Infinite Mana (2)
Mages are people too. The only difference is that they can use the mysterious art of magic; their species is still fundamentally human, so of course they are.
Other races are people too. They can blend into society alongside humans, who make up the vast majority of the human world, and most races can even produce mixed-blood offspring with humans.
And where there are people, there is demand. Demand inevitably creates supply.
Naturally, there were stores that catered primarily to mages and other races as their main customer base.
“This is one of the biggest places like that!”
Ayoung, who had led Serpina to their destination, spread her arms wide and shouted. Passersby glanced at her with the look reserved for strange people.
Serpina stared at the massive building in front of her and said,
“Here? For something like that, it’s pretty famous.”
ML Mart. It was a name even Serpina knew. On the rare occasions she felt bored during the day and went for a walk, she would often spot people carrying ML Mart shopping bags.
“Right? But it’s even more famous at night. That’s because it turns into the Magical Market run by Wolgwang Enterprise.”
“Wolgwang Enterprise? I feel like I’ve heard that before.”
After a brief moment of thought, the memory surfaced. When she first went to the Alliance, she had paid for the broken tiles with loot instead. They had definitely mentioned something about Wolgwang Points back then.
“Wolgwang Enterprise is a massive conglomerate with a foot in both the human world and the magic world. In the human world it’s a fairly large company, but in the magic world it’s considered one of the top enterprises.”
“I see. They seem pretty capable.”
Serpina noticed the magic circles installed around the building. They were designed to separate the view inside from the outside. When activated, even if the brightly lit mart was full of people moving around inside, from the outside it would look like nothing more than a dark building that had closed for the day.
At this level, Serpina could finally acknowledge it as proper magic.
“But I don’t see any stores selling magic items?”
It was currently nine in the evening. In an hour, most shops would close, and two hours after that, curfew would begin. Nine o’clock was the last chance to shop before finishing up nighttime activities.
Naturally, the area was crowded with people carrying baskets and pushing shopping carts, each heading toward their own goals.
Serpina’s eyes swept over the surroundings. The displayed goods, the items in baskets, the things being rung up at checkout. No matter where she looked, she couldn’t sense any mana.
“It’s because it’s not time yet. Regular people are still walking around, so they can’t sell anything related to magic.”
“That makes sense. But then why did we come here at this hour?”
“Because we didn’t come to buy magic-related items.”
“Well… that’s true, I guess.”
Today’s shopping objective was presentable clothes to wear to the parent observation class. There was no reason to venture into the magic world just to buy normal clothes.
“Alright. Let’s head in!”
Ayoung, brimming with excitement, pushed Serpina forward by the back. It wasn’t even her own clothes they were buying—it was someone else’s—so Serpina couldn’t understand why she was so thrilled.
The moment they stepped inside the mart, countless gazes locked onto them.
Even people completely absorbed in their own shopping would unconsciously turn their heads as Serpina passed by, their eyes following her figure.
“Whoa. They’re really staring.”
Ayoung, who wasn’t used to this kind of attention, looked slightly intimidated. Serpina, on the other hand, was very familiar with such stares and simply brushed them off.
“Of course they are. There’s no one as perfect as me.”
It was the kind of arrogant self-praise that flowed as naturally as breathing, born from a dragon’s pride in her own species. Strangely enough, it didn’t come across as mere bragging. With Serpina’s level of beauty, not having that kind of confidence would actually be more deceptive.
But this time, something was a little different. Ayoung glanced around and read the expressions on people’s faces. She could discern two main thoughts.
One was exactly what Serpina had said—they were captivated by her appearance. That one could be overlooked.
The other was pure shock at what Serpina was wearing.
If she had to guess, it was probably something like, ‘Is that… supposed to be clothes?’ To be honest, it wasn’t hard to understand.
Mages’ clothing tended to be quite free-spirited compared to regular people. It wasn’t uncommon for outfits that looked like cosplay to normal folks to be everyday wear for mages. If you walked down any random street in Shinsi, it would feel like you’d stumbled onto a movie set.
Yet even Ayoung, who was used to that level of eccentricity, found Serpina’s clothes so ragged that she couldn’t decide whether to call them clothing or just scraps. To an ordinary person, it probably looked like some beggar had wandered into the mart.
Of course, the next second they would see the clothes hanger… or rather, the scrap-hanger’s face and immediately forget all about the outfit.
I need to buy her some proper clothes and get her into them quickly. Ayoung made a firm resolution in her heart and led Serpina toward the women’s clothing section.
“Hello~ What kind of clothes are you looking f—”
For a brand to have a presence in ML Mart, it needed considerable brand power. In that sense, the clerk in charge of this particular ML Mart branch took great pride in both her job and her workplace.
Greeting customers with a bright smile was the most difficult part of working in service, but also the most basic requirement for a true professional.
The staff here had worked hard to always maintain that bright smile. However, all that effort proved futile the moment she faced Serpina—her smile crumbled in an instant.
At first, the emotion was close to disgust. It only took a few seconds for that feeling to shift into surprise, then into rock-solid professional spirit.
From ‘Why is a beggar in the mart?’ to ‘Wow, there are people this beautiful?’ and then to ‘But with a face and body like that, why is she wearing such garbage?’
