45 Mysterious Merchant

"A Player?" Jack muttered to himself. He became wary and began to instinctively tip toeing like a silent cat onto the wall. He also temporarily extinguished his lantern immediately. "Another monster? The light might be far away still but they are static."

He cautiously approached the source of dim illumination until eventually the image became clear within his current distance.

The light came behind a couple of boxes and a pair of chairs and table that was blocking half of the pathway. Essentially, he could notice some object behind it.

"Huh, this is new."

Although he didn't have his tentacle currently, he was confident enough to deal with future problems if it turns out to be a hostile one.

A still within twenty meters away, Jack could hear a dim sound of a song coming from it. His cautious faltering and his casual attitude came back after he found out that it was a small vendor with various objects and equipment being laid on the ground and leaning on the wall.

'This is definitely suspicious!' Jack screamed within his thoughts. 'Who in the right mind would've thought that establishing a shop here will be a great idea!?'

The music turned out to be a rather upbeat instrumental of a certain electronic instrument that he didn't know. That alone was enough to make the situation as bizzare as it was now.

Aside from the suspicious choice of location, this vendor showcased a couple of antique objects, like small statues and even mugs in-between a knife and a scabbard for a sword. There was also a peculiarly shaped shield and even a scythe leaned on the wall.

And then came the owner of the vendor, sitting in an antique-looking chair. It was a female wearing dubiously fancy clothing that didn't match the location of where she currently was.

The light of the lantern beside her was glinting her brick-red-contessa colored drill-style twintail hair and the small top hat with a light-pink bow on it.

Her gaze seemed to be fixated on the gadget she was fiddling with. It would not be as questionable if not for the fact that she was wearing a black-tinted round glasses within this dim-lighted uncanny tunnel.

'This lady hasn't noticed me yet.' Jack felt a great mixed feeling from this. 'This is the first time where I encountered an event as bizzare as this.'

[You mean that the Cruciatus' encounter aren't as bizzare?]

'My logic has been honed to accept ridiculous thing, but this one is just logically questionable.'

She sported many jewelry and gold accessories from simple loose bracelets and rings into a golden necklace below a jewelled pendant that was hanging around her high-neck ruffled-collar of her white blouse that was hiding a lascivious mature proportion beneath the fabric.

Probably, the only fitting apparel she wore was the grey baggy pants that were tucked onto her runes-imbued steel boots.

She kept fiddling with her weirdly square-shaped gadget, and her head seemed to be bopping with the rhythm of the music that was coming from it.

'Hmm, I feel a little bit suspicious about this. Sephiroth, better appraise this woman.'

[As you wish.]

[Commencing the Appraising procedure_

[Appraisal is nullified.]

"Hmm?" the lady let out a curious hum.

Despite Jack having made sure that he didn't move an inch, the woman was alerted somehow as if she knew that she was getting appraised.

She casually threw her glance to Jack that was only a few meters away from her before shifting down her glasses, revealing a dimly glowing pair of golden pupils. A light amount of make-up could be traced on her eyelids.

"Ah! You have come!" A smile arched on her face as she enthusiastically got up from the chair. She then placed her glasses to the top of her forehead before gesturing her hands, slightly hunching to match with Jack's height. "I didn't expect for my next customer to be a cutie like you, fumu~" She took out a candy from her pants' pocket. "Do you want a candy?"

Jack was off guard for the candy offer but it didn't change the fact of how suspicious she made her sentence.

He wryly grinned subconsciously. "You could be mistaken as a kidnapper if you do this, you know?"

Jack took the candy anyway, knowing that it could probably be her way of showing hospitality.

"Yet, you took it." The lady slyly smirked. "It seemed like you're older than you look, which is good! Because I don't prefer dealing with a naive brat who's still sucking their thumb. I do prefer if they are cute though, fufufu…. Ehem!

"Where's my manners? First and foremost, let me introduce myself~" She immediately took her top hat and placed it on her chest as she bowed, still fixing her golden gaze to Jack as she closed one of her eyes. "MFX80 is the name~! If you're having trouble pronouncing it, feel free to call me 'Prithvi Mata', a humble owner of my own curious vendor~

"A merchant, per say. It's not easy to find me, you know? Only a fateful individual has the chance of striking a great deal with the likes of me."

Feeling the sense of slightest humility from her, Jack decided to introduce himself with a mirroring smirk. "The name's Jack. I'm still clueless of what's happening, and knowing that you didn't have the same clue on who I am, yet claiming that you're waiting for me—is enough to give people a share of their suspicion, no?"

"It's how it goes~" Prithvi conjured a fan and spread it open, spreading the golden dust that came with the manifestation. "I make a deal with my guts, and my customer will arrive. The customer equals the deal, and the deal equals the fun and profit. There is no coincidence nor any tricks, I let the quality of my product speak, and surely, my 'deal' isn't cheap."

Prithvi then pointed to Jack's safety equipment set as she put on an amused smile. "The former owner of that clothing that you're currently wearing is proof of my product's quality. It's highly resistant to all kinds of explosive and flame, more so than any kind of anti-conductor. We can try to test it now if you want!"

"T-that's not necessary." Jack put on a sour smile. 'I have already tested it anyway.'

This whole thing was so sudden, despite Jack could've guess that it might led to this kind of confrontation in any kind of ways. Although, unlike the 'Players' he met before, the gaze that Prithvi throw at him was genuine.

'Who the hell is she?'

"Fufufu, the person who made a 'deal' with me for that set of protective apparel hoped that it could help him nullifying the effect of the trap within the tunnel beyond the ever stretching darkness, only to be struck by an invisible gas that corrode his flesh in about thirty meters away from here~"

[Something doesn't add up.]

Jack felt like he could find a hint to his situation.

"When did he die?"

"Around six days ago~"