Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Black Market (3)
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Following Beth, we arrived at a spot where a small carriage waited.
As we approached the carriage, a man standing out front—so gaunt he looked like he'd been skinned down to the bone—bowed his head to Beth.
"Hee hee. You've arrived, Lady Beth."
"Brill. Let's go."
The man appeared to be the black market coachman.
At Beth's command, he climbed aboard the carriage right away and prepared to depart.
"Sit here."
"Yes."
I sat down next to Beth in the carriage.
The coachman then drove us toward the city's rear gate.
"Hee hee. It's been a while, sirs knight."
The rear gate was guarded by city watchmen as well, but after a brief exchange with the coachman, they quietly swung it open.
Rattle—
The carriage left the city behind and proceeded slowly along a forest path.
Unlike well-maintained roads, it jostled us here and there, but it wasn't too uncomfortable.
Beth, seated across from me, seemed to be sorting through her items when she suddenly remembered something and spoke up.
"Oh. You got your gold exchanged yet?"
"Where would I have found the time? I only just heard we're heading to the black market."
"......"
Beth stared at me with a blank expression, then pulled a pouch of gold coins from her bosom.
"Want me to exchange it for you?"
"...Isn't that pricey?"
"One imperial gold coin for a hundred labyrinth platinum coins. My mistake, so no fee this time."
One imperial gold coin equaled the value of a hundred labyrinth platinum coins.
She was offering a straight one-to-one exchange at face value.
No reason to turn that down.
This time, I planned to join the underground auction at the black market to buy a magic tome for 4th-circle spells.
It wouldn't come cheap, but better to buy when I could.
My current platinum coins totaled 15,700—from the original 12,700, plus the 1,000 from hiring the four-man party, and the 2,000 from Beth.
Even exchanging 15,000 of them should be fine.
No telling what magic tome I'd end up buying, so better to have as much as possible.
Any leftover gold could always be exchanged back in Labyrinth City later.
"Here you go."
"Fifteen thousand... You've saved up quite a bit, huh?"
"Just happened that way."
Beth rummaged through her subspace pouch for a moment before handing me a pouch stamped with the imperial seal.
"Here. One hundred fifty imperial gold coins. Check 'em."
Jingle.
Unlike labyrinth gold coins, which were little more than platinum-plated, imperial gold coins had real heft and density.
Counting them out, there were indeed 150.
"Looks good."
"Right. First time at the black market for you?"
"Yes."
Of course, I'd frequented the place daily in the game... but this was my first time in reality.
"I'll give you the rundown, so listen up."
Beth gave me a brief overview of the black market.
I wondered if anything might differ from what I knew, but it all matched.
Once she finished explaining, Beth pulled a small medallion from her bosom and showed it to me.
A black market marker etched with a tiny dagger.
Beth's medallion.
"You're going in on my invitation. Take it."
Thud.
She tossed it lightly onto my thigh.
"If you cause trouble there, it'll get back to me, so watch yourself."
The black market operated on a 100% invitation-only system.
To bring in a newcomer, you had to pay the black market a fee.
In return, you earned a cut of every transaction they made.
But if they stirred up problems, the inviter faced penalties too.
That's why, for first-timers, Beth would pose as someone else's invitee to bring players in.
A common workaround.
On the other hand...
I picked up Beth's seal.
This marked me as officially invited by her.
Normally, you'd have to max out affinity and complete the Blood Oath event to get it.
But for some reason, I'd already cleared the Blood Oath event.
The medallion also meant I was qualified to meet her guild.
"Why would I cause trouble?"
"...You'll see when you get there."
With that, Beth fell silent, and we waited wordlessly for the carriage to arrive.
The carriage wound up and down mountain paths before pulling up to a village with a peaceful air.
It looked like any ordinary village at first glance, but the gear on the guards at the entrance was downright intimidating.
A knight in full plate armor stood watch—clearly leagues above Labyrinth City's guards in terms of investment.
This was the black market village, Lumenia.
The continent's largest underground hub, frequented by nobles from the kingdom and surrounding lands alike.
While the guards spoke with the coachman, two more knights emerged to search the carriage interior.
Once they seemed satisfied with our identities...
"You're new here, sir."
The knight zeroed in on me.