“Hello! Are you looking for anything specific? Would you like me to make some recommendations?”
There was real strength behind the clerk’s words. Normally she wouldn’t offer recommendations unless asked, to avoid making customers feel pressured, but this time a sense of mission drove her—she simply had to put clothes on that body that actually suited it.
Serpina looked at the clerk’s expression, which seemed on the verge of shooting steam from her nose, and sighed inwardly.
Back in the other world, the tailors who came to fit her clothes had always worn that exact same face. Why were people in clothing-related professions all like this?
Ayoung stepped forward in Serpina’s place and said,
“Could you show us some formal-looking clothes first? But nothing too uncomfortable.”
It was an order that showed how well she understood Serpina’s personality. No matter how much it was for Heerin’s sake, if the clothes were too uncomfortable, Serpina would rather show up in rags.
“Ah, I see. Something with a suit-like feel. A lot of people find even casual suits uncomfortable these days. Please wait just a moment.”
The clerk returned shortly with her arms full of clothes.
She must have hurried quite a bit; she was breathing a little heavily as she said,
“Haa… haa… I brought everything we have in the store. Pick any designs you like, and I’ll bring them in the right size.”
“Thank you! Alright. Senior! Let’s look at them one by one!”
“…This is such a hassle. Can’t I just pick one that looks decent? They all seem fine.”
“What are you saying! Even if you end up buying everything or nothing at all, the basics are to examine each one properly!”
Ayoung’s strong assertion made the clerk nod vigorously in agreement. Watching them, Serpina thought to herself that this was going to be annoying.
Still, she didn’t ignore what Ayoung and the clerk were saying. After all, she was completely clueless when it came to women’s clothing.
And so, after a long stretch of rummaging through this outfit and that, measuring sizes, trying things on, and rummaging again in what felt like an endless hell—
“This one seems the best. Miss Clerk.”
“I agree. You have wonderful taste, ma’am.”
The final choice was a design that gave off a professional vibe while subtly emphasizing her figure.
“I personally liked the third one more, but if Senior doesn’t like it, there’s nothing I can do.”
“Since we’re already here, how about trying on five more outfits? There might be something you like even better.”
“No.”
Serpina flatly dismissed Ayoung and the clerk, who were enthusiastically hyping each other up, and turned her gaze to the mirror in front of her.
Honestly, it was pretty. Although it looked like it clung tightly to her body, it didn’t actually feel constricting.
“It’s more comfortable to move in than it looks, right? Fabric technology has advanced a lot these days. It is a bit expensive, though.”
She nodded quietly at the clerk’s explanation.
It was harder to move in than the ragged clothes she had been wearing before. But to be more comfortable than this, she’d have to be wearing nothing but underwear, so it was only natural.
Still, this level was something she could tolerate wearing to a formal event like a parent observation class.
The announcement informing customers that the mart was closing for the day echoed throughout the entire building. Both Ayoung and the clerk let out disappointed sounds at the same time.
“I’ll take the one I’m wearing now, plus these two. Please ring them up.”
Ayoung pulled out Serpina’s ID card from her wallet and paid with it. Since Serpina’s clothes had no pockets, Ayoung had been carrying it for her.
“Why buy three? One should be enough.”
“Come on, you need something else to wear while the others are being washed. And just in case, one more as backup. This much is necessary.”
Ayoung spoke as if it were obvious. To Serpina, however, it just sounded ridiculous.
“You haven’t forgotten what we’re capable of, have you?”
“…Ah.”
Serpina could use magic. After all, even though she had been wearing such tattered clothes, there hadn’t been a single dirty spot on them. Doing laundry was something she could handle with one spell in under ten seconds.
But the payment had already gone through. Returning clothes she had already bought felt like it would scratch her pride as a dragon, so she didn’t ask for a refund.
“More importantly, where are we going now? They said the store is about to close.”
Ayoung led Serpina down to the basement. Past the underground section of the mart, past the underground parking lot, and even deeper underground.
“I told you earlier in front of the building, didn’t I? ML Mart becomes the Magical Market at night.”
“I thought it earlier too, but that name sounds really childish. Anyway, what is it?”
“Since we came all the way here, I figured we might as well stop by. You won’t be bored if you look around, Senior.”
They finally reached a level so deep underground that it wasn’t even listed on the store directory. Quite a few people who had arrived earlier were already gathered there.
Serpina immediately noticed that they were all mages. Visitors to the Magical Market, no doubt.
At ten o’clock, the mart’s doors closed. The lights went out, and a silence straight out of a horror movie filled the building.
Then, thirty minutes later.
Serpina felt the magic circles installed around the building activate. Immediately afterward, the mart’s lights came back on, bright and clear.
When they left the basement level and returned to the ground floor, an entirely different scene unfolded before them—one completely unlike what it had been before closing.
“The portable air conditioner that uses cooling magic is… on the second floor, huh.”
“Have you tried the sparkling blood packs that just came out?”
“Mom! Buy me the three-stage transforming robot vacuum golem!”
Both the items being sold and the people browsing them had completely changed from just moments ago.
The late-night sales targeting residents of the magic world had officially begun.