Black Market

Under the bright, shining sun, hundreds of citizens walked the streets, and in an abandoned warehouse, where it seemed no one had been there in years, with vines and long grass that hadn't been trimmed, a tear in space emerged in the center of the warehouse.

The wind in the surroundings began to pick up as the black hole in space began to form into a circular gate. As the expansion of the black hole ceased, from the black gate emerged two figures.

The figure was a devilishly beautiful young woman with long silver hair swaying in her footsteps, wearing a black crop top and light-grey leggings—her eyes were a pretty blue, filled with indifference that hid her anger.

Clearly, she was not someone you should mess with. However…

'Shouldn't this place be crowded with hunters? Shouldn't they be attempting to raid the dungeon?'

[Why would they try to raid again? An A-Rank party consisting of twenty hunters were massacred like livestock! Do you think they'd send another party after only four survived?]

Realizing what Ayin meant, she said, 'No!'

They have to assess the situation first, then make their decision after that.]

'Sorry…'

[Don't apologize! First, you need to sell half of those demon crystals; keep the other half for yourself so you can use them to grow stronger! After that, I'll be teaching you everything before you can start to grow stronger! I'd rather you knew it than have you repeatedly ask me.] Ayin let out a sigh. [I'd suggest you sell the demon crystals at trading posts in the black market.]

'Why?… I could just go to the trading post the government runs!'

[Just go. You'll see why when you get there.]

'Fine.' Lilith left the warehouse and made her way into the crowd, where she headed towards the black market.

~~~

When she arrived at the door of a worn-down building, she was stopped by Ayin.

[If you go in there the way you are now, you'll gain too much attention! It'd be better to camouflage yourself, unless you want a crowd of vile men following you with dirty thoughts.]

Paying heed to her advice, she searched in her inventory for clothing that would camouflage her body entirely. When searching, she was able to search by category and quickly found a black cloak that fit her needs.

With a thought, the black cloak appeared in her hand. She donned the black cloak and pulled the cloak's hood over her head; it hid her face efficiently. As she was now camouflaged by the cloak, she opened the door.

Immediately after she opened the door, she was met with a lavish descending set of stairs that felt out of place for this shabby, worn-out building.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped onto the first step of the staircase, descending further and further.

In a matter of a few minutes, she arrived at the bottom of the staircase, which was dimly lit by a white crystal. Before her, she found two guards who wore lavish equipment.

"I.D. Please!" One of the guards said.

'I don't have my ID! What do I do?' Lilith panicked internally.

[In your inventory there should be a badge with a symbol of a raven engraved in black. Use that; it'll suffice as your ID.] Ayin suggested.

'Where did you get it from?'

[That's none of your concern. Show them the badge unless you'd rather have them throw you out.]

Knowing full well that she wouldn't be able to get her answer from Ayin, she followed Ayin's instructions and faked reaching into her cloak and pulled out a badge with a raven engraved in black.

She handed them the badge.

"Black Raven Guild? A high-ranking executive at that! You may enter!" The guard returned her badge and moved aside, allowing Lilith to enter the underground black market.

She calmly stepped into the black market and observed the buildings in her line of sight. They were no different from the lavish buildings on the surface—the opposite of what she had expected of the black market.

'Where now?'

[Continue going straight until you reach your first intersection. When you reach the intersection, turn right.]

When she reached the intersection, she turned right, and her eyes were met with shops lining the sides of the streets with vendors who were selling vegetables and other edible items on the streets. Then there were bigger shops that looked more lavish and sold more expensive items such as jewelry and weapons.

As she was born on the wealthy side of the city, she was already used to this type of scene, so it didn't give her a reaction.

Lilith entered the street, walking in the small crowd of people, and she soon reached the end of the lavish buildings, where the buildings looked shabby and worn down, exactly how she interpreted what the black market was.

'Why did the condition of the buildings change all of a sudden?'

[The black market is governed by four gangs, so naturally the conditions of the regions they rule are different.]

'Oh… this is my first time entering the black market.'

[Enter the shabby, worn building at the end of this street.] Ayin pointed towards the building in the distance.

'It doesn't even look like a trading post, so... why should I go there?'

[You're like a child who never listens. It may not look like a trading post; didn't someone ever tell you to not judge a book by its cover?]

'I'll go… I'll go; don't call me a child.'

She arrived before the shop and hesitantly looked into it. She still didn't want to go there; however, she trusted Ayin, as she had already assisted her with this, even when she had been a pain to deal with.

Making up her mind, she entered the worn-out building and walked up to the counter. After waiting for a few minutes, a young clerk dressed in a black dress came up to the counter to serve Lilith with a smile on her face. "Hello, ma'am, are you here to sell or buy an item?"

"I'm here to sell demon crystals!"

"Perfect. Would you like it to be in cash or on a card?" She inquired while keeping her smile. She then further added: "I'd personally suggest the card."

"I'd take that then." Lilith smiled.

[Ask for a private room.]

'Why?'

[Don't ask, do it.]

'Fine, I'll do it.' Lilith sighed internally and asked, "Can I get a private room?"

"Ah, yes! Please! Right this way!" saying that the clerk left her post, leading Lilith away.

~~~

"Here we are."

Within a narrow corridor, the clerk opened the door of what seemed to be an office. "Please take a seat. I'll be right there with you."

Lilith walked in and sat down, and the clerk left, closing the door behind her. After she left, Lilith looked around the room—she seemed to be bored.

[This isn't good! I'll have to help you improve your patience as well! You're just adding more work for me to do?] Ayin expressed. [Well, it's better to teach everything at once than for you to learn things separately.]

'Sorry…'

[You don't need to apologize.]

~~~

Several minutes later, the clerk returned with a tablet and took her seat across from Lilith. "You can take out the demon crystals."

"Yes." With a thought, Lilith brought out the massive backpack filled with demon crystals from her inventory—she placed the bag on the table before her.

This didn't surprise the clerk, as she was familiar with the scene of her clients using divine space artifacts to store their items or demon crystals. Only if she knew that it wasn't a divine space artifact but something else entirely, maybe then she would be surprised.

She reached under the table and pressed a button beneath the desk. At the four corners of the room, emerged laser devices from the wall pointing towards the table. A red beam of light emerged from the device and was directed at the bag of demon crystals.

"These lasers will scan the bag for the quality and quantity of demon crystals. It'll also calculate their worth." The clerk clarified—she did this so that her client wouldn't choose to sell their items somewhere else out of suspicion. She had experienced this before, after all.

Within a few minutes, the scanning process was done, and the laser devices withdrew back into the walls.

In the end, the total price for all of the demon crystals turned out to be $25,400,700. It was expected from an A-rank raid, but Lilith was shocked. When she worked as a porter, she would earn a few hundred dollars per raid; rarely would she ever earn a thousand; but now, she had earned 100,000 times that amount—it felt unreal, as if this were a dream.

After receiving the black card with the money on it, Lilith returned to the front of the trading post with the clerk, where they had previously met.

"Thanks for your patronage; if you need to sell or buy items and demon crystals, the doors will always be open for you!" The clerk smiled.

"I'll keep that in mind," Lilith replied. "Thanks."

With that, Lilith set off, with the clerk waving behind her.