Chapter 330: The Black Market (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 330: The Black Market (3)
The old woman’s expression, as if she were looking at a madman, didn’t last long.
Even if this was a shop in the Black Market, she and I were the owner and the customer.
Moreover, wasn’t I a VIP holding a tempting item called the ‘Hundred-Year Moonflower’?
“Hee hee… yes, it’s best for a woman to take care of her skin from a young age.”
Is this what they call a complete change in attitude?
“How many potions do you need?”
“Please make as many as there are petals.”
“I shall. However… it seems this old woman will have to take one petal and the stem as payment.”
One petal and the stem.
That was within the expected range.
For someone dealing in the Black Market, this was quite conscientious.
There were a total of eight petals in the sealed plastic bag.
If I gave one to the old woman, the number of potions made would be seven.
“Hmm…”
It wasn’t bad, but it felt a little lacking.
The reason I wanted to make potions with the Hundred-Year Moonflower was for my kids.
My fledglings, who had brilliantly endured grueling training and a tight schedule to reach B-rank.
I could strengthen their bodies as much as I wanted, given enough time.
But their mana was a different story.
If the body steadily reaped a reward of 7 or 8 for every 10 units of effort, mana was a domain where talent was more important than effort. For every 10 units of effort, you’d get 5 or 6 at most, and sometimes as little as 1 or 2.
I had four mouths to feed, but only seven potions.
Wasn’t this the kind of shortage that could easily start a fight if handled wrong?
In times like these, there was only one solution.
Negotiation.
“You can take one petal and the entire stem, but if you throw in one more potion, we’ll have a clean deal.”
The old woman was slightly taken aback by my counter-offer.
She must have thought she’d made a very fair proposal considering the rarity of the Hundred-Year Moonflower. It was understandable she’d be flustered to receive a counter-offer instead of an acceptance.
But it couldn’t be helped.
In this world, the one holding the rare item always holds the cards.
Her alchemy skills were truly remarkable, but she wasn’t completely irreplaceable.
On the other hand, I was the only one with a Hundred-Year Moonflower, wasn’t I?
Of course, it would be troublesome to sit at the negotiation table with an overly domineering attitude.
My opponent was a veteran who overflowed with pride in her skills.
Just because I held the upper hand didn’t mean I could completely disregard all that. Even things that should work out would fail that way.
“It’s nothing grand, just one stamina-boosting potion. I have a colleague whose stamina is a bit low.”
If the negotiation succeeded, the plan was to give three mana potions each to the three members other than Na-eun.
And for Na-eun, one mana potion and one stamina potion.
After all, that girl could draw on my mana anyway, so it would be better to increase her stamina so she could withstand using powerful magic.
The old woman seemed to ponder my proposal for a moment before laughing in resignation.
“Hee hee… you’re a clever child. Alright, this old woman has lost.”
Fortunately, my negotiation tactic seemed to have worked.
After handing over the petal and stem to the old woman, I asked.
“How long will it take?”
“Even if I start now, it will take ten days, so it would be best to come back in two weeks to be safe.”
“I’ll do that.”
Ten days or two weeks, it didn’t matter.
It wasn’t like I needed to feed them the potions urgently.
“Is that all your business? Nothing else you need?”
“Well, not really… Ah.”
Suddenly, something I wanted to ask came to mind.
“Ma’am.”
“Hmm?”
“By any chance, do you know much about curses?”
At the mention of a curse, the old woman’s eyes began to shine faintly.
“Hee hee… after alchemy, the thing this old woman is most confident in is the art of curses.”
Oh… this was new information.
I had a feeling she was knowledgeable about curses whenever we spoke, but I never imagined it was to this extent.
Seemingly intrigued by my story, the old woman gently prompted me.
“So. What is it you’re curious about regarding curses…?”
“Uh, well, an acquaintance of mine has been cursed.”
The cursed acquaintance was none other than Han Ju-yeon.
After her life was saved by an unheard-of buff called the Sacrifice of Purity.
She had told me.
“She said… she can’t make love with any other man but me…”
Even now, having decided to believe her words to some extent, I was still half in doubt.
Was she really under such a curse?
If she was definitely cursed… was there a way to lift it?
I organized these questions in my mind and asked her.
“Does a curse like this really exist in the world?”
“Hmm…”
The old woman hummed thoughtfully at my question, lost in thought.
After pondering something deeply, she finally opened her mouth.
“In this old woman’s opinion, it seems that child is indeed cursed.”
“Ah…”
So it really exists.
A curse like that.
Then, the next question.
“Is there a way to lift that curse?”
“Well now…”
A vague answer.
The old woman soon shook her head with a grim expression.
“It probably won’t be easy to lift. It’s hard to say for sure without seeing it myself, but… depending on the case, even an Elixir might not work…”
A curse that couldn’t be lifted even by an Elixir.