Beth shot me a look urging me to show the seal she'd given me, so I did.
"Yes. Just got invited this time."
"We'll verify that."
The knight took the medallion I'd produced and conferred with one outside the carriage. Once confirmed...
"You're clear to enter."
He waved us into the village.
"Hee hee! We're here, Lady Beth."
The carriage came to a stop in a quiet spot within the village.
"Here. Put this on."
As we stepped down, Beth handed me a mask etched with a black emblem.
Face coverings were mandatory in the black market.
With the mask on, I followed Beth deeper into the village.
Unlike the entrance, the interior brimmed with buildings screaming old money.
This black market village, Lumenia, catered to nobles from various nations, so they kept it spotless and policed the interior security tightly.
"I'm going to register items for the auction now. What about you?"
"I'll wait. I want to join the auction."
"Yeah? Grab something to eat if you're hungry."
Beth pointed toward the red-light district.
When I didn't react much, she shrugged like it was no fun and gestured to the other side.
"Or just stick with me."
"Yes."
I'd only cared about the auction anyway.
I followed Beth to a grand mansion at the village center.
Everyone coming and going from the mansion oozed wealth.
Beth smoothly chatted with the knight out front, then led me inside.
We pushed through the crowded interior to the underground auction hall.
Beth seated me in our assigned spot before stepping away to register her auction items.
She returned shortly before...
"We'll begin today's auction!"
The lights dimmed, and the auction kicked off.
"No take-backs once you win a bid. Keep that in mind."
"Got it."
At a gesture from the auctioneer up front, a statue appeared—one arm extended straight ahead.
"Behold! This idol was guarded with their lives by northern barbarians! Bidding starts at ten gold coins!"
A large placard stood before the statue.
『Great Idol of the Barbarians』
Despite its palm-sized stature, the starting bid was dirt cheap.
Ten imperial gold coins equaled a thousand labyrinth platinum coins.
"Hey. What do you think of that statue?"
Beth, watching the auction, murmured to me.
"I wouldn't buy it."
"Why? You know what it is?"
I did.
In this game, that statue fetched top dollar from a certain group.
Dark wizards.
Specifically, the demon-worshipping heretics among them.
They collected idols of their worshipped beings by any means necessary.
Snatch it from the weak by killing them. For the strong, assassination... or straight-up buying it.
That statue was meant for selling to those freaks.
Sure, if it was real, it'd go for big money.
But...
"Not interested."
The one up for auction was a fake.
A real one couldn't even be touched by ordinary hands.
The auction house staff weren't all civilians, of course... but that just meant it was easy to spot.
If it were genuine, someone would've snatched it before it hit the block.
And sure enough...
"No bidders? Anyone at all?"
The statue passed without a single bid.
Probably bait to hook the one idiot who falls for it.
Fakes flooded this underground auction house.
Spotting the real gems amid them took experience.
Beth, with her black market savvy, clearly wasn't biting.
"Next up! We'll start bidding on the next item!"
The statue cleared out, and the second lot appeared at once.
『Dragon's Tear』
The placard before the shimmering blue gem read "Dragon's Tear."
"Next! A gem from across the sea—the Dragon's Tear! Starting bid, fifty silver coins!"
A hundred silver coins equaled one imperial gold coin.
In other words, silver matched the value of labyrinth platinum.
"Ten gold! Twenty gold now!"
As if the real auction was underway, the Dragon's Tear's price climbed fast.
But... no reason to buy that either.
Dragon's Tears weren't actual crystallized dragon tears, but their sources were limited.
The ones circulating now were rare treasures owned by a select few.
But soon, new mining sites would flood the market and tank their value.
And this gem hitting auction meant those sites were about to open.
Thus...
"Don't buy it."
"...?"
I stopped Beth from bidding.
"Why?"
"Do you like gems?"
"Not really. But these don't come up often."
"Still, don't. Isn't it weird for something that rare to be on auction?"
"......"
Beth gave me an incredulous look—me, the auction newbie, saying this.
But...
"Fine."
She set the placard down without another word.
"Saved you some losses there."
"Oh ho. Isn't this your first auction?"
"You can just tell."
Beth chuckled in disbelief.
I brushed it off like that, biding my time until the magic tomes came up.