Illusion Sword

                                                Chapter 2

"Here we are Hiroki, at Blackthorn's Food market."

Wow!! There are vendors as far as my eyes could see! They are selling foods I've never seen before. Alright, I'll pay very close attention to what the currency is in this country and the average amount people pay for food goods.  The sellers all have their carts full of produce under a canopy to protect against the hot sun. The street is full of people shopping for produce and other food-related ingredients, it's very lively just like in the flea market back on earth. All of the stalls seem to be improvised shops from stretched-out leather resembling a tarp to give shade to the sellers while they wait for customers. It seems like this whole street is dedicated to commerce in food and food-related items.

"Emily where..."

She's gone!? This is not good... I'll never find her with this many people here. I guess I'll look around for now and if I don't find her I'll just go back to her house and wait for her there...  I don't remember where her house is at! I was so busy sightseeing and talking with Emily that I didn't pay attention to where we were going! I'm no different from the kids that get lost at the supermarkets back in my world. I have to find Emily I'll start by walking from stall to stall. One by one I'll search for Emily and still see what kinds of food the vendors are selling.

"That'll be 30 crystals ye got a good deal I promise ye that"

So "crystals" are a form of currency? But what are their value and currency exchange? I still need to learn a lot I'll try asking the vendor what this strange fruit is.

"Excuse me Um...what are these fruits your selling?"

"Ye from outta town? These here are Atas. Everybody from Blackthorn knows 'em since they are gathered from the southwest part of the DarkWood Forest"

They actually have a similar appearance to apples they are oval and pink with a sweet scent that reaches my nose. I wonder if they also taste the same?

"They are a sweet fruit that helps recover yer mana a little, they are also used in the creation of health potions. Apart from that, they are delicious on a hot day like today. 70 crystals for two of 'em or 4 for 1 shell."

It seems like 140 crystals add up to 1 shell apparently a "shell" is a copper-colored coin shaped like a shell. For now, I'll continue my search around the stalls. As I move on I noticed a stall with old-looking things on display. 

"Hello, might you be interested in my antique collection?"

"Huh?"

I guess this market isn't limited to just food stalls.

"I have all the rarest collectible items out on the market! How about it, does anything interest you?"

This seller has an assortment of old-looking weapons and armor. There seems to be a black sword with a dangerous feel to it with a chrome design on the hilt, A gold colored helmet sort of like the ones a knight would wear, A blue colored war hammer with sharp-looking spikes on one end of it, A long katana looking sword with a red hilt and some sort of black steel ore was used to forge the blade, A pair of chrome colored matching short swords that look like they are dual-wielded, A complicated yet cool looking long bow that seems to have a steel string for the arrows, Also a silver colored crossbow type weapon that looks like it shoots a type of bolt. As I look up at the vendor he seems a bit suspicious. He is wearing a grey robe with a hood that seems to cast a heavy shadow on his face so you can't see it, He looks average in height around 170cm. 

"Sorry I'm actually looking for someone right now but you have some really awesome looking antique weapons and armor."

Besides, I don't have any money to buy anything even if I wanted to.

"As a first-time visitor to Blackthorn, I'll give you one item of your choosing free of charge."

H-How did he know this is my first time in Blackthorn? Back in my world if something was free there was usually a catch. This will only lead to trouble. 

"S...Sorry I need to go but thanks for the offer!"

I left without looking back I continued walking until the suspicious-looking seller was at least 6 vendor stalls behind. I won't be fooled just because I'm new to this world and don't know anything about it. Well, then I really should get back at looking for Emily.

"Hiroki!"

"Huh?"

"Over here!"

"Emily!"

"There you are! I was looking for you after I finished buying some ingredients. Where did you get that sword?"

"Huh? What sword?"

"The one that strapped on your back."

"What? How did that get there?"

How did this sword get strapped on my back without me noticing!? As I took it off my back I immediately began to inspect it. It was one of the swords that the strange man was selling the one that had the antique collection of weapons and armor. The sword was a long two handed sword that was all black with the exception of a chrome outline on the blade, a chrome design on the hilt, and to curved wrist guards just above the hilt. It was the sword that gave off a dangerous feeling!

"I didn't buy it Emily and I really don't know how it got strapped on my back?"

"What do you mean Hiroki you must've gotten it from somewhere."

"Well, this sword was being sold by an antique collector that was selling some weapons and armor." 

"Hiroki that's impossible selling any items that are not food or food-related are not allowed to be sold in this market."

"Are you sure? Here let me show you where he is at"

We walked down 6 of the vendor stalls where the suspicious antique seller was located moving through a thick group of people that are moving about shopping for food. He's gone!... In fact it looks like a vendor's stall was never here in the first place.

"Hiroki are you sure he was supposed to be here? Maybe we are in the wrong location?"

"No... we are on the right location, maybe the vendor sold everything and left already."

"Yeah, he probably realized that he wasn't supposed to be selling his items in the food marked in the first place! Maybe some of the Blackthorn's guardsmen moved him by force."

I'll try to find him another day to try and return the sword. Maybe I took the sword by accident? I don't want to be considered a shoplifter. Any way I look at this situation I can't seem to figure out how the sword got strapped on my back in the first place! I probably didn't feel it on me because I was just concentrating on finding Emily.

"Hiroki let's go back to my house for now."

"Yes Emily, I'm really tired from all that walking I did since I haven't eaten."

"Sorry Hiroki, I didn't have any ingredients left to cook food for us."

"N-No worries it's fine Emily I'm just happy you're helping me out."