
"Tch."
Millia wanted to touch Sif's ears, while Sif wanted nothing of the sort. They faced off with me between them—or rather, Sif alone remained on guard. I handed Rue to Millia and spoke.
[Wait! Don't you dare! Stop this!]
"You shouldn't touch people's ears without permission. Play with Rue instead."
"Really? Yay!"
Millia practically leaped for joy at my words and hugged Rue tight. Rue, seeming to realize resistance was pointless, just lay quietly in Millia's arms and let out a mournful wail.
[I'm not a doll for you to carry around and hug...]
"Don't tie a leash to her."
If she did that here, we'd draw every eye in the place. Given that I'd rather move around without attracting attention, causing a commotion wasn't exactly the best option. Not that it'd be weird if eyes were glued to us anyway, what with me dragging this whole crew around.
"Ah, ah. U-uh..."
"Elisa. Relax."
Was it because this was her first visit to a black market, or because of the crowd? Elisa clung weakly to my sleeve and trembled like a frightened puppy. At that rate, we might have turned back without even entering. I took Elisa's hand and met her gaze.
"If anyone puts you in danger, I'll smash them to pieces. So don't worry."
"What about me?"
"You too."
"Hey, that's so unfair!"
[Wow, what a player. A total player.]
What about that made me a player? I sighed inwardly as Millia puffed out her cheeks. Why was I doing this when I was not even these girls' father? Was this what it felt like to have a daughter? With that strange thought in mind, I watched Sif speak to the guard at the entrance so we could enter the black market.
"Oh, you're back. Password?"
"Today's Eupras rate is three silver coins."
"Okay. Head on in. No trouble, alright? The mood's pretty ugly these days."
At his words, a gold coin glinted in Sif's hand. Pocketing the coin, the guard grinned, apparently in a good mood, and gave us some information.
"Y'know the Leech Gang pulled some big crap recently. Well, those bastards sneaked into the black market, so the market enforcers and the Guard had one hell of a standoff over it. Because of that, the atmosphere is murderous, so I'd say it's best not to start any trouble. That goes for you too, big guy behind her..."
"I'm planning to take care of business and leave."
"That's what everybody says before they start trouble. And then I get an earful from the old-timer and my pay gets docked. Hah, I need to get promoted fast or something..."
That was obvious. What kind of idiot announced that he was going to cause trouble before doing it?
"So can we go in now? I'm itching to buy something, so hurry it up—"
"Yeah, yeah. Go on in. The rest of you folks, enjoy your fun little shopping trip."
The black market, at last. Feeling the two hands gripping mine tightly, I stepped inside. The black market—in the game, it was the place that periodically sold rare goods. So what would it actually be like in reality? It was here that I'd acquired mithril, so I was sure there'd be plenty of rare items, but...
I hoped the things I wanted would be there.
"Alright, this is the black market. Do not wander away from Yohan, got it? Criminals walk around here as bold as you please. If you let your guard down, you can end up in a real bad way!"
"And somehow you manage to strut around here just fine."
"I've got my own hard-earned know-how."
"Yohan, look at that! It's huge! Whose horn do you think it is?"
I turned toward the stall Millia had indicated. It was a simple setup, nothing more than a merchant sitting on a mat spread across the ground, but several of the items laid out there looked interesting.
"...A Minotaur's Horn, huh."
"Oh? You recognized it immediately. You must have considerable experience as an explorer."
"Some."
I played along with the goateed old man and examined the Minotaur's Horn, which was as thick as my forearm. It had no significant damage or discoloration and seemed to have been removed only recently. He had done well to transport something like this.
"How'd you move it?"
"There's a trick to everything."
So it was a trade secret. The material was certainly tempting... Maybe I should buy one. Properly processed, it could be useful in all sorts of ways.
"The price?"
"Fifty gold coins."
Expensive. I did not know the market price, but it did not feel like a bad deal. Maybe I should hold off for the moment. I'd pass this way again before leaving anyway.
"A price that requires a bit of thought."
"Heheh. You know where else you're gonna find quality goods like this?"
"I'll take a full lap around the market first and decide. Shopping requires a wise approach, after all."
"You'd best come back quickly!"
We left the goateed man behind and started down the path. There were still plenty of stalls left to see. At least until I secured a few of the materials I wanted and the item Elisa was looking for, I had no intention of wasting money.
"Kinda quiet tonight~ Did some rare item show up at the auction house or something?"
Sif said it abruptly while leading the way. Since this was our first visit to the black market, we had no way to judge whether the crowd was large or small. Sif would not have mentioned it for no reason, so I asked her directly.
"The crowd's light?"
"Normally, even if it's not as packed as a regular market, there'd still be at least one or two people standing at every stall, you know? But it's a little sparse tonight. Whenever it's like this, there's usually one of three reasons: there aren't any worthwhile items, things are tense between the gangs, or an extremely rare item went up for auction and everyone flocked over there first."
A rare item, huh.
That caught my interest. I was pretty curious about what qualified as a rare item in a place like this.
"Sif. When do the auctions usually start?"
"Hmm, about an hour after the black market opens? It usually starts around then, so if we browse the stalls at a leisurely pace and head that way, it should work out."
"A-an auction... I-it seems like there'll be a lot of people... B-but still, I-I'd like to go see it once..."
"Yohan, can't we go check out the auction? It looks like fun~"
Millia showed enormous interest at the word "auction" and started pestering me. Curiosity had clearly taken hold of her. And Elisa also seemed to want to go see it.
No one was objecting, so stopping by the auction house to take a look didn't seem like a bad idea.
"Then let's browse the stalls slowly and make our way toward the auction house."
"Mmm, if we're doing that, there's a place we've gotta stop by before we head to the auction."
I fixed my gaze on our money-grubbing guide at her words.
Sif playfully mimed pulling something over her head and grinned like a cat.
"Before we go, we oughta hide our identities, right?"