09. Barter

"Are Sir Rian and Sir Dani still not sleeping?"

I rubbed my sleepy eyes as I wondered why the outside of the tent sounded quite noisy.

Very noisy. It was as if there were several tens of people talking at the same time. Even the sound of footsteps can be heard...

"!!!"

Wait, wait, wait!

What the hell? Aren't the four of us currently camping here?

Even if the other group of climbers came while Sistiamika and I were still asleep, this amount of noise was a bit too much.

I activated my phone.

There, I made sure that it was still 2 am.

The climb requires a lot of energy. After the exhaustion of climbing, there was no way anyone could make such a noise no matter how strong their stamina was.

After all, it was still midnight!

If it was still the afternoon, I would at least think that it made sense.

However, now...

"Gulp..."

Goosebumps ran down the back of my neck.

My hands were shaking.

Damn, this is scary!

I undid my intention to get out of my sleeping bag.

I leaned closer to Sistiamika and covered my face with a blanket.

Well. Let's just ignore what I hear and let's go to sleep!

I intended to fall asleep, but, who would have guessed that I had become 'their' target?

A voice called out to me as I was covering my entire body with a blanket and a sleeping bag.

The voice sounded very deep and faint.

As if it does not come from Human.

The words that the voice said were not Bahasa or English or any other Human language.

It was an unknown language.

However, for some reason, I understood what it was saying!

The voice asked if I intended to barter with it.

Time and time again, it kept asking the same thing.

Damn, I know this!

I've read it before.

Sometimes, some people camping in the Setan Market while climbing Mount Merapi will not only hear the noise of the market, but will also be questioned by the 'creatures' involved in the market.

When that happens, the person in question is obliged to throw away items that are precious to them at this time.

Otherwise, them would be taken to the supernatural realm and never found again on Earth.

It was as if them had moved dimensions!

"I don't want to be taken to the supernatural realm!"

I still have a long list of movies that I haven't watched. I haven't even found my prince yet! My now prince has been taken by my best friend, anyway!

Ah, what should I do?

Valuables... What is most valuable to me right now?

Shaking under the blankets, I checked my bag and started looking for what I thought was most valuable.

After hesitating for a moment, I picked up a strange stone with a yellowish color with a few strands of light hair trapped inside it.

It was the Fragment of White Tiger.

A Fragment of a Rank B+ Mystic Beast.

We found two Rank B+ Mystic Beast Fragment pieces after searching earlier.

The one owned by Sistiamika is the Fragment of Infernal Beetle.

Both of them were a Mystic Beast Fragment of powerful Mystic Beast, so these must be extremely valuable.

Even if there was a possibility for the Mystic Beast I summoned to eventually disappear after Sistiamika became a true Saint, I was still tempted to summon it.

I was very reluctant to throw this away, but... But...

Ugh... I think surviving being taken to the Supernatural realm is far more important than a mere Mystic Beast Fragment!

With a sore heart, I threw the Fragment of White Tiger out of the tent.

I closed my eyes tightly.

I was too scared to see what happened.

Then... Silence.

There was no answer from that voice.

In fact, the noise I had originally heard had completely disappeared.

Other than the sounds of nature and insects, only silence I could hear.

"I... Safe?"

I slowly lowered the blanket that covered my face.

However, I guess I made a mistake.

"!!!"

I almost screamed when I saw what I saw in front of me.

I was not taken to the supernatural realm.

However, besides myself and Sistiamika inside the tent, I saw another figure.

The figure was extremely tall and dark.

It bent down in the tent and looked at me very sharply.

"Ah... Ah..."

The black creature's hands were extremely long, while its face could not be seen due to the long black hair that covered it.

My head is completely empty.

I was scared.

Very scared.

Completely frightened, to the point of being unable to speak.

Seconds after seconds that felt like forever went on.

Then, without realizing it, the creature had disappeared from the tent without leaving any trace at all.

It disappeared as if it had never existed in the first place.

"Hah... Ha... Ha..."

Maybe... No, I guess, these are the most stressful times I've experienced since I was born.

Ugh, I swear I won't come to this place again in the future!

When the tension finally disappeared from my body, I cried.

A cry of gratitude for surviving that over unique situation and perhaps, even dangerous.

However, at that moment, I didn't realize it.

That the creature didn't just leave its mark on me.

Actually, the creature actually left something to me in exchange for what I exchanged for it before.

A dull silver ring was attached to my left ring finger, but I didn't notice it at all because I was too scared.