Hearing her words, I realized the curse on Ju-yeon was far more powerful than I had anticipated.
What kind of item was an Elixir?
Wounds, diseases, curses.
Wasn’t it a legendary panacea that washed away anything harmful to the body?
If even that couldn’t lift the curse, just how potent was it?
Could that curse be having some negative effect on Ju-yeon?
And if the curse couldn’t be broken… would Ju-yeon and I really have to?
One thought led to another in a tangled chain, throwing my mind into chaos.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I barely managed to clear my heavy thoughts and left the ‘Witch’s Jar.’
“Hoo…”
Honestly, my head still felt heavy.
How could it not?
My sister-in-law, who had been such a great source of strength for me, was now unable to meet other men because of me.
But it was too early to lose hope.
“…Right, nothing’s set in stone yet.”
What the old woman told me was merely speculation.
In reality, it might be possible to lift it with an Elixir, or perhaps even more easily, right?
There were many options to try.
I could feed her an Elixir, or I could go to the Saintess of the Vatican and ask her to lift the curse.
“The problem is that I can’t try any of them right away.”
But that would change soon.
If I continued to rise at this pace and achieved the monumental feat of becoming the youngest S-rank Hunter.
Then, I would be able to request a meeting with the Saintess of the Vatican at a national level.
“Alright, let’s give it a shot.”
As I made a firm resolve, the darkness in my heart wagged its tail at me.
Why go through all the trouble of lifting the curse? Why not just include Ju-yeon in your harem?
It had a point.
Even if she was my sister-in-law, that was from my time as Son Si-woo.
Besides, Ju-yeon liked me too, so there wouldn’t be a problem.
Every time I saw her approach me without hesitation, thoughts like this dominated my mind.
She was just that attractive of a woman.
Her sensual body and face were perfect, of course, but even her personality was flawless, without a single rough edge.
What man could blindly push away a woman like this?
“Hoo.”
The problem was the memories of the past that remained vividly in my mind.
The sister-in-law who called me ‘Brother-in-law’ and followed me so well.
Though we didn’t share a drop of blood, our relationship, closer than that of actual siblings, stood in the way.
Perhaps I hadn’t become shameless enough to take her while ignoring all those memories.
The desire to possess her and the minimal restraint telling me I shouldn’t clashed intensely.
So I decided.
“…For now, let’s do my best.”
I would do my best to break her curse.
But what if, as the old woman said, it was a powerful curse that wouldn’t yield even to an Elixir?
Well then… I’d have no choice but to accept it as fate.
That was the best conclusion I could reach for now.
“…I’ll think about this later.”
Before leaving the Black Market, there was one more place I had to stop by.
Like the ‘Witch’s Jar,’ it was also a shop.
But instead of visible goods, it sold something invisible.
That’s right.
What I was going to buy this time was information.
I entered a shabby door located in a narrow alley, not on the main street.
It was a rundown bar where pink lighting created a decadent atmosphere.
Inside, a man was endlessly wiping a stained glass.
A middle-aged man dressed as a bartender, with his hair slicked back neatly and a stylishly grown mustache.
He was the master of this information guild.
A master of role-playing, desperate to exude a mysterious vibe.
The last time I came, he was a casino dealer; this time, he was a bartender at a bar.
Anyway, there’s no one normal in this neighborhood, not a single one.
To get his attention, as he showed no interest despite a customer’s arrival, I tapped the table.
Knock, knock!
“I’m here to buy some information.”
Only after I spoke did the man glance my way.
“What information do you seek?”
“Information related to the Purity Vow. Preferably something about how to break it.”
The man, who had only given me a passing glance, finally showed interest.
“…You seek some rather dangerous information.”
The Purity Vow.
Information related to breaking it, in particular, was classified as highly dangerous.
And for good reason. Wasn’t it content that could potentially crumble the core doctrine of a religious order?
“So, are you selling or not?”
The man shrugged at my blunt question.
“It will take about a week.”
“The price?”
“500 million.”
“……”
I expected it, but damn, that’s expensive.
It couldn’t be helped.
When it comes to rare goods, the price is whatever the owner says it is.
“I’ll be back in a week.”
After quickly finishing my business, I left the bar.
“Is that everything now?”
It took longer than I thought, but I had finished all my errands.
I was about to head back up the main street, thinking I’d look around one last time for any useful items on my way out.
Just then, a man completely covered in a robe and mask passed by me.
The only thing visible was his gait below the shins.
“……”
And yet, he looked familiar.
No, it was more than familiar; I even felt a sense of nostalgia.
The faint outline of his face.
His physique, hidden under the loose-fitting robe.
The moment I saw his gait, moving with a stride as measured as if by a ruler, I was certain.
“That’s… me.”
The man who had brushed past me was none other than my past self.
He was Son Si-woo.