novelraw Chapter 147 : Chapter 147
Chapter 147 : Chapter 147
Volume 2
Chapter 71 : Refund Me!
After leaving the hotel, Muen grabbed a simple lunch, then followed the route from his memory back to the riverside at the boundary between the Upper City and the Lower City.
The token in his hand, stamped with a rat emblem, was giving off a faint heat, which meant that the underground black market had indeed reopened.
After changing into a black robe and mask that concealed both his figure and his aura, Muen leapt into the riverside conduit without the slightest hesitation.
Inside the abandoned sewer pipe, the nauseating stench was even stronger than last time, as though countless corpses had once rotted there.
But when he reached the end of the tunnel, Muen did not see the tall, half-rotten-looking figure from before.
Instead, another hoarse voice came from the shadows.
“The token?”
“Here.”
Muen showed the shriveled, undersized figure crouching in the corner the token in his hand, then could not help asking curiously,
“Where is the gatekeeper from before?”
“He is dead.”
The gaunt little figure spoke without joy or sorrow, as if describing the death of a rat by the roadside.
“The token is valid. Go in.”
Muen did not ask any more questions.
For the people who lived in Belland’s shadows, dropping dead by the roadside like a stray dog was hardly unusual.
He quickly passed through the corridor and stepped into the black market.
Yet the moment he entered, Muen suddenly felt a gaze from somewhere unknown sweep across him.
At once, a chill ran down his back.
Even though it had only brushed over him for an instant, Muen instinctively sensed how terrifying the owner of that gaze was.
Even if that person was not a Crowned One, they could not have been far from it.
Fortunately, the owner of that gaze did not seem interested in probing into Muen’s identity.
After briefly sensing his realm, the gaze swiftly moved away.
“That gaze was not here last time.”
“In other words, this is a powerhouse who came to stand guard only after the black market reopened?”
“So the earlier purge really did hit the black market hard.”
After a few quiet reflections, Muen stopped dwelling on it.
From his perspective, the black market being weakened was a good thing in every sense.
After all, no one knew how much darkness had been bred in this place.
That breezy phrase, “anything can be bought here,” concealed no one knew how much blood and how many tears.
Still, Muen was not so saintly that he thought he could wipe out all this darkness entirely by relying on his status.
Because he knew he could not do it.
In fact, no one could.
As long as Belland remained the most prosperous city on the continent, these shadows swelling beneath the sunlight could never truly be eradicated.
Unless he clenched his teeth, took the lives of all those damned noble lords, and brought the glorious light of socialism to this world.
Ah, right. He was one of those noble lords too.
Well then, never mind.
“I just hope I can find the ancient dragon heart’s blood soon.”
Muen sighed. This place made him instinctively uncomfortable, and he wanted to leave as quickly as possible.
...
After entering the black market, however, Muen did not immediately begin searching for the ancient dragon heart’s blood.
Instead, he went to a small shop.
A massive horned skull hung above the signboard, making the place extremely conspicuous.
“You swindler!”
At the sight of the shop, Muen immediately began grinding his teeth.
He had not forgotten how much he had suffered because of the drug he bought here.
It could be said that in that whole incident, that drug—no, more precisely, the aphrodisiac that had come with it as a bonus—had been the true culprit behind everything spiraling completely out of control.
So today, he absolutely had to get an explanation.
Accompanied by the crisp jingle of the wind chime, Muen pushed open the shop door.
“Oh my, a customer this early?”
The shopkeeper was still wrapped in that oversized black robe, with a hoarse voice that made it impossible to tell whether the speaker was male or female.
Yet whenever the shopkeeper moved carelessly, the robe outlined a breathtaking curve.
It seemed the shop had only just opened, and the owner was still arranging goods on the shelves.
The moment Muen entered, a wolfish gleam appeared beneath the hood, as if looking at a little lamb.
“What would this customer like to see? My humble shop has everything.”
“How strange...”
Muen studied the shopkeeper, a trace of puzzlement appearing on his face.
This time was different from last time.
Looking at this mysterious shopkeeper, Muen suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity.
Was it just an illusion?
Or was it...
No, he could not let some baseless feeling cloud his mind.
Nor could he start thinking every woman with a good figure looked familiar.
He had come here to demand an explanation.
“I’m not here to buy anything.”
Muen spoke in a low voice. After special processing, even his voice had become deep and hoarse.
“Oh? Then this customer came...”
Sensing the ill intent coming from Muen, the shopkeeper clearly grew more wary as well.
“Two months ago, I bought a bottle of ** here.”
“Two months ago...”
The shopkeeper fell into thought, then suddenly understood.
“Oh, you are that great wronged—great customer from back then!”
“You were about to say ‘great fool,’ were you not?!”
The veins on Muen’s forehead bulged.
“I’ll let the price issue slide for now. I only want to ask you one thing. Was the drug you sold me even legitimate?”
“How was it not legitimate?”
The shopkeeper sounded puzzled.
“Was the drug ineffective? Could it not even knock down an elephant?”
“As far as knocking down an elephant goes, there was no problem.”
After all, even Selicia had not lasted two seconds against that drug.
“But the problem is the complimentary item you gave me. Was that thing legitimate?”
“The complimentary item...”
The shopkeeper thought for a moment, then seemed to realize something, and exclaimed in shock,
“Do not tell me you really used that medicine on an elephant? Together with the complimentary item?”
As the words left the shopkeeper’s mouth, the look turned distinctly sympathetic.
No wonder this person was so angry.
Rumor had it an elephant was more than a meter long.
Would that not go straight to the stomach in one thrust?
Tsk, tsk. The fact that this man was still alive was practically a miracle.
“Of course not!”
Muen slammed a hand on the table in fury.
“I did not use the medicine on an elephant, and your drug worked extremely well. I just want to ask one thing—why did you include an aphrodisiac as a free gift, and even tell me that using them together would work better?”
“Well... is that not a merchant’s usual trick? Bundle the products together. It used to receive excellent reviews.”
“That may be true for those lecherous degenerates with filthy minds, but I am not one of them!”
Muen looked utterly righteous.
“I am a gentleman.”
“...A gentleman would not come here to buy that sort of medicine in the first place. And I would think that with even the most basic knowledge of potion studies, anyone should be able to tell what that medicine does.”
As the shopkeeper spoke, a disbelieving glance slid over Muen.
“Customer, surely you do not mean to say you lack even that level of potion knowledge?”
“Th-That is important?” Beneath his mask, Muen’s old face turned red.
“Of course it is. Whether you are a mage or a warrior, the most basic potion studies are a required subject, are they not? Otherwise, when you are out in the world, would you dare drink potions at random? What if the effect of the potion were something strange? What if it turned you into a girl?”
“Ahem... In any case, the fact remains that what you did caused me enormous harm, so...”
Muen coughed twice, then declared in a ringing voice:
“Refund me!